Good And True.

mo to answer tho objection so often urged against Masonry , that mean men aro found within its ranks . The fact wo dare not deny ; but is it an objection at all ? Glance over the history of even Christianity itself . What an appalling record of bigotry ancl intolerance , ancl persecution—of rack

and wheel , and fagot—of suspicion , imprisonment , and murder—of greed and luxury , and sensuality—of ruined homes ancl families destroyed , and years on years of bloody

warfare waged with malignant and devilish cruelty in tho name of tho Princo of Peace . Suffer all these unquestionable facts of history to come homo to your mind ancl conscience , ancl then because hero and thero ono of our

members has proven unworthy of the trust imposed in him , because now ancl then somo brother , after , you know not what tremendous struggle with temptation , has fallen from his high estate ; for this I say reprove the Order if you dare .

£ Older even than Christianity itself , in its visible form at least , Masonry has never been intolerant of other sects , or societies , or orders—never broken any sensitive forms upon the wheel , or crisped ancl roasted delicate flesh with fagot and stake—never as a class of men rioted in gluttony

and brutal lust—never dispersed a family , or organised a war on any pretext . AU along the ages , its path has been marked by loyalty to truth and honour ancl justice ; by moderate councils , and unbroken faith , and mutual good will ; by unpretentious and unheralded deeds of charity

and mercy , and loving-kindness , which do honour to the whole human family . But they will tell us , tho iniquities and abuses , the wars ancl torturings , whereof I havo spoken , are not tho product of Christianity itself—they were the

sins and crimes of individuals for which Christianit y is in no wise responsible . Granted . But " by the same measure that ye mete it shall be measured unto you . " " Do ye unto others as you would that others should do unto vou . "

Yei Masonry is not a reformatory institution , notwithstanding the fact that our obligations when once assumed cannot be lightly laid aside . It is not ; a foundling hospital to gather up the outcasts of society , to make men of them . There is nothing truer than that men are known by the

company they keep ; therefore Masonry will be known and measured in every locality by the character of those who are admitted to membership , and not by its intrinsic worth or value . There is no principle more clearly taught in Masonry , than that men shonld be Masons at heart , before

they are permitted to pass the threshold of our sacred precincts . The reports of our investigating committees too often read something like this : " We have investigated the character of the applicant , and find nothing that would

prevent him becoming a Ireemason , which simply means that he has nothing prominent about him at all , but is a kind of an easy , good-for-nothing member of society , with not a single point in his character to call forth opposition from any one . Of all the useless men in society , the most

worthless is ho of whom it is said , " He hasn't an enemy in the world . " Such men will be worthless drones in any society , much less should they be admitted into that Order whose prominent members have made it the wonder of all ages . In this life of warfare there are two opposing lines

—tho good and the evil , and no man can take a prominent position in the one without creating for himself enemies in the other ; neither does any man come well recommended , until he has taken a stand in society that will prove to the

Fraternity that he is a champion for the good ancl the true . It is a truism which must be universally admitted , that the interests of the Order imperatively demand the highest traits of character in every one who voluntarily assumes to wear its charitable mantle . We admit there

are some who clothe themselves in its raiment the better to accomplish their selfish ends . The fair temple of Masonry has no room for such mon , and they have but a faint conception of the objects ancl purposes of the institution , who thus seek to debase it to their own level .

I repeat , that there is no place in the sacred temple for selfish schemes . They belong with the idlers and vagabonds who infest life ' s highways , and who make night hideous with the robber ' s cry that the world owes them a living . The Order owes to the one what the world owes

to the other . We want only men who will lift high the banner of Freemasonry , with its creed written thereon in clear and lofty language , which needs no argument to illustrate its principles , and no eloquence to enforce its obligations . —Voice of Masonry .

Secrecy.

SECRECY .

rPHE bitterest enemy of Freemasonry never presents as a reason for its overthrow any evils it has done , but always its secrecy . I use tho word " always " in a general sense , and not as an absolute qualification . Tho latest indictment mado against it , one fresh in your minds , is

based not on the evils , bnt on tho good ifc has done—yes , it has been a powerful agency in tho promotion of education , and no institution has done moro to promote liberty ancl free men from the trammels of ignorance and of civil and ecclesiastical tyranny than Freemasonry .

Its secrecy ! " In this an argument against it ? It is true that Masonry does its work in secret , but we have never concealed our principles or designs . Masonry upholds and supports everything that is calculated to promote the happiness and best interests of mankind , and

also requires us to recognize that wo are under obligations of duty to God , our neighbour and ourselves . What member of a family would not repel impertinent curiosity , should ifc attempt to penetrate the secrets of the family circle ? What man of respectability would allow a

stranger to listen to his private conversation with his wife ancl children about domestic affairs . We , too , have our family circle , our domestic affairs , and we , too , repel impertinent curiosity as to such . There is no man but

has some secret hid away in the depths of his heart , and notwithstanding the claim that a woman cannot keep a secret , I do not believe there is ono of you before me who has not her secret held and kept as secure and inviolate in your breast as even in that of a man .

Every conscience and every church , every society , every organisation , every party—political , religions or otherwise , even that time-honoured and revered one , the head of which has so recently promulgated the indictment before alluded to—has its secrets upon which the sun is not allowed to shine for other eyes .

As our Brother , Scotland's bonny bard , says iu reference to this feature of Masonry , whatever we may freely tell a bosom crony ,

" But still keep something to yonrsel ' Ye scarcely tell to ony . " The great tenets of a Freemason ' s profession are brotherly love , relief and truth ; these we publish to the world . Our family secrets belong to ourselves , and do not directly or indirectly concern any one else .

The secrets of Masonry , so far as its obligations , its unwritten rituals and its tiled doors are concerned , are but the outward defences thrown around our Institution , and are necessary to preserve it from the approach of tho impostor , the unworthy and its other foes , and every

Mason should be proficient therein , and have a thorough knowledge of these defences . As one has said , " They are but the casket that contains the precious jewel , the hull that contains the kernel , the shell that preserves the egg . " The destruction of the one is the exposure to ruin of the other .

There is another part of Masonry , aside from its outward defences , in which secrecy enters . Ifc is its Charities , and it were better if in the Church and society generally the injunction , " Let not thy left hand know what thy

right hand doeth , " were as carefully heeded . The brother in distress , or those having claims upon us through him , can come to us for aid without having the whole world know of ifc . Masonic charity is not of the " sounding brass and tinkling cymbal" kind .

And , my sister , is there nothing for you m Masonry ? Mother , wife , widow , sister and daughter , is there not something in Masonry for you ? Aye , there is ; and if the cry of distress from one of you reach the ear of a true Mason , let that right arm wither if it be not raised for your relief , for your defence , for your succour .

In the two particulars referred to secrecy enters into Freemasonry , and how can ifc be urged as an element of danger ? It is its defence and crown , its protection and glory , and I am willing to stand by ifc to the end , proud of my connection with the grand old Fraternity , and ready

to grasp by the hand a brother , be ho what he may , only that he recognizes the Great Architect of the Universe his dependence upon the Supreme Being , and the principles of the true brotherhood of man . — G . M . W . A . Brodie .

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