Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ireland.
Owing to the severity of the weather , there were very fexv of the country members iu attendance . The chair xx'as filled by Bro . Alexander Grant , D . G . Master , in the absence of Sir Jas . Stewart , the Prov . Grand Master . When the cloth had been removed , and tho usual loyal toasts given , the following Masonic toasts were proposed
rn : — " The Craft . " "The Grand Masters of Ireland , England , and Scotland . " " The Provincial Grand Master" was next proposed by the Chairman , and received xvith much enthusiasm . The Master of Lodge 69 then proposed "The health of Bro . Grant , Deputy Provincial Grand Master" ( cheers ) .
Bro . GRANT rose and responded as folloxvs : —Gratifying as the expressions of your esteem and feelings toxvards me always are , still the recurrence of the period xvhich calls forth the reiteration of them , tends to remind me that the tide of time floxvs on xvith an unvarying steadiness of motion , and this night tells us that another of its circling xvaves has rolled on towards tbe ocean of eternity , leaving us all nearer to our final rest . Though this onward rush of years warns us of our mortality , it at the same time impresses on our mind the fact that the mission of Masonry is not ended , and that our responsibilities are neither diminished , superlish
seded , nor suspended ; for we , its present guardians , have a work to accomp , so that xve may leave behind us , for the guidance of future generations , as they may successively greet the light , the indisputable fact that Masonry is benevolence , embracing in its extent the wants of the body , as xvell as tbe wants and capabilities of the soul , and thereby constituting the very perfection of charity , affecting us in its twofold relationship as regards time and eternity ; for , xvhile xvith one hand it relieves bodily suffering , and lights up a milder sun , xvhich dissipates from the overcast sky the clouds of misfortune , with the other it impresses xvith a poxverful energy on the heart the purest doctrines of morality : teaching that life without virtue is but loss in all its stages ; warning us to shun ambition , which never yet imparted consolation to the breaking spirit ; that xvealth , unless rightly
vised , brings but envy on its possessor ; in short , that the glory of this world is but as the explosion of a volcano , resplendent , beautiful to gaze on , but a brightness soon to be sxvalloxved up in death , but at the same time breathing into the soul the holiest aspirations of undying faith , and thereby kindling a blissful hope of a glorious immortality . Eor nearly nineteen hundred years has history chronicled the onward parallel course of Christianity and Masonry ; _ and though xve may record a thousand causes , both antagonistic and co-operative , xvhich have combined to produce the xvouderful improvements , even in our oxvn time , that
have been brought to bear on the great framework of society , to none does Christianity more xvillingly or more cheerfully axvard her share in producing these vast results than to Masonry . Ay , Masonry , which in geometrical proportions adjusted the ark to the flood ; xvhich xvas mysteriously communicated to Jacob in Padanaram ; xvhich constituted the basis of the league betxveen Solomon , king of Israel , and Hiram , king of Tyre ; and xvhich xvas consummated by the presence and aid of Hiram , the xvidow's son , at the building of the Temple ; xvhich made the captives a brotherhood in Babylon ; which was heard in the sound
of the gavel in the quarries of Zeradatha ; which was read in the strange characters on the scone gathered from the rubbish ; which constituted the council for Zerubbabel , Haggai , and Joshua , at the re-edification of the Temple ; xvhich awoke the long slumbering echoes in the xvilderness of Judea ; which was evoked to life in the logos of the Almoner ; xvhich has survived the destruction of two Temples ; has witnessed the burial of patriarch and prophet , and now links its immortality to the car of the Gospel . After this , Brethren , will it be denied that the sphere of Masonry is as broad as humanity itself ? Consequently , xvhere the true interests of man are to be found , there should the Mason be in his round of duties ; and in what more appropriate way , I would ask , can those interests be better or more
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ireland.
Owing to the severity of the weather , there were very fexv of the country members iu attendance . The chair xx'as filled by Bro . Alexander Grant , D . G . Master , in the absence of Sir Jas . Stewart , the Prov . Grand Master . When the cloth had been removed , and tho usual loyal toasts given , the following Masonic toasts were proposed
rn : — " The Craft . " "The Grand Masters of Ireland , England , and Scotland . " " The Provincial Grand Master" was next proposed by the Chairman , and received xvith much enthusiasm . The Master of Lodge 69 then proposed "The health of Bro . Grant , Deputy Provincial Grand Master" ( cheers ) .
Bro . GRANT rose and responded as folloxvs : —Gratifying as the expressions of your esteem and feelings toxvards me always are , still the recurrence of the period xvhich calls forth the reiteration of them , tends to remind me that the tide of time floxvs on xvith an unvarying steadiness of motion , and this night tells us that another of its circling xvaves has rolled on towards tbe ocean of eternity , leaving us all nearer to our final rest . Though this onward rush of years warns us of our mortality , it at the same time impresses on our mind the fact that the mission of Masonry is not ended , and that our responsibilities are neither diminished , superlish
seded , nor suspended ; for we , its present guardians , have a work to accomp , so that xve may leave behind us , for the guidance of future generations , as they may successively greet the light , the indisputable fact that Masonry is benevolence , embracing in its extent the wants of the body , as xvell as tbe wants and capabilities of the soul , and thereby constituting the very perfection of charity , affecting us in its twofold relationship as regards time and eternity ; for , xvhile xvith one hand it relieves bodily suffering , and lights up a milder sun , xvhich dissipates from the overcast sky the clouds of misfortune , with the other it impresses xvith a poxverful energy on the heart the purest doctrines of morality : teaching that life without virtue is but loss in all its stages ; warning us to shun ambition , which never yet imparted consolation to the breaking spirit ; that xvealth , unless rightly
vised , brings but envy on its possessor ; in short , that the glory of this world is but as the explosion of a volcano , resplendent , beautiful to gaze on , but a brightness soon to be sxvalloxved up in death , but at the same time breathing into the soul the holiest aspirations of undying faith , and thereby kindling a blissful hope of a glorious immortality . Eor nearly nineteen hundred years has history chronicled the onward parallel course of Christianity and Masonry ; _ and though xve may record a thousand causes , both antagonistic and co-operative , xvhich have combined to produce the xvouderful improvements , even in our oxvn time , that
have been brought to bear on the great framework of society , to none does Christianity more xvillingly or more cheerfully axvard her share in producing these vast results than to Masonry . Ay , Masonry , which in geometrical proportions adjusted the ark to the flood ; xvhich xvas mysteriously communicated to Jacob in Padanaram ; xvhich constituted the basis of the league betxveen Solomon , king of Israel , and Hiram , king of Tyre ; and xvhich xvas consummated by the presence and aid of Hiram , the xvidow's son , at the building of the Temple ; xvhich made the captives a brotherhood in Babylon ; which was heard in the sound
of the gavel in the quarries of Zeradatha ; which was read in the strange characters on the scone gathered from the rubbish ; which constituted the council for Zerubbabel , Haggai , and Joshua , at the re-edification of the Temple ; xvhich awoke the long slumbering echoes in the xvilderness of Judea ; which was evoked to life in the logos of the Almoner ; xvhich has survived the destruction of two Temples ; has witnessed the burial of patriarch and prophet , and now links its immortality to the car of the Gospel . After this , Brethren , will it be denied that the sphere of Masonry is as broad as humanity itself ? Consequently , xvhere the true interests of man are to be found , there should the Mason be in his round of duties ; and in what more appropriate way , I would ask , can those interests be better or more