Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Oration.
fathers in the Order , but , if any of the objects of human activity are worth living for ab all , if on the wliole it is noi the highest wisdom to say , "Let tis eab and drink , for to-morrow we die , " it is impossible to imagine a nobler or more stirring object of ambition- —a cause to which a man could , with more comjjlete satisfaction , or in which he would be sure to meet with a fuller
or purer reward , and to which he could devote all the energies of his life as a Mason — than carry out to their limit the principles inculcated by Masonry . Let each in his own sphere , each according to the talents with which God has endowed him , take up his share of tho work which lies at his door
waitinsto be done—to one tho pulpit , to another the school , to another the Sunday class , to another tho Blind Institution , to another the hospital , to another the evening or the ragged school , to another tho institute , to another the helpless and the destitute and tho aged , the widow and the orphan . There is work for all , and if Masons
would but do the work which Masons should do , then would there be fulfilling indeed what they had undertaken and bound themselves" in the first and second degree , to perform Thon of them ib would be said , and if deserved how _ sweet would it be to hear it said , " "When the ear heard me then it blessed me ; and when the eye
saw me then ib gave witness to me ; because I relieved the poor that cried , and the fatherless , and him that had none to help him ; the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon mo , and I caused bhe widow ' s heart to sing for joy . " God imposes on us serious duties , we musb struggle in the interests of humanity against the
strong when they abuse their strength , and against the powerful when they abuse their power . From time to time the struggle is interrupted to contemplate ibs fruits ,- the oppressed delivered from the tyrant ; the poverty or
disease stricken man snatched from the abyss of want , and sent forward rejoicing on a new career of life ; bhe widow encouraged , protected , and supported , when she believed that she was forsaken by all the worl d ; the orphan , once wan and emaciated , now lighbed up ' and rosy iu the splendid dawn of ibs young life . Thus do we from indi
pass gnation to tenderness , and we undersband thc aim of life , Then may we bhank God , who giving us the task bo combat bhe powerful and bhe wicked , gives us also bo succour bhe imioeenb and tho feeble—and who , side by side with the grave duties of life , has placed bhe cheerful ones , the latter to uphold the former .
The man who so midcrsbands and practices Freemasonry , even if he has not progressed beyond thc fourth degree , and even if ho does not care to display one single jewel , is a better Mason and better acquainted wibhtts symbolical beaching bhan he who , having taken every degree under tho sun , and covered his breast with
every jewel whicli can be crowded upon it , has never carried into everyday life , the principles and teaching which Masonry has perpetually enjoined upon him . " lie is a Mason who can , and ho is nob a Mason who cannob
Grasp the whole world of reason , life , and sense In one close system of benevolence , Happier , as feeling in whate'er degree , The height of bliss in height of charity .
Masonic Notes And Queries.
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .
3 TEEEirAS 0 S"KX ABOUT TWO ITCJNDEED TEAKS OLD . I do not believe the old operative Masons of our towns , < fcc , had the means of working or keeping alive any elaborate ritual ; their numbers were few , and their Freemasonry , or its ritual , consisted chiefly of an obligation takento keep secret the word and
, grip . The lodge was often merely a sort of appendage , or sanctum sanctorum of the corporation . The operative Masons—after its establishment—taking more interest in their corporation than in the lodge , for as members of the corporation they were enabled to ply their businessand with many—the masters , perhaps ,
, especially—the lodge meeting would be often _ in a great measure another name for the annual dinner . In the 13 th and 14 . ii centuries , when the " building fraternities " ( not corporations ) were in their hey-day , their Masonry developed itself in their works—in the beautiful structures which they raised—not in an
elaborate Masonic ritualism such as we now have . Our ritual of the Master Mason degree is a new creation , about perhaps the beginning of last century . "While tbe ritual of the first ancl second degrees can hardly date further hack than the 17 th century ; and while saying so I admit that the ritual of to-day is
probably much improved and made more elaborate since then . Although I know many first class operative Masons , both masters ancl men , I do not remember of ever having seen one ( although there must he many ) working any of our ceremonies ; a Hugh Miller is not an everyday occurence . Our Freemasonry , " such as it now exists , ' ' therefore , dates from the time about two centuries ago , when
gentlemen of education—literary men—who were not practical Masons , were " made Masons . " Freemasonry , or speculative Masonry , as an universal fraternity , with its elaborate systematic ritualism ancl its grand doctrine of the universal brotherhood of man , is , therefore , of quite modern
date ; but Masons or Freemasons as common operative Masons , possessing merely a certain word and grip by which they could know each other , and also a certain freedom of travelling and working throughout the country , may have existed since the rise of the mediawal building fraternities at the end of the
12 th or beginning of the 13 th centuries , who at that time assisted in introducing a new style of architecture . But to imagine for a moment that our ritual is ancient , or that it has any real connexion with theancient mysteries , or that Solomon was or could have been a Freemasonor that Athelstan granted a
, charter to Prince Edwin to form a Grand Lodge of Freemasons at York in 92 G , or that Freemasonry is known to have existed in Scotland about 1140 , or that our present Freemasonry is older than within the last two centuries , is simply pure , childish , wilful , ignorant , or unthinking credulity . The archaisms of
our rituals have a modern sort of look about them ; about as ancient , when examined with an unprejudiced mind , as our pretended ancient charters , proving the modern date of their get up . But there is this difference between them : a forged charter , when shown up , is simply thereafter a dirty bit of waste parchment ; but the ritualism of Freemasonry , though modern , is merely the shell surrounding and containing the precious fruit of reciprocal faith , brotherly
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Oration.
fathers in the Order , but , if any of the objects of human activity are worth living for ab all , if on the wliole it is noi the highest wisdom to say , "Let tis eab and drink , for to-morrow we die , " it is impossible to imagine a nobler or more stirring object of ambition- —a cause to which a man could , with more comjjlete satisfaction , or in which he would be sure to meet with a fuller
or purer reward , and to which he could devote all the energies of his life as a Mason — than carry out to their limit the principles inculcated by Masonry . Let each in his own sphere , each according to the talents with which God has endowed him , take up his share of tho work which lies at his door
waitinsto be done—to one tho pulpit , to another the school , to another the Sunday class , to another tho Blind Institution , to another the hospital , to another the evening or the ragged school , to another tho institute , to another the helpless and the destitute and tho aged , the widow and the orphan . There is work for all , and if Masons
would but do the work which Masons should do , then would there be fulfilling indeed what they had undertaken and bound themselves" in the first and second degree , to perform Thon of them ib would be said , and if deserved how _ sweet would it be to hear it said , " "When the ear heard me then it blessed me ; and when the eye
saw me then ib gave witness to me ; because I relieved the poor that cried , and the fatherless , and him that had none to help him ; the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon mo , and I caused bhe widow ' s heart to sing for joy . " God imposes on us serious duties , we musb struggle in the interests of humanity against the
strong when they abuse their strength , and against the powerful when they abuse their power . From time to time the struggle is interrupted to contemplate ibs fruits ,- the oppressed delivered from the tyrant ; the poverty or
disease stricken man snatched from the abyss of want , and sent forward rejoicing on a new career of life ; bhe widow encouraged , protected , and supported , when she believed that she was forsaken by all the worl d ; the orphan , once wan and emaciated , now lighbed up ' and rosy iu the splendid dawn of ibs young life . Thus do we from indi
pass gnation to tenderness , and we undersband thc aim of life , Then may we bhank God , who giving us the task bo combat bhe powerful and bhe wicked , gives us also bo succour bhe imioeenb and tho feeble—and who , side by side with the grave duties of life , has placed bhe cheerful ones , the latter to uphold the former .
The man who so midcrsbands and practices Freemasonry , even if he has not progressed beyond thc fourth degree , and even if ho does not care to display one single jewel , is a better Mason and better acquainted wibhtts symbolical beaching bhan he who , having taken every degree under tho sun , and covered his breast with
every jewel whicli can be crowded upon it , has never carried into everyday life , the principles and teaching which Masonry has perpetually enjoined upon him . " lie is a Mason who can , and ho is nob a Mason who cannob
Grasp the whole world of reason , life , and sense In one close system of benevolence , Happier , as feeling in whate'er degree , The height of bliss in height of charity .
Masonic Notes And Queries.
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .
3 TEEEirAS 0 S"KX ABOUT TWO ITCJNDEED TEAKS OLD . I do not believe the old operative Masons of our towns , < fcc , had the means of working or keeping alive any elaborate ritual ; their numbers were few , and their Freemasonry , or its ritual , consisted chiefly of an obligation takento keep secret the word and
, grip . The lodge was often merely a sort of appendage , or sanctum sanctorum of the corporation . The operative Masons—after its establishment—taking more interest in their corporation than in the lodge , for as members of the corporation they were enabled to ply their businessand with many—the masters , perhaps ,
, especially—the lodge meeting would be often _ in a great measure another name for the annual dinner . In the 13 th and 14 . ii centuries , when the " building fraternities " ( not corporations ) were in their hey-day , their Masonry developed itself in their works—in the beautiful structures which they raised—not in an
elaborate Masonic ritualism such as we now have . Our ritual of the Master Mason degree is a new creation , about perhaps the beginning of last century . "While tbe ritual of the first ancl second degrees can hardly date further hack than the 17 th century ; and while saying so I admit that the ritual of to-day is
probably much improved and made more elaborate since then . Although I know many first class operative Masons , both masters ancl men , I do not remember of ever having seen one ( although there must he many ) working any of our ceremonies ; a Hugh Miller is not an everyday occurence . Our Freemasonry , " such as it now exists , ' ' therefore , dates from the time about two centuries ago , when
gentlemen of education—literary men—who were not practical Masons , were " made Masons . " Freemasonry , or speculative Masonry , as an universal fraternity , with its elaborate systematic ritualism ancl its grand doctrine of the universal brotherhood of man , is , therefore , of quite modern
date ; but Masons or Freemasons as common operative Masons , possessing merely a certain word and grip by which they could know each other , and also a certain freedom of travelling and working throughout the country , may have existed since the rise of the mediawal building fraternities at the end of the
12 th or beginning of the 13 th centuries , who at that time assisted in introducing a new style of architecture . But to imagine for a moment that our ritual is ancient , or that it has any real connexion with theancient mysteries , or that Solomon was or could have been a Freemasonor that Athelstan granted a
, charter to Prince Edwin to form a Grand Lodge of Freemasons at York in 92 G , or that Freemasonry is known to have existed in Scotland about 1140 , or that our present Freemasonry is older than within the last two centuries , is simply pure , childish , wilful , ignorant , or unthinking credulity . The archaisms of
our rituals have a modern sort of look about them ; about as ancient , when examined with an unprejudiced mind , as our pretended ancient charters , proving the modern date of their get up . But there is this difference between them : a forged charter , when shown up , is simply thereafter a dirty bit of waste parchment ; but the ritualism of Freemasonry , though modern , is merely the shell surrounding and containing the precious fruit of reciprocal faith , brotherly