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Oration By M.W. Grand Master Van Slyck, Of Rhode Island.
treasures of all generations , stands proudly to-day , alike in the strength of its base and the beauty of its superstructure . NoAvhere more than in your ownfavoured community , have the principles or the policies of our Fraternity , received a brighter or truer illustration . It is for you
to guard Avith viligance Avhat the past has secured ; to administer Avisely ancl Avell the solemn trust which has descended to you from your Masonic predecessors . The State Avhich holds the sacred dust of Webb , Carlile ancl Salsbury , of the Wilkinsons
, the AtAvells , and their compeers of an earlier day , and before whose eyes have passed ancl are UOAV passing the enlightened and unwearied labours of Brethren like Doyle , your presiding Grand Master and his official associates , surely cannot fail in
its most constant endeavours to guard , preserve and transmit to the future , Avhat Brethren like these have so nobly Avon . And thus through you , and your trusty allies of all jurisdictions , may this grand Fraternity continue its beneficent work for mankind , with a purer Faith , a loftier Hope ancl a siveeter Charity , ' till the last flash of the expiring sun !
The Present Influence And Future Mission Of Masonry.
THE PRESENT INFLUENCE AND FUTURE MISSION OF MASONRY .
BY BRO . I . S . DOLPH . We live in an eventful period of the Avorld ' s history . It sometimes seems that not only is the age of intolerance passing aivayand the dawn of that foretold
, age by prophecy . Avhen the nations of the earth shall blend in one common brotherhood , is upon us , but that through the vista of the near future Ave may behold the glory of the promised millennium . Great events pass in swift succession .
Nations are born in a clay . Revolutions hasten on the march of civil and religious libert y . Science lays hold of and subjugates the forces of nature . The ivhole foundations of the past are shaken . " The Avorld moves , and Ave as an Order move Avith it . " To hesitate is to be left with the irresistible progress of events .
As I have said , among the human agencies Avhich have contributed to bring about this change in tho condition of the Avorld , the institution of Freemasonry stands preeminently at the head , both for age and influence ; and yet it is but the dawn of
the better age that is upon us . Even from the mountain tops of the highest civilisation , Avith tho vision of faith , the first rays of the unrison sun of the millennial day are but seen above the horizon . Selfishness is
still the rule , ancl benevolence the exception . The Avork of our Order is but commenced —• " A mighty Avork is laid upon us , and it is still unfinished . " What are the lessons of the hour for Masonry . Evidently to bring the Fraternity up to a
higher standard of excellence . Our Order needs no innovations upon the ancient landmarks , no changes or improvements of its morals or dogmas .. They inculcate only those moral sentiments that can never be behind the civilisation of the
age . The doctrines of Masonry are eternal truths , as unchangeable as their Author . But Ave do not need to labour to make our Order all in practice that it is in theory ; to comprehend the true spirit of its teachings ; to bring every true member of the Craft up to the full stature of a perfect Mason . No carelessness or unskilfulness
is excusabie in the Avork upon Avhich Ave labour . As our operative brethren Avrought upon Solomon ' s Tenrple Avith such skill that every stone ancl timber , although prepared in the mountains and quarried , fitted with exact nicety in the place for Avhich it Avas designedso should speculative Masons
, select Avith care ancl prepare Avith corresponding skill the liAdng stones for the symbolic temple of Masonry . The rough ashlar from the quarry should be rigidly and impartially tested , ancl unless found to possess all the internal and
external qualities required by the laivs of Masonry , should be at once rejected . Perhaps there is more danger to the Craft in overlooking the moral qualifications required of a candidate for Masonry than any other . The first ancl most important
of these qualifications is a "belief in God . " Masonry does not claim for itself a divine origin . It does not claim to be a religious institution in any strict sense , but it recognises the existence of a Supreme Ruler of the universe , and makes a belief
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Oration By M.W. Grand Master Van Slyck, Of Rhode Island.
treasures of all generations , stands proudly to-day , alike in the strength of its base and the beauty of its superstructure . NoAvhere more than in your ownfavoured community , have the principles or the policies of our Fraternity , received a brighter or truer illustration . It is for you
to guard Avith viligance Avhat the past has secured ; to administer Avisely ancl Avell the solemn trust which has descended to you from your Masonic predecessors . The State Avhich holds the sacred dust of Webb , Carlile ancl Salsbury , of the Wilkinsons
, the AtAvells , and their compeers of an earlier day , and before whose eyes have passed ancl are UOAV passing the enlightened and unwearied labours of Brethren like Doyle , your presiding Grand Master and his official associates , surely cannot fail in
its most constant endeavours to guard , preserve and transmit to the future , Avhat Brethren like these have so nobly Avon . And thus through you , and your trusty allies of all jurisdictions , may this grand Fraternity continue its beneficent work for mankind , with a purer Faith , a loftier Hope ancl a siveeter Charity , ' till the last flash of the expiring sun !
The Present Influence And Future Mission Of Masonry.
THE PRESENT INFLUENCE AND FUTURE MISSION OF MASONRY .
BY BRO . I . S . DOLPH . We live in an eventful period of the Avorld ' s history . It sometimes seems that not only is the age of intolerance passing aivayand the dawn of that foretold
, age by prophecy . Avhen the nations of the earth shall blend in one common brotherhood , is upon us , but that through the vista of the near future Ave may behold the glory of the promised millennium . Great events pass in swift succession .
Nations are born in a clay . Revolutions hasten on the march of civil and religious libert y . Science lays hold of and subjugates the forces of nature . The ivhole foundations of the past are shaken . " The Avorld moves , and Ave as an Order move Avith it . " To hesitate is to be left with the irresistible progress of events .
As I have said , among the human agencies Avhich have contributed to bring about this change in tho condition of the Avorld , the institution of Freemasonry stands preeminently at the head , both for age and influence ; and yet it is but the dawn of
the better age that is upon us . Even from the mountain tops of the highest civilisation , Avith tho vision of faith , the first rays of the unrison sun of the millennial day are but seen above the horizon . Selfishness is
still the rule , ancl benevolence the exception . The Avork of our Order is but commenced —• " A mighty Avork is laid upon us , and it is still unfinished . " What are the lessons of the hour for Masonry . Evidently to bring the Fraternity up to a
higher standard of excellence . Our Order needs no innovations upon the ancient landmarks , no changes or improvements of its morals or dogmas .. They inculcate only those moral sentiments that can never be behind the civilisation of the
age . The doctrines of Masonry are eternal truths , as unchangeable as their Author . But Ave do not need to labour to make our Order all in practice that it is in theory ; to comprehend the true spirit of its teachings ; to bring every true member of the Craft up to the full stature of a perfect Mason . No carelessness or unskilfulness
is excusabie in the Avork upon Avhich Ave labour . As our operative brethren Avrought upon Solomon ' s Tenrple Avith such skill that every stone ancl timber , although prepared in the mountains and quarried , fitted with exact nicety in the place for Avhich it Avas designedso should speculative Masons
, select Avith care ancl prepare Avith corresponding skill the liAdng stones for the symbolic temple of Masonry . The rough ashlar from the quarry should be rigidly and impartially tested , ancl unless found to possess all the internal and
external qualities required by the laivs of Masonry , should be at once rejected . Perhaps there is more danger to the Craft in overlooking the moral qualifications required of a candidate for Masonry than any other . The first ancl most important
of these qualifications is a "belief in God . " Masonry does not claim for itself a divine origin . It does not claim to be a religious institution in any strict sense , but it recognises the existence of a Supreme Ruler of the universe , and makes a belief