Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ireland.
competing with each other in anxiety to suppress ihe remembrance of their own services , and to enhance aud magnify tho value of mine . " It certainly has so happened that , during the critical period when much was committed to me , as a representative of the Grand Chapter ,
' ihe day dawned , and the darkness was dispellel . ' " But I can no more persuade myself that I was , in any pre-eminent degree above some other Brethren , the cause of this wholesome revolution , than I can imagine myself to be the cause of the sun ' s rising , merely because I happened to be one , amongst those who , undismayed in the gloom of midnight , still looked fixedly towards the East , and were the first to welcome the approach of day .
" May that day of peace and reconciliation , which is at length shone forth , be ever the light by which Freemasons of all degrees shall regulate their course , and the pure element which shall especially warm us , members of this high Christian Order , into benevolence and charity towards each other , and towards our fellow-men . " At the close of the proceedings the Brethren adjourned to Jude ' s Hotel , to commemorate the happy and gratifying union which had
taken place between the members of this high " Order , " under the paternal guidance of the illustrious Masonic Chief in this country , his Grace the Duke of Leinster . In the true spirit of Masonic wisdorii the union was formed and cemented , and past differences were not only forgotten ,, but the contending elements were so combined in peace , love , arid harmony , as to demonstrate the Christian spirit of forbearance and fraternity devoid of selfishness , pride , or ambition , which pervade the
Order , from the earliest ages to the present day . Differences may at times exist in any great body . They existed among the early Christians , even in the days of the Apostles ; some on points of discipline , and others on substantial grounds of doctrine and practice ; and with this
example before us , as recorded by Divine inspiration , there is nothing strange in the differences that took place between two bodies in a high degree of Masonry , each perhaps claiming a prerogative which , in the end , was non-essential to the welfare or stability of the Masonic order . After all , such contentions for a time only show the jealousy of the Masonic body to guard against error or innovation of any kind , for as well ( we speak in a temporal sense ) might a passage be interpolated in
tlie Old Testament without being detected by the Jews , who at certain periods guarded against innovations by enumerating the words ami the letters in the sacred volume , as that any new forms or customs could be introduced into the Masonic ritual ( now consecrated ) by its antiquity , its benevolence , and moral tendency , without detection by the " Grand Council of Rites , " and the various governing bodies of the Order established in every civilized nation . If differences then existed , the union
which followed was as gratifying to both parties as it will prove permanent ; anil the presence of the elite of the original chapter , the highest Masonic authorities in the country , and the cordiality with which they met their brethren at the festive board , is as true a type of their wisdom and kindness of heart , as it was creditable to the good taste , hospitality , aud fraternal feeling of the Kilwinning Chapter . Ail met together as Brethrenand like an ancient lewho flourished in one of the states
, peop , ^ of Greece , they sacrificed past differences on the altar of peace and . charity . . . . _ . . A sumptuous banquet was given by the Kilwinning Chapter , to which VOL . in . 3 *•
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ireland.
competing with each other in anxiety to suppress ihe remembrance of their own services , and to enhance aud magnify tho value of mine . " It certainly has so happened that , during the critical period when much was committed to me , as a representative of the Grand Chapter ,
' ihe day dawned , and the darkness was dispellel . ' " But I can no more persuade myself that I was , in any pre-eminent degree above some other Brethren , the cause of this wholesome revolution , than I can imagine myself to be the cause of the sun ' s rising , merely because I happened to be one , amongst those who , undismayed in the gloom of midnight , still looked fixedly towards the East , and were the first to welcome the approach of day .
" May that day of peace and reconciliation , which is at length shone forth , be ever the light by which Freemasons of all degrees shall regulate their course , and the pure element which shall especially warm us , members of this high Christian Order , into benevolence and charity towards each other , and towards our fellow-men . " At the close of the proceedings the Brethren adjourned to Jude ' s Hotel , to commemorate the happy and gratifying union which had
taken place between the members of this high " Order , " under the paternal guidance of the illustrious Masonic Chief in this country , his Grace the Duke of Leinster . In the true spirit of Masonic wisdorii the union was formed and cemented , and past differences were not only forgotten ,, but the contending elements were so combined in peace , love , arid harmony , as to demonstrate the Christian spirit of forbearance and fraternity devoid of selfishness , pride , or ambition , which pervade the
Order , from the earliest ages to the present day . Differences may at times exist in any great body . They existed among the early Christians , even in the days of the Apostles ; some on points of discipline , and others on substantial grounds of doctrine and practice ; and with this
example before us , as recorded by Divine inspiration , there is nothing strange in the differences that took place between two bodies in a high degree of Masonry , each perhaps claiming a prerogative which , in the end , was non-essential to the welfare or stability of the Masonic order . After all , such contentions for a time only show the jealousy of the Masonic body to guard against error or innovation of any kind , for as well ( we speak in a temporal sense ) might a passage be interpolated in
tlie Old Testament without being detected by the Jews , who at certain periods guarded against innovations by enumerating the words ami the letters in the sacred volume , as that any new forms or customs could be introduced into the Masonic ritual ( now consecrated ) by its antiquity , its benevolence , and moral tendency , without detection by the " Grand Council of Rites , " and the various governing bodies of the Order established in every civilized nation . If differences then existed , the union
which followed was as gratifying to both parties as it will prove permanent ; anil the presence of the elite of the original chapter , the highest Masonic authorities in the country , and the cordiality with which they met their brethren at the festive board , is as true a type of their wisdom and kindness of heart , as it was creditable to the good taste , hospitality , aud fraternal feeling of the Kilwinning Chapter . Ail met together as Brethrenand like an ancient lewho flourished in one of the states
, peop , ^ of Greece , they sacrificed past differences on the altar of peace and . charity . . . . _ . . A sumptuous banquet was given by the Kilwinning Chapter , to which VOL . in . 3 *•