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Article INSTRUCTION. ← Page 3 of 8 →
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Instruction.
( cheers ) , and addressing myself chiefly to my younger Brethren , but incidentally to all , endeavour to show how the precepts taught in this Lodge may he carried out in the every day conduct of our Masonic work . ( Hear , hear . ) No object can be more laiidahle than the ambition on the part of young Masons to become perfect in the ritual ; it is the stepping stone to Masonic excellence , for without it they are nothing ; but if we confine ourselves to that , and that only , ours will
Up Masonry at best . ( Hear . ) We have higher and more important duties to perform towards ourselves , towards the institution , and towards the world in general . We owe it to ourselves to endeavour to enforce by example , as well as by precept , those ^ glorious principles which are nowhere more clearly inculcated than hi our beautiful lectures , and nowhere more forcibly impressed than in the working of our ceremonies ; to surrender each one his individual interests to the welfare of the many ; to labour each one in his peculiar vocation to promote , not his own
advantage , but that of the institution of which we are all members ; without this , vain are the precepts of Masonry—vain will be the labours of our teachers—( hear , hear )—to our institution , by not only supporting its dignity , its honour , and its reputation , but by endeavouring by all means in our power to add to that honour , to extend that reputation , and by carefully avoiding all that can by
possibihty compromise it . ( Hear , hear ) . First and foremost , then , let us be careful of those whom we introduce into our ranks . ( Hear , hear ) . Let us not introduce any man who is not likely either to confer additional honour , or at least help lis to maintain our already deservedly high character . ( Hear ) . And here I would observe that too much care and discrimination cairnot be observed in the admission of irew
members ; for there is too much reason to believe that in some Lodges men are admitted into Masonry , whose sole object is not that of " rendering themselves more extensively serviceable to their fellow creatures . " ( Hear , hear ) . Nothing can be more subversive of the true interests of Masonry than the supposition that it can degenerate into a mere benefit society . ( Hear , hear ) . Let no one suppose that he either is or ought to be an uninterested member , or that he is without the power of contributing his share to the general welfare . All may help , and Masonry
has a claim on the services of all her sons . Besides being a zealous brother in his Lodge , assiduous in attending to his duties there—besides being a supporter of our charities—each may find his place on one of the many committees of those charities , in our Boards , or in our Grand Lodge , —each may find a place according to his disposition his leisure , and his power , —in each may lend valuable aid , and in all may enforce by his example the genuine precepts of our Order . Let no one imagine that this great institution can be left to go on its way without the
assistance of the many who can and may , and ought to help it . ( Cheers ) . Each one , I say , has his part to fulfil , and the humblest labourer may contribute his quota to the general good . ( Renewed cheering ) . No one can have a higher appreciation oi the advantage and utility of Freemasonry than myself , and here I cannot resist quoting to you some three or fourlines from a sermon , although it may be unusual pto quote from such a source on an occasion like the present . The discourse to which I allude was delivered by the Rev . Bro . Sanderson , P . G . Chaplain for Suffolk , on the occasion of its last meeting . So truthful and so touching an
address ought to be in the hands of every member of our Order . ( Hear , hear . ) After speaking of the secrets of Freemasonry so far as they can be spoken of in the presence of the uninitiated , he says : — " Such , and such only , are our Masonic secrets—the signs and tokens by which , we know each other—the symbolical teaching by which those tokens are explained , and the sanctity of religions reverence which ,, gives dignity to the whole . -- With these , a Mason , whatever sun may have risen upon his birth , will find in every people , a language—in every Brother , a friend—in every country , a home . "
I havejalready said that no man can have a higher appreciation of the excellencies and advantages of Masonry than I have . I behold in it one of the most strange and striking brotherhoods which , ever existed . 1 see it possessing a power " to ope new fountains . in the human heart , " -possessed by no other institution . I see it not exclusive in its works of charity ; but in its grants to Hanover , to Spain , and other countries , and to our own countrymen in their periods of distress—in its grants to tho Patriotic and to the Indian Pundfr—opening its hancl liberally to acU
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Instruction.
( cheers ) , and addressing myself chiefly to my younger Brethren , but incidentally to all , endeavour to show how the precepts taught in this Lodge may he carried out in the every day conduct of our Masonic work . ( Hear , hear . ) No object can be more laiidahle than the ambition on the part of young Masons to become perfect in the ritual ; it is the stepping stone to Masonic excellence , for without it they are nothing ; but if we confine ourselves to that , and that only , ours will
Up Masonry at best . ( Hear . ) We have higher and more important duties to perform towards ourselves , towards the institution , and towards the world in general . We owe it to ourselves to endeavour to enforce by example , as well as by precept , those ^ glorious principles which are nowhere more clearly inculcated than hi our beautiful lectures , and nowhere more forcibly impressed than in the working of our ceremonies ; to surrender each one his individual interests to the welfare of the many ; to labour each one in his peculiar vocation to promote , not his own
advantage , but that of the institution of which we are all members ; without this , vain are the precepts of Masonry—vain will be the labours of our teachers—( hear , hear )—to our institution , by not only supporting its dignity , its honour , and its reputation , but by endeavouring by all means in our power to add to that honour , to extend that reputation , and by carefully avoiding all that can by
possibihty compromise it . ( Hear , hear ) . First and foremost , then , let us be careful of those whom we introduce into our ranks . ( Hear , hear ) . Let us not introduce any man who is not likely either to confer additional honour , or at least help lis to maintain our already deservedly high character . ( Hear ) . And here I would observe that too much care and discrimination cairnot be observed in the admission of irew
members ; for there is too much reason to believe that in some Lodges men are admitted into Masonry , whose sole object is not that of " rendering themselves more extensively serviceable to their fellow creatures . " ( Hear , hear ) . Nothing can be more subversive of the true interests of Masonry than the supposition that it can degenerate into a mere benefit society . ( Hear , hear ) . Let no one suppose that he either is or ought to be an uninterested member , or that he is without the power of contributing his share to the general welfare . All may help , and Masonry
has a claim on the services of all her sons . Besides being a zealous brother in his Lodge , assiduous in attending to his duties there—besides being a supporter of our charities—each may find his place on one of the many committees of those charities , in our Boards , or in our Grand Lodge , —each may find a place according to his disposition his leisure , and his power , —in each may lend valuable aid , and in all may enforce by his example the genuine precepts of our Order . Let no one imagine that this great institution can be left to go on its way without the
assistance of the many who can and may , and ought to help it . ( Cheers ) . Each one , I say , has his part to fulfil , and the humblest labourer may contribute his quota to the general good . ( Renewed cheering ) . No one can have a higher appreciation oi the advantage and utility of Freemasonry than myself , and here I cannot resist quoting to you some three or fourlines from a sermon , although it may be unusual pto quote from such a source on an occasion like the present . The discourse to which I allude was delivered by the Rev . Bro . Sanderson , P . G . Chaplain for Suffolk , on the occasion of its last meeting . So truthful and so touching an
address ought to be in the hands of every member of our Order . ( Hear , hear . ) After speaking of the secrets of Freemasonry so far as they can be spoken of in the presence of the uninitiated , he says : — " Such , and such only , are our Masonic secrets—the signs and tokens by which , we know each other—the symbolical teaching by which those tokens are explained , and the sanctity of religions reverence which ,, gives dignity to the whole . -- With these , a Mason , whatever sun may have risen upon his birth , will find in every people , a language—in every Brother , a friend—in every country , a home . "
I havejalready said that no man can have a higher appreciation of the excellencies and advantages of Masonry than I have . I behold in it one of the most strange and striking brotherhoods which , ever existed . 1 see it possessing a power " to ope new fountains . in the human heart , " -possessed by no other institution . I see it not exclusive in its works of charity ; but in its grants to Hanover , to Spain , and other countries , and to our own countrymen in their periods of distress—in its grants to tho Patriotic and to the Indian Pundfr—opening its hancl liberally to acU