Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Thought.
long encompassed him , and erase from the tables of his heart the sorrows which have been engraved there by the oft-repeated disappointment , and he whose soul watches unmoved the revolutions progressing around him , and the even tenor of whose way is unobstructed by the ills and adversities that crowd on his more exalted but less enviable neighbour ; here all meet together for the same great and holy purpose —of promoting the happiness and good of each member of the
Orderto still the bursting throb of the orphan ' s heart , to stay the tear of maternal solicitude , to hush the sigh of the widow ' s heart , and throiv the mantle of comfort and peace over the declining form of decrepitude and age . It were impossible to review the history of tiie Order , and trace its windings through the various complexities which have attended it , without a deep feeling of wonder and astonishment ; now starting
forward in all its giant power , to give splendour to the diadem and lustre to the era that had fostered its growth ; now gently retiring , encircled in its glories , as the efforts of malevolence or the untiring hand of tyranny have threatened its being , but , like a strong man in his strength , retiring only to collect together its scattered power , and awaiting only tlie auspicious moment that should restore it to the brightness and plenitude of its lory .
g What vindication is necessary for such a society , founded on such principles , and whose superstructure is raised on such benevolent basis ?' tell me , ye whose lip is raised in scorn , proclaiming the contempt that struggles for the mastery in your hearts , and the glance of whose eye speaks of defence and revenge , if amidst all the institutions that crowd
the surface of our country , and deck the social and moral hemisphere of humanity , standing respiendentfy forward in the panorama of history , and throwing back from their walls a brilliancy as dazzling and a beauty as irresistible as the feelings of the heart that called them into being , and infused its spirit in the adamant and its fire in the marble ; tell me , I say , if amidst this gorgeous display of all that is honourable to man and dear to his heart , the simple and unadorned temple of
JIasonry is not fairest , purest , loveliest , best ; standing amidst its compeers humbly proud , elevating the lowly , opening the flood-gates of compassion to the cry of the mourner , pouring the cordial of pity into the wounds of the afflicted ; the outstretched hand of sympath y bowing down the head of the sufferer with blessings , and bidding the tear of sorrow forget to flow ?—Shall such a society need a vindication , founded as it is on the purest principles of piety and virtue ? No ; the fire
shall depart from the inspirations of the prophet , and the rapturebreathing strains of melody that floated over the strings of the royal and heaven-taught minstrel shall pall upon the ear , only when the institutions of Freemasonry shall no longer find supporters in the children of men , and when the objects for ivhich they were instituted shall cease to he their glory and their boast . But ye say , if your intentions are so fraught ivith good to manwh
, y so much secrecy and concealment ? How much better to proclaim to the world your efforts for the amelioration of its sufferings , and the wider extension ofits happiness . We answer , ive have no such Pharasaical wish . Be assured , Freemasonry needs not to be heralded by the shout or the trumpet-clang : pure and unalloyed charity needs no such impulse . It seeks out the wanderer and friendless , and in secret gives to the hand that would never have been raised to ask the pittance of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Thought.
long encompassed him , and erase from the tables of his heart the sorrows which have been engraved there by the oft-repeated disappointment , and he whose soul watches unmoved the revolutions progressing around him , and the even tenor of whose way is unobstructed by the ills and adversities that crowd on his more exalted but less enviable neighbour ; here all meet together for the same great and holy purpose —of promoting the happiness and good of each member of the
Orderto still the bursting throb of the orphan ' s heart , to stay the tear of maternal solicitude , to hush the sigh of the widow ' s heart , and throiv the mantle of comfort and peace over the declining form of decrepitude and age . It were impossible to review the history of tiie Order , and trace its windings through the various complexities which have attended it , without a deep feeling of wonder and astonishment ; now starting
forward in all its giant power , to give splendour to the diadem and lustre to the era that had fostered its growth ; now gently retiring , encircled in its glories , as the efforts of malevolence or the untiring hand of tyranny have threatened its being , but , like a strong man in his strength , retiring only to collect together its scattered power , and awaiting only tlie auspicious moment that should restore it to the brightness and plenitude of its lory .
g What vindication is necessary for such a society , founded on such principles , and whose superstructure is raised on such benevolent basis ?' tell me , ye whose lip is raised in scorn , proclaiming the contempt that struggles for the mastery in your hearts , and the glance of whose eye speaks of defence and revenge , if amidst all the institutions that crowd
the surface of our country , and deck the social and moral hemisphere of humanity , standing respiendentfy forward in the panorama of history , and throwing back from their walls a brilliancy as dazzling and a beauty as irresistible as the feelings of the heart that called them into being , and infused its spirit in the adamant and its fire in the marble ; tell me , I say , if amidst this gorgeous display of all that is honourable to man and dear to his heart , the simple and unadorned temple of
JIasonry is not fairest , purest , loveliest , best ; standing amidst its compeers humbly proud , elevating the lowly , opening the flood-gates of compassion to the cry of the mourner , pouring the cordial of pity into the wounds of the afflicted ; the outstretched hand of sympath y bowing down the head of the sufferer with blessings , and bidding the tear of sorrow forget to flow ?—Shall such a society need a vindication , founded as it is on the purest principles of piety and virtue ? No ; the fire
shall depart from the inspirations of the prophet , and the rapturebreathing strains of melody that floated over the strings of the royal and heaven-taught minstrel shall pall upon the ear , only when the institutions of Freemasonry shall no longer find supporters in the children of men , and when the objects for ivhich they were instituted shall cease to he their glory and their boast . But ye say , if your intentions are so fraught ivith good to manwh
, y so much secrecy and concealment ? How much better to proclaim to the world your efforts for the amelioration of its sufferings , and the wider extension ofits happiness . We answer , ive have no such Pharasaical wish . Be assured , Freemasonry needs not to be heralded by the shout or the trumpet-clang : pure and unalloyed charity needs no such impulse . It seeks out the wanderer and friendless , and in secret gives to the hand that would never have been raised to ask the pittance of