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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Social Gatherings.
SOCIAL GATHERINGS .
A SHORT time since we spoke as to the desirability of craftsmen cultivating among themselves a closer degree of intimacy than at present exists . In the majority of cases the eight or nine , or , it may be , tho dozen Lodge meetings which are held in the year , are the only occasions on which members have the opportuniby of interchanging
the ordinary courtesies of life . And even when these occur , the business of the Lodge very properly takes precedence of all else , so that the cultivation of good fellowship is left to the chapter of accidents . To say the least , this is a most irregular mode of procedure , and , in our
humble opinion , very unconstitutional . We are aware this particular capitular body has what we may call an organised disorganisation peculiar to itself . The doctrine ifc professes is the doctrine of probabilities , its laws are the laws of chance . It is only , hoAvever , Avhen other hopes and other means have failed him that the wise man trusts to
the chapter in question . Whoever has a purpose in view leaves no regular stone unturned in order to gain it . When these havo done him no service , then it is he says to himself , " I must look to the chapter of accidents . " Now , the promotion of good fellowship is one of the leading aims of
Freemasonry . We strive to become "jolly good fellows , " not in a bacchanalian sense , but in the sense of being genial and kind towards each other . We are bidden to love ancl respect our neighbour , and the first step towards loving and respecting him is to knoAV him . Yet the
facilities for knowing one another are hardly Avorth mentioning , hardly , indeed , exist . We meet and labour , and refresh the inner man ; the rest takes care of itself . Outside the Lodge we may knoAV each other in the course of business , or we may not . All this is mere accident .
We aro not so silly as to imagine that no class distinctions exist in Freemasonry . There are gentle and simple , learned and unlettered , business and professional folk among us . Some , again , are wealthy , Avhile others must content themselves Avith a bare competency . As , then , in
the outer , so in the Masonic Avorld , it were absurd to expect all these different classes to be on terms of familiar intercourse . As a rule , however , Lodges are composed for the most part of members of the same social rank , and there is no reason we knoAV of why they should not have at
least the chance of meeting outside as well as inside the Lodge . The men of sympathetic tastes ancl temperaments ¦ will very soon find each other out , and mere casual
acquaintance may gradually ripen into warm and enduring friendship . It is necessary , however , there should be afforded the opportunity of meeting , or the sympathy will remain latent .
Our readers are , doubtless , wondering Avhat it is Ave have in view in writing thus formally . Our purpose is very harmless , and one in which we hope to have the sympathy of our readers . We are merely anxious to promote good fellowship among Lodges and members , and as a means to
that end , the social gatherings Avhich belong to this period of the year are as likely to do good as any Ave know of . It is the general opinion , among profanes at least , that people become more sociable the more they have the opportunity of cultivating each others' society . Accordingly , in those
circles to which many of us belong , we find that little parties are organised into the country , to some quiet nook hid someAvhere amongst the Surrey Hills , or in Kent , or northAvard in the direction of Harrow , of Hatfield , or of St . Albans . The number of such places within a radius oi
Social Gatherings.
twenty or tAventy-flve miles of London is considerable , and there is hardly one Avhich is not easily accessible by rail or , better still , by road . It Avould not be very difficult to get half-a-dozen men to club together ancl arrange for a day ' s visit to some pleasant quiet spot . Ladies might be of the
party , and a few well furnished hampers would suffice to contain the needful provender . People enjoy themselves amazingly afc these jaunts . True , vinegar is novv and ag . iin mistaken for claret , pepper and sugar get commingled . The stoufc member of the party is somehoAv fixed in the
stravvberry-ice bub , till his fawn-coloured pantaloons blush con . tinually at his misadventure . The genial little Tompkinson , an inexperienced youngster of perhaps four or five and twenty summers , finds champagne or claret cup a pleasant beverage under a broiling summer ' s sun . He consults ifc
often , and is as ready for a toast as the celebrated Pickwick was when he went shooting in a Avheel-barroAV . The young ladies laugh pleasantly ancl musically over tho little contretemps that take place . They , too , find an occasional taste of the cup is a fitting reward for the labours of tho valse
or galop over the smooth greensward . Their kindly hearts beat warmly as the day advances , and if a deeper glow than usual mantles their pretty cheeks as the hours of evening sot in , if they are less careful about crumpled muslins and sashes on the return journey than at starting ,
if John and Amy , Tom ancl Cicely , Dickon and Carrie are less reticent toAvards each other , Ave m . iy be sure tho party has been one of pleasure unalloyed . So thinks , at least , bhab buxom fair faced matron , Avho , lvhile watching Tom Meadows and his bine-eyed cousin flirting , has more than
once during the day recalled the pleasant memories of her own girlhood . So does MeadoAvs senior , Avho has just been singing " Our old friend John , " Avith hearty good Avill , if not quite tunefully . Very pleasant are these parties , and very much appreciabed aro bhey in all classes of socieby .
Why should not AVO Masons have our occasional fits of ruralising , and take our feminine belongings Avith us to some quieb little spot a few miles out from the noise , and heat , and turmoil of business ? One or two drags or Avaggon . ettes would suffice for a nice little party of betAA'een twenty
and thirty , and without a care to harass us , AVO might " spend a happy day" in homely fashion , and , to use a common phrase , " be happy as the day is long , " Avith just a little happiness , perhaps , left over for bhe morrow . We
are nob , as a rule , ab labour jusb UOAV ; Avhy nob be boys again togebher , ancl have our frequenb bonbs of play ? Ifc Avould not cosfc much , and AVCII assured are Ave the game would be well worth the candle .
Or if pic-nics and similar outings do nofccommend themselves either to London or Provincial brethren , there is the more formal summer recreation banqueb ab bhe Crystal ancl Alexandra Palaces or at some distant Rainbow or Star and Garter . At these , too , Ave have the company of the ladies
ancl their presence it is needless to say graces the festive board as no other presence can . Well do Ave remember one such banqueb that was held last summer at the Mnswell Hill Palaco , Avhen Messrs . Bertram ancl Roberts cabered admirably for bheir guests . There AA'as a strong muster ,
both of ladies and brethren , and seldom have AVC spent a more agreeable day . Again , there are Avater picuics , Avhen parties in boats visit the reaches of the Thames above Teddington . The timid go in substantial Avherries , safe
as any barge , and as surely Avarranted not to give its occupants a ducking . That pleasant theatrical water party so ably depicted in Jacob Faithful flits before our mind ' s eye . Let the reader glance at the few pages of this excellent work of Marryat ' s , in which the events of this memor *
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Social Gatherings.
SOCIAL GATHERINGS .
A SHORT time since we spoke as to the desirability of craftsmen cultivating among themselves a closer degree of intimacy than at present exists . In the majority of cases the eight or nine , or , it may be , tho dozen Lodge meetings which are held in the year , are the only occasions on which members have the opportuniby of interchanging
the ordinary courtesies of life . And even when these occur , the business of the Lodge very properly takes precedence of all else , so that the cultivation of good fellowship is left to the chapter of accidents . To say the least , this is a most irregular mode of procedure , and , in our
humble opinion , very unconstitutional . We are aware this particular capitular body has what we may call an organised disorganisation peculiar to itself . The doctrine ifc professes is the doctrine of probabilities , its laws are the laws of chance . It is only , hoAvever , Avhen other hopes and other means have failed him that the wise man trusts to
the chapter in question . Whoever has a purpose in view leaves no regular stone unturned in order to gain it . When these havo done him no service , then it is he says to himself , " I must look to the chapter of accidents . " Now , the promotion of good fellowship is one of the leading aims of
Freemasonry . We strive to become "jolly good fellows , " not in a bacchanalian sense , but in the sense of being genial and kind towards each other . We are bidden to love ancl respect our neighbour , and the first step towards loving and respecting him is to knoAV him . Yet the
facilities for knowing one another are hardly Avorth mentioning , hardly , indeed , exist . We meet and labour , and refresh the inner man ; the rest takes care of itself . Outside the Lodge we may knoAV each other in the course of business , or we may not . All this is mere accident .
We aro not so silly as to imagine that no class distinctions exist in Freemasonry . There are gentle and simple , learned and unlettered , business and professional folk among us . Some , again , are wealthy , Avhile others must content themselves Avith a bare competency . As , then , in
the outer , so in the Masonic Avorld , it were absurd to expect all these different classes to be on terms of familiar intercourse . As a rule , however , Lodges are composed for the most part of members of the same social rank , and there is no reason we knoAV of why they should not have at
least the chance of meeting outside as well as inside the Lodge . The men of sympathetic tastes ancl temperaments ¦ will very soon find each other out , and mere casual
acquaintance may gradually ripen into warm and enduring friendship . It is necessary , however , there should be afforded the opportunity of meeting , or the sympathy will remain latent .
Our readers are , doubtless , wondering Avhat it is Ave have in view in writing thus formally . Our purpose is very harmless , and one in which we hope to have the sympathy of our readers . We are merely anxious to promote good fellowship among Lodges and members , and as a means to
that end , the social gatherings Avhich belong to this period of the year are as likely to do good as any Ave know of . It is the general opinion , among profanes at least , that people become more sociable the more they have the opportunity of cultivating each others' society . Accordingly , in those
circles to which many of us belong , we find that little parties are organised into the country , to some quiet nook hid someAvhere amongst the Surrey Hills , or in Kent , or northAvard in the direction of Harrow , of Hatfield , or of St . Albans . The number of such places within a radius oi
Social Gatherings.
twenty or tAventy-flve miles of London is considerable , and there is hardly one Avhich is not easily accessible by rail or , better still , by road . It Avould not be very difficult to get half-a-dozen men to club together ancl arrange for a day ' s visit to some pleasant quiet spot . Ladies might be of the
party , and a few well furnished hampers would suffice to contain the needful provender . People enjoy themselves amazingly afc these jaunts . True , vinegar is novv and ag . iin mistaken for claret , pepper and sugar get commingled . The stoufc member of the party is somehoAv fixed in the
stravvberry-ice bub , till his fawn-coloured pantaloons blush con . tinually at his misadventure . The genial little Tompkinson , an inexperienced youngster of perhaps four or five and twenty summers , finds champagne or claret cup a pleasant beverage under a broiling summer ' s sun . He consults ifc
often , and is as ready for a toast as the celebrated Pickwick was when he went shooting in a Avheel-barroAV . The young ladies laugh pleasantly ancl musically over tho little contretemps that take place . They , too , find an occasional taste of the cup is a fitting reward for the labours of tho valse
or galop over the smooth greensward . Their kindly hearts beat warmly as the day advances , and if a deeper glow than usual mantles their pretty cheeks as the hours of evening sot in , if they are less careful about crumpled muslins and sashes on the return journey than at starting ,
if John and Amy , Tom ancl Cicely , Dickon and Carrie are less reticent toAvards each other , Ave m . iy be sure tho party has been one of pleasure unalloyed . So thinks , at least , bhab buxom fair faced matron , Avho , lvhile watching Tom Meadows and his bine-eyed cousin flirting , has more than
once during the day recalled the pleasant memories of her own girlhood . So does MeadoAvs senior , Avho has just been singing " Our old friend John , " Avith hearty good Avill , if not quite tunefully . Very pleasant are these parties , and very much appreciabed aro bhey in all classes of socieby .
Why should not AVO Masons have our occasional fits of ruralising , and take our feminine belongings Avith us to some quieb little spot a few miles out from the noise , and heat , and turmoil of business ? One or two drags or Avaggon . ettes would suffice for a nice little party of betAA'een twenty
and thirty , and without a care to harass us , AVO might " spend a happy day" in homely fashion , and , to use a common phrase , " be happy as the day is long , " Avith just a little happiness , perhaps , left over for bhe morrow . We
are nob , as a rule , ab labour jusb UOAV ; Avhy nob be boys again togebher , ancl have our frequenb bonbs of play ? Ifc Avould not cosfc much , and AVCII assured are Ave the game would be well worth the candle .
Or if pic-nics and similar outings do nofccommend themselves either to London or Provincial brethren , there is the more formal summer recreation banqueb ab bhe Crystal ancl Alexandra Palaces or at some distant Rainbow or Star and Garter . At these , too , Ave have the company of the ladies
ancl their presence it is needless to say graces the festive board as no other presence can . Well do Ave remember one such banqueb that was held last summer at the Mnswell Hill Palaco , Avhen Messrs . Bertram ancl Roberts cabered admirably for bheir guests . There AA'as a strong muster ,
both of ladies and brethren , and seldom have AVC spent a more agreeable day . Again , there are Avater picuics , Avhen parties in boats visit the reaches of the Thames above Teddington . The timid go in substantial Avherries , safe
as any barge , and as surely Avarranted not to give its occupants a ducking . That pleasant theatrical water party so ably depicted in Jacob Faithful flits before our mind ' s eye . Let the reader glance at the few pages of this excellent work of Marryat ' s , in which the events of this memor *