The Eternal Fitness Of Things.

THE ETERNAL FITNESS OF THINGS .

c"TTHrjiN' the poet Pope , in one of liis Kpisth ' . s . said y \ ' that " Ordw is heaven ' s first law , " mid when St Paul wvoic to the Conrithiuus , " Let till things he done decen tly and in order , " both struck the key-note of a great truth . Disorder is dangerous , and opens the way to

destruction , while order is the demand alike of the all-wise God and of all wise men . A popular assembly out of order ; 9 a bear-garden . Fortunate is it that , owing to the peculiar constitution of the Craft , a Masonic assemblage can never degenerate into that condition . Order always

prevails in a Masonic Lodge . Tt must prevail . There is a power that demands it , an emblem of authority which enforces it . But sometimes , in some jurisdictions , the Craft exposes itself to liability to error bv going outside of itself , in two

particulars , first by meeting in a place that is not Masonic , and second by sharing its official ceremonies with those who are not Freemasons . It also errs when it formally uses its Lodge Rooms for non-Masonic purposes , and invites the public to share in such proceedings .

There is an eternal fitness of things . Heaven ' s , and earth ' s , and tho Craft's , first law of order secures this fitness , while disorder mars whatever it dominates . Onr attention has just been called to two occurrences , or classes of occurrences , which suggest these thoughts , and

the application of the principle we have invoked . Wherever , by the unwise permission of the supreme Masonic authority , the installation of the officers of a Lodge , or other Masonic body , is allowed to take place in a church , or public hall , where the profane are present ,

disorder is inevitable . A disturbance from this cause , not in the Craft , but among tho profane , is now rife in the city of Chicago . One of the profane , who took exception to the proceeding , is reported as saying : " When they turn tho Presbyterian Church into a Lodge Room , and into a place

for theatrical performances , it is time that somebody should interfere . " We would say , on behalf of many Freemasons , that when the Craft assumes to thus make itself a public spectacle , and postnrizo and declaim in public , it is time that the Supreme Authority of the Craft should interfere .

We would leave the public to fight their own battles , If the churches are willing to permit the use of their chancels , pulpits and auditoriums for exhibitions by organizations outside of themselves , as Freemasons we have nothing to do with that aspect of the subject ; but we

have everything to do with the Masonic feature of such proceedings . We would not have the dignity of the Fraternity lessened or lowered ; we would not have its non-proselyting characteristic abolished ; we would not have an official act , such as the installation of

Lodge Officers — without which installation , duly performed , no Officers are lawfully invested with power to execute the functions of their stations—so executed as to render it a nullity ; we would not lay the Craft open to the ridicule of the profane , who laugh at these evident

attempts to win the favour of the public and the patronage of applicants for initiation . No matter if the thing has been done again and again , through a series of years , in fiomo localities—it is wrong now , it was always wrong , and it will never be right , no matter how often performed ,

or how much endorsed . There is an eternal fitness of things , and it is not fit for Freemasons , in the performance ot an official ceremony , to go outside of their Lodge Room into profane company , and there expose a part of the ceremonial of the Craft to those who are not Freemasons .

Another disorderly proceeding , in a different direction , was noted in the news columns of the Keystone in its issue ot last week . In that case religious services were held on a Sunday in a Masonic Hall , under the auspices of What . Lodge , Providence . R . I .. nrofanes beinsr present , and

a brand Officer delivered a formal religions address . This was an extraordinary proceeding . It is as improper , more improper from a Masonic standpoint , to turn a Lodge Koom into a Masonic church , and hold public religious eryices there on a Sunday , merely on general principles .

it is to turn a church into a quasi Lodge Room , and ve what , to the profane present , is simply a theatrical Performance , a vain show . •£ rethren , there is an eternal fitness of thingP . " Order « i heaven ' s first law . " "Let all things be done decently a ^ in ovfa . " -Keystone .

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