Temperance

Temperance. [No. 38]

A drunken Mason is a foul disgrace
To any Lodge that owns him. Well we know
With holy Precepts Masonry doth glow
Brightly in all her Teachings. We embrace
All Virtues and all Wisdom known to man 5
In true Freemasonry: and Temperance
In all things has been taught, but choice, not chance;
In all our Lodges, and the strongest ban
Placed on Intemperance, through all the ages.
Then let no Drunkard soil the purity 10
Of our good Craft; for, surely, such as he
Can ne’er uphold its honour. All the Sages
Of every Land sweet Temperance have taught,—
A Virtue with divinest Blessings fraught.

by George Markham Tweddell  1st published 1887