Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1894-04-19

room, ministers their confessional,
] must have sealed lips about some of
my offices, else you lose respect for
me. The world hates babbers, tattlcrs
and brainless loqIlacity.
Aye free OF han your story tell.
When WI u baslVc cruny
but stlll Keep something TO yourspl
We scarcely tell TO ony
Were we to disclose secrets the
curious inquisitive individual whose
super scnsitiveness Is shocked to
think Free Mason has KNOWLEDGE
OF something concealed from hin, his
disappointment and surprise might
he voiced by lloratio's reply to Ham
let.
The ghost had just visited Hamlet.
while Horatio and Nunccllus had re-
tired II short distance, when Hamlet
rcturn ned to them they said:
What news my LordY
=. .Gpod My Lord. tell It.
No; lOull reveal IT,
=, Not, my Lard, by Heaven.
How say you. then;
I'm, y M@4i9 heart ,ail q man once think ~
asa Ny, ny Heaven, my Lord,
There Is nrcr villain In AN DpnmnrL
Hut he's an urrnnt knnyp
There needs no ghost, my Lord
To rome from the gra We to tcllus Ills"
Permit me TO give you the character
oil most OF our secrets. Masons arc
taught 10 be transformations. nnt
Doastful or vain glorious. Taught to
do good quietly and tell not, to give
cheerfully and up to the measure Of
their ability, and not let their left
hands know what their RIGHT hands
doeth, to reprimand an crring brother
so dclicately and kindly that he is en-
couragcd, not wounded, to admonlsb
advise, bcfricnd, to bear forbcar and
forgive, and all the time seem IA ~,
ceivc favors rather than seem to he
stow them. These and such MS those
are the secrets of free Masons. And
except "fcw archaic ceremonial
forms, and their tokens Of recognition
and fellowship" these are the only
secrets OF the craft. Our constltu-
tions, laws and cdicts are AS omen In
the inspection of the world as the
statutes Of Kansas.
Ours Is Il moral society. II Minis I'm
teach and next to the church IL IL tho
ablcst and best incubator os wnll a.
eNempliiier of ethics in our dav.
Masons are not cyclists, not AL
TRUSTS, not malcvolent but beneyo-
lent, not selfish but philnnthropic.
Every degree Of Masonry with which
am acquainted is based on some in
cidrnt in the Bible. and is made tho
beautiful and fOroible exemplifier and
lesson.
Masonry inculcats sobriety. tenn.
perance, chastity, justice and truth:
II teaches charity, fraternity and
philanthropy, 1t teaches that God is,
that he is the grand architect OF the |
universe, that we are his children and
that he is the rewarder of them thar
seek him.
Therein, It seems to me, lies the bx-
PLANTATION Of the two unvaryIng nj
tributes OF Free Masonry-its vitality
and cohesive power. That IL has
lived for centuries mighty force that
Is more potent today than ever-no
one will deny. All classes of men
the learned and the ignorant. the
general and the private, the aristocrat
ana the pleblan, the rich and the poor
are attracted and charmed. In all
ages and in all climes men who have
formulated philosophy, have estab-
llshed schools Of art, or literature.
have managed the offices of vast cor
poralions, Of State and empires, men
Of independent thought, wide culture.
and brilliant intellect have fraternized
with men of low estate, with men
whose sole wealth was in their hands
ana hearts, whose sole culture was OBJ
tanned while working at the bench,
hshihg IN the sea, or handling tho
plow' They meet in the same room,
ENJOY the same privileges, pray at
The same altar. 1t wipes out all caste
and social distinctions, and men stand
III the lodge room on true manhood
and personal worth, stripped of every
accessory.
The church has nothing like IL, for
ON Fifth Avenue the humble and OBJ
seure find no warm welcome in the
temple OF wealth. Whether the nipht
be warm or cold, dark or light, Ma
sonry is strong enough to draw the
from his club, the deyotee
Of pleasure from the ball room, the
scholar from his books, the artist from
his easel, the merchant from his
counting room, the farmera aud laborer
from his pleasant home.
Explain this power for me if YOU
can. ] know OF no othor explanation
than this-it is the ethical teacher,
the impressor OF principles which