-
Articles/Ads
Article TO THE EDITOR. ← Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor.
as undeserving the church's countenance ; and states that the refusal of his pulpit , on the occasion referred to , had the bishop ' s sanction . Among the numerous societies of men , few , if any , are wholly exempt from censure . " Man is by nature the child of ignorance anil error ;" the primseval frailty still clings around him . How , then , can we expect any society so to fence itself around , that none shall enter from worldly , if not impuremotives ? Even in tbe churchlet Mr . Blunt and his
, , diocesan say , whether they think the ordination vows are always taken , or the lawn sleeves always put on from truly pious motives—from " a sincere wish to render themselves more extensively serviceable to their fellow-creatures , " or whether they are not sometimes made the steppingstones to mercenary and ambitious ends ? Would they like such examples —and I believe them to be few—to be held up as a standard whereby to judge the whole clerical body ? I wot not .
We may be told that Freemasons are not recognized as a religious society ; I ask , are benefit societies , the society of Odd Fellows , aud others , recognized as such ? No ; and yet we frequently read accounts of their beginning the business of the day by going to church . Why , then , should not Freemasons openly "invoke the blessing of heaven upon their proceedings ? " Again , to say that our ranks are open to men of all persuasions , is an objection of no weight ; for other societies are
not restricted to members of tbe Church of England . Would Mr . Blunt have refused his pulpit to a " benefit society , " or to many of the other charitable societies already alluded to ? Wherefore , then , exclude Freemasons , of whose charity it mav justly be said ,
" Far as the breeze can bear , the billows foam , Survey our empire , and behold our home . " Let our opponents look at the extensive metropolitan charities supported by Freemasons , where the YOUNG are trained in those paths which , if persevered in throughout life , will finally lead them to the GRAND LODGE ABOVE ; and where the AGED have their latter days comforted , ancl sheltered from the storms of a pitiless world . Let them look at the
many Provincial Masonic charities . It is easy to sneer at a society whose principles ancl practices we will not become acquainted with . Man ' s innate indolence , and love of ridiculing others , makes him too ready to laugh with the multitude , rather than examine into the subject of his merriment : but ridicule is neither argument nor evidence , and will have weight only with those of whom we may say , parva Iceves capiunt animos . If there were any thing bad—or rather , were there not
much good in Masonry , would it have been so countenanced in all ages and countries ? Would so many , of all ranks , from the poor mechanic , who knows not to-day where he may find a morsel of bread for the morrow , up to the prince " clothed in purple , and faring sumptuously every day ;"—men of every shade of intellect ; from him who can scarce read and write , ancl knows not the mechanical principle of the tools he works withup to the most cultivated ancl enlightened geniuses of their
, age ancl country—would all these have enrolled themselves amongst us ? In the list of illustrious persons who have presided over the Craft in this country , there are the names of nine KINGS , two ROYAL DUKES , three ARCHBISHOPS , and seven BISHOPS : and at this time one ARCHBISHOP , and , I believe , one or two BISHOPS , together with many eminent divines , are not ashamed to call themselves our Brethren . So much for those who think the Order unworthy of the church ' s countenance . I do not
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor.
as undeserving the church's countenance ; and states that the refusal of his pulpit , on the occasion referred to , had the bishop ' s sanction . Among the numerous societies of men , few , if any , are wholly exempt from censure . " Man is by nature the child of ignorance anil error ;" the primseval frailty still clings around him . How , then , can we expect any society so to fence itself around , that none shall enter from worldly , if not impuremotives ? Even in tbe churchlet Mr . Blunt and his
, , diocesan say , whether they think the ordination vows are always taken , or the lawn sleeves always put on from truly pious motives—from " a sincere wish to render themselves more extensively serviceable to their fellow-creatures , " or whether they are not sometimes made the steppingstones to mercenary and ambitious ends ? Would they like such examples —and I believe them to be few—to be held up as a standard whereby to judge the whole clerical body ? I wot not .
We may be told that Freemasons are not recognized as a religious society ; I ask , are benefit societies , the society of Odd Fellows , aud others , recognized as such ? No ; and yet we frequently read accounts of their beginning the business of the day by going to church . Why , then , should not Freemasons openly "invoke the blessing of heaven upon their proceedings ? " Again , to say that our ranks are open to men of all persuasions , is an objection of no weight ; for other societies are
not restricted to members of tbe Church of England . Would Mr . Blunt have refused his pulpit to a " benefit society , " or to many of the other charitable societies already alluded to ? Wherefore , then , exclude Freemasons , of whose charity it mav justly be said ,
" Far as the breeze can bear , the billows foam , Survey our empire , and behold our home . " Let our opponents look at the extensive metropolitan charities supported by Freemasons , where the YOUNG are trained in those paths which , if persevered in throughout life , will finally lead them to the GRAND LODGE ABOVE ; and where the AGED have their latter days comforted , ancl sheltered from the storms of a pitiless world . Let them look at the
many Provincial Masonic charities . It is easy to sneer at a society whose principles ancl practices we will not become acquainted with . Man ' s innate indolence , and love of ridiculing others , makes him too ready to laugh with the multitude , rather than examine into the subject of his merriment : but ridicule is neither argument nor evidence , and will have weight only with those of whom we may say , parva Iceves capiunt animos . If there were any thing bad—or rather , were there not
much good in Masonry , would it have been so countenanced in all ages and countries ? Would so many , of all ranks , from the poor mechanic , who knows not to-day where he may find a morsel of bread for the morrow , up to the prince " clothed in purple , and faring sumptuously every day ;"—men of every shade of intellect ; from him who can scarce read and write , ancl knows not the mechanical principle of the tools he works withup to the most cultivated ancl enlightened geniuses of their
, age ancl country—would all these have enrolled themselves amongst us ? In the list of illustrious persons who have presided over the Craft in this country , there are the names of nine KINGS , two ROYAL DUKES , three ARCHBISHOPS , and seven BISHOPS : and at this time one ARCHBISHOP , and , I believe , one or two BISHOPS , together with many eminent divines , are not ashamed to call themselves our Brethren . So much for those who think the Order unworthy of the church ' s countenance . I do not