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Article UNSECTARIAN FREEMASONRY. ← Page 2 of 2 Article EMERITUS MEMBERSHIP. Page 1 of 2 Article EMERITUS MEMBERSHIP. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Unsectarian Freemasonry.
that does not make him entitled to be addressed in open Lodge or in the banquet-room as Bro . Churchwarden This , Bro . Town Councillor That , or Bro . Vestryman So-and-so . It may show that the speaker has a knowledge of matters outside of his Lodge ,
but it proves he has not yet made himself master of the lessons to be learnt within it , and it lays the whole Craft open to attacks from those who desire to assail its members . Only within the lasfc few days has the evil of this laxity among Freemasons been again made manifest ; a prominent man of the day
considers the existence of a " parish official s Lodge as sufficient evidence of cliquism and underhand dealing to merit particular attention at his hands . No doubt he is wrong in thus accusing Masonry , but if the brethren in question have been as unwise in their remarks as some with whom we have come into contact , we cannot say he has made a
groundless charge . We do not know sufficient of the merits of this particular case to give an opinion , but we are inclined to say that the brethren assailed have laid themselves open to attack , otherwise it would never have been known how much this Lodge was actually associated with those at the head of parish affairs .
Similar arguments might be used in other directions , but they would all have one termination , and the climax cannot be too forcibly impressed on all around us : if Freemasonry is to maintain its dignity and its high position , it must be kept aloof from all matters outside its actual teachings . Freemasonry
is good if kept within due bounds , but it can soon create ill feeling and distrust if its votaries go beyond . It is a splendid base on which to build up a system of business , political , or public ethics , but it must be
used lor foundation only ; it must be kept out of sight , and only serve as a sound bottom on which to erect a superstructure which is open to view by the world . It has made a name as an unsectarian organisation , and to continue that good name it must stand aloof from class or faction .
Emeritus Membership.
EMERITUS MEMBERSHIP .
MASONRY is sui generis . Existing before any of the kindred associations "which have sprang np around it , it does not look to them for examples , nor copy their customs and laws . Ifc does nothing because some other
organisation does ifc , and this is not because it arrogates to itself superior virtues , bnt for its own reasons and purposes it is what it is , and if it were otherwise it would not be Freemasonry . Other societies have many admirable
customs , laws , and nsages which serve their purposes , bnt no one of them exists for the sole purpose of cultivating the fraternal virtues . Men are not made Masons that they may benefit themselves , but others , while the mutual benefit
idea dominates elsewhere . We invest a dollar in a mutual
benefit organisation in order thafc we may have a right fco certain privileges which it confers upon its members , as for instance a sick or a funeral benefit , but no one invests a dollar iu Masonry with tbe expectation that it will return a
dividend in kind . It is true that every initiate feels he is entering upon a new relation towards those who are taking him by the hand as a brother , and that the tie between them will become stronger and , perhaps , as an incident
by that bond , he may desire personal benefits , but mercenary or selfish motives must not actuate him . On the contrary , he must be prepared to affirm that he seeks admission from no other motive than a desire for
knowledge and a sincere wish of being serviceable to his fellow
creatures . As a necessary incident to every association which is compelled by the terms of the compact existing between the membership to compensate them in a certain
contingency , the obligation to contribute the necessary funds exists , as a fundamental condition , upon which the whole structure is based . There is no such compact in Masonry . No one ever stood in such an attitude to it as to entitle him to make demand upon its funds for a stipulated sum
Emeritus Membership.
of money or a benefit wbich has a fixed value . What it extends is simply a matter of grace and not demandable as aright . And it is for this reason that we approach , in our governing bodies , the whole subject of enforced financial
contributions , wifch so much reluctance . To many tho idea of enforced payments seems contrary to the whole spirit of Freemasonry , and no subject has been debated
with so much anxious solicitude as this , lest though some misadventure in the enactment of a law Masonic injustice should be done to some one .
In every human organization there are some , as the English phrase ifc , who are fallen into decay . We all know thafc , wifch the exception of a very few who acquire wealth , the struggle for a bare maintenance grows harder as the
years creep on and additional burdens are accumulated as our capacity to earn decreases . Tho young men who come in and replace the older brethren in the government of the Craft are not always considerate of the delinquent who
fails to make his stated settlement wifch the Secretary , and because afc their time of life , when they have but light loads to carry , they do not miss the " few dollars " required to meet the Lodge assessment , are scarcely inclined to
stop and consider that other pockets aro not so well lined as their own , or the greater number of claims to be satisfied oufc of a pocket whose outlet is as large as its inlefc . There are but few men who care to admit , even to the most
intimate of their associates , that they are beginning fco feel that their sight is not so keen or their step as elastic as ifc once was , and still harder is ifc to make the admission that it is not so easy to replenish an empty wallet , and hence ifc
is thafc men when the years begin to lay a heavy hand upon them shrink from confessing their embarrassment to the Lodge , and permit fche first or second instalment of dues to go unpaid , with the hope that times will be better
before the maturity of another , and the payment can then be made without taking it from more pressing demands upon their resources . Alas ! it is a hope destined , in the vast majority of instances , never to be realised , for it is nofc
the times which are out of joint , but the man himself . The truth has not yet dawned upon him that his ability to earn wages has diminished . The writer has seen it stated somewhere , and it seems
to coincide with his own experience , that less than ten years embraces the average term of active membership in the Lodge of Masons . There are probably more who actively participate in Lodge affairs less than five years than
there are who continue longer than that period . After ten years but very little of the original material remains to do service , and so it is that our Lodges are constantly under , going a renewing process . Many of our initiates slough
off by a natural sort of process , just as a woand cleanses itself , and they are hopelessly lost , without however the Craffc being fche loser by their departure , the deposit of the fee being tho only good thing they ever did , or ever were
capable of doing for Masonry , simply because their hearts were nofc attuned to the Masonic song and per consequence they did not value it , and thus ifc happened that neither the Lodge nor themselves lost anything when fchey stepped down and out .
To do good for the mere sake of doing good is but a poor financial investment , and unless a man finds some other compensation in the act besides a return in money , he has , so far as he himself is concerned , thrown away his
investment , bufc fco fche man who finds thafc all of life is not made up in adding to one ' s temporal possessions , and there are higher and more satisfying pleasures , and that amongst them comes a joy which no man knows but him
who has experienced ifc—a joy akin to rapture , which comes and permeates a man all throngh , when he has done a kind act to one from whom he expects no reciprocation . Unless a man has the capacity for enjoying such
pleasures , he has no capacity for Masonry , and it is to him simply a deceit , neither he nor it gains by his initiation , and ifc is well that he makes no long tarrying amongst us —five years is quite enough for mutual endurance .
And there is another class who find their way into our Lodges , in considerable numbers , who are not really bad fellows , in their way , for they open their own pockets and
give liberally , and would vote more out of other people ' s pockets if they could . While they remain they are good company , but they soon get tired of well doing , and depart hence to be seen no more . Peace to their ashes !
But the backbone of Masonry is neither of the ephemeral or gushing quality . Look over the roll of any Lodge and see who are they who have worked , nofc played , in Masonry
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Unsectarian Freemasonry.
that does not make him entitled to be addressed in open Lodge or in the banquet-room as Bro . Churchwarden This , Bro . Town Councillor That , or Bro . Vestryman So-and-so . It may show that the speaker has a knowledge of matters outside of his Lodge ,
but it proves he has not yet made himself master of the lessons to be learnt within it , and it lays the whole Craft open to attacks from those who desire to assail its members . Only within the lasfc few days has the evil of this laxity among Freemasons been again made manifest ; a prominent man of the day
considers the existence of a " parish official s Lodge as sufficient evidence of cliquism and underhand dealing to merit particular attention at his hands . No doubt he is wrong in thus accusing Masonry , but if the brethren in question have been as unwise in their remarks as some with whom we have come into contact , we cannot say he has made a
groundless charge . We do not know sufficient of the merits of this particular case to give an opinion , but we are inclined to say that the brethren assailed have laid themselves open to attack , otherwise it would never have been known how much this Lodge was actually associated with those at the head of parish affairs .
Similar arguments might be used in other directions , but they would all have one termination , and the climax cannot be too forcibly impressed on all around us : if Freemasonry is to maintain its dignity and its high position , it must be kept aloof from all matters outside its actual teachings . Freemasonry
is good if kept within due bounds , but it can soon create ill feeling and distrust if its votaries go beyond . It is a splendid base on which to build up a system of business , political , or public ethics , but it must be
used lor foundation only ; it must be kept out of sight , and only serve as a sound bottom on which to erect a superstructure which is open to view by the world . It has made a name as an unsectarian organisation , and to continue that good name it must stand aloof from class or faction .
Emeritus Membership.
EMERITUS MEMBERSHIP .
MASONRY is sui generis . Existing before any of the kindred associations "which have sprang np around it , it does not look to them for examples , nor copy their customs and laws . Ifc does nothing because some other
organisation does ifc , and this is not because it arrogates to itself superior virtues , bnt for its own reasons and purposes it is what it is , and if it were otherwise it would not be Freemasonry . Other societies have many admirable
customs , laws , and nsages which serve their purposes , bnt no one of them exists for the sole purpose of cultivating the fraternal virtues . Men are not made Masons that they may benefit themselves , but others , while the mutual benefit
idea dominates elsewhere . We invest a dollar in a mutual
benefit organisation in order thafc we may have a right fco certain privileges which it confers upon its members , as for instance a sick or a funeral benefit , but no one invests a dollar iu Masonry with tbe expectation that it will return a
dividend in kind . It is true that every initiate feels he is entering upon a new relation towards those who are taking him by the hand as a brother , and that the tie between them will become stronger and , perhaps , as an incident
by that bond , he may desire personal benefits , but mercenary or selfish motives must not actuate him . On the contrary , he must be prepared to affirm that he seeks admission from no other motive than a desire for
knowledge and a sincere wish of being serviceable to his fellow
creatures . As a necessary incident to every association which is compelled by the terms of the compact existing between the membership to compensate them in a certain
contingency , the obligation to contribute the necessary funds exists , as a fundamental condition , upon which the whole structure is based . There is no such compact in Masonry . No one ever stood in such an attitude to it as to entitle him to make demand upon its funds for a stipulated sum
Emeritus Membership.
of money or a benefit wbich has a fixed value . What it extends is simply a matter of grace and not demandable as aright . And it is for this reason that we approach , in our governing bodies , the whole subject of enforced financial
contributions , wifch so much reluctance . To many tho idea of enforced payments seems contrary to the whole spirit of Freemasonry , and no subject has been debated
with so much anxious solicitude as this , lest though some misadventure in the enactment of a law Masonic injustice should be done to some one .
In every human organization there are some , as the English phrase ifc , who are fallen into decay . We all know thafc , wifch the exception of a very few who acquire wealth , the struggle for a bare maintenance grows harder as the
years creep on and additional burdens are accumulated as our capacity to earn decreases . Tho young men who come in and replace the older brethren in the government of the Craft are not always considerate of the delinquent who
fails to make his stated settlement wifch the Secretary , and because afc their time of life , when they have but light loads to carry , they do not miss the " few dollars " required to meet the Lodge assessment , are scarcely inclined to
stop and consider that other pockets aro not so well lined as their own , or the greater number of claims to be satisfied oufc of a pocket whose outlet is as large as its inlefc . There are but few men who care to admit , even to the most
intimate of their associates , that they are beginning fco feel that their sight is not so keen or their step as elastic as ifc once was , and still harder is ifc to make the admission that it is not so easy to replenish an empty wallet , and hence ifc
is thafc men when the years begin to lay a heavy hand upon them shrink from confessing their embarrassment to the Lodge , and permit fche first or second instalment of dues to go unpaid , with the hope that times will be better
before the maturity of another , and the payment can then be made without taking it from more pressing demands upon their resources . Alas ! it is a hope destined , in the vast majority of instances , never to be realised , for it is nofc
the times which are out of joint , but the man himself . The truth has not yet dawned upon him that his ability to earn wages has diminished . The writer has seen it stated somewhere , and it seems
to coincide with his own experience , that less than ten years embraces the average term of active membership in the Lodge of Masons . There are probably more who actively participate in Lodge affairs less than five years than
there are who continue longer than that period . After ten years but very little of the original material remains to do service , and so it is that our Lodges are constantly under , going a renewing process . Many of our initiates slough
off by a natural sort of process , just as a woand cleanses itself , and they are hopelessly lost , without however the Craffc being fche loser by their departure , the deposit of the fee being tho only good thing they ever did , or ever were
capable of doing for Masonry , simply because their hearts were nofc attuned to the Masonic song and per consequence they did not value it , and thus ifc happened that neither the Lodge nor themselves lost anything when fchey stepped down and out .
To do good for the mere sake of doing good is but a poor financial investment , and unless a man finds some other compensation in the act besides a return in money , he has , so far as he himself is concerned , thrown away his
investment , bufc fco fche man who finds thafc all of life is not made up in adding to one ' s temporal possessions , and there are higher and more satisfying pleasures , and that amongst them comes a joy which no man knows but him
who has experienced ifc—a joy akin to rapture , which comes and permeates a man all throngh , when he has done a kind act to one from whom he expects no reciprocation . Unless a man has the capacity for enjoying such
pleasures , he has no capacity for Masonry , and it is to him simply a deceit , neither he nor it gains by his initiation , and ifc is well that he makes no long tarrying amongst us —five years is quite enough for mutual endurance .
And there is another class who find their way into our Lodges , in considerable numbers , who are not really bad fellows , in their way , for they open their own pockets and
give liberally , and would vote more out of other people ' s pockets if they could . While they remain they are good company , but they soon get tired of well doing , and depart hence to be seen no more . Peace to their ashes !
But the backbone of Masonry is neither of the ephemeral or gushing quality . Look over the roll of any Lodge and see who are they who have worked , nofc played , in Masonry