Worshipful Master, behold your brethren!
Brethren, behold your Master!
The grand honors are then given the W. M. by the Lodge, the Marshal
leading in the ceremony.
The brethren are now seated. Then the Grand Master or Installing Officer
may deliver an address or read the following charges, in his discretion:
"Worshipful Master: The superintendence and government of the brethren
who compose this Lodge having been committed to your care, you cannot be
insensible of the obligations which devolve on you as their head, nor
of your responsibility for the faithful discharge of the important
duties annexed to your position.
The honor, reputation and usefulness of this Lodge will materially
depend upon the skill and assiduity with which you manage its concerns;
while the happiness of its members will be generally promoted in
proportion to the zeal and ability with which you propagate the genuine
principles of our institution.
As a pattern for imitation, consider the great luminary of nature,
which, rising in the East, regularly diffuses light and luster to all
within the circle. In like manner, it is your province to spread and
communicate light and instruction to the brethren of your Lodge.
Forcibly impress upon them the dignity and high importance of Masonry,
and seriously admonish them never to disgrace it. Charge them to
practice out of the Lodge those duties which they have been taught in
it; and by amiable, discreet and virtuous conduct, to convince mankind
of the goodness of the institution; so that when a person is said to be
a member of it, the world may know that he is one to whom the burdened
heart may pour out its sorrows, to whom distress may prefer its suit,
whose hand is guided by justice, and whose heart is expanded by
benevolence.
In short, by a diligent observance of the By-Laws of the Lodge, the
Constitutions of Freemasonry, and, above all, the Holy Scriptures, which
are given as a rule and a guide to your faith, you will be enabled to
acquit yourself with honor and reputation, and lay up a crown of
rejoicing, which shall continue when time shall be no more.
Brother Senior and Junior Warden: You are too well acquainted with the
principles of Masonry to warrant any distrust that you will be found
wanting in the discharge of your respective duties. Suffice it to say,
that what you have seen praiseworthy in others you should carefully
imitate; and what in them may have appeared defective you should in
yourselves amend. You should be examples of good order and regularity;
for it is only by a due regard to the laws in your own conduct that you
can expect obedience to them from others. You are assiduously to assist
the Master in the discharge of his trust, diffusing light and imparting
knowledge to all whom he shall place under your care. In the absence of
the Master, you will succeed to higher duties; your acquirements must
therefore be such that the Craft may never suffer for want of proper
instruction. From the spirit which you have hitherto evinced, I
entertain no doubt that your future conduct will be such as to merit the
applause of your brethren and the testimony of a good conscience.
The Lodge being called up, the Installing Officer continues as follows:
Brethren of ---- Lodge: Such is the nature of our constitution, that as
some must of necessity rule and teach, so others must, of course, learn
to submit and obey. Humility in both is an essential duty. The officers
who are chosen to govern your Lodge are sufficiently conversant with the
rules of propriety and the laws of the institution to avoid exceeding
the powers with which they are entrusted, and you are of too generous
dispositions to envy their preferment; I, therefore, trust that you will
have but one aim--to please each other, and unite in the grand design of
being happy and communicating happiness.
"Finally, my brethren, as this Lodge has been formed and perfected in so
much unanimity and concord, so may it long continue. May you long enjoy
every satisfaction and delight which disinterested friendship can
afford. May kindness and brotherly affection distinguish your conduct as
men and as Masons. Within your peaceful walls may your children's
children celebrate, with joy and gratitude, the annual recurrence of
this auspicious solemnity; and may the tenets of our profession be
transmitted through this Lodge, pure and unimpaired, from generation to
generation."
The Marshal then makes proclamation from the South, West and East in the
following manner:
"I am directed to proclaim, and I do hereby proclaim, that the
Worshipful Master, Wardens, and other officers, elected and appointed,
of ---- Lodge, have been regularly installed into their respective
stations."