Worth And Fellowship.

WORTH AND FELLOWSHIP .

HOW are men certainly t J know who works tho be 3 t and doea the moat ? Tiie deeds done in time blossom and bear frnit iu eternity , and only God knows what eaeli man ' s work is worth . Tho teachings of the Christ among the fishermen of Galilee , if the rich aud great at Jerusalem

ever heard of them , were of little import to them . Perhaps the humbler Mason , doing his duty silently , as he best knows how , does better and more enduring work than those who sit upon the higher seats . " Perhaps , " it has been written , " the lowest of our whispers may reach eternity ; for it is not very far from us after all . "

When we speak of our dead and ask consideration for their memories , we ought not only to inquiro what they did to enhance the dignity , elevate the character , and increase the weight and influence of Masonry , to enable it to do great things for the good of men and the

welfare of the country ; but we ought to reckon up our own accounts , and see how much we ourselves have'done towards these ends . It is quite true , as has been said , that "if things are well with men , it is a misfortune if

they are tempted to believe that they aro sent into the world to set every wrong thing right . That each do his best in the small circle in which he moves—this is both philosophy and religion . "

As a man grows old he may not grow wiser , but experience will destroy some illusions , and prove some things impossible that he once thought himself commissioned to effect . He will hardly remain of the opinion that it is possible to arrest the downward progress of a people , or

the tendency to degeneration of an Order ; and if ho still thinks either possible , he will think it wise not to create enmities by commenting upon abuses , and will be averse to putting himself to trouble when any good can hardly be

expected to come of it . He will forbear to be uneasy on account of the shadows cast far ahead of them by coming disasters caused by present unwisdom ; and he will think , as I do , that " little to talk of and nothing to do is the healthy condition of mankind . "

So a man may say to himself , in another writer ' s words , " Never look back and never look forward as long as you can possibly help it . Looking back leads tho way to sorrow , and looking forward ends in the cruellest of all delusions ; it encourages hope . The present time is the

precious time . Sufficient unto each day is its own evil . Why accept the sad legacies of the past , or borrow the troubles that belong only to a future , that may never become the present for us ?"

But is it wise , or does it comport with the dignity of true manhood , to have no concern for what may come in the future to our country or to Masonry , when the causes of that which is to come are actively at work now , and one of those causes may be one ' s own concern ?

Freemasonry has not had its life given it for mere recreation , or for social intercourse only , or for mutual beneficence or for brotherhood only , —for brotherhood ' s self only , without some high object to be attained if possible by means of it . Freemasonry has a larger part to

play in the affairs of the world than any of the modern Orders , and to fulfil its mission must not lower itself to their level , but be always observant of the decorum and dignity that belong to it , and put them not at hazard by follies and masquerading that make the wise to grieve and

the world to sneer and laugh ; or by courting notoriety and vain pomp and parade . For none of these things , nor the levying of contributions on the profane , can tend to exalt or ennoble Masonry , but rather to impair its influence and power for good , and cause the eclipse of its ancient glories to be lamented .

Freemasonry lives in this nation among a people of some sixty millions of souls , among whom millions are foreignborn ; and the stream of immigration grows broader and deeper , and must continue to flow on , to stop or check or diminish it being impossible . Ignorance casts an immense

vote , and those in whose hands tbe ballot is dangerous to liberty and order dictate terms to those who rule ; and in a country of so vast an extent no one can foresee ' what conflicts of interest may arise to endanger the stability of

me republic , iremasonry , if guided and directed by wisdom , may do much to avert the dangers that threaten us ; but it will be helpless for good if it loseg the consideration and respect of men , as it will do if it is guilty of follies and courts contempt by weaknoss ; and especially if its

Worth And Fellowship.

fellowship and brotherhood continue to decay into unrealities . One may well apply to the fellowship that should be among Freemasons this that a fine writer puts in the mouth of an Englishman , speaking to his fellow working-men five

centuries ago : " Ah , my brothers , what an evil doom is this , to be without fellowship ! Fellowship is Heaven , and lack of fellowship is Hell ; fellowship is life , and lack of fellowship is death ; and the deeds that we do upon the

earth , it is for fellowship ' s sake that we do them ; and the life that is in it , that shall live on and on for ever , and each one of us part of it , while many a man ' s life upon the earth and from the earth shall wane . "

It is our knightly devoir to do all that we may or can , even with great painstaking and sacrifices , for the cherishment and enhancement of this our liege fellowship ; for the Passion-Cross , having upon it the red rose of immortal dawn , is not a symbol that hath no meaning for us ; and every real Masonic symbol exacts a special pledge .

The harm to Masonry is not to come from without . It is doubtful whether its mightiest and most malignant and unscrupulous enemy can hurt it in this free land . It would be better , nevertheless , if that old enemy seemed to be more dangerous . Its aotivo hostility is more to be courted than

its contempt . What abuses and follies there are , which are likely to gain for us that contempt and the inconsideration of the world , you all well know , and I need not speak more fully of them .

I must not let " the joy that a man hath to babble to his friends and his fellows whom he hath nob seen for a long season , " and the faces of most of whom he will never see hereafter , lead me into indulgence of a larger loquacity , which is an old man ' s failing . Neither need he be

ashamed thereof , for what else of much comfort to him hath he in this world , than to commune " with the folk that he has known and who are dead , and folk that are living ? yea , and with all those of the fellowship on earth and in heaven ?"

For has it not been well said that" He who doeth well m fellowship aud because of fellowship , shall not fail though he seem to fail to-day ; but in days hereafter shall he and his work yet be alive , and men be holpen by them to strive again and yet again" ? * * * The true interests of

Freemasonry are the best interests of the country and mankind . It has great advantages and great opportunities , and if it does not use these to the utmost , there will come upon it and upon all of us great ignominy and dishonour . Lot us more diligently labour to exalt and magnify it , that

thei'eby we may bo free of reproach if it do not strenuously help to bring on the dawn of that glad day , the hope of ¦ which , although it may never come , encourages Humanity , when there will be everywhere that which was long ago foretold and promised , " Peace of body and joy of hoart ;

when man shall help man , and tho saints in Heaven shall be glad , because men no more fear each other ; and the churl shall bo ashamod , and shall hide his churlishness till it be gone , and be be no more a churl ; and fellowship shall be established and rulo on earth . " —Totce of Masonry .

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