Cursory Remarks On Freemasonry—Iv.

The mountain hei ght is free to climb , — Toil on , —man ' s heritage is time ! Toil on ! " Work on and win : — Life without work is unenjoyed ! The happiest are the best employed ! Work moves and moulds the mightiest birth And grasps the destinies of earth ! Work on !

" Work sows the seed ; Even the rock may yield its flower , — No lot so hard , but human power , Exerted to one end and aim , May conquer fate , and capture fame Press on !

"Within thyself . Bright morn , and noon , and night succeed . Power , feeling , passion , thought and deed ; Harmonious beauty prompts thy breast , — Things angels love , and God hath blest ! Work on !

Work on and win ! Shall light from Nature ' s depths arise , And thou whose mind can grasp the skies , Sit down with fate , and idly rail ? No—onward ! Let the fcjuth prevail •' Work on !

And where can we work more pleasantly than in a well conducted Freemasons' Lodge ? Or how can we labour more profitabl y for humanit y than by spreading abroad the grand principles on which our Order is founded ? The labour of the Lodge is recreation , instruction , and devotion , to the true brother ; but an irksome task , an unmeaning ceremonial

, and even a mockery , to the careless and the vile . We believe that the day is corning in which the brother who is a Mason in his heart must engage heartily in the good work which he has voluntarily undertaken , and the mere convivial companiou , the selfish and the vain , will be compelled either to conform to our precepts in their dail y to leave

practice , or our Lodges , which are but contaminated by their presence . " To enlarge the sphere of human happiness , " as that true Mason , General Washington , observed , "is worthy the benevolent design of a Masonic institution ; and it is most ferventl y to be wished , that the conduct of every member of the fraternity , as well as those publications that discover the principles which actuate them , may tend to convince mankind that the grand object of Masonry is to

promote the happiness of the human race . " The man who has no proper ideas of Masonry himself , cannot possibly impart them to othe . is ; and rightly to understand the Craft , brethren must not only attend their own Lodges and visit others , but they must also have frequent and regular Lodges of Instruction . But alas , we have too Lod

many ges in connection with which there are no meetings for instruction whatever . Sometimes the young members are too careless to attend ; sometimes the old members are too lazy or too ignorant to teach others even the little they themselves know ; and sometimes there is only one old Past Master in a Lodge who can blunder on through the ceremonies in

any fashion , and he is jealous of any other brother being able to initiate , craft , or raise the members , or install the Worshi ] : ) ful Master and invest his officers . This is most unmasonic ; and no Lodge can possibly prosper where the young brethren who evince a desire to become skilful workers are thwarted and discouraged by their elders , who , because they know but little themselves , would have others to know less . "A pity'tis ' tis true . " but here and there

one may find Lodges in this miserable predicament . The natural consequence is , that few lovers of the liberal arts and sciences ever think of becoming members in such localities and the few who do , probably retire from the Lodges with loathing and disgust . It is , indeed , a robbery of the individual , to charge him so many pounds under the pretence of regularl y initiating him into all the secrets and mysteries of

Cursory Remarks On Freemasonry—Iv.

the Craft , and then to leave him almost as ignorant of Free masonry as ever he was before he entered even the anteroom of a Lodge ; and we hope that each Provincial Grand Mastei ' , instead of looking upou his office as an honorary sinecure , or at most requiring his attendance at Provincial Grand Lodge , will diligently examine into the state of every Lodge in his province , and insist on proper working in each , and where he cannot secure this , recommend Grand Lodge to call in the warrant .

If we are tired by the hallowing labours of Masonry , we at perfect liberty to retire from them ; but we have no right to injure the Order to which we have sworn fealty by holding meetings under the pretence of spreading the li ght of Masonic knowledge , and then either have no light to impart , or churlishly refuse to allow our brother to share it with us ,

although wo have admitted him under an agreement to give him in return all the information necessary to make him a true and legal " son of light . " A man who wishes to become a true and faithful brother among us , applies to some brother of his acquaintance to propose him as a candidate for initiation ; the Lodge has the privilege of rejecting or

electing him as they think proper , all which it is only reasonable that they should have a discretionary power to do . But the candidate has no means of knowing which is the best working Lodge in his neighbourhood ; if there be but one , it is Hobson ' s choice ; and if there be more than one , he is made a Masonor at least expects that he is made onein

, , the Lodge which his friend belongs to . Judge his chagrin , then , if he discovers that he has only got a few signs in exchange for the initiation fee , and , as he fancies , nothing more . What wonder that brothers in this predicament , who so far from having scon thfc light of Freemasonry , are still in darkness resjoecting it , should look upon the regalia of the

" Oddfellow , " the " Forester , " and the "Druid , " as of equal importance with that badge which is more ancient than the Golden Fleece , or the Roman Eagle , and more honourable than the Star , the Garter , or any other order in existence , for to them it is no badge of inimuence nor bond of friendship . Such poor brethren are more to be pitied than blamed ; for instead of really being possessed of the grand secret of Freemasonry , they do not so much as know the keys which open the lock that guards the treasure .

The sometimes satirical pioet , Cowpor , singing of certain unworthy spiritual pastors , calls them ,

Fools that cannot teach , and will not learn . " Think you not , reader , that the stinging line is not equally applicable to the ignorant Freemason who takes upon himself a position in the Craft for which he is totally unqualified ' ! And is it not evident that every Mason who refuses to take part in imparting Masonic knowledge to his brethren , as far

as his time and abilities will allow , is false to our ancient Craft , false fco his own Lodge , false to the legally entitled brother whom he keeps in ignorance , and ¦ false to himself ; for as the wise Shakspeare informs us : — " This above all , —to thine ownself be true ; And it must follow , as the night the clay ,

Thou canst not then be false to any man . " Knowledge has , this peculiarity , different to all other wealth—the more we dispense it , the more , we increase our own stock . When the farmer parts with a bushel of wheat , it is patent to all men that he must have one bushel less of that which is left ; when the draper disposes of a

yard of any of the textile fabrics in which he deals , his own stock evidently decreases in like proportion ; nor can a man take gold from his purse , to spend or give away , without diminishing his store ; but the more the bank of knowledge is drawn upon , the more its wealth increases : it is like the widow of Zarephath ' s " handful of meal in a barrel and a

little oil in a cruse , " which , though used for Elijah the Tishbite , herself , and son , yet , we are told , "the barrel "of- meal wasted not , neither did tlie cruse of oil fail . " Nay , knowledge , like water , stagnates ' if it be not kept in motion , and