Masonic.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 992, 6 March 1891, Page 7

Masonic.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. V. A. —You are in error. Vide, page 41. FAVOURS RECEIVED. London Freemason, South Australian Freemasan, the Kneph and Aurora Escozzesa. TRIMMING. The London Freemason is gradually taking a more favourable view of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand. Us remarks are now of a more temperate kind, and we may expect a complete change in its tune before long. We predicted this last year. THE WEAK MAN IN MASONRY. The weak man in all organisations is, first, the fool, the empty-headed fellow who stares at you in blank amazement when you speak of the intellectual part of the Craft. True, he should never be initiated ; but there is as yet no law compelling every fool to carry a sign, or to have him marked and stamped as they do cattle on the western ranohea. The other weak man in Masonry is the supercilious ; he who sueers at the Craft, at the painstaking officers and members, and looks upon our Order as he does upon his ward association, or his fishing or his bowling club, and tolls you be belongs to eighteen orders, all just like Masonry—and ho is very anxious to ‘ get through ;’ that is, take all the degrees in Masonry at once, and would muoh rather begin on the top, instead of working upward. This fellow usually wears the biggest kind of emblem, and boasts of the number of degrees he has taken, but knows nothing of any of them. Another weak man in Masonry is the ambitious soul, who, when he has signed the by-laws, * makes up hia mind ’ to be the Master of the lodge. Now, this is a laud, able ambition, but it should always be deeply impressed upon the would-be candidate that, like all other offioe3 of honour or emoluments, it takes votes to be elected, and every member has a right to cast a vote ; but this weak man in Masonry is not satisfied to wait, or to study the best interests of the lodge, or the feelings of hi 3 brethren. He simply wants to be Master, and if he is not elected he becomes angry and leaves the lodge in a huff, and with a bitter feeling of disappointed ambition, and a still more bitter expression against his lodge and against Masonry and Masons. It cannot be denied that there are other weak men in Masonry, The profane, who does violence to every instinct of a gentleman, who swears in the lodge or out of it; and then there is the borrower, he who borrows, on the ‘square’ and forgets his obligation the next day. In fact, every man who is a weak man in society is a weak man in Masonry, and as such should be tabooed, should never be allowed to enter our sacred portals. It behoves the brethren who are selected as a committee of investigation to be particularly careful to allow none to p»ss save those who have been thoroughly scrutinised and found worthy. Such only Bhould receive the consent of the brethren to be with them and one of them. WHO COMES HERE? A sentinel posted at the forefront of an army is a trusted soldier and servant. Upon his vigilance depends the welfare of all. If there is an enemy at hand he should be the first to discover it, and sound the alarm, His ringing inquiry, ‘Who goes there V as it vibrates on the air, is a challenge to friend or foe to declare himself. If be proves to be a friend, with the countersign, he is passed through the lines and enters the camp ; if he has not the password, he is arrested and reported at headquarters. The Masonic fraternity has its sentries. No army inthe field is better sentinelled than it. No enemy should evei penetrate its camp, and no unqualified seeker after light should be permitted to onter its mystic oblong. The enemies of the Craft belong to one or other of two classes—impostors on the one band, and unqualified applicants for initiation on the other. Both of these classes will be considered. But first let us refer to the fraternity itself. Every lodge is a Masonic camp. Now stationary, originally it was movable, because the Craft was of operative origin, and we were primitively a race of master-builders ; the lodge for centuries was raised by the side of temple after temple, and cathedral after cathedral, iu turn. When one work was completed the lodge was removed to another field of labour. Whenever the Grand Architect was to be honoured by the erection of a temple to His glory, there His subordinate architects congregated, to raise their minster with their deft handiwork. In and around this Masonic camp numerous sentinels are stationed. The Tyler with a drawn sword guards the outer door, to kesp off cowards and eavesdroppers. Examining committees, with the Tyler, closely scrutinise, test and expoßa the pretensions of imposters. Of impostors pure and simple there are almost nene. The impostor with whom the Craft ha 3 to deal with in our day are those who are Masons but have fallen from their first estate —suspended Masons, expelled Masons, Masons who, having lost Masonic character, now seek to prey upon the fraternity, and unworthily live upon its charity. These constitute one class of our enemies. But we can readily guard against these. They are net the more dangerous class, and they are ail recuited from our enemies of the other and larger class. The worst foe that Freemasonry has to fear is the disqualified applicant for initiation and membership who has been accepted by the fraternity. In him an enemy is introduced into the heart of ouy camp. Without

due inquiry into his character he has been made oue of us. If at night, after leaving the lodge, he ‘paints the town red,’ it is a Freemason that does it. If he borrows from his fellows and pays not again, it is the act of a Craftsman. If ha is a libertine, or a drunkard, his conduct is attributed to, and charged up against, the craft. The remedy for all this lies in boldly challenging every applicant for initiation, and authoritatively asking, ‘ Who comes here ?’ Seemingly a simple question, in reality it is most complex We shall seek to properly unfold a part of its meaning, for the information of the craft, and especially of committees of inquiry. First, the lodge as a unit, says, ‘ Who comes here ?’ As soon as a petition for initiation is read, the applicant is on trial. If it choose, the lodge may vote not to receive it. The deficiency of character of the applicant may be so clearly known that his petition may not be entertained. But we will suppose it is received and referred to the nsual committee. Now comes the time for anxious and critical inquiry. Now the sentinels are at their post, and it is to be seen whether they will faithfully perform their duty, or thoughtlessly and inconsiderately admit an enemy into the camp. It is now for them to deligeotly inquire, ‘ Who comes here.’

First, the applicant should bo seeo, and his petition carefully read to him. He might have signed it hastily, and without regarding its terms. These should be made plain to him. Next ho should be asked :—ls the address named your sole place of residence ? If so, how long havo you resided there ? Are you married or single? Does your family live with you ? To whom would you refer as having known you for a series of years? Are you physically sound in all your members ?

Having armed themselves with this information derived from the candidate, the committee is prepared to pursue its inquiries in other directions, in order to fully deter* mine, and to be able to report to the lodge, whether the applicant is physically, morally, and socially qualified to be initiated and received into the Craft.

To ascertain these facts a variety of persons Bhould be seea and interrogated—the persons to whom the applicant has himself referred, his recommenders on the petition, some of his neighbours, and some of thos9 pursuing the same vocation as himself. By this means those familiar with his habits of life, hia moral character, and standing in society, will have been interviewed, and the committee will have done all iu its power to ascertain the truth in the matters referred to it, and be able to make an intelligent report to the lodge, either in favour of, or against, the prayer of the petition beiDg granted.

‘ Who comes here ?’ Is it a man who in reality lives at a distance, where he may ba so unfavourably known that be cannot gain initiation into his home lodge, and who, intentionally or otherwise, misrepresents hia true residence,, possibly to accomplish hia purpose away from home ? Expose him, and either refuse to receive his petition, or first inquire of the lodge of his place of residence whether any Masonic objection exists to his being made a Mason in yonr lodge, One or the other must be done. * Who comes here ?' It is a dismembered applicant, a torso of a man, one physically disqualified, who can in no trae sense symbolise, by his body, that perfect man, morally and intellectually, which, knowingly, the Craft only includes in its membership ? If he be such a one, reject him at the threshold. \\ ho comes here ? Is it a faithless man, who does not believe in Deity, an agnostic, a freethinker, one who despises Revelation and denies his Maker? The masonic fraternity is not the place for him. We worship the Grand Architect of the Universe, and His revealed Law is our Great Light, a rule to our faith and a guide to our actions. The atheist cannot be admitted amongst us ; reject him. Who comes here? Is it one whom even the world does not respect, who defrauds his tellow-men, whose word is worthless, whose conduct, in some or all of the relations of life, brings reproach even on the good name of man? By all means exclude him. If he is received, it wiil only be to ba expelled. Save the craft the recourse to this means of purifying itself from material that never should have been approved. Who comes here 1 Is it an applicant who signs his petition with his mark, in place of writing his name ? Clearly he is illiterate. It is true that kings once with pride affixed only their signs to royal documents, bat that was before the schoolmaster was abroad in the world. Now illiteracy is inexcusable. Now reading and writing are even commonly regarded as necessaries of intellectual fife, and no petition for Freemasonry ought to be entertained from any applicant who cannot write his own name.

Who comes here ? Is it a man of good re* port, honest, faithful, truthful, well spoken of by all - not perfect of bourse, since nono of us are perfect, but a clean, upright character, a man who will be a credit to the fraternity ? Accept such a one as a brother beloved, as already a Mason in heart. Bind him to you with hoops of steel. Welcome him into your oblong with open arms. Let true masonic light dawn upon him, for he is worthy and well qualified ; and only each applicants should be favourably recommended by committees of inquiry, or approved by lodges. (per press association.) Christchurch, February 28. The following is a list of the visits of the New Zealand Grand Lodge during April : 6th, Waikouaiti; 7th, Dunedin; Bth, Balclutha; 9th, Tapanui ; 10th, quarterly communication, Invercargill; Ilth, Riverton ; 13th, Bluff; 14th, Wyndham ; 15th, Gore ; 16th, Dunedin ; 17tb, Palmerston. At the quarterly communication the chief business will be receiving nominations for the elective Grand Lodge officers, including Most Worshipful the Grand Master, It was originally proposed to have held the quarterly communication at Invercargill in March, but it waa found that it would not allow sufficient "time to give the necessary notices to all the lodges, It wae, therefore, postponed to April 10.