Making Masons.

MAKING MASONS .

TI THERE has always been more or less discussion as to the best manner of J- electing new members into Masonry . It is the desire of every good Mason that oniy xnen of good standing should be admitted into the fraternity , but it is a very common thing to hear a Mason express surprise when he learns that certain persons have been admitted , and then frequently is ready to give very good reasons why this or that particular person should not have been admitted .

If asked why these objections had not been stated during the investigation of the candidate , the almost invariable reply is that they had no knowledge of the application . I am not familiar with the custom of the country Lodges , or those in smaller cities , but in London each Lodgo , as soon as an application for initiation or membership is received , notifies all the other Lodges , giving

the name of the applicant , residence , occupation , names of the Brethren recommending him , names of the investigating committee , & c . These notices are read by the Secretary of each Lodge at the first communication after the receipt of the notice . This method is supposed to give due notice to the fraternity of such application , and is very good as far as it goes , but it does not go far enough .

Many of the older Masons , who in their younger Masonic life were the most active Masons in the Lodge , and who have the welfare of the Fraternity at heart , do not , unfortunately , attend regularly the Lodge meetings . A large majority of the members of the Fraternity do not attend Lodge , and unless their attention is called to these applications they are ignorant of

them until it is too late to take any action . The argument that , if they had the welfare of the Fraternity at heart they would attend Lodge , is very good as far as such tardy Brethren are concerned , and they have no right to make any complaint about what is done by those who have their shoulder to the wheel and are doing the work ; but the question is—What is best for the Fraternity ?

In the last few years every member in good standing is supposed to get semi-monthly a copy of a Masonic journal , and , judging others by myself , I will venture to say that a majority of the members , no matter whether it is the professional man , the business man , or the mechanic , look forward with pleasure to reading the paper , if not carefully , at least to glance over it . The

Secretary of each Lodge , as soon as an application is received , could notify the paper , and , if all particulars of the application ( the same as are read now in open Lodge ) were given , it would give every member due notice of the

same , and he could , if he knew anything detrimental to the applicant that would unfit him for membership , notify either the investigation committee or the Lodge , verbally , or in writing , and before the ballot is spread a thorough investigation could be had .

There have been admitted some very undesirable persons into tbe fraternity , and more such persons will be admitted , but it would be much better for the fraternity to watch applications much more rigidly than is done at present . Should such a plan as the above be adopted by the Grand Lodge , it would

not be necessary to discontinue the present plan of notifying the Lodges , but it should be continued . Unworthy persons , who were moved by sinister motives , would hesitate to put in their applications if they knew that they had to stand such an investigation , while the desirable applicant would have

nothing to fear . These suggestions are made here in order that the Brethren , if they consider the subject of enough importance , might discuss it ; and I trust some member of the Grand Lodge might be interested enough to bring it before that body for action . — " X ., " in the " Minstrel . "

[ We extract the above as it appeared in our contemporary , but it really seems to be an American item , Anglicized by the substitution of "London" in the second paragraph for some other town written in the original , and as a consequence does not apply to Freemasonry as practised in our midst . It is ,

however , useful as showing what is being done elsewhere , and what might be considered here were it deemed necessary to surround the English Craft with stronger restrictions than already exist } . We might suggest to our contemporary the submission of its " original" Masonic articles to an English Mason , with a view to the prevention of such slips as here referred to . —Ed . F . C . ]

The Use And Abuse Of Ritual.

THE USE AND ABUSE OF RITUAL .

OF all modern innovations into Ancient Freemasonry , the most recent , and the one which perhaps has done more than any other to popularise the Craft , is tbe adoption of a definite ritual into its ceremonies . That some form of catechetical instruction was in use in the earliest Lodges is clear from old records , and that a ritual ceremonial of some kind was employed in communicating the secrets is highly probable ; but it was not until the days

of Anderson and Desaguliers ( about 1717 ) that we find any systematic attempt made to weld the traditions and legends , which had come down in scattered fragments from very early ages , into a definite series of ritual

observances . Evon after their clays the ritual adopted was learned only from mouth to mouth , and was altered and expanded as knowledge increased , and' in the direct ratio of the intelligence and erudition of the leading members of the Order . Printed rituals , tacitly permitted by Grand Lodge ,

The Use And Abuse Of Ritual.

are , so to speak , of yesterday ' s growth , and by no means represent the ceremonies employed by foreign Constitutions . Even in our own Constitution some of the oldest Lodges use rituals varying greatly from those now generally familiar to us . It is well to bear these facts in mind , for the tendency of to-day is to fossilise the ritual , and prevent further expansion

and development ; a course calculated seriously to injure the future of Freemasonry and ultimately to bring its ceremonies into contempt . Freemasonry claims to be a " peculiar system of morality , veiled in

allegory , and illustrated by symbols , " and so long as we teach this system of morality in accordance with the ancient traditions and established customs of the Order , the actual words used , provided that they convey the desired meaning , must be of only secondary importance .

It must not be inferred from this that the ritual now in almost universal

use amongst English Lodges ought to be disregarded . Far from it 1 Every candidate admitted into our Order is entitled to have the lessons of morality imparted to him , and the allegory and symbolism elucidated in a suggestive and impressive manner ; and in a general way the approved ritual of the English Constitution is well calculated to effect this object . In is a too

slavish adherenoe to the wording of the ritual that is to be deprecated . If " word-perfect" rendering of ritual were the chief qualification for the Eastern chair the best Master would be one ( is the type wholly unknown to us ?) who , having comfortably settled his spectacles on his nose , and turned half-round so as to get the advantage of the Master ' s light—which he himself

is supposed to represent—reads off the degree fluently and intelligently to the wondering candidate . But daily experience proves that this type of Master is not a success , can never arouse the interest , much less the enthusiasm , of the initiate ; and probably vacates the chair after twelve months experience of it with a vague and unsatisfactory feeling that

Freemasonry is just a little bit of a fraud— " vox , et prseterea nihil . " The fact is that , however equal all men are in their human capacity as fellow mortals , in intellectual attainments no two men are alike , and in imparting instruction these differences ought to he recognised and taken into account if it is intended that the lessons of the various degrees should prove of any

value to their recipients . If , for instance , our candidate should happen to be a student of ancient history or archaeology , we will be more likely to disgust than to interest him by reeling off the numerous anachronisms and inaccuracies contained in the degree without a word of explanation as to how they came to be received as traditions ; while , to take an extreme case

in the opposite direction , we tend to bewilder instead of to instruct an illiterate person ( however qualified in other ways to become a true and faithful Brother ) by the historical , philosophical , and literary allusions with whioh our ritual abounds . It may , of course , be argued that commentaries on the ritual should be reserved for Lodges of Instruction , or Lodge

meetings , when no other business is entered on the agenda ; but experience teaches us that Lodges of Instruction are almost invariably supported by Brethren who are already sufficiently interested in the subject to read for themselves , or by those desirous of learning parrot-like the ritual of the degrees to qualify themselves for the office of Master .

Again , the Emulation working , which is undoubtedly the best ritual yet promulgated , is very far from perfect , from either a literary or a scientific point of view . Though it sounds well when intelligently recited , many of its sentences defy all the rules of grammar , and cannot be parsed , however partial the grammarian may be towards their familiar ring and rhythm .

And why should he be compelled to shock the ears of a good English scholar , offend the cultured mind of the archaeologist , bewilder the brain o ! the plain business man , or jar upon the religious sense of the ecclesiastic or Biblical student by false quotations from Scripture , twisted or misapplied historical facts from Holy Writ , when a few well-chosen words of explanation , or a

slightly different rendering of the ritual will obviate all this , change disgust or bewilderment into interest , and make the quaint archseisms , inseparable from our ancient traditions , into objects of fascinating research and enquiry ? So long as the Degrees of Freemasonry claim to be forms of instruction it is only fair that individual care and thought should be exercised to effect this

object ; and the better instructed and the more apt in imparting knowledge the Master is , the better may we hope to influence for good the candidate who comes forward to receive the lessons that Freemasonry professes to impart . A glance at the development of the ritual of the Mark Degree in the last fifteen years will serve better to illustrate my meaning than any

abstruse reasoning can possibly do . That the details of the various ceremonials should be regulated by Grand Lodge , as the governing body of Freemasonry , is right and reasonable enough ; that the wording of the ritual should be unalterable is quite another matter . The rational view of the

subject is that the accepted ritual should be acknowledged thankfully by all Masters of Lodges as a useful guide , but at the same time taking to heart the practical and familiar advice of one of our degrees , let us " use it as not abusing it , and go on our way rejoicing . "—Bro . Oswald G . Wood P . M . P . Z . P . D . G . R . Bengal D . G . J . W . Punjab , in " Indian Freemason . "

THE Midland Railway Company announces the last of the season ' s excursions , to be run on Monday next to Birmingham , for one or four days , and on Saturday , for three or six days , to the principal stations in the midland and northern counties served by the Midland Company , the return tickets being available for the following Monday or Thursday . On Saturday there will also be a three days excursion to Manchester , for the races , leaving St . Pancras and Kentish Town Stations shortly after midnight on Friday .