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Article ADDRESS OF MAJOR-GENERAL COOKE ← Page 3 of 5 →
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Address Of Major-General Cooke
to be classed with the host of lengthened panegyrics which , sabbath and sabbath , emanate in the pulpit from the lips of some who , seldom practising what they preach—like the Priest and Levite—turn a deaf ear to the cause of humanity , but that its admonition " to be careful to entertain strangers ; for ye may sometimes entertain angels unawares , " has been on this momentous occasion emphatically verified in the hearts oi this hallowed company . When public companies like these , therefore , are united , their unanimity is wonderful ! This subject is full of matter , and abounds with many facts to which I cannot now advert , and upon which I cannot
now remark ; one common sentiment , however , to combine the idea that we shall all of us harmonize in peace ancl charity while we live , and that when our earthly tabernacle be dissolved , that our connexion will be again re-united and moulded together after death , in ' that bourne from whence no traveller is permitted to return . ' To dwell on a reminiscence of those happy scenes which have transpired during our last Masonic season , to recount the honoured names of distinguished men enrolled in the catalogue of brethren , to review their
individual virtues , and enumerate their personal efforts in planting ancl in fostering the fundamental principles upon which every newly-elected candidate into Masonry should build their structure among the craft , would furnish a theme full of interest , could I recollect the several facts and place them as a living reality before the mind . What an array of talent , and virtue , and piety would be thus grouped together ! What fraternal regard for the common interest of the entire Brotherhood would be seen to have characterized their stewardship ! What
devotion to the sound principles of ancient Masonry ! And what unabated attachment to the institution itself lived in their hearts and actuated their conduct ! To this portrait of Masonic evidence it is impossible for me to do anything like justice ; more than that , I am assured the spirit of brotherly love , relief , and truth are so inseparably connected with the peace and happiness of society , that I am constrained to believe Freemasonry is destined to stand extolledby the example of our worth
, y Chairman , on the catalogue of those human instrumentalities brought to bear on the common well-being of man ; and if 1 do not greatly misjudge , a history of the past , together with my own observations of the present , is to me a clear revelation of what St . Paul ' s Lodge , No . 229 , though at this time second to none in respectability ancl strength , will yet be—according as it does those divine illuminations with which its
members are yet to be blessed . Methinks 1 hear a voice whispering from the ruins of the pastfrom the humiliations of the proud—from the prostrate thrones of conquerors—from the baffled schemes of statesmen—from the reprobation which , sooner or later , visits unrighteous policy—that though men , measures , ancl all earthly interests vanish , Masonic principles are eternal ; the true Masonic character is immortal . I shall not , I hope , he suspected or censured for claiming too much by the formation of our
Masonic characters , and to refuse a study of it will , you will readily allow be injustice to ourselves with so bright an evidence before us ; I know you will not , and one pledge of it I read in the spirit which has instituted this clay ' s festival . It was a noble impulse , worthy sir and brethren , that let ! you in the promulgation of this emergency , to look forward to this auspicious day several weeks , I am informed , before it dawned upon us , and to resolve that it should be hallowed by some such
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Address Of Major-General Cooke
to be classed with the host of lengthened panegyrics which , sabbath and sabbath , emanate in the pulpit from the lips of some who , seldom practising what they preach—like the Priest and Levite—turn a deaf ear to the cause of humanity , but that its admonition " to be careful to entertain strangers ; for ye may sometimes entertain angels unawares , " has been on this momentous occasion emphatically verified in the hearts oi this hallowed company . When public companies like these , therefore , are united , their unanimity is wonderful ! This subject is full of matter , and abounds with many facts to which I cannot now advert , and upon which I cannot
now remark ; one common sentiment , however , to combine the idea that we shall all of us harmonize in peace ancl charity while we live , and that when our earthly tabernacle be dissolved , that our connexion will be again re-united and moulded together after death , in ' that bourne from whence no traveller is permitted to return . ' To dwell on a reminiscence of those happy scenes which have transpired during our last Masonic season , to recount the honoured names of distinguished men enrolled in the catalogue of brethren , to review their
individual virtues , and enumerate their personal efforts in planting ancl in fostering the fundamental principles upon which every newly-elected candidate into Masonry should build their structure among the craft , would furnish a theme full of interest , could I recollect the several facts and place them as a living reality before the mind . What an array of talent , and virtue , and piety would be thus grouped together ! What fraternal regard for the common interest of the entire Brotherhood would be seen to have characterized their stewardship ! What
devotion to the sound principles of ancient Masonry ! And what unabated attachment to the institution itself lived in their hearts and actuated their conduct ! To this portrait of Masonic evidence it is impossible for me to do anything like justice ; more than that , I am assured the spirit of brotherly love , relief , and truth are so inseparably connected with the peace and happiness of society , that I am constrained to believe Freemasonry is destined to stand extolledby the example of our worth
, y Chairman , on the catalogue of those human instrumentalities brought to bear on the common well-being of man ; and if 1 do not greatly misjudge , a history of the past , together with my own observations of the present , is to me a clear revelation of what St . Paul ' s Lodge , No . 229 , though at this time second to none in respectability ancl strength , will yet be—according as it does those divine illuminations with which its
members are yet to be blessed . Methinks 1 hear a voice whispering from the ruins of the pastfrom the humiliations of the proud—from the prostrate thrones of conquerors—from the baffled schemes of statesmen—from the reprobation which , sooner or later , visits unrighteous policy—that though men , measures , ancl all earthly interests vanish , Masonic principles are eternal ; the true Masonic character is immortal . I shall not , I hope , he suspected or censured for claiming too much by the formation of our
Masonic characters , and to refuse a study of it will , you will readily allow be injustice to ourselves with so bright an evidence before us ; I know you will not , and one pledge of it I read in the spirit which has instituted this clay ' s festival . It was a noble impulse , worthy sir and brethren , that let ! you in the promulgation of this emergency , to look forward to this auspicious day several weeks , I am informed , before it dawned upon us , and to resolve that it should be hallowed by some such