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Article PROVINCIAL. ← Page 16 of 44 →
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Provincial.
" It is men of this class , ( sanguineous drunkards ) who are the heroes of all drunken companies , the patrons of Masonic lodges , the presidents and getters up of jovial meetings . '' ( p . SO . third edition . ) and again at p . 181 . "Let the frequenter of drinking clubs , Masonic lodges , and other bacchanalian assemblages , leave off attending those places ; and if he must drink , let him do so at home . " These are very serious reflections , and if the author ' s classification of Masonic lodges with drunken
companies and bacchanalian assemblages were true , which it is not , the very existence of Freemasonry would have been sealed ages ago , and as a science it would never have reached our times . To avoid all such reflections , however , I would recommend to the Brethren , the practice of those great Masonic virtues , - prudence and temperance ; the former depicted in a Lodge by the blazing star to indicate that prudence ought to be the guide and herald of our Masonic conduct , the ornament of our
actions , ancl the square and rule of all the affairs connected with our order , bow many Lodges have failed in their usefulness ancl permanency for want of attention to this brilliant guide ? It will preserve the conduct of your Lodges regular , their finances unimpaired ; their respectability unimpeached . It will obviate the censure of the world ; ancl while it increases the means pf true enjoyment , by augmenting the resources of intellectual gratificationit graduallameliorates the
dispo-, y sition , and promotes the glorious end for which Freemasonry was designed—the moral perfection of man . Temperance recommends the due government of our disorderly appetites ; ancl while it sanctions the use of those moderate indulgences which it has pleased our gracious Creator to provide ; it prohibits and strongly condemns the abuse of them . It equally forbids a covetous self-denial and a lavish or wasteful
expenditure of tbe means of enjoyment . On the practice of this virtue depends , not onl y our reputation but our health , our property and prosperity in life ; it applies to every individual of the liuman species , but more particularly to the Free and Accepted Mason , who is bound by ties unknown to other men , to rule and govern his passions , to keep a tongue of good report , ancl to practise Masonry , which includes a due regulation of the sensual appetites , ancl particularly the virtues of sobriety and chastity .
I liave alread y remarked that it is but too common for the uninitiated to prefer the vague charges against us , that we meet for the sole purpose of convivial enjoyment . This accusation can only be rebutted by our own regular ancl temperate conduct . If our refreshments be extended to a late hour of the night , our families cannot remain ignorant of it ; ancl tlie world will sooner or later become acquainted with the humiliating fact—humiliating because it needs defenceand tbe best and most
tri-, , umphant answer to a charge of this nature , is a bold and unequivocal reference to facts . Early hours and temperate habits need no defence ; and whatever may have been our avocations in the Lodge , it is equall y satisfactory to our own feelings and reflections , and creditable to the Order which we are bound to adorn , that the critical eye of the world may be unable to detect any deviation , from the strict line of cluty or of virtue . AVhen called to labourlet me recommend to performwith
, you , indefatigable zeal , the task assigned to you by the Master ; ancl when your labours are ended , and the sun has attained his meridian height the hours of relaxation should be so spent as not to afford a practical censure on your toil , by proclaiming its utter worthlessness in failing to restrain those habits ancl propensities which it is its professed aim to ameliorate and assuage . A Loclge of Masons acting up to the principles vol .. ni . 2 G
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Provincial.
" It is men of this class , ( sanguineous drunkards ) who are the heroes of all drunken companies , the patrons of Masonic lodges , the presidents and getters up of jovial meetings . '' ( p . SO . third edition . ) and again at p . 181 . "Let the frequenter of drinking clubs , Masonic lodges , and other bacchanalian assemblages , leave off attending those places ; and if he must drink , let him do so at home . " These are very serious reflections , and if the author ' s classification of Masonic lodges with drunken
companies and bacchanalian assemblages were true , which it is not , the very existence of Freemasonry would have been sealed ages ago , and as a science it would never have reached our times . To avoid all such reflections , however , I would recommend to the Brethren , the practice of those great Masonic virtues , - prudence and temperance ; the former depicted in a Lodge by the blazing star to indicate that prudence ought to be the guide and herald of our Masonic conduct , the ornament of our
actions , ancl the square and rule of all the affairs connected with our order , bow many Lodges have failed in their usefulness ancl permanency for want of attention to this brilliant guide ? It will preserve the conduct of your Lodges regular , their finances unimpaired ; their respectability unimpeached . It will obviate the censure of the world ; ancl while it increases the means pf true enjoyment , by augmenting the resources of intellectual gratificationit graduallameliorates the
dispo-, y sition , and promotes the glorious end for which Freemasonry was designed—the moral perfection of man . Temperance recommends the due government of our disorderly appetites ; ancl while it sanctions the use of those moderate indulgences which it has pleased our gracious Creator to provide ; it prohibits and strongly condemns the abuse of them . It equally forbids a covetous self-denial and a lavish or wasteful
expenditure of tbe means of enjoyment . On the practice of this virtue depends , not onl y our reputation but our health , our property and prosperity in life ; it applies to every individual of the liuman species , but more particularly to the Free and Accepted Mason , who is bound by ties unknown to other men , to rule and govern his passions , to keep a tongue of good report , ancl to practise Masonry , which includes a due regulation of the sensual appetites , ancl particularly the virtues of sobriety and chastity .
I liave alread y remarked that it is but too common for the uninitiated to prefer the vague charges against us , that we meet for the sole purpose of convivial enjoyment . This accusation can only be rebutted by our own regular ancl temperate conduct . If our refreshments be extended to a late hour of the night , our families cannot remain ignorant of it ; ancl tlie world will sooner or later become acquainted with the humiliating fact—humiliating because it needs defenceand tbe best and most
tri-, , umphant answer to a charge of this nature , is a bold and unequivocal reference to facts . Early hours and temperate habits need no defence ; and whatever may have been our avocations in the Lodge , it is equall y satisfactory to our own feelings and reflections , and creditable to the Order which we are bound to adorn , that the critical eye of the world may be unable to detect any deviation , from the strict line of cluty or of virtue . AVhen called to labourlet me recommend to performwith
, you , indefatigable zeal , the task assigned to you by the Master ; ancl when your labours are ended , and the sun has attained his meridian height the hours of relaxation should be so spent as not to afford a practical censure on your toil , by proclaiming its utter worthlessness in failing to restrain those habits ancl propensities which it is its professed aim to ameliorate and assuage . A Loclge of Masons acting up to the principles vol .. ni . 2 G