Address Of M.W. Grand Master Pratt To The Grand Lodge Of California.

with no sparing hand her accustomed fruits , and the miracle of the wedding feast has been each day surpassed , wherever the hand of patient industry has sought its legitimate reward . While our brethren in foreign jurisdictions have shed each other ' s blood in obedience to the ambition or caprice of their imperial masters , or suffered

persecution and death for no crime save that of being Freemasons , peace and tranquility have pervaded all onr borders , and a tolerant and beneficent government has given constant approval to the cultivation of Masonic science . The year has been crowaed with tho grandest of all earthly blessings , general health ; and so with the potent ancl blessed triopeaceprosperityand physical

, , , welfare , well may we gather at our altars to-day with hearts filled and glowing with gratitude to the Great Author of our existence . With pride I greet you on this opening morning of another yearly festival , with pleasure I report to yon the general prosperity of the Craft ; while with painful solicitude and anxiety I await your judgments of my official

acts . To Freemasonry the year has been sufficiently prosperous , as prosperity is usually estimated . Members have been added in sufficient numbers , and the material strength of the Fraternity , as strength is too often judged , has been in no degree impaired . But let us not deceive ourselves with these appearances . A mere increase of

numbers is no cause of congratulation , and I repeat to you my solemn conviction , what has been already said by the Grand Masters of perhaps every jurisdiction on this continent , that if there is one thing which ,

more than all others combined , threatens the downfall of this patriarchal institution , it is its growing popularity . A rapid accession of indifferent members , a too cautious use of the negative ballot , and a cowardly indisposition to apply Masonic discipline to those already within the fold—these are the quicksands and bars on which Freemasonry my yet founder . Through these faults you are

filling your ranks with unworthy members , inspired with no loftier ambition than to live in indolence upon the toil of their brethren ; and following this , yon have been compelled by the very principles of self-preservation to shift your personal obligations to your brethren , from yourselves individually , to the lodge in its collective capacity ; and then permit the lodge in turn to set up

an arbitrary and offensive rule to shut off those drones whom your own folly and neglect have brought into your household . Thus the Masonic conscience is compelled to shield itself from the Masonic obligation by the specious but shallowed pretext that he who appeals for aid has not performed his duties to the lodge of which he is a member . It is these vices and innovations which may

yet destroy tho identity of Masonry , and reduce it to the level of a mere mutual aid association . I cannot express to you the chagrin ancl sorrow I have experienced in consequence of these unhappy conditions . A distressed brother asks for assistance , and he is in turn asked , as coldly as the banker ask for his securities , if he has paid his dues ; and if his misfortunes compel him to answer

in the negative , no matter what the cause , or how worthy he may be iu other respects , his claims are ignored and he is sent empty away . At last he dies , and the penalties of his poverty follow him still . The last rites , so prized by the appreciative Masons , are denied him , because the Secretary has balanced his accounts and found him indebted to the lodge for six month ' s dues . A

few months later , and the widow of the deceased brother comes in her sable robes , with famishing childhood at her side , spirit-broken and sick at heart at being compelled to appeal to us , yet appealing with perfect confidence , because she knows her dead idol was a Mason ; and she is gravely told that her husband died under the ban of suspension . S uspended—and for what ? she asks . What wrong had he committed which deserved this ?

No moral wrong ; he was a good man and true ; but h e was poor , and had not paid his dues for the last six months . And to the humiliation which she experienced in asking for assistance , is added the more humiliatingconviction that Masonry is a deception and a snare , failing to practice the beautiful theory it professes ; and that her husbandafter all his years of labour and

devo-, tion to what he deemed the living embodiment of all virtue , lived and died the deluded victim of a mockery and falsehood . In the name of the Ancient Brotherhood , I protest against this unmasonic feature of modern Masonry . If this be in fact the full force of our obligations to each other , let us change the form of those obli gations . Lot us no longer promise to aid and assist the

distressed , but make it in form what wo are making it in practice , and promise to aid and assist them if they have balanced their accounts with the Secretary of the Lodge . These utterances are distaseful to you , my brethren , hut they are well deserved ; and if you would escape from such animadversionif yon would remove your noble institution from beneath

, the cloud which overshadows , and beyond the reach of the tempest which threatens it , begin , as I have suggested , at tho very foundation of the evil . Remember that the strength of the brotherhood depends not on the number , hut on the character of the members , and let the proper and diligent use of the black hull attest your fidelity to this principle . Be diligent , too , in the application of discipline . If you fhid one

among you unworthy-of confidence and trust , admonish him gently , reform and . bring him up to the true standard of Masonic excellence , if may be ; hut when the conviction is forced upon you that you cannot accomplish this , cast him out with a quick and relentless hand . Let those who are of us understand that Masonry sets up a higher standard of morals and virtues than the mere law of the land imposes . Let them know that it is not necessary they should commit some crime for ivliich that law will consign them to a felon ' s cell , before thoy can be punished by the Masonic code ; but that , on the contrary , when one

Mason acts in bad faith with another in any degree , he has violated his obligation and should suffer the penalty . Let those , also , who are to ho received hereafter , come with the full under - stan ding that they are ex'pectde to give rather than receive , to do good to their fellow men rather than be pensioners upon them . Be not satisfied with the mere negative fact that you know no evil of the candidate , hut assure yourselves , before you accept him . that his temper and metal are such , that no fear need he

entertained that he will ever violate a vow , or make an improper use of his claim upon his Fraternity . Tho rigid observance of these rules for a series of years , and not many years will he required , will restore the goodly condition of former years , when the moral force of the Masonic obligation was alone sufficient to secure obedience to all requirements , and enable you to feel that it is again an honor and distinction in society to be hailed and recognized as Fa reemason . With these views it has been my

constant effort , in visiting lodges , to impress upon my brethren , a higher standard of Masonic excellence , more exacting tests of fitness iu candidates , a more rigid observance of our solemn per ^ sonal obligations to each other in all our intercourse , and more readiness to punish every departure from those obligations , i have urged upon them every where , that the so-called less 3 r evils of society , of which the law of the land takes no cognizanceintemperance , profanity , evil speaking , hypocrisy and deception

—are all Masonic offences ; and , as we would preserve the ancient lustre and hallowed charm which has so long encircled the Fraternity , we cannot be too zealous in their condemnation and punishment . And I am hippy in the belief that these efforts have not been entirely barren of results , and only regret that I have not been able to extend my personal observations and efforts further . I have visited about thirtof the lodgesin all of whichbut

y , , one , I have witnessed the conferring the third degree , and , in every instance but one , in strict conformity with the prescribed ritual . I have not confined myself in these visits to a simple superintendence ofthe labours ofthe lodge for the evening , but have examined the hooks and records , looked into the manner of transacting the general business , and made diligent inquiry as to the disbursement of Masonic charities . Iu all these respects I have found but very little to criticise , hut have never hesitated