Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
How I Was First Prepared To Be Made A Mason.
as a protest against the selfish hurry and turmoil which appeared to my boyish mind to be the normal condition of civilized mortals in their struggle for existence . This mental condition , when found , —this solvent which would reconcile prudence with philanthropy —which should indeed , through self-abnegation and benevolence , attain to the soundest and loftiest exercise of prudence , —would be the haven where , if only at intervals , the storm-tossed barque of the soul might ride secure , resting awhile from the struggle with
the troubled ocean , and , so to speak , repairing and refitting for the ' voyage of life , which must ever be renewing , and renewed . So much " high falutin " has been indulged in when members of our beloved Craft have written anent it , that one cannot be too cautious in the employment of anything like hyperbole in expatiating upon its merits . If I assert that in Freemasonry there is to be found that happy condition which I have above adverted to , it must be distinctly
understood that I contemplate—as I am bound to contemplate—the abstract principles of the Order ; and I fearlessly assert that in those principles , considered as a profession , the much desiderated reconciling repose may be discovered . I am perfectly aware that thousands of good men have lived and died practising these principles , who , like the -individual in the play who had been talking prose all his life without knowing it , have been true and worthy Freemasons without being aware of the fact . I cannot , on the other hand , disguise or deny the truth that not always is the practice of legitimately admitted Freemasons consonant with their professions ,
but" Where ' s that palace whereunto foul things Sometimes intrude not ? " Cucxdlus non facit monachum ; and I admit that the snowy lambskin has adorned tho epigastrium of many a man who , notwithstanding his assertions , has not entered our Order uninfluenced by mercenary or other unworthy considerations ; who , working and living in ithas not always set before him its sublime aimsits lofty aspirationsits
, , , noble exercise . Do you remember the sweeper in Mr . Interpreter ' s house ? With his rake he picks out of the mud many and many a filthy , and , comparatively , worthless trifle , oblivious of the jewelled crown of gold held within his reach , just above his head , but to which he never lifts his eyes . Is it altogether inappropriate at the blessed Christmas season to claim for Freemasonry that it seeks to set up a standard of that virtue peculiarly associated with the festivities of Yule .
I passed but yesterday a little roadside—shebeen it would he called across St . ¦ George ' s Channel—beershop : it bore the quaint sign of the "Live and let live . " -Surely the thought is not incongruous with a panegyric upon the Craft . To let live , not in the sense of permitting existence , but understood as aiding and encouraging physical and spiritual vitality in your fellow human beings . To live , not for selfgratification , not for self-aggrandisement , but for the welfare of man , and to the glory
of God . To bear ever in mind the beautiful profession of Terence , Homo sum et humani amenilalienum . puto , and prayerfully to endeavour to act up to it . Such is the interpretation the worthy Freemason puts upon the injunction to "live ancl let live . " Such the claim he asserts for his Order to be termed sublime . And to you , dear readers , I would most affectionately urge , while wishing you a merry Christmas and a very happy new year , that such reflections are not only not incompatible with the social enjoyments of
the season , but are wholesome concomitants thereto . They elevate the mind and submit to that altitude from which the great divine idea of purification- inaugurated , as upon this day—that eternal illustration of self sacrifice—should be regarded . And , oh , how beautiful that spectacle of suffering love ! Beautiful to all men , of whatever creed ; for , as the heathen author has taught us , love , even to the extent of suffering for our fellow mortals , is restricted to no race , confined to no faith ! And how much more suggestive to those who have seen tho light , the illuminati who can behold clearly what I , the humblest of craftsmen , the servant of servants , perceived as but through a glass , darkly , when I was first prepared to be made a Mason !
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
How I Was First Prepared To Be Made A Mason.
as a protest against the selfish hurry and turmoil which appeared to my boyish mind to be the normal condition of civilized mortals in their struggle for existence . This mental condition , when found , —this solvent which would reconcile prudence with philanthropy —which should indeed , through self-abnegation and benevolence , attain to the soundest and loftiest exercise of prudence , —would be the haven where , if only at intervals , the storm-tossed barque of the soul might ride secure , resting awhile from the struggle with
the troubled ocean , and , so to speak , repairing and refitting for the ' voyage of life , which must ever be renewing , and renewed . So much " high falutin " has been indulged in when members of our beloved Craft have written anent it , that one cannot be too cautious in the employment of anything like hyperbole in expatiating upon its merits . If I assert that in Freemasonry there is to be found that happy condition which I have above adverted to , it must be distinctly
understood that I contemplate—as I am bound to contemplate—the abstract principles of the Order ; and I fearlessly assert that in those principles , considered as a profession , the much desiderated reconciling repose may be discovered . I am perfectly aware that thousands of good men have lived and died practising these principles , who , like the -individual in the play who had been talking prose all his life without knowing it , have been true and worthy Freemasons without being aware of the fact . I cannot , on the other hand , disguise or deny the truth that not always is the practice of legitimately admitted Freemasons consonant with their professions ,
but" Where ' s that palace whereunto foul things Sometimes intrude not ? " Cucxdlus non facit monachum ; and I admit that the snowy lambskin has adorned tho epigastrium of many a man who , notwithstanding his assertions , has not entered our Order uninfluenced by mercenary or other unworthy considerations ; who , working and living in ithas not always set before him its sublime aimsits lofty aspirationsits
, , , noble exercise . Do you remember the sweeper in Mr . Interpreter ' s house ? With his rake he picks out of the mud many and many a filthy , and , comparatively , worthless trifle , oblivious of the jewelled crown of gold held within his reach , just above his head , but to which he never lifts his eyes . Is it altogether inappropriate at the blessed Christmas season to claim for Freemasonry that it seeks to set up a standard of that virtue peculiarly associated with the festivities of Yule .
I passed but yesterday a little roadside—shebeen it would he called across St . ¦ George ' s Channel—beershop : it bore the quaint sign of the "Live and let live . " -Surely the thought is not incongruous with a panegyric upon the Craft . To let live , not in the sense of permitting existence , but understood as aiding and encouraging physical and spiritual vitality in your fellow human beings . To live , not for selfgratification , not for self-aggrandisement , but for the welfare of man , and to the glory
of God . To bear ever in mind the beautiful profession of Terence , Homo sum et humani amenilalienum . puto , and prayerfully to endeavour to act up to it . Such is the interpretation the worthy Freemason puts upon the injunction to "live ancl let live . " Such the claim he asserts for his Order to be termed sublime . And to you , dear readers , I would most affectionately urge , while wishing you a merry Christmas and a very happy new year , that such reflections are not only not incompatible with the social enjoyments of
the season , but are wholesome concomitants thereto . They elevate the mind and submit to that altitude from which the great divine idea of purification- inaugurated , as upon this day—that eternal illustration of self sacrifice—should be regarded . And , oh , how beautiful that spectacle of suffering love ! Beautiful to all men , of whatever creed ; for , as the heathen author has taught us , love , even to the extent of suffering for our fellow mortals , is restricted to no race , confined to no faith ! And how much more suggestive to those who have seen tho light , the illuminati who can behold clearly what I , the humblest of craftsmen , the servant of servants , perceived as but through a glass , darkly , when I was first prepared to be made a Mason !