Necessity Of Masonic Instruction.

NECESSITY OF MASONIC INSTRUCTION .

• THERE is indoctrinated in almost every human bosom , tincturing our thoughts and instigating to action , a certain powerful desire to advance in the pursuit to which we apply ourselves . Few men are so lost to feeling as to ignore this

inward prompter ; and it is only after long struggles and fierce encounters wiih circumstances , ending in final disappointment , that the man loses his hold on hope and gives up in despair . Some , indeed , cannot bear to know that the extinguishment ot a great ambition is about to hurl them far down

into the mires of despondency , and they pronounce judgment on themselves , by assaulting heaven ' s handiwork and dying by suicide . It is hard to find only the black sea of ruin where one expected to possess the golden pinnacles of success ; it brings a weary load of anguish to the brain when we fearfully

contemplate the shrunken frame of a bright intellect , which , young in years , is stricken down by disease , just when we thought of a future tinged all over with honourable mention and enlightened glory . When the bud expands not to the flower , the blossom to the fruit , nor the seed to a beautiful

maturity , how the heart bows down in sorrow and the lips bewail the untimely death . It seems no matter how glowing the prospect , the insidious moth crawls into our expanding future and eats away the slender fibres which support our

hopes . If we would have the sun to shine upon our ideas , it very often rains , and sometimes a great flood sweeps us to obscurity , and the bright anticipations sink to > the bottom , just as the scuttled ship heaves downward into the soundless deep .

Disappointments in life are caused by many and various circumstances . One , too modest to push himself against the powerful difficulties , and who , if he had favourable opportunities , would become prominent , shrinks quietly away and is never heard of , while the bold , blatant , empty-headed

swaggerer takes a high place , because he is not afraid . Having nothing to lose , he takes the venture by the horns and vaults into power . Merit is thus often crowded in the sand , while

arrogance blazes as the beacon light . Want of encouragement has been the death tone of many an . able man—has been , and will be , as long as the uncharitable and the selfish brotherhood of man encourages impudence and despoils modesty .

These reflections do not directly apply to the existing workings of Masonry , but there is certainly an indifference in many Lodges to proper Masonic instruction . The work is done moderately well on some occasions , but at other times an ambitious aspirant applies for and receives permission to

occupy the chairs . If he has studied the work , all is well , but if he be timid or not fully informed , the Craft suffers the horrors of bad work and insufficient lectures . This gives the candidate a poor opinion of the Fraternity . The first impressions are not favourable , and instances have occurred

where parties have been so discouraged as not to attempt advancement . It is not fair to deprecate the desire to advance , but we do pronounce against the chairs being occupied by those who are not well qualified to fill them .

There is no excuse for one who assumes to know all that he should , when he takes upon himself the Offices of the Lodge . There are so many ways by which he can inform himself and save the disgrace of being a bungler at his work . Perfection does not come to a man , he must work and toil after it in

any profession , and so he must when he enters the Lodge room , if he desires to become a Worshipful Master . There is so much to learn that he cannot afford to slight anything

pertaining to his duties . There is so much suggestive of the beautiful and the true that he ought not in conscience avoid any degree of labour to perfect himself in the principles as well as the practice of Masonry .

There is in almost every Lodge , members who are well qualified to instruct the remainder . There are many of the Craft who have no social intimacy with those who are distinguished for their knowledge , and , being modest , they cannot push themselves to an acquaintance whereby they could

acquire the requisite information . They are , therefore , compelled to attend closely to Lodge meetings and they can only learn by observation . This involves a long period by which to arrive at perfection and the loss of much valuable time

If a system of lecturing , with working explanations , by accomplished Masters , were adopted by every Lodge , more could be learned in one evening than in many , where there was imperfect work to see and stammering lectures to hear . A great many candidates enter the Fraternity with a

Necessity Of Masonic Instruction.

f profound desire to rise , but the want of means of information completely blocks them , until they lose all interest , and they stop far short of those honours for which they long . Lodges of Instruction are , therefore a Masonic necessity ; as all can observe who have ever attended those which have already

been meted out to us . These occasional efforts do much good ; but what is most needed is a regular system of instruction in every Lodge . If it should happen that a young Lodge did not have a member of their own sufficiently accomplished to lecture and instruct , those of other and older Lodges would

deem it an honour to be invited for such a purpose , and would be glad to respond . Hence every Brother in this or any jurisdiction could become able to occupy any position in the Lodge room , and , instead of many imperfect exhibitions , we should

have bright merit carving out in words of beauty the high objects of our Fraternity . Position , then , would be open to all , where now it is monopolised by the privileged few who possess the friendship of those learned in the work of the Craft . — " Indian Freemason . "

Proselytism In Masonry.

PROSELYTISM IN MASONRY .

THE spirit of proselytism finds no encouragement in Masonic teachings . Every well instructed Craftsman understands that he is not to seek to obtain converts to Freemasonry , regarded as a system , nor to urge his friends to

become members of the Fraternity . In no one respect , perhaps , is Freemasonry more distinctive than in this feature . It has a separateness of character , as contrasted with other systems and societies , by reason of its declared opposition to all proselytism as a means of increasing the numerical strength of the Institution .

This opposition to the spirit of proselytism is only to its special application within the lines of Freemasonry . The spirit of proselytism , rightly directed and guarded , is properly recognised as meritorious in the Christian Church . The great apostle of the Gentiles and the other apostles and

teachers , who contributed so much to the marvellous advances of Christianity in that early period of the history of the Church , ' were . ardent propagandists . Missionary interest and zeal are rightly called into activity in the present work of the Church , and converts are sought by urgent appeals

on the part ot the clergy and laity . In numerous friendly , reformatory , and Fraternal organisations , something of the same proselyting spirit is shown , as the members of these

societies appeal to their acquaintances and friends to accept membership in the body and to unite with them in building up an efficient and popular association . Such advocacy is by no means objectionable under the conditions named .

Freemasonry , however , occupies , a different position . It rests upon a basis of voluntary association . It urges no man to come within its lines and participate in its ceremonies : It expressly declares its opposition to the exercise of any such personal solicitation on the part of its members as

might result in gaining adherents , influenced most likely by the urgency of friendly appeal rather than by their own independent judgment . It sets up the rule that any man , wishing to pass within Masonic lines , must come ' * unbiassed by friends , " and of his own " free will and accord .

It is well that this distinguishing characteristic of the Masonic Institution should be kept in mind , and that the practice thus enjoined should not be departed from . That the rule is sometimes disregarded goes without saying ; we have known more than one instance where a

considerable pressure had been exerted by a Mason to induce a friend to join the Fraternity , but however such action may be justified or apologised for , it cannot be made to harmonise ^ y ith the fundamental principles of Freemasonry , and is likely to work harm to the stability and usefulness of the Masonic Institution .

The spirit of proselytism may be justifiable in other societies , but it is foreign to the character and purposes of our unique Fraternity , Members of those fraternities should understand that there is " a distinction with a difference , " especially in respect to the point here considered , between

other bodies and the Masonic organisation . " There are some men , " says one of our esteemed contemporaries , " who , coming among us imbued with the principles and accustomed

to the usuages of these modern societies , consider it their duty to exert all their influence in persuading their friends to become members of the Craft . Men who thus misunderstand the true policy of our Institution should be instructed by