Present Masonic Life.

PRESENT MASONIC LIFE .

An Address hy Bro . John A . Ehrhardt , Grand Orator , before thc Grand Lodge of Nebraska , $ lst June 1888 .

IN these times of searching aud delviug among tho archives of Masonry and the musty records of the past , in clearing away the rubbish that obstructs our view , and in our plodding endeavours to gather further light as

to the origin of Masonry , and after demonstrating its antiquity , and writing its history , describing its symbolisms , acknowledging its wisdom , strength and beauty , would it not be well to turn our attention for a moment from the

scenes of the past , and learn a lesson of tho present , aud solve if we can the problem of our present Masonic lift ! ? We all revere Masonry for tho greatness of things done in the past , knowing as wo do the glorious works

accomplished for man and humanity through all ao-cs , knowing thafc in our own lifo , Masonry has helped and cheered us through many trials , and sheltered us from many storms , given ns hope and courage in times of

despondency , carried us safely over many a sea of trouble , and after being tossed about on tho raging billows that beset us on every hand , landed us safely in many a peaceful

harbour . But what of the present ? In what way can we qualify ourselves as Masons so to live and act that when wo have passed away it can be ' said of us , " they served their day

aud generation , and not onl y that , but that we used the talent God endowed us with , and were duly and truly prepared , worthy aud well qualified to perform in an acceptable manner the varied duties of life ?

We will nofc endeavour in tho brief time allotted us to cover the extensive field of Masonic duties or Masonic

obligations , but will simply call your attention to what we deem absolutely essential to a solution of this problem . It is found in the cultivation of the four cardinal virtues :

temperance , fortitude , prudence and justice . Temperance . In speaking of tho cultivation of this Masonic virtue we desire to get away from the narrow , contracted definition that in these degenerate days seems to

circumscribe and belittle this virtue . We make of it a hobby upon which we mount and imagine ourselves a full troop of cavalry . We endeavour to ride roughshod over every other virtue ; and when we think we have vanquished

our imaginary foe , and our conflict with fche windmill is ended , we dismount from our charger to view the results of the battle , we behold the scene just as it was before the conflict , and our banner is still trailing in the dust . Temperance , as tauerht bv Masonrv . is not simnl-r

abstinence from strong drink , bufc temperance in thought , words and actions . By temperance we not only circumscribe our desire for intoxicants , or abstain from putting the bottle to our brother ' s lips and making him drunken

also , but we are taught to be temperate in words , to govern our tongue , and instead of going in the highways and byways and mounting upon the housetops and proclaiming our brother ' s shortcomings , we go to him and whisper good

counsel in his ear , and in the most tender manner remind him of his fault and endeavour to aid his reformation . Words passionatelv or intemneratelv snnknn mav dn nn

as well as our brother more injury , may cause more grief and sorrow , and bring more reproach upon Masonry than beastlv intoxication .

How intemperate ifc seems , " nay , nofc seems bufc is , " for a brother who , after passing tho threshold of our Lodge , professing his trust in God , attaining the sublime degree of Masonry , who has bowed at the sacred name of Deity

and been taught to adore his great Creator , when out of fche Lodge room and in contact with the profane " out-Herods Herod " in taking God ' s name in vain , and with the

next breath declaring that Masonry is a good enough religion for him , showing conclusively that he has a very faint conception of the religion of Masonry , even if Masonry

was or ever bad claimed to be a religious institution , but admitting that Masonry is a religions institution or rather that there is a religion in Masonry , what is it ? It must from the very nature of thing's be founded upon " the rule

and guide to our faith , " and that great light sums up the whole duty of man fco be " to love God and keep his commands . " Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain , is one of the commandments that should be

indelibly written upon the heart of every Mason , so that we would mention His name only with the reverence that is due from a creature to hia creator . A cultivation of

Present Masonic Life.

this virtue will aid us materially to keep a tongue of good report , and to maintain secrecy , and the trials and troubles , the divisions and dissensions that come upon us in our

Masonic lives , by reason of the intemperate use of the tongue , will find no admission into our Fraternity , and they will be to us as a dream of tho past , and when we

have become temperate in thought and word , the necessary sequence will follow that we will be temperate in action , and the question of how much or how little a Mason can drink and be temperate will solve itself , and we will find in

any event that it is a passion subdued and slain , and it was this thought that brought out the expression that " God must touch our hearts and our consciences must amend of themselves by the force of our reason and not by thc decay of our appetites . " And in whatever way we

view the subject , let us not forget the temptation of our brethren , and not measure their acts by our temptation , or rather by our freedom from temptation .

And let us endeavour to cultivate the virtue of temperance in thought , word and action , and thereby rise and walk on a higher plane of Masonic life and attain a nobler stature of Masonic manhood .

Fortitude is not the opposite of cowardice for , if it was simply physical courage , then woe be to us who have not the physical constitution to display a remarkable amount of physical courage , and were we to look at it simply in this light , we make of it an animal rather than a human oualitv .

Fortitude , as taught in Masonry , is found in the weak physically as well as the strong , and is that trait of character that enables us to bear the trials and sufferings of life , both mental and physical , without complaint and without reproach .

Sixty years ago , when all the powers of both church and state were marshalled in solid phalanx , making a bitter , determined , and unjust war on our beloved Order , the members of the Craft displayed the beauties of true Masonic fortitude . When assailed on every hand by unjust and

untruthful accusations and confronted by bitter and determined persecution , they maintained their dignified silence , and rather than recede from a solitary Masonic principle they rested their feet upon the eternal truths taught by Masonry , and with Masonio fortitude waited for

the future ages to find out the inconsistency and bigotry of Masonic opposition . Even at the present day it requires more than courage , yea , it requires fortitude , when out in the world , and we

hear Masonry assailed or held up in comparison with some new or cheaper institution , to remain silent , for fortitude is not found in action but in repose .

It requires courage for a soldier to go into battle , bufc it requires fortitude for him to be present on the field of

carnage and remain inactive . The most trying position in which a body of soldiers can be placed is nofc upon fche skirmish line , or in the advancing column , but on fche

reserve , to cover the retreat , knowing as they do , that if the fates of the day shall determine the results of the battle against them , they must stand with fortitude and offer

themselves a sacrihce tor the satety ot their comrades . Emerson says that his hero " is the man who , taking both reputation and life in his hand , will with urbanity dare the gibbet and the mob by the absolute truth of his

speech and the rectitude ot his behaviour . Uourage becomes fortitude when the will is surrendered , and the more absolute the surrender of our will the more perfectly will be displayed in our lives and conduct the beauties of

this the second Masonic virtue . Prudence aids us to choose between good and evil , and were it nofc thafc we are susceptible to the baneful influences that surround on every hand , it might nob be so important

to cultivate this Masonic virtue . We meet the temptations of life , and we stumble and fall into temptation . We

take a step in the dark , and after groping our way and finally coming into the light , we look npon the result of our journey , and then , for the first time , determine whether we have done right or wrong . Viewing our fall

we find that our pride has often diverted us from the common path , and makes us embrace novelties and " rather choose ( without prudentially considering the result ) to bo

the head of a troop lost and wandering in the paths of error , than to be a disciple in the school of truth , suffering ourselves to bo led and guided by the hand of another in

the right and beaten road . Were we to give this much neglected Masonic virtue the time and thought that its importance demands , and profi