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Article AN ORATION ← Page 5 of 5
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Oration
be raised even in this assembly , were the book of fate to be unrolled to our view ! If Providence should permit us to penetrate this moment into futurity , and to foresee the fate of ourselves and others only to the end of the present year , some of us who , perhaps , suppose death to be at a great distance , would see him already at the very door ; some who , in full security , are dreaming of a long
course of years yet to come , would find that the ) ' have already entered on their last * , and that before it come to a close , they , like our departed brother , shall be mingled with the dust . A great part of this assembly , by the course of nature , will probably survive a little longer ; but it is morally certain that some of us , before the sun has made another annual revolutionwill be removed hence to that
, unchangeable state where our doom will be fixed for ever . And although Heaven has wrapt in impenetrable darkness who they are that shall pass through the vale of the shadow of death during that short period , iu order that we may all live in a state of habitual preparation , yet wdio can have the presumption to say , that he himself shall not be the first to visit " that undiscovered country from
whose bourne no traveller returns ?'' How careful , therefore , ought we to be not to disappoint the wise design of this mysterious secrecy , nor pervert what is meant to keep us perpetually on our guard , into a source of fatal security ; for the day will most assuredly come ( whether sooner or later is of little importance to us ) when we likewise shall be numbered with those who have been .
May we all endeavour , therefore , so to live daily as we shall fervently wish we had lived when that awful moment overtakes us in which our souls shall be required of us . May we study to act in such a manner , that our practice may prove the best comment on the principles of our Craft , and thereb y teach the world , that Charit y and Brotherly Love , integrity of heart , and purity of manners , are not less the
characteristics of MASONRY than (^ RELIGION . Then may we piously hope , that when a period even still more awful than the hour of our dissolution shall arrive , when the last trumpet shall sound , and the dead shall be raised incorruptible ; when our scattered atoms shall be collected , and we shall all appear in the presence of the Lord God Omnipotent" tbe bib and lofty One who inbabitetb eternit" that
, g y , our transgressions will be mercifull y forgiven , and that THE GRANB A RCHITECT OF THE UNIVERSE will be graciously pleased to give us rest from all our labours , by an admission into the celestial Fraternity of angels , and the spirits of just men made perfect . To HIM be glory , honour , and praise , for ever and ever . ¦ Amen ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Oration
be raised even in this assembly , were the book of fate to be unrolled to our view ! If Providence should permit us to penetrate this moment into futurity , and to foresee the fate of ourselves and others only to the end of the present year , some of us who , perhaps , suppose death to be at a great distance , would see him already at the very door ; some who , in full security , are dreaming of a long
course of years yet to come , would find that the ) ' have already entered on their last * , and that before it come to a close , they , like our departed brother , shall be mingled with the dust . A great part of this assembly , by the course of nature , will probably survive a little longer ; but it is morally certain that some of us , before the sun has made another annual revolutionwill be removed hence to that
, unchangeable state where our doom will be fixed for ever . And although Heaven has wrapt in impenetrable darkness who they are that shall pass through the vale of the shadow of death during that short period , iu order that we may all live in a state of habitual preparation , yet wdio can have the presumption to say , that he himself shall not be the first to visit " that undiscovered country from
whose bourne no traveller returns ?'' How careful , therefore , ought we to be not to disappoint the wise design of this mysterious secrecy , nor pervert what is meant to keep us perpetually on our guard , into a source of fatal security ; for the day will most assuredly come ( whether sooner or later is of little importance to us ) when we likewise shall be numbered with those who have been .
May we all endeavour , therefore , so to live daily as we shall fervently wish we had lived when that awful moment overtakes us in which our souls shall be required of us . May we study to act in such a manner , that our practice may prove the best comment on the principles of our Craft , and thereb y teach the world , that Charit y and Brotherly Love , integrity of heart , and purity of manners , are not less the
characteristics of MASONRY than (^ RELIGION . Then may we piously hope , that when a period even still more awful than the hour of our dissolution shall arrive , when the last trumpet shall sound , and the dead shall be raised incorruptible ; when our scattered atoms shall be collected , and we shall all appear in the presence of the Lord God Omnipotent" tbe bib and lofty One who inbabitetb eternit" that
, g y , our transgressions will be mercifull y forgiven , and that THE GRANB A RCHITECT OF THE UNIVERSE will be graciously pleased to give us rest from all our labours , by an admission into the celestial Fraternity of angels , and the spirits of just men made perfect . To HIM be glory , honour , and praise , for ever and ever . ¦ Amen ,