THE BUILDER February 1915

BY BROTHER R. BALDWIN, P. PROV. G. W.
GRAND LODGE OF NEW ZEALAND)

[This brief Quarterly Address deals so admirably with a matter so
important that it is here reproduced, lest in our zeal for numbers
we forget what should always be kept in mind; and thereby bring
injury to the Order. A better statement of it could hardly be
made.--The Editor]

WORSHIPFUL BRETHREN AND BRETHREN-- The subject which I have chosen
for the brief address this evening is that important question of
"Soliciting." I am well aware that brethren of high rank are of the
opinion that a distinction should be drawn between soliciting and
suggestion. This I have no doubt is drawn from reading a small work
written by Brother J.S. Lawrence, and distributed by the Provincial
Grand Master to the Secretaries of Lodges in the Provincial
District of Canterbury, in which the writer states as follows:

"A candidate states at the outset that he has not been subject to
the improper solicitation of his friends. Now, it is a well-worn
dictum, frequently quoted even by those who are not of us, that no
man must be asked to become a Mason. This is a counsel of
perfection. The reference to improper solicitation certainly infers
a solicitation that is not improper. A solicitation that puts
pressure on an unwilling man; that suggested the extension of a
business connection; that represented the Order as a benefit
society, or as a convivial club, would obviously be improper and
need not be referred to.

"But, is it wrong for some experienced brother to suggest to a
friend, who is in every way eligible, that his admission to the
Order might open up for him an increased or even a new sphere of
usefulness; that the avenues of knowledge would be increased; that
the friendship he already enjoyed with many Masons would be
infinitely more enjoyable, strengthened by the Masonic tie? The
applicant has talked of the Order with his Masonic friends, and
with whom originated the conversation that has led to the
application it is not worth while enquiring. Moreover, might not a
distinction be drawn between a solicitation and a suggestion?"

Personally, I consider it dangerous to suggest, because a brother
is experienced, that he should be allowed to suggest or solicit his
friends to become members of the Order.

Some time ago a well known and expert brother wrote a leaflet which
was printed and distributed by the United Board of Enquiry, and in
some cases read in Lodges in this district, in which he states:
"The desire for membership should in every case emanate from the
candidate and never by suggestion from a Mason. The candidate is
called upon to declare that he has not been influenced by
solicitation. It therefore behooves us to be extremely careful that
no man shall ever be placed in the position of having to give a
false answer to the first question put to him in a Masonic Lodge."
Another well-known writer says: "Freemasonry requires that every
applicant should seek the Craft voluntarily, entirely of his own
will and accord." Therefore, if there is one tenet of Freemasonry
that is known alike by the initiated and the profane, it is that of
opposition to soliciting for members. No one should be solicited to
become a Freemason. This is a part of the great unwritten law that
must not be. Free will and voluntary action on the part of the
applicant for the degrees is absolutely necessary. Were this not so
the very application itself would bear on its face a falsehood, and
the signature thereto would attest a lie. This is as it should be.
The object is so pre-eminently a factor in Freemasonry; so much is
Freemasonry concerned with the personality; its responsibilities
are so individualized, that, although as a whole it is an
organization in which the parts are bound together by the most
solemn and impressive ties, the work it does is accomplished more
through the personal factors of energy and character than combined
effort. The unsolicited applicant is taught through signs and
symbols, and voluntarily obligates himself to do or not to do
certain things.

All this concerns him personally. As he profits by the teachings he
becomes a character builder. If he becomes really a Freemason, and
not merely a member of the fraternity (for, mark you, there is a
vast difference between the two), it is his individuality that
works for good. As he lets his light shine, so does he reflect
credit upon the institution.

The one absorbs what the other teaches. Then the taught in turn
becomes the teacher. Advancement in Freemasonry should be along the
same lines as those which led to the acceptance of the applicant.

"What!" do you exclaim. "Should the Freemason become a solicitor
for honours ?" Not at all. He came to Freemasonry unsolicited, and
Freemasonry received him; he solicited, Freemasonry investigated
and, accepting, taught him to become a Freemason. As Freemasonry
does not solicit, neither should he as a Freemason solicit, for
Freemasonry is but the aggregation of Freemasons. But does
Freemasonry never solicit? Yes; Freemasonry solicits of her
votaries that they shall be good men and true, and conform their
lives upon the moral principles symbolized by the plumb, the level,
and the square. She asks that they apportion their time as she has
taught them, by the gauge. She solicits that they shall spread the
cement of brotherly love, and, with the Great Light in Freemasonry
as their guide, build such a spiritual temple as shall make them
worthy of all honour.

Once a Freemason, soliciting should forever cease, as no Freemason
should solicit a profane, neither should he solicit preferment and
honours. By living such a life as would make him worthy of these he
will be solicited.

Freemasonry delights to honour her worthy ones. She solicits their
services and honours worthy perform


GIVE ME YOUR HAND.

"Brother, if your Christ be the Atoning Lamb,
The Only-Begotten of the Great I Am; 
The Rock of Ages cleft for you; 
And you say my Christ would never do, 
Follow your Christ--but give me your hand. 
Brother, if my Christ be the great Ideal, 
The possibility of the race made real, 
The lowly Man of Galilee, 
And I say, your Christ would not help me, 
Leave me my Christ--but give me your hand." 
--John White Chadwick.


LIGHT SHINETH IN DARKNESS.

"The Past is the Fate of the Present;
Is the realm that no change knows;
Is the Lawgiver of the future,
The Source of its joys and woes;
The dead years are diadem's Monarchs,
Whom the years that come after obey;
And yesterday is as remote from us
As the stars are far away."
--Albert Pike.


"Believe after observation and analysis, when it agrees with reason
and conducive to the gain and good of one and all, then accept it
and live up to it. When pure rules of conduct are observed, then
there is true religion."

-- The Imitation of Buddha
