The Other View.

and religious truth . Theso societies are composed of able , thoughtful , conscientious Masons . The rules and regulations , the law and tho ritual of these societies have

been carefully considered and doubtless authoritatively asserted . They represent the motives and aims of these asaociat ons . Without doubt those who so unite are capable of forming the rules thafc govern them .

Well considered and accepted as iu accord wifch the aims of these societies , none who are won-associates have any justification for either criticism or exception . The methods these societies adopt to strengthen their membership are surely exclusively within the control of these organizations .

They are teaching principles and lessons they deem necessary to maintain these characteristics , and give force to their efforts in the direction they believe to be necessary for the vitality of these bodies .

This is the other view . It is important as it evinces the purpose and aim of these associates and the plan adopted to carry them out effectively . It relates exclusively to the membership that supports the aim and the method so adopted .

As Masons , the Oraft of Freemasonry can only look upon these societies as the profane may be content to do . They alike are strangers to these organisations . Freemasons know that these bodies are not Masonic , as thafc word describes what is exclusively and undeniably Masonic .

The chief duty of the Craffc in considering the relations these societies have to what is known as Freemasonry , is to keep wholly distinct what is essentially Masonic , and what may be the aim , purpose , laws , regulations , ritual and ceremonies which characterise these societies .

Thafc is a plain duty . Ifc is for tho protection of Masonry . It is necessary in order to draw the line of demarkation between what is essentially , exclusively , historically , Freemasonry , and what may grow up in this or any coming age under the belief that by a name , Freemasonry is included .

It ought not to be forgotten that Freemasonry is not to be directly or indirectly involved in any system , which is nofc the direct outcome of the historic , unalterable , indestructible principles , landmarks , usages , customs , laws ,

regulations , ritual and ceremonial of symbolic Freemasonry that has been maintained for ages by the devotion , love , faith , confidence and unbroken ties which so long have kept , and will forever keep Freemasonry pure , unaltered and perpetual .

No true Mason can object to this simple duty if its exercise is within those limits which truth erects . It invites neither contention nor controversy . Ifc is justified

by duty , a duty that cannot be ignored by any Freemason who believes in the antiquity , history and the undisputed principles of our ancient and honourable Fraternity . —Keystone

Some Practical Remarks.

SOME PRACTICAL REMARKS .

An Address to the Grand Lodge of Freemasons in Nebraska , 16 th June 180 ? , , by Bro . Albert W Crites , Grand Orator .

THERE can remain in the mind of one who has essayed to prepare a suitable address for an occasion like this no doubt of the utter want of originality of thought in these piping times of Masonic peace and prosperity . Indeed , it may be truthfully said that all of our ideals in

art and literature , as well as in Masonic symbolism and intarpretation , have been used over and over again , until they have become very threadbare . It is also undeniable that even mankind are built , intellectually as well as physically , pretty much after one pattern . What passes

among us for genius and originality , upon a close analysis , turns out to be merely the rehabilitation of thoughts and ideas as old as the hills . And yet , to tho great bulk of the Fraternity , any expression of Masonic truth is as though it were first coined for the occasion of its utterance .

Many brethren are quite familiar with our ritual , who do not seem to have divined that ifc is merely the husk which envelopes the kernel within . Nor is this opinion in any sense a slur upon the intelligence of the Fraternit y , for as a body there is not a more intellectual set of men in the universe than are those bound together by our mystic ties .

Some Practical Remarks.

Indeed , a desire for knowledge and power is what generally impels the neophyte into our ranks . The human clod , who does not feel stirring within his bosom the divine fire of aspiration , seldom knocks at the doors of our institution . The half-unconscious yearning of the human soul for

something beyond , above , or better than the present , is undoubtedly the prime cause for the turning of many a seeker after truth into the pathway of Masonic light and knowledge . Our mystic art might with some propriety be termed the moral philosophy of the relations of man to his

fellows . To properly seize and assimilate the lessons and principles involved in our system , one must needs be something of a philosopher , something of a dreamer , something of a sympathiser with human needs and human impulses , and somewhat of a religious cast of mind . By this it ia

not meant that he must accept some creed which has been labelled as orthodox by an association of men , whether inspired or uninspired , bufc only that ho must have a powerful sense and appreciation of the universal Fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of mankind .

The American man of sufficient leisure for philosophical thought and contemplation , such as was so common among men of cultivation and position during the last century , which was , so to speak , the period of Masonic renaissance , is an exceedingly rare being indeed , and so far as my

observation has extended , he has not migrated to any very appreciable extent into this trans-Mississippi region . As a people we have been too breathless in our race for immediate and comp \ et 3 success , and too indifferent to the quality of the means by which we achieved it , to have very much

regard for these finer relations and duties to each other , which , after all , constitute the greatest charm of existence in this life . The eighteenth century , which witnessed the rejuvenation and virtual reconstruction of our ancient Oraft was pre-eminently an age of reflection and philosophical retrospection .

The seventeenth centuiy witnessed the greatest zeal and intensity of purely religious feeling and reli gious fanaticism . Our own is most certainly an utilitarian age , one in which refined metaphysical distinctions are less valued than ever before . How frequently do we see men

oven in our own ranks , admired and lionized because of their success , who have sacrificed a hecatomb of brethren more worthy than they , because more considerate of their fellows and more sensible of those fine shades of duty and obligation which lie at the very root and foundation of the

Masonic structure , and which were , during the Masonic revival , the motive principle of those who brought it about . Our American life of to-day , in whatsoever channel ifc may flow , is to a greater degree than ever before influenced by the desire for pure success . Anything which the letter

of the law tolerates , or at least does not forbid , is entirely admissable , if it shall lead to success . A spirit more at variance with the Masonic system , and more destructive to its motives , could not possibly exist among a people . And yet , strange to say , the Fraternity has lately had the

greatest numerical growth in its history , and likewise the ravages of dry rot in its autonomy havo been unexampled during the same period . Tho evils of non-affiliation , against which Grand Masters have vehemently fulminated and Grand Lodges have continuously legislated , as well as

the indifference and apathy so prevalent among those who yefc retain their Lodgo membership , are in my opinion directly traceable to this cause . Ambitious or desinging men think they see in tho numerical strength and power of onr organization a possible coadjutor to their own

selfish purposes , and enter our ranks with the view of having us push them onward and upward , solely because thoy are members of the Fraternity , and without much consideration of any other merit . To get inside , they make the necessary pledges , but speedily finding oufc the true design

of tho institution , they have no further use for it and cast it off as a dry husk . Others , ascertaining the true fact , lend their energies for a time to the moulding of the institution , or that part of ifc with which they come into immediate contact , to the accomplishment of their

purposes , and for a time may measurably succeed , but in the end a p lague spot is the result , and the Lodge or Lodges coming under tho baneful influence become withered and mere cumberers of the ground . Still others ,

finding their utter want of sympathy with the methods and objects of the Fraternity , become dead branches , to fall off by the process of suspension for non-payment of dues , or for some other neglect growing out of such want of sympathy . And others , the majority let us hope , unite