Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Courtesy To The Visiting Brother.
COURTESY TO THE VISITING BROTHER .
COURTESY is a commendable virtue in all the inhabitants of the earth . It is supposed to predominate in the civilised portions ; but while this may be generally true as to the class , individually there are many exceptions . It is a most cosmopolitan virtue , and v ? e often find it where we are not expecting it to be ; and where we expect it , it is oftentimes wanting .
As man comes more and more under the influence of civilisation ,
courtesy , it would seem , should grow with it , so that as a man is courteous , so in proportion would he be civilised . But this philosophy does not always hold , notwithstanding we think that it ought to . The world is full of inharmonious chords and actions that strike us as inconsistent . The union of minimum low qualities with the maximum of high qualities , and the reverse , is often seen .
To some philosophers this would seem commendable . We do not object to it , for if we did it might seem like objecting to even the little virtue that at times crops out among the lowest specimens of humanity . We do not object to it ; on the contrary , are glad of its existence wherever found , and we would that it might grow . For then it could not help but carry those practising it on to a higher condition .
When it comes to the higher civilisation known among men , such a virtue as courtesy towards our fellow men should be recognised and cultivated ; and there is no better place to cultivate it than in the Lodge . Courtesy to all > but more especially to the visitiug brother , who is practically a stranger . We do not admit that a brother Mason is or can be a stranger in the sense that
the word is generally used , still he is surrounded by new and strange faces ' But the spirit of the Order hovers over him and eases his mind somewhat from the feeling of strangeness that would come over him while thus away from his native heath and among strange faces . As it were , the Mason takes his native heath along with him . This is a relief . But if the individuals
who are about him are strange to him , and he has no personal acquaintance with them—and more , if the brethren who are within their own Lodge extend to him no courtesy , then there comes over him a feeling oi loneliness and disappointment that is not consoling to his peace of mind as a Mason . He is among familiar scenes and forms , but the warmth of greeting that should
come to and be extended to him is all wanting ; so amid familiar scenes he is most lonely . While civilisation cultivates courtesy , still there is another phase of the subject . As men become cultivated many of them seem to think that with this cultivation should come a coldness rather than a warmth towards the world , and they seem to hold the idea that any warmth of
expression towards one whom they do not personally know is very unbecoming in them . They are governed by the spirit of what is " becoming " more than by any other one thing . There is a possibility , so they seem to think , that the stranger , even though a * ' brother , " may prove to be not of their " set , " so they are very cautious . But such caution is the prompting of a narrow rather than a broad mind . There is no grand Norman independence in such
an act . Men governed by such a principle are wanting in manliness . The truly manly man can be , and is , courteous to all , even though they be beneath him in the recognised intellectual and social scale , without losing the respect of any true man . As for those individuals who have merely the growth of manhood , their regard in connection with such matters is of very small moment .
The man and Brother who is distant and lacking in courtesy towards the visiting Brother who is a stranger in the Lodge , perhaps has never travelled and been in a similar situation . If he has travelled and visited bodies distant from his locality , and been by them received in this cold indifferent manner , and ho does not have the least objection to it , but rather likes it , then he must have a perverted taste . Perhaps this taste is his high ideal of a most advanced civilisation .
But , withal , I think he would , unless a most perverted monster , feel much pleasanter and happier with his surroundings if the Brethren present should at least pay him a little kind attention , instead of letting him sit all alone by himself . The servile man would perhaps say to himself , " Beware of strangers . " But the man of Norrnan independence would take it upon
himself to waive all ceremony and endeavour to make the evening and stay of the visiting Brother as pleasant as possible . Then if perchance there should be any attempt on the part of the stranger to impose upon the Lodge or Brethren present , the same Norman instinct would easily assert itself , and the very spirit of independence that permitted the courteous Brother to
approach the stranger would be with hirn and protect him from any imposition that might be attempted . But the chances are that there would be little opportunity for the excercise of this quality as a supplement to the first advancement . If a man has not the manliness to protect himself against the possible imposition of a strange Brother visiting the Lodge , then he must
be a very weak sitter indeed . It is very discourteous and most unkind and ungentlemanly not to treat the stranger with at least a little courtesy . He may not belong to your " set ; " he may not be up to your ideal of intellectual culture , still as a Brother Mason courtesy is due him ; and for you to ignore him like the typical " poor relation , " or like a member of the " Little Church Around the Corner , " is most discourteous to the visiting
Brother , and even detrimental to your self-respect . For the man who practices this indifference towards the visiting Brother is doing himself harm . He is shutting up his own nature . Instead of cultivating charity and good will toward mon , he is cultivating a miserable spirit of contempt for his fellow men . He is cultivating the " I am holier than thou ' spirit of mind ; and more and more becoming like tho fabled clam that shuts its doors against all comers , and practically says to tho world ,
Courtesy To The Visiting Brother.
"I want as little to do with you as possible . " A Brother with such a spirit should never visit a Lodge nor any other institution where gentlemen of culture socially meet . They should retire to some cave of Adullam or some hermit cell or lonely place where they could enjoy their own company
uncontaminated with the surroundings of their fellow-men . They would be happier , at least more in harmony with that ideal seclusion that they have the while fostered ; and certainly their fellow men would not lose much , if anything , from such retirement on their part .
From this small class of peculiar individuals we do not expect much , so it matters little whether they really retire to the cloister or not ; but from the great body of the Brethren we do expect something better and more in harmony with what a Lodge should be .
If such indifference is merely the lack of thought on the part of the many , then it is time that their attention was called to such lack of courtesy as we have seen . For it is not only unpleasant for the visiting Brother at the time , but he is very apt , because of it , to go away from that Lodge and district with a very poor opinion of the hospitality of the body which he has visited .
Courtesy to the visiting Brethron has everything that is worthy of a Masonic Lodge to recommend it ; and it is one of those things that reacts with compound interest upon both parties—the Lodge and the visitor . On which side of the balance-sheet the effect shall be recorded remains with the Brethren to decide , and I most heartily trust that it shall be on that side that shall cause the visiting Brother to go away with a very high opinion of the members of the Lodge that ho has visited .
Courtesy to the visiting Brother is a most worthy thing for all of us to bear in mind , and to help carry into effect . —ISSAC P . NOYBS , in "American Tyler . "
Ad00802
THE Smokeless Fire Co ., Ltd ., Sole Proprietors of Marsh ' s Patents for the complete combustion of Fuel , as supplied to .-THE GORDON ' HOTEL CO ., LTD ., Hotel " Victoria . " SPIERS AND POND , LTD ., "The Gaiety" Restaurant . SLATER ' S , LTD ., "The Prince of Wales" Hotel . Special Designs to meet all Requirements . — Full particulars from — 100 SHAFTESBURY AVENUE , tONDON , W .
Ad00803
Bro . JOHN THOflAS SHAPCOTT , Proprietor of the NEW RED LION , 181 HARROW ROAD , W ., Has excellent accommodation for Lodges of Instruction .
Ad00804
X W . & J . BALLS , X BOOKBINDEKS , IN ALL BRANCHES . Metropolitan Bookbinding Works , 362 GRAY'S INN ROAD , KING'S CROSS . BOOKS BOOTD TO ANY PATTERN . -, J \ Old Bindings St . Libraries Eepaired & Decorated . J \
Ad00805
Weaver 's Depository . PERSONAL ^^ MMM ~ WEAVER : ' FROM 1 / S | fiM 8 . r . ARLT 0 NTERRACEHPMB H 0 UR ' SUPERVISE raQHBBi ; ™ 8 Carlton Terrace , Harrow Kd ., W,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Courtesy To The Visiting Brother.
COURTESY TO THE VISITING BROTHER .
COURTESY is a commendable virtue in all the inhabitants of the earth . It is supposed to predominate in the civilised portions ; but while this may be generally true as to the class , individually there are many exceptions . It is a most cosmopolitan virtue , and v ? e often find it where we are not expecting it to be ; and where we expect it , it is oftentimes wanting .
As man comes more and more under the influence of civilisation ,
courtesy , it would seem , should grow with it , so that as a man is courteous , so in proportion would he be civilised . But this philosophy does not always hold , notwithstanding we think that it ought to . The world is full of inharmonious chords and actions that strike us as inconsistent . The union of minimum low qualities with the maximum of high qualities , and the reverse , is often seen .
To some philosophers this would seem commendable . We do not object to it , for if we did it might seem like objecting to even the little virtue that at times crops out among the lowest specimens of humanity . We do not object to it ; on the contrary , are glad of its existence wherever found , and we would that it might grow . For then it could not help but carry those practising it on to a higher condition .
When it comes to the higher civilisation known among men , such a virtue as courtesy towards our fellow men should be recognised and cultivated ; and there is no better place to cultivate it than in the Lodge . Courtesy to all > but more especially to the visitiug brother , who is practically a stranger . We do not admit that a brother Mason is or can be a stranger in the sense that
the word is generally used , still he is surrounded by new and strange faces ' But the spirit of the Order hovers over him and eases his mind somewhat from the feeling of strangeness that would come over him while thus away from his native heath and among strange faces . As it were , the Mason takes his native heath along with him . This is a relief . But if the individuals
who are about him are strange to him , and he has no personal acquaintance with them—and more , if the brethren who are within their own Lodge extend to him no courtesy , then there comes over him a feeling oi loneliness and disappointment that is not consoling to his peace of mind as a Mason . He is among familiar scenes and forms , but the warmth of greeting that should
come to and be extended to him is all wanting ; so amid familiar scenes he is most lonely . While civilisation cultivates courtesy , still there is another phase of the subject . As men become cultivated many of them seem to think that with this cultivation should come a coldness rather than a warmth towards the world , and they seem to hold the idea that any warmth of
expression towards one whom they do not personally know is very unbecoming in them . They are governed by the spirit of what is " becoming " more than by any other one thing . There is a possibility , so they seem to think , that the stranger , even though a * ' brother , " may prove to be not of their " set , " so they are very cautious . But such caution is the prompting of a narrow rather than a broad mind . There is no grand Norman independence in such
an act . Men governed by such a principle are wanting in manliness . The truly manly man can be , and is , courteous to all , even though they be beneath him in the recognised intellectual and social scale , without losing the respect of any true man . As for those individuals who have merely the growth of manhood , their regard in connection with such matters is of very small moment .
The man and Brother who is distant and lacking in courtesy towards the visiting Brother who is a stranger in the Lodge , perhaps has never travelled and been in a similar situation . If he has travelled and visited bodies distant from his locality , and been by them received in this cold indifferent manner , and ho does not have the least objection to it , but rather likes it , then he must have a perverted taste . Perhaps this taste is his high ideal of a most advanced civilisation .
But , withal , I think he would , unless a most perverted monster , feel much pleasanter and happier with his surroundings if the Brethren present should at least pay him a little kind attention , instead of letting him sit all alone by himself . The servile man would perhaps say to himself , " Beware of strangers . " But the man of Norrnan independence would take it upon
himself to waive all ceremony and endeavour to make the evening and stay of the visiting Brother as pleasant as possible . Then if perchance there should be any attempt on the part of the stranger to impose upon the Lodge or Brethren present , the same Norman instinct would easily assert itself , and the very spirit of independence that permitted the courteous Brother to
approach the stranger would be with hirn and protect him from any imposition that might be attempted . But the chances are that there would be little opportunity for the excercise of this quality as a supplement to the first advancement . If a man has not the manliness to protect himself against the possible imposition of a strange Brother visiting the Lodge , then he must
be a very weak sitter indeed . It is very discourteous and most unkind and ungentlemanly not to treat the stranger with at least a little courtesy . He may not belong to your " set ; " he may not be up to your ideal of intellectual culture , still as a Brother Mason courtesy is due him ; and for you to ignore him like the typical " poor relation , " or like a member of the " Little Church Around the Corner , " is most discourteous to the visiting
Brother , and even detrimental to your self-respect . For the man who practices this indifference towards the visiting Brother is doing himself harm . He is shutting up his own nature . Instead of cultivating charity and good will toward mon , he is cultivating a miserable spirit of contempt for his fellow men . He is cultivating the " I am holier than thou ' spirit of mind ; and more and more becoming like tho fabled clam that shuts its doors against all comers , and practically says to tho world ,
Courtesy To The Visiting Brother.
"I want as little to do with you as possible . " A Brother with such a spirit should never visit a Lodge nor any other institution where gentlemen of culture socially meet . They should retire to some cave of Adullam or some hermit cell or lonely place where they could enjoy their own company
uncontaminated with the surroundings of their fellow-men . They would be happier , at least more in harmony with that ideal seclusion that they have the while fostered ; and certainly their fellow men would not lose much , if anything , from such retirement on their part .
From this small class of peculiar individuals we do not expect much , so it matters little whether they really retire to the cloister or not ; but from the great body of the Brethren we do expect something better and more in harmony with what a Lodge should be .
If such indifference is merely the lack of thought on the part of the many , then it is time that their attention was called to such lack of courtesy as we have seen . For it is not only unpleasant for the visiting Brother at the time , but he is very apt , because of it , to go away from that Lodge and district with a very poor opinion of the hospitality of the body which he has visited .
Courtesy to the visiting Brethron has everything that is worthy of a Masonic Lodge to recommend it ; and it is one of those things that reacts with compound interest upon both parties—the Lodge and the visitor . On which side of the balance-sheet the effect shall be recorded remains with the Brethren to decide , and I most heartily trust that it shall be on that side that shall cause the visiting Brother to go away with a very high opinion of the members of the Lodge that ho has visited .
Courtesy to the visiting Brother is a most worthy thing for all of us to bear in mind , and to help carry into effect . —ISSAC P . NOYBS , in "American Tyler . "
Ad00802
THE Smokeless Fire Co ., Ltd ., Sole Proprietors of Marsh ' s Patents for the complete combustion of Fuel , as supplied to .-THE GORDON ' HOTEL CO ., LTD ., Hotel " Victoria . " SPIERS AND POND , LTD ., "The Gaiety" Restaurant . SLATER ' S , LTD ., "The Prince of Wales" Hotel . Special Designs to meet all Requirements . — Full particulars from — 100 SHAFTESBURY AVENUE , tONDON , W .
Ad00803
Bro . JOHN THOflAS SHAPCOTT , Proprietor of the NEW RED LION , 181 HARROW ROAD , W ., Has excellent accommodation for Lodges of Instruction .
Ad00804
X W . & J . BALLS , X BOOKBINDEKS , IN ALL BRANCHES . Metropolitan Bookbinding Works , 362 GRAY'S INN ROAD , KING'S CROSS . BOOKS BOOTD TO ANY PATTERN . -, J \ Old Bindings St . Libraries Eepaired & Decorated . J \
Ad00805
Weaver 's Depository . PERSONAL ^^ MMM ~ WEAVER : ' FROM 1 / S | fiM 8 . r . ARLT 0 NTERRACEHPMB H 0 UR ' SUPERVISE raQHBBi ; ™ 8 Carlton Terrace , Harrow Kd ., W,