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Article RANDOM REFLECTIONS OF A ROUGH ASHLER. ← Page 2 of 2 Article ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHÆOLOGY. Page 1 of 3 →
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Random Reflections Of A Rough Ashler.
great moderation in its exercise . Indeed it is only in the most important questions of Masonic rule , or principle , or discipline , or with the view to maintain the landmarks of the Order intact , that this power should be displayed . For these things the Worshipful Master _ is personally and entirely responsible ; and he cannot , without surrendering the dignity of his hig h and honourable office , hesitate to
enforce strict obedience to what he believes in his conscience to be the rig ht interpretation of the law . Being a fallible mortal , he may be wrong , and may be proved subsequently to be so ; but for the time he is bound to maintain and enforce his opinion , in case a moderate representation of the opposite view fails at the moment to convince him ; and the duty of the lodge , as I have already said , is submission to
his dictum , till another more favourable opportunity out of lodge presents itself to adjust the question . It is , however , only in these matters of grave importance , and for which the Worshipful Master is personally responsible , that the exercise of the power vested in the Chair is either demanded or excusible . On all minor points , in which Masonic rule and princile are in no way involved
p , the Worshipful Master must consider himself a member of the lodge , and no more , being bound in virtue of his position to carry out the wishes of the majority . I wish to put this view forcibly , because many more matters of small importance , than of moment , occur in the lodges , and these smaller questions are more likely than larger ones to create a division , because there are no fixed rules by which
they can be determined . In such cases the Worshipful Master might , as I have often seen , reserve his opinion , and merely take the votes of the brethren . But if the matter be of sufficient importance to require that he should charge the lodge , he must remember that he is addressing independent men on an open question , on which every individual has a right to maintain an opinion ; and if the result of this individual voting should be against the Chair , the Worshipful Master has no reason whatever to conclude from such
a circumstance that he is losing the regards of his brethren , or his influence over them . Often have I seen such a result , and known its perfect compatibility with honour and esteem and affection towards the ruling authority ; so much so , that if the question implied a vote of confidence , every hand in the lodge would be raised , merging all minor differences , to support the Chair . I havefrom my recumbent position on the pedestalseen
, , many varieties of character assume and maintain the Chair of Lodges . Some never bide , but eternally parade their authority , glaringly in the eyes of the members , even to the extent of reproving a visitor tor slight irregularities ; others again suffer indignity by too much familiar talk and li ght jesting ; whilst a degree of reserve and austerity of manner in others create an unpleasant stiffness and coldness among
the brethren , which soon becomes oppressive and irksome . He is the most successful Master who has judgment and tact enough , by a combination of all these peculiarities , to hit off a happy and golden medium . —Indian Freemasons ' Friend .
Civil . WAR I > ' EXOLAND . —There is civil war between the superfine and downright ; between the lady by the patent of blue blood , and the lady by the patent of yellow gold , and with both , coalesced , against the lady in her own right who has neither bine blood nor yellow gold ; there is civil war between the ladies who keep footmen and the ladies who keep pages ; between the mistress of many maids and the mistress of but one ; between the wearers of jaunty hats and impudent feathers , and the wearers of
oldfashioned bonnets and limp petticoats ; between the marrying girls and the non-marrying girls ; between prude 3 and coquettes ; between the girls who like halls , and the girls who affect schools ; between the girls who go out to every gaiety of the season , and the girls whose ultima thule of dissipation is the front row at a solemn oratorio ; there is civil war between the two aspirants of the one fair hand , and between the twenty aspirants of the goodly fortune ; and between all of both sexes who stand in higher favour with the other
sex , whether married or single , appropriated or to be appropriated . There is civil war between the drivers of a statel y barouche and pair , and the drivers of an under-taxed one ; between the drivers of an under-taxed one , and the hirers of cabs ; between the hirers of cabs , and the riders in omnibuses ; between the well , and the roof ; as between the respectability of the old-fashioned sixpence , and the shocking vulgarity of the democratic twopence . — Diclcens ' s " AU the Year Round . "
Architecture And Archæology.
ARCHITECTURE AND ARCH ? OLOGY .
CHRISTIAN IDEALISM IN REFERENCE TO THE FINE ARTS No subject can he properly understood till it be contemplated as a portion of the cosmos : any attempt at isolation from the cosmic at-one-ment must always be injurious and destructive in its tendency . It is with this conviction that I draw your attention ts > that grand harmonic whole which Christian governance is destinefi
to effect , and which teaches us to regard artistic power in thai wide sense of intelligence , under moral control , moulding the material world to physical rectitude . The conformation of the material by the spiritual , of the physical world by the morality or immorality of mind , to beauty by holiness , or to deformity by sin , is one of the great lessons taught by the sacred writings ; and , therefore , the Christian mission has a twofold objecta spiritual and a material regeneration ; firstthe
reno-, , vation of the soul ; and secondly , through the wisdom and knowledge of the renewed spirit of man , the re-investure of his body and the material world with a correlative beauty and conformity Christ , " the pattern " of spiritual and physical perfection , came t © restore , to reconcile , to make at one " all things " with himself . It is only the complete understanding of this secondary object < € the Divine will—if secondary may be applied to any portion of the great Christain dispensations—this physical restoration , this
revealed pmpose , with reference to the material world , that will enable us to grasp the entire nature and compass of Christain . work , —that will teach us to regard every species of physical culture as a plastic Christian art . It is the remoulding power of Christian wisdom and knowledge which is to convert this wilderness of error , ignorance , , ' and deformity , into that promised land of fruitfulness and beauty , of peace and happiness , —that restored world of prophecy , —that idea ?
world of the future , for which we are taught to pray in the words , "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven , "—and—if science and art be not mockeries , be not anti-christian in their tendencies , — that ideal world which , guided by the Holy Spirit of Truth , they are destined to prepare and realize . If there were no great end ! to be attained by science and art ; if these were to be but the records of individual conceits without j > ui'pose , without reference to a distinctly defined progress and a future harmonic whole ,- they would scarcely he worth the time and trouble they cost ; and we might indeed abandon ourselves to indifference , and exelam ?
Cui bono 1 The opposite doctrine to that which is herein advocated is that held by the materialists ; viz ., " the conformation of mind by matter ; " a doctrine which brings its own reproof and chastisement . It is one which has sometimes led bewildered intellect to withhold its allegiance to the Almighty will , to attempt to dethrone the right government of the world , to darken the horizon of faith and ! hope , and to extinguish the poetry of life . It is without a
defined idea : it disunites , divides , and destroys . Materialism recognizes no distinction of good and evil , and surrenders everything to the anarchy of individual will . It is in every way opposed to—the reverse of—Christian idealism , which recognizes a scheme of universal moral governance , conforming and building up material elements to a perfect whole . It has been too much the fashion to suppose that true religioa and science are ? fc variance , —to consider science to be opposed ts
religion . Never was there a greater or more pernicious mistakes they are , in the full comprehension of the Christian scheme , indissolubly hound together ; nay , I will venture to say , that science is a part of religion ; for , what is the knowledge of the laws of the highest generality which govern phenomena , but the knowledge -of God ' s will in reference to phenomena ? And what is science , when , rightly understood , but a Christian power confirming , fulfilling , and carrying out those broad principles which are enunciated in the
Gospel ? It is only upon the basis of a faith in an Almighty will , that science can consistently be recognized . If there were no governing power , there could be no governing laws , and , consequently , no science . It is religion only which prevents science and art being purposeless , beyond that of accommodating some immediate commercial want or momentary caprice . Science and art identify themselves with Christianity , in completing and restoring nature to its normal condition ; in healing , in making whole after
the Example of Christ and the Apostles . Art has too long attempted to claim exemption from precise laws , from scientific governance on the plea of its having a more divine and ethereal nature than ordinary affairs ; in total forgetfulness that divine work , from the motion of the spheres to the minuteness of chemical combination , is carried on hy precise ,, definite , quantitative laws . This tendency of art , therefore , is irreligious , and contrary to the spirit of truth , which is silently actuating and converting the age .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Random Reflections Of A Rough Ashler.
great moderation in its exercise . Indeed it is only in the most important questions of Masonic rule , or principle , or discipline , or with the view to maintain the landmarks of the Order intact , that this power should be displayed . For these things the Worshipful Master _ is personally and entirely responsible ; and he cannot , without surrendering the dignity of his hig h and honourable office , hesitate to
enforce strict obedience to what he believes in his conscience to be the rig ht interpretation of the law . Being a fallible mortal , he may be wrong , and may be proved subsequently to be so ; but for the time he is bound to maintain and enforce his opinion , in case a moderate representation of the opposite view fails at the moment to convince him ; and the duty of the lodge , as I have already said , is submission to
his dictum , till another more favourable opportunity out of lodge presents itself to adjust the question . It is , however , only in these matters of grave importance , and for which the Worshipful Master is personally responsible , that the exercise of the power vested in the Chair is either demanded or excusible . On all minor points , in which Masonic rule and princile are in no way involved
p , the Worshipful Master must consider himself a member of the lodge , and no more , being bound in virtue of his position to carry out the wishes of the majority . I wish to put this view forcibly , because many more matters of small importance , than of moment , occur in the lodges , and these smaller questions are more likely than larger ones to create a division , because there are no fixed rules by which
they can be determined . In such cases the Worshipful Master might , as I have often seen , reserve his opinion , and merely take the votes of the brethren . But if the matter be of sufficient importance to require that he should charge the lodge , he must remember that he is addressing independent men on an open question , on which every individual has a right to maintain an opinion ; and if the result of this individual voting should be against the Chair , the Worshipful Master has no reason whatever to conclude from such
a circumstance that he is losing the regards of his brethren , or his influence over them . Often have I seen such a result , and known its perfect compatibility with honour and esteem and affection towards the ruling authority ; so much so , that if the question implied a vote of confidence , every hand in the lodge would be raised , merging all minor differences , to support the Chair . I havefrom my recumbent position on the pedestalseen
, , many varieties of character assume and maintain the Chair of Lodges . Some never bide , but eternally parade their authority , glaringly in the eyes of the members , even to the extent of reproving a visitor tor slight irregularities ; others again suffer indignity by too much familiar talk and li ght jesting ; whilst a degree of reserve and austerity of manner in others create an unpleasant stiffness and coldness among
the brethren , which soon becomes oppressive and irksome . He is the most successful Master who has judgment and tact enough , by a combination of all these peculiarities , to hit off a happy and golden medium . —Indian Freemasons ' Friend .
Civil . WAR I > ' EXOLAND . —There is civil war between the superfine and downright ; between the lady by the patent of blue blood , and the lady by the patent of yellow gold , and with both , coalesced , against the lady in her own right who has neither bine blood nor yellow gold ; there is civil war between the ladies who keep footmen and the ladies who keep pages ; between the mistress of many maids and the mistress of but one ; between the wearers of jaunty hats and impudent feathers , and the wearers of
oldfashioned bonnets and limp petticoats ; between the marrying girls and the non-marrying girls ; between prude 3 and coquettes ; between the girls who like halls , and the girls who affect schools ; between the girls who go out to every gaiety of the season , and the girls whose ultima thule of dissipation is the front row at a solemn oratorio ; there is civil war between the two aspirants of the one fair hand , and between the twenty aspirants of the goodly fortune ; and between all of both sexes who stand in higher favour with the other
sex , whether married or single , appropriated or to be appropriated . There is civil war between the drivers of a statel y barouche and pair , and the drivers of an under-taxed one ; between the drivers of an under-taxed one , and the hirers of cabs ; between the hirers of cabs , and the riders in omnibuses ; between the well , and the roof ; as between the respectability of the old-fashioned sixpence , and the shocking vulgarity of the democratic twopence . — Diclcens ' s " AU the Year Round . "
Architecture And Archæology.
ARCHITECTURE AND ARCH ? OLOGY .
CHRISTIAN IDEALISM IN REFERENCE TO THE FINE ARTS No subject can he properly understood till it be contemplated as a portion of the cosmos : any attempt at isolation from the cosmic at-one-ment must always be injurious and destructive in its tendency . It is with this conviction that I draw your attention ts > that grand harmonic whole which Christian governance is destinefi
to effect , and which teaches us to regard artistic power in thai wide sense of intelligence , under moral control , moulding the material world to physical rectitude . The conformation of the material by the spiritual , of the physical world by the morality or immorality of mind , to beauty by holiness , or to deformity by sin , is one of the great lessons taught by the sacred writings ; and , therefore , the Christian mission has a twofold objecta spiritual and a material regeneration ; firstthe
reno-, , vation of the soul ; and secondly , through the wisdom and knowledge of the renewed spirit of man , the re-investure of his body and the material world with a correlative beauty and conformity Christ , " the pattern " of spiritual and physical perfection , came t © restore , to reconcile , to make at one " all things " with himself . It is only the complete understanding of this secondary object < € the Divine will—if secondary may be applied to any portion of the great Christain dispensations—this physical restoration , this
revealed pmpose , with reference to the material world , that will enable us to grasp the entire nature and compass of Christain . work , —that will teach us to regard every species of physical culture as a plastic Christian art . It is the remoulding power of Christian wisdom and knowledge which is to convert this wilderness of error , ignorance , , ' and deformity , into that promised land of fruitfulness and beauty , of peace and happiness , —that restored world of prophecy , —that idea ?
world of the future , for which we are taught to pray in the words , "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven , "—and—if science and art be not mockeries , be not anti-christian in their tendencies , — that ideal world which , guided by the Holy Spirit of Truth , they are destined to prepare and realize . If there were no great end ! to be attained by science and art ; if these were to be but the records of individual conceits without j > ui'pose , without reference to a distinctly defined progress and a future harmonic whole ,- they would scarcely he worth the time and trouble they cost ; and we might indeed abandon ourselves to indifference , and exelam ?
Cui bono 1 The opposite doctrine to that which is herein advocated is that held by the materialists ; viz ., " the conformation of mind by matter ; " a doctrine which brings its own reproof and chastisement . It is one which has sometimes led bewildered intellect to withhold its allegiance to the Almighty will , to attempt to dethrone the right government of the world , to darken the horizon of faith and ! hope , and to extinguish the poetry of life . It is without a
defined idea : it disunites , divides , and destroys . Materialism recognizes no distinction of good and evil , and surrenders everything to the anarchy of individual will . It is in every way opposed to—the reverse of—Christian idealism , which recognizes a scheme of universal moral governance , conforming and building up material elements to a perfect whole . It has been too much the fashion to suppose that true religioa and science are ? fc variance , —to consider science to be opposed ts
religion . Never was there a greater or more pernicious mistakes they are , in the full comprehension of the Christian scheme , indissolubly hound together ; nay , I will venture to say , that science is a part of religion ; for , what is the knowledge of the laws of the highest generality which govern phenomena , but the knowledge -of God ' s will in reference to phenomena ? And what is science , when , rightly understood , but a Christian power confirming , fulfilling , and carrying out those broad principles which are enunciated in the
Gospel ? It is only upon the basis of a faith in an Almighty will , that science can consistently be recognized . If there were no governing power , there could be no governing laws , and , consequently , no science . It is religion only which prevents science and art being purposeless , beyond that of accommodating some immediate commercial want or momentary caprice . Science and art identify themselves with Christianity , in completing and restoring nature to its normal condition ; in healing , in making whole after
the Example of Christ and the Apostles . Art has too long attempted to claim exemption from precise laws , from scientific governance on the plea of its having a more divine and ethereal nature than ordinary affairs ; in total forgetfulness that divine work , from the motion of the spheres to the minuteness of chemical combination , is carried on hy precise ,, definite , quantitative laws . This tendency of art , therefore , is irreligious , and contrary to the spirit of truth , which is silently actuating and converting the age .