A Freemasons Pocket Companion by Bro Redfern Kelly. Dated May 1893.

ANCIENT CRAFT FREEMASONRY

BEFORE entering upon the practical details of the government of Masonic

Lodges, it may be well (seeing that to a great extent the present work is
intended to convey to the Freemason a knowledge of the duties connected
therewith) to give some idea of the aims and objects of our Institution,
and of the moral duties which it entails upon all members who owe to it
allegiance.

AIMS AND OBJECTS OF FREEMASONRY.

On the aims and objects of Freemasonry, alone, volumes might be written;

but, as our space is limited, we are obliged to content ourselves with as
concise a reference thereto as is possible, and in furtherance of this
view conceive that we can scarcely do better than quote a brief, but
admirably prepared, manifesto put forward upon the subject by the
Freemasons of Portugal in the year 1869. The fact of its being the
production of the representatives of foreign Masonic constitution may
perhaps all the more commend it to the careful perusal and study of the
enquiring Mason. The manifesto referred to has been translated as
follows:-

"Freemasonry is a great association of men who have made it their task to

live in perfect equality, intimately united by the bonds of mutual
confidence, mutual esteem, and friendship, under the name of brothers the
sweetest and truest appellation they could attribute to themselves and to
stimulate each other to the practice of benevolence and charity.

"Freemasonry is great in the eyes of the generous, good, and honest;

nothing to the narrow minded, the wicked, the faithless. It is sublime;
it is everything to the wise and virtuous; it is nothing to the
ambitious, the covetous, the false. It is great to the sensible man, the
sincere, and the generous, who is conscious of the infirmities of man,
and who feels the obligation of healing them.

"Freemasonry is neither a conspiracy nor a party affair; it neither

serves ambition nor deceit. It is order and truth in all things. It hates
all vices; it loves every virtue. It is the Godly voice which calleth
upon us to love and help each other. It is tranquillity in storms, a
beacon in shipwreck, and consolation in misfortune; it is, in a word, the
true union of nations.

"Freemasonry is august, it is everything to those who comprehend it; it

is nothing to those whose heart and soul are dead.

"Freemasonry is an institution which allows no doubt, no contest as to

its principles. It is the purest and simplest of all institutions. Its
principles are such as to agree best with that reason so liberally
bestowed on us by the G. A. O. T. U.

"Freemasonry is neither a religious sect nor a political party; it

embraces, however, all parties, all sects, in order to unite all its
disciples in one common brotherhood.
"Freemasonry is the touchstone for every truth. It is the torch of
reason, serving to distinguish good from evil, truth from falsehood,
courage from cowardice, and generosity from selfishness. It teaches us to
conquer the obstacles which ignorance, fanaticism, and prejudice oppose
to it.

With this brief but effective outline of the aims and objects of the
great craft of Freemasonry before us, we will now enter upon a
consideration of the many important moral duties required of every
brother who would appropriate to himself the proud title of "good and
true Freemason," and here also will I take
the liberty of quoting, this time the eloquent language of an old
authority on Freemasonry, who thus deals with the subject :-

THE MORAL DUTIES OF A MASON.

"First then," he says, "our Order instructs us in our duty to the Great
Artificer of the universe; directs us to behave ourselves as becomes
creatures to a Creator; to be satisfied with His dispensations, and
always to rely upon Him whose wisdom cannot mistake our happiness, whose
goodness cannot contradict it.

"It directs us to be peaceable subjects, to give no umbrage to the civil

powers, and never to be concerned in plots and conspiracies against the
well-being of the nation; and as political matters have sown the seeds of
discord amongst the nearest relations and most intimate friends, we are
wisely enjoined in our assemblies never to speak of them.

"It instructs us in our duty to our neighbour ; teaches us to injure him

in none of his connections, and in all our dealings with him to act with
justice and impartiality. It discourages defamation; it bids us not to
circulate any whisper of infamy, improve any hint of suspicion, or
publish any failure of conduct. It orders us to be faithful to our
trusts; to deceive not him who relieth upon us; to be above the meanness
of dissimulation; to let the words of our mouths be the thoughts of our
hearts, and whatsoever we promise religiously to perform.

It teaches inviolable secrecy; forbids us to discover our mystic rites to

the unenlightened, or to betray the confidence of a brother. It warms our
hearts with true philanthropy, with that philanthropy which directs us
never to permit a wretched fellow-creature to pass by till we have
presented him with the cup of
consolation, and have made him drink copious draughts of the heart-
reviving milk of human kindness. It makes us lovers of order; stifles
enmity, wrath, and dissension, and nourishes love, peace, friendship, and
every social virtue; it tells us to seek our happiness in the happiness
we bestow, and to love our neighbours as ourselves.

"It informs us that we are all children of one father; that man is an
infirm, short-lived creature, who passes away like a shadow; that he is
hastening to that place where human titles and distinctions are not
considered; where the trappings of pride will be taken away, and virtue
alone have the pre-eminence; and, thus instructed, we profess that merit
is the only proper distinction. We are not to vaunt ourselves upon our
riches or our honours, but to clothe ourselves with humility; to
condescend to men of low estate; to be the friend of merit in whatever
rank we find it.. We are connected with men of the most indigent
circumstances, and in lodge (though our Order deprives no man of the
honour due to his dignity or character) we rank as brethren on a level;
and out of a lodge, the most abject wretch we behold belongs to the great
fraternity of mankind; and, therefore, when it is in our power, it is our
duty to support the distressed, and patronise the neglected.

"It directs us to divest ourselves of confined and bigoted notions (the

source of so many cruel persecutions), and teaches us that humanity is
the soul of all religions. We never suffer any religious disputes in our
lodges (such disputes tend to disturb the tranquillity of the mind). and,
as Masons, we believe that in every nation he that feareth Him and
worketh righteousness, is accepted of Him. All Masons, therefore, whether
Christians, Jews, or Mohammedans, who violate not the rule of right
written by the Almighty upon the tablets of the heart, who do fear Him,
and work righteousness, we are to acknowledge as brethren; and though we
take different roads, we are not to be angry with each other on that
account. We mean all to travel to the same place; we know that the end of
our journey is the same; and we are all affectionately to hope to meet in
the lodge of perfect happiness. How lovely is an institution fraught with
sentiments like these; how agreeable must it be to Him who is seated on a
throne of everlasting mercy; to that God who is no respecter of persons.

"It instructs us likewise in our duties to ourselves; it teaches us to

set just bounds to our desires to put a curb upon our sensual appetites;
to walk uprightly.

"Our order excludes women. Not because it is unwilling we should pay a

proper regard to that lovely sex, the greatest, the most valuable gift
that Heaven has bestowed upon us; but it bids us enjoy their society in
such a manner as the laws of conscience, sobriety, and temperance permit.
It commands us for momentary gratifications not to destroy the peace of
families; nor to take away the happiness (a happiness with which grandeur
and riches are not to be compared) which those experience whose hearts
are united by love; not to profane the first and most holy institutions
of nature. To enjoy the blessings sent by divine beneficence, it tells
us, in virtue and obedience; but it bids us avoid the allurements of
intemperance, whose short hours of jollity are followed by tedious days
of pain and dejection; whose days turn to madness, and lead to diseases
and to death.

Such are the duties which our Order teaches us, and Masonry-the heavenly
genius!-seems now to address us as follows:-

"The Order I have established in every part of it shows consummate

wisdom; founded on moral and social virtue, it is supported by strength;
it is adorned by beauty, for everything is found in it that can make
society agreeable.

In the most striking manner I teach you to act with propriety in every
station of life. The tools and implements of architecture, and everything
about you, I have contrived to be most expressive symbols to convey to
you the strongest moral truths. Let your improvement be proportionate to
your instruction. Be not contented with the name only of

Invested with my ancient and Freemasons. honourable badge, be Masons

indeed. Think not that it is to be so to meet together, and to go through
the ceremonies which I have appointed; these ceremonies, in such an order
as mine, are necessary, but they are the most immaterial part of it, and
there are weightier matters which you must not omit. To be Masons,
indeed, is to put in practice the lessons of wisdom which I teach you.
With reverential gratitude, therefore, cheerfully worship the Eternal
Providence; bow down yourselves in filial and submissive obedience to the
unerring direction of the Mighty Builder; work by His perfect plans, and
your edifices shall be beautiful and everlasting.

"I command you to love your neighbour; stretch forth the hand relief to
him in necessity; if he be in danger, run to his assistance; tell him the
truth if he be deceived; if he be unjustly reproached and neglected,
comfort his soul, and soothe it to tranquillity. You cannot show your
gratitude to your Creator in a more amiable light than in your mutual
regard for each other.

"Taught as you are by me to root out bigoted notions, have charity for
the religious sentiments of all mankind; nor think the mercies of the
Father of all the families of the earth, of that Being whom the heaven of
heavens cannot contain, are confined within the narrow limits of any
particular sect or religion.

"Pride not yourselves upon your birth, it is of no consequence of what

parents any man is born, provided he be a man of merit; nor your honours
they are the objects of envy and impertinence, and must ere long be laid
in the dust; nor your riches-they cannot gratify the wants they create;
but be meek, and lowly of heart.

I reduce all conditions to a pleasing and rational equality: pride was

not made for man, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

"I am not gloomy and austere. I am a preacher of morality, but not a

gloomy and severe one; for I strive to render it lovely to you by the
charms of pleasures which leave no sting behind; by moral music,
rational joy, and harmless gaiety. I bid you not to abstain from the
pleasures of society, or innocent enjoyments; to abstain from them is to
frustrate the intentions of Providence. I enjoin you not to consecrate
your hours to solitude. Society is the true sphere of human virtue; and
no life can be pleasing to God but what is useful to man. On every
festival, in which well pleased, my sons, I see you assembled to honour
me-be happy.

Let no pensive look profane the general joy; let sorrow cease; let none
be wretched; and let pleasure and her bosom friends attend this social
board. Pleasure is a stranger to every malignant and unsocial passion,
and is formed to expand, to exhilarate, to humanize the heart. But he is
not to be met with at the table of turbulent festivity; he disclaims all
connections with indecency or excess, and declines the society of riot
roaring in the jollity of his heart. A sense of the dignity of human
nature always accompanies him, and he admits not of anything that
degrades it. Temperance and cheerfulness are his bosom friends; and at
the social board, where he never refuses his presence, these friends are
always placed on his right hand and on his left; during the time he
generally addresses himself to cheerfulness till temperance demands his
attention. On your festivals, I say, be happy; but remember now, and
always remember, you are Masons, and act in such a manner that the eyes
of the censorious, ever fixed upon you, may see nothing in your conduct
worthy of reproof. The tongue of the slanderer, always ready to revile
you, may be put to silence. Be models of virtue to mankind.
Examples profit more than precepts. Lead in-corrupt lives; do the thing
which is right; speak the truth from your hearts; slander not your
neighbour, and do no other evil unto him; and let your good actions
convince the world of the wisdom and advantages of my institution. The
unworthiness of some of those who have been initiated into my Order, but
who have not made themselves acquainted with me, and who, because I am a
friend to rational gaiety, have ignorantly thought excesses might be
indulged in, has been disgraceful to themselves and discreditable to me.

'We cordially commend the foregoing prefatory dissertation to the earnest

attention of all brethren who are really desirous of knowing what the
moral duties of Freemasonry are, as therein will be found a complete
code, so to say, of moral Masonic discipline, based upon three great
fundamental duties which all Masons are taught on their first admission
within the portals of our temple. The duty they owe to God, to their
neighbours, and to themselves.

Having briefly discussed the moral duties which every member of the
fraternity is called upon to discharge, we are now in a position to enter
upon the consideration of the more practical duties and obligations of
the brethren towards the Craft generally speaking; and in order that the
reader may be made thoroughly conversant therewith, it is necessary that
he should be instructed in the forms of government, laws, usages, and
customs, which regulate the fraternity, in whatsoever country he may
become resident, and in which he may desire to operate as a Free and
Accepted Mason.

The government of the Craft in this country forms the basis upon which
the following general questions, relating to the working of lodges, have
been formulated. The points of difference between our system and those
carried out under the English or the Scotch Grand Lodge constitutions,
vary so slightly, that they may be said to be merely technical. The
information, therefore, which is herein given to the Craft, may be
considered as generally applying, with almost equal effect, to the
brethren of either of the three British Masonic Constitutions, and may
even extend to our transatlantic brethren. With this
explanation we will now direct the attention of the reader to the general
question of :-