The Theological Ladder.

who thinks himself of little consequence will act in keeping with his views ; while the man who knows and who wills can take the material , the mental , and the very spiritual things of existence and make them do' his bidding . When the kings and nobility of Europe attempted to throttle

civil liberty and enslave the masses , there were men of the people who said-. Trace your genealogy back , if you wish , to some conqueror or tyrant of yesterday , and by it prove that your blood is blue and ours is simply red , and by reason of that you have a divine right to govern wrong , but we can

trace our genealogy back to the very origin of the race , and there we find in God's doomsday books our names inscribed as His very children . So they arose in the might of their splendid manhood , and on many a hard fought battlefield the cry of God and liberty rang out in glad accents of

glorious victory . When at the birth of this nation the patriots insisted that all government is based on the consent of the governed , they simply gave expression to the faith they had in themselves , that they were able to manage their own . affairs and work out their own destiny , not only

without the assistance of king , prince , or potentate , but in spite of them . As it is in the larger sphere of national affairs , so it is in the more limited sphere of individual life . Character cannot exist without faith in oneself , and the stronger the character the stronger the faith . I take it then ,

that hope is the adapting of faith in God to one ' s / own personal life , having a high estimate of our own nature elevated and refined by the processes of religious development and civilisation , and I insist that no man who has a

mean opinion of himself , in the invidious sense of that term , can ever be anything but a mean , contemptible man . How life is glorified by this faith in oneself ; how difficulties are overcome by

" The mighty hopes that make us men . " Great men , says a prominent socialist , are great only because we are on our knees ; let us arise in our manhood and we will find ourselves as great as they ; on what meat , says

Brutus , has this our Ca ; sar fed that he had become so great ; all expressive of the same thought . Masonry makes us meet on the level of equality , but that level is a high ideal of true worth and manhood , no longer in darkness , but brought to the light of its possibilities , its powers , its grand destiny .

Flence the second rung of the theological ladder . Hope , which springs from faith in God , or true wisdom , is productive of strength . Strong hearts are more than coronets , and simple faith than Norman blood , says Tennyson . The greatest of these is Charity . Let us place our feet on the

third rung of the symbolical ladder , that chanty that extends beyond the grave to the boundless realms of eternity , which cannot exist without faith and hope , inasmuch as it is a logical consequence of them . Faith in God , faith in oneself by reason of tiiat faith in God , and faith in our fellow-men

because God hath of one blood made all the nations of men that dwell on the face of the earth . Faith not simply in our own nation or race , but faith in all men . This faith in our fellow-men is the grandest and most sublime of all Masonic teaching , and without its exemplification there is not nor can

there be any true religion . This confidence in man is clearly inculcated in every degree of Ancient Craft Masonry . Moses had faith in the ignorant and semi-savage Israelites in Egyptian bondage , or he would never had led them out to become a great nation , and legislate for all nations to the

end of time . Captain Phillips at Santiago had faith in his bluejackets , when he said , " Don ' t cheer , the poor devils are d y ing . " This Government had faith in its citizens when it initiated a struggle with Spain to remove the unutterable cruelty of its rule from the island of Cuba . The great powers

have faith in civilisation in attempting to force their views of righteousness upon the yellow race . This duty of faith in one ' s fellow-men has been called in national life " The White Man ' s Burden , " and whatever mistakes are made , and there are and will be many , yet the ultimate outcome will

be harmony , equilibrium , beauty . It was in some such sense that the Psalmist cried out : Worshi p the Lord in the beauty of holiness , of help of charity of faith in one ' s fellows . There is no hope for the progress of any race of men , or for any individual of the race without faith in them faith

often betrayed , faith made use of by the recipient to injure , but faitlh undimmecl , charity cloudless nevertheless . This has an ennobling influence on our own lives . If we have no faith in our fellows , or charity for them , we are small , suspicious , resentful , coveteous ; if we look on them as ' men

The Theological Ladder.

with all the possibilities of manly development and progress , how we enlarge our own character , and ennoble our own nature . We shall frequently be misunderstood , often imposed upon , the unworthy will misconstrue our motives and take advantage of our faith , but what of that ?

Confidence begets confidence , and faith produces faith . The bewilderment of the defeated tribes of the desert , who do not understand the trend of civilisation , is aptly set forth by Rudyard Kipling , who depicts One of them saying in his amazement .

" Allah created the English mad , the maddest of all mankind . They do not consider the meaning of things , they consult neither creed or clan '; For behold they clap the sla . ve on the back , and behold he becometh

a man . They terribly carpet the earth with dead , and' before their cannon cool They walk unarmed by twos and threes , and call the living to school . "

In the light of the teaching of the symbolical ladder , all governmental , national and racial problems can be solved , and in no other can there be a correct and righteous solution .

This is the primitive religion , of which all teaching is either a development or an explanation ; this is the religion of humanity through all the ages , never varying in its grand and elevating principles :

Faith , Hope , Charity ; Wisdom , Strength , Beauty . The holding up of which and the exemplification of which if persevered in will bring to pass : The Parliament of Man the Federation of the World . — " Masonrv .

I think it may be stated without qualification that any body of men and women organised upon right principles , and for a good purpose , though primarily calculated , to benefit only its own members , does nevertheless , exert a

potent influence far outrunning its immediate object and aim . Masonry , therefore , though established upon the idea that it is a Brotherhood limited by its membership , must , and does , help toward the consummation of universal Brotherhood . In this respect , - and in many others , it very nearly approaches

the idea of the . family and the home , and as the recognition of the family tie , and the mutual interest of the members of the family , constitute the very basis of our civilisation , so

the recognition of Masonic ties and the sentiment of mutual helpfulness tend to uplift civilisation as a whole . —Orville H . Piatt , Connecticut . « •

Charity does not consist solely in furnishing financial aid to the needy ( though that is a duty not to be disregarded ) ; but where there is one opportunity for action in this direction , there are a score where our duty is just as plain : to assist and sustain a falling Brother ; to whisper good counsel ; to

vindicate his character ; to keep a tongue of good report ; to judge not . Who can measure the power for good of these duties well done ? Misfortune may come to you , friends

forsake you . Slander may smirch your good name . In such an hour what greater comfort than the cheering words of the Brother who will believe no evil—spoken as well behind your back as before your face ?—W . H . Roddle , South Dakota

A Mason must be—he is—a moral man . He must so live that when the world looks upon him its verdict will be , he is a Mason , therefore he is an upright , honest and honourable man . Brethren , the world is watching us closely .

It is passing judgment upon us , not by our professions but by our deeds . The Lodges should be purged . The greatest Lodge is not necessarily the largest Lodge . The Lord says : " Not by might nor by power , but by my spirit . "Wm . M . Lee . North Carolina .

* • The necessity of caution in accepting petitions has often been mentioned , but I would add that it is of equal importance , to watch , well the conduct of those who compose the Lodges , that no act or strife may mar that goodwill and harmony that should prevail . —John C . Muerman , Idaho .

" Faith without works is dead . " What does it profit us , or those about us , that we meet around our sacred altar in solemn ceremonies , if we do not at least endeavour to live out of the Lodge what we teach in it?—W . H . Roddle , South Dakota .