Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Magazine, Or General And Complete Library.
It is with undissembled veneration that we turn our eyes to our beloved and Most Worshipful Brother * who , by our unanimous suffrages , is placed at the head of this ancient Fraternity . Respected for his native benevolence , endeared to us by an uniformity of conduct in his various Offices , and distinguished by the experience of threescore years and ten . May he still continue a burning and shining
light a . ourrcl the Masonic altar . May each declining moment be illuminated by the rays of respectability and honour , and , finallv , may he " be transmitted from the fading honours of an earthly Lodge to ' the mansions" ofthe blessed . Having thus given a general sketch of the origin and progress of Freemasonry , and divested it of every useless disguisewe beg leave
, to remark , that its design is , 'to promote the " most diffusive benevolence , and universal virtue , " by cherishing the grand principles of brotherly affection and sincerity . By a cheerful aid in support of the government under which we are protected ; and by a disinterested display of that charity which consists in giving of our abundance to the relief of the necessitous , and wiping the tear of sorrow from the
disconsolate eye . But it may be asked , if the exercise of these amiable qualities are peculiar to the Fraternity ; and if their practices and general deportment correspond with the precepts of their Institution . We readil y answer in the negative , and we lament our lukewarmness and depravity . But if every extensive society is to be censured for a departure from the strict rules of proprietyor for the misconduct of some
, of its members , where would this principle lead us ? And would it not even extend to the professors of those sacred doctrines and pre-r cepts 'instituted by that all-wise and beneficent Architect , who knowetb our frame , and rememberetb that we are dust ? To counteract the tendency of illiberal andinjurious suggestions , and to excite a laudable emulation in our own breastsit has been common
, to mention the exertions of those Brethren who have shone conspicuous in the various departments of life . But we need not go back to tire Mosaic history for instances of patriotism , benevolence , and philanthropy ; nor will . we on this auspicious occasion repair to the sepulchres of our illustrious fellow-citizens ; for while a Noah , a Solomon \ , a Warren 1
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Magazine, Or General And Complete Library.
It is with undissembled veneration that we turn our eyes to our beloved and Most Worshipful Brother * who , by our unanimous suffrages , is placed at the head of this ancient Fraternity . Respected for his native benevolence , endeared to us by an uniformity of conduct in his various Offices , and distinguished by the experience of threescore years and ten . May he still continue a burning and shining
light a . ourrcl the Masonic altar . May each declining moment be illuminated by the rays of respectability and honour , and , finallv , may he " be transmitted from the fading honours of an earthly Lodge to ' the mansions" ofthe blessed . Having thus given a general sketch of the origin and progress of Freemasonry , and divested it of every useless disguisewe beg leave
, to remark , that its design is , 'to promote the " most diffusive benevolence , and universal virtue , " by cherishing the grand principles of brotherly affection and sincerity . By a cheerful aid in support of the government under which we are protected ; and by a disinterested display of that charity which consists in giving of our abundance to the relief of the necessitous , and wiping the tear of sorrow from the
disconsolate eye . But it may be asked , if the exercise of these amiable qualities are peculiar to the Fraternity ; and if their practices and general deportment correspond with the precepts of their Institution . We readil y answer in the negative , and we lament our lukewarmness and depravity . But if every extensive society is to be censured for a departure from the strict rules of proprietyor for the misconduct of some
, of its members , where would this principle lead us ? And would it not even extend to the professors of those sacred doctrines and pre-r cepts 'instituted by that all-wise and beneficent Architect , who knowetb our frame , and rememberetb that we are dust ? To counteract the tendency of illiberal andinjurious suggestions , and to excite a laudable emulation in our own breastsit has been common
, to mention the exertions of those Brethren who have shone conspicuous in the various departments of life . But we need not go back to tire Mosaic history for instances of patriotism , benevolence , and philanthropy ; nor will . we on this auspicious occasion repair to the sepulchres of our illustrious fellow-citizens ; for while a Noah , a Solomon \ , a Warren 1