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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
What Means All This?
They still live , but oh , how changed 1 The one has become the home of the degraded Mussulman ; as to the other" The Goth , the Christian , time , war , flood and fire , Have dwelt upon the seven-hill'd city ' s pride ; She saw her glories , star by star , expire , And up the steep , barbarian monarch ride .
Where the car climbed the capital far and wide Temple and Tower went down , nor left a site . Chaos of ruins ? who shall trace the void ? O ' er the dim fragments cast a lunar light , And say , ' Here was Rome , ' where all is doubly night . "
Where are the splendid mausoleums , the towering columns , and the triumphal arches of the conquerors of the earth ? At the touch of the destroyer ' s noiseless foot they have crumbled into their native undistinguished dust , and the very names of those they were intended to honour now swell the long black list of infamy .
But we look again , and cease our regret ; we see an institution of humble origin gradually rising and growing until it has filled the earth with a knowledge of its name and character . The waves of persecution and power have dashed against it , but they have been thrown back upon their exhaustless source , only to return again in powerless and harmless fury . Amidst the rage
of faction , the strife of party , the change of revolution , and the horrors of civil war , it has pursued the even tenor of its way regardless alike of all . It has been delivered out of the jaws of the lion , and has passed through the fiery furnace unscathed . The foot of power has attempted to crush it , but like the plant of which nature yields but one specimen , it has lifted itself from the
dust and bloomed again with renewed fragrance and beauty . " The rain descended , and the floods came , and the winds blew and beat upon that house ; but it fell not , for it was founded upon a rock . ' ' Vain man ! how long will you attempt to annihilate that which is indestructible , and to war when defeat is your
certain doom ? Why will you strive to wither the oasis in the desert pathway of life , and leave no green spot on which the eye may rest and feast its weary vision ? Why would you strike from the moral world the sun of indissoluble friendship , and involve it in the darkness of universal misanthropy ?
The question is frequently asked why our Society takes not into its communion the softer and lovelier sex , and why they are not made participants of its counsels and its secrets ? It is not , I may assure my audience , and particularly the fairer portion of it , because we entertain any opinions derogatory of their worth or because we wish to deprive them of their elevated rank in the scale
of society . No ! the farthest from it possible . Operative Masonry being the foundation of our Order , and the origin of our Association , females were not permitted to share in the toils and drudgeries of the rougher sex . The dwelling was to be enjoyed and enlivened by them when completed , but the burthen of its erection was borne by other shoulders . Heaven has appropriated
for them a more elevated and lofty sphere , and we would not disregard the beneficent designs of the Author of " every good and perfect gift . " After the heat and burthen of the day is over , it is their proud prerogative to cheer and animate with their heavenly smiles the drooping spirits of the toil-worn labourer . We are to be the " hewers of wood and drawers of water " for those to whom
we proudly yield the palm of supremacy . It is a principal part of our duty , as Masons , to vindicate the rights of women and to place her above the vicissitudes and misfortunes of life . No look that threatens her with insult will pass unrevenged by any true and loyal knight of our Order . We feel that if woman is degraded
from her elevated rank , society would be at once resolved into chaos and confusion . Instead of being blessed with her animating presence , a cheerless gloom would brood over our social relations , and man would be without a " light to his feet and a lamp to his path . " Yes— *
" Where ' er we wander , East or West , Tho' fate begins to low ' r , A solace she is to us In sorrow ' s lonely hour . When tempests lash our gallant bark , And rend our shiver'd mast , Fair woman ' s form withstands the storm—She's constant to the last ;
. And when our fevered lips are parch'd On Afric's burning sands , She whispers hopes of happiness , And tales of distant lands . Our life had been a wilderness , Unbless'd by Fortune ' s gales , Had fate not link'd our lot to hers , And filled our happy sails . "
Loyalty to the sex is the distinguishing characteristic of every genuine Craftsman , and he that proves recreant to this trust we discard as an exotic ! Although woman is not permitted to share in our labours , yet our wages are freely and liberally divided with her . Tho uninitiated may disbelieve our professions , but the testimony of thousauds and tens of thousands of widows and orphans rises up in judgment against them and condemns them .
What Means All This?
The charity of Masons , like the dew of Hermon , visits its objects noiselessly and without ostentation . The destitute receive , and the world knows it not . Their necessities are relieved , and they themselves hardly know the hand that plucks them from despair .
Although as yet a novice in the Craft , and only on the threshold of the Temple , I would not exchange the feelings occasioned by the little good ifc has made me instrumental in doing for all the honours and distinctions which the favour of the world can bestow .
There are many , however , who acknowledge the benefits arising from Masonry , but object to it on account of its secrecy . This is the main cement of our union and the foundation of its permanency . Take this away and our venerable fabric falls to the ground ; abolish this , and the lovely streams which adorn and beautify the moral earth are at once swallowed up and lost in the
great ocean of the world . Associated together for no pecuniary , selfish or worldly purpose , it is necessary to our , ends that we should retire into the sanctuary of privacy to accomplish our noble designs . Will it , however , be denied that any benefits arise from union ? The day was when such a dogma might have been advanced ; but , thank God , that day is past and gone ! We
live , emphatically , in the age of associations ; associated capital has penetrated Europe and America with artificial rivers ; it has propelled the steam ear with the rapidity of the wind , and ploughed our rivers with the majestic steamboat ; it has dragged wealth from the bowels of the earth ; has made the temperate zone subsidiary to the torrid , and the torrid to the temperate ; has
almost annihilated time and space , and brought together what ignorance had too long kept asunder ; it has convened nations from rivals into friends , ameliorated the horrors of war , and begun to lay the foundations of that era " when the sword shall be converted into the ploughshare , and the spear into the pruuinghook . " And shall it be said that an association for moral purposes
ought to be discouraged ? Can principle so successful in the progress of physical improvement operate injuriously when applied to the moral amelioration of mankind ? Are we so much of utilitarians that everything we hold dear must be sacrificed for physical improvement ? Is friendship to be proscribed ? and can no temple be erected to Charity , without which all other virtues
would be as " a sounding brass and tinkling cymbal " ? Will it be considered as a useless waste of time to endeavour to square our actions by the principles of morality , and circumscribe our desires in every varied station of life that our lot may be east ? But I need not further interrogate ; I know your answer—I appreciate it .
Masonry , like Christianity , though humble in its origin , and born as it were in a manger , has attained a lofty and elevated stand , and now numbers among its disciples many of the powerful of the earth . It is no respecter of persons , and in the sacred recesses of the Temple all meet as equals . The monarch is lost in the man ; and his subjects , as men , are at once put upon an
equality a 3 Masons . Brothers of the same extended family , we share the same burthens and enjoy the same exemptions . Our labour and refreshments are one , and we sit under the same vine and the same fig-tree . This principle of our Order must commend it to the approbation of all . The feelings of human liberty and natural equality are engraved on every human heart , and an
institution which recognises these feelings cannot but be right , at least in that respect . We work with our equals ; and before our peers , bound to us by the strong ties of friendship , we lay our plaints . If in the chequered scenes of life , so beautifully represented by the Mosaic pavement of the Lodge , we should be overtaken by adversity or encounted be misfortune , we can lay
our sorrows before our Brothers unsubjected to the censorious criticism of a cold and unfeeling world . Should an untoward fate consign a Brother ' s wife and children to a premature widowhood and orphanage , his dying bed will feel soft from the gratifying reflection that he leaves behind him those who will be a friend to the widow and a father to the orphan . Oh , who
would not flee to this city of refuge from the persecutions , bickerings and casualties of this world ? Who would not search for the trestleboard of Masonry , on which he will find drawn those beautiful designs from which he can build up his own happiness and that of his family here and hereafter . I cannot tell what others may feel , but as for myself , when I look at the
ancient origin of our Institution , the sacred character of its patrons , the universality of its extent , comprehending the four quarters of tbe globe , and knitting together into one family men of every tribe , kindred and tongue ; the unbroken chain of tradition which leads us back to the early ages , and has transmitted to us unwritten and unimpaired the landmarks of our Order ; when I
see it silently , like a ministering angel , relieving the wants of the needy , administering comfort to the brokenhearted , inculcating the cardinal virtues and enjoining " peace and good will to men , " I am forced to exult in the badge of a Mason , and to admit that it is more ancient than the Golden Fleece or Eoman Eagle , more honourable than the Star or Garter , and more lasting than the pearls of princes or the diadems of kings .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
What Means All This?
They still live , but oh , how changed 1 The one has become the home of the degraded Mussulman ; as to the other" The Goth , the Christian , time , war , flood and fire , Have dwelt upon the seven-hill'd city ' s pride ; She saw her glories , star by star , expire , And up the steep , barbarian monarch ride .
Where the car climbed the capital far and wide Temple and Tower went down , nor left a site . Chaos of ruins ? who shall trace the void ? O ' er the dim fragments cast a lunar light , And say , ' Here was Rome , ' where all is doubly night . "
Where are the splendid mausoleums , the towering columns , and the triumphal arches of the conquerors of the earth ? At the touch of the destroyer ' s noiseless foot they have crumbled into their native undistinguished dust , and the very names of those they were intended to honour now swell the long black list of infamy .
But we look again , and cease our regret ; we see an institution of humble origin gradually rising and growing until it has filled the earth with a knowledge of its name and character . The waves of persecution and power have dashed against it , but they have been thrown back upon their exhaustless source , only to return again in powerless and harmless fury . Amidst the rage
of faction , the strife of party , the change of revolution , and the horrors of civil war , it has pursued the even tenor of its way regardless alike of all . It has been delivered out of the jaws of the lion , and has passed through the fiery furnace unscathed . The foot of power has attempted to crush it , but like the plant of which nature yields but one specimen , it has lifted itself from the
dust and bloomed again with renewed fragrance and beauty . " The rain descended , and the floods came , and the winds blew and beat upon that house ; but it fell not , for it was founded upon a rock . ' ' Vain man ! how long will you attempt to annihilate that which is indestructible , and to war when defeat is your
certain doom ? Why will you strive to wither the oasis in the desert pathway of life , and leave no green spot on which the eye may rest and feast its weary vision ? Why would you strike from the moral world the sun of indissoluble friendship , and involve it in the darkness of universal misanthropy ?
The question is frequently asked why our Society takes not into its communion the softer and lovelier sex , and why they are not made participants of its counsels and its secrets ? It is not , I may assure my audience , and particularly the fairer portion of it , because we entertain any opinions derogatory of their worth or because we wish to deprive them of their elevated rank in the scale
of society . No ! the farthest from it possible . Operative Masonry being the foundation of our Order , and the origin of our Association , females were not permitted to share in the toils and drudgeries of the rougher sex . The dwelling was to be enjoyed and enlivened by them when completed , but the burthen of its erection was borne by other shoulders . Heaven has appropriated
for them a more elevated and lofty sphere , and we would not disregard the beneficent designs of the Author of " every good and perfect gift . " After the heat and burthen of the day is over , it is their proud prerogative to cheer and animate with their heavenly smiles the drooping spirits of the toil-worn labourer . We are to be the " hewers of wood and drawers of water " for those to whom
we proudly yield the palm of supremacy . It is a principal part of our duty , as Masons , to vindicate the rights of women and to place her above the vicissitudes and misfortunes of life . No look that threatens her with insult will pass unrevenged by any true and loyal knight of our Order . We feel that if woman is degraded
from her elevated rank , society would be at once resolved into chaos and confusion . Instead of being blessed with her animating presence , a cheerless gloom would brood over our social relations , and man would be without a " light to his feet and a lamp to his path . " Yes— *
" Where ' er we wander , East or West , Tho' fate begins to low ' r , A solace she is to us In sorrow ' s lonely hour . When tempests lash our gallant bark , And rend our shiver'd mast , Fair woman ' s form withstands the storm—She's constant to the last ;
. And when our fevered lips are parch'd On Afric's burning sands , She whispers hopes of happiness , And tales of distant lands . Our life had been a wilderness , Unbless'd by Fortune ' s gales , Had fate not link'd our lot to hers , And filled our happy sails . "
Loyalty to the sex is the distinguishing characteristic of every genuine Craftsman , and he that proves recreant to this trust we discard as an exotic ! Although woman is not permitted to share in our labours , yet our wages are freely and liberally divided with her . Tho uninitiated may disbelieve our professions , but the testimony of thousauds and tens of thousands of widows and orphans rises up in judgment against them and condemns them .
What Means All This?
The charity of Masons , like the dew of Hermon , visits its objects noiselessly and without ostentation . The destitute receive , and the world knows it not . Their necessities are relieved , and they themselves hardly know the hand that plucks them from despair .
Although as yet a novice in the Craft , and only on the threshold of the Temple , I would not exchange the feelings occasioned by the little good ifc has made me instrumental in doing for all the honours and distinctions which the favour of the world can bestow .
There are many , however , who acknowledge the benefits arising from Masonry , but object to it on account of its secrecy . This is the main cement of our union and the foundation of its permanency . Take this away and our venerable fabric falls to the ground ; abolish this , and the lovely streams which adorn and beautify the moral earth are at once swallowed up and lost in the
great ocean of the world . Associated together for no pecuniary , selfish or worldly purpose , it is necessary to our , ends that we should retire into the sanctuary of privacy to accomplish our noble designs . Will it , however , be denied that any benefits arise from union ? The day was when such a dogma might have been advanced ; but , thank God , that day is past and gone ! We
live , emphatically , in the age of associations ; associated capital has penetrated Europe and America with artificial rivers ; it has propelled the steam ear with the rapidity of the wind , and ploughed our rivers with the majestic steamboat ; it has dragged wealth from the bowels of the earth ; has made the temperate zone subsidiary to the torrid , and the torrid to the temperate ; has
almost annihilated time and space , and brought together what ignorance had too long kept asunder ; it has convened nations from rivals into friends , ameliorated the horrors of war , and begun to lay the foundations of that era " when the sword shall be converted into the ploughshare , and the spear into the pruuinghook . " And shall it be said that an association for moral purposes
ought to be discouraged ? Can principle so successful in the progress of physical improvement operate injuriously when applied to the moral amelioration of mankind ? Are we so much of utilitarians that everything we hold dear must be sacrificed for physical improvement ? Is friendship to be proscribed ? and can no temple be erected to Charity , without which all other virtues
would be as " a sounding brass and tinkling cymbal " ? Will it be considered as a useless waste of time to endeavour to square our actions by the principles of morality , and circumscribe our desires in every varied station of life that our lot may be east ? But I need not further interrogate ; I know your answer—I appreciate it .
Masonry , like Christianity , though humble in its origin , and born as it were in a manger , has attained a lofty and elevated stand , and now numbers among its disciples many of the powerful of the earth . It is no respecter of persons , and in the sacred recesses of the Temple all meet as equals . The monarch is lost in the man ; and his subjects , as men , are at once put upon an
equality a 3 Masons . Brothers of the same extended family , we share the same burthens and enjoy the same exemptions . Our labour and refreshments are one , and we sit under the same vine and the same fig-tree . This principle of our Order must commend it to the approbation of all . The feelings of human liberty and natural equality are engraved on every human heart , and an
institution which recognises these feelings cannot but be right , at least in that respect . We work with our equals ; and before our peers , bound to us by the strong ties of friendship , we lay our plaints . If in the chequered scenes of life , so beautifully represented by the Mosaic pavement of the Lodge , we should be overtaken by adversity or encounted be misfortune , we can lay
our sorrows before our Brothers unsubjected to the censorious criticism of a cold and unfeeling world . Should an untoward fate consign a Brother ' s wife and children to a premature widowhood and orphanage , his dying bed will feel soft from the gratifying reflection that he leaves behind him those who will be a friend to the widow and a father to the orphan . Oh , who
would not flee to this city of refuge from the persecutions , bickerings and casualties of this world ? Who would not search for the trestleboard of Masonry , on which he will find drawn those beautiful designs from which he can build up his own happiness and that of his family here and hereafter . I cannot tell what others may feel , but as for myself , when I look at the
ancient origin of our Institution , the sacred character of its patrons , the universality of its extent , comprehending the four quarters of tbe globe , and knitting together into one family men of every tribe , kindred and tongue ; the unbroken chain of tradition which leads us back to the early ages , and has transmitted to us unwritten and unimpaired the landmarks of our Order ; when I
see it silently , like a ministering angel , relieving the wants of the needy , administering comfort to the brokenhearted , inculcating the cardinal virtues and enjoining " peace and good will to men , " I am forced to exult in the badge of a Mason , and to admit that it is more ancient than the Golden Fleece or Eoman Eagle , more honourable than the Star or Garter , and more lasting than the pearls of princes or the diadems of kings .