What Is The Good Of Free Masonry?

are alike forbidden in Lodge ; and though in olden days , Avheii skilled craftsmen worked together in travelling bands , leaving magnificent monuments of civilization and p iety in their train , the objects of association Avere better understood , they Avere not

more practical in their results than IIOAV . It is impossible to belong to a Masonic Lodge , or oven to cat Masonic dinners Avith regularity , Avithout helping to support some of the most noble charities in the land . You are caught , Ave will say , by tho promise

of a festivity , and the hope of enjoyment . You knoAV a jovial set , and Avould like to bo one of them , and you are in due course proposed , elected , ancl initiated in some Masonic body . From that moment you are a cog in a mighty Avhecland can no

, more help moving Avith the rest of the machinery in tho directions of good Avorks , than you can avoid Avearing your apron Avhen on duty in your Lodge . Your earliest lesson is that of charity and toleration ; but the great advantage of the rules of the

community you have entered , is , that no individual demerits or torpor can long Avithstand their beneficial tendency . 0 thei precepts you may neglect or ignore . Your

priA r ate life may bo far from irreproachable . A ou may be depreciated by your fellowmembcrs as " a knife-and-fork-Mason "that is , one Avho cares more for the table of the tavern than the table of the Law—and may be quoted by outsiders in proof of the evil effect of belonging to a secret societ .

y All this rests Avith yourself . Even Avhat we calf the inner mysteries of our Order—mysteries Avhich it takes so much time and application to master and comprehend—do not protend to alter character . A selfish man Avill be a selfish Mason , a

churlish man a churlish Mason , a conscientious man a conscientious Mason , to the end of time . It is iviser to disclaim all legerdemain , and freely confess that no purif ying 0 r aAvakening talisman is given to the Masonic neophyte . The knoAvled

ge imparted is moderate in extent , and the man obtaining it finds that he has but learnt the rudiments of an elaborate system , the true bearing of Avhich is veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols . Those who sneer at Masonic symbolsAVIIO ask

, with conventional irony why Masons cannot accomp lish tho good they profess to seek without donning aprons and bedeckin g thumsolves with glittering baubles , should ,

to be consistent , denounce symbolism . Take the House of Commons , and note the precise formality Avith Avhich old rites and customs arc observed there , ancl say Avhether the solemn Speaker AVOUIC ! look as Avise and dignified in a shooting-jacket or a dressinggoAvn . and Avhother the quaintly Avigged

and gOAvned figures beloAv him are not more appropriately attired than if they Avore the paletot ancl Avide-aAvake of country life . Eegard the throne Avith its surroundings of velvet and ermine and jeAvels and gold ; the pulpit with its

conventional black , and Avhite ; the bench Avith . its time-honored robes ; the bar with its Avigs ancl gOAvns ; or , turning to private life , remark IIOAV the symbolism of dress and ornament attends us from the cradle to the grave . The Avhite draperies of the

christening ceremony , the orange-fioAvers and favours of the Avcdding , the ghastly mockery of the nodding black feathers on the hearse , are surely as open to criticism as ' our Masonic blue and A \ diite aprons , or the gay ornaments . Freemasons , let it be remembered , rarely obtrude their finery on the outer Avorld . There are other excellent societies , the members of Avhich periodically

break out in buff boots and green tunics , or march Avith linked fingers through the toAvn , to the clashing of Avind instruments , and behind banners bearing copy-book axioms of approved morality . But Avith Freemasons it is a point of honour not to Avcar the costume of their Craft or

, any adornment pertaining to it , save in their OAvn Lodges . To do otherwise—to flaunt collar , apron , or jewel in other places—is a serious Masonic oitence , and one censured Avith severity by the authorities . The sole exception to this rule is some important

public occasion , Avhen a Dispensation is granted by the Grand Master of the Order , and the first stone of some great building is laid , or the remains of some distinguished Brother are committed to the earth . The exceptional character of these occurrences

entitles us to the boast that our symbols are only worn for the benefit of those who understand them , and to whose technical knoAvledge they appeal . In some cases , they mark the rank of the Avearer , like the soldier ' s uniform ; in othersthe practical

, good he has effected , like—shall Ave saythe bishop ' s mitre . Each division of the Order , called a Lodge , is ruled over by certain officers , AVIIO