The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1918-01-03

4
! The gourd Of Jonah sprang up in
. night, and as quickly withcrcd. Tn
! oak grows for centuries, in grandeur
! strength, and beauty. Mafonry, bull
, the Pyramid and her handiwork /
seen in Il Gothic eathcdrals ,embody
ing the poetry and piety Of religion
Masonry has changed, perhaps i
, form, since the early days, but sh
! still lives to inculcate spirit Of rev
: erence for that which is true, good
: pure, righteous, just But in TIL
sweet perfume Of the rose, is foun,
its greatest attraction. So in th,
spirit Of Masonry, the spirit of broth
erhood, is found the secret Of power
What term could be found more ten
der 10 express the relationship exist
eut among the fraters, sons Of on,
common parentage, nesting arount
one mothers knee, Paying around ont
common hearth, voices mingling under
one roof, rs a rule develops love
like Jonathan for David" surprising
love of woman.
Our Masonic brotherhood acknowl.
edges one common father, the grea,
Deity, God, brother standing by broth
er the broad world round.
Masonic brotherhood is based upon
two other great factors. First, that
we will not injure one the other. Sec
ond, that we will, so far MS lies in our
power, help one the other We go
even farther than the letter of the
law. We cannot wrong brother in
his property, his person, his family.
The law simply says: Thou shalt not
rob, defraud, but Masonry says, He is
thy brother. He is therefore in prop
erty, person, family, as thine own.
We will not wrong him by unjust sus-
picion. We not only have the duty
that every good citizen has Of pro-
tecting a neighbor, but there is the
sacred spirit of brotherhood. Too Of
ten is forgotten another great priv
ilege of the Masonic spirit. We are
rot only to care for brothers inter-
est of property, Of person, of family,
but we are to care for his spiritual
life. We not only must not lead him
into evil but warm him against evil,
and if he persist, put out the hand and
lift the voice of loving reproof, re-
straining power of well-guidance. The
spirit of Masonry is active, is not met
by negative qualities. We are to be
active in doing all we can to be of
service and help.
The spirit Of Masonry is distinctive
ly spirit of piety. Until the out
break of the great war the spirit of
religion had very largely gone out, as
being for men. Now, and ! would
weigh every word, for along no line
of this address is the speaker more
liable to be misunderstood. The spir-
it of Masonry runs entirely counter to
the irreligious tendency, Masonry is
pious and religious. Do not misun-
derstand. Masonry is neither a
church system, nor a religion, and if
there is a man here tonight who says
Masonry is my religion, Masonry is
my substitute for religion, that man is
big mistake. However, the
spirit of Masonry is deeply religious
spirit. 1t teaches a reverence for the
Bible, the open book on every Masonic |
altar in the land; it teaches that at
the name Of Deity every head should |
bow; it warns against profane, or
trivial use of the very name. The
duty and need and power of prayer |
are inculcated from the very enter
ance of the neophite into the secret
and mysterious ceremony of initia- |
ton. Only in the church of Jesus Christ |
10 lIleTt W Ue IOuIu HlOIt SOIcIIiI
and impressive lessons as to the
future life, the glorious hope of i'm.
and the resurrection, is
taught. To you who have stood before |
the altar, in this or other lodge, these
things are old. Alas too often arc
they overlooked. To those who are
without ! welcome this opportunity Of
lifting the veil, and voicing testimony |
as tothe worth of the ancient craft |
The spirit of Masonry; obedience te
rightly constituted authority, rever |
ence for things worthy of homage |
brotherhood in the widest, truest sens
and piety before the great architect Of
the universe, the God and Father Of
our Lord and Saviour, this is the
spirit Of Masonry. Very pleasant ant
very sweet to those who possess thu
inward grace Of which the symbols |
are the outward signs.