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Article FIRST IMPRESSIONS. Page 1 of 2 Article FIRST IMPRESSIONS. Page 1 of 2 →
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First Impressions.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS .
THAT " Freemasonry ia a succession of agreeable surprises " those who have proceeded farthest in its mysteries will be the most ready to admit . Its progress marks the unfolding of ever fresh and attractive scenesalways increasing in the intensity of their interest ; and in each and all of these are new and useful lessons -which
may with advantage be applied to our everyday life . But perhaps to the initiate most especially come home the grand ancl solemn teachings of the Graft , as they are unveiled before him with the first gleams of Masonic light .
Born into a new atmosphere , and surrounded by those symbols which hacl hitherto been to him a sealed book , he realises that he has thus far obtained tho predominant ¦ wish of his heart ; ancl the young student invariably bends ¦ with earnestness to the work before him ancl drinks in
with avidity the beautiful lessons -which are inculcated in the first charges of the ritual . Would that the impressions created at this early stage of the Mason ' s career were stamped indelibly on his heart and looked upon continuously as the " still small voice " which should actuate
and guide every movement of his life . But , like all other human institutions , which are fallible , it is useless to disguise the fact that in not a few cases the sublime aspirations which fill the breast of tho novitiate at his admission cool down , if they are not absolutely perverted , after the
first flush of novelty has subsided . That this should be so is no more than we are taught by experience to look for in things mundane ; and even in our religious institutions there is a no less departure from tho " old love , " as unworthy motives creep in and alloy the purity of first
impressions . However , it is not so much onr object in this article to remind backsliding or lukewarm Masons of the weaknesses to which all men alike are subject as to recal to our brethren the reverential emotions which thrilled their hearts when they first beheld tho dawn within the
sacred precincts of the Masonic Lodge . Thoy had long been imbued with the desire—born of no mercenary or other unworth y motives , but of a wish to become more useful to their fellow men — to enter the portals of that mysterious Temple which has its
votaries in every part of the habitable globe , and to know and understand those precepts of brotherly love , relief , and truth which have for ages distinguished the Order . And , having thus sipped of the fountain of truth and knowledge , they long for a deeper draught , and a
more intimate acquaintance with the serious and solemn lessons which they undertake at their obligation to search into and observe . We have seen initiates so absorbed and engrossed by the strange-sounding , yet hallowed , admonitions of the W . Master , in his enunciation of the
ritual , that they have turned , awe-slruck almost , and expressed to us their unfathomable interest in , ancl appreciation of , the ceremony they had witnessed for the first time . This is as it should be . We hold it as no light matter that the initiation rite shonld be made
as solemn as possible , without of courso any extraneous accessories ; otherwise , how can wo look for a development of the highest and most admired traits in tbe Masonic character , and those acquirements which shed lustre and dignity upon the Craft ? There have been unfortunate instances where work has been undertaken
in sparse and inefficient Lodges , and where the very baldness ancl laxit y of the ceremonial has caused in the mind of the newly-admitted brother a feeling of anything
First Impressions.
but prepossession with the grandeur or importance of tho Institution of which ho has just become a member after , perhaps , many years of wishful resolve . We are glad to know that this does not frequently occur , and that in the generality of Lodges clue regard is paid , not
only to the susceptibilities of the candidate , but also to the effect which the earliest enunciations of morality and virtue will produce in the more progressive stages of his Masonic inquiry and research . When such is the case—when the Officers of the Lodge , by their own
intelligent rendering of the ritual , their profound and respectful adherence to the spirit of tho original forms ancl rites—invest the proceedings with becoming splendour ancl completeness , it is only natural to expect that these beneficent influences will permeate through
the hearts and minds of all the brethren assembled , and will strike particularly home to tho acceptation of him for whose special behoof the ceremonial is being performed . Nor does the advantage of such an impression readily fade away . The new Apprentice , rightly estimating
the gravity of the charges to which he has listened , and tho beauty of the moral teaching they open up to him , discovers that all the finest susceptibilities of his nature have been touched ; he resolves in his innermost heart to follow
religiously the sublime precepts inculcated ; ancl , by assiduously striving after a closer intimacy with the hidden mysteries of nature find science , to merit that favour which is always the heritnge of the deserving . This is the type of man who is destined to become an ornament to the
Craft , and the longer he cherishes ancl retains tho ennobling sentiments which are aroused at his first discernment of Masonic truth the more sure is ho to adorn the profession of which he has become a disciple . It is the Brother who thus imbibes the real soul and spirit
of Masonry—apart from the mere trappings of ceremonial —that raises himself to a high position in tho esteem of the Craft , whose members are at all times only too . happy to accord deserved praise . It is refreshing to watch the comportment of such an acquisition to the Lodge on bis
" opening night . " There is a keen and intelligent appreciation of the grancl teachings set forth—of the universality of a system which places all men on a common platform for the consideration of high and honourable principles— -away from the bickering of political or religious differences and
disputes ; ancl there is a grasping of the individual power with which he has become enfranchised for extending the blessings of Freemasonry , and to advance its usefulness and importance . He cannot fail , of course , to betray a retiring modesty in the companionship of Masons older
than himself ; but even in this laudable shrinking from undue prominence we have another proof of the deep rout which the higher tenets of the Order have taken in his heart . With respectful attention he listens to the instruction which is proffered to him , and he receives
the " milk for babes " with simple yet becoming obedience , looking forward with pride and ambition to thoso onward steps on the staircase which lead to more exalted themes ancl more proficient practice . How different is all this when the ceremony is blundered through in slipshod
fasbion , as though the command of the Junior Warden was the only word of welcome , the only signal of interest ! In such an event the brilliancy of the rite is tarnished , its ritual shorn of point ancl
effectiveness , and its whole tenonr lowered , if not altogether neutralised . What matter for surprise , therefore , that a candidate initiated under such untoward conditions should entertain but vague and indistinct opi-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
First Impressions.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS .
THAT " Freemasonry ia a succession of agreeable surprises " those who have proceeded farthest in its mysteries will be the most ready to admit . Its progress marks the unfolding of ever fresh and attractive scenesalways increasing in the intensity of their interest ; and in each and all of these are new and useful lessons -which
may with advantage be applied to our everyday life . But perhaps to the initiate most especially come home the grand ancl solemn teachings of the Graft , as they are unveiled before him with the first gleams of Masonic light .
Born into a new atmosphere , and surrounded by those symbols which hacl hitherto been to him a sealed book , he realises that he has thus far obtained tho predominant ¦ wish of his heart ; ancl the young student invariably bends ¦ with earnestness to the work before him ancl drinks in
with avidity the beautiful lessons -which are inculcated in the first charges of the ritual . Would that the impressions created at this early stage of the Mason ' s career were stamped indelibly on his heart and looked upon continuously as the " still small voice " which should actuate
and guide every movement of his life . But , like all other human institutions , which are fallible , it is useless to disguise the fact that in not a few cases the sublime aspirations which fill the breast of tho novitiate at his admission cool down , if they are not absolutely perverted , after the
first flush of novelty has subsided . That this should be so is no more than we are taught by experience to look for in things mundane ; and even in our religious institutions there is a no less departure from tho " old love , " as unworthy motives creep in and alloy the purity of first
impressions . However , it is not so much onr object in this article to remind backsliding or lukewarm Masons of the weaknesses to which all men alike are subject as to recal to our brethren the reverential emotions which thrilled their hearts when they first beheld tho dawn within the
sacred precincts of the Masonic Lodge . Thoy had long been imbued with the desire—born of no mercenary or other unworth y motives , but of a wish to become more useful to their fellow men — to enter the portals of that mysterious Temple which has its
votaries in every part of the habitable globe , and to know and understand those precepts of brotherly love , relief , and truth which have for ages distinguished the Order . And , having thus sipped of the fountain of truth and knowledge , they long for a deeper draught , and a
more intimate acquaintance with the serious and solemn lessons which they undertake at their obligation to search into and observe . We have seen initiates so absorbed and engrossed by the strange-sounding , yet hallowed , admonitions of the W . Master , in his enunciation of the
ritual , that they have turned , awe-slruck almost , and expressed to us their unfathomable interest in , ancl appreciation of , the ceremony they had witnessed for the first time . This is as it should be . We hold it as no light matter that the initiation rite shonld be made
as solemn as possible , without of courso any extraneous accessories ; otherwise , how can wo look for a development of the highest and most admired traits in tbe Masonic character , and those acquirements which shed lustre and dignity upon the Craft ? There have been unfortunate instances where work has been undertaken
in sparse and inefficient Lodges , and where the very baldness ancl laxit y of the ceremonial has caused in the mind of the newly-admitted brother a feeling of anything
First Impressions.
but prepossession with the grandeur or importance of tho Institution of which ho has just become a member after , perhaps , many years of wishful resolve . We are glad to know that this does not frequently occur , and that in the generality of Lodges clue regard is paid , not
only to the susceptibilities of the candidate , but also to the effect which the earliest enunciations of morality and virtue will produce in the more progressive stages of his Masonic inquiry and research . When such is the case—when the Officers of the Lodge , by their own
intelligent rendering of the ritual , their profound and respectful adherence to the spirit of tho original forms ancl rites—invest the proceedings with becoming splendour ancl completeness , it is only natural to expect that these beneficent influences will permeate through
the hearts and minds of all the brethren assembled , and will strike particularly home to tho acceptation of him for whose special behoof the ceremonial is being performed . Nor does the advantage of such an impression readily fade away . The new Apprentice , rightly estimating
the gravity of the charges to which he has listened , and tho beauty of the moral teaching they open up to him , discovers that all the finest susceptibilities of his nature have been touched ; he resolves in his innermost heart to follow
religiously the sublime precepts inculcated ; ancl , by assiduously striving after a closer intimacy with the hidden mysteries of nature find science , to merit that favour which is always the heritnge of the deserving . This is the type of man who is destined to become an ornament to the
Craft , and the longer he cherishes ancl retains tho ennobling sentiments which are aroused at his first discernment of Masonic truth the more sure is ho to adorn the profession of which he has become a disciple . It is the Brother who thus imbibes the real soul and spirit
of Masonry—apart from the mere trappings of ceremonial —that raises himself to a high position in tho esteem of the Craft , whose members are at all times only too . happy to accord deserved praise . It is refreshing to watch the comportment of such an acquisition to the Lodge on bis
" opening night . " There is a keen and intelligent appreciation of the grancl teachings set forth—of the universality of a system which places all men on a common platform for the consideration of high and honourable principles— -away from the bickering of political or religious differences and
disputes ; ancl there is a grasping of the individual power with which he has become enfranchised for extending the blessings of Freemasonry , and to advance its usefulness and importance . He cannot fail , of course , to betray a retiring modesty in the companionship of Masons older
than himself ; but even in this laudable shrinking from undue prominence we have another proof of the deep rout which the higher tenets of the Order have taken in his heart . With respectful attention he listens to the instruction which is proffered to him , and he receives
the " milk for babes " with simple yet becoming obedience , looking forward with pride and ambition to thoso onward steps on the staircase which lead to more exalted themes ancl more proficient practice . How different is all this when the ceremony is blundered through in slipshod
fasbion , as though the command of the Junior Warden was the only word of welcome , the only signal of interest ! In such an event the brilliancy of the rite is tarnished , its ritual shorn of point ancl
effectiveness , and its whole tenonr lowered , if not altogether neutralised . What matter for surprise , therefore , that a candidate initiated under such untoward conditions should entertain but vague and indistinct opi-