Abhandlung über die allgemeine Zusammenkunft der Freymaurer, bei den Gesundbrunnen in Wilhelmsbad

advantages which he lacks forgotten. (d)

See, that is the true Freemason! Tell me if one can imagine a more venerable, more desirable society than that which is composed of such members!

This society would require no code of laws. It would be written in the innermost heart of every member. I do not speak of penal laws; they would not know them at all. The question is only of moral laws.

But even here, it goes with this society as with Plato’s Republic. It is not possible to give it that perfection which the philosopher original: "Weltweise" had intended for it. Not every member of the Society of Freemasons has all the qualities that make a true Freemason, although he has the desire to possess them, and although he worked untiringly toward the Great Work the symbolic process of self-improvement and spiritual perfection in Masonry.

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(d) original Latin: "Si igitur non poterit sive caussas defensitare, sive populum concionibus tenere, sive bella gerere..." If, therefore, he is unable to defend causes, or to hold the people with speeches, or to wage wars, he ought nevertheless to display those things which will be in his own power: justice, faith, liberality, modesty, and temperance, so that what is lacking in him is less required. Cicero, On Duties, Book I. Chapter 33.

It is therefore necessary that this society, like all others, be maintained in order. Now, every society has its laws. The original society, which was nothing more than family rule, could know no other laws than those given by the father, who was its head. Paternal love commanded; filial love anticipated the commands. Soon, however, the family divided when it became numerous, and then the Platonic Republic fled forever, keeping its existence only in the images which the wise have designed to kindle the love of virtue in the souls of their students. The impossibility of being self-sufficient and the need for other people and things made the second kind of society necessary. (e)

These societies, as weak as they were at their origin, laid the foundation stone of the great republics and powerful empires. Maternal care gives birth to filial love, filial caresses awaken brotherly tenderness, and the games of innocence stimulate the feeling of friendship. But the wise teachings of a father ignite the fire of patriotism in the soul. (*) We see how these

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(e) Plato’s Republic. Second Book.
(*) The following note is by R. v. S., an annotator for the text. Freemasonry, however, should extend these bonds further, which limit our love to a small, narrow circle, making it unjust toward the greater part of humanity. It should restore the great natural kinship among men from all families, tribes, nations, and classes. The common fatherland of all true Freemasons is the maternal Earth.