Lodge Libraries, No. II.

Lodge Libraries, No. II. [No. 93]

Time was, when Books were scarce and Readers few,
(Learning being chiefly then to Priest confined.)
The Builders who in Lodges had combined
To study Masonry, only could pursue
Their courses by Oral Teaching: we must still 5
Reserve it for each Secret Word or Sign
Ne’er to be Written. Let not the benign
Spirit of Masonry be known so ill
For any to imagine Masons can
Care naught for Literature, however good; 10
Or Scientific Teaching is not food
Fit for our Mental Palates. Whate’er for Man
When cultured is most excellent, that we
Must cherish most in pure Freemasonry.

by George Markham Tweddell 1st published c 1887