Lukewarm Masons.

LUKEWARM MASONS .

ALMOST everybody has heard of the Irishman in tho story , -who when twitted , with having been nowhere in a race , retorted , with bland Hibernian complacency , " JBegorra ! and didn't ye see I drnv them all before me like a flock of sheep ? " The simile may well be applied to those lethargic brethren who , after the first flush of

enthusiasm aroused by their entrace into the Craft , cool down to the conclusion that they " see nothing in Masonry . " Their philosophy is on all fours with that of Mr . Weller , who after marriage was fain to declare that " whether it was worth while going through so much to

learn so little " must ever with him remain a problem . No amount of example can stir the apathatic Mason to emulation in discovering the hidden mysteries of nature and science ; no sermonising will stir the impulses and keep alive the resolutions so well formed when the candidate is

vouchsafed the predominant wish of his heart . These remarks are prompted by our having met , in the course of a provincial holiday tour , with brethren whose erstwhile patriotism is a matter of agreeable recollection , but who appear either to have lost heart , by disappointment , or to

have become satiated by blushing honours that have been thrust upon them . There is no royal road to distinction , any more in the Craft that out of it ; and the rule applies to all gradations of human existence . Without work ye shall not eat ; and it is only by the utilisation of

opportunities and the development of industry that true worth is rewarded . Let us cite a couple of examples we recently encountered during our peregrinations in the country , and both bearing on tho motto that heads this article . An estimable brother , possessed of intelligence and

administrative ability , rose rapidly , like a Saul amongst his fellows , and in the race for position was soon sboulderhigh above them all . In the various grades through which he passed his duties were performed in manner which stamped him as a promising ornament to the Craft whose tenets he loved and whose

principles be espoused to the very letter . His zeal was tempered with vhscretion , and on reaching the pinnacle of his ambition , he ruled his Lodge with fervency and wisdom . Wifch ' solid satisfaction we watched the opening of a career which promised to blossom into riper fruits , to

the benefit a ; -d j building up of the Lodge to which our friend belonged ,, and in the promotion of whose interests he evinced such zealous activity . But he seems to have been unable to jlook beyond the chair , and almost immediately after Iche Past Master ' s jewel glistened on his

breast he rela / psed into an unaccountable lethargy from which no advice , no recollection of past ambition , could arouse him ., " Couldn ' t stand the corn , you know , " mournfully . suggested those who saw that he had been spoilt by inordinate prosperity . Nor was the effect of this

" falling aviray " for his first love lost upon those whom he had fc / 'itherto assisted and led in the mastery of the beautiful symbols of the Craft . The Past Master was " conspicuous by his absence " at the future meetings of the Lod'ge , his attendance at which was more honoured in the l-e . ach than the observance . Instead of

maintainingits h gh prestige and growing influence , that Lodge becar / . e almost a dead letter , and the members seem to hav'B caught the depressing influence of the lukewarmness displayed by one who had been looked up to as a pattern

Lukewarm Masons.

of industry . Is not this an example which finds a parallel in many other branches of our Institution ? The other case over which we might well utter a deploring sigh is

that of a man who was initiated into tho same Lodgo , and on the very evening on which our first-named brother saw the light . It was a reproduction of the old fable anent the hare and the tortoise . Whether or not ho was dazzled

by the sublimity which always impresses itself upon tho mind of the novitiate , or whether from innate modesty or slothfulness , we need not enquire , but he never essayed a step beyond those through which he was led until he arose from the figurative death .

His foot was placed upon the first rung of the Masonic ladder , and he kept it there , never for a moment aspiring to a pace beyond , nor caring to inquire below the surface of that Piaerian spring whence flow the rippling fountains of knowledge and power . Proffers of instruction were

evaded by flimsy excuses , and invitations to accept office were in like manner rejected . The inevitable and painful sequence was that these two brethren , whose social position and acquirements would have rendered them valuable acquisitions to the Lodge , became a wet blanket , retarding

instead of encouraging the aspirations of those by whom they were surrounded . It is uot our desire or purpose to hold up these examples as indicating the general rule of those who are admitted within the pale of Freemasonry , though many there are who , wise after the event , carp at

their fellows and proclaim that there is often a lack of discrimination on the part of those who recommend candidates for initiation . It is not at all times possible to discern the peculariarities of temperament belonging to men who of their own free will and accord present themselves for

participation in the mysteries and privileges of Freemasonry . Nor can we foretel the duration of that aptitude and zeal which are almost invariably displayed by those whose early steps we watch along the chequered floor . As a rule , we believe that the sponsors of candidates are

actuated by a sincere wish to benefit the Lodges to which they belong , and who would not knowingly introduce members that might ultimately turn out to be drones in the Masonic hive . There is no accounting for the manner in which early aspirations may be diverted from their

original channels , and a keen sense of the beautiful blunted by natural indolence and apathy . It is the same in every walk of life , and a counteracting agency it may at times be difficult to discover . The best antidote , to our mind , is in the effort to keep alive the spirit of quiet and

progressive industry which is fostered in our Lodges of Instruction , and to make these nurseries of thought and action as attractive as possible . In London and the other large centres of Masonic activity this laudable endeavour is , we are happy to say ,

carefully encouraged by discreet veterans of the Craft , whose plodding example and steady industry cannot fail to produce a salutary effect upon the Lodges to which they are attached . Thus , in many of our Lodges of Instruction brief and interesting lectures on the history and

symbolic beauties of the art are delivered at intervals as a relief to the monotony of the ritual , which to some capacities becomes wearisome , and this practice of interspersing the ordinary routine of intermediate work cannot be too

highly commended . In the country , we admit , the difficulties of arranging for these concordances , so to speak , are greater than in towns , for the simple reason that it is rare to find in a small Lodge—having no frequent oppor-