Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
India.
selfish benevolence , continues the objector . The Mason might reply , Oh ! my brother of humanity , but yet sitting in the darkness of thy own self-sufficiency , does not all benevolence centre in a self ? The noblest affections might be sneered at on the same ground , for where were general philanthropy , if we hacl no individual benevolence ; or where national were there no domestic morality ? AVe endeavour as Masons to walk in the light of the apostolic injunction , to do good unto all men , but first unto them of the household
of faith . The household of Masonry has the first claim upon Masonic funds . Masons are , as it were , more nearly related to us , _ ancl we know them and their necessities better . I trust , however , that in India , at least , Masons may never again be reproached on that score , seeing that Bombay not long ago , antl Calcutta very recently , have sufficiently testified that Masons do not always confine that benevolence within the circle of the Craft ! but are ready , on occasions
proper , to succour the distressed wherever they may be found , whether it be the shipwrecked mariner of Old England , or the famished peasant of Green Erin . " It was the saying of a poet more fashionable in my boyhood than he is now , that some of the happiest hours of life might be deemed those spent in an inn . Apply this sentiment of Shenstone ' s to a Masons ' Lod and I concur in itancl why is it so ? Because whatever is
conge , ; tentious or invidious does not enter there . It is strictly guarded from the intrusion of the base , and open only to kindly feelings ancl honest desert ; while its proceedings are regulated by old and venerable precedents founded in love , ancl grounded on eternal truth . Within the walls of this large and spacious room , we behold a striking illustration of the '
working of the Masonic principle . A fortnight ago , I arrived here an entire stranger in Bombay , and known only to two or three , ancl now , as if by the stroke of an enchanter ' s wand , I find myself surrounded by devoted friends and Brothers ! I may indeed well exult for myself and Masonry on beholding here such a brilliant antl imposing array of the brave and the good , the learned and the honourable . I thank you all , my Brethren , collectively and individually , with all my heart . I am
especially grateful , and 1 may say proud , at the attendance here to-night of one I have had the honour of knowing in other days , and who is not more distinguished for his exalted position in society , than he is for the true nobility of his nature and the mild lustre of his large innate worth . Of simple , unexacting dignity , he unites soldierly frankness with the most courteous urbanity , flowing from a heart not to be warped by paltry prejudices or petty motives , or to be chilled by cold conventionalities
and aristocratic formalities . I would also just glance at a lady who adorns her high rank ancl station by the virtues that constitute the glory of the English matron . Dignified without hauteur , generous and benevolent without display , and graceful without affectation , she is respected and beloved wherever she goes . His Excellency Sir Thomas Mc Mahon I hope will pardon this allusion . I meant to have kept these sentiments to myselfbut they have been involuntarilforced from me
bstrong-, y y recollections of old kindness to me and mine ; and you know that out of tbe fulness of the heart the tongue will speak . "Again , my Brethren , begging to thank you , as I do from the bottom of my heart , for your extreme kindness , as the only return for it at present in my power , I have to propose the performance of a duty which will be a delight to us all . I beg , therefore , to call upon you to pledge II bumber toast to one whom I will not trust myself to dilate upon his
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
India.
selfish benevolence , continues the objector . The Mason might reply , Oh ! my brother of humanity , but yet sitting in the darkness of thy own self-sufficiency , does not all benevolence centre in a self ? The noblest affections might be sneered at on the same ground , for where were general philanthropy , if we hacl no individual benevolence ; or where national were there no domestic morality ? AVe endeavour as Masons to walk in the light of the apostolic injunction , to do good unto all men , but first unto them of the household
of faith . The household of Masonry has the first claim upon Masonic funds . Masons are , as it were , more nearly related to us , _ ancl we know them and their necessities better . I trust , however , that in India , at least , Masons may never again be reproached on that score , seeing that Bombay not long ago , antl Calcutta very recently , have sufficiently testified that Masons do not always confine that benevolence within the circle of the Craft ! but are ready , on occasions
proper , to succour the distressed wherever they may be found , whether it be the shipwrecked mariner of Old England , or the famished peasant of Green Erin . " It was the saying of a poet more fashionable in my boyhood than he is now , that some of the happiest hours of life might be deemed those spent in an inn . Apply this sentiment of Shenstone ' s to a Masons ' Lod and I concur in itancl why is it so ? Because whatever is
conge , ; tentious or invidious does not enter there . It is strictly guarded from the intrusion of the base , and open only to kindly feelings ancl honest desert ; while its proceedings are regulated by old and venerable precedents founded in love , ancl grounded on eternal truth . Within the walls of this large and spacious room , we behold a striking illustration of the '
working of the Masonic principle . A fortnight ago , I arrived here an entire stranger in Bombay , and known only to two or three , ancl now , as if by the stroke of an enchanter ' s wand , I find myself surrounded by devoted friends and Brothers ! I may indeed well exult for myself and Masonry on beholding here such a brilliant antl imposing array of the brave and the good , the learned and the honourable . I thank you all , my Brethren , collectively and individually , with all my heart . I am
especially grateful , and 1 may say proud , at the attendance here to-night of one I have had the honour of knowing in other days , and who is not more distinguished for his exalted position in society , than he is for the true nobility of his nature and the mild lustre of his large innate worth . Of simple , unexacting dignity , he unites soldierly frankness with the most courteous urbanity , flowing from a heart not to be warped by paltry prejudices or petty motives , or to be chilled by cold conventionalities
and aristocratic formalities . I would also just glance at a lady who adorns her high rank ancl station by the virtues that constitute the glory of the English matron . Dignified without hauteur , generous and benevolent without display , and graceful without affectation , she is respected and beloved wherever she goes . His Excellency Sir Thomas Mc Mahon I hope will pardon this allusion . I meant to have kept these sentiments to myselfbut they have been involuntarilforced from me
bstrong-, y y recollections of old kindness to me and mine ; and you know that out of tbe fulness of the heart the tongue will speak . "Again , my Brethren , begging to thank you , as I do from the bottom of my heart , for your extreme kindness , as the only return for it at present in my power , I have to propose the performance of a duty which will be a delight to us all . I beg , therefore , to call upon you to pledge II bumber toast to one whom I will not trust myself to dilate upon his