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Article MASONIC SOCIALITY. ← Page 2 of 2 Article MASONIC SOCIALITY. Page 2 of 2 Article MASONRY'S SILENT WORK. Page 1 of 2 →
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Masonic Sociality.
associations . At the same time there is no disposition to impose upon the social tendency of Masonry any radical or illiberal limitations . We recognise , in its fullest extent , the great power of
this feature of Masonic life for the free and deep dissemination of the higher teachings and virtues which are the great lessons of Masonry . Still there is danger that the really essential inculcations of the Lodge-room , may , by
infelicity of communication , by frequency of iteration , or by the necessary restraints of the Lodge for purposes of order and seemliness , become dull and insipid and lose that vitality of interest and address which will give them
entrance to the heart . And , again , upon the other side , the Mason may go to his meeting so cumbered with the cares and trials of business or with the solicitudes of social and domestic life that he is not in the frame of mind to
receive didactic instruction , either by direct address or throngh any merely dramatic presentation . But when men and Masons come together in the frank and hearty intercourse of a proper sociality , the walls of
partition aud seclusion that are built up around the soul as a protection against unlawful intrusion upon the private life , gradually melt away , the heart unburdens itself to its sympathetic fellow , and by sharing with him its griefs and
trials , as Lord Bacon says , halves them , and by giving to its participation his joys and successes , doubles them . All legitimate sociality everywhere , and eminently Masonic sociality , should have this effect to diminish sorrows and magnify joys , with no umpleasant reflections or memories to succeed .
Those two portions of Masonic culture , the instructional and the social should always go and grow together in orderly and becoming proportions , each as a complement and helper of tbe other , and then tho work they do on
either hand for humanity will be a large and influential one , and always effective in the interests of rational and manly growth . These will be better both from the instructions of the Lodge work and the felicitations of the Lodge
Society , and will return to the anxieties of home aud the struggles of business with affections and thoughts better attuned to duty , and grasping success with a firmer and more courageous hand .
In many of our Lodges , and it is not invidious to say , eminently in the Lodges in our rural districts , this sociality of frankness and clearness of manly exchange and mutual sharing of life ' s experiences is beautifully realised , and
because of it tho home has a lovelier cheer , community a brighter citizen , business a more industrious worker , the church a more temperate Christian , and the State a wiser patriot .
And now with this honest and full eulogium of Masonic sociality , we refuse to be thought austere , when we call attention to certain phases of Masonic sociality which either
have already crept in , or are plainly fast creeping into some other of the Lodges of the jurisdictions , and for fairness sake , we add , into some of the Grand Bodies of the Rite .
Our cities and thickly settled places are fast being honeycombed with clubs , social , political , artistic , literary and others . In all of which the social feature is the chain of
union . And there is a natural liability that this characteristic , prevalent here , should extend and pervade the Masonic gatherings , which are very different in origin , character and purpose .
Those societies as already intimated are widely in contrast with the Masonic Lodge , because for the most part they have no avowed or esoteric purpose of inculcating the higher virtues of man , much less the wisdom and
obligation of a divine manliness . They are associations for purely selfish and sensual enjoyments , or for such conferences and collocations as may promote some outside and
political or other selfish purpose . They are equipped with the appliances for these precise ends , the refectory , the gaming rooms , smoking rooms , and so forth .
Not so the Lodge ; its ends are higher than selfindulgence ; it has no participancy iu political or religious or any sectarian interests , and no legitimate occasion for
the use of their machinery or methods , and so no need for the usages and materialities which smooth the road for mellow agreements and combinations .
Instruction , to ennoble and refine man is the prime and principal purpose of the Masonic Lodge , and all things and all thoughts that may distract or disturb the Masonic
attention in the pursuit of these goods are or should be sedulously excluded . The true sociality of Masonry is , therefore , that in character aud method and occasion , it
Masonic Sociality.
shall , as far as may be , contribute to the promotion of these nobler ends . Again , in these respects , Masonry demands that its influence shall extend beyond the simple apartments of the
Lodge , to tbe entire walk and habit of life , so that by the " amiable , discreet , and virtuous conduct" of its members , mankind may . be convinced of the goodness of the Institntion .
That Masonry , therefore , whose chief interest consists in the esoteric degrees of eating and drinking , and those Masons , if any such there be , who are punctual and diligent at the table and the sideboard , but are seldom seen in the
Lodge-room , and more seldom taking active and interested part in its labours , or giving encouragement and sympath y to the working officers , —and those Masons who cultivate and indulge the sensual appetite in public places other than
the Lodge , or perhaps in private apartments near the sacred precincts of the Lodge-room , and are practising and encouraging a Masonic sociality which is wholly prejudicial to the true interests and health of Masons , setting a deleterious
and unsafe example to young Masons , and wholly reversing the order and scheme of Masonic life and enjoyment , and making it , instead of a Lodge where men assemble to learn the higher lessons of life , and fit themselves by friendly
conflicts and conversations for the better performance of the duties those lessons teach , the relief of the distressed and the comfort of the broken-hearted , are becoming merged into a social club that has no higher purpose than self indulgence and the preferments of selfish aims .
If the characteristics and practices hinted at are anywhere realised , or the tendency of the Masonic life , in any Lodge or any place is making haste in that direction , then ,
we submit , it is the part of " wisdom , temperance , prudence and justice , " that a stop should be called , and that good men should everywhere unite to stay if not to forestal the threatened evil . —Freemasons' Repository .
Masonry's Silent Work.
MASONRY'S SILENT WORK .
An Oration delivered hy Bro . George 8 . Hallmark , Grand Master of Masons in Florida . BRETHREN , what are the benefits of Masonry in any of its forms ? This question , like all other reasonable
ones , is entitled to a fair and candid answer . Making all due allowance for the very secrecy of its operations , it certainly has the best right to become the interpreter of its own actions and the expounder of its own principles and motives .
That it has some objects and purposes to carry out is plainly self-evident , for the simple reason that without any aims or ends to accomplish , it would be but an association
of pitiful idiots , unworthy of respectable contempt , a sort of Pons asinorum , that would only lead to bedlam or the devil .
That its objects must be good is equally clear , from the simple fact that a secret association for bad and evil purposes would soon become fit subjects for criminal prosecution and would speedily fall to pieces by its own weight
and its own villainy . How can we conceive of an association of good men all over the world , and clinging together through lapse of centuries , banded together for no purpose at all , or for a mischievous one which they have never
attempted to carry out , and coming down to us unspotted and without reproach through ages of time . Surely the absurdity is too monstrous , even for a fool . Then where
lies the good ? We answer : 1 st , in the objects it claims . These are , in the first place , the moral instruction and culture of its members . Masonry is , indeed , a system of symbolic morality .
It takes the simple implements of its craft of original Operative Masonry and converts them into emblems of sublime and holy teaching , so that every object around the Lodge and in the most secret seclusion becomes a means of
wholesome instruction and sacred admonition . The plumb , level , square , gavel , compass and trowel , are all silent monitors , preaching beautiful lessons with silent eloquence . These lessons are there enforced by the most solemn and
impressive ceremonials and rituals , whose impress will never wear off , and whose teachings will never be forgotten , so that the first great benefit is to the Mason himself . His
uiind is impressed , his nature is elevated and he finds new motives in the pleasant association and companionship around him for the cultivation of moral i ^ r and the practice
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Sociality.
associations . At the same time there is no disposition to impose upon the social tendency of Masonry any radical or illiberal limitations . We recognise , in its fullest extent , the great power of
this feature of Masonic life for the free and deep dissemination of the higher teachings and virtues which are the great lessons of Masonry . Still there is danger that the really essential inculcations of the Lodge-room , may , by
infelicity of communication , by frequency of iteration , or by the necessary restraints of the Lodge for purposes of order and seemliness , become dull and insipid and lose that vitality of interest and address which will give them
entrance to the heart . And , again , upon the other side , the Mason may go to his meeting so cumbered with the cares and trials of business or with the solicitudes of social and domestic life that he is not in the frame of mind to
receive didactic instruction , either by direct address or throngh any merely dramatic presentation . But when men and Masons come together in the frank and hearty intercourse of a proper sociality , the walls of
partition aud seclusion that are built up around the soul as a protection against unlawful intrusion upon the private life , gradually melt away , the heart unburdens itself to its sympathetic fellow , and by sharing with him its griefs and
trials , as Lord Bacon says , halves them , and by giving to its participation his joys and successes , doubles them . All legitimate sociality everywhere , and eminently Masonic sociality , should have this effect to diminish sorrows and magnify joys , with no umpleasant reflections or memories to succeed .
Those two portions of Masonic culture , the instructional and the social should always go and grow together in orderly and becoming proportions , each as a complement and helper of tbe other , and then tho work they do on
either hand for humanity will be a large and influential one , and always effective in the interests of rational and manly growth . These will be better both from the instructions of the Lodge work and the felicitations of the Lodge
Society , and will return to the anxieties of home aud the struggles of business with affections and thoughts better attuned to duty , and grasping success with a firmer and more courageous hand .
In many of our Lodges , and it is not invidious to say , eminently in the Lodges in our rural districts , this sociality of frankness and clearness of manly exchange and mutual sharing of life ' s experiences is beautifully realised , and
because of it tho home has a lovelier cheer , community a brighter citizen , business a more industrious worker , the church a more temperate Christian , and the State a wiser patriot .
And now with this honest and full eulogium of Masonic sociality , we refuse to be thought austere , when we call attention to certain phases of Masonic sociality which either
have already crept in , or are plainly fast creeping into some other of the Lodges of the jurisdictions , and for fairness sake , we add , into some of the Grand Bodies of the Rite .
Our cities and thickly settled places are fast being honeycombed with clubs , social , political , artistic , literary and others . In all of which the social feature is the chain of
union . And there is a natural liability that this characteristic , prevalent here , should extend and pervade the Masonic gatherings , which are very different in origin , character and purpose .
Those societies as already intimated are widely in contrast with the Masonic Lodge , because for the most part they have no avowed or esoteric purpose of inculcating the higher virtues of man , much less the wisdom and
obligation of a divine manliness . They are associations for purely selfish and sensual enjoyments , or for such conferences and collocations as may promote some outside and
political or other selfish purpose . They are equipped with the appliances for these precise ends , the refectory , the gaming rooms , smoking rooms , and so forth .
Not so the Lodge ; its ends are higher than selfindulgence ; it has no participancy iu political or religious or any sectarian interests , and no legitimate occasion for
the use of their machinery or methods , and so no need for the usages and materialities which smooth the road for mellow agreements and combinations .
Instruction , to ennoble and refine man is the prime and principal purpose of the Masonic Lodge , and all things and all thoughts that may distract or disturb the Masonic
attention in the pursuit of these goods are or should be sedulously excluded . The true sociality of Masonry is , therefore , that in character aud method and occasion , it
Masonic Sociality.
shall , as far as may be , contribute to the promotion of these nobler ends . Again , in these respects , Masonry demands that its influence shall extend beyond the simple apartments of the
Lodge , to tbe entire walk and habit of life , so that by the " amiable , discreet , and virtuous conduct" of its members , mankind may . be convinced of the goodness of the Institntion .
That Masonry , therefore , whose chief interest consists in the esoteric degrees of eating and drinking , and those Masons , if any such there be , who are punctual and diligent at the table and the sideboard , but are seldom seen in the
Lodge-room , and more seldom taking active and interested part in its labours , or giving encouragement and sympath y to the working officers , —and those Masons who cultivate and indulge the sensual appetite in public places other than
the Lodge , or perhaps in private apartments near the sacred precincts of the Lodge-room , and are practising and encouraging a Masonic sociality which is wholly prejudicial to the true interests and health of Masons , setting a deleterious
and unsafe example to young Masons , and wholly reversing the order and scheme of Masonic life and enjoyment , and making it , instead of a Lodge where men assemble to learn the higher lessons of life , and fit themselves by friendly
conflicts and conversations for the better performance of the duties those lessons teach , the relief of the distressed and the comfort of the broken-hearted , are becoming merged into a social club that has no higher purpose than self indulgence and the preferments of selfish aims .
If the characteristics and practices hinted at are anywhere realised , or the tendency of the Masonic life , in any Lodge or any place is making haste in that direction , then ,
we submit , it is the part of " wisdom , temperance , prudence and justice , " that a stop should be called , and that good men should everywhere unite to stay if not to forestal the threatened evil . —Freemasons' Repository .
Masonry's Silent Work.
MASONRY'S SILENT WORK .
An Oration delivered hy Bro . George 8 . Hallmark , Grand Master of Masons in Florida . BRETHREN , what are the benefits of Masonry in any of its forms ? This question , like all other reasonable
ones , is entitled to a fair and candid answer . Making all due allowance for the very secrecy of its operations , it certainly has the best right to become the interpreter of its own actions and the expounder of its own principles and motives .
That it has some objects and purposes to carry out is plainly self-evident , for the simple reason that without any aims or ends to accomplish , it would be but an association
of pitiful idiots , unworthy of respectable contempt , a sort of Pons asinorum , that would only lead to bedlam or the devil .
That its objects must be good is equally clear , from the simple fact that a secret association for bad and evil purposes would soon become fit subjects for criminal prosecution and would speedily fall to pieces by its own weight
and its own villainy . How can we conceive of an association of good men all over the world , and clinging together through lapse of centuries , banded together for no purpose at all , or for a mischievous one which they have never
attempted to carry out , and coming down to us unspotted and without reproach through ages of time . Surely the absurdity is too monstrous , even for a fool . Then where
lies the good ? We answer : 1 st , in the objects it claims . These are , in the first place , the moral instruction and culture of its members . Masonry is , indeed , a system of symbolic morality .
It takes the simple implements of its craft of original Operative Masonry and converts them into emblems of sublime and holy teaching , so that every object around the Lodge and in the most secret seclusion becomes a means of
wholesome instruction and sacred admonition . The plumb , level , square , gavel , compass and trowel , are all silent monitors , preaching beautiful lessons with silent eloquence . These lessons are there enforced by the most solemn and
impressive ceremonials and rituals , whose impress will never wear off , and whose teachings will never be forgotten , so that the first great benefit is to the Mason himself . His
uiind is impressed , his nature is elevated and he finds new motives in the pleasant association and companionship around him for the cultivation of moral i ^ r and the practice