Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Hebrew Brethren Of New York And The Dist. G. Master.
particular dogma or system forms no bar to such admission . " If , as is suggested to the Grand Master on behalf of the petitioners , good men are denied admission as initiates into lodges in Brooklyn , solely because they are of Hebrew descent , such a
violation of Masonic law constitutes no ground for granting a dispensation which virtually shall create a lodge for the sole purpose of systematically violating this valuable Masonic law . The argument proceeds upon the basis that all the lodges in a locality violating a particular law of Masonry
by requiring an initiate to believe in the Christian religion , makes it necessary to establish a new lodge which will also violate this law by requiring its initiates to believe in Judaism .
" Let us carry the argument further . All the lodges in Hebron require a petitioner , before being received to avow his belief in the Immaculate Conception , and no Protestant can gain admission ; therefore the Grand Master ought to issue a dispensation for the institution of a lodge there , iu
ivhich no Roman Catholic can be admitted . " Iu another locality all the lodges , in violation of the law , require candidates to be worth at least a certain sum of money , and ignore entirely the internal qualifications required in a Mason ; and , thei-eforea lodge ought to be startedto use the
, , words of a warm friend of the application under 3 ascussion , ' wherein all who may apply at the door may receive proper Masonic treatment—a lodge which shall judge of candidates by their moral character . '
" If the fact is as alleged , and this systematic 7 iolation of law has occurred , and continues to be committed iu a particular locality , it will be necessary to remedy that evil . But it is no ground for the commission of one wrong that another exists .
" Masonic offences in lodges will never be repressed by the commission of wrongful acts by the Grand Master . Gangrene of the body of Masonry at one point will never be healed by creating a like disease at another . The sword and gavel , wielded as Masons know how to wield them , for offences not otherwise remediable , will furnish relief .
" If we look a moment at the consequences of granting a dispensation to Hebrews , to open a new lodge , to enable persons to be made Mason s who are denied admission by certain existing lodges , on account of their religious belief , we shall readily see that it will lead to tlie ultimate
destruction of the universality of Masonry . If a lodge receiving only Hebrews may be founded , why not one receiving only Baptists or Romanists , Methodists or Presbyterians , Episcopalians or Congrcgationalists ? And on creating a new lodge for such sectarian purposes , in order to avoid difficulty in brethren finding their peculiar stripe of lodge , each sect should have its lodge
The Hebrew Brethren Of New York And The Dist. G. Master.
named denominationally , and we should have on our roll Presbyterian and Methodist , and other similar lodges . And as the sects differ among themselves , each shade of difference would require its particular lodge , and we should then be called on to perpetuate the points , and shadows even , of
sectarian strife . Thus a Masonic lodge , instead of being a sanctuary , free from sectarian strife , where an initiate might build a moral temple dedicated to God and his law , and where those of all sects and creeds might meet on a common level , would be a house of discord , each sect
endeavouring to gain or perpetuate an ascendency , which , once secured , would destroy the harmony and universality of the institution . Masonry was not originated , and is not continued , for any such purposes . She acknowledges the great Master of the Universeancl points her initiates to his hol
, y law as the rule aud guide to their faith . She bows not to sj r sterns of sects or faith , but on her comprehensive platform receives all who profess the universal faith , believing in the eternal Jehovah and who observe his law .
" Is it thus , as has been eloquently said , constantly ' teaching in the wilderness , ' preparing the way of the Lord , by opening the minds of its members , by its teachings , to receive greater instruction and enlightenment in relation to the character , power , and attributes of Deity , and their duties to God , their fellow-men , and themselves .
" In society the practical working of its principles tends to soften the asperities of the natural character , and to incline the heart to embrace that law of kindness and love which is at the bottom of all true religion . It has never resisted that religion , nor sought to undermine it , nor to check
its growth or influence ; but , on the contrary , has ever lent to it all the aid in its power . Engaged chiefly in cultivating the minds , and improving the morals aud character of its members , its welfare rests upon their attachment to it , and their exemplification of its moral precepts in their lives and conduct .
" These are acknowledged principles of our Fraternity , and if all the brethren of the Masonic family do not live up to them , the petitioners should remember that man is a finite being , and liable to err ' as the sparks to fly upward , ' and that his being made a Masun cannot by any means
take away nor remove this difficulty , but only put him in the way of light and improvement . Will our Hebrew brethren 'live down ' the ' prejudices '' which , as is said , by one of their friends on this application , ' exist against them in Masonic lodges' by leaving those lod and having one
, ges of their own , where their light will be hidden or known only to themselves ? Will they not rather find it better , remaining where they are , ' to labour and to wait , ' wrestling with this evil as did their patriarch , Jacob of old , with the angel , ' till
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Hebrew Brethren Of New York And The Dist. G. Master.
particular dogma or system forms no bar to such admission . " If , as is suggested to the Grand Master on behalf of the petitioners , good men are denied admission as initiates into lodges in Brooklyn , solely because they are of Hebrew descent , such a
violation of Masonic law constitutes no ground for granting a dispensation which virtually shall create a lodge for the sole purpose of systematically violating this valuable Masonic law . The argument proceeds upon the basis that all the lodges in a locality violating a particular law of Masonry
by requiring an initiate to believe in the Christian religion , makes it necessary to establish a new lodge which will also violate this law by requiring its initiates to believe in Judaism .
" Let us carry the argument further . All the lodges in Hebron require a petitioner , before being received to avow his belief in the Immaculate Conception , and no Protestant can gain admission ; therefore the Grand Master ought to issue a dispensation for the institution of a lodge there , iu
ivhich no Roman Catholic can be admitted . " Iu another locality all the lodges , in violation of the law , require candidates to be worth at least a certain sum of money , and ignore entirely the internal qualifications required in a Mason ; and , thei-eforea lodge ought to be startedto use the
, , words of a warm friend of the application under 3 ascussion , ' wherein all who may apply at the door may receive proper Masonic treatment—a lodge which shall judge of candidates by their moral character . '
" If the fact is as alleged , and this systematic 7 iolation of law has occurred , and continues to be committed iu a particular locality , it will be necessary to remedy that evil . But it is no ground for the commission of one wrong that another exists .
" Masonic offences in lodges will never be repressed by the commission of wrongful acts by the Grand Master . Gangrene of the body of Masonry at one point will never be healed by creating a like disease at another . The sword and gavel , wielded as Masons know how to wield them , for offences not otherwise remediable , will furnish relief .
" If we look a moment at the consequences of granting a dispensation to Hebrews , to open a new lodge , to enable persons to be made Mason s who are denied admission by certain existing lodges , on account of their religious belief , we shall readily see that it will lead to tlie ultimate
destruction of the universality of Masonry . If a lodge receiving only Hebrews may be founded , why not one receiving only Baptists or Romanists , Methodists or Presbyterians , Episcopalians or Congrcgationalists ? And on creating a new lodge for such sectarian purposes , in order to avoid difficulty in brethren finding their peculiar stripe of lodge , each sect should have its lodge
The Hebrew Brethren Of New York And The Dist. G. Master.
named denominationally , and we should have on our roll Presbyterian and Methodist , and other similar lodges . And as the sects differ among themselves , each shade of difference would require its particular lodge , and we should then be called on to perpetuate the points , and shadows even , of
sectarian strife . Thus a Masonic lodge , instead of being a sanctuary , free from sectarian strife , where an initiate might build a moral temple dedicated to God and his law , and where those of all sects and creeds might meet on a common level , would be a house of discord , each sect
endeavouring to gain or perpetuate an ascendency , which , once secured , would destroy the harmony and universality of the institution . Masonry was not originated , and is not continued , for any such purposes . She acknowledges the great Master of the Universeancl points her initiates to his hol
, y law as the rule aud guide to their faith . She bows not to sj r sterns of sects or faith , but on her comprehensive platform receives all who profess the universal faith , believing in the eternal Jehovah and who observe his law .
" Is it thus , as has been eloquently said , constantly ' teaching in the wilderness , ' preparing the way of the Lord , by opening the minds of its members , by its teachings , to receive greater instruction and enlightenment in relation to the character , power , and attributes of Deity , and their duties to God , their fellow-men , and themselves .
" In society the practical working of its principles tends to soften the asperities of the natural character , and to incline the heart to embrace that law of kindness and love which is at the bottom of all true religion . It has never resisted that religion , nor sought to undermine it , nor to check
its growth or influence ; but , on the contrary , has ever lent to it all the aid in its power . Engaged chiefly in cultivating the minds , and improving the morals aud character of its members , its welfare rests upon their attachment to it , and their exemplification of its moral precepts in their lives and conduct .
" These are acknowledged principles of our Fraternity , and if all the brethren of the Masonic family do not live up to them , the petitioners should remember that man is a finite being , and liable to err ' as the sparks to fly upward , ' and that his being made a Masun cannot by any means
take away nor remove this difficulty , but only put him in the way of light and improvement . Will our Hebrew brethren 'live down ' the ' prejudices '' which , as is said , by one of their friends on this application , ' exist against them in Masonic lodges' by leaving those lod and having one
, ges of their own , where their light will be hidden or known only to themselves ? Will they not rather find it better , remaining where they are , ' to labour and to wait , ' wrestling with this evil as did their patriarch , Jacob of old , with the angel , ' till