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Article NEW MASONIC LODGE AT CASTLETOWN. ← Page 2 of 3 Article NEW MASONIC LODGE AT CASTLETOWN. Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
New Masonic Lodge At Castletown.
< s > m — to St . Mary ' s Church , where the brethren were accommodated in the centre pews . Thero was a good attendance also of the general publio , mostly ladies . Bro . Rev . E . Ferrier P . G . Chaplain conducted a short form of evening service , and the sermon was preaohed by Bro . the Rev . R . B . Baron , who took his test from Acts xvii . 25 and 26 verBes ; He giveth to all life and breath , and all things ; and has
made of one blood all nations of men . He said : My dear brethren , the words of onr text are taken from that manfnl , faithful , and yet sympathetic and brotherly address by St . Paul to the Athenians on Mara Hill . St . Paul waa not a political orator , yet we owe more to hira in respeot of political power and advantage than perhaps to any one individual , or even combination of individuals , who have lived
since he passed away ! Cruelty , tyranny , and man's inhumanity to man were literally crushed by the prinoiple proclaimed with so inuch fervour in onr text . Yes ! When on Mars Hill he proclaimed the equality of all men in the eyes of the great God above , the death knell of slavery was rung oat in tones whioh will never die so long as time lasts . " God hath made of one blood all nations of
the earth , is language which even a child can understand ; but , nevertheless , the principle enunoiated has been the foundation of oar Magna Charta , onr representative system , onr antislavery movements , onr hospital and poor-law system , and it will be the stimulating power of human rights in all the future generations of our race . St . Paul had a deep
realisation of tbe duties which the brotherhood of man involves , and was always ready to perform those duties himself , aa well as to encourage them in others . Bat he looked beyond squal civil rights , even to equal religious and spiritual rights , and consequently we find in him an earnest yearning for the souls of men , and this earnest yearning is shown by hia voluntarily undergoing all kinds of perils
and troubles , labours and hardships , in order to preach the Gospel , whioh was intended to confer spiritual rights , spiritual equality upon mon , and to raise them to the highest sense of brotherhood , whioh can only come when the image of God and the likeness unto God are reitored in the hearts and lives of men . St . Paul , like our alder Brother Christ Jesus , was always quick to take advantage of any
custom or game well-known to those to whom he was speaking , to press home an important truth . Hence , when standing on Mars Hill , and gazing npon an inscription on one of tbe Athenian altars , "To the unknown God , " he at onoe seized upon this fact and immediately deolared that he had come to tell them of the God they had been ignorantly worshipping . This God , he pleaded , whom you
in ignorance have at times worshipped , " giveth to all life and breath and all things , and hath made of one blood all nations of men . " The two important truths brought out in our text are , first , the Fatherhood of God , and second , the brotherhood of men . Firstly , with respeot to the first , St . Paul asserts that God hath made the world and all things therein , and then in onr text , " He giveth to all life
aud breath and all things . I am perfeotly convinced in my own mind that one of the great weaknesses of onr age is that men do not sufficiently realise tho truth that the first great Source and Architeot of all things is the Author of our being , the Author of our sustenance , and the Guide during life of all that is good and brotherly . And oven when we do realise it , I am afraid we do not sufficiently live
up to it . How many are there who enjoy life , enjoy good health in life , enjoy prosperity in life , and yen scarcely ever think that life and health , food and prosperity , all come from God ? If we did think sufficiently of this great truth , do yon not suppose there would ba a little more love shown to God , a little more gratitude rendered nuto God , and even further still , a little more
earnestness bestowed upon tho service of God ? What would any of you , my dear brothers who are fathers , think of treatment from your children to yourselves such aa many of ns render unto God the Father of us all ? Wonld you not say it was a proof of want of love , want of gratitude ? Lot us look at onr lives and measure the depth of our love for God , the depth of onr gratitude to God , and the
earnestnoss , or rather lack of earnestness in the service of God , and what God has done , aud is doing , and will do for us , and I feel we shall be stimulated to greater love , deeper gratitude , and more perfect service . If we examine tbo passage in the Old Testament upon whioh the argument of St . Paul was fouuded , we shall , I think , be convinced that the apostle held very strongly that the fatherhood of God was
testified by His giving to us the brotherhood of Christ , through whom we were to have light and freedom . Without Christ wo are in the dark , we know nothing of the dignity of true manhood , and nothing of the noble purpose God had for man on earth , or the still nobler purpose God has for man when life on this earth of ours is over ! Our elder Brother , Christ Jesus , came to free man from the
bondage of sin and self , and to lift above that graspiug greed and selfish indul gence which are the cause of all the misery and wretchedness which so sadl y blob our nineteenth century civilisation . AOS ! Light and freedom aro some of the blessings which may be ours , my dear brothers , if only we will realise first , the fatherhood of God , and secondly , the brotherhood of Christwhich tho great Ruler
, of all things , on account of His fatherhood , bestowed upon . humanity , becondl y : But the other truth , which I pointed oat St . Paul emphasised in onr text , was tho brotherhood of men— "He hath made of oue blood all the nations of men . " What a grand truth this is , aud yet how little realised ! Bat what , I wonld ask , are we doimj , we nineteenth century members of the Christian brotherhoodto
, prove that we believe in and realise fully this grand truth ? What , are wa doing to show that we beliove that the whole human race aro members of ono family ? What are we doing for our brethren '? vvhat are we doing for onr brethren ru heathen lands to give them toe light of the Gospel , the light of Christ , by whioh they may see fhif tu •v . — ^ . u ., i > ujuu ui ¦ v / uiiou , uy wj-uuu . ui . i « y may at'K « nac tnere is
something else to live for than seltiah indulgence , and woriciiy enjoyment , and gain ? What aro we doing to free them from ;' .. h er ^ ' P ° » nl and spiritual , and to yive them that liberty wherecomn 1 •*"" made them free ? T atn afraid very littl 0 when lnxn •W i the Iarge atnounfc which is spent ou ourselves in our dobu / f M ° P lea 8 Ure 3 ? B"fc what , we may ask again , are we " > ug ior the masses of oar brethren at homo ? This is a most imp „ r .
New Masonic Lodge At Castletown.
tant question , and a question whioh ought not to be evaded ! The British masses are hard by their own doors , and their sad condition , many of them without God and hope in the world is a problem whioh ought to bo faced i What are we doing to lessen the growing sense of inequality between rich and poor , employers and employed , and to fill up the yawning gulf of discontent , whioh is so loudly crying out
in so many different ways ? Socialism and communism , atheism , and secularism are spreading in their worst form ! What are we doing ? What ought we to do ? Not to help the separation of the classes , but to bring tho classes together , as members of one family related by the kinmauship of one blood ? I believe the first need ia to realise the grand truth enforced by St . Paul in our text , the
" brotherhood of men . " We want a growth of brotherly love . We want men and women to grasp the great prinoiple that we are all of one blood , aad that each member of the community should lay oat himself or herself to do good to the brethren ! And 1 st me say it is not merely temporal relief which is required . There are not a few politicians who say more money , cheap food , good dwellings , and
innocent recreations are tha healing medicinal of the evils of our day in the lowest stratum of sooiety . These things are food in themselves , but they do not reach down to the root of the matter . More ia wanted ! more sympathy , more kindness , more brotherly love , mora unselfishness , more realisation of the brotherhood of men ! Let oar politicians , let our leading citizens practise this brotherhood of men .
Let there not be so much striving for party or individual advantagelet there be a little more honesty and truthfulneaa in the commercial world , and in the political world , and I believe the discontent and worse to whioh I have alluded will soon vanish . My thoughta were directed into this channel by reading during the week a sketch of the life and work of Mazzini . He was not one of our countrymen , but
his life and work , to my mind , m many respaots manifested noble lessons to the whole world . He was not , perhaps , what some would consider a great platform orator , but he was one of the most eloquent pleaders on behalf of morality , justice , and freedom this century has produced ! There has been burnt into his soul a love of liberty , truth , and justice—a desire to see his countrymen emanoipatad and united ,
and to bring baok his beloved land to some of its past greatuess and glory ; He was no wall paid patriot , nor did he ever attempt to curry popular favour by pandering to the prejudices or passions of the hoar . He cared not for the fiokle breath of popular applause , unless it could be earned by a manly and straightforward course of notion . And while he was bold to speak out against tyrants , he waa
not afraid to condemn the great masses of his countrymen when they gave way to excess . He had learned the great lesson , whioh we may do well to take to heart , that " He is the freeman whom the truth makes free . " He taught his countryman that they must not trust merely to a revised constitution or an Act of Legislature to make them happy and contented , but that in order to build up a good and
powerful , and enduring nation , the first reform requisite was for " eaoh individual to begin to reform himself . " Let me read to yon a most eloquent passage from his book entitled " The Duties of Man " " Improve yourselves , let thia bo the aim of your lives . It is only by improving yoursalves , by becoming more virtuous , that you oan raudor your condition less unhappy . Petty tyrants will arise among
yourselves by thousands , so long as you merely strive to advance in the name of material interests , or a special social organisation . A change of social organisation is of little moment while you yourselves remain with your present passions and egotism ! Sooial organisations are like certaiu plants , whioh yield either poison or medioiue acoording to tho mode in whioh they are administered .
Good men can work good even out of an evil organisation , and bad men can work evil out of good organisations . " This , my dear brothers , is beautiful language , but , better still , it contains noble truths . I would to God the truths were more generally acknowledged in our political and civil life , and that there were fewer struggles after places nnd power , and more earnest working for the social ,
moral , and religious upraising of the people . Then the brotherhood of men would be advanced , and that discontent which is so rife , and that separation of the classes which is so deadening in its effect , and so injurious to the truest welfare of the people , would vanish away . We are gathered together to-day in connaotion with the consecration of a new Lodge of Anoient Free and Accepted Masons ;
aud those of you , my dear brothers , who have passed through the various degrees of Freemasonry will realise that tho great principles which are inonlcated in our text , and which I have pointed oat are so important in relation to the well-being of the great masses of our people , are the principles which are laid down for Masonic brotherhood , and therefore we can rejoice that another Lodge is being
consecrated to-day which will be a centre from which these principles will bo spread . As Free and Accepted Masons we are called upon to acknowledge the Great Architect of the Universe as tha Giver of all light and freedom . We are called upon to reverenoa His holy name and fulfil His divine precepts . We are called upon to practise evory moral and social virtue , and to act , in the truest aud noblest
and highest aeuse , the brother to all mankind , and especially to those who beloug to tho Craft , and all who belong to tham , whether wife or sister or child . We aro called upon to exeroise charity and to show real sympathy . We are called upon to realise the dignity of manhood and elevate ourselves in character , life and intellect . Only lab us be trao to tho many and variad obligations of our Order , both
in reference to onr dutie 3 to God , oar neighbour and ourselves , and tho world in which we live will be all tho better and purer and happier for the influence we exert . Let ns never forgot that in our individual lives and characters tho noble Order to which we belong is on its trial—aud in being true to its obligations we exalt the Order , glorify the Supreme Being it acknowledges , a * the Chief Ruler and
Guide of man , and we promote that brotherhood amongab men which i * tho fruitful source of the truest ivappines 3 in civil , social , and domestic life . You are not askud to-day to contribute to those charitios which form oue of tho many bright epots iu tho history of our Order , and which provide for tho material comforts of brethran visited by disaster , or for tho relief of tho widows , or the education
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
New Masonic Lodge At Castletown.
< s > m — to St . Mary ' s Church , where the brethren were accommodated in the centre pews . Thero was a good attendance also of the general publio , mostly ladies . Bro . Rev . E . Ferrier P . G . Chaplain conducted a short form of evening service , and the sermon was preaohed by Bro . the Rev . R . B . Baron , who took his test from Acts xvii . 25 and 26 verBes ; He giveth to all life and breath , and all things ; and has
made of one blood all nations of men . He said : My dear brethren , the words of onr text are taken from that manfnl , faithful , and yet sympathetic and brotherly address by St . Paul to the Athenians on Mara Hill . St . Paul waa not a political orator , yet we owe more to hira in respeot of political power and advantage than perhaps to any one individual , or even combination of individuals , who have lived
since he passed away ! Cruelty , tyranny , and man's inhumanity to man were literally crushed by the prinoiple proclaimed with so inuch fervour in onr text . Yes ! When on Mars Hill he proclaimed the equality of all men in the eyes of the great God above , the death knell of slavery was rung oat in tones whioh will never die so long as time lasts . " God hath made of one blood all nations of
the earth , is language which even a child can understand ; but , nevertheless , the principle enunoiated has been the foundation of oar Magna Charta , onr representative system , onr antislavery movements , onr hospital and poor-law system , and it will be the stimulating power of human rights in all the future generations of our race . St . Paul had a deep
realisation of tbe duties which the brotherhood of man involves , and was always ready to perform those duties himself , aa well as to encourage them in others . Bat he looked beyond squal civil rights , even to equal religious and spiritual rights , and consequently we find in him an earnest yearning for the souls of men , and this earnest yearning is shown by hia voluntarily undergoing all kinds of perils
and troubles , labours and hardships , in order to preach the Gospel , whioh was intended to confer spiritual rights , spiritual equality upon mon , and to raise them to the highest sense of brotherhood , whioh can only come when the image of God and the likeness unto God are reitored in the hearts and lives of men . St . Paul , like our alder Brother Christ Jesus , was always quick to take advantage of any
custom or game well-known to those to whom he was speaking , to press home an important truth . Hence , when standing on Mars Hill , and gazing npon an inscription on one of tbe Athenian altars , "To the unknown God , " he at onoe seized upon this fact and immediately deolared that he had come to tell them of the God they had been ignorantly worshipping . This God , he pleaded , whom you
in ignorance have at times worshipped , " giveth to all life and breath and all things , and hath made of one blood all nations of men . " The two important truths brought out in our text are , first , the Fatherhood of God , and second , the brotherhood of men . Firstly , with respeot to the first , St . Paul asserts that God hath made the world and all things therein , and then in onr text , " He giveth to all life
aud breath and all things . I am perfeotly convinced in my own mind that one of the great weaknesses of onr age is that men do not sufficiently realise tho truth that the first great Source and Architeot of all things is the Author of our being , the Author of our sustenance , and the Guide during life of all that is good and brotherly . And oven when we do realise it , I am afraid we do not sufficiently live
up to it . How many are there who enjoy life , enjoy good health in life , enjoy prosperity in life , and yen scarcely ever think that life and health , food and prosperity , all come from God ? If we did think sufficiently of this great truth , do yon not suppose there would ba a little more love shown to God , a little more gratitude rendered nuto God , and even further still , a little more
earnestness bestowed upon tho service of God ? What would any of you , my dear brothers who are fathers , think of treatment from your children to yourselves such aa many of ns render unto God the Father of us all ? Wonld you not say it was a proof of want of love , want of gratitude ? Lot us look at onr lives and measure the depth of our love for God , the depth of onr gratitude to God , and the
earnestnoss , or rather lack of earnestness in the service of God , and what God has done , aud is doing , and will do for us , and I feel we shall be stimulated to greater love , deeper gratitude , and more perfect service . If we examine tbo passage in the Old Testament upon whioh the argument of St . Paul was fouuded , we shall , I think , be convinced that the apostle held very strongly that the fatherhood of God was
testified by His giving to us the brotherhood of Christ , through whom we were to have light and freedom . Without Christ wo are in the dark , we know nothing of the dignity of true manhood , and nothing of the noble purpose God had for man on earth , or the still nobler purpose God has for man when life on this earth of ours is over ! Our elder Brother , Christ Jesus , came to free man from the
bondage of sin and self , and to lift above that graspiug greed and selfish indul gence which are the cause of all the misery and wretchedness which so sadl y blob our nineteenth century civilisation . AOS ! Light and freedom aro some of the blessings which may be ours , my dear brothers , if only we will realise first , the fatherhood of God , and secondly , the brotherhood of Christwhich tho great Ruler
, of all things , on account of His fatherhood , bestowed upon . humanity , becondl y : But the other truth , which I pointed oat St . Paul emphasised in onr text , was tho brotherhood of men— "He hath made of oue blood all the nations of men . " What a grand truth this is , aud yet how little realised ! Bat what , I wonld ask , are we doimj , we nineteenth century members of the Christian brotherhoodto
, prove that we believe in and realise fully this grand truth ? What , are wa doing to show that we beliove that the whole human race aro members of ono family ? What are we doing for our brethren '? vvhat are we doing for onr brethren ru heathen lands to give them toe light of the Gospel , the light of Christ , by whioh they may see fhif tu •v . — ^ . u ., i > ujuu ui ¦ v / uiiou , uy wj-uuu . ui . i « y may at'K « nac tnere is
something else to live for than seltiah indulgence , and woriciiy enjoyment , and gain ? What aro we doing to free them from ;' .. h er ^ ' P ° » nl and spiritual , and to yive them that liberty wherecomn 1 •*"" made them free ? T atn afraid very littl 0 when lnxn •W i the Iarge atnounfc which is spent ou ourselves in our dobu / f M ° P lea 8 Ure 3 ? B"fc what , we may ask again , are we " > ug ior the masses of oar brethren at homo ? This is a most imp „ r .
New Masonic Lodge At Castletown.
tant question , and a question whioh ought not to be evaded ! The British masses are hard by their own doors , and their sad condition , many of them without God and hope in the world is a problem whioh ought to bo faced i What are we doing to lessen the growing sense of inequality between rich and poor , employers and employed , and to fill up the yawning gulf of discontent , whioh is so loudly crying out
in so many different ways ? Socialism and communism , atheism , and secularism are spreading in their worst form ! What are we doing ? What ought we to do ? Not to help the separation of the classes , but to bring tho classes together , as members of one family related by the kinmauship of one blood ? I believe the first need ia to realise the grand truth enforced by St . Paul in our text , the
" brotherhood of men . " We want a growth of brotherly love . We want men and women to grasp the great prinoiple that we are all of one blood , aad that each member of the community should lay oat himself or herself to do good to the brethren ! And 1 st me say it is not merely temporal relief which is required . There are not a few politicians who say more money , cheap food , good dwellings , and
innocent recreations are tha healing medicinal of the evils of our day in the lowest stratum of sooiety . These things are food in themselves , but they do not reach down to the root of the matter . More ia wanted ! more sympathy , more kindness , more brotherly love , mora unselfishness , more realisation of the brotherhood of men ! Let oar politicians , let our leading citizens practise this brotherhood of men .
Let there not be so much striving for party or individual advantagelet there be a little more honesty and truthfulneaa in the commercial world , and in the political world , and I believe the discontent and worse to whioh I have alluded will soon vanish . My thoughta were directed into this channel by reading during the week a sketch of the life and work of Mazzini . He was not one of our countrymen , but
his life and work , to my mind , m many respaots manifested noble lessons to the whole world . He was not , perhaps , what some would consider a great platform orator , but he was one of the most eloquent pleaders on behalf of morality , justice , and freedom this century has produced ! There has been burnt into his soul a love of liberty , truth , and justice—a desire to see his countrymen emanoipatad and united ,
and to bring baok his beloved land to some of its past greatuess and glory ; He was no wall paid patriot , nor did he ever attempt to curry popular favour by pandering to the prejudices or passions of the hoar . He cared not for the fiokle breath of popular applause , unless it could be earned by a manly and straightforward course of notion . And while he was bold to speak out against tyrants , he waa
not afraid to condemn the great masses of his countrymen when they gave way to excess . He had learned the great lesson , whioh we may do well to take to heart , that " He is the freeman whom the truth makes free . " He taught his countryman that they must not trust merely to a revised constitution or an Act of Legislature to make them happy and contented , but that in order to build up a good and
powerful , and enduring nation , the first reform requisite was for " eaoh individual to begin to reform himself . " Let me read to yon a most eloquent passage from his book entitled " The Duties of Man " " Improve yourselves , let thia bo the aim of your lives . It is only by improving yoursalves , by becoming more virtuous , that you oan raudor your condition less unhappy . Petty tyrants will arise among
yourselves by thousands , so long as you merely strive to advance in the name of material interests , or a special social organisation . A change of social organisation is of little moment while you yourselves remain with your present passions and egotism ! Sooial organisations are like certaiu plants , whioh yield either poison or medioiue acoording to tho mode in whioh they are administered .
Good men can work good even out of an evil organisation , and bad men can work evil out of good organisations . " This , my dear brothers , is beautiful language , but , better still , it contains noble truths . I would to God the truths were more generally acknowledged in our political and civil life , and that there were fewer struggles after places nnd power , and more earnest working for the social ,
moral , and religious upraising of the people . Then the brotherhood of men would be advanced , and that discontent which is so rife , and that separation of the classes which is so deadening in its effect , and so injurious to the truest welfare of the people , would vanish away . We are gathered together to-day in connaotion with the consecration of a new Lodge of Anoient Free and Accepted Masons ;
aud those of you , my dear brothers , who have passed through the various degrees of Freemasonry will realise that tho great principles which are inonlcated in our text , and which I have pointed oat are so important in relation to the well-being of the great masses of our people , are the principles which are laid down for Masonic brotherhood , and therefore we can rejoice that another Lodge is being
consecrated to-day which will be a centre from which these principles will bo spread . As Free and Accepted Masons we are called upon to acknowledge the Great Architect of the Universe as tha Giver of all light and freedom . We are called upon to reverenoa His holy name and fulfil His divine precepts . We are called upon to practise evory moral and social virtue , and to act , in the truest aud noblest
and highest aeuse , the brother to all mankind , and especially to those who beloug to tho Craft , and all who belong to tham , whether wife or sister or child . We aro called upon to exeroise charity and to show real sympathy . We are called upon to realise the dignity of manhood and elevate ourselves in character , life and intellect . Only lab us be trao to tho many and variad obligations of our Order , both
in reference to onr dutie 3 to God , oar neighbour and ourselves , and tho world in which we live will be all tho better and purer and happier for the influence we exert . Let ns never forgot that in our individual lives and characters tho noble Order to which we belong is on its trial—aud in being true to its obligations we exalt the Order , glorify the Supreme Being it acknowledges , a * the Chief Ruler and
Guide of man , and we promote that brotherhood amongab men which i * tho fruitful source of the truest ivappines 3 in civil , social , and domestic life . You are not askud to-day to contribute to those charitios which form oue of tho many bright epots iu tho history of our Order , and which provide for tho material comforts of brethran visited by disaster , or for tho relief of tho widows , or the education