A Sermon

Rise higher upon the true principles of Freemasonry—a belief in the existence of the Divine Creator of all , and in the grand vital principles of His great revelation ; and then , when the working time shall cease , Or ever the silken cord be loosed , Or broken the golden bowl ; when you are called off from labour to rest for the last timeyour freed

, spirits shall step upon the eternal shore , in the heavenly lodge—the house not made with hands , and the Great Architect of the Universe , whom you have loved and served , will bid you welcome , and unto you , the " good and faithful servants , " it shall be said , " Well done ; " and new truths shall dawn upon you which you had only faintly grasped down here below , and the deep longing and earnest seeking after " More Light" shall then be fully met and satisfied

, for you " shall walk in the light as He is in the light . " And down here below men will gather round your resting places , and as they recall the story of your noble life-work , they will softly murmur to each other the Divine Word that echoed down through rocky Patmos ages ago , " They rest from their labours and their works do follow them . " Brethren my prayer is— " So mote it be . "

Rythmical Sayings.

RYTHMICAL SAYINGS .

IT is very noteworthy how the love of the verse form lingers amid the old , familiar saws and proverbs of all nations , and markedly so in England , whether we look at merely local adages or " topographical rhymes , " as Mr . Thorns called them in a useful little book he wrote some years back called " Origins and Inventions . " A great statesman once said , " Give me the ballads of a people , and I'll give you the laws" and certain it is that those easilremembered and constantl

, y y repeated catch-sentences , or pleasant versicles , whether local or general , personal or national , legendary or topographical , are handed down faithfully and carefully often through many generations . Some of them are of great antiquity , others of pithy sarcasm , and are often both interesting and amusing , very striking and very quaint , at the same time . Mr . Green in his wonderfully fascinating History of Englandmarked b

, y clear statement and effective word-painting in wonderful degree , tells us that the great peasant rising in the early part of the reign of King Richard II ., when the king was a youth only of sixteen , 500 years and more ago , was fostered and fanned to a very great extent by " quaint rhymes" passed round among the people , which went from village to village , and served as incentives to the roused popular feeling . He bases his statement on Kni ghton ' s Chronicle

. These verses were neatly composed by the preacher , John Bull , it is believed , and were circulated in the names of " John Bull , Jack Curtis , Jack the Miller , ancl Jack the Trewman . " Wat Tyler ' s insurrection in Essex was encouraged in a remarkable degree b y these productions , which appeared to a then suffering people , alike by their truth and wit , their " vis " and their reality , their homeliness , their quaintness , and their seasonableness . For instance , let us try and realize ourselves the effect on an angry and trodden down population , when "villeinage" was still , remember ,