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Article PROVINCIAL. ← Page 3 of 25 →
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Provincial.
mysticism in the Lodges of this country . Surely this is very unreasonable . As well might it be said , that because there are superstitions at Rome , and absurd ceremonies at St . Petersburgh , therefore Christianity in England must be superstitious and absurd . No allowance must be made for peculiarities of race , for the character of the people , for past history , nor for the institutions of the countries with respect to which the comparison is to be made . Noladiesas long as England is England
, , , while it remains a religious community , conscious of the sacred trust which Providence has committed to its charge , to defend the pure Protestant faith against an encroaching superstition on the one hand , and a wild rationalism on the other , so long , I have no doubt , will the English Lodges of Freemasonry remain untainted by the slime of German mysticism . In proof that this is no idle anticipation , I may say that all attempts to incorporate our Lodges with the Germans have failed , because
there existed impediments of this nature which could not be overcome . I now turn to the other occasion in which we , as Masons , appear before the world ; it is that iu which , ladies , you now bear a part , and by your presence seem to accept our pledge that we are good men and true , faithful in our allegiance to your sex , and glad to acknowledge the influence which you exert on the happiness of all of us . There is no man amongst us who is not boundby some tie or other to you—we are all husbands or
, brothers , ( possibly there may be lovers amongst us , ) and all confess the proud submission of the heart to your sex , which Mr . Burke considered the characteristic of a nation of gallant men . It is to you that we owe the early lessons impressed on the minds of infancy and youth ; to you we owe the softening influence of a sister ' s society ; and as manhood
advances , we feel still more and more the power which your presence exerts on our happiness . It may not be the fate of all to possess a home adorned by one of your sex— " niggard fate may bar the road to joy , " or Providence may otherwise dispose of us . For such a man we feel sympathy and sorrow ; but for the man who systematically casts away the blessing which heaven has provided for his comfort and support , we have no regard , and would not willingly enrol him in the Brotherhood of Masonry . Believe meLadies , that such notions find no favour with us .
, Our engagements to each other are all subordinate to our duties and callings beyond the walls of our Lodges ; we seek only to add another tie to those which exist in the open world , and there is not a man amongst us who would maintain his connection with Masonry for a day at the expense of his duties to his God , his neighbour , or his home . I have been led into these remarks by the attempt to which I have alluded , to represent Masonry as hostile to religion and to society . On the other
hand , let me assure you that your husbands and brothers in no degree compromise their Christian and social characters by joining our Brotherhood ; and that the worst that can be said of Masonry is , that it is obsolete ; but things that are obsolete are not always absurd . Witness the ceremonies of a coronation . What can be more obsolete than that one man should remain in the sovereign ' s presence with his hat on , that another should claim the privilege of presenting the sovereign with a
pair of gloves ; that another should present a dish of porridge , called diligrout , and that a third should appear in armour , ready to do battle with any one who would dispute the rightful succession . We laugh at these things now ; but they once had a meaning . They were cherished in old times because of that meaning , and are retained now because we like to identify ourselves with times and persons who arc past .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Provincial.
mysticism in the Lodges of this country . Surely this is very unreasonable . As well might it be said , that because there are superstitions at Rome , and absurd ceremonies at St . Petersburgh , therefore Christianity in England must be superstitious and absurd . No allowance must be made for peculiarities of race , for the character of the people , for past history , nor for the institutions of the countries with respect to which the comparison is to be made . Noladiesas long as England is England
, , , while it remains a religious community , conscious of the sacred trust which Providence has committed to its charge , to defend the pure Protestant faith against an encroaching superstition on the one hand , and a wild rationalism on the other , so long , I have no doubt , will the English Lodges of Freemasonry remain untainted by the slime of German mysticism . In proof that this is no idle anticipation , I may say that all attempts to incorporate our Lodges with the Germans have failed , because
there existed impediments of this nature which could not be overcome . I now turn to the other occasion in which we , as Masons , appear before the world ; it is that iu which , ladies , you now bear a part , and by your presence seem to accept our pledge that we are good men and true , faithful in our allegiance to your sex , and glad to acknowledge the influence which you exert on the happiness of all of us . There is no man amongst us who is not boundby some tie or other to you—we are all husbands or
, brothers , ( possibly there may be lovers amongst us , ) and all confess the proud submission of the heart to your sex , which Mr . Burke considered the characteristic of a nation of gallant men . It is to you that we owe the early lessons impressed on the minds of infancy and youth ; to you we owe the softening influence of a sister ' s society ; and as manhood
advances , we feel still more and more the power which your presence exerts on our happiness . It may not be the fate of all to possess a home adorned by one of your sex— " niggard fate may bar the road to joy , " or Providence may otherwise dispose of us . For such a man we feel sympathy and sorrow ; but for the man who systematically casts away the blessing which heaven has provided for his comfort and support , we have no regard , and would not willingly enrol him in the Brotherhood of Masonry . Believe meLadies , that such notions find no favour with us .
, Our engagements to each other are all subordinate to our duties and callings beyond the walls of our Lodges ; we seek only to add another tie to those which exist in the open world , and there is not a man amongst us who would maintain his connection with Masonry for a day at the expense of his duties to his God , his neighbour , or his home . I have been led into these remarks by the attempt to which I have alluded , to represent Masonry as hostile to religion and to society . On the other
hand , let me assure you that your husbands and brothers in no degree compromise their Christian and social characters by joining our Brotherhood ; and that the worst that can be said of Masonry is , that it is obsolete ; but things that are obsolete are not always absurd . Witness the ceremonies of a coronation . What can be more obsolete than that one man should remain in the sovereign ' s presence with his hat on , that another should claim the privilege of presenting the sovereign with a
pair of gloves ; that another should present a dish of porridge , called diligrout , and that a third should appear in armour , ready to do battle with any one who would dispute the rightful succession . We laugh at these things now ; but they once had a meaning . They were cherished in old times because of that meaning , and are retained now because we like to identify ourselves with times and persons who arc past .