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Article WHAT MASONRY IS AND DOES. ← Page 2 of 4 Article WHAT MASONRY IS AND DOES. Page 2 of 4 →
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What Masonry Is And Does.
whatever is sweet , generous , genial and beautiful . A true man is the freest , the most noble thing on earth . There is no picture than was ever painted , there is no statue that was ever carved , there was no work of art ever conceived of , that is half so beautiful as is a living map thoroughly developed upon the pattern of his Maker .
There never was a time when it was more needful for us to recur to the power of reason than now ; never a time when we were in more danger of throwing away true permanence for barren change ; never a time when we were in more danger of missing the secret of inevitable success , and a continuity of the
same . If tbe institution of Freemasonry had not stood far above disrepute , far above dishonour , it would not have attracted the best and greatest men of all past ages , who lived and died honoured members of the Order . Many of their funerals were
held under the auspices of Masonic Lodges , and they were laid to rest by fraternal hands . To us they live in the history of the past . They did not live for themselves alone , but they sowed thafc others might reap . They -worked and planned for those
that were to occupy the earth when they were dead . They endeavoured to exert their influence as far into the future as possible , and live beyond their time , realising that to rule as kings of thought over men as yet unborn was the true office of a Mason and the proudest destiny of a man .
There is many a fern that has laid its cheek to the clay and died , the most insignificant event apparently conceivable , and yet after thousands and thousands of years comes the geologist , and when fche miner has laid bare the plant ' s figure stamped upon the stone , he reads iu it a history of ages long ago ; it is just the
fact , it may be , needed to establish certain great theories , and thus this poor vegetable , unnoticed when alive and not heeded when dead , found itself after many years summoned as a witness into the sunshine to testify to men in what steps and what order God created the world . How much more , then , should the influences and good deeds of those great men and exemplary
Freemasons live after them , making us ever mindful of that equity which should characterise all those who are consecrated to truth , and enabling us not to be dissatisfied with men ' s apathy nor disgusted with their follies , nor tire of their indifference , caring ' not for errors or results , but seeing what there is to do and doing it , leaving the result to God .
There have been many doubting Thomases in the church all the way down through the ages . Whose fault is it ? Simply their own , because they blindly say I will not believe unless I can see . Would they say , I will not believe the wind blows unless I can see it ? It is the same doubters who speak ill of Freemasonry .
Cannot men judge something of Masonry by the outward appearances of its members , even though they cannot see and know all of their symbols and modes of recognition ? Will a man with a grain of common sense say that his neighbour who stands high in his community is a rascal , simply because he cannot
know all the privacies of his household ? This is just what some religious cranks and fanatics are saying about some of the grandest men that ever lived . They classify them as being in league with the devil because they belong to Masonic Lodges , and they cannot know their secret modes of recognition .
Where is the man who dares stand up here and tell me that those noble men , Haswell , Tucker , Englesby , Past Grand Masters of the Fraternity of our State , lived and died falsely ? Who believes that the noble Washington , the martyred Garfield , and scores of others eminent in their country ' s service , have gone on before regretting that they were members of the Fraternity , patronised its assemblies and extended its privileges ?
And to-day there are living members of our Order who are numbered with the greatest and best men of every State in this glorious Union ! Yes , glorious Union , and more glorious because it is au inheritance left to us by the battle-scarred veterans , prominent among whom stand in life and in the memory of tlie
past , those brave Vermonters , whom the gallant Sedgwick wanted at the front when great courage and hard fighting were needed . The empty sleeves , the absent and crippled limbs , and the sightless eyes of the survivors bear witness of their bravery and loyalty to the flag .
Among those living members of the Fraternity of Vermont of which I have spoken are our honoured Past Grand Masters Davis , Bowman , Eead , Meacham , Perkins , Hall , Wing , Bacon , Whipple and Haskins , who , like their illustrious predecessors , have done much to mould the opinions of the Masons and people
of our beloved Green Mountain State into virtue , into honour , and they now stand beloved by all . Who believes that such men as these are prostituting their manhood by belonging to an institution such as Freemasonry is sometimes declared to be by
the ignorant , the cranks and the fanatics of our time ? Who believes that my associate Grand Officers of to-day , who are before you in all the pride of their manhood , are lending themselves to the support of the evils of our time ? Others of the living representatives of our Order are the Past
What Masonry Is And Does.
Chief Executives of our Commonwealth , Barstow , Page , Ormsbee , Woodbury , and others , all of whom served our state with distinction to themselves and honour to their constituents . Our own Powers , who is the peer of any of his associates in the Congress of the United States , and his colleague , General
Grout , who has no rival in that dignified body , the eminent and honoured Edmunds , who so ably represented loyal Vermont in the United States Senate for a quarter of a century , and was the acknowledged leader of that august body , to the day of his resignation .
It required a miraculous dispensation to teach the Jew , but I believe that any common sense Vermonter , whether Mason or profane , will say with all the emphasis he possesses that these men are not living a lie and by their example causing others to do the same .
Is it to be supposed that the eminent Bishop Potter , of New York City , and innumerable other divines of the highest type all over the world , and of all denominations , are practising blasphemy and hypocrisy ?
We have at the head of our national government a living example of the highest type and noble exemplar of our Order , President McKinley—that man who has the truth with him , who has a principle as high , if not higher , than any that has gone before ; that man whose policy , whose statesmanship , whose
legislative and executive ability , and whose faith , involves the highest possible reach of human understanding , in a secular as well as a spiritual direction . It behoves every American citizen to stand firm at the wheel , giving him their continued loyal support , and not allow the nation ' s craft to be stranded on the sand , or torn asunder by an unexpected rock .
Who believes that our President , elected by the united voters of this great country , irrespective of party , and whose voice has so long been heard in public places advocating that honour , freedom and equality are essential for the happiness of the people throughout the world , is disgracing that high office by belonging to an institution that is not based upon the eternal principles of right and justice ?
Just as soon as men are willing to insist on a higher standard irrespective of personal ends , just as soon as they are willing to accept the truth in its higher relationships , they will begin to grow strong , their influence will extend , and they will " hold fast to that which is good ; " and others seeing their good
works will follow after , and , united , we shall continue to stand , the mighty power of the world . So it shall be in Freemasonry , if we live up to the great underlying principles of the Order , select our most exemplary men to sit in the high places and hold the reins of Masonic government .
But you say Masonry is a secret society ; so it is to the extent of having its modes of recognition that are not known to the profane , and no further . Every principle and every lesson inculcated is an open book , and its object and purposes are recorded therein .
The society of Good Templars , the Grand Army of the Eepublic , and every college society in this and other cities have as many and the same kind of secrets as Masonry . Are these to be put out of existence on that account ? Never ! They are laudable and will stand until time ends and eternity begins , and so will Freemasonry .
We do not pretend that the members of the Fraternity are all perfect ; but we do believe that there is not another organisation of men on the face of the earth that is so free from the undesirable element of mankind as Freemasonry . But you ask , How about the church ? The answer is that the church is
not distinctively an organisation of men , and fche mission of fche church is more comprehensive ; it reaches out after the low and the vile , the downtrodden—and " May God bless her in the endeavour , "—while Freemasonry accepts knowingly only such as have already bsen purified , or have always been moral and upright .
Brotherly love is one of the tenets of our profession , and we ought always to possess and practice ifc , yet we make mistakes ; but we must forgive each other when we have been offended one by the other . There is no man that lives who does not offend against his neighbour and his friend . We dash ourselves upon each other , not only by ignorance , but by forgefcfulness , by stress of temptation , by anger , by passion .
You will recollect that the Divine Master , when He had given His disciples a form of prayer , commented only on the subject of forgiveness . " If ye forgive men their trespasses your Heavenly Father will also forgive you ; but if ye forgive men nofc
their trespasses , neither will your B ather forgive your trespasses 1 " It is a perilous thing for a man to carry in his heart a spirit that refuses to forgive . And when we forgive , let the forgiveness be large ; let it be thorough ; let it be like that Avhich the Master has afforded us .
Is there a man occupying some high official position whom you hate or dislike ? Is there a man who has been arrested for some crime , or supposed crime , aud everybody is condemning
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
What Masonry Is And Does.
whatever is sweet , generous , genial and beautiful . A true man is the freest , the most noble thing on earth . There is no picture than was ever painted , there is no statue that was ever carved , there was no work of art ever conceived of , that is half so beautiful as is a living map thoroughly developed upon the pattern of his Maker .
There never was a time when it was more needful for us to recur to the power of reason than now ; never a time when we were in more danger of throwing away true permanence for barren change ; never a time when we were in more danger of missing the secret of inevitable success , and a continuity of the
same . If tbe institution of Freemasonry had not stood far above disrepute , far above dishonour , it would not have attracted the best and greatest men of all past ages , who lived and died honoured members of the Order . Many of their funerals were
held under the auspices of Masonic Lodges , and they were laid to rest by fraternal hands . To us they live in the history of the past . They did not live for themselves alone , but they sowed thafc others might reap . They -worked and planned for those
that were to occupy the earth when they were dead . They endeavoured to exert their influence as far into the future as possible , and live beyond their time , realising that to rule as kings of thought over men as yet unborn was the true office of a Mason and the proudest destiny of a man .
There is many a fern that has laid its cheek to the clay and died , the most insignificant event apparently conceivable , and yet after thousands and thousands of years comes the geologist , and when fche miner has laid bare the plant ' s figure stamped upon the stone , he reads iu it a history of ages long ago ; it is just the
fact , it may be , needed to establish certain great theories , and thus this poor vegetable , unnoticed when alive and not heeded when dead , found itself after many years summoned as a witness into the sunshine to testify to men in what steps and what order God created the world . How much more , then , should the influences and good deeds of those great men and exemplary
Freemasons live after them , making us ever mindful of that equity which should characterise all those who are consecrated to truth , and enabling us not to be dissatisfied with men ' s apathy nor disgusted with their follies , nor tire of their indifference , caring ' not for errors or results , but seeing what there is to do and doing it , leaving the result to God .
There have been many doubting Thomases in the church all the way down through the ages . Whose fault is it ? Simply their own , because they blindly say I will not believe unless I can see . Would they say , I will not believe the wind blows unless I can see it ? It is the same doubters who speak ill of Freemasonry .
Cannot men judge something of Masonry by the outward appearances of its members , even though they cannot see and know all of their symbols and modes of recognition ? Will a man with a grain of common sense say that his neighbour who stands high in his community is a rascal , simply because he cannot
know all the privacies of his household ? This is just what some religious cranks and fanatics are saying about some of the grandest men that ever lived . They classify them as being in league with the devil because they belong to Masonic Lodges , and they cannot know their secret modes of recognition .
Where is the man who dares stand up here and tell me that those noble men , Haswell , Tucker , Englesby , Past Grand Masters of the Fraternity of our State , lived and died falsely ? Who believes that the noble Washington , the martyred Garfield , and scores of others eminent in their country ' s service , have gone on before regretting that they were members of the Fraternity , patronised its assemblies and extended its privileges ?
And to-day there are living members of our Order who are numbered with the greatest and best men of every State in this glorious Union ! Yes , glorious Union , and more glorious because it is au inheritance left to us by the battle-scarred veterans , prominent among whom stand in life and in the memory of tlie
past , those brave Vermonters , whom the gallant Sedgwick wanted at the front when great courage and hard fighting were needed . The empty sleeves , the absent and crippled limbs , and the sightless eyes of the survivors bear witness of their bravery and loyalty to the flag .
Among those living members of the Fraternity of Vermont of which I have spoken are our honoured Past Grand Masters Davis , Bowman , Eead , Meacham , Perkins , Hall , Wing , Bacon , Whipple and Haskins , who , like their illustrious predecessors , have done much to mould the opinions of the Masons and people
of our beloved Green Mountain State into virtue , into honour , and they now stand beloved by all . Who believes that such men as these are prostituting their manhood by belonging to an institution such as Freemasonry is sometimes declared to be by
the ignorant , the cranks and the fanatics of our time ? Who believes that my associate Grand Officers of to-day , who are before you in all the pride of their manhood , are lending themselves to the support of the evils of our time ? Others of the living representatives of our Order are the Past
What Masonry Is And Does.
Chief Executives of our Commonwealth , Barstow , Page , Ormsbee , Woodbury , and others , all of whom served our state with distinction to themselves and honour to their constituents . Our own Powers , who is the peer of any of his associates in the Congress of the United States , and his colleague , General
Grout , who has no rival in that dignified body , the eminent and honoured Edmunds , who so ably represented loyal Vermont in the United States Senate for a quarter of a century , and was the acknowledged leader of that august body , to the day of his resignation .
It required a miraculous dispensation to teach the Jew , but I believe that any common sense Vermonter , whether Mason or profane , will say with all the emphasis he possesses that these men are not living a lie and by their example causing others to do the same .
Is it to be supposed that the eminent Bishop Potter , of New York City , and innumerable other divines of the highest type all over the world , and of all denominations , are practising blasphemy and hypocrisy ?
We have at the head of our national government a living example of the highest type and noble exemplar of our Order , President McKinley—that man who has the truth with him , who has a principle as high , if not higher , than any that has gone before ; that man whose policy , whose statesmanship , whose
legislative and executive ability , and whose faith , involves the highest possible reach of human understanding , in a secular as well as a spiritual direction . It behoves every American citizen to stand firm at the wheel , giving him their continued loyal support , and not allow the nation ' s craft to be stranded on the sand , or torn asunder by an unexpected rock .
Who believes that our President , elected by the united voters of this great country , irrespective of party , and whose voice has so long been heard in public places advocating that honour , freedom and equality are essential for the happiness of the people throughout the world , is disgracing that high office by belonging to an institution that is not based upon the eternal principles of right and justice ?
Just as soon as men are willing to insist on a higher standard irrespective of personal ends , just as soon as they are willing to accept the truth in its higher relationships , they will begin to grow strong , their influence will extend , and they will " hold fast to that which is good ; " and others seeing their good
works will follow after , and , united , we shall continue to stand , the mighty power of the world . So it shall be in Freemasonry , if we live up to the great underlying principles of the Order , select our most exemplary men to sit in the high places and hold the reins of Masonic government .
But you say Masonry is a secret society ; so it is to the extent of having its modes of recognition that are not known to the profane , and no further . Every principle and every lesson inculcated is an open book , and its object and purposes are recorded therein .
The society of Good Templars , the Grand Army of the Eepublic , and every college society in this and other cities have as many and the same kind of secrets as Masonry . Are these to be put out of existence on that account ? Never ! They are laudable and will stand until time ends and eternity begins , and so will Freemasonry .
We do not pretend that the members of the Fraternity are all perfect ; but we do believe that there is not another organisation of men on the face of the earth that is so free from the undesirable element of mankind as Freemasonry . But you ask , How about the church ? The answer is that the church is
not distinctively an organisation of men , and fche mission of fche church is more comprehensive ; it reaches out after the low and the vile , the downtrodden—and " May God bless her in the endeavour , "—while Freemasonry accepts knowingly only such as have already bsen purified , or have always been moral and upright .
Brotherly love is one of the tenets of our profession , and we ought always to possess and practice ifc , yet we make mistakes ; but we must forgive each other when we have been offended one by the other . There is no man that lives who does not offend against his neighbour and his friend . We dash ourselves upon each other , not only by ignorance , but by forgefcfulness , by stress of temptation , by anger , by passion .
You will recollect that the Divine Master , when He had given His disciples a form of prayer , commented only on the subject of forgiveness . " If ye forgive men their trespasses your Heavenly Father will also forgive you ; but if ye forgive men nofc
their trespasses , neither will your B ather forgive your trespasses 1 " It is a perilous thing for a man to carry in his heart a spirit that refuses to forgive . And when we forgive , let the forgiveness be large ; let it be thorough ; let it be like that Avhich the Master has afforded us .
Is there a man occupying some high official position whom you hate or dislike ? Is there a man who has been arrested for some crime , or supposed crime , aud everybody is condemning