-
Articles/Ads
Article TO THE CRAFT. Page 1 of 1 Article THE GRAND LODGE AND THE GRAND MASTER. Page 1 of 4 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Craft.
TO THE CRAFT .
I NOW proceed to offer a few "last words" in conclusion of a valedictory address . In this there may be something serious , but nothing painful . So many months of retirement , caused by the alternations of an insidious complaint , have tended greatly to systematize thought , and to teach the mind its duty . A great point is to avoid self-deception . The hermit , the philosopher , and the man of pleasure ,
each looks on his sphere of action as the wisest , if not the best ; so that abstinence from social and physical comfort , or the deep exploration of study , or the enticing pleasures of vanity , would seem to be their respective modes of attaining happiness . But are they so ? The pious David felt that it was good to be afflicted , whereby he could benefit by a due consideration of adversity ; not , possibly , that
the Royal Psalmist felt that affliction was in itself sweet or soothing , but that the effects were consoling and profitable . Affliction teaches us truth , speaks humility , and whispers resignation . I have been a most fortunate tenant of the sick chamber , the gloom
of which has been irradiated by the well-tried sympathy of friends ; who , indeed , have gone very far , in their flattering condolence , to turn me from the careful equipoise of prudent caution ; but their sympathy is the parent of a thousand joys ; and each revolving day brings with it the testimony of friendship and esteem ; even the East and West Indies have sent in their oblations , thus most truthfully proving that it
is well to be afflicted . Should a merciful Father will my restoration , these are moments that will indeed become endeared in memory . The prince of poets and of men , Virgil , sings sweetly— " Hac olim meminisse juvabit . " What a volume in a sentence ! But our common Father may not pass a decree in my favour ; and my trust and hope is , that as my mind has been permitted to range over the physical powers during
life , that the soul , in parting from the body , may wing its grateful flight , and find mercy and forgiveness at the throne of grace . Vale ! vale ! vale ! ROBERT THOMAS CRUCEFIX . December 25 , 1849 ,
The Grand Lodge And The Grand Master.
THE GRAND LODGE AND THE GRAND MASTER .
What next ? At the recent Grand Lodge on the 5 th instant , the business paper was pretty full , and the subjects important ; they were all discussed and settled , when , lo 1 as a final act of the drama , the Grand Master actually pledged the Grand Lodge that no one then present should disclose the transactions of the evening , in order that
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Craft.
TO THE CRAFT .
I NOW proceed to offer a few "last words" in conclusion of a valedictory address . In this there may be something serious , but nothing painful . So many months of retirement , caused by the alternations of an insidious complaint , have tended greatly to systematize thought , and to teach the mind its duty . A great point is to avoid self-deception . The hermit , the philosopher , and the man of pleasure ,
each looks on his sphere of action as the wisest , if not the best ; so that abstinence from social and physical comfort , or the deep exploration of study , or the enticing pleasures of vanity , would seem to be their respective modes of attaining happiness . But are they so ? The pious David felt that it was good to be afflicted , whereby he could benefit by a due consideration of adversity ; not , possibly , that
the Royal Psalmist felt that affliction was in itself sweet or soothing , but that the effects were consoling and profitable . Affliction teaches us truth , speaks humility , and whispers resignation . I have been a most fortunate tenant of the sick chamber , the gloom
of which has been irradiated by the well-tried sympathy of friends ; who , indeed , have gone very far , in their flattering condolence , to turn me from the careful equipoise of prudent caution ; but their sympathy is the parent of a thousand joys ; and each revolving day brings with it the testimony of friendship and esteem ; even the East and West Indies have sent in their oblations , thus most truthfully proving that it
is well to be afflicted . Should a merciful Father will my restoration , these are moments that will indeed become endeared in memory . The prince of poets and of men , Virgil , sings sweetly— " Hac olim meminisse juvabit . " What a volume in a sentence ! But our common Father may not pass a decree in my favour ; and my trust and hope is , that as my mind has been permitted to range over the physical powers during
life , that the soul , in parting from the body , may wing its grateful flight , and find mercy and forgiveness at the throne of grace . Vale ! vale ! vale ! ROBERT THOMAS CRUCEFIX . December 25 , 1849 ,
The Grand Lodge And The Grand Master.
THE GRAND LODGE AND THE GRAND MASTER .
What next ? At the recent Grand Lodge on the 5 th instant , the business paper was pretty full , and the subjects important ; they were all discussed and settled , when , lo 1 as a final act of the drama , the Grand Master actually pledged the Grand Lodge that no one then present should disclose the transactions of the evening , in order that