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Craft . The irfstant equality is abandoned , and title worshipped , by the Brethren , they degenerate from their proud prerogative as Masons , to whom all men stand as equal . Our principles , while they pay honour to merit , teach us to repudiate sycophantic adulation of mere title , and to value a man on his deserts , not on his
name . We regard with veneration an old stock , but m England , where hardly any man can boast a titled grandfather , and the lawyer ' s clerk frequently becomes a lord , the nobility of great names would be the idlest substitute for energy and virtue . Moreover , it is not in Masonry as in some universities ; we do not need a chancellor who spells " ninny" with one " n , " so profound in scholarship is he , to
fight our battles upon the ground of laws and grants cementing us with the policy of the state . We have nothing to do with politics ; the greatest lord cannot afford any shadow to us , who need not his protection ; we rest in ourselves , and like a light placed in the beacon-tower , send forth , or shouU do so , the rays of moral intelligence over nations , without iunction or attachment , as of necessity ,
with this or that particular spot . We recall with pleasure the words which ring in our ears as uttered last night in the British Lodge by that truly energetic Ereemason , 0 . Purton Cooper , Pro v . Gr . M . for Kent , in which he pointed to the signs of change in the times wherein we live , and the necessity of Masonry arousing itself to the demand for increased activity in promoting social improvement in science , literature , and morals . Our worthy Brother is one of that hitherto small , but now rapidly
increasing number of thoughtful men , who , seeing what Masonry has formerly done , and what it is capable of doing , as a vast association of harmonizing intellect , are resolved to leave no stone unturned to raise it to its proper dignity and usefulness . This can only be done by opening the doors of high state in the Craft to all alike ; let merit carry the day ; let emulation and honourable endeavour thrive ; . let " Palmam qui meruit ferat" be the practice as it is the principle of
the Craft . We should then hear no more of large Lodges of scientific men , who meet to eat and drink , yet never devote an extra day to give in public the lucubrations of their studious hours , as if hospitality were the only Masonic virtue ; of Prov . Grand Masters never visiting their Lodges ; of cliques in the latter ; of colonies alienating themselves from our banner on account of Grand See ' s discourtesy , or Grand Master ' s inattention ; of the latter ' s fondness for quadrupeds absorbing his interest in Masonic bipeds ; in a word , of all those anomalous disorders which render the Craft , at present , a
byword to the world for convivial antiquarianism , instead of the synonym e for intellect and honour . A better feeling is abroad , and toadyism must fall : —¦ " Delenda est Carthago , " is the resolution of all those true hearts in Masonry which would open up the channels of distinction and influence to the earnest aspirations of the most lowly Brother . The spirit of our Order iu not dead , though dormant ; men have worshipped the dais long enough , they now perceive that our Fraternity does not exist merely to save physical life in dis-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
Craft . The irfstant equality is abandoned , and title worshipped , by the Brethren , they degenerate from their proud prerogative as Masons , to whom all men stand as equal . Our principles , while they pay honour to merit , teach us to repudiate sycophantic adulation of mere title , and to value a man on his deserts , not on his
name . We regard with veneration an old stock , but m England , where hardly any man can boast a titled grandfather , and the lawyer ' s clerk frequently becomes a lord , the nobility of great names would be the idlest substitute for energy and virtue . Moreover , it is not in Masonry as in some universities ; we do not need a chancellor who spells " ninny" with one " n , " so profound in scholarship is he , to
fight our battles upon the ground of laws and grants cementing us with the policy of the state . We have nothing to do with politics ; the greatest lord cannot afford any shadow to us , who need not his protection ; we rest in ourselves , and like a light placed in the beacon-tower , send forth , or shouU do so , the rays of moral intelligence over nations , without iunction or attachment , as of necessity ,
with this or that particular spot . We recall with pleasure the words which ring in our ears as uttered last night in the British Lodge by that truly energetic Ereemason , 0 . Purton Cooper , Pro v . Gr . M . for Kent , in which he pointed to the signs of change in the times wherein we live , and the necessity of Masonry arousing itself to the demand for increased activity in promoting social improvement in science , literature , and morals . Our worthy Brother is one of that hitherto small , but now rapidly
increasing number of thoughtful men , who , seeing what Masonry has formerly done , and what it is capable of doing , as a vast association of harmonizing intellect , are resolved to leave no stone unturned to raise it to its proper dignity and usefulness . This can only be done by opening the doors of high state in the Craft to all alike ; let merit carry the day ; let emulation and honourable endeavour thrive ; . let " Palmam qui meruit ferat" be the practice as it is the principle of
the Craft . We should then hear no more of large Lodges of scientific men , who meet to eat and drink , yet never devote an extra day to give in public the lucubrations of their studious hours , as if hospitality were the only Masonic virtue ; of Prov . Grand Masters never visiting their Lodges ; of cliques in the latter ; of colonies alienating themselves from our banner on account of Grand See ' s discourtesy , or Grand Master ' s inattention ; of the latter ' s fondness for quadrupeds absorbing his interest in Masonic bipeds ; in a word , of all those anomalous disorders which render the Craft , at present , a
byword to the world for convivial antiquarianism , instead of the synonym e for intellect and honour . A better feeling is abroad , and toadyism must fall : —¦ " Delenda est Carthago , " is the resolution of all those true hearts in Masonry which would open up the channels of distinction and influence to the earnest aspirations of the most lowly Brother . The spirit of our Order iu not dead , though dormant ; men have worshipped the dais long enough , they now perceive that our Fraternity does not exist merely to save physical life in dis-