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Article THE NATUEE AND OBJECTS OF EREEMASONRY. ← Page 3 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Natuee And Objects Of Ereemasonry.
propriety for one of the Craft to salute another at any of our festivals or reunions save by the endearing name of ¦ brother . By the holiest of obligations ive are bound to love , respect , aid , and succour to the ability , a brother Mason wherever we find him . The Blasonic sign is the strongest appeal to our affectionate regard . Nor is this a mere notion .
Instances manifold are no ^ tv recorded even in national history , and in the annals of pM that this Masonic esteem and affection are something more than an empty name . I have heard of the bayonet being arrested when about to pierce the heart , and the soldier ' s arm struck as if with temporary paralysis , at the exhibition of the Masonic sign , even amidst the excitements of the battle field ; and when other appeals had been offered in vain > the same potent influence has sufficed to pluck the friendless out of the deepest distress and misery .
c ; 8 . The third principle of Masonry is Or & r . Everything amongst us is conducted with the most fastidious regard to the principles of order and regularity . Whether our Lodges are convened for labour or refreshment ; whether our proceedings take the form of a public procession or are conducted in secret , one thing we are careful to observe—and indeed we should cease to be Masons if we failed to observe it- ~ and that is order . There is
no confusion here , or can be . A Masonic Lodge is the very perfection of ortler and symmetry . Dow ^ all is arranged according to rules-- ^ ules settled in the depths of the remotest antiquity , and handed as a precious tradition from age to age . Every man has his own place here ; everything is done at its own time here ; every transaction is performed here after its own fixed and appropriate regulation . The world
accordingly does not contain a more beautiful spectacle to an eye capable of understanding the symmetry of things , than is a duly constituted Masonic Lodge . It has often been a problem in the outward world how to combine liberty with authority . Could the benighted world look through these walls , they might behold the problem solved in our Masonic Lodge . All Masons are on the level of one common , loving , and honourable
brotherhood ; and yet we see on every side of us the display of full and even complicated subordination . The nod of our Eight Worshipful Master is that of a sovereign whose word is law ; but there is not a Brother , however humble but feels that in that master he beholds a Brother . An institution which is thus the very embodiment of order , cannot fail to exercise a beneficial influence upon all who have the privilege of access to it . In this respectI
, would compare Masonry , in its relation to general society , to a noble Corinthian column . It is both useful and graceful . Thus the goodly pillar towers aloft , its base , its shaft , its glorious capital of foliated carvings —each having its own . place , each having its appropriate proportions —a thing of beauty in itself , and conferring beauty and inimitable grace on ' the whole edifice to which it belongs .
" 4 . But there "is one Masonic principle morq to which I would beo- to call the special attention of all the Brethren present—and that is Sobriety . I trust , R . W . M . and worthy Brethren , that you will pardon me if I press this siibject upon your notice with more than ordinary earnestness . Sobriety is
a decidedly Masonic principle . It is synonymous with the manly virtue of self control . Every one of the leading emblems of our Craft speaks more or less distinctly , and utters in our ears a voice more or less loud in behalf of our solemn duty to subdue all evil passions , to resist all debasing propensities , and maintain a character free from reproach . I appeal to every instructed Mason now present whether this be not the sum and
substance of his Masonic tuition regarding the square , the level , the gavel a ^ d every other symbol of our Order . I say then that , as Masons , we are < k 0 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Natuee And Objects Of Ereemasonry.
propriety for one of the Craft to salute another at any of our festivals or reunions save by the endearing name of ¦ brother . By the holiest of obligations ive are bound to love , respect , aid , and succour to the ability , a brother Mason wherever we find him . The Blasonic sign is the strongest appeal to our affectionate regard . Nor is this a mere notion .
Instances manifold are no ^ tv recorded even in national history , and in the annals of pM that this Masonic esteem and affection are something more than an empty name . I have heard of the bayonet being arrested when about to pierce the heart , and the soldier ' s arm struck as if with temporary paralysis , at the exhibition of the Masonic sign , even amidst the excitements of the battle field ; and when other appeals had been offered in vain > the same potent influence has sufficed to pluck the friendless out of the deepest distress and misery .
c ; 8 . The third principle of Masonry is Or & r . Everything amongst us is conducted with the most fastidious regard to the principles of order and regularity . Whether our Lodges are convened for labour or refreshment ; whether our proceedings take the form of a public procession or are conducted in secret , one thing we are careful to observe—and indeed we should cease to be Masons if we failed to observe it- ~ and that is order . There is
no confusion here , or can be . A Masonic Lodge is the very perfection of ortler and symmetry . Dow ^ all is arranged according to rules-- ^ ules settled in the depths of the remotest antiquity , and handed as a precious tradition from age to age . Every man has his own place here ; everything is done at its own time here ; every transaction is performed here after its own fixed and appropriate regulation . The world
accordingly does not contain a more beautiful spectacle to an eye capable of understanding the symmetry of things , than is a duly constituted Masonic Lodge . It has often been a problem in the outward world how to combine liberty with authority . Could the benighted world look through these walls , they might behold the problem solved in our Masonic Lodge . All Masons are on the level of one common , loving , and honourable
brotherhood ; and yet we see on every side of us the display of full and even complicated subordination . The nod of our Eight Worshipful Master is that of a sovereign whose word is law ; but there is not a Brother , however humble but feels that in that master he beholds a Brother . An institution which is thus the very embodiment of order , cannot fail to exercise a beneficial influence upon all who have the privilege of access to it . In this respectI
, would compare Masonry , in its relation to general society , to a noble Corinthian column . It is both useful and graceful . Thus the goodly pillar towers aloft , its base , its shaft , its glorious capital of foliated carvings —each having its own . place , each having its appropriate proportions —a thing of beauty in itself , and conferring beauty and inimitable grace on ' the whole edifice to which it belongs .
" 4 . But there "is one Masonic principle morq to which I would beo- to call the special attention of all the Brethren present—and that is Sobriety . I trust , R . W . M . and worthy Brethren , that you will pardon me if I press this siibject upon your notice with more than ordinary earnestness . Sobriety is
a decidedly Masonic principle . It is synonymous with the manly virtue of self control . Every one of the leading emblems of our Craft speaks more or less distinctly , and utters in our ears a voice more or less loud in behalf of our solemn duty to subdue all evil passions , to resist all debasing propensities , and maintain a character free from reproach . I appeal to every instructed Mason now present whether this be not the sum and
substance of his Masonic tuition regarding the square , the level , the gavel a ^ d every other symbol of our Order . I say then that , as Masons , we are < k 0 2