Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Should Ladies Be Banished From Our Recreation Banquets ?
greater change , the imperious sway of common sense . As we study its nonsensical ritual to-day , Avithout meaning , point , congruity , or coherency , we see at once , or think Ave see , that anything more infantine and yet more harmless , more inane and yet more trite , never was invented to charm the credulous or gratify the weak-minded .
But it went the Avay of all such ephemeral things . The Empress Josephine attempted to revive it , but in vain ; and all that remains of it are some feAV tractates Avhich tell of its mysteries and its marvels , and linger in hopeless inutility and insignificance on the dusty shelves of the Masonic book-collector .
We need not , then , continue to discuss this portion of the question , that which relates to Androgyne Masonry , or a system which admits of the presence of both . sexes , as such an idea is practically an absurdity for many reasons , and really most unrealizable ; and , if realizable , most injurious , Ave feel convinced , for the true progress and best interests of Freemasonry .
In France they have now " La Magonnerie Blanche , " which is a name they give to certain " tenues " or assemblies of Freemasons to which ladies can be invited , such as the social gatherings of lodges , and lodge concerts , lodge balls and lodge recreation festivals . To such a state of things no objection can fairly be made ; against such
a developement of Masonic usages no impeachment can fairly lie . It seems a very reasonable and pleasant custom , in itself , to be of good and of use to Freemasons , to be alike proper and profitable in every sense , in that thus the meetings of Freemasons on certain specified and allowable occasions are
• graced with the presence and affected b y the influence of the Avoman , always a pleasant thing in itself , and which often also , by its suasive sympathies , sheds a softening and subduing restraint on the rougher and less constrained tastes and proclivities of the man . But as we must not drift into a phsychological discussion , Ave will stop here in respect of the abstract question , and simply regard it in its outcome , in the concrete .
The practical effect of the presence and participation of the ladies at our Recreation Banquets would be to add animation to the gathering , and lend life to the day ' s " outing . " How normal and hoAV formal do our recreation banquets often become , do they not ? Confess , kind and Avorthy P . M ., thou who objectest , above all , to the intrusion of the
ladies , thou Avho thinkest and who sayest that the Masonic festival will be strangely and sadly changed , by the inroad of female Goths and Vandals , intent on satisf ying their curiosity and indulging the talkativeness of the other sex . And yet , good brother , let you and I reason it out calmly and sedately . I 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Should Ladies Be Banished From Our Recreation Banquets ?
greater change , the imperious sway of common sense . As we study its nonsensical ritual to-day , Avithout meaning , point , congruity , or coherency , we see at once , or think Ave see , that anything more infantine and yet more harmless , more inane and yet more trite , never was invented to charm the credulous or gratify the weak-minded .
But it went the Avay of all such ephemeral things . The Empress Josephine attempted to revive it , but in vain ; and all that remains of it are some feAV tractates Avhich tell of its mysteries and its marvels , and linger in hopeless inutility and insignificance on the dusty shelves of the Masonic book-collector .
We need not , then , continue to discuss this portion of the question , that which relates to Androgyne Masonry , or a system which admits of the presence of both . sexes , as such an idea is practically an absurdity for many reasons , and really most unrealizable ; and , if realizable , most injurious , Ave feel convinced , for the true progress and best interests of Freemasonry .
In France they have now " La Magonnerie Blanche , " which is a name they give to certain " tenues " or assemblies of Freemasons to which ladies can be invited , such as the social gatherings of lodges , and lodge concerts , lodge balls and lodge recreation festivals . To such a state of things no objection can fairly be made ; against such
a developement of Masonic usages no impeachment can fairly lie . It seems a very reasonable and pleasant custom , in itself , to be of good and of use to Freemasons , to be alike proper and profitable in every sense , in that thus the meetings of Freemasons on certain specified and allowable occasions are
• graced with the presence and affected b y the influence of the Avoman , always a pleasant thing in itself , and which often also , by its suasive sympathies , sheds a softening and subduing restraint on the rougher and less constrained tastes and proclivities of the man . But as we must not drift into a phsychological discussion , Ave will stop here in respect of the abstract question , and simply regard it in its outcome , in the concrete .
The practical effect of the presence and participation of the ladies at our Recreation Banquets would be to add animation to the gathering , and lend life to the day ' s " outing . " How normal and hoAV formal do our recreation banquets often become , do they not ? Confess , kind and Avorthy P . M ., thou who objectest , above all , to the intrusion of the
ladies , thou Avho thinkest and who sayest that the Masonic festival will be strangely and sadly changed , by the inroad of female Goths and Vandals , intent on satisf ying their curiosity and indulging the talkativeness of the other sex . And yet , good brother , let you and I reason it out calmly and sedately . I 2