Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Colonial.
and Brother , the Eeverend William Agar Adamson , and from the high estimation in which he is held by the Brethren , whether as a man or a Mason , as a minister of the Gospel or as chaplain of our Lodge , his superior learning and talents have gained for him a standing and a name which commands the most general admiration . Wherever we find a Brother of his profession , endowed with his high attainments , giving occasional leisure to tbe " working" of our Order , there will be found evidence of the greatest prosperity , and I rejoice , Sir , that we shall have the
opportunity of calling upon our Brother while he is near to guide us to a better knowledge of the light and the truth . In all ages , ministers of religion have been distinguished ornaments of society , and remarkable for their deep researches into the hidden mysteries of nature ancl science ; ancl it is to them , perhaps , more than to any other class of intelligence that the " system" upon which we work has been so fully developed , that the light of Masonry shines with moral refulgence over the entire habitable globe . Turn to the ancient mysterieswith which are no doubt familiarand will find that although the
, you , you grand object of the priests , in those clays , was to preserve a pure and unsullied knowledge of the one Great God , the Father of Light ; yet religion was not the sole object of their attention , because Astronomy , Geometry , Mathematics , and Architecture were diligently investigated and taught by them ; and in remote ages when knowledge was of slow and difficult attainment , when its general diffusion was regarded as dangerous and impolitic , all branches of learning and science which were confined to the Priests or Magi alone were only communicated to those who could fullappreciate their excellenceand the utmost caution was
y ; observed by the learned , that a knowledge of the hidden mysteries should only be imparted by steps or degrees until the mind became gradually regenerated and made capable of contemplating the attributes of the Creator , the Great Architect of the Universe . It is not my intention to detain you upon anything like a history of Freemasonry , because such would be far beyond the reach of my ability ; but while there can be no doubt that many regular assemblies of Masons
were held prior to the Christian Era , an eminent writer asserts that the institution " originated in the mind of Adam and descending pure through the antediluvian ages was afterwards taught by Ham , and from him , amidst the impurities of mankind , flowed unpolluted and unstained by idolatry unto these times . " The wisest and the best of men in all ages have encouraged and promoted the art , and it has been matter of speculation and surprise among the uninitiated how the " tie" should have stood as a rock of all ages , unbroken and unchanged ; but until they " see the light , " they must remain in the darkness of the popular world . It
is the pride and glory of the Craft that it acknowledges no religious distinction , for all denominations meet upon the same level , without the semblance of acerbity , and it does not matter whether a Brother shall acknowledge no law divine but the Mosaic or kneel with the Christian to Our Father , who art in Heaven , we are travelling on the same stage of time and nothing can sever tbe "bond" but the grave . From the days of the patriarchs to the present , initiation into the sublime mysteries of our Order has tended to raise the mind from the things of sense to what lies beyond the grave ; and although the institution has undergone
severe trials whilst the ruthless hand of Time has swept away nations and kingdoms of the earth , yet in substance the Eoyal art remains unchanged and unchangeable . Notwithstanding the corruptions and debaucheries which prevailed , especially in Greece , in the dark ages—notwithstanding the machinations of ignorance and prejudice in succeeding generations—notwithstanding the strong arm of the law having enacted penal statutes in times of greater civilization to obscure the "light" of Masonry—notwithstanding every device of the uninitiated and popular world to persecute and to crush the exponents of wisdomand all
, who secretly encouraged the art divine—yet by the blessing of the Grand Geometrician of the universe , the rays of light which first beamed in Egypt , and brightened in Greece , and spread over the world , could not be obscured , but now shine in every region of the earth , and will continue to shine as the stars until all things shall be revealed . The modern system of Freemasonry may not be so closely identified with architecture as it was in former days , and particularly within the past two centuries ; but we who are not operative but Free and Accepted
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Colonial.
and Brother , the Eeverend William Agar Adamson , and from the high estimation in which he is held by the Brethren , whether as a man or a Mason , as a minister of the Gospel or as chaplain of our Lodge , his superior learning and talents have gained for him a standing and a name which commands the most general admiration . Wherever we find a Brother of his profession , endowed with his high attainments , giving occasional leisure to tbe " working" of our Order , there will be found evidence of the greatest prosperity , and I rejoice , Sir , that we shall have the
opportunity of calling upon our Brother while he is near to guide us to a better knowledge of the light and the truth . In all ages , ministers of religion have been distinguished ornaments of society , and remarkable for their deep researches into the hidden mysteries of nature ancl science ; ancl it is to them , perhaps , more than to any other class of intelligence that the " system" upon which we work has been so fully developed , that the light of Masonry shines with moral refulgence over the entire habitable globe . Turn to the ancient mysterieswith which are no doubt familiarand will find that although the
, you , you grand object of the priests , in those clays , was to preserve a pure and unsullied knowledge of the one Great God , the Father of Light ; yet religion was not the sole object of their attention , because Astronomy , Geometry , Mathematics , and Architecture were diligently investigated and taught by them ; and in remote ages when knowledge was of slow and difficult attainment , when its general diffusion was regarded as dangerous and impolitic , all branches of learning and science which were confined to the Priests or Magi alone were only communicated to those who could fullappreciate their excellenceand the utmost caution was
y ; observed by the learned , that a knowledge of the hidden mysteries should only be imparted by steps or degrees until the mind became gradually regenerated and made capable of contemplating the attributes of the Creator , the Great Architect of the Universe . It is not my intention to detain you upon anything like a history of Freemasonry , because such would be far beyond the reach of my ability ; but while there can be no doubt that many regular assemblies of Masons
were held prior to the Christian Era , an eminent writer asserts that the institution " originated in the mind of Adam and descending pure through the antediluvian ages was afterwards taught by Ham , and from him , amidst the impurities of mankind , flowed unpolluted and unstained by idolatry unto these times . " The wisest and the best of men in all ages have encouraged and promoted the art , and it has been matter of speculation and surprise among the uninitiated how the " tie" should have stood as a rock of all ages , unbroken and unchanged ; but until they " see the light , " they must remain in the darkness of the popular world . It
is the pride and glory of the Craft that it acknowledges no religious distinction , for all denominations meet upon the same level , without the semblance of acerbity , and it does not matter whether a Brother shall acknowledge no law divine but the Mosaic or kneel with the Christian to Our Father , who art in Heaven , we are travelling on the same stage of time and nothing can sever tbe "bond" but the grave . From the days of the patriarchs to the present , initiation into the sublime mysteries of our Order has tended to raise the mind from the things of sense to what lies beyond the grave ; and although the institution has undergone
severe trials whilst the ruthless hand of Time has swept away nations and kingdoms of the earth , yet in substance the Eoyal art remains unchanged and unchangeable . Notwithstanding the corruptions and debaucheries which prevailed , especially in Greece , in the dark ages—notwithstanding the machinations of ignorance and prejudice in succeeding generations—notwithstanding the strong arm of the law having enacted penal statutes in times of greater civilization to obscure the "light" of Masonry—notwithstanding every device of the uninitiated and popular world to persecute and to crush the exponents of wisdomand all
, who secretly encouraged the art divine—yet by the blessing of the Grand Geometrician of the universe , the rays of light which first beamed in Egypt , and brightened in Greece , and spread over the world , could not be obscured , but now shine in every region of the earth , and will continue to shine as the stars until all things shall be revealed . The modern system of Freemasonry may not be so closely identified with architecture as it was in former days , and particularly within the past two centuries ; but we who are not operative but Free and Accepted