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Article "THINKING" AND "WORKING" FREEMASONS. Page 1 of 3 →
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"Thinking" And "Working" Freemasons.
" THINKING" AND "WORKING" FREEMASONS .
WE have no difficulty or hesitation in avowing that our respect for what we hear called " good working Masons " is not of the most lively complexion . Now , the gentlemen we often hear spoken of as " good working Masons " are ( it begins to dawn upon us ) , not unseldom disposed to a certain mental as well as corporeal obesity .
We do not pretend to deny the extent of their splendour and pompous respectability , when literally " hung in chains , " and shining like a firmament of stars , and jewels , and orders , and stiff-necked with collars , far " more honourable , " & c . and impaled with symbols on every available point of coat and waistcoat , they first strike terror on the neophyte . At this moment we find it not so easy to shake off
the awe their magnificence in Lodge , and their evidently overwhelming consciousness thereof produces on " weaker brethren . " And when we know them to be really " perfect in their work , " how can we refuse them due honour ? Excellent members of society , we believe , and active abettors of the Masonic charities ( including the banquets ) , we are sure they are . But it is from an irresistible
persuasion that their Masonry is of the past , " high and dry " —far behind our days ; because they fear the legitimate developments of their oivn principles ; because they never for a moment discern that the pressing want of this onward age is the translation , of our Masonic doctrines into social facts and arrangements ; because we find that under their weighty auspices ( good-humoured , comfortable creatures
as they are !) the ORDER , like a pet spaniel , " killed by kindness , " is slowly crumbling under its own grand principles , contrasted with their meagre practice , that we content ourselves with respecting them as men , loving them as Brothers , and wishing them to be " no more officers of ours . "
With a second class of Masons—very estimable personally—the ceremonies of "Lodge " are , we verily believe , held to be a kind of " private theatricals" — a pretext for inane formalism . They VOL . II . *¦
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
"Thinking" And "Working" Freemasons.
" THINKING" AND "WORKING" FREEMASONS .
WE have no difficulty or hesitation in avowing that our respect for what we hear called " good working Masons " is not of the most lively complexion . Now , the gentlemen we often hear spoken of as " good working Masons " are ( it begins to dawn upon us ) , not unseldom disposed to a certain mental as well as corporeal obesity .
We do not pretend to deny the extent of their splendour and pompous respectability , when literally " hung in chains , " and shining like a firmament of stars , and jewels , and orders , and stiff-necked with collars , far " more honourable , " & c . and impaled with symbols on every available point of coat and waistcoat , they first strike terror on the neophyte . At this moment we find it not so easy to shake off
the awe their magnificence in Lodge , and their evidently overwhelming consciousness thereof produces on " weaker brethren . " And when we know them to be really " perfect in their work , " how can we refuse them due honour ? Excellent members of society , we believe , and active abettors of the Masonic charities ( including the banquets ) , we are sure they are . But it is from an irresistible
persuasion that their Masonry is of the past , " high and dry " —far behind our days ; because they fear the legitimate developments of their oivn principles ; because they never for a moment discern that the pressing want of this onward age is the translation , of our Masonic doctrines into social facts and arrangements ; because we find that under their weighty auspices ( good-humoured , comfortable creatures
as they are !) the ORDER , like a pet spaniel , " killed by kindness , " is slowly crumbling under its own grand principles , contrasted with their meagre practice , that we content ourselves with respecting them as men , loving them as Brothers , and wishing them to be " no more officers of ours . "
With a second class of Masons—very estimable personally—the ceremonies of "Lodge " are , we verily believe , held to be a kind of " private theatricals" — a pretext for inane formalism . They VOL . II . *¦