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Article PROVINCIAL. ← Page 4 of 25 →
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Provincial.
condemned or glorified . Pledge me then in a brimming bumper to tho health , happiness , and honour of our Brother , Dr . Crucefix , and allow me to couple with it that of another Grand Officer present , Brother Watkins , the devoted friend of our distinguished guest . This toast made the Lodge roof ring again with the rapturous firing of the Brethren . Dr . CRUCEFIX rose , and appeared , as he well might be , much delighted bhis receptionwhichhe observedrather troubled his self-possession
y , , , , although it reminded him that better men had been suddenly disconcerted by the impulse of the moment , and instanced the immortal Newton , and Garrick , the Roscius of his day , when under examination by parliamentary committees ; the one hesitated on a simple question respecting the longitude—the other could not say what was meant by a theatrical benefit ; the latter question now-a-days might be still more difficult to answer —( laughter ); he ( Dr . C . ) felt , that although not
under examination , he was still present before a committee of the Fraternity of Masons . " AVhat my feelings are , " continued Dr . C , " I must leave to your own contemplation ; my trusty friend in the chair has , in the most affectionate manner , conveyed your sentiments to me , and I feel bound to you by a tie which , on my part , nothing but a knowledge of the great secret of eternity can
dissolve"He that hath nature in him must be grateful ; 'Tis the Crcatot ' s primary great law That links the chain of beings to each other . ' * " Brethren , I take it that your invitation—a most kind and courteous one—was grounded on the opportunity it would afford me of offering you an explanation of my Masonic conduct , and I will not shrink from the task . 1 am fortunate in being able to avail myself of the opportunity , as a contrast to what has been stated in other places . A serious mistake , in my case has been committed—I have been altogether misunderstood—my impression that
" All mankind are , by nature , free and equal , " may have led others to suppose I am influenced by too literal a construction of freedom , but it should not have induced them to have forgotten , in their hostility , that I was at least a Man . " Loyalty amongus Masons , as well as among the profane ( I use the term profane , in which a high Masonic authority indulges , and not as my own ) is comprised in the memorable words ,
" Love the Brotherhood , fear God , honour the king . " " Few men have spoken or written more than I have on Masonic matters , and yet nothing can be adduced against me , but that I heard something that was , after many days' and nights' consideration , declared to have a tendency to disrespect ; so that my declaration that I never heard words having such tendency was disregarded , and others who heard not with their own ears , but took a liberty with mine , were
beieved ; and the Midas-scene was hi ghly illustrative of folly and injustice . " I am aware that I passed my act of amnesty in November last , but that act was conditional—that I was to remain unassailed—but faith was not kept , inasmuch as on a recent occasion , when in a " certain assembly , " , in my place , was endeavouring to explain on some important matters was again misunderstood , and treated as I ought not to have been . ' "I was then desirous of giving a favourable opinion on the new
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Provincial.
condemned or glorified . Pledge me then in a brimming bumper to tho health , happiness , and honour of our Brother , Dr . Crucefix , and allow me to couple with it that of another Grand Officer present , Brother Watkins , the devoted friend of our distinguished guest . This toast made the Lodge roof ring again with the rapturous firing of the Brethren . Dr . CRUCEFIX rose , and appeared , as he well might be , much delighted bhis receptionwhichhe observedrather troubled his self-possession
y , , , , although it reminded him that better men had been suddenly disconcerted by the impulse of the moment , and instanced the immortal Newton , and Garrick , the Roscius of his day , when under examination by parliamentary committees ; the one hesitated on a simple question respecting the longitude—the other could not say what was meant by a theatrical benefit ; the latter question now-a-days might be still more difficult to answer —( laughter ); he ( Dr . C . ) felt , that although not
under examination , he was still present before a committee of the Fraternity of Masons . " AVhat my feelings are , " continued Dr . C , " I must leave to your own contemplation ; my trusty friend in the chair has , in the most affectionate manner , conveyed your sentiments to me , and I feel bound to you by a tie which , on my part , nothing but a knowledge of the great secret of eternity can
dissolve"He that hath nature in him must be grateful ; 'Tis the Crcatot ' s primary great law That links the chain of beings to each other . ' * " Brethren , I take it that your invitation—a most kind and courteous one—was grounded on the opportunity it would afford me of offering you an explanation of my Masonic conduct , and I will not shrink from the task . 1 am fortunate in being able to avail myself of the opportunity , as a contrast to what has been stated in other places . A serious mistake , in my case has been committed—I have been altogether misunderstood—my impression that
" All mankind are , by nature , free and equal , " may have led others to suppose I am influenced by too literal a construction of freedom , but it should not have induced them to have forgotten , in their hostility , that I was at least a Man . " Loyalty amongus Masons , as well as among the profane ( I use the term profane , in which a high Masonic authority indulges , and not as my own ) is comprised in the memorable words ,
" Love the Brotherhood , fear God , honour the king . " " Few men have spoken or written more than I have on Masonic matters , and yet nothing can be adduced against me , but that I heard something that was , after many days' and nights' consideration , declared to have a tendency to disrespect ; so that my declaration that I never heard words having such tendency was disregarded , and others who heard not with their own ears , but took a liberty with mine , were
beieved ; and the Midas-scene was hi ghly illustrative of folly and injustice . " I am aware that I passed my act of amnesty in November last , but that act was conditional—that I was to remain unassailed—but faith was not kept , inasmuch as on a recent occasion , when in a " certain assembly , " , in my place , was endeavouring to explain on some important matters was again misunderstood , and treated as I ought not to have been . ' "I was then desirous of giving a favourable opinion on the new