Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ireland,
clad sky , extending its rays from land to land , and from sea to sea , till evevv clime feels the effects of its vivifying influence—an influence descending from a source divine on a world-wide errand of mercy—aye , mercy ; that knows no distinction between the humblest hamlet and the proudest palace—the beggar shivering on the threshold , ancl the millionaire rolling in luxury—mercy , that restrains the vicious , ancl encourages the virtuous ; directs the ignorantand counsels the wise acknowledged and sought
, ; by Masons , because an attribute of God ( great cheering ) . Excluded , as I necessarily am , from extended intercourse with the world , I enjoy a hallowed pleasure on occasions such as this ; it is to me a mingling of kindred spirits—a foretaste of that gratitude to God , and love to man , that will abound round the Throne in the Grand Loclge above . Though this night reminds us of the rapid passage of time—though the season has returned to tell us that another has passed ancl that we
year away , have approached a step nearer the great unknown , Eternity , —momentous as is the thought , still the advent of this day is hailed by us all , for the ceremonies peculiar to it are of a deep and thrilling interest ; in them there is much to elicit attention and enchain the heart—much that is dear to the memory and pleasing to the intellect . In ceremonies such as we have been engaged in , our fathers were wont to mingle ; to unite in harmony ; pledge soul to soul in sweet communion ; join hand to
hand in mutual happy greeting ; to rivet yet stronger , ancl cement yet firmer , heart to heart in sincere ancl hallowed friendship : but these men of other clays are gone—these venerated sires have , one by one , departed from amongst us , and have been gathered to their fathers , but the ceremonies they shared in—the principles which they revered , cherished ,
and respected are not dead—no , nor are they yet marked by time , though sustaining the weight of ages ; they are still strong , vigorous , and lovely—aye , and such will they remain , while Faith , Hope , and Charity , find a resting place on earth . How gratifying to think , then , what generations long gone have worshipped at our altars , ancl what numbers yet to come will join in our mystic rites . AA'hat matters it , then , if we are visited by the hate of the malicious , the rage of the
ignorant , or the opprobrium of the vile ? In such case , let us have a conscience void of offence , remembering that truth and justice must triumph in the end ; for there is a virtue in the economy of an all-wise Providence , that truth , crushed to the earth , will rise again ; let the storm rage never so fierce , victory , by clinging to our faith , will surely come ; for the faithful man yields not to a wicked ancl unwarrantable spirit of persecution ; the timidtime-servingancl false-hearted may quail ancl
re-, , nounce , but the true and honest-hearted Mason , like the bold ancl skilful mariner , who heads his vessel to the storm , and faces the fiercest blast , trusts his vindication to the omnipotence of truth and virtue . But , let us remember that man is by nature the child of error and ignorance , —therefore , from the cradle to the grave , a learner ; the human intellect is ever grasping , and never satisfied ; then , Brethren , you can well perceive how the laws and ceremonies of our noble Institution are
constructed , —having in view this law of mind , —seeking to impress and evolve truth from the inexhaustible stores of knowledge it possesses , and supplies to the anxious enquirer . To you I need not , but to the world I declare it , —the Mason ' s text-book is the Bible ; therefore , Masons are cheered onward to the study of the higher ancl nobler virtues of humanity , and upward , to the contemplation of a fairer and a better ivorld opened to their view ; through the slumbering nations of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ireland,
clad sky , extending its rays from land to land , and from sea to sea , till evevv clime feels the effects of its vivifying influence—an influence descending from a source divine on a world-wide errand of mercy—aye , mercy ; that knows no distinction between the humblest hamlet and the proudest palace—the beggar shivering on the threshold , ancl the millionaire rolling in luxury—mercy , that restrains the vicious , ancl encourages the virtuous ; directs the ignorantand counsels the wise acknowledged and sought
, ; by Masons , because an attribute of God ( great cheering ) . Excluded , as I necessarily am , from extended intercourse with the world , I enjoy a hallowed pleasure on occasions such as this ; it is to me a mingling of kindred spirits—a foretaste of that gratitude to God , and love to man , that will abound round the Throne in the Grand Loclge above . Though this night reminds us of the rapid passage of time—though the season has returned to tell us that another has passed ancl that we
year away , have approached a step nearer the great unknown , Eternity , —momentous as is the thought , still the advent of this day is hailed by us all , for the ceremonies peculiar to it are of a deep and thrilling interest ; in them there is much to elicit attention and enchain the heart—much that is dear to the memory and pleasing to the intellect . In ceremonies such as we have been engaged in , our fathers were wont to mingle ; to unite in harmony ; pledge soul to soul in sweet communion ; join hand to
hand in mutual happy greeting ; to rivet yet stronger , ancl cement yet firmer , heart to heart in sincere ancl hallowed friendship : but these men of other clays are gone—these venerated sires have , one by one , departed from amongst us , and have been gathered to their fathers , but the ceremonies they shared in—the principles which they revered , cherished ,
and respected are not dead—no , nor are they yet marked by time , though sustaining the weight of ages ; they are still strong , vigorous , and lovely—aye , and such will they remain , while Faith , Hope , and Charity , find a resting place on earth . How gratifying to think , then , what generations long gone have worshipped at our altars , ancl what numbers yet to come will join in our mystic rites . AA'hat matters it , then , if we are visited by the hate of the malicious , the rage of the
ignorant , or the opprobrium of the vile ? In such case , let us have a conscience void of offence , remembering that truth and justice must triumph in the end ; for there is a virtue in the economy of an all-wise Providence , that truth , crushed to the earth , will rise again ; let the storm rage never so fierce , victory , by clinging to our faith , will surely come ; for the faithful man yields not to a wicked ancl unwarrantable spirit of persecution ; the timidtime-servingancl false-hearted may quail ancl
re-, , nounce , but the true and honest-hearted Mason , like the bold ancl skilful mariner , who heads his vessel to the storm , and faces the fiercest blast , trusts his vindication to the omnipotence of truth and virtue . But , let us remember that man is by nature the child of error and ignorance , —therefore , from the cradle to the grave , a learner ; the human intellect is ever grasping , and never satisfied ; then , Brethren , you can well perceive how the laws and ceremonies of our noble Institution are
constructed , —having in view this law of mind , —seeking to impress and evolve truth from the inexhaustible stores of knowledge it possesses , and supplies to the anxious enquirer . To you I need not , but to the world I declare it , —the Mason ' s text-book is the Bible ; therefore , Masons are cheered onward to the study of the higher ancl nobler virtues of humanity , and upward , to the contemplation of a fairer and a better ivorld opened to their view ; through the slumbering nations of