Teetotal Lodges.

TEETOTAL LODGES .

WE shall , doubtless , be excused if we take the liberty of once again referring to the subject of Temperance , or , as they should be more correctly designated , Teetotal Lodges . We are inclined to think the parade that was made the other day about the consecration of the King Solomon Lodge was not only a great mistake , bnt ,

seeing that Freemasons are presumably governed in what they do and say by Temperance , it was also a slight approximating very closely to an insult to the Craft . No particular body of brethren , such as the charter members of this new Lodge , have a right to ascribe to themselves

as their special characteristic the exercise of a particular virtue . There are none among us who can truthfully affirm they have as it were had granted to tbem letters patent securing them the sole ri ght to proclaim the merits of such virtue and enforce their observance . We are all

of us , as a body , temperate men , and it is a libel on our fair fame to suggest we are otherwise . No doubt Bro . Richardson and his associate brethren have been actuated by the best of motives in what they have done ; but even well-intentioned people should be put on their guard lest

m their anxiety to confer a benefit in one direction , they are so , unfortunate as to do an injury in another . Any slight good that might be effected on the outside world by the teetotal example of King Solomon Lodge must be more

than neutralised by the harm done to Freemasonry itself . There is no room in onr Fraternity for any of these nu merous classes of extremists with which Society has the misfortune to be encumbered . There is no difference in

degree , whatever there may be in kind , between the intolerance of the religious or political bigot and the intolerance of the social bigot . Hitherto we have succeeded in keeping our mystic circle free from the demoralising influences of the former , but if the authorities are so

unwise as to go on sanctioning the establishment qf Masonic teetotal Lodges , we shall sooner or later be subjected to the equally or even more demoralisin g influences of the latter . Of all the tyrannies that were ever practised of man , the most degrading , because at the same time the

most revolting to our sense of justice and decency , is the social . ^ We are only occasionally brought face to face with the religious or political tyrant , but the social tyrant is with us nearly always and everywhere . But what will

become of our boasted good fellowship , which it is the object of the banquet to cultivate , if in certain Lodges it is to be in the power of one man—the W . M . —to dictate to

toe guests what kind of refreshment they shall or shall not he permitted to take ? It will , of course , be retorted that we are under no sort of compulsion to visit these Lodges , but we have always understood that the interchange of friendl y relations between the members of different Lodges , as being one of the likeliest methods of promoting

goodlenowstnp , was one of the ancient landmarks of our societ y . In any case , if we are to have some Lodges teetotal and others non-teetotal , we shall not only set up as it were an impassable gulf between them , bnt we shall ao worse still , by establishing invidious distinctions between sections

ot a Fraternity , whose primary object is to enable ^ l ? a 11 conditions and classes to meet together ancl establish among themselves good feeling in spite of the uistmction s which characterise them . By setting up teetotal Lod ges , we are in fact taking the first and a most

Teetotal Lodges.

effeotive step towards destroying that unity and harmony which it is our anxiety to seoure . Bro . Dr . Richardson , in replying to the toast of his health and success to the Lodge of King Solomon , had a somewhat difficult task to perform , but he performed it well .

He explained clearly and unreservedly that the fundamental rule on which the new Lodge would be conducted was that of abstinence from all alcoholic drinks at their social gatherings . He said there were three points of view from which what he designated the Temperance question

was regarded . There were , in the first place , those who looked with absolute horror on alcoholic drink , from its baneful effects generally , but chiefly from the large amount of criminality which was traceable to its influence . Others took a utilitarian and somewhat selfish , yet not unworthy , view . These considered abstinence from alcoholic

beverages would have the effect of lessening disease , promoting health , prolonging life , and increasing our personal , domestic , and national happiness . The third class , to which he himself belonged , looked upon it as a physical question . He could not discover from the scientific researches and

experiments he had made that alcoholic drink did people any good , or in any way added to their physical health or well-being . On the contrary , he believed that in the case of those who abstained from all such stimulants , the body was stronger , and the mind more vigorous and capable ,

therefore , of greater and more sustained efforts . These three classes of opinion are perfectly unobjectionable , but we fail to see what more they have to do with Freemasonry or Freemasonry with them now than at any time during the past history of the Society . Freemasonry , to begin

with , is a great Temperance Fraternity . On all occasions it proclaims Temperance as an essential part of its system , as indeed Temperance must , in the very nature of things , be an essential part of every system of morality . But Temperance and Teetotalism , with which Bro . Dr . Richardson

would have us confound it , cannot be synonymous teims . The latter not only pre-supposes the existence of Intemperauce of a particular kind , namely , Intemperance in Drink , but it also assumes that the best , if not the only , way of coping successfully with this evil is , to compel

men to give up one extreme m favour of its opposite . The teetotaller says in effect that the only cure for excessive alcoholic drinking is to abstain from it altogether , bnt this at least is an open question , and , as such , calculated to excite serious disputation . But in Freemasonry the discussion

of religious or political questions is forbidden , and if we would preserve in our ranks the harmony thus obtained from being converted into discord , we must be careful to include in the same category of things forbidden the dis cussion of all those social questions which are likely to

disturb the pleasure of our meetings . Thus a Teetotaller must no more be allowed to join or remain in Freemasonry in order that he may use it as a means whereby to preach Teetotalism than a Christian or a Jew may join or remain in it , in order the better to proclaim the merits of

Christianity or Judaism . Freemasonry recognises no distinction of religious or political faith . Men of all creeds are welcome , if they are found personally worthy , but there will be an end at once of our boasted principle of

toleration , if we provide a place in our midst for the Teetotaller , not because he is a right worthy good fellow , but because be is a Teetotaller , and therefore despotically opposed to the use as well as the abuse of alcoholic liquors . We venture so say there is not a single Masonic Lodge in the