Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Poetry.
POETRY .
MASONIC PROLOGUE ,
SPOKEN IN THE THEATRE AT EXETER , JANUAKY 7 , 1771 . THO' Slander follows wiieresoe ' er I go , To villify the Art she does not know , Undaunted ( guilt alone has cause to fear )
Cloath'd with this honour'd badge , I now appear , Owning myself a Mason ;—at the name , No guilty redness dyes my cheek with shame :. Let Slander follow;—I her darts defy ; And laugh at sneering Folly ' s oft-told lie . . But what our Order teaches I will shew ; The lessons you must love—when once you know .
It ahvays bids us , humbly to adore Th' Almighty Architect;—by whose great pow ' r The Universe was built;—to his decree , Which Wisdom ever guides , resign'd to be . It makes us zealous in our country ' s cause , Trite to its prince , and faithful to its laws ; Forever bids us , with the strictest care , To act with all the world upon the square ; Never to publish a frail neighbour's shame , Or filch away a brother ' s honest name ;
To be sincere;—Ins secrets ne ' er reveal , And him to serve , with fervency and zeal . With true philanthropy it warms our breast , With useful zeal to succour the distrest ; Bids us shew mercy when we have the pow'r , And to the houseless stranger ope the door ; The naked with warm vestments to infold ,
And guard the shiv ' ring wand'rers from the cold ; To feed the hungry—bid them eat and live , And to the thirsty lip the cup to give ; To visit wretches tortur'd by disease , Make smooth their bed , and pour the balm of ease The widow ' s tale , the orphan ' s cry " to hear , And from their eyes wipe off Affliction ' s tear ;
" To know each office , each endearing tye , " Of soft-eyed , Heaven-descended Charity . " Upright it bids us walk ;—to put a rein On sensual appetites , —rand-pride restrain . It roots out narrow notions from the mind , And plants a gen ' rous love for all mankind ; jiegards not modes of Faith , but cries , " Unite With ALL , who work by the nice rule of right ;
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Poetry.
POETRY .
MASONIC PROLOGUE ,
SPOKEN IN THE THEATRE AT EXETER , JANUAKY 7 , 1771 . THO' Slander follows wiieresoe ' er I go , To villify the Art she does not know , Undaunted ( guilt alone has cause to fear )
Cloath'd with this honour'd badge , I now appear , Owning myself a Mason ;—at the name , No guilty redness dyes my cheek with shame :. Let Slander follow;—I her darts defy ; And laugh at sneering Folly ' s oft-told lie . . But what our Order teaches I will shew ; The lessons you must love—when once you know .
It ahvays bids us , humbly to adore Th' Almighty Architect;—by whose great pow ' r The Universe was built;—to his decree , Which Wisdom ever guides , resign'd to be . It makes us zealous in our country ' s cause , Trite to its prince , and faithful to its laws ; Forever bids us , with the strictest care , To act with all the world upon the square ; Never to publish a frail neighbour's shame , Or filch away a brother ' s honest name ;
To be sincere;—Ins secrets ne ' er reveal , And him to serve , with fervency and zeal . With true philanthropy it warms our breast , With useful zeal to succour the distrest ; Bids us shew mercy when we have the pow'r , And to the houseless stranger ope the door ; The naked with warm vestments to infold ,
And guard the shiv ' ring wand'rers from the cold ; To feed the hungry—bid them eat and live , And to the thirsty lip the cup to give ; To visit wretches tortur'd by disease , Make smooth their bed , and pour the balm of ease The widow ' s tale , the orphan ' s cry " to hear , And from their eyes wipe off Affliction ' s tear ;
" To know each office , each endearing tye , " Of soft-eyed , Heaven-descended Charity . " Upright it bids us walk ;—to put a rein On sensual appetites , —rand-pride restrain . It roots out narrow notions from the mind , And plants a gen ' rous love for all mankind ; jiegards not modes of Faith , but cries , " Unite With ALL , who work by the nice rule of right ;