ADDRESS TO THE NEW ENTERED APPRENTICE!

The ceremony of your initiation is now at an end. We have delivered to you, the Ancient Charge, relating to your Masonic conduct in the Lodge, at home, and in your community. So far, all has been carried out in strict accordance with a prescribed formula, that certain invaluable, and incomparable landmarks, might never be omitted, nor departed from; but, Masonry is so infinite in its application and teaching, that it is wisely left to the discretion of the presiding officers to add anything by way of illustration or admonition, that may appear advisable, provided of course, that in all things, the ancient landmarks are respected.

My particular object, in addressing you, is to prevent you leaving the Lodge with any of the false impressions, and mistaken ideas frequently entertained by newly made Masons. I would not have you leave with the idea, that you have been fooled, or that any single portion of the ceremony is unmeaning, or introduced for the mere purpose of mystification.

Freemasonry is truly a system of morality, veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols and the most apparently trivial incident both in your preparation, and ignition, has its deep and hidden meaning.

It is not reasonable to expect that you should at first sight, penetrate the outer or the allegorical symbol, but I trust you will make it your business as a Mason, to arrive at these hidden meanings.

Another, delusion I would guard you against, is that of entertaining the idea that the information imparted to you this evening, has made you a Freemason. After the efforts to impress you with the importance of the ceremony, such a warning from me, may create some astonishment in your mind, but what I refer to is that Masonry, is not a mere matter of secret ceremonies. It is something far higher, and holier, than these are.

A man may have attended to the highest honors the Craft can bestow; be knowledgeable in all its lore, and workings, and yet, be as far from being a Freemason, as he was before his initiation, and unfortunately, there are too many, who may be classed in this category. The rites and ceremonies of Freemasonry are essential to its existence. They form the outer-works, whereby its treasurers are, as they ought to be, guarded from the unworthy.

Therefore, they cannot under any circumstances, be dispensed with. True Masonry exists in the heart. It is composed of Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth, and is that heavenly consummation of all virtues, Charity, so beautifully explained in the Volume of Sacred Law, as “bearing all things, hoping all things, believing all things, enduring all things, and thinking no evil.” It is the practice of this virtue that your Masonic efforts should ever tend, not only in its common acceptation of monetary relief, but as embracing true, brotherly love, fully, inculcated, in the sacred writings.

Initiation alone never did, nor ever can, make a man a true Mason. It gives the key, but mere possession of that key does not constitute ownership of the treasure. It sows the seed, but unless the soil is good, and carefully cultivated, the fruit will not be produced. It opens the portal, but unless the road is traversed, that goal cannot be attained. It lays the foundation, but without labor, the construction, cannot be raised.

Therefore, this evening, we have given the key, and we have sown the seed, opened the portal, and laid the foundation. It is for you, with such assistance as among Masons can always be obtained, by seeking for it in the proper quarter, to complete the work, and I sincerely trust that in this, you will not, be found waiting.

Finally, while charging you not to undervalue Freemasonry, I ask of you to remember that it is a human institution, and as such, necessarily imperfect, and liable to error.

Do not be disheartened, if you find some who profess its tenets, but do not live, and act, according to our teachings.

You may frequently hear our beloved fraternity ridiculed by the unenlightened world, and stigmatized as a childish mystery and a pretention to superior excellence, covering only secret revels, and excesses. Treat such ridicule with contempt, and answer it only by acting by the tenets of our order. A man, who ridicules that of which he cannot know anything, displays his ignorance, and is unworthy of notice.

Unfortunately, you will also find unworthy members of the Fraternity, some who abuse its privileges. There are those, who, from their own inherent baseness, are unable to appreciate its beauties, and convert its moments of social relaxation into occasions of turmoil, and others, who, from their mental powers being too dense to enable them to penetrate beyond the exterior, consider Freemasonry as mysterious nonsense.

If you meet any of these, console yourself with the reflection, that there always have been, and while time lasts, ever will be, such men in every human institution. If you are well versed in the great light of Masonry, you will call to mind instances, where holier ordinances have been similarly profaned, and misunderstood. You will be led to understand, that Freemasonry is not to be blamed for the misdeeds, and shortcomings, of some of its professors.

In conclusion, I express a hope that the proceedings of this evening, will never be erased from your memory, and that by your life, and actions, you will, in all things, prove to the uninstructed world at large, how ennobling, excellent, and enlightened, an institution, is that of the Free and Accepted Masons.

Happy Holidays
Hiram Abiff
The Widow’s Son

"No man has ever knelt at our altar of Obligation an arose the same man."
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