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Article TO THE MASONS OF ENGLAND. ← Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Masons Of England.
worse than folly ; strip the actor in the business of the intention so to apply them , and he is folly ' s minister , not a Mason . A Mason ought to he a minister of the great God of Charity ; pledged to carry out the benevolent intentions of the great Architect of the Universe—the diffusion of fraternal love . He is so pledged . And how does he fulfil it ? By giving some ten per cent , of the lodge funds to charity ( being so compelled hy the constitutions of the Grand Lodge under which he liolds his
warrant ) and the other to festivity . If we must have champagne dinners , et ccetera suppers , have them—hut do not prostitute Masonry to such purposes . It is this which , like a foul disease , is destroying the very vitals ofthe Order ; it is this which is inundating the Order with mere pleasure-seekers ; and no wonder . A premium is held out to the glutton and the wine-bibber . For it is notorious that a regular frequenter of the banquets costs the Lodge double the amount of his
subscription . It is against this state of things that the voice of the enthusiast is raised . It may be a feeble voice ; it may be an unheeded voice ; but it is the indignant cry of honest men , zealous for the honour and integrity of an Order to which they are deeply attached . I would wish to see Masonry a contradiction to the assertion , that in England nothing can he done without a dinner . I would wish to see the fact of a man ' s being a member of a Mason ' s Lodgea guarantee to the world of his
, integrity and virtue . Why is it not so ? Because the Lodge is turned from a scho ' ol of morality , into a mere mimic representation of virtue . Because its holy ground has been desecrated by the feet of the worshippers of the world . Because Virtue , Honour , Temperance , and Justice have been expelled bv Lewdness , Pride , and the Appetite . In
a word , because men have been admitted into the Order , to whom the spirit of the institution was foolishness ; and who by little and little have perverted its glorious intentions , and discharged its rich streams of charity into the pockets of the tavernkeeper . I do not deny that good flows from the Order , even as at present managed , but the good is not seasoned with charity ; the good ( when compared with the immense resources of the Order , composed as it is of men well-to-do in the worldand thousands and thousands of immense wealth ) is insignificant
, ; whereas it ought to flow forth a mighty current , pouring its healing waters ( wine if you will ) wherever suffering needed sympathy , or misery a friend . Is it too much to expect this ? \ V hat , then , is Masonry ? Why do men from the world enter through its portals , and approach its altar of love ? Why , if they find its mission too spiritual , do they not return ! Most assuredly thousands would do so—and would to God
they did!—had not the demon of mischief converted the altar of love into the table of feasting . This it is that stays their returning footsteps , and retains them , as mildewed ears , to blight the hopeful harvest of charity . Perhaps theranksof Masonry would be thinned , wereLodges what they should be ; but then the test of an Order should be its usefulness , and not its numbers . I even doubt whether the restoration of the Order to its legitimate uses would have the effect of permanently reducing its numbers . Hundredsjuding it by its fruitsforbear joining it ; and
, g , hundreds who join it with a pure intention quit it , when they perceive that they can do better with their annual subscription than giving it as a donation for sundry feastings . Masonry exhibited in its true li ght , ( and not through the medium ofthe knife-and-forkers ) , would swell its ranks by enlisting the one and retaining the other ; and never will its pure light fulfil its high mission so long as it throws its beams through
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Masons Of England.
worse than folly ; strip the actor in the business of the intention so to apply them , and he is folly ' s minister , not a Mason . A Mason ought to he a minister of the great God of Charity ; pledged to carry out the benevolent intentions of the great Architect of the Universe—the diffusion of fraternal love . He is so pledged . And how does he fulfil it ? By giving some ten per cent , of the lodge funds to charity ( being so compelled hy the constitutions of the Grand Lodge under which he liolds his
warrant ) and the other to festivity . If we must have champagne dinners , et ccetera suppers , have them—hut do not prostitute Masonry to such purposes . It is this which , like a foul disease , is destroying the very vitals ofthe Order ; it is this which is inundating the Order with mere pleasure-seekers ; and no wonder . A premium is held out to the glutton and the wine-bibber . For it is notorious that a regular frequenter of the banquets costs the Lodge double the amount of his
subscription . It is against this state of things that the voice of the enthusiast is raised . It may be a feeble voice ; it may be an unheeded voice ; but it is the indignant cry of honest men , zealous for the honour and integrity of an Order to which they are deeply attached . I would wish to see Masonry a contradiction to the assertion , that in England nothing can he done without a dinner . I would wish to see the fact of a man ' s being a member of a Mason ' s Lodgea guarantee to the world of his
, integrity and virtue . Why is it not so ? Because the Lodge is turned from a scho ' ol of morality , into a mere mimic representation of virtue . Because its holy ground has been desecrated by the feet of the worshippers of the world . Because Virtue , Honour , Temperance , and Justice have been expelled bv Lewdness , Pride , and the Appetite . In
a word , because men have been admitted into the Order , to whom the spirit of the institution was foolishness ; and who by little and little have perverted its glorious intentions , and discharged its rich streams of charity into the pockets of the tavernkeeper . I do not deny that good flows from the Order , even as at present managed , but the good is not seasoned with charity ; the good ( when compared with the immense resources of the Order , composed as it is of men well-to-do in the worldand thousands and thousands of immense wealth ) is insignificant
, ; whereas it ought to flow forth a mighty current , pouring its healing waters ( wine if you will ) wherever suffering needed sympathy , or misery a friend . Is it too much to expect this ? \ V hat , then , is Masonry ? Why do men from the world enter through its portals , and approach its altar of love ? Why , if they find its mission too spiritual , do they not return ! Most assuredly thousands would do so—and would to God
they did!—had not the demon of mischief converted the altar of love into the table of feasting . This it is that stays their returning footsteps , and retains them , as mildewed ears , to blight the hopeful harvest of charity . Perhaps theranksof Masonry would be thinned , wereLodges what they should be ; but then the test of an Order should be its usefulness , and not its numbers . I even doubt whether the restoration of the Order to its legitimate uses would have the effect of permanently reducing its numbers . Hundredsjuding it by its fruitsforbear joining it ; and
, g , hundreds who join it with a pure intention quit it , when they perceive that they can do better with their annual subscription than giving it as a donation for sundry feastings . Masonry exhibited in its true li ght , ( and not through the medium ofthe knife-and-forkers ) , would swell its ranks by enlisting the one and retaining the other ; and never will its pure light fulfil its high mission so long as it throws its beams through