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THE CORINTHIAN ORDER.

their forms and colours are agreeable to the human mind.

With regard to works of constructive art which belong to our present purpose, it is an essential feature of beauty that the adaptation of means to the end is observable, and that there is a similar correspondence in the constituent parts. Every part of a building has therefore its peculiar form and beauty, dependent on its destination. For this reason all ornament in architecture should be subordinate to use, and should grow out of and be suggested by it; whence professed architects, with whom the idea of decoration is predominant, often fail in their attempts to produce beauty, and in many cases seem rather to adapt the building to the ornament, than the ornament to the building. Accordingly it has been observed that civil engineers, whose attention is solely directed to the use of that which they plan, often construct more beautiful buildings than persons with whom beauty is the chief consideration. And generally it may be observed that all ornament, if accumulated to an excessive degree, either from a love of gaudy magnificence, or for the sake of ostentation, is devoid of beauty:

"Tis use alone that sanctifies expense,

And splendour borrows all its rays from sense.'

The Corinthian Order, to which the column of Beauty belongs, is one of the three ancient Greek Orders of architecture; its shaft is taller in its proportion than that of either of the others, and its capital is profusely ornamented. Without entering into a detailed descrip tion, the very pretty story, which Vitruvius tells us, of its origin will sufficiently explain the style of the capital. Callimachus accidentally passing the tomb of a young lady, perceived a basket of toys which had been left there by her nurse-perhaps as a votive offering of affectioncovered with a tile, and placed over an acanthus root; as the branches grew they encompassed the basket, till, arriving at the tile, they met with an obstruction, and

JUNIOR WARDEN REPRESENTS BEAUTY.

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turned downwards. Callimachus was struck with the object, and he made a drawing of it; the base of the capital he made to represent the basket, the abacus the tile, and the volutes the bended leaves. Vitruvius is the only architect of the ancients whose writings have come down to us; he flourished during the reign of Augustus, about the birth of Christ.

As wisdom is practically represented by the Master, so strength and beauty, the pillars that complete the triform supports of a Mason's Lodge, are exhibited by the Wardens as representatives of the two Hirams by whose power and talent Solomon was enabled to construct and beautify the house of God, and in strength to establish it. The union of these two qualities in his holy tabernacle is proclaimed by David in the Psalms, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary;' and 1 Chron. xvi., in the psalm of thanksgiving which he composed for Asaph on the Ark being placed in the tabernacle, he calls on the people to 'seek the Lord in His strength,' and He tells them that glory and honour are in His presence; strength and gladness in His place.' God is our refuge and strength' (Ps. xlvi.). In Ps. lxxxiv., which is expressive of confidence, 'Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee.' The strength which is referred to with commendation or praise in the Sacred Volume is Godlike majesty and puissance; for mere brute force is set at nought in Ps. xxxiii.-'There is no king saved by the multitude of an host a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.'

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Wisdom, strength, and beauty of Nature. From the form of vegetables we have some of the choicest of our ornaments, and have taken some of the most useful hints in architecture. Smeaton, who first succeeded in fixing upon the dangerous rock of the Eddystone a lighthouse that has resisted for over a hundred years the violence of the sea, and, as far as human calculation may venture to surmise, will endure many centuries, moulded its contour from the bole of an oak that had withstood the tempests of ages.

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THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS.

To conclude:-The Hebrew word, naveh, which signifies beauty in some places, refers to a dwelling or the tabernacle. Singers were appointed by Jehoshaphat to 'praise the Lord in the beauty of holiness; and David also says, 'Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness'which by the marginal explanation is in His holy sanctuary.' From these passages, and many more might be selected, the designations our Masonic supports received from our ancient brethren are proofs of the diligent use they made of the Sacred Volume of God's Law; and thus a study of our Institution and its teaching must infallibly require a frequent and careful perusal if the Book of Life. There we are instructed that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and happy is the man that findeth it.' Let us in strength be clothed in the armour of righteousness, and endeavour to grow more and more into the likeness of God; and to whatever station the providence of God may please to call us, let us adorn it with the beauty of holiness. If thus, to use the language of David, we set God always before us,' like him we shall not be moved. The apprehension of His omnipresence will be the guard of our conduct and the support of our steps here; and the enjoyment of that presence our exceeding great reward hereafter.

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CHAPTER XXVIII.

FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARITY,

'Now abideth Faith, Hope, and Charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.'-ST. PAUL.

THE three great principles upon which our Order is founded, are BROTHERLY LOVE, RELIEF, and TRUTH, and their importance is inculcated in our Lectures. The first renders us affectionate and kind, the second and the third just.

generous,

In Craft Masonry the supporting pillars of the Lodge, as already described, are the three architectural columns denominated Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty; these, in the Ancient and Accepted Rite, are displayed by three others of triangular form, and representing the virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity.

In his second Epistle, St. Peter exhorts his readers to the practice of what we are accustomed to call the cardinal virtues: 'add to your faith virtue; to virtue knowledge; to knowledge temperance; to temperance patience; to patience godliness; to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.'

These virtues are enforced in various parts of the rituals, and enlarged upon in the first lecture of Craft Masonry. A more wide extension is, however, given to them in those degrees that have especial reference to Christianity (the degrees being not antagonistic to the Craft Degrees, but in reality an expansion of them). The great duties of man to God, his neighbour, and himself, are the precepts most strongly enforced; hence the points to direct the steps of the aspirant to higher honours are Faith, Hope, and Charity.

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THE BASIS OF CHRISTIAN VIRTUE.

FAITH.

FAITH is the basis of all Christian virtues, and is defined to be a disposition of mind by which we hold for certain the matter affirmed. The Faith that produces good works gives life to a righteous man. It may be considered either as proceeding from God, who reveals His truths to man, or from man, who assents to and obeys the truths of God. Faith is taken also for a firm confidence in God, by which, relying on His promises, we address ourselves without hesitation to Him, whether for pardon or other blessings. Faith is a reliance on testimony: if it be human testimony, in reference to human things, it is not entitled to reception until after examination and confirmation. Human testimony in reference to divine things must also be scrupulously investigated before it be received and acted upon, since the grossest of all deceptions have been imposed on mankind in the Name of God. Nor is testimony assuming to be Divine entitled to our adherence, or affection, or obedience, until its character is proved to be genuine and really from Heaven. The more genuine it is, the more readily it will undergo and sustain the trial, and the more clearly will its character appear. But after a testimony, a maxim, or a command is proved to be Divine, it does not become a creature so ignorant and so feeble as man to doubt its possibility, to dispute the obedience to which it is entitled, or to question the beneficial consequences attached to it, though not immediately apparent to human discernment.

Faith is the full assurance or personal conviction of the reality of things not seen; it looks backward to past ages as well as forward to futurity. By Faith we believe that the world was originally created by God; though we can form no conception of, much less can we see, the matter out of which it was composed. By Faith we believe in the existence of ancient cities, as Jerusalem, Babylon, &c.; also of distant places, as Egypt, &c.; also of persons formerly living, as Abraham, David, Jesus Christ, &c. Faith anticipates things never seen as yet; so Noah by Faith built the Ark, although no general deluge had ever

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