XLIX. OLIVE TREE-UNCOUNTED LIBERALITY.

"Who gives what others may not see,

Nor counts on favor, fame or praise,

Shall find his smallest gift outweighs

The burden of the mighty sea."

The doors of King Solomon's Temple were constructed of olive wood, as being the most elegant wood of the Orient.

To oldest age the OLIVE yields its wealth

In streams of oil; the oldest gives the most
And gives the best; tree of a thousand years,
Ragged and gnarled, none worthier than thou
To close the entrance of the Holy Fane;
The worshiper who bowed adoring, read
The lessons of the OLIVE;-secret grace

That gives divinely; and unstinted grace

That knows no scant of flow; and that best grace

That flows still faster, richer to the end.

L. HOPE-FIXED UPON GOD.

The hope that Masonry teaches is in God. Seeking hope elsewhere is like "seeking mellow grapes beneath the icy pole, or blooming roses on the cheek of death."

To life's worst labyrinth there is a clew,

A thread of silk that leads the traveler

Through losses, crosses, sicknesses, and deaths,
And gives him entrance to the central place;
'Tis HOPE, the anchor of the soul,-'tis HOPE,
Steadfast and sure, a very gift of Heaven;
How could our Temple ever be complete,
So great the work, so fceble we who build,
But for this aid? the six days' work so long,
The summer's heat so strong, the toil so great!

LI. RAINBOW - CHEERFUL HOPE.

The essential idea of refreshment after labor suggests cheerful hope.

"The most Holy One

requires a cheerful life.' "There is joy in Heaven." There shall be no more sorrow nor crying." The earth shall no more be destroyed by a flood.

Gorgeous in hue, a painted arch is drawn.
Across the sky, late blackened and enraged,

A brilliant monitor, celestial cheer;

From the bright picture falls the voice divine,-
After the thunder's roar how soft and low!

"The earth no more shall perish by a flood,"

Oh, in the quiet of the Masons' Lodge

Where every emblem breathes of harmony,

How fit the iridescent bow to span

Our spangled arch, and bring its comfort home.

LII. RELIEF THE DIVINE REPRESENTATIVE.

In the sublime allegory of “the Judgment Day" the TEACHER clearly expresses the thought that " a distressed human being is the representative of God.”

We need not rise above this mundane sphere,
We need not 'neath the briny deep descend
To find the Deity; but on the path
Where blind Bartimeus begs, the Lord is seen;
Upon the fever couch He lies and burns;

He hungers in the dungeon's dreary cell;

He shivers naked, cold and shelterless;

Where sorrow dwells the MASTER too abides ;
Builders of "house not made with hands” look out
At every window and behold the Lord!

THE BROKEN COLUMN.

"His WORK was not done, yet his Column is broken";
Mourn ye and weep, for ye cherished his worth;
Let every tear drop be sympathy's token,-

Lost to the Brotherhood, lost to the earth.

HIS WORK had been planned by a WISDOM SUPERNAL;
Strength had been given him meet for the same;
Down in the midst he is fallen, and vernal

Leaves fall above him and whisper his fame.

HIS WORK WAS TO BUILD; on the walls we beheld him,—
Swiftly and truly they rose 'neath his hand;

Envious death with his Gavel has felled him,

Plumb line and Trowel are strewn o'er the land.

His WORK thus unfinished to us is intrusted;

MASTER OF MASONS, give strength, we entreat,
Bravely to work with these Implements rusted,
Wisely to build till the Temple's complete!

A paraphrase of the well known expression found in the opening line.

THE ETERNITY OF THE ORDER.

ONO.

In the eleventh chapter of Nehemiah, the expression, "Ono, the valley of Craftsmen," occurs.
Where is the true heart's MOTHER LODGE?

Is't where, perchance, he earliest heard.
The frightful voice, from rocky ledge,

Told of a horrid deed of blood?

Is't where his vision earliest saw

And hands enclasped that GOLDEN THING,
The symbol crowned, the wondrous Law,
Noblest creation of our King?

No; though in fancy he may turn,
In pleasing reminiscence back,
As happy hearts at times will yearn

To tread again youth's flowery track,—
The true heart's MOTHER LODGE is found
Where truest, fondest hearts conspire
To draw love's deathless chain around,
And kindle up love's deathless fire.

Methinks that here, dear Friends, must be
ONO, the Craftsmen's happy VALE;
And you, true Laborer, brave and free,
The MASTER in the peaceful dale!

So let me fancy, and when bowed

In daily adorations due,

I will entreat the Masons' God

To bless the Craftsmen here, and you!

THE MASTER COMETH.

When the GREAT MASTER comes to view his own,

Reclaim his Gavel, and resume his Throne;

When through the Temple chambers rings the word

That Hiram and his willing Builders heard;

What will he find? in all this Brotherhood,

Where thousands stand, where myriads have stood,
What will he find?

By many a grave, the acacia boughs beneath,
He will detect the tokens of our faith;
The shining marble, and the humble stone,
Will the dead Mason's trust in triumph own.
The pointed Star, the Compass, Line and Square,
The acacia sprig will join in glory there;
These will he find!

By many a happy fireside, he'll see

And bless the fruits of Masons' charity:

The orphan's tear to merry laughter turned;

The widow's heart its cheerfulness has learned;

Blest households, round which groups of angels stand

And guard unceasingly the cherished band;

These will he find!

In many a Lodge, our MASTER'S guest will find
The generous hand, large heart and cultured mind,
Engaged in toil, not upon walls of stone,

But squaring hearts for heavenly walls alone;
Builders of house eternal, mystic Craft,

Whose work is worthy, Ashlar, Keystone, Shaft;
These will he find!

Of every tongue on earth's extended bound,
In every land our Brotherhood is found;
Rising to labor with the awakening East,
Sinking to slumber with the darkening West;
Leading our sons as we ourselves were led;
Laying in honored graves our quiet dead;
These will he find!

Brothers if here to-night our Chief were found,—
If now, at yonder door, were heard the sound,—
If, in the East, in Oriental hue,

Grand Master Solomon should meet the view,—
What welcomes, loud and loyal, should he have,
Absent and mourned so long in Sion's grave?
Would it were so; would it were mine to say,
"Behold, O King, thy Brethren! Day by day
Through countless years, our sires blew up the flame

Of love fraternal for thy honored name!

And we, obedient sons, have fanned the light,
And done the labor as we do to-night.

"Look 'round thee, Master! is there aught amiss?
Whence this mysterious image, this and this?
Who cast yon pillar with consummate cap?
Suggests this mournful emblem what mishap?
Look overhead! what golden arc is there,
Before which strong men bow as if in prayer?
What page is that, that lends unerring rays
To Mason groups who kneel and, reverent, gaze?"

Brothers, we may not see him, but we'll bind
The tie he gave us with unfailing mind;
His lessons, fraught with wisdom, we'll revere,
And keep his secrets with unwearied care;
The poor and sorrowing over land and sea,
To willing ears shall make their piteous plea;
The Holy Name we'll reverence and trust,
High over all, the Gracious and the Just;
And when death's Gavel falls and we must go,
This epitaph shall speak the general woe:

"Honored and blest, his heart was given
To feel for sorrow and to aid;

On earth he made the unhappy glad,
His coming gives a joy to Heaven!"

A tradition among Oriental Masons affirms that the mighty Suleiman Ben-Daoud (Solomon, son of David), the Founder and Chief of Freemasonry, who deceased B. C. 975, and was buried upon Mount Sion, at Jerusalem, will return again to the earth in the last days, and inspect the work of the world-wide Brotherhood which he founded. Then he will pass upon the perjured and unfaithful. Then he will restore to the worthy the secrets forfeited by rebellious Craftsmen during the erection of his Temple upon Moriah.

LAST WORDS OF THE BUILDER KING.

'Twas in the years of long ago
The mighty task was done,
The waiting Craft in silence bow
And list to Solomon:

"Oh, bind the tie, Freemasons dear,
Where'er your feet may rove,
With gifts the empty hand to cheer,
The wounded heart with love!