Freemasonry And The Fair Sex

the means taken to ensure our enjoyment , without the least possibility of their sharing in the pleasures recounted ? We imagine so , but we will go so far as to tell the ladies—or those at least who have an opportunity of

reading these lines—that there is no necessity for their permanent exclusion from the pleasures of Freemasonry . They can share , with their husbands , the enjoyments of a summer festival , tbe attractions of a Masonic ball , or the

quiet , but perhaps equally enjoyable , ladies night at the Lodge . In future they may tell their husbands such festivities are not unconstitutional , but rather that they are fully recognised by the authorities of Grand Lodge ,

who seldom refuse permission for the wearing of Masonic clothing at Masonic meetings attended by ladies , and who are always willing to give the use of our Grand Temple to add to the enjoyment of the ladies attending one or other

of the Masonic Festivals held at the London headquarters . We eay then the remedy rests with tbe ladies themselves ; we are not disclosing too much of our secrets when we tell them that every candidate for Freemasonry must come

of his own free will and accord , without solicitation from those who are already members of the Fraternity . Perhaps this is the reason so few meetings for the benefit of the ladies have been held in the past ; their husbands may

have thought the laws of the Craft precluded them from inviting their wives to share the enjoyments of Freemasonry , and the ladies may not have been aware there is no restrictive rule . Now they know different , and will , perhaps ,

avail themselves of their right to ask for admission , as their husbands have clone before them . If they come well and worthily recommended we do not think they can be

refused , and in the face of the song we all know so well it is difficult to believe any Mason would not be prepared to well and worthily recommend those nearest and dearest to him .

The season of summer festivals is over , but we need hardly remind our fair friends that balls and parties will take their place , and if the former are impossible amid the inclemency of the next few months , the latter derive

much of their charm from the ice and snow of an English winter . We will not advise the ladies to seek in a Masonic ball alone the pleasures they are entitled to , as we feel sure many of them would rather enjoy a quiet evening with

their husbands after a regular Lodge meeting ; and this moreover is within the power of every Master to arrange for j whereas a Masonic ball is not only a heavy responsibility , but an actual impossibility in many quarters . In our

last issue we gave particulars of such a meeting as we now suggest , and although the praise we there accorded may be pronounced fulsome by some , it is none too great when considered in connection with the amount of enjoyment the

meeting ga \ e to the members of the William Preston Lodge and those who shared with them the pleasures of a Masonic banquet . Even at that meeting we heard more than one guest express a desire that similar gatherings might be arranged in other Lodges , and we feel sure that

wherever they are provided they will afford as much pleasure and enjoyment as was the case here . The ladies may be assured of our warmest sympathy and support ,

and we hope they will put to the test the advice we have given them—to seek for themselves a participation in the enjoyments of Freemasonry . In saying that little or nothing has been done in the

past by Freemasons on behalf of the ladies we must not omit to refer to those grand exceptions the Masonic Institutions . The brethren of England do their best for all who ask for assistance , but the ladies in this respect receive the lion ' s share of their favours . The Girls' School and

the Widows' Fund of the Benevolent Institution combined provide for more than the Boys' School and the Male branch of the Benevolent Institution , and we are convinced the proportion will always be in favour of the weaker sex . If the brethren of England did nothing more

than support the School and the Annuity Fund founded for the help of the daughters and widows of their deceased brethren they would do well , but there is no reason wh y they should not do better . We do not like looking to the

possible gain to Freemasonry which would accrue from a general admission of ladies to its enjoyments , but we cannot help thinking that if they were brought closer into contact with the inner work of Freemasonry they might

attempt much more than they have hitherto done . The Girls' School and the Widows' Fund , to our thinking , particularly appeal to the ladies , and we feel it is onl y necessary to make them better acquainted with the work

Freemasonry And The Fair Sex

done to ensure from them a more active participation in its responsibilities . We do not imagine they would ever hope to compete with the brethren in the amount of their help , but they could run them close in enthusiasm and good

endeavours . We are frequently told that the Mnsonio banquet affords the best opportunity for making known to the brethren the needs and requirements of the Institutions ,

and if to the brethren , why not to the sisters ? Let the experiment be tried , and , as we have previously said , we have little fear of the result . If the ladies conld be

induced to work on behalf of the mothers and daughters of the Craft , they would relieve the brethren of much of their responsibility in this quarter , and they would thus enable their husbands to give more to their distressed

brethren and the sons of those who are gone from among us . They would thereby confer an inestimable blessing on Freemasonry and the world at large . How can we bring them face to face with the work to be accomplished ?

—by inviting them to a participation in our pleasures , and then showin r them the responsibilities with which we are surrounded . There is nothing unconstitutional in the proposal , nothing which the most severe disciplinarian

can find fault with , and yet it has not been attempted in the past . Is this to be accounted for on the grounds we have mentioned ? or is there any other reason which

prevents English Craftsmen from displaying that loyalty they all boast of ? We think not , but Shakespeare has told us

that—Men were deceivers ever . Let us hope ere long they will be put to a severe test by the wives of the brethren , and that the result may prove that the immortal bard was not invariably correct in his surmises .

Freemasonry Is Principle Incarnate.

FREEMASONRY IS PRINCIPLE INCARNATE .

( Continued from p 339 . ) FREEMASONRY , unveiling to its initiates the true meaning of much that perplexes and confounds in this life , calls into noblest action the reason , and in the

presentation of moral , philosophical , political and religious truth , gives ample play to all its powers . The influence of our Order will be measured by what it does in this direction , and here there can be no mistake of judgment .

We are thus led up to the consideration of the second , or religious , feature of Freemasonry . That it has a religious side is often suggested as a reason for its destruction by its enemies , who charge it with a sinister effect on the Church ,

because it has a religious side . That there is any antagonism between Masonry and the Christian faith is not for a moment believed by those who are familiar with its teachings , and to them there is no necessity for a denial of such a charge . But in a paper , a short time since , an

argument against Masonry was based on the charge that " it is a religious system , having a moral code and a ritual of worship . " When we come to consider this religious side of Freemasonry , it is essential , then , that we have at the

outset a definition of religion which is broad enough to cover all forms of human faith and belief . Religion , thus properly defined , means any reverence of a Supreme Being which enters into life as a factor in its development . Lord

Bacon calls religion " the chief bond of human society , " and viewed in its constant recognition of the supervision by Deity of human conduct , it is an effective agent in binding men closely together . And yet , when we reflect

on the numerous religious wars which have marred human history , we are driv n to the conclusion that if we do not have a broad and general definition of religion , we cannot call it the " chief bond of human society . " We , therefore ,

take religion to be any expression of human faith in a Supreme Being , regardless of the way in which such belief is made manifest to the world at large . Religion is , then , more than ritual , and more than any special faith . The

lowest people in the scale of civilization have a form of belief which may be classed as religious , as well as those who are most advanced . We are not called upon to

distinguish in this connection between that which is true and that which is false in religion , for the question at issue is not as to the comparative value of different systems , but as to the value of faith itself , as a factor in human