" Freemasonry; Past, Present, And Future."

" FREEMASONRY ; PAST , PRESENT , AND FUTURE . "

THE following admirable Address was delivered by tlie Dean of York , on 5 th November 1891 , before tlie Wakefield Masonic Literary Society , Wakefield , England : I believe I may venture to assert tbat I am one of the oldest Freemasons in this assembly . Initiated in 1847 , 1 have been a member of the Craffc for nearly half a century .

I do not , however profess to be so well versed in Masonic ceremonial as many whom T see around me . I have , some will say , as it were , halted on the threshold , for I havo never risen to a degree higher than that of a M . M . ; vet it satisfies me , and I have no ambition to go beyond it

for m the M . M . s degree yon attain to thafc whioh is the peculiar Province of Freemasonry—viz ., full participation in that wonderful fellowship with " all sorts and conditions of men " which , as far as I know , has never been achieved , or even attempted , by any other body corporate . The title

of my address— " Freemasonry ; Past , Present , and Future " —is a somewhat ambitions one , and perhaps even alarming , hut I am not going to carry you back to the distant past . I leave that to the Masonic archaeologist of the day ; I shall travel backwards only for a period of fifty years . And it

may interest the Brethren to know in what aspect Freemasonry presented itself to me afc that time , and what were tlio inducements which led me to join ifc . At thafc period of my life I was an undergraduate at Oxford . Oxford was then a little-known city ; people knew scarcely anything ,

and cared perhaps less , as to what took place there . It was diffculfc of access . The authorities , in their wisdom , thought railways detrimental to * tbe moral or tho social health of the youths who frequented its time-honoured colleges . Thoso young men wore left prefcty much fco their

own guidance , and throughout the whole three years of my undergraduate life I do not remember to have received one serions word of counsel or advico from any of those under whose authority we were placed . The examples set by the Dons were nofc encouraging , the orgies of the Common

room were notorious , and my own tutor was at once brilliant , learned and intemperate . At that time there was two Masonio Lodges in Oxford—the Apollo , confined to University men , and the Alfred , for the people of the town and neighbourhood . In the society of Masons I found

what elsewhere Oxford did not afford . I found good fellowship and social intercourse , based nofc upon mere jovial and often excessive eating and drinking , but upon refined and intelligent society , scrupulously combined with tho strictest temperance . In my Lodge I found

conversation of a highly rational character , tne opportunity of meeting men more or less distinguished in various walks in life , musicians like Stephen Elvey , for instance ; and with all this charming talk and jest there was nothing to offend . One felfc at once it was a beneficent movement ,

and I was drawn towards ifc , for within it I found not only pleasant intercourse bufc also safety . And this , Brethren , is no fanciful retrospect , as I will show you . In those days , at 9 ' 15 p . m ., " Great Tom " of Christ Church pealed forth its tones in token that the peace and good order of

the city were handed over to the University authorities . The police were practically deposed , and the Proctors , with their myrmidons—nicknamed bulldogs—reigned in tbeir stead . Their duties were to protect the streets , maintain order , arrest offenders , and to stop any undergraduates

whom they might meet , ask their name and college , and require an explanation of whence they were coming and whither they were going . To declare yourself a Mason , and to say thafc you were returning from fche Apollo , was a passport afc once ; no further question was asked , the

excellent character of the Lodge was so well known and acknowledged . This gave peoplo a high opinion of Freemasonry , and I should like that view of it to stand . But what wonderful development since ! At that time it was no donbt substantial in strength and under distinguished

patronage , for ifc was presided over by a Eoyal Prince , the late Duke of Sussex . But what is it now ? I do not profess to know what its numbers may be , and we have been told that "there is nothing more fallacious than facts , except figures , " bufc its membership is rapidly increasing ;

we are adding Lodge after Lodge to onr roll ; it embraces all classes of society , and as old faces disappear , new men , it is gratifying to see , come forward to supply their places As an instance , take my own county , Lincolnshire . Its affairs have been admirably administered , ancl now I am glad to

" Freemasonry; Past, Present, And Future."

say that one of the latest recruits to our ranks is the young Lord Yarborongh , a popular man , with large landed interest and influence , both here and in the West Biding of Yorkshire , one who will make an excellent Mason and will , at no distant date , I have no doubt , take high

Masonic rank . He will shortly be " raised " at Lincoln . In addition to this wonderful numerical increase , our Society , I believe , has improved its position in the public regard . In many places , some years ago , a Mason was looked upon as an objectionable , self-indulgent crenfcure , if

ho were not something worse , whilst in certain classes of society on the continent he is regarded , even now , as little short of a monster . My friend , the Dean of Lincoln , who is a great traveller , but is not a Freemason , was telling me the other day of a conversation he had held with a French

Abbe on this point . Bewailing the unsettled condition of society , the French priest laid all the blame on tho Freemasons . It was they , he declared , who caused

and carried out the horrors of the French Revolution , they who upset thrones and destroyed dynasties , they who formed secret associations for all kinds of iniquity , they , in fact , who would overthrow all law and order and

substitute no one knew what . They were Red Republicans , Socialists , ancl unbelievers , and everything should be done to destroy their pernicious influence and to root them oufc from society . When assured by my friend that in England they were the very opposite of all this , that they wero

loyal , patriotic , and charitable , and that every movemeni for fche public good was invariably supported by tho Freemasons , the surprise of the Frenchman was extreme The Dean of Lincoln , though no Mason , could yet testify that wo were a steady , respectable body of men , who

certainly did no harm and very likely much good . I am strong in the belief that so far from our Brotherhood exercising a disturbing influence , ifc has , on the contrary , done more to bring men together , promote good feeling , and enlist human sympathy , than any other institution that

could be named . As to the future , I believe that as it it no effete survival of the past , so will it make its influence continue fco be felfc , and thafc as time goes on , by means of its three great and eternal principles , it will

help to keep alive the idea thafc we are all one brotherhood , that we need sympathy and support , and do much to promote a genuine feeling of confidence amongst all classes and all nations . In former days its great work was to make men known to each other who did nofc know and could not

know much of each other . Its special work seems now to be to mitigate and dissipate , by mutual intercourse and fellowship , those fallacious and mischievous misrepresentations which are tending to set class against class , and to

promote " envy , hatred , malice , and all unchantableness broadcast throngh the world in the columns of the so-called " society papers , " the great curse of the present day Those papers live on gossip , speculation , and untruth , often I fear intentional unfcrnth . Take an instance : ex imo

disce omnes . It has been lately reported by one of them that my predecessor , during the twenty years that he held the Deanery , had amassed and did actually leave behind him half a million of money . Now all those who knew the late Dean of York also knew that whatever he left afc

his death he had inherited from his father , and that so far from obtaining personal wealth from his position in the Church , he spent every penny that Church supplied , fco him , and more , on religious and charitable objects . Thus an attempt is made to set the masses against the classes , thus

a good and kind-hearted man is grossly maligned . Now , I think that Freemasonry is invaluable as a countercheck for this sort of thing . Men learn to know each other , not as these papers wonld have us , but by mutual intercourse , and thus a kindly feeling is generated and spread through

society . The tone of a well-conducted Lodge , if lived up to , raises a man above this petty spite , and teaches him to look npon his fellow man with consideration and charity .

Brethren , we havo a great responsibility , we inherit a high prestige , we have a grand opportunity for the futurewhat shall we make of ifc ? Only let us keep stedfastly to our principles , and I have no fear of the result .

Let ns bring our Freemasonry , as it were , up to date , let us make it a great beneficial power amongst ns , let us remember that its key-note is unselfishness , that ifc is embodied rsbilanthropy , and that the benefit of humanity

ancl the general good of society aro comprehended within its tenets . Again , let us watch well our conduct . Wo live as it were "in a cifcy set on a hill ; " the eyes of a watchful world are upon us , both as individuals and in