Newspapers / Masonic Journal (Greensboro, N.C.) / April 21, 1876, edition 1 / Page 1
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NO 32. The Unconscious Orphan. Slotlier, I have foimd a tear In your eye! How came it tliere ? ■More are coming—now they ciiaso One another down your face. How I f('ei your bosom lieave ! Wiiatdoes make you sob aud grieve ? Let me wipe your tears away, Or I cannot go and play. "Why is father sleepingso ? Put me down and let me go— Lot me go wiiere I can stand, Near enough '.o reach his liand. Why, it feels as stifl' and cold As a piece of ice to liold ! Lift me up to kis.s his cheek, Then, poi-liaps, he’ll wake and speak. Mother, (), it isn’t he. For he will not look at me ! Father li.adn’t cheeks so white— S(!C, tlie lips are fastened tight! Fatlier always spoke and smiled. Calling me his “darling cliild;’’ He would give and ask a kiss When 1 came—but who is tliis ? If‘tis father, has he done Speaking to his darling one ? Will lie never, never more Know and love me as before ! Could lie hear wliat we liave said ? Tell me, wliat is being dead? O, lie doesn’t breathe a bn'atli! Jlotlier ! wliat’s tlie cause of deatli? An Argument That Laughs in Your Face. “To say notliing of the sin of Masonry, its childishness is excruciating,’’ So said the Pittsburg United Presbyterian of last week. Let ns see what reasons there are to support this opinion. A Brother is in distress. Misfortune has clouded his path; the dull times have touched him in basket and store ; disease has lai.i its heavy hand upon him; even death has entered his circle and snatched a loved one from his family. In this time of sore trial and trouble he is not left comfortless. His Brethren not only sympathize with him, but they aid him. There is a Mystic Tie that encircles all who have knelt at the altars of Mason ry, whereby they are knit together into one family of Brethren, who not only re joice with each other in times of rejoicing, but also m-ourH with each other when in adversity. Ho cloud without a silver lining can overshadow a Mason. Ho blow can fall so heavily upon him that its force will not be broken bv the inter position of a friendly arm. He is com forted, relieved, uplifted. lie is never friendless, because he is a Mason. This is one of the “sins of Masonry.” It is the friend of those who might otherwise be friendless. By a dispensation of Providence a Brother is suddenly taken from his family —death strikes down the head of the honse. The death of a child brings sor row into a household ; the death of a wife is a greater affliction ; but the death of a husband and father is a staggering, al most deadly blow, to all that art left be was This , is to hind. His place and ofSce are peculiar. He is the adviser, the care taker, the bos om friend of all. Ho ot.e who is left can fill his place. But there is another relation in which he stands to them, the breach of which is apt to leave them most helpless of all. He was the support of the family. By strenuous industry he supiplied them with all of the necessaries, and many of the luxuries of life ; but now those gifts, wh ch came so regularly, and apparently so naturally, come no longer. The mill has ceased to grind, and the feed is not forthcoming- Oh, the terrible pangs of want, both mental and physical! Oh, the anguish of making your wants known to the careless world. But theie is a Brotherhood that cares for the wid ow and the orphan of every departed Brother. And it does not dole out its gifts by measure, doing so much and no more—its gifts, like its sympathies, are measureless. The widow is relieved, the orphans are rescued from want—both because the husband and father bound to the Craft by fraternal ties, is another of the “sins of Masonry.” The last sad rite of earth—burial be performed, and the remains of a Broth er are to be committed to earth, dust to lust, ashes to ashes. We have all attend ed Masonic funerals. Generally the Church performs )ts rites first, and Ma sonry afterwards; sometimes a clergy man goes to the house of death but de murs to going farther; but Masons al ways, when requested, bur}- their dead. We have stood by an open grave, yes, and uttered the last fond fraternal words which a Brother so lovingly pronounces over the remains of a member of the Cr.aft, when not a word has been previ ously, or was to be subsequently, spoken by another. The Church was not fulfill ing its office, and if Masonay had not been true to the call of humanity and brotherhood, the body of him who was once a living man would have been bar ied like a dog—no word spoken or prayer uttered, but only the dead inhumanly thrust out of sight. When the Fraterni ty steps in find modestly performs its fu neral office, the Brethren appearing with out any insignia or distinction excepting a simple blue ribbon on the lappel of Iheir coats and a sprig of evergreen in their hands, this is still a'wther of the “sins of Masonry.” We might enumerate other sins, but it is unnecessary, for they will readily sug gest themselves to the reader's mind. Let ns turn now to those aspects of the Brotherhood that are “excruciatingly childish.” A Brother, weary with the toil of busi ness, and perhaps the mislortunes of ad versity, which lie has to endure alone, or perhaps has a wife and children to share with him—one or two, or it may be three nights in a month, goes to Lodge, Chap ter and Commandery. During this small fraction of his time, thus devoted to the Craft, he finds himself in the fellowship of Brothers and Companions—those who have assumed the same vows of fraternal regard to him that he has to them. He is at once in a charmed circle. Ho one who has not been in that circle can un derstand its magic. There is full and free expression of opinion there—not the jarring opinions of the world, but the fraternal opinions of Brethren. There is sympathy, harmony, love. As the ancients said, “the gods draw like to like, by some mysterious affiinity of souls.” What a p oture is this. Its “childishness is excruciating.” A Masonic Temple is to be dedicated to Truth, 'V^irtue and Benevolence, and the Brethren assemble to perform the solemn ceremonies, with happiness ex pressed in their countenances and indeli bly stamped on their hearts. Writhin its walls the one true and living God, of Jew and Gentile, is to be invoked, and the Holy Bible is always to be open upon its altars, as the rule of our faith and the guide of our lives. For men to meet and indulge in any ceremonies for such a cause is “excruciating childish.” Yes, faith is childish, for the Great Light savs, “whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.” But why further multiply examples ? Is it not equally childish to participai e in a Masonic fu neral, or to listen, with the teachable spirit of children, to a Masonic lecture upon the foundation principles of Broth erly -Love, Relief and Truth that underlie the Craft? But the argument, so to speak, “turns around and laughs in our faces,” and we laugh too, at the puerility of those who would have us believe that “to say nothing of the Sin of Masonry, its childishness is excruciating.”—Phila. Keystone. Decisions Of the Grand Master of Michigan on some leading questions which at times seriously afflict almost every Masonic jurisdiction. We give the full te.xt that he may be the more intelligently under stood by our readers: Question—Docs the loss of sight in one eye, tt-e other being sound, disqualify a person from receiving degrees in Mason ry ? Answer—I think the iveight of author ity upon this point is, that such a defect does not amount to a physical disqualifi cation. I shall, therefore, hold that the loss of one eye, the other being sound, does not render the petitioner physically disqualified. Question—A brother indulges, in a public place, and before the profane, in insulting and contemptuous criticism of the official conduct of the officers of his Lodge. Is he liable to Masonic disci pline? Answer—Yes. Insulting and contempt uous language, used by a Brother in public and before the profane, in regard to the official conduct of the officers of his Lodge whereby his Lodge, as well as the institution of Masonry, is brought into contempt before the world, consti tutes a Masonic offense, and should subject the offender to severe discipline. Question—A Lodge voted to give a certain sum ot money to a charitable organization, net connected witli Mason ry, to dispose of it rn its discretion. Had the Lodge the right to do so? Answer—The question asked touches the right of a Lodge to donate its funds to general charities. It involves many considerations, and the answer can only be properly understood by noting the difference between the rights and duties of a Lodge in this particular, aud the rights and duties of the individual Ma- son. The individual Mason is taught to be charitable towards all mankind, and to give in charity to such an extent as his ability will permit; and for such objects as shall commend themselves to his judgement as worthy, A Lodge, however is circumstanced so differently that it cannot act upon this principle to the same extent as the individual Broth er. It is an organisation composed of a number of members and organized for a specific purpose. Its membership is made up of Brethren holding different views in regard to who is most needy among the destitute, and what particu lar charity is most commendable. This being .=o, its financial sustenance is nec essarily limited to a narrow' compass. The funds held by It are set apart as sacred to certain purposes, and its chari ties must from the very nature ot the case, be confined to such particular ob jects as the great body of organized Ma sons agree upon. By common usage the charities of a Lodge, as such, are limited to the relief of worthy, distressed Broth ers, their widows and orphans. Beyond this it should not go, but should leave all other general charities to the humane ooiisideration of the individual Mason. A disposition of the funds of a Lodge in aid of general charities other than those above mentioned, would, in my opinion, noc only lead to much discord among the Brethren, but would also divert them from the purposes for which they are solemnly pledged. It is therefore held that a Lodge, as such, should con fine its charitablo bequests to the relief of worthy distressed Brothers, their w’idows and orphans. Persistence of Perfumes.—TheFm- press Josephine was very fond of per.-- fumes, and above all, of musk. Her dressing-room a.t Malmaison Was filled with it, in spite of N.apoleon’s frequent remonstrances. Many years have elapsed since her death, and the present owner of the Malmaison ha.s had the the walls of that dressing-room repeatedly washed and painted; but neither scrubbing, acquafortis, nor paint have been sufficient to remove the smell of the good Empress’ musk which contin ues as strong as if the bottle which con- taidedlthad been but yesterday' remov- fed. hif Ml 3, V ■I'S ‘i .Yet M m
Masonic Journal (Greensboro, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 21, 1876, edition 1
1
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