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Article UNITED STATES. ← Page 2 of 3 →
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United States.
June 24 . —Brother Morgan Lewis was installed , when M AA ' . Bro . King addressed the new G . M . as follows : " Most worshipful Brother , —I congratulate you on your elevation to the highest honour which Masonry can bestow . In this exalted station it will be in your power not only to guard this most ancient and honourable society from innovation , but also to extend the blessings of its influence .
" That such will be the result of your administration , I confidently predict , as well from personal knowledge of your private character , as from the distinguished manner in which you have discharged the arduous duties of some of the highest offices in the gift of your country . " Freemasonry can now enrol on her list of patrons , another soldier of the revolution , and whilst the most important offices in this institution shall thus continue to be filled by men enjoying the affections and confidence of intelli
an gent community , we may reasonably hope that the apprehension and prejudices which have been recently excited by the misguided conduct of a few obscure and wicked individuals belonging to the Order , will , ere long be dissipated , and the benign influence of Freemasonry again be exercised without interruption . _ " ¦ In the discharge of your important duties , I can say from experience , you may safely calculate on the co-operation of every member of this body , and hence , your station will be rendered no less pleasing than it is honourable . "
I o which the M . AA' . Grand Master replied : — " Most AA'orshipful Past Grand Master , and Brethren of this Grand Lodge , the confidence with which you have honoured me , manifested by placing me in this chair , inspires sentiments more easily conceived than expressed—which , while they excite the most grateful feelings , impose as a duty , to which I trust inclination will ever respond , such a discharge of the trust reposed in me , as shall not disappoint your most flattering expectations .
" The circumstance alluded to by the very respectable Brother , who has kindly officiated at this inauguration , is one to be contemplated more in pity than in anger , except perhaps as regards those , who certainly had the power , and whose duty it was , rather to stifle than to fan the embers of discord , until they had blown them into a flame of persecution , better adapted to the darkness of the middle ages , than to the enlightened period of the present day . Avhen we behold these men connecting the
excitement , which if they did not create , they have certainly cherished and increased , with political party views , the conclusion is irresistible , that they have been actuated by sinister and selfish , not by virtuous ancl laudable motives .
" The circumstances to which this excitement , in its origin , is referrible , must , in candour , be allowed to have been of an aggravated nature ; and , as far as the immediate perpetrators of the offence are concerned , merits the most exemplary punishment . But to visit the sins of a few worthless individuals on the whole body of an institution , founded in benevolence , charity , ancl the purest philanthropy , which has subsisted fov ages with unblemished reputation , enrolling within its pale , countless numbers of the best of patriots , statesmen , sages , and divines , must meet the reprobation of the virtuous and disinterested . If Masonry , a human institution is to be anathematized for having furnished a few , a
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
United States.
June 24 . —Brother Morgan Lewis was installed , when M AA ' . Bro . King addressed the new G . M . as follows : " Most worshipful Brother , —I congratulate you on your elevation to the highest honour which Masonry can bestow . In this exalted station it will be in your power not only to guard this most ancient and honourable society from innovation , but also to extend the blessings of its influence .
" That such will be the result of your administration , I confidently predict , as well from personal knowledge of your private character , as from the distinguished manner in which you have discharged the arduous duties of some of the highest offices in the gift of your country . " Freemasonry can now enrol on her list of patrons , another soldier of the revolution , and whilst the most important offices in this institution shall thus continue to be filled by men enjoying the affections and confidence of intelli
an gent community , we may reasonably hope that the apprehension and prejudices which have been recently excited by the misguided conduct of a few obscure and wicked individuals belonging to the Order , will , ere long be dissipated , and the benign influence of Freemasonry again be exercised without interruption . _ " ¦ In the discharge of your important duties , I can say from experience , you may safely calculate on the co-operation of every member of this body , and hence , your station will be rendered no less pleasing than it is honourable . "
I o which the M . AA' . Grand Master replied : — " Most AA'orshipful Past Grand Master , and Brethren of this Grand Lodge , the confidence with which you have honoured me , manifested by placing me in this chair , inspires sentiments more easily conceived than expressed—which , while they excite the most grateful feelings , impose as a duty , to which I trust inclination will ever respond , such a discharge of the trust reposed in me , as shall not disappoint your most flattering expectations .
" The circumstance alluded to by the very respectable Brother , who has kindly officiated at this inauguration , is one to be contemplated more in pity than in anger , except perhaps as regards those , who certainly had the power , and whose duty it was , rather to stifle than to fan the embers of discord , until they had blown them into a flame of persecution , better adapted to the darkness of the middle ages , than to the enlightened period of the present day . Avhen we behold these men connecting the
excitement , which if they did not create , they have certainly cherished and increased , with political party views , the conclusion is irresistible , that they have been actuated by sinister and selfish , not by virtuous ancl laudable motives .
" The circumstances to which this excitement , in its origin , is referrible , must , in candour , be allowed to have been of an aggravated nature ; and , as far as the immediate perpetrators of the offence are concerned , merits the most exemplary punishment . But to visit the sins of a few worthless individuals on the whole body of an institution , founded in benevolence , charity , ancl the purest philanthropy , which has subsisted fov ages with unblemished reputation , enrolling within its pale , countless numbers of the best of patriots , statesmen , sages , and divines , must meet the reprobation of the virtuous and disinterested . If Masonry , a human institution is to be anathematized for having furnished a few , a