The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-01-12 00:00:00

honour the distinctions of rank in civil life which society has
introduced or permitted.
Oft are those gradations the productions of pride ; but
pride would it be in thee to struggle against, or to disavow,
those distinctions which civil society acknowledges. In our
assemblies, step behind him who is more virtuous and more
enlightened; the dignity which distinguishes thee in the
-,d remains unnoticed here. 13e not ashamed of an insigni

ficant but honest man out of the Lodge, whom thou hest a
knowledged a short time before as a brother—the order woul,
then be ashamed of thee also, and send thee back to the pro•
time theatre of the world, there to exercise thy pride. Is thy
brother in danger—haste thou to his assistance, and hesitate
not to endanger thy own life for him. Is he distressed—open
thy purse to him, and rejoice in having found an opportunity
to make so benign a use of thy gold. Thy obligation compels
thee to be benevolent to all mankind, but in particular to a
brother. Is he blinded by errors, and hastens towards a
precipice, take up the brotherly arms of rational representa-
tions and stop him; re-conduct the wavering creatures of
God to the path of virtue, and raise up the fallen. Hast thou
an animosity against a brother, on account of real or ima-
ginary offences, let not the sun set before thy reconciliation
call in an unprejudiced arbitrator, and invite him to brotherly
mediation, but never step over our threshold unless thy heart
is clear of hatred and vengeance. In vain wouldst thou at-
tempt to supplicate down into our temples the Eternal, if
they were not ornamented by the virtues of our brethren and
consecrated by their unanimity.

I.X.—DUTIES TOWARDS THE ORDER.
By having admitted thee to partake of the advantages,
which are the consequences of our alliance, thou hast re•
signed a part of thy ❑atural liberty. Fulfil with religious
strictness all those moral duties which the order prescribes
thee : follow its wise precepts, and honour those who, by the
confidence of the Brethren, have been made the guardians of
the laws and the interpreters of the universal union. Thy
will is subordinate in the Order—to time will of the law and thy
superiors. Thou wouldst not be a true Brother if thou
would:A resist this subordination, so very requisite in every
society, and nothing would remain for us then, but to banish
thee from amongst us. In particular, we have a law, the in-
violable compliance with which thou hast promised before
the face of Heaven—it is, the strictest silence concerning
our rites, ceremonies, signs, and the form of our alliance.
Do not imagine that this obligation is less sacred than that
which thou takest in civil life; thou wert free when it was
administered to thee, but it is not now at thy option to vio-
late it ; the Eternal, whom thou hast invoked to witness it,
has ratified it. Tremble at the punishments of perjury;
never couldst thou escape the gnawing reproaches of thy
own heart. Thou wouldst lose for ever the esteem and con-
fidence of a numerous society who would have an undoubted
right to declare thee to be 9, perjured and infamous being.