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Article THE DUTIES OF FREEMASONRY. ← Page 2 of 4 →
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The Duties Of Freemasonry.
tions . It lives in itself , because it is nourished by pure truth only . There is an infinite immense AVOTM ; there must " be a Creator . Man is feeble , but he is aAvare that his powers are limited . He knows good and evil . His soul cannot end in the tomb , otherwise God would have made a mistake in implanting in the human soul the idea of immortality an idea as strong and as constant as that of all
, palpable truths . In his weak state man feels the Avant of virtue ; Freemasonry will have virtue . It proclaims the reign of good , and the destruction of evil ; it makes for itself the eternal flame of all that can teach man to be happy by whatever means his feeble nature g ives him . It does not tell him to escape the laws Avhich govern him , to abandon the beliefs which Avere given to him , to hate such an one
because he is not of his nation , his class , his state . rTo ; it tells him simply , "Listen always to that divine sentinel called conscience ; alloiv thyself to be enlightened by that AVISO light called reason ; folloAV the SAveet laws of virtue ; love men as thou wouldst they should love thee . Practise intellectual work as much as thou canst , for the genius of the times is the light ivhich lig htens all men coming into the ivorld ; and
-before dying remember that thou shouldst not only have seen all this light , but also haA'e enlarged it to the distance of one generation ; thou art responsible toAvards the future ; work to feed the fire of the sanctuary , to propagate and augment it . " What a strange emotion seizes tlie novice ivhen he receives the light . He is generally young . The deceptions of life begin to attack him , his faith vacillates ; all at
once Avisdom comes softly binding his soul ; he finds a mysterious institution of whose existence he Avas ignorant ; from it he Avill draAv , during his Avhole life , the strength which he may require to Avalk in the productive roads of good . Ifc is necessary then that initiation should be given to such men as can understand it . Men of high intellect will be the generals of this powerful army fighting for
virtue . Men of but little learning , but much heart , will be its soldiers . The duties of Freemasonry consist in doing good Avith as much ardour as a soldier exercises to arrive at conquering or dying . If ho be rich , let the Freemason consecrate his leisure to the consolation of misfortune ; if learned , let him propagate science amongst those AA'IIO lack it ; if poorlet him resign himself to fulfilling his dutieseA en
, , should they be those of a martyr . The laAvs protect man ; they prevent murder , depredation , all the great eA'ils which can attack mankind , but A \ 'hat a host of enemies escape their reach ? Freemasonry is a sovereign corrective which can aid laAvs . We arrive then at this conclusion—if Freemasonry be destined to enlighten mankind , its adepts must be men of intellect—the highest
intellect possible ; there should be no incompleteness in knoAving how to do good , nor in feeling and understanding its use and benefit . This much for those AVIIO regard the instruction of the heart . As for the instruction of the mind , men must not be admitted knowing neither IIOAV to read or Ai'rite , but Ave must try to draw into the sanctuary the highest intelligences —for from men of great heart and mind flows the vivif ying fluid of human nature ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Duties Of Freemasonry.
tions . It lives in itself , because it is nourished by pure truth only . There is an infinite immense AVOTM ; there must " be a Creator . Man is feeble , but he is aAvare that his powers are limited . He knows good and evil . His soul cannot end in the tomb , otherwise God would have made a mistake in implanting in the human soul the idea of immortality an idea as strong and as constant as that of all
, palpable truths . In his weak state man feels the Avant of virtue ; Freemasonry will have virtue . It proclaims the reign of good , and the destruction of evil ; it makes for itself the eternal flame of all that can teach man to be happy by whatever means his feeble nature g ives him . It does not tell him to escape the laws Avhich govern him , to abandon the beliefs which Avere given to him , to hate such an one
because he is not of his nation , his class , his state . rTo ; it tells him simply , "Listen always to that divine sentinel called conscience ; alloiv thyself to be enlightened by that AVISO light called reason ; folloAV the SAveet laws of virtue ; love men as thou wouldst they should love thee . Practise intellectual work as much as thou canst , for the genius of the times is the light ivhich lig htens all men coming into the ivorld ; and
-before dying remember that thou shouldst not only have seen all this light , but also haA'e enlarged it to the distance of one generation ; thou art responsible toAvards the future ; work to feed the fire of the sanctuary , to propagate and augment it . " What a strange emotion seizes tlie novice ivhen he receives the light . He is generally young . The deceptions of life begin to attack him , his faith vacillates ; all at
once Avisdom comes softly binding his soul ; he finds a mysterious institution of whose existence he Avas ignorant ; from it he Avill draAv , during his Avhole life , the strength which he may require to Avalk in the productive roads of good . Ifc is necessary then that initiation should be given to such men as can understand it . Men of high intellect will be the generals of this powerful army fighting for
virtue . Men of but little learning , but much heart , will be its soldiers . The duties of Freemasonry consist in doing good Avith as much ardour as a soldier exercises to arrive at conquering or dying . If ho be rich , let the Freemason consecrate his leisure to the consolation of misfortune ; if learned , let him propagate science amongst those AA'IIO lack it ; if poorlet him resign himself to fulfilling his dutieseA en
, , should they be those of a martyr . The laAvs protect man ; they prevent murder , depredation , all the great eA'ils which can attack mankind , but A \ 'hat a host of enemies escape their reach ? Freemasonry is a sovereign corrective which can aid laAvs . We arrive then at this conclusion—if Freemasonry be destined to enlighten mankind , its adepts must be men of intellect—the highest
intellect possible ; there should be no incompleteness in knoAving how to do good , nor in feeling and understanding its use and benefit . This much for those AVIIO regard the instruction of the heart . As for the instruction of the mind , men must not be admitted knowing neither IIOAV to read or Ai'rite , but Ave must try to draw into the sanctuary the highest intelligences —for from men of great heart and mind flows the vivif ying fluid of human nature ,