WE will speak of brotherly love in this lecture in that degree which solely appertains to Masons. The necessity there is for the exertion of brotherly regard among Masons in the lodge is obvious to every one; peace, regularity, and decorum are indispensible duties there; all resentment and remembrance of injuries should be forgotten, and that cordiality ought to be warm among us which brings with it cheerfulness and rejoicing. The true worshippers of the Deity, men who held just notions of the principles of nature in the times of barbarous ignorance, durst not publicly practice the one, or promulgate the other; but happy is our estate in this lettered age and this land of liberty: we profess our sentiments with freedom, and without fear; we exercise our religious principles under a full toleration; and, as social beings, we assemble in the lodge, to enjoy the pleasures of friendship, and the breathings of true benevolence.
After the business of the lodge is dispatched, we are assembled to open out the cheerfulness of our hearts without guile; for there are no tale-bearers, censors, or revilers among us:* our lodge is sacred to silence, hence we may say, figuratively, "It is situate in the secret places, where the cock holds not his watch, where the voice of wailing reaches not, where brawling, as the intemperate wrath of women, cannot be heard."
(* Appendix, O.)
Without suspicion of being betrayed in our words, or ensnared in the openness of our dealings, our mirth here is undisguised, is governed by prudence, tempered with love, and clothed in charity ; thus it stands void of offence; no malicious mind warps innocent expressions to wicked constructions, or interprets unmeaning jests into sarcasms or satires; but as every sentiment flows full of benevolence, so every ear here is attuned to the strain, in harmonious concord, and tastes the pleasures of festivity so pure that they bear our reflections in the morning, without remorse.
Peace, regularity, and decorum, which we observed were indispensable duties here, are not the offspring of control, or the issue of authority, but a voluntary service which every man brings to the lodge.
There are seasons, indeed, in which authority is properly exercised; man is frail; the most prudent may sometimes deviate. It was a maxim of the ancient philosophers, "that to err is human;" - therefore in the lodge there ought to be a constant governor, who should restrain the improprieties which may creep in among us by any brother coming here after an intemperance in liquor.
Another degree of brotherly love which should prevail here is, to hear the petitions of every member of this society with tenderness and attention. Where there is at any time a brother of our community sick of in distress, the case of his calamities should come here represented by a brother who will neither deceive us, nor hold back any part of his merits; and the lodge must testify all due regard, by receiving the petition patiently, and giving relief according to the deserts.
The most material part of that brotherly love which should subsist among Masons is that of speaking well of each other to the world; more especially it is expected of every member of this fraternity that he should not traduce his brother. Calumny and slander are detestable crimes against society. Nothing can be viler than to traduce a man behind his back: it is like the villany of an assassin, who has not virtue enough to give his adversary the means of self-defense, but, lurking in darkness, stabs him whilst he is unarmed, and unsuspicous of an enemy. Of this crime, Shakspear has given a just description: -
"Who steals my purse steals trash;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and may be slave to thousands;
But he who pilfers from me my good name,
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
But makes me poor indeed."
Calumny has this direful consequence, that it carries with it not a momentary effect only, but endures for time uncounted. The wickedness of the world is such that it is greedy of scandal; and when once the voice of defamation has uttered its poison, like a pestilence it smites and contaminates; it spreads jealousies in families, division and wrath am6ng friends, urges fathers against children, and brother against brother. When once the pernicious tale gets birth, it cannot be recalled; and thence the sinner's penitence is not capable of expiation; for the evil consequences may lay dormant in the womb of futurity, and become an entail of sorrow on the third and fourth generation of him that is injured. What malice and mischief, what infernal disposition, must actuate the mind which is capable of defaming the innocent! There is no crime of which such a wretch might not be the perpetrator; against such a villain there is no armor for defense; he assaults the naked and unsuspicious, and, like the contagion of some horrid disease, he smites whilst the victim sleeps. Justice is disarmed against such a sinner, as concealment is his safeguard, and only the eye of heaven discovers his iniquity.
It is not only expected of Masons that they should, with a conscientious soul, refrain from evil speaking, but also that they should speak well of each other.
To give a man his just and due character is so easy a duty that it is impossible for a benevolent mind to avoid it; it is a degree of common justice which honesty itself prompts one to. It is not enough that we refrain from slander; but it is required of Masons that they should speak graciously and with affection, withholding nothing that can be uttered to a brother's praise or good name with truth. What a pleasure does it give the heart feeling benevolent dispositions, to give praises where due! There is a selfish joy in good speaking, as self-approbation succeeds it. Besides, the breast of such a man feels enlarged whilst he utters the praise due to his neighbor; and he experiences all the finest sensations of love whilst he moves others to feel for the same object.
The neutral disposition - frigid and reserved - neither tends to good or evil; but the man tasting brotherliy love is warm to commend. It is an easy and cheap means of bestowing good gifts and working good works; for, by a just praise to industry, you recommend the industrious man to those to whom he might never be known, and thereby enlarge his credit and his trade. By a just commendation of merit, you may open the paths of advancement through those whose power might never have been petitioned. By a proper praise of genius and art, you may arouse the attention of those patrons to whom the greatest deservings might have remained a secret. It is a degree of justice which every man has a right to from his brother, that his virtues be not concealed.
To shroud the imperfections of our friend, and cloak his infirmities, is Christian4ike and charitable, consequently, befitting a Mason. Even the truth should not be told at all times; for, where we cannot approve, we should pity in silence. What pleasure or profit can there arise by exposing the secrets of a brother? To exhort him is virtuous; to revile him is inhuman; and to set him out as an object of ridicule, is infernal.
From hence we must necessarily determine
that the duty of a good man leads to work out the works of benevolence;
and his heart is touched; with joy whilst he acts within these
precepts. Let us, therefore, be steadfast and immoveable in our
ordinances, that we be proved to have a tongue of good report.
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