Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Why Lodge Ye Without The Walls ?
the good fortune of the returned Babylonian captives in having secured the favour of Cyrus and that ho had publicly declared thafc " the Lord He is God . " Accordingly a delegation of the Samaritan leaders came over from Galileo to Judea to see about this restoration of the ruined
city and temple npon which thousands of workmen were now engaged in rebuilding . They professed much amity and offered to help in tbe great and glorious undertaking . But tbey had camped without the walls . They did not seek to mingle with the Judean workmen , and so
Zernbbabel was suspicions of their protestations and asks the question : " If ye bo honest in your offers of assistance , why Lodge ye without the walls ? " The reply to this interrogation is not recorded , but it is here in place to tell who these Samaritans were . These peoplo were the
secessionists who , to the number of ten tribes , revolted against Rehoboam , the son of Solomon . All that was left , therefore , of the kingdom established by Solomon was the tribe of Judah and Benjamin . Tho revolted tribes under
Jereboam established themselves in what was known as Samaria , where , for a succession of years , they flourished nnder the national name of Israel , while the two strong tribes of Judah and Benjamin maintained their separate independence with the capital still at Jerusalem .
As the years rolled by the kingdom of Israel diminished , while that of Judea flourished . Finally when Shalmaneser , King of Assyria , besieged the capital city of Samaria for three years , the city was taken and Israel was carried into captivity to Assyria and vitually dispersed to
no more be recognised as a nation . It is difficult to understand tbe bitterness that must have prevailed between these two branches of the former kingdom of David to permit such wholesale destruction of one-half the former great nation by this Assyrian king . While he was for
three years besieging the capital of Israel , Judah offered no assistance to tbeir afflicted brethren , but were at the time in the very zenith of prosperity . What served to keep alive this bitterness through all the years is difficult to imagine , bufc it lasted to the time of Christ . Tbe
result was tbafc Israel was totally dispersed . The former kingdom of Samaria was occupied by a mongrel class of people , who called themselves Samaritans , but were so insignificant in number as to cause no uneasiness on the part of their conquerors . Finally the end of the kingdom
of Judah came and tho Chaldean army , under Nebuzaradan , after a soigo of eighteen months , took the city , destroyed the temple of Solomon and led the children of Judah—with their last king , Zedckiah—captive to
Babylon . The story of the return of the captives is well known , and after the dangers of a 500 mile journey along the edge of the great Arabian desert , they arrived at Jerusalem to meet obstacle and discouragement from these Samaritans . These latter had become influential to a
certain extent , and succeeded m retarding the building of fche second temple for twenty years , until Ahasuerus , prompted by Eshter , his Jewish queen , revoked tbo edict against the Jews and permitted the temple to be completed . All this is bufc indefinitely hinted at in the Holy Royal
Arch ritual , and tbe study of tbe story of the building of the second temple reads like a romance , as told by Josephus . From the lips of the Master Mason of the long ago , in bis answer to the Samaritans , comes to the Master Mason to-day the samo interrogation : " Why lodge ye
• without the walls ? " We will presume you to be a Royal Arch Mason , and in peace , love and unity you are delegated to aid and assist in this great and glorious undertaking . There is the wall of duty , behind which you should be working . Are yon lodging outside of it ? Wonderful
discoveries are yours to make amid the ruins that sin and sorrow have created , but you cannot make them without encountering great dangers and difficulties . Are you shirking these responsibilities by lodging without the walls ? There is the wall of privilege behind which you
should be handling crow , pick and spade . Yours to do mnch to help your brother on in the weary journey of Jiff . It is your blessed privilege . Have you pitched your teiit outside this moral activity and are supinely looking on r Why lodge ye without tho walls , companions ? The interrogation comes to us all . —American Tyler .
Rule 219.
RULE 219 .
WE must confess to a feeling of intense surrrise at tho result of the discussion on Clause 210 which
Rule 219.
took place at tho Grand Lodge of England . The question at issue was , whether , if the majority of a Lodgo decides to secede to another Constitution , an event constantly happening , and likely to happen , in connection with tho formation of Grand Lodges in the Colonies , that majority
can carry thc Lodge with it , or whether , under Rule 219 any threo members can retain the Warrant , and thus nullify the action of perhaps au overwhelming majority of the members . Thc Lodge Cambrian , of New South Wale ? , had decided to join the local Constitution—a very wise
decision—as the said Constitution is fully recognised by thc Grand Lodge of England , and for one or two Lodges to per .-ist in ictaining allegiance to a distant authority after all their sisters havo gone over to the local Constitution , is not calcu ' ated to preserve harmony . A small
minority held out , and maintained that , under Article 219 , they wero entitled to retain tbo Warrant . The Colonial Board , supported by the Graud Registrar , decided against them , and the Warrant was cancelled . Against this decision they appealed to Grand Lodge , and that august
body has , for once , overruled tho Grand Registrar , and sustained the appeal . Such a ruling , wo venture to say , shows a very narrow spirit , and a total ignorance of the conditions obtaining in tho Colonies . It is a futile attempt , whether all its supporters recognise the facfc or not , to
render for over impossible the formation of any more Colonial Grand Lodges . Take" South Africa for an example . We feel perfectly confident that ere long there will bo a large preponderance of opinion in favour of union in one Grand Lodge , at least a
preponderance of opinion on the part of individual brethren , and yet , however overwhelming tbafc perponderance may be , we doubt nofc tbat in every Lodge in tho Colony ifc will bo found possible to find three irreconcileables who will cling to the old allegiance . Under
Grand Lodge ruling , all these Lodges could retain their Wnnants , and confusion would be worse confounded . Even supposing that fche new Grand Lodge were , by some unknown means , established and recognised , it could hardly go on its way in face of fifty or sixty Lodges holding
aloof from it . But the further question arises , as to bow could a Grand Lodge come into being under such conditions . To form a Grand Lodge a certain number of Lodges must decide that it is an advisable thing , and join in establishing it . But if a tiny minority of three is to
have its own way , this identical step could hardly bo taken , for we presume thafc the ruling of Grand Lodge as to L . dges wishing to transfer to an already cfct . b'ir-hod body , would a fortiori , apply to tho case in which they seek to establ sh one which
has nofc yefc any being . We are speaking , of course , of procedure under strictly constitutional lines according to thc dictum of tho Mother Grand Lodges , and it is only on such lines that those who are moving for the establishment of a Graud Lodge here wish to proceed , because they
aro influenced in their action , not by any feeling of hostility tn , or discontent with , tho old bodies , but solely by tho conviction that without secession it is impossible to
obtain tbat union of Masonic effort which is so desirable . So long as the old Grand Lodges are reasonable , these men will persist in working on these lines , looking forward to thc continuance of a tie which will bo none the less real
because it is not of a directly legal character , bufc if tho home bodies put impossible conditions in tho way , they will bo forced into " ganging their ain gait , " which is certainly nofc desirable . —South African Freemason .
A good Mason will not speak ill of his Lodge . Or his brethren . Or of his neighbour . IIo will not spread an evil report about any one . lio will take the best possible view of a brother's misconduct He will bo prompted by the Golden Kule in all his act ? .
He will hivo pity npon the poor , and regard tho cry of the needy . tin will try to n . ake tire world bettor . IIo will be slow to anger , and plenteous in mercy as it is possible for a human being to become . He will guard hia speech in tho presence of those not members of our Fraternity .
He will keep the proceedings of our Lodges to himself . He will never bo guilty of a " mean revenge or malice false . " He will avoid conduct that will bring reproach npon our Fraternity . He will be slow to oomunicate his affairs to others , eveu morabera of tho Fraternity—not all who cry " Lord ! Lord ! " can enter in . ' —Keyatons .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Why Lodge Ye Without The Walls ?
the good fortune of the returned Babylonian captives in having secured the favour of Cyrus and that ho had publicly declared thafc " the Lord He is God . " Accordingly a delegation of the Samaritan leaders came over from Galileo to Judea to see about this restoration of the ruined
city and temple npon which thousands of workmen were now engaged in rebuilding . They professed much amity and offered to help in tbe great and glorious undertaking . But tbey had camped without the walls . They did not seek to mingle with the Judean workmen , and so
Zernbbabel was suspicions of their protestations and asks the question : " If ye bo honest in your offers of assistance , why Lodge ye without the walls ? " The reply to this interrogation is not recorded , but it is here in place to tell who these Samaritans were . These peoplo were the
secessionists who , to the number of ten tribes , revolted against Rehoboam , the son of Solomon . All that was left , therefore , of the kingdom established by Solomon was the tribe of Judah and Benjamin . Tho revolted tribes under
Jereboam established themselves in what was known as Samaria , where , for a succession of years , they flourished nnder the national name of Israel , while the two strong tribes of Judah and Benjamin maintained their separate independence with the capital still at Jerusalem .
As the years rolled by the kingdom of Israel diminished , while that of Judea flourished . Finally when Shalmaneser , King of Assyria , besieged the capital city of Samaria for three years , the city was taken and Israel was carried into captivity to Assyria and vitually dispersed to
no more be recognised as a nation . It is difficult to understand tbe bitterness that must have prevailed between these two branches of the former kingdom of David to permit such wholesale destruction of one-half the former great nation by this Assyrian king . While he was for
three years besieging the capital of Israel , Judah offered no assistance to tbeir afflicted brethren , but were at the time in the very zenith of prosperity . What served to keep alive this bitterness through all the years is difficult to imagine , bufc it lasted to the time of Christ . Tbe
result was tbafc Israel was totally dispersed . The former kingdom of Samaria was occupied by a mongrel class of people , who called themselves Samaritans , but were so insignificant in number as to cause no uneasiness on the part of their conquerors . Finally the end of the kingdom
of Judah came and tho Chaldean army , under Nebuzaradan , after a soigo of eighteen months , took the city , destroyed the temple of Solomon and led the children of Judah—with their last king , Zedckiah—captive to
Babylon . The story of the return of the captives is well known , and after the dangers of a 500 mile journey along the edge of the great Arabian desert , they arrived at Jerusalem to meet obstacle and discouragement from these Samaritans . These latter had become influential to a
certain extent , and succeeded m retarding the building of fche second temple for twenty years , until Ahasuerus , prompted by Eshter , his Jewish queen , revoked tbo edict against the Jews and permitted the temple to be completed . All this is bufc indefinitely hinted at in the Holy Royal
Arch ritual , and tbe study of tbe story of the building of the second temple reads like a romance , as told by Josephus . From the lips of the Master Mason of the long ago , in bis answer to the Samaritans , comes to the Master Mason to-day the samo interrogation : " Why lodge ye
• without the walls ? " We will presume you to be a Royal Arch Mason , and in peace , love and unity you are delegated to aid and assist in this great and glorious undertaking . There is the wall of duty , behind which you should be working . Are yon lodging outside of it ? Wonderful
discoveries are yours to make amid the ruins that sin and sorrow have created , but you cannot make them without encountering great dangers and difficulties . Are you shirking these responsibilities by lodging without the walls ? There is the wall of privilege behind which you
should be handling crow , pick and spade . Yours to do mnch to help your brother on in the weary journey of Jiff . It is your blessed privilege . Have you pitched your teiit outside this moral activity and are supinely looking on r Why lodge ye without tho walls , companions ? The interrogation comes to us all . —American Tyler .
Rule 219.
RULE 219 .
WE must confess to a feeling of intense surrrise at tho result of the discussion on Clause 210 which
Rule 219.
took place at tho Grand Lodge of England . The question at issue was , whether , if the majority of a Lodgo decides to secede to another Constitution , an event constantly happening , and likely to happen , in connection with tho formation of Grand Lodges in the Colonies , that majority
can carry thc Lodge with it , or whether , under Rule 219 any threo members can retain the Warrant , and thus nullify the action of perhaps au overwhelming majority of the members . Thc Lodge Cambrian , of New South Wale ? , had decided to join the local Constitution—a very wise
decision—as the said Constitution is fully recognised by thc Grand Lodge of England , and for one or two Lodges to per .-ist in ictaining allegiance to a distant authority after all their sisters havo gone over to the local Constitution , is not calcu ' ated to preserve harmony . A small
minority held out , and maintained that , under Article 219 , they wero entitled to retain tbo Warrant . The Colonial Board , supported by the Graud Registrar , decided against them , and the Warrant was cancelled . Against this decision they appealed to Grand Lodge , and that august
body has , for once , overruled tho Grand Registrar , and sustained the appeal . Such a ruling , wo venture to say , shows a very narrow spirit , and a total ignorance of the conditions obtaining in tho Colonies . It is a futile attempt , whether all its supporters recognise the facfc or not , to
render for over impossible the formation of any more Colonial Grand Lodges . Take" South Africa for an example . We feel perfectly confident that ere long there will bo a large preponderance of opinion in favour of union in one Grand Lodge , at least a
preponderance of opinion on the part of individual brethren , and yet , however overwhelming tbafc perponderance may be , we doubt nofc tbat in every Lodge in tho Colony ifc will bo found possible to find three irreconcileables who will cling to the old allegiance . Under
Grand Lodge ruling , all these Lodges could retain their Wnnants , and confusion would be worse confounded . Even supposing that fche new Grand Lodge were , by some unknown means , established and recognised , it could hardly go on its way in face of fifty or sixty Lodges holding
aloof from it . But the further question arises , as to bow could a Grand Lodge come into being under such conditions . To form a Grand Lodge a certain number of Lodges must decide that it is an advisable thing , and join in establishing it . But if a tiny minority of three is to
have its own way , this identical step could hardly bo taken , for we presume thafc the ruling of Grand Lodge as to L . dges wishing to transfer to an already cfct . b'ir-hod body , would a fortiori , apply to tho case in which they seek to establ sh one which
has nofc yefc any being . We are speaking , of course , of procedure under strictly constitutional lines according to thc dictum of tho Mother Grand Lodges , and it is only on such lines that those who are moving for the establishment of a Graud Lodge here wish to proceed , because they
aro influenced in their action , not by any feeling of hostility tn , or discontent with , tho old bodies , but solely by tho conviction that without secession it is impossible to
obtain tbat union of Masonic effort which is so desirable . So long as the old Grand Lodges are reasonable , these men will persist in working on these lines , looking forward to thc continuance of a tie which will bo none the less real
because it is not of a directly legal character , bufc if tho home bodies put impossible conditions in tho way , they will bo forced into " ganging their ain gait , " which is certainly nofc desirable . —South African Freemason .
A good Mason will not speak ill of his Lodge . Or his brethren . Or of his neighbour . IIo will not spread an evil report about any one . lio will take the best possible view of a brother's misconduct He will bo prompted by the Golden Kule in all his act ? .
He will hivo pity npon the poor , and regard tho cry of the needy . tin will try to n . ake tire world bettor . IIo will be slow to anger , and plenteous in mercy as it is possible for a human being to become . He will guard hia speech in tho presence of those not members of our Fraternity .
He will keep the proceedings of our Lodges to himself . He will never bo guilty of a " mean revenge or malice false . " He will avoid conduct that will bring reproach npon our Fraternity . He will be slow to oomunicate his affairs to others , eveu morabera of tho Fraternity—not all who cry " Lord ! Lord ! " can enter in . ' —Keyatons .