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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Who Is First?
If any Grand Master would reflect that the highest possible Masonic function consists in lawfully conferring the degrees of Masonry , and especially in opening and closing and celebrating tho sublime degree of the Master—an office which cannot be performed by "King , Prince or
Potentate or Earth , except he be a Mason , he might well realize that it was not to a higher Masonic position in the great Symbolic Lodge that he had been elevated , but to a more important station in the secular organization of a
society . If a man be elevated to a higher position in Masonry , that will remain with him , though every Lodge in the world should be disbanded : but there are only three positions in Masonry by degree : beyond these all
exaltation ceases . Added to these is the dignity and office or function of those who open and close and rule the Lodge . Of these the Worshipful Master is the chief , and rises above the Wardens , somewhat as does the Master ' s degree above those of the Fellow Craft and Entered Apprentice :
and with this similarity between the two instances , that if the less or lower do not exist , the higher and greater has no place . The Grand Master—as presiding Officer of the Grand
body so far as it is instituted for the purpose of caring and providing for the material and secular interests of the society of Masons , the enactment of laws and solving by authority the questions springing out of its system of
jurisprudence—may be justly said to hold a very honourable and useful position , and one which is indispensable to the society , and the same may be said of him in his capacity as the chief of its executive magistracy . But in all this he
differs in nothing important or essential from the presiding and executive Officer of any other society of laudable object and a considerable number of members , of equal average intelligence . But for what is the Masonic Grand Body
instituted ? It is simply to keep up a solution of knotty questions , and make provision for carrying itself on and to maintain a chief Officer , and rites and ceremonies peculiar to its system or organization ? If this were all , what
would the Masonic institution be , more than any one of a thousand associations whose peculiarities merely serve to distinguish them from each other ? Instead of anything like thus , the very object and end—the reason for the being
of the Masonic Institution is to put in effect and maintain in efficient energy and action that great mission or function with which the Masonic Lodge is charged ; the perpetuation and dissemination of those important truths and
knowledges , and that sublime philosophy of charity , fraternity and humanity , together with the mode and order of their inculcation , which make up what we call in ancient phrase , the " mysteries" of Masonry . Take away this
and the society has nothing left which it can assert to be exclusively its own . It is clear that the very object for which the Masonic Lodge , Grand or constituent , is formed and has its being ,
is the dissemination , perpetuation and enjoyment by its members of Masonry , in the highest and best sense of that term;—all other considerations involved , however much
regarded , are either subsidiary or incidental to this supreme end of the Institution . Yet , in view of this , What is the very highest , and it may be said the central and
characteristic function of the Lodge in the whole scheme of its offices , operations and duties ? Manifestly the conferring of the sublime degree , which is the culmination and completion of its symbolic work , or " mysteries , " for
tho sake of which both Grand and Symbolic Lodges exist . Such being the case , since the Grand and Worshipful
Master are each invested with equal power , capacity and authority to perform the chief duty and office possible in Masonry ; the one in his strictly Masonic character , which is the highest he can assume , is equal in every respect to
the other , and neither greater nor less . When each has held this most exalted position in Masonry during his allotted time , the gavel passes from his hand , and he is remitted to the floor as the equal of his brethren and no
more , save that out of respect and by the voluntary courtesy which suggests itself to magnanimous and fraternal minds , he is treated as first among his fellows ; and here again these two Masters stand equal to each other , and not
otherwise . Nevertheless , in official position , for all purposes concerning the welfare and external dignity and influence of the society , the Grand Master is all which is claimed for him , and his responsibility as custodian of the work , and as executive-in-chief , and his powers of discretion
in many cases , render him the head and front of the Fraternity for the time being .
Who Is First?
Nothing in the foregoing is uttered in disparagement of our Grand Masters , nor to encourage any Worshipful Master to esteem himself on account of his position more highly
than he ought , but to call to the minds of all Masters , Wardens and Brothers throughout the Lodges that there is something in the " Craft of Masonry " which is far more
exalted and valuable than any merely official position considered apart from the Masonic work , or that can be found in any benevolent or social organization outside the Lodge —and which characterizes Masonry alone—and besides this , to put in a clearer light the degree of responsibility
which devolves upon the occupant of the oriental chair , in every particular Lodge , as well as upon the Grand Master of the jurisdiction . This responsibility arises from the transcendant value of the principles and order embodied in the work committed to the charge of the Worshipful
Master for the time being , as the authorized representative of the Masonic body at large , and successor of a line of illustrious Masters , aud especially as tbe chief symbolic character in the sublime system of the Lodgo . The intelligent and reflecting Master , in view of the
character which he sustains in the work , which is the all in all of Masonry , cannot look with indifference upon his part in such a drama as is presented in the three degrees , nor consent to allow himself to discharge the principal office
therein in a merely perfunctory manner , according to the letter of the ritual , and there stop , nor to permit the like to be done by those under his direction so far as it may be in his power to prevent it . But he must be continually
urged by a noble sense of his duty to the Craft and to himself to use every effort on his own part , and promote as ?' - duity in those about him , in acquiring more aud more
thorough knowledge and understanding of the things contained in the body of Symbolic Masonry ; that he and they may be , each in his station , a veritable light of the Lodge ,
for all Masonic purposes . Nothing short of skilful and persistent effort on the part
of the Master and other Officers and influential members of the Lodge can prevent the further lapse of the mind of the Fraternity from a just sense aud appreciation of the intrinsic excellence of the Masonic Institution , and from a
clear insight into all which renders it different from , and superior to , every other form of benevolent and social fellowship ; until there will be nothing left in view of the craftsmen but that which may be found everywhere among modern relief and benevolent societies . For this lapse is
continually going on , as all can see , and , like every other movement of downward and retrograde tendency , is accelerated as it goes . The fact that aside from the honour and dignity flowing from ancient establishment , and wide extension of its institutions , together with the worthy character of its numberless
votaries , there is still something in Masonry so exalted and precious in the eyes of the humane and magnanimous , that the charge of its custody and maintenance invests the office of a subordinate society with a capacity and function the same as the most exalted which can be attributed to
the head of the whole Grand Jurisdiction , is the very fact which demonstrates the superiority of the Masonic Institution over every other which lays claim to a similar character . For every one can see that nothing like this can be
supposed in the case of any other society or fraternity which exists to-day . For all such , even though universal charity , liberty and order should be as prominent features of their characters as of Masonry itself , would still lack the internal and essential characteristics of Ancient Craft
Maeties , until the internal characteristics are no longer kept in view , and the degrees come to be regarded aa mere
sonry , involved in its incomparable degrees . And since , ai said above , this peculiar excellence of the degrees is that which endows with dignity the office of him who is charged with the ministration of their secret wisdom and beauty ;
they cannot for a moment be ranked with mere con ventional ceremonies , however imposing , nor their utterances treated as well-ordered examples of declamation for the temporary admiration of the neophyte or others being present , but they stand in comparison with such as tie
illumination of a veritable philosophy , with the glitter of a school-boy ' s effusion on exhibition day . The habit of bringing into the Lodge the forms and
practices found in all sorts of associations—not even excepting political conventions—tends continually to withdraw the attention of all from the proper and peculiar methods and usages of the Lodge , and thereby to the effacement of all external distinctions which isolate it from imitative soci-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Who Is First?
If any Grand Master would reflect that the highest possible Masonic function consists in lawfully conferring the degrees of Masonry , and especially in opening and closing and celebrating tho sublime degree of the Master—an office which cannot be performed by "King , Prince or
Potentate or Earth , except he be a Mason , he might well realize that it was not to a higher Masonic position in the great Symbolic Lodge that he had been elevated , but to a more important station in the secular organization of a
society . If a man be elevated to a higher position in Masonry , that will remain with him , though every Lodge in the world should be disbanded : but there are only three positions in Masonry by degree : beyond these all
exaltation ceases . Added to these is the dignity and office or function of those who open and close and rule the Lodge . Of these the Worshipful Master is the chief , and rises above the Wardens , somewhat as does the Master ' s degree above those of the Fellow Craft and Entered Apprentice :
and with this similarity between the two instances , that if the less or lower do not exist , the higher and greater has no place . The Grand Master—as presiding Officer of the Grand
body so far as it is instituted for the purpose of caring and providing for the material and secular interests of the society of Masons , the enactment of laws and solving by authority the questions springing out of its system of
jurisprudence—may be justly said to hold a very honourable and useful position , and one which is indispensable to the society , and the same may be said of him in his capacity as the chief of its executive magistracy . But in all this he
differs in nothing important or essential from the presiding and executive Officer of any other society of laudable object and a considerable number of members , of equal average intelligence . But for what is the Masonic Grand Body
instituted ? It is simply to keep up a solution of knotty questions , and make provision for carrying itself on and to maintain a chief Officer , and rites and ceremonies peculiar to its system or organization ? If this were all , what
would the Masonic institution be , more than any one of a thousand associations whose peculiarities merely serve to distinguish them from each other ? Instead of anything like thus , the very object and end—the reason for the being
of the Masonic Institution is to put in effect and maintain in efficient energy and action that great mission or function with which the Masonic Lodge is charged ; the perpetuation and dissemination of those important truths and
knowledges , and that sublime philosophy of charity , fraternity and humanity , together with the mode and order of their inculcation , which make up what we call in ancient phrase , the " mysteries" of Masonry . Take away this
and the society has nothing left which it can assert to be exclusively its own . It is clear that the very object for which the Masonic Lodge , Grand or constituent , is formed and has its being ,
is the dissemination , perpetuation and enjoyment by its members of Masonry , in the highest and best sense of that term;—all other considerations involved , however much
regarded , are either subsidiary or incidental to this supreme end of the Institution . Yet , in view of this , What is the very highest , and it may be said the central and
characteristic function of the Lodge in the whole scheme of its offices , operations and duties ? Manifestly the conferring of the sublime degree , which is the culmination and completion of its symbolic work , or " mysteries , " for
tho sake of which both Grand and Symbolic Lodges exist . Such being the case , since the Grand and Worshipful
Master are each invested with equal power , capacity and authority to perform the chief duty and office possible in Masonry ; the one in his strictly Masonic character , which is the highest he can assume , is equal in every respect to
the other , and neither greater nor less . When each has held this most exalted position in Masonry during his allotted time , the gavel passes from his hand , and he is remitted to the floor as the equal of his brethren and no
more , save that out of respect and by the voluntary courtesy which suggests itself to magnanimous and fraternal minds , he is treated as first among his fellows ; and here again these two Masters stand equal to each other , and not
otherwise . Nevertheless , in official position , for all purposes concerning the welfare and external dignity and influence of the society , the Grand Master is all which is claimed for him , and his responsibility as custodian of the work , and as executive-in-chief , and his powers of discretion
in many cases , render him the head and front of the Fraternity for the time being .
Who Is First?
Nothing in the foregoing is uttered in disparagement of our Grand Masters , nor to encourage any Worshipful Master to esteem himself on account of his position more highly
than he ought , but to call to the minds of all Masters , Wardens and Brothers throughout the Lodges that there is something in the " Craft of Masonry " which is far more
exalted and valuable than any merely official position considered apart from the Masonic work , or that can be found in any benevolent or social organization outside the Lodge —and which characterizes Masonry alone—and besides this , to put in a clearer light the degree of responsibility
which devolves upon the occupant of the oriental chair , in every particular Lodge , as well as upon the Grand Master of the jurisdiction . This responsibility arises from the transcendant value of the principles and order embodied in the work committed to the charge of the Worshipful
Master for the time being , as the authorized representative of the Masonic body at large , and successor of a line of illustrious Masters , aud especially as tbe chief symbolic character in the sublime system of the Lodgo . The intelligent and reflecting Master , in view of the
character which he sustains in the work , which is the all in all of Masonry , cannot look with indifference upon his part in such a drama as is presented in the three degrees , nor consent to allow himself to discharge the principal office
therein in a merely perfunctory manner , according to the letter of the ritual , and there stop , nor to permit the like to be done by those under his direction so far as it may be in his power to prevent it . But he must be continually
urged by a noble sense of his duty to the Craft and to himself to use every effort on his own part , and promote as ?' - duity in those about him , in acquiring more aud more
thorough knowledge and understanding of the things contained in the body of Symbolic Masonry ; that he and they may be , each in his station , a veritable light of the Lodge ,
for all Masonic purposes . Nothing short of skilful and persistent effort on the part
of the Master and other Officers and influential members of the Lodge can prevent the further lapse of the mind of the Fraternity from a just sense aud appreciation of the intrinsic excellence of the Masonic Institution , and from a
clear insight into all which renders it different from , and superior to , every other form of benevolent and social fellowship ; until there will be nothing left in view of the craftsmen but that which may be found everywhere among modern relief and benevolent societies . For this lapse is
continually going on , as all can see , and , like every other movement of downward and retrograde tendency , is accelerated as it goes . The fact that aside from the honour and dignity flowing from ancient establishment , and wide extension of its institutions , together with the worthy character of its numberless
votaries , there is still something in Masonry so exalted and precious in the eyes of the humane and magnanimous , that the charge of its custody and maintenance invests the office of a subordinate society with a capacity and function the same as the most exalted which can be attributed to
the head of the whole Grand Jurisdiction , is the very fact which demonstrates the superiority of the Masonic Institution over every other which lays claim to a similar character . For every one can see that nothing like this can be
supposed in the case of any other society or fraternity which exists to-day . For all such , even though universal charity , liberty and order should be as prominent features of their characters as of Masonry itself , would still lack the internal and essential characteristics of Ancient Craft
Maeties , until the internal characteristics are no longer kept in view , and the degrees come to be regarded aa mere
sonry , involved in its incomparable degrees . And since , ai said above , this peculiar excellence of the degrees is that which endows with dignity the office of him who is charged with the ministration of their secret wisdom and beauty ;
they cannot for a moment be ranked with mere con ventional ceremonies , however imposing , nor their utterances treated as well-ordered examples of declamation for the temporary admiration of the neophyte or others being present , but they stand in comparison with such as tie
illumination of a veritable philosophy , with the glitter of a school-boy ' s effusion on exhibition day . The habit of bringing into the Lodge the forms and
practices found in all sorts of associations—not even excepting political conventions—tends continually to withdraw the attention of all from the proper and peculiar methods and usages of the Lodge , and thereby to the effacement of all external distinctions which isolate it from imitative soci-