Slander.

Slander. [No. 66]

Slander is hateful to the Mason’s mind:
It is a vulgar Vice, which only those
Whose Souls in Virtue never knew Repose,
Will e’er indulge in. To Brothers refined
By noble Studies and a blameless Life, 5
All Slander is disgusting. The Good Name
Of each true Mason is to him the same
As though it were his Own: and in the Strife
Of the World’s Warfare, he will bravely Fight
With Moral Weapons, at whatever Cost, 10
To defend the Absent. Never can be Lost
The timely Word of Truth spoke for the Right.
All Masons must be True to one another,
And ready to Defend their Absent Brother.

by George Markham Tweddell 1st published c 1887