What Masonry Is And Does.

him , yourself among the nnmber ? I say , Halt ; you are an enemy to those men ; you do not love them , and therefore cannot judge righteous judgment of them . No man can judge rightly of another unless he loves him . How much would you give for the history of the life of some great man , written by an enemy ? No man can be just to

another who is prejudiced against him . Men are so selfish that they will nofc give their fellow men their just due . They cannot eiidure the faults of their fellows . Men cannot get along well together , except where there is diffusive kindness and benevolence . When our souls are imbued with this we are ready to assist each

other m bearing the burdens of life joyfully aud gladly . If we do not love a man , we are always aggravating him at a point where he cannot stand temptation , bufc if we do love him we shall shield him from temptation . A . loving heart is God ' s shield , and it is the best protection you can throw about a man .

We are taught in Masonic rituals , as we are taught in the Bible , that it is our duty to remind our Brother of his faults , and endeavour to aid his reformation . It is often the case when we undertake to do this thafc we are rebuffed and perhaps insulted , and we do not all seem to understand why it is so . It is simply because we do not approach him in a spirit of love .

No man can tell another man his faults in such a manner as will tend to reform him unless he loves him . If we hate a man there is always a spirit of contempt within us when we undertake to tell him his faults and it is bound to show on the

outside . It is an infernal spirit that takes pleasure in the faults of others , and was rightly rebuked by St . Paul when he uttered the words , " Eejoicefch nofc in iniquity . " Many thousands of men rejoice more in iniquity than anything else . As soon as they . hear the man in whom the spirit of the devil is working say ,

Have you heard what Mr . Jones or Mr . Smith has been doing ? they eagerly inquire all about it . It is so delightful to hear that Mr . Jones has been doing wrong , that they fairly rejoice in it . This is the very spirit of the devil himself , and I am sorry to say that it is the spirit of human society to a great extent , and that I fear almost every human heart is in some measure tinctured with ifc . It is despised by God , and ought to be by men .

The man who has the true spirit of Brotherly love , never finds pleasure in the faults of others , but it grieves him almost as much as though the faults were his own . Does it not grieve us as much to discover faults in those we love as to discover them in ourselves , and would we not suffer ourselves to save them from ruin or disgrace ?

When a man is moved by this spirit , he can go to others and tell them kindly of their faults , and help them get rid of them . Men will generally listen earnestly to be told of their faults by a person who has this kindly disposition , but never by one who has ifc not .

And that which is true in the family and among men in the world in this regard is true in a Masonic Lodge . There is no question but that a Master of a Lodge may say what he thinks is necessary , if his heart is full of Brotherly love . A Master who hates sin and disobedience , and is always thinking how wicked

it is , cannot make a proper impression upon his erring Brother . It is true we are taught to abhor that which is evil , but this is not all , we are to love our fellow men , and a Master must not only abhor evil , but must love his Brethren , so that when he calls their attention to disagreeable truths they will know that he does it because he loves them and desires to do them good .

It is no wonder that men do not want to listen to disagreeable facts about themselves , told to them by men whose hearts are cold as stone ; but talk to them in the spirit of love , and they will bear it and profit by it . Mahometanism , which , after an expanse of twelve centuries , numbering a hundred million of believers , was propagated by the sword and uoheld by the power of a civil government .

Freemasonry , unlike Christianity , claims no divine founder , nor has it been spread by superhuman energy . Nor like Mahometanism does ifc owe its origin to fraud , nor its dissemination to force . It has maintained its long existence by virtue of its inherent excellence , its adaptation to the wants , weaknesses , the requirements of man ' s nature , alleviating his sufferings , elevating him intellectually , and improving him morally .

The characteristics to which your attention is invited , though addressing themselves little to the cognisance of fche senses , and veiled in their modes of operations from the gaze of the uninitiated , rise in the sublimity of their importance high above any outward and physical benefits . 1 refer to the arrangements which

Freemasonry provides in the temples dedicated to its service , for the intellectual cultivation and mora ! improvement of its members — -teaching by its solemn form , its imposing and significant symbols , its instructive and sublime mysteries , that the mind must be cultivated , and aiding in its cultivation—that the heart must be improved , and laboring for its improvement . Cicero , in his De Oratore , exclaims , " What a triumph for the orator that in the gift of speech , by which men are distinguish ed

What Masonry Is And Does.

from the animal creation , he should be distinguished from other men ! " The remark may be extended to all departments of mental action , to the mind itself ; and as by reason man is elevated above fche brutes thafc perish , what an achievement it would be , in

reason itself , to rise above others ! How little are multitudes of our fellow beings in advance of the ( ower orders of fche creation ? How limited the range of their observation ? How confined the circle of their ideas ? How deplorable the prejudices and superstitions in which ignorance keeps them enthralled ?

Place before you an example of this large class . To his intellectual vision how dark is all around him ! He see the sun as dashing away the mists of fche morning . He shrinks back from the blaze of its meridian brightness ; he glances at the bright orb again , as in unspeakable glory ifc sinks beneath the western wave . But he looks upon it only " with the eye of an ox . " The moon

and the stars which people immensity are to him bufc the dim lights by which tbe traveller threads his path , and the mariner guides his bark . Literature , it has been said , so truthfully and beautifully " brings gladness to eyes that fail wifch wakefulness and tears , and ache for the dark house and long sleep , " is all

around him , but he has no organ by which he can avail birnsejf of its consolations . Poetry , wifch its enchanting melodies , magnificent imagery and glorious conceptions , offers no sedative to his cares . No creation of fancy , no romance , no written eloquence , can touch the insensible heart .

Freemasonry , whose other name is Light , seeks to dispel this deplorable darkness from the minds of its votaries . It endeavours to teach them truth , to store their minds \ vith knowledge . Tbe aid it can impart is given freely , cheerfully , affectionately . When that is exhausted , they are commended to other sources by the most urgent admonitions , and oft repeated

charges . Are we wise if we fail to avail ourselves to the ; utjnost of these instructions , and turn a deaf ear . to these admonitions ? But Freemasonry not only imparts to us knowledge , it teaches morality ; it not only demands the cultivation , of ; fehe intellect , it more impressively requires improvement of ; the > he , art . Never was there an institution of earthly origin which taught a

code of sublimer morals by more imposing forms , more signifying symbols , and more impressive mysteries . Freemasonry teaches us to do to our neighbour as we would , that . he should dp unto us . Ifc demands that we be temperate in our pleasures , just in . our dealings , prudent in our actions , firm under our . afflictions ,

truthful in our converse and kind in our feelings . To profanity it gives no license . The Mason has scarcely crossed the threshold of the Temple when he is taught never , to mentjionthe name of Deity without thafc reverence due to the Great 4 rchite . ct of the Universe .

To all the admonitions which-can be brought , from , qther sources in condemnation of drunkenness , it adds one of the most solemn import , which is peculiarly its own : That fche members of the Craffc shall nofc acquire a habit , the indulgence . of which may lead them "to disclose some of those valuable secrets which they have promised to conceal , and never . to reveal ; and , which would subject them to the contempt and detestation of all . good Masons . "

How deep and overwhelming the condemnation qf . him ., who , professing to be a Mason , is a bad man ; Xkno . wrno , conteu-jpt more deplorably hopeless than hjs . When the ; light , that is in him has become darkness , . how great is that . dar ^ iiess ! , It ,. is inexpressibly gratifying to know that , if we cannot , all excel . ' in knowledge ; if early neglect of the mind and of opportunities ; if

pressure of business , poverty , or even natural distaste ,, forbid us becoming learned men ; , none of these make , it impossible for us to become good men ; and if the element of the sublime . enter into aught of man ' s actions or endeavours , surely it is into his efforts to become better . Place before yourselves a . fellow , being , whose earnest , persevering , sleepless exertions are to discharge

all his duties ; to subdue and regulate his passions ; to obtain a mastery over a naturally ungovernable , temper ; to , banish sall envy and enmity from his heart ; whose resolute determination , consistently acted upon , is never to speak thafc which , it not trjie , nor to judge that which is not kind ; who . has . ever , before his

mind some exalted "beau ideal " of . excellence , which he , is striving to attain to , by unremitting watchfulness , . by frequent self-examinations ; improving and amending in , each , to-day what was done amiss yesterday ; what , I ask , can . earth , offer more worthy of admiration and homage than such a man ?

A heathen philosopher has exclaimed , in a , transport of rapture , " What ardent love would Virtue inspire , if it could be seen . " Do we , my brothers , strive to commend it to . our species by embodying it in ourselves—still more , do we strive to commend it to those without our noble Craft , in whose prosperity we are so

much interested , and whose good name we hold so dear , by becoming ourselves living , breathing , tangible and visible representatives and exemplifications of its sublime teachings ? Well might I exclaim , What ardent love would Freemasonry inspire , if it could be seen translated and transfigured . in our acts and persons , from its closed temples , so as to address itself