Not Voluntary.

dimit is the inalienable right of a member : " Although your frequent attendance at our regular meetings is earnestly solicited , yet it is not meant that Masonry should interfere with your necessary vocations , " language which is far from supporting his position , if , indeed , by implication it does not negative it . While it is true that Masonry

regards the obligation to support one's family as paramount

to that of attending the Lodge , it never was intended to inculcate the idea that one is free to attend Lodge or not as his comfort , convenience , or pleasm'e may dictate . It is his employment in his " necessary vocations " which

excuses his attendance . But even if it were true that a member is under no obligation to attend his Lodge , that is a very different thing from dimission therefrom . There is no support for the theory of those who

advocate the right of dimission at pleasure any more than there

is for the other kindred heresy , which has become so prevalent that an initiate is simply made a Mason by his initiation , and thereafter may become a member , or not , of that or any other Lodge , as he may deem expedient j a sort

of honorary member at large , as it were , with no obligations to perform , no responsibility except such as in the exercise of his own " sweet will" he may thereafter choose to impose upon himself , and yet entitled to claim every

privilege which Lodge members enjoy , even that of intruding his presence in every regular Lodge , and a participation in its charity fund when his necessities require . It is

doubtful if there is any organization outside of Masonry which for a moment would entertain so preposterous a claim as that a dimit is a matter of right without the consent of the

other contracting party . It is death by suicide and violation of every economic principle which has been formulated since man was doomed to earn bread by the sweat of his brow . It sets the " drone in the hive of nature , a useless member of [ our ] society , and unworthy of our protection as Masons , " in the chief seat in the synagogue , and places upon him the robe of honour .

There has been an abundance of learned nonsense ( I beg ten thousand pardons of the ten thousand brethren whom this shoe fits ) written to prove that in its growth Masonry

has been governed by a principle so utterly destructive of reason and sound policy .

Said an eminent « t ) rother , in a magazine article , not many years ago : " If we cannot make our members feel at home with us , if the principles of the Order are not sufficiently

attractive to keep them , in vain shall we attempt to coerce them to remain in our midst . And if Masonry cannot sustain itself without a forced membership the sooner it goes down the better . It is not an institution for freemen if it

is a forced involuntary one . " All of which sounds very forcible , and doubtless was intended as a " squelcher " upon the very illiberal class of fellows who see in Masonry something more than is exhibited in a political club or a

cordwainers' union . The answer is , men should not be made Masons to whom the principles of the Craft are not sufficiently attractive to keep them true to their obligations to it . As well attempt the hopeless task of making a

whistle out of a hog ' s tail as to attempt to make Masons out of such material . It is one of those things which cannot be done . They may go through the forms a dozen

times and yet be as far from being Masons as they were before the ink dried with which they signed their petitions . If we could lawfully do so , the sooner we bade them depart with a blessing , the better it would be for them and us too

—particularly us—but if they must needs go out , by all

means they should leave behind them all which was bestowed upon them when they came in . Force is a relative term , and it is somewhat difficult to understand its application by the esteemed brother . If , however , he means to

say that moral force cannot be applied to hold our Lodges together , then he virtually admits that there i « no such thing as a Masonic tie , that Masonry is but a rope of sand —a mere worthless , idle ceremonial , utterly beneath the

contempt of sensible men . Masonry , like all other human organizations , for good , is held together solely by moral force , acting upon the hearts and consciences of its members . It would " die like a dull worm , to rot , " the moment

that force ceased to act upon its votaries , and it ought to . The glittering but meaningless generality of the brother quoted , that "it is not an institution for freemen , if it is a forced involuntary one , " sounds pretty , but it is wholly

inapplicable to Masonry because no one is " forced " to become a Mason , but every one who has become one is forced for ever to remain a Mason . So long as moral forces exert an influence , there can , in the very nature of

Not Voluntary.

things , be no such thing as an organized society , which , after its inception , is not a " forced involuntary one , " simply beeause moral obligations are not like garments to be laid aside at pleasure . One might as well say he is not

a free man because he is under an obligation from his birth to do right , and is not at liberty to do wrong . No one is free , if the tast of freedom set up by our brother is a

correct one , for we are all bound to obey the laws of tho land enacted by rightful authority , but if those laws are just , they do not deprive us of our liberties , and the simple

fact that we are compelled by a sound public sentiment to obey them does not make us any the less freemen . The fact that we make a voluntary promise to our wife not to get drunk does not make us her slave . Such reasoning , or rather want of reason , would overthrow the whole social system of civilization and destroy every government on earth . If the Ancient Charges are the law of Masonry , it

follows that every Mason is obligated to " belong to a Lodge and be subject to its bye-laws , " and the modern practice of granting dimits whenever they may be asked for , regardless of the reason or without any reason at all , is in

violation of the very letter of that law , and consequently an innovation upon the body of Masonry . Enforced membership is , therefore , the fixed and immutable law of the

Society , which can never be changed . The true remedy for non-affiliation is to firmly impress upon the mind of every candidate the necessity for considering well the step he proposes to take , in view of the fact that the relations

he seeks to establish are not for a day , but for all time , and then only to grant dimits for the purpose indicated by the Ancient Charges .

So long as we continue to work into our building timber rotten at the heart , or , in plain English , men who do not keep their promises , made in the face of the world , we need not look for them to keep those made in secret to the

chosen few , and when the novelty of being in good company has worn off , we may as well open the door and let them depart with the stamp of perfidy upon them , but when their Masonic clothing is laid aside , with it should be

laid all the rights , benefits , and privileges of Masonry . The real question at issue is , not how the matter shall be remedied , but how it may be prevented—some one to tell

us how to escape the disease—not a nostrum to cure it . This the writer has endeavoured to point out , with what success his readers must determine for themselves . —Voice of Masonry .

Preferences.

PREFERENCES .

A BROTHER , formerly a resident of New York , and an active member of one of our Lodges , moved to auother country , from which he writes us , saying that he had visited a Lodge in his new location , and expresses unbounded surprise at finding our methods of procedure

entirely set aside , and a formula of their own adopted in its place . He mentions various particulars which , as a matter of course , we cannot re-produce in this place ; but we

may say that the examination consisted principally in examining his diploma ; that the altar formed part of the Master ' s desk : that the entire ceremonial was read from a

book ; that the Lodge was opened and all business , including the ballot , transacted in the E . A . Degree ; that where a candidate was rejected by eleven adverse votes , the Master ordered that its effect should continue for a corresponding number of years ; that a petition after having been received and referred , was allowed to be withdrawn , and others of a more esoteric character .

We are not at all surprised , and proceed to explain to our esteemed correspondent that while the principles of Freemasonry are everywhere the same , and the instructions to a candidate in every country tend to the same point ,

though each country has its own idiosyncrasies and walks in its path toward the end in view , we cannot make our forms and our laws of force beyond our own jurisdiction We entertain no doubt that if our brother were to go to

England , from whence all our Masonry comes , he would be equally surprised—nay , even shocked—by the difference in their mode of conducting the ceremony of initiation ,

and he and others may be assured that the real bond of unity which is everywhere the same is the legend of the Third Degree , although even this is differently rendered , as one may see by attending any of our city Lodges , composed