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T H K M A S 0 N 1 C J 0 U Ji JN A L
The Silent Influence of Masonry
Copied from the Lj-nchbtirg Star by the courtesy of the
Author.
Masonry, when viewed in the more
perfect sight—the sight that radiates
from the great throne of its birth, flash
ing and oorrusoating adown the paths of
centuries—it becomes glorious. But
when its Divine origin is realized, its
sublime mission compi ebended, then does
it clasp hands with the Immutable.
Lihe the river Nile, year after year,
rushes down in its strength, enriching
the fields that it overflowed, as it follow
ed its course on down to the sea, so Ma
sonry spreads out its broad waves all
over the land as it follows its course to
eternity’s sea, enriching the world with
its wonderful truths. The Egyptians
gathered, in ignorant bliss, their harvests
of corn and the mellow voiced wine, as
the world to day, and through all the
years has felt the power of Masonry.
Whilst it is true that written history
abounds upon every page with the noble
benefactions and achievements of Mason
ry, yet is this infinitesimal when com
pared to what is and what must remain
unwritten and unknown to us until the
great scroll of the universe shall be un
rolled.
Her great power has been in her silent
influence. Oh this has shaped the desti
nies of nations, loosed the fetters of super
stition and ignorance, and lifted humani
ty to a higher, nobler field of thought and
action.
Her votaries have long been, and are,
from the greatest and best men of all
countries and ages—philosophers, poets,
sa-tesmen, emperors, kings, presidents and
thousands of yet nobler ones less known
to mortal fame. To what magnitude,
then does the silent influence of Masonry
rise before us! for these have been cradled
in her lap; have nursed at the fountain of
her w'isdom; have listened to her sweet
songs of love, her gentle admonitions, her
prayers. As well seek to measure the
influence of the mothers. The mothers!
What a world comes to us at this thought!
I have sometimes felt that, in the Hadiau
shades that lie between us and tbe eter
nal life, there is a separate abode or rest
ing-place for the mother-souls; and that
together, they become as one—a force of
the universe from whence those silent
chidings, gentle admonitions come, and
our soft sweet breathings of fond love that
seem to inspire ever and only to the
good.
To the Mason there is no resemblance
so close to this influence as he finds in the
genius and spirit of Freemasonry. She
is our mother. Her soft, sweet voice
breathes only vows of love. She chides
us, ^et with gentle hand laid softly on
our hearts. But oh,' the gentle hand
rests heaviest where we have sinned ! As
in nature, so in Masonry—the silent se
cret influences are greatest. The laws
tt-at control tbe universe are the arche
type of what Masonry is the antitype, as
applied to humanity—she works silently
and in secret. How weak—how verv
weak—do the objections that are urged
to secret orders appear in the light of
this thought. Why the mind, the con-
.scienee works in secret! All that is
highest, worthiest comes silently !
Great are the mysteries of Godliness /
’Tis a puny arm that is raised against us,
and will perish ere long. Truth is eter
nal as the heavens.
Masonry imparts the most wholesome
instruction by precept and example.
Her precepts are taken from the Bible,
her examples from the noblest and best ,
of those who have gone before. Her j essential lessons at Masonry s oomman
children may prove recreant to their! Let us briefly consider Masonry as a
tru.sts ; the responsibility will rest on | means of moral oultuie.
their own souls. The guardian of the; By relerring to the history of the con
Bible, she has protected and preserved it, strriction of the temple, we find
and handed it down unimpaired through
the shadows of eternal night! I ically. Masonry w.as instituted fo,
Nature's books are the most useful and good of tiations, prescribing no lorn ”,
' government. As soon expect the
that great central luminary of ourphj-'
that it
eonry, the great central luminary of
‘was built of stones made ready before political system, to come down from T'
cal system, to prefer the parti„.
cause of one of its many satellites as Jl
the strife and confusion of centuries.—
There is not a command that it utters, a
noble thought that it inspires, that she
does not command and teach; techiiica
points that divide the church she leaves
to the best jud ernent and con.science of
her children. As they interpret, guided
by all possible sight, they are taught to
obey ; and if a Mason belie.ve.s it his duty
to oonnect himself with a chur ch. Mason
ry teaches him to perform that dirtv.
If, unhappily, the influences of Free
masonry has failed in individual oases to
make men better, it does not follow as an
argument against the genius and spirit
of the institution.
Operative Masons will tell you that
there are many stones that may not be
worked successfully ; some are too hard
to be worth the labor; some crumble
with the touch ; others are mere petri
factions ; some have ugly fissures or veins
of base metal running through them ;
others but fossiliferous remains of a pre
historic age; and some would have puz
zled the genius of Agassiz to know what
they were. It is the part of a Mason to
know which to choose. It will hardly
be necessary for me to make the applica
tion here, except to refer to the ballot,
which is a wise prerogative in speculative
Masonry, if used with discretion.
In Masonry, there is more in our pas'-
tures than the food they furnish our
flocks ; there is more in the crystal wa
ters than the medium to quench our
thirst. They tell of Him who ‘maketh us
to lie down in green pastures,’ ‘who lead
eth us beside the still waters,’ and who
will be with us through the valley ol the
shadow of death. There is more in the
sunlight than the day it brings, that we
may go forth to our labors. ‘The heav-
eans declare the glory of God and the
firmament showeth his handiwork ; day
unto day uttereth speech an-l night unto
night showeth knowledge.' There is no
speech or language where this voice is
not heard, ‘In them hath He set a tab
ernacle for the Lord.’
What a world this would be without
mountains and the sublime inspirations
they send us ! Tbe grand old rocks and
the les.sons they teach us! And yet fheir
places could have been given to a pro
ductive soil that would have satisfied the
most ultra utilitarian. What a world
without the tints and colors and rare ex.-,
halations of flowers ! And yet are these
necessary to mere physical life? Ah!
what a world without the rich haimouies
of music ! The exquisite rhythm of rip
pling brooklets and tiny, lisping grasses,
with fairy notes from the innumerable
haunts of inset life welling up in a de
lightful melody, to be caught by the war.-,
bling songsters of the air and carried in
to the higher measures of their dulcet [
strains; then floating upon the soft- !
sighing zephyrs, to join the murmurs of
they were brought thither.’ As the tern i exalted position and espouse the caii
pie was intended as but a type of which | of one of her many nations. Rm
the True Religion was to be the antitype, | will continue to shed her beneficent ra '
we have a valuable lesson here. In Ma- j her genial influence, upon all until il
sonic terms this world is but the prepa- j shall lift to a new life and tend to '
ration room for the Grand Lodge above ; beauty and perfection that will bo
or, without metaphor, time is but given
LIS to prepare for eternity ; and the lesson
here is that that preparation must be a
perfect 'one There will be no great
purgative workshop to work souls over.
They must be prepared and fitted for tlie 1
thy of her divine mission.
The genius and spirit of true i
m.iy not be imparted in a lectu
wot"
isonry
Master's use, or they will be surely cast
aside—they must be without spot or
blemish.
Comprehending the full force of this
thought. Masonry would impress us with
the value of every moment and the im
portance of the lessons she teaches us for
its improvement; and when her own
lessons are inadequate she points us to
the Bible, wherein is found the revealed
will of God. The Bible—that, unaided
and alone, has triumphantly withstood
the attacks of every department of sci
ence, every school of metaphysics and
philosophy and the combined power of
the iconoclasts of ali ages, seeking its
overthrow—they have failed. Seeking
errors, a single fault they have not found;
seeking something better, they have
confessed it impossible. The heathen
worship the crocodile ; they feed it with
tender morsels, their own infants ; but
the practice is not universal—it is con
fined to localities.
A single life is a thing be---ond price.
'Tis a terrible thought to crush a soul !
What, th.iii, is the estimate cost of war in
human lives ? Seven billions! More
than five times the world’s population to
day ! Seven billions have gone down on
the battle field. Add to this vast num
ber those who have perished in conse
quence—the women, the children, the
aged ; and to their grief the suffering of
those to whom death would not merci
fully send her hand, and what a wail goes
up from humanity !
There are many things which, from
very age, appear respectable to us.—
Things become familiar to us, and we
accept them as a matter of course. We
have become so familiar with war ttfat
we accept it as inevitable. As the tem
ple was intended to be a type of the true
religion, so was Masonic law intended to
be a type of true government. Masonic
law was not given as a standard of the
divine law of salvation. This was left to
One who.se wisdom was beyond that be
stowed upon King Solomon. Hence, Ma
sonry is not a religion ; but Masonry is a
system of ethics and jurisprudence, the
wisest and the best the world has ever
known. It is the application of divine
law to civil government.
Do not I pray you, misconstrue my
Words and rush to a false conclusion.
Masonry has never had—will never have
'lire. There
are some tacts, however, that -ue '
reach of all, hirst, that Masonry teach
es morality, taking the Bible as
its rule
the winds and the deep, rich tones of the I —a place in what is understood as na-
boundless sea I
How dreary would be the twilight and
the sombre shadows of evening without
glorious cloud pictures! How dismal
the night without moon or stars ! And
yet all these are not essential to physical
life. Oh, in such a world (without them)
the soul would withdraw into itself and
tional politics. Such an alliance would
be as foreign to her mission, as destruct
ive to her influence with government, as
an espousal of any one of the ma ny re-
and guide in faith and practice;
that Masonry teaches imiversal Brotlier.
hood of manr-iiid ; third, that, notwifii.
standing it is a lamentable fact that all
other societies were the worshippers of
the one true God, the followers of Christ
have waged terrible wars against tach
other, as siioli, there is not in the histotv
of the world an instance of a Masonic
war—Mason against mason, or Masonic
violence of any kind. True to her trust
her’s has been the Temple of Peace- her
banners have remained white, her hands
unstained with blood.
That the different sects of the Christ
ian world have engaged in deadly strife
with each other does not argue against
Christianity. Oh, no ! Do not place
such a construction on my words. But
it does argue against those who have had
the Christian religion in keeping. It was
the most important trust that God ever
gave to man, and it were 'octtm'Urscm
who received it that they had never been
born.
Masonry numbers to-day more than a
million votaries, representing the best
classes of all the civilized nations of the
world; that with these are already em
braced many of those oocupyingthehigh-
est official positions of all governments,
and that this number is being rapidly
augmented and will continue to increase
until every crowned head, every prince,
every minister, every president and cab
inet, shall feel and acknowledge her se
cret, silent influence and power
And then as Masonry was the means
throngh which liunaanity was prepared
for the advent of Him who-spakepeace
to the soul—the peace that passeth un
derstanding—so will it have becomethe
means through which He will speak
peace to nations.
“Peace! to tlie nations, Peace!” Ills voice
sliall speak.
And lo! eiiligliteiied Cliristciidom sliiill hear
And fall down at Ilis feet and pi'aise His
name!
Then kinijs shall feel their crowns securely
set,
And fear no longer to he generous;
And peoples, in their own dear rights secure,
tMll render unto ('lesar Ciesars own.
And so, dispensing justice, eiicl' to each—
From kings to jieoples, peoples iiiito kings—
Aye, kings to kings, dear peace at lust shall
reign!
E’en as with softened, nielloiv rays the sun
Eiglits lip tlie Orient when iiioniiiigcomes,
So will tlie Sun of Peace
Liglit tile horizon of our coming nioii!,
T.ifting the veil of sorrow from o ir hearts.
Touching to songs of joy tlie ling.-riiig signs,
Tlien rise to liaihe tlie world in happiness,
7'ill man shall join llie imiversal cliorus
Of all things.
[Extract from Voice of Masoniy-
t had
r^A Hartford dentisl has jusi
ligious dogmas of the churches would be j the strange job of fixtracting a tooth fro®
suicidal to her moral influence. Moral- a boy's nostril. It wa.s driven an inch
ly, Masonry was instituted for the good
of all people, teaching no creeds; Polit-
and a half into his nose by a fall fro®*
carriage.
TJ-
‘U !
> v/vui-riim.'u man
il Ji'iuivtj muii- J ^eiiucnitin tuon xuniiu iiits iibui' J_/tnrvirre,