-
Articles/Ads
Article LODGE RULERS. Page 1 of 2 Article LODGE RULERS. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Lodge Rulers.
LODGE RULERS .
IN a recent issue we discussed at some length the important subject of "Lodge Rulers . " We were induced to this step by the imnienso influence which the election of our highest officers must exercise on the general well-being of the Craft . Wo return to the question to-day , because ,
m two among the many reports of Lodge meetings which appeared last week , there are evidences that in sundry notable cases the utmost care is taken to elect those only who are qualified to fulfiL . thehigh duties entrusted to them . The government of a Masonic Lodge is no child ' s play . As
we pointed out a fortnight since , it involves a far greater degree of responsibility than the mere chairmanship of a social gathering . But even in this latter , success or non-success depends almost entirely on the qualities , good , bad , or indifferent , which distinguish the chairman .
Harmony , the utmost geniality , a proper sense of order and decorum , prevail invariably where the chairman is himself a genial , dignified , and discreet man . Intheabsenceof these requisite qualifications , the social gathering degenerates , as we have said , into a confabulation of bears . We tako
it , then , that above and beyond his other needful recommendations , the Master of a Lodge should be a genial , dignified , and discreet man . Genial he should be , or the Lodge will have in it little or no life . Its labours will be formal , its refreshment tasteless and unenjoyable . Dignified
he must be , or the Craft will lose caste during his tenure of office . . His duties are important , and he must show , not only that he himself has a sense of their importance ; he must likewise endue others with the same particular
sense . As to his discretion , the Master who has it not , how , we ask , is it possible for such a one to allay the jealousies , both great and small , which are as easily aroused in the minds of Masons as of other men ? How will he
reconcile the oftentimes widely-diverging tastes of his fellow members , who for the time being are , so to speak , his subjects ? We fancy there are very few who will have the courage to deny that a Master who lacks these three essential qualities of geniality , dignity , and discretion , stands a
fair chance of proving a conspicuous failure as the President of a Lodge . But these are only additional to certain other qualities which it is desirable that a Lodge Ruler should exhibit . We say " desirable , " instead of requisite , advisedly . Were we to enumerate the characteristics which should
distinguish him , our ideal of a Worshipful Master would present the picture of a perfect man , such as is not to be found within the pale of Freemasonry any more th an it is outside it . Therefore in this , as in our former article , we shall confine ourselves to a notice of those characteristics , which ,
in our opinion , it is possible for every brother who aspires to be a Lodge Rnler , to exhibit . Thus , the least we have a right to expect of such a brother that he shall be a good " maistir of wark . " We are not calling upon him to make any unusual sacrifice when we ask him to acquire just so
much knowledge of his duties as will enable him to pass the chair creditably . By duties we do not mean that he should occupy his chair more or less gracefully , and array himself more or less becomingly in his Masonic clothing . Nor do we limit our sense of duties simply to the occasional
utterance of a few monosyllables , and the gi ving a few strokes of the gavel . We are not greatly overrating the average ability of Masons if we say we think that most of them are capable of doing thus much fairly well . Our notion of a good " maistir of wark , " is of one who can open and close his Lodge successfully without the friendly assistance of a
Lodge Rulers.
P . M . ; who can rehearse the several ceremonies impressively , and with a fair degree of accuracy ; who can vacate his seat at the end of his term of office gracefully , by duly installing his successor ; who is able to rectify any errors which hia officers may commit ; who , in a difficulty , has presence of
mind enough to offer some kind of solution of it . This is the sum of tho knowledge we think a brother on the point of being installed in the chair of his Lodge should possess , or the efficiency of the Lodge will be damaged . We might go further , without seriously trespassing upon the patience
of our readers . Ihere is nothing irregular in our suggesting that an intending candidate for the chair of an English Lodge should possess some knowledge of the English language . We do not expect him to be a scholar , a perfect master of diction , a man of letters ; but we do expect him to know the
meaning of what he utters , and to possess the power of stringing together a few sentences , so that the sense of what ho says may be obvious to others , if not to himself . Our proverbial loyalty should forbid us so murdering the Queen ' s English that even a Queen ' s speech would be
Demosthenic in comparison . In a mixed society like ours , we must look to find a very irregularly graduated scale both of knowledge and ability . We havo no right to be disappointed when wo find our expectations fulfilled , and that the equality before the Masonic law , which we not only
inculcate , but practise , does not manifest itself in this important requisite of Masonic knowledge ; but we are justified in exclaiming against Ignorance—downright stolid Ignorance—flaunting itself in our high places . To revert , however , to the main point we have in view . We think a
Master should know enough to enable him to fulfil his duties respectably , and we see no obstacle whatever to his acquiring this knowledge . Let us take the case of the Doric Lodge , whose installation meeting was chronicled last week in these pages . " A very wholesome rule in this
Lodge , writes our reporter , is , that each W . M ., before being elected to the chair , is required to show his proficiency and capability to perform satisfactorily the duties that may be required of him , and , in addition , that when he shall have completed his year of office , he should instal his
successor . " And , he adds , " By this wise rule , all the junior officers are careful to perfect themselves in their respective duties , and a thorough state of efficiency throughout the Lodge is thus secured . " This—leaving the geniality and the other qualities for a moment out of the question—is ,
as we have said , the sum and substance of what should be required of every aspirant to magisterial honours . Again , let us take the occurrences at the meeting , also chronicled last week , of the Hervey Lodge of Instruction . On this occasion , the meeting was held " for the purpose of
examining the S . W . of the Mother Lodge , previous to the election of W . M . " Accordingly Bro . Southwood , the S . W . in question , presided for the evening as W . M . The Lodge was opened , and the ceremony of initiation rehearsed . The Lodge was again opened , anil the ceremony of passing 1
rehearsed . The Lodge for the third time was opened , and the ceremony of raising rehearsed . It was then duly agreed that the Secretary should write to the W . M . of the Hervey Lodge , informing him of the efficient manner in
which Bro . Southwood had worked the various ceremonies , and that a vote of thanks should also be recorded on the minutes , to the worthy brother himself , for having so worked them . Here we havo an illustration of the
advantages our Lodges of Instruction offer to intending candidates for any and every office in a Lodge What was done in this instance can be done in the instance of every other aspirant to the Mastershi p , at
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Lodge Rulers.
LODGE RULERS .
IN a recent issue we discussed at some length the important subject of "Lodge Rulers . " We were induced to this step by the imnienso influence which the election of our highest officers must exercise on the general well-being of the Craft . Wo return to the question to-day , because ,
m two among the many reports of Lodge meetings which appeared last week , there are evidences that in sundry notable cases the utmost care is taken to elect those only who are qualified to fulfiL . thehigh duties entrusted to them . The government of a Masonic Lodge is no child ' s play . As
we pointed out a fortnight since , it involves a far greater degree of responsibility than the mere chairmanship of a social gathering . But even in this latter , success or non-success depends almost entirely on the qualities , good , bad , or indifferent , which distinguish the chairman .
Harmony , the utmost geniality , a proper sense of order and decorum , prevail invariably where the chairman is himself a genial , dignified , and discreet man . Intheabsenceof these requisite qualifications , the social gathering degenerates , as we have said , into a confabulation of bears . We tako
it , then , that above and beyond his other needful recommendations , the Master of a Lodge should be a genial , dignified , and discreet man . Genial he should be , or the Lodge will have in it little or no life . Its labours will be formal , its refreshment tasteless and unenjoyable . Dignified
he must be , or the Craft will lose caste during his tenure of office . . His duties are important , and he must show , not only that he himself has a sense of their importance ; he must likewise endue others with the same particular
sense . As to his discretion , the Master who has it not , how , we ask , is it possible for such a one to allay the jealousies , both great and small , which are as easily aroused in the minds of Masons as of other men ? How will he
reconcile the oftentimes widely-diverging tastes of his fellow members , who for the time being are , so to speak , his subjects ? We fancy there are very few who will have the courage to deny that a Master who lacks these three essential qualities of geniality , dignity , and discretion , stands a
fair chance of proving a conspicuous failure as the President of a Lodge . But these are only additional to certain other qualities which it is desirable that a Lodge Ruler should exhibit . We say " desirable , " instead of requisite , advisedly . Were we to enumerate the characteristics which should
distinguish him , our ideal of a Worshipful Master would present the picture of a perfect man , such as is not to be found within the pale of Freemasonry any more th an it is outside it . Therefore in this , as in our former article , we shall confine ourselves to a notice of those characteristics , which ,
in our opinion , it is possible for every brother who aspires to be a Lodge Rnler , to exhibit . Thus , the least we have a right to expect of such a brother that he shall be a good " maistir of wark . " We are not calling upon him to make any unusual sacrifice when we ask him to acquire just so
much knowledge of his duties as will enable him to pass the chair creditably . By duties we do not mean that he should occupy his chair more or less gracefully , and array himself more or less becomingly in his Masonic clothing . Nor do we limit our sense of duties simply to the occasional
utterance of a few monosyllables , and the gi ving a few strokes of the gavel . We are not greatly overrating the average ability of Masons if we say we think that most of them are capable of doing thus much fairly well . Our notion of a good " maistir of wark , " is of one who can open and close his Lodge successfully without the friendly assistance of a
Lodge Rulers.
P . M . ; who can rehearse the several ceremonies impressively , and with a fair degree of accuracy ; who can vacate his seat at the end of his term of office gracefully , by duly installing his successor ; who is able to rectify any errors which hia officers may commit ; who , in a difficulty , has presence of
mind enough to offer some kind of solution of it . This is the sum of tho knowledge we think a brother on the point of being installed in the chair of his Lodge should possess , or the efficiency of the Lodge will be damaged . We might go further , without seriously trespassing upon the patience
of our readers . Ihere is nothing irregular in our suggesting that an intending candidate for the chair of an English Lodge should possess some knowledge of the English language . We do not expect him to be a scholar , a perfect master of diction , a man of letters ; but we do expect him to know the
meaning of what he utters , and to possess the power of stringing together a few sentences , so that the sense of what ho says may be obvious to others , if not to himself . Our proverbial loyalty should forbid us so murdering the Queen ' s English that even a Queen ' s speech would be
Demosthenic in comparison . In a mixed society like ours , we must look to find a very irregularly graduated scale both of knowledge and ability . We havo no right to be disappointed when wo find our expectations fulfilled , and that the equality before the Masonic law , which we not only
inculcate , but practise , does not manifest itself in this important requisite of Masonic knowledge ; but we are justified in exclaiming against Ignorance—downright stolid Ignorance—flaunting itself in our high places . To revert , however , to the main point we have in view . We think a
Master should know enough to enable him to fulfil his duties respectably , and we see no obstacle whatever to his acquiring this knowledge . Let us take the case of the Doric Lodge , whose installation meeting was chronicled last week in these pages . " A very wholesome rule in this
Lodge , writes our reporter , is , that each W . M ., before being elected to the chair , is required to show his proficiency and capability to perform satisfactorily the duties that may be required of him , and , in addition , that when he shall have completed his year of office , he should instal his
successor . " And , he adds , " By this wise rule , all the junior officers are careful to perfect themselves in their respective duties , and a thorough state of efficiency throughout the Lodge is thus secured . " This—leaving the geniality and the other qualities for a moment out of the question—is ,
as we have said , the sum and substance of what should be required of every aspirant to magisterial honours . Again , let us take the occurrences at the meeting , also chronicled last week , of the Hervey Lodge of Instruction . On this occasion , the meeting was held " for the purpose of
examining the S . W . of the Mother Lodge , previous to the election of W . M . " Accordingly Bro . Southwood , the S . W . in question , presided for the evening as W . M . The Lodge was opened , and the ceremony of initiation rehearsed . The Lodge was again opened , anil the ceremony of passing 1
rehearsed . The Lodge for the third time was opened , and the ceremony of raising rehearsed . It was then duly agreed that the Secretary should write to the W . M . of the Hervey Lodge , informing him of the efficient manner in
which Bro . Southwood had worked the various ceremonies , and that a vote of thanks should also be recorded on the minutes , to the worthy brother himself , for having so worked them . Here we havo an illustration of the
advantages our Lodges of Instruction offer to intending candidates for any and every office in a Lodge What was done in this instance can be done in the instance of every other aspirant to the Mastershi p , at