Eulogy On Masonry

EULOGY ON MASONRY

Address delivered by Henry W . Rugg , D . D ., at the laying of the Corner-stone of the Masonic Building in Pawtucket , Thursday , 15 th April 1897 . rriHIS is a day of special interest and suggestiveness to the JL Masonic brethren of Pawtucket ; and to them , first of all , I desire to make expression of my hearty congratulations in view of what this occasion signifies . The service in which we here engage takes place under conditions which justify our expectation

of an increase of the strength and usefulness of the Masonic Institution in this city . The erection on this site of a commodious and attractive edifice , admirably adapted to Masonic uses , may well be assumed to mark a new era of progress and prosperity for the Fraternity in Pawtucket . The new Masonic home in itself will be a factor of help toward the accomplishment of tbe desired result .

In the service in which we here engage , we may pause for a moment to turn our thoughts backward along the way that has been trod , to note what has been already gained and made secure . Eighty-nine years ago the organic life of Freemasonry in Pawtucket began , authority having been given by a dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Ehode Island , dated 15 th April 1808 ,

empowering the brethren whose names appear in that paper to meet and do Masonic work , under the name of Union Lodge . The Lodge thus organised almost immediately set about the building of a Masonic Hall , and showed so much of ardour in the undertaking , that the new structure was dedicated to Masonic uses 28 th June 1809 . After some years of occupancy by the Craft , this first Masonic building passed into other hands . Then

followed a considerable period during which the Brotherhood held their meetings in leased apartments , sometimes having quarters but poorly adapted to the desired uses . When the storm of anti-Masonry raged most violently , Pawtucket Masons were forced to suspend their meetings ; but Union Lodge was the last Lodge in the State to give up Masonic work , and it was the first to resume .

The corner-stone of the present Masonic building was laid 4 th Dec . 1845 , under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of Ehode Island , on which occasion Eev . George Taft Grand Chaplain delivered an appropriate address . The dedication took place 28 th September 1846 , and Eev . Geo . M . Eandall , who a few years

later was Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts , delivered the address . From that date until now more than fifty years of activity and progress have intervened . During these years new bodies have been organised , representing the different departments of the Order , and there has been a clearly marked advance in numbers and in resources .

It is a bright record which is disclosed by this survey of the past . It is gratifying to note the fact that there have always been strong and zealous members of the Masonic Fraternity in Pawtucket ; men whose influence has been felt in the business and social life of the community ; men justly prominent in affairs pertaining to morals and religion ; noble and faithful citizens ,

who well deserved the unfaltering support of their associates . Among the able and devoted Masons who wrought so efficiently in former days , who have now passed on to their reward , mention may well be made of Eev . George Taft , Eev . David Benedict , Barney Merry , Alvin Jenks , William Field , James Hutchison and Lloyd Morton . Had it not been for the leadership of such

brethren as these , with others of like character—men who were Masons , not considering so much what they might get from the institution , as what they might contribute to it of added strength , usefulness and influence—the Fraternity of Pawtucket would not come to this day ' s service under conditions so favourable as those which now exist . Faithful and zealous craftsmen they were

who lived and wrought in this community , both before the time of the anti-Masonic crusade , and afterward ; and from their worthy living and abundant service comes a rich heritage of blessing , as also an incitement to noble doing on the part of those who now bear the heat and the burden of the day . So do the Fathers

" Live again In minds macle better by their presence ; live In pulses stirred to generosity , In deeds of daring rectitude ; in scorn For miserable aims that end in self ; In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars , And with their mild persistence , urge man ' s search To vaster issues . "

Passing to the broader field , to which as the Eulogist of Masonry I may be expected to call your attention , I count it a privilege to speak to my brethren here assembled , and to others not members of the Fraternity , of some of the distinguishing

features of the MasoDic Institution . My purpose is to avoid all extravagant praise , all unwarranted laudation , either of the Masonic system , or of the organisation through which that system finds expression . What I would seek to do , is to point out some of the essential principles of Freemasonry , and to note some of

Eulogy On Masonry

its chief purposes , which make it a beneficent force in society and in the world . The Masonic organisation does not seek any undue publicity ; but it does not shun public scrutiny as to its aims and objects ; its secrets are very few , and pertain to the ceremonies of the

Order and the relations which Brethren hold together in the way of fraternal intercourse . Freemasonry does not work in the dark ; it declares its message , it announces its mission ; it seeks no concealments as to its purposes and objects ; it is content to be judged by its principles and by its fruits .

I believe Freemasonry to be a factor of conservative influence in the community . It inculcates obedience to authority and respect for law . One of the old Charges still rehearsed to candidates , in passing through the ceremonies of the Order , reads on this wise : " Whoever would be a true Mason should know that by the privileges of the Craft his obligations as a citizen

will not be relaxed , but increased . He is to be a lover of peace and obedient to the powers which yield him protection . " At almost every step of his advancement , a candidate is instructed that while freedom is one characteristic of the institution , it is that freedom which is co-ordinate with the obligations of related

life , and which is only made secure by numerous laws and regulations . More than two thousand years ago , one of the Latin writers , in defining the condition of a free people , said : "The republic must be reared on the basis of a genuine liberty ; a liberty that consists in the exercise of one ' s own rights , while not interfering with the rights of other people . "

Freemasonry emphasises both of the elements named in this proposition . It declares the freest and best life possible to man to be that which is duly regulated and held within just bounds . It most exalts that community wherein the utmost care is taken that no man shall be wronged in person or property by another , and where even the humblest citizen receives ample protection

under just laws , to which all are amenable , while he is restricted from trespassing on the rights of other people , should he be so inclined . Not only does Freemasonry make frequent declarations of these propositions , thus inculcating the principles of intelligent citizenship ; but in its own practice , and by the regulations to which all Masons are alike subjected , it emphasises the same

great truths . Among the many salutary lessons taught in the Lodge room is that of prompt and implicit obedience to authority . Brethren must be obedient to rules and regulations justly enacted , and fender due respeet to those who are placed in authority over them . By the lessons taught , and by the illustration and the enforcement of such lessons within the lines of the Institution ,

not a little of helpful influence is given to conservative and patriotic citizenship . And in all of this teaching and expression , it seeks to maintain the rule of right over mere force ; of intelligence over prejudice ; of Brotherhood over selfhood . History justifies the assertion that Freemasonry has always been

the foe of tyranny and oppression ; of ignorance and of superstition . To-day it flourishes best in lands which . are most advanced in conditions denoting the best civilisation and the utmost of freedom and intelligence . Nowhere else has it come to so great preferment as in England and the United States—the countries which are pre-eminent in the elements just named .

The history of our Institution is made bright by the patriotic ardour and heroic service of those who have been leaders in their time ; honoured citizens , faithful Masons . We make no undue claim of patriotism on the part of members of this Fraternity ; but the historic past abundantly justifies the statement that among those who have rendered conspicuous service to their

country in times of peril have been many brave , true men , who have bowed before Masonic altars . Of the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Amercian Independence , fifty were members of the Masonic organisation . Among the great leaders of the Eevolution period , inspirers of others having less faith and courage than themselves , were many distinguished members of the Fraternity ,

who were bound together , not only by love of liberty and love of country , but by the special and strong ties of the Masonic Order . Such men of heroic spirit and determined leadership were John Hancock , Joseph Warren , Paul Eevere , James Otis , Jeremy Gridley , the Eandolphs of Viriginia , Benjamin Franklin ,

Nathanael Greene , and , foremost among them all , the great commander , George Washington , who often met with his Brethren in the tyled Lodge room , marched with them in Masonic processions , and on every proper occasion declared his belief in the value of the principles and teachings which are fundamental to the Institution .

But Freemasonry would but poorly justify its existence were it not for the moral and religious elements wrought into the system and significantly expressed by its symbolism and its ceremonies , as well as by the text of the Eitual . It affirms as

the very beginning of its work , faith in a personal God , to whose law of equity all men are justly held responsible . It declares man to be the child of God , morally accountable to the Great Creator , and bound to the discharge of numerous and important obligations to his fellow man , by reason of the fact that all men