Ad01003

flidlandGrandHotel, LONDON , N . W . VenetianRoomsnowavailable forMasonicDinners,etc. Other Midland Railway Hotels at Liverpool , Leeds , Bradford , Derby , Morecombe , and Heysham . Chief Office : W . TOWLE , Midland Grand Hotel , Manager , London , N . W . M . R . Hotels , etc .

Ad01001

PERRIER=JOUET&Co's CHAMPAGNES. FINEST VINTAGE RESERVE-CUVEES . THE FAVOURITE MASONIC BRAND . Agent— A . BOURSOT , o , Hart Street , Hark Lane , London .

Ad01002

Civil&MilitaryTailors^^^ Oxford , Cambridge , v /^ V v ^/ ^ and Eton ^ /^ Q ^ ^^ Flannels . ^ ^ " ^ V **^^ ^ ^ 21 ^^^^^^ClareStreet, < $^^BRISTOL.

Ad01004

Jia / STRATEP ,

The Craft And The Individual.

The Craft and the Individual .

r I ^ HE health and strength of the Craft , tis of every well-I ordered community wherein individuals are grouped together for the pursuance of one common aim , is bound ii ] i in the attainment of two great ideals , alike necessary to the foundation and satisfactory continuance

of every Order , whether religious or secular . It is in proportion to the attainment of these ideals that any Order can be congratulated on its well-being and progress . In brief , they may be said to be these—that the community shall submit itself to the government of one

central authority , and , not less important , that this government shall not be of a nature to relieve any one member of that community from a proper and sufficient sense of his personal responsibility for the good health of the Order . It is this sense of personal responsibily which every Mason , by example and precept , by voice and by pen , by every

means in his power , should do his best to encourage . It it should be asked of him—what is the use of Freemasonry ? he should be well prepared to make an answer for the faith that is in him , for the best response to such questions should be found in the honesty and single-mindedness of purpose of the Mason to whom such questions tire put .

It is no uncommon cowardice for the individual to shelter himself by the vaguest generalisations , to refer , for example , to the Craft as if it had some inherent and self-acting virtue quite apart from the personal equation , as if something could be done for him , and through him , irrespective of his own will in the matter . It is an axiom with the weak and foolish

—of those who are borne along by the current , who supinely ignore the ever-present opportunity of self-education—that wrong-doing is only human , as if it was feared that an effort to do good would be an attempt to do something unnatural . This irresponsibility , this notion that duties may be neglected in the good hope that their execution can be left to others ,

that the demerits of the unit may be lost sight of in the mass , that the ill-disposition of any one Mason in particular need not reflect upon the good disposition of Masons in general is clue to an attitude of mind which is only too prevalent . One is reminded of an old story—which may or may not

be historical , but will serve sufficiently to illustrate the text of this article—of a gift which wtis to be presented to the worthy pastor of a spiritual flock , presumably living in the neighbourhood of seme of the vineyards of France . The presentation wtis to consist of a large

cask of wine , and every member of the community was to contribute his quota . The peasants were poor , and it wtis the custom to levy tribute in kind . On the great day when the gift was to be made , peasant after peasant poured forth his contribution into the cask , and at the end of the proceedings the pastor was invited to taste and see how

good a thing is the wine of the country . The tap wtis turned , and there issued forth not wine , but—water ! It was ti reversal of the miracle of the Scriptures , and produced great perturbation and searchings of heart amongst the parishioners . The undiluted water testified to the fact

that there was not one honest man among them . Each had thought that as his neighbour could afford something from the wine stock better than he , that the slight addition of one pint of water would not detract from the meritorious quality of the contents of such a big cask . Doubtless the pastor was enabled to deliver a very pointed discourse on that occasion .

So much for the story . There is no wish and no need to attempt to establish any analogy between the conduct of those too ingenious peasants and the members of our evergenerous Fraternity , but the point which we wish to make clear and to establish , even at the risk of seeming to sermonise , is that each individual Mason—in his morals

and manners , in his private life , as well as in his attendance to the special duties which he may be called upon to fulfilis personally responsible for the well-being and good name of the Craft with which he has the honour of being associated . In dealing with such ti subject as the responsibility of the

individual , one is actuated less by there being any specific cause of complaint than by the fact that in a body so large and so well-governed tis that of our Craft there is apt to be ti tendency to believe that there is such tin impossible thing tis a collective responsibility which does not bear on the unit

, and this is a tendency which should be combated wherever detected . Not least can these remarks be taken to heart by the younger Mason in his earlier experiences or in his novitiate , for , as often happens in the ordinary small duties of life , the individual is apt to excuse indifferent work on

the . assumption of what he claims to be his own unimportance . It is the worst phase of false modesty , inimical alike to himself , to the community , and to the Craft . Even the most insignificant amongst us cannot live lo himself , and such tin one might well be reminded that " etiani capillus inius habet umbrtun suam "—" even a single hair casts a shadow . "