Enthusiasm.

ENTHUSIASM .

EEVERTING to the subject briefly touched upon in our report of the Swan of Avon Lodge , last week , as to the success of one Lodge or district and the comparative failure of another , under apparently similar circumstances , we are led to a consideration of some of the conditions which may be

regarded as inseparable from success and failure alike , although made manifest in a greater or lesser degree in different localities and by different means . Enthusiasm may be regarded in such a light , and it •rt a •¦••i -m- — —

* . is a lactor m connection witn our Lodges regarding which much might be said , and to the influence of which it is impossible to ascribe too much . The one word , enthusiasm , covers a very wide field , and it has an almost infinite number of ways of showing itself . It is one of the most useful traits which can be

introduced into a Lodge , and at the same time one of the most dangerous , for under its cloak the most absurd and wildest ideas may be promulgated , while some of the greatest wrongs known in the history of the world have been perpetrated by its votaries . We should

not be far wrong were we to say that the overenthusiastic Mason would stop at nothing in order to achieve his purpose , and it can therefore be imagined how dangerous a factor it may become in association with a man of weak principles , or with one easily led by others . Yet its absence from our midst would be unmistakable evidence of weakness , if it mierht not

be regarded as the forerunner of actual decay . No doubt much of the success or failure of a Lodge depends on the amount of enthusiasm existing among the members , although enthusiasm does not

count for everything ; much more depends on the particular ideas of the enthusiast , the desire of his fellow members to support or oppose his views , and the ability of the one section to adapt themselves to the opinions of the other . To a certain extent all Masons are enthusiasts , but it is only the few who

make any display of their enthusiasm , or impress it on the minds of those around them . There is seldom an initiate but feels a certain amount of Masonic enthusiasm on the occasion of his admittance to the Craft , and that it is usually continuous is evidenced

by the large majority of initiates who , follow up their admission by advancement to the second and third degrees . From that point it becomes very difficult to guage a Mason ' s enthusiasm , for a considerable number of brethren never take any prominent action in the Craft when once they have become qualified to don the badge of

a Master Mason . Still , we may find some of the most enthusiastic of brethren among those who seem to do nothing ; men who , having passed through the three degrees of the Craft , have profited by the lessonB taughHhem , and who practise in their every-day life the principles of that peculiar system of morality , veiled in the allegory and illustrated by the symbols of * he Craft . These men continue , year after year ,

Enthusiasm.

their membership of the Lodge which admitted them , and their attendance at its meetings may be relied on whenever it is needed . They make no particular display , but their steady and continuous support evinces the best of all enthusiasm—the devotion of a truly zealous brother .

_ In marked contrast to these quiet , steady enthusiasts , we may point to the initiate who takes a violent fancy to the Craft from the moment he is admitted to a participation in its mysteries . He enters most enthusiastically into all the details of the Order , takes a prominent part in everything connected with it , * and in a few years becomes a grumbler at Freemasonry , abusing every one and every thing associated with it—really a disappointed man , sighing for fresh worlds to conquer , but forgetting that he has not yet made himself master of the first lessons taught by the ceremonies of Freemasonry . To show how swiftly such changes may occur we have only to call to mind some of the men and Lodges with whom we have made acquaintance since the first issue of the FREEMASON ' S CHEONICLE , just over thirteen years

ago . Many 01 tne most prominent Masonic stars of that period have long since become dimmed , while in not a few cases they are wholly forgotten , even by the men who worshipped them in their splendour , or were associated with their labours in the time of their

enthusiasm . Even the Lodges with which they were associated , and which were to inaugurate new eras in the Craft , have either been forgotten or have quietly fallen into the same course as has been pursued by their less pretentious fellows .

It would , however , be very unwise to attempt to check ox discourage enthusiasm , simply because a few misguided spirits overstep the bounds of reason , just as it would be to urge on every initiate the necessity of proving his enthusiasm by a display of some exceptional character . What is most needed is true enthusiasm , that which induces a Mason to take pleasure in the Craft , and to prove by his own aeiions oenent 01 masonic in

me xeacnmg . a jjoage composed of such men every thing appears to jog along smoothly and satisfactorily , there is neither excess of zeal or a lack of it , the work of Masonry is carried out and the teachings of the Craft are around actual contact

impressed on an by , and more is learned under such circumstances in a few months than could be acquired in a lifetime under opposite conditions . It is no doubt desirable that we should occasionally have an enthusiast in our midst , if only

for the purpose of showing others what it is possible to accomplish , but in many cases time proves that the excess of zeal displayed left no lasting benefit , while in many cases it could be shown to have led to complications which sorely taxed the ability of others to surmount .

Enthusiasm , as we said at the outset , has many ways in which it shows itself ; with some it assumes a craving for new Lodges , with others a desire to introduce candidates , while others again have a fancy for