Newspapers / Masonic Journal (Greensboro, N.C.) / May 26, 1876, edition 1 / Page 1
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l/[j f ci ^ Y:i» I *T7i m %MSsi ' sc»’ VOL. 1. GLEENSBORO, C., FRIDAY, MAY 26, 1876 NO 37. Dispensing with Masonry. It is told of the jiotorious Mrs. Parting ton that she once said : “Nothing does me so much good as to go to Church and hear a populous minister dispense with the Gospel,” Doubtless there are some clergymen, who do not so mush dispense gospel in their polite sermons as they dispense with it. Mrs. Partington, then, was not alto gether WTong in her use of words. We have in past times known a few Lodges, the members of which seemed to think them festive clubs, organized for purposes of eating and drinking, and where the monthly supper and the annu al dinner were paramount objects of con sideration, This was once a very com mon fault. Happily we now see but little of it. Indeed we seem to be get ting on the other extreme, and are begin ning to cultivate too little the social sen timent and habit, which if not carried to excess, are healthy elements of all human associations, and more especially of Free masonry. But there are other ways in which a Lodge may dispense with Masonry. It may do so by conducting its work and its business withor.t any reference to the principles and objects of the great system ■of ivhich it forms an integral part. The great objects of Freemasonry are the brotherhood of man, the fatherhood of God, and the elevation of humanity. Its legends, its symbols, its allegorical ceremonies, are all directed to the incul cation of these great designs. A Lodge meeting merely to transact its secular business, such as the collec tion of dues, the appropriation of money to purchase new clothing and decorations, or perforcfiing its work listlessly, dispen ses with Masonry, Such a Lodge may grow rich ; it may increase in members; it may have a constant influx of candidates; but it its members waste their energies in the ef fort to increase its numbers and a-ugmsmt its trea.-iury, neglecting altogett-er the cultivation of a true Masonic spirit and the elevation of the Masonic character by an enlargement of Masonic knowledge then, like the scribes of old, they “pay tithe of mint and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law.” Such a Lodge dispenses with Masonry. There may be a Lodge where the work of initiation is badly done, where the ceremonies are abbreviated, and the lec tures abridged or omitted, because they are wearisome; where many members retire as soon as the ceremonies begin, i-jijjd those who remain seem to know noth -'ing 9i.the true soul and spirit of the cer- ,emonies. .Such a Lodge disj-euses with Masonry. There.may be a Lodge -whose mem'bers are Masons only in name; who.do not ■suppose that there ,jS anything more in Speculatiye Masonry than there is in an ili^urance company;; who letain their membership because they think it politic to belong to so large and powerful an as.so- ciation, whose protection they might need in the hour of danger or distress. Such a Lodge dispenses wdth Masonry. Finally there may be a Lodge which has existed for many years, but which at the end of each year, has found no record on its minutes of any great deed accom plished by which its members have been made better, and wiser, and happier; which for all that it has done toward the elevation of the brotherhood, might as well have not existed at all. Such a Lodge dispenses with Masonry. Freemasonry is not a selfish association whose Lodges are mere clubs organized for the gratification of the personal feel ings of their members. It is a fraternity founded on the great principle of human brotherhood, teaching man to love his fellow man, to strengthen him in his weakness, to aid him in his necessity, to elevate him by education, and with him to cultivate the religious dogmas of a belief in the Grand Architect of the uni verse, and in the ■'mmortality of the soul. Every Mason should know this. He should be taught to respect and even to venerate hi.s institution, for the elevated objects in w'hioh it is engaged. It is the duty of the Lodge to teach these lessons. We do not expect every Lodge to be as the Germans have sometimes called them, “Academies,” We do not suppose that they can become learned. But we do believe that it is possible to make them le.=s ignorant. By appropriate lectures from time to time, by the discussion of questions eon nected with the history and the philoso- phy of Speculative Masonry—by the possession of a Masonic library, which each member would be expected to use, and by the inculcation of the duty of reading—our Masons need not become pedants, but they may avoid the eotidi- tion of ignoramuses. The Lodge which shall cultivate this spirit of inquiry, will soon interest its members in the study of our scie'nce ; and each year will find the Lodge, if not larger in numbers, more united in its harmony, and more elevated in its char acter simply because such a Lodge would dispense Masonry and not dispense with it.— Voice ■of Masonry Dom Pedko and the Monkeys.—The Emperor Dom Pedro visited the Bmith sonian Institution, and while gazing in tently at a large case of monkeys of all sorts and sizes, remarked that they re minded him more of Brazil than anv- thing he had seen in this country. To this a little, diminutive, dried up, dark- skinned bystander made bold to inquii-e. “ ’Spose you got plenty of them in Bra zil?” To which the Dom instantly an swered. “Yes, a ‘wilderness of monkeys plenty; and I see you’ve got a few i-n this country.” The whole party laughed; but perhaps the Dom didn’t mean anything, and perhaps he did. The little man said no more, ’cause the big Dom looks, if he got riled, as if .he might strike from the shoulder. Time and Place. One of the pithy saying.9 of Solomon is to this effect; “To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose.” Evidently it was in the thought of the great king that there was a fitness of time and place for all the concerns of life. If Solomon had intended to speak a woid of caution to the Craft he could hardly have uttered a more wholesome reminder than the sentence above quoted. And its sig nificance still abides. There is too much promiscuous talk about Masonry, In the horse oar and on the street in shop and store and office, an unguarded speech is often carried on res- peciing the doings of Lodge, Chapter or Commandery, while important questions of Masonic prooeedure are discussed with as much freedom as though the brethren were gathered within the tyled precincts of the Lodge room. Thus everything that is done or proposed to t>e done, is canvassed in the presence of outsiders; manner of work, the names of candidates the disagreements and differences that sometimes affect the Fraternity which, above all things, are’to be held sacred as family secrets,—these things are tossed about ill an unrestrained speech when Brethren meet each other in public pla ces. And so, not choosing the right time and place for their discourse. Ma sons of this sort unwittingly bring dis credit on the Institution they would serve, and furnish to its enemies the most effective weapons that can be used against it. A reform is needed in this direction ; there should be less street talk among Masons, more prudence in selecting the proper occasions for discussing the affairs of the Institution, and a stricter circum spection marked out by the very nature of a society such a.s ours. Silence and secresy are virtues to be scrupulously observed by the true Mason.—Freema son's Repository. London to Edinburgli, or vice versa, a distance of close on four hundred miles, in a little over nine hours I Breakfast in London, and dinner in Edinburgh the same day ! How the bare idea of such a fact being possible would astound our easy-going forefathers. The Virgilian hero’s exclamation, "Obstupwi, steterunt- que comee^ would not be half strong enough to express their wonderment on being told this was an every day fact. Yet, thanks to the energy and enterprise of the directors of the Great Northern Railway, this journey is daily accom plished, au.l when, during the season that has just commenced, any of our London friends are anxious for a change from the dm and smoke of London to the pure air of Scotland, they have but to charter a hansom to reach King’s Cross at the ap pointed time and in less than ten hours they will be stretching their legs under the comfortable mahogony of some wor thy host in “Auld Pueekie.”—London Freemasorts Chronicle, About 1860, one D. 0. was made a Mason in Mississippi. During the war he moved to Tennessee, where he was expelled in 1860. In 1873 his mother lodge (not having heard of his expulsion J wrote to him for his dues, which he paid promptly-and got a dimit. For four years he has lived here in Missouri, and won the esteem of his fellow citizens ; now, can our Lodge here receive hi.s petition on the strength of his dimit, ignoring the expulsion in Tennessee, of which we have never been officially no tified? In answering this general question, we will state that the expulsion by the Lodge in Tennessee is good, as against all other Lodges, his own included, and the party must have willfully withheld from his lodge the fact of his expulsion when he got his dimit, else they could not have granted it. During the war and the interruption of mails and linesof transit, communications of all kinds were neces sarily very uncertain, hence his mother lodge may never have had an opportuni ty of learning of the action of the Ten nessee lodge, and was, therefore, excus able in granting the dimit. But, taking it for granted that she did know of the expulsion, and in defiance of it, issued the dimit it is worth nothing, for she could not legally grant a dimit to any expelled Mason without the case first being adjudicated and the Grand Lodge of Mississippi is not the kind of a body to ignore the legitimate and legal action of a subordinate to her sister jurisdiction, without a full and fraternal understand ing. This not having taken place, Mr, D. C, is still an expelled Mason, and car. only be restored to good standing by the lodge which expelled him, and after such a vote, he falls back into membership in his own lodge, which may then dimit or try him, as it sees proper. To accept his petition with this fraud ulently obtained dimit, would be a double offense, one against the Craft at large, and another against the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, for doing which you would most certainly lose your charter, if the fact became known to the Grand Master of Missouri.—Geo. Frank Gouley in Voice-of Masonry. Miss Jennie Patterson, wlio made the tour of the South a few y.-ars ago, giving her select readings so successfully, was married in St. Louis recently to Dr. Kalpli Walsh, of IPash- ington City. The ceremony was performed at the church of the Holy Communion, and the Times speaks of it thus ; “Miss Pattereon had recently returned from an extended tour in the South and Soutliwest giving- in each city a selection of her popular readings in which she attained a .success of no ordinary degree. Her betrothal having been announced ainong her numerous friends. Gov ernor and i/rs, Hardin teu.lered the use and hospitalities of the Executive'mansion for the wedding ceremony, liut the bride gracefully declined the compliment ns it Would liave de barred many of her Gt. Louis friends from be ing present. The nuptials were conducted in a simple but imp.essive manner and the churcli was Crow ded withfashionabecompany of ladies and gentlemen.” ,--4, , [ i.' t S:? Alt m ill i
Masonic Journal (Greensboro, N.C.)
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May 26, 1876, edition 1
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