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Article SIXTY POUNDS TO THE INCH. ← Page 2 of 6 →
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Sixty Pounds To The Inch.
ago , and found out that as the bow always bent will break at last , so the man for ever on the strain of thought and action will at last go mad or break down . Thrown upon a new continent—eager to do the work of twenty centuries in two —the Anglo-American
population has overworked , and is daily overworking itself . From morning to night , from January to December , brain and hands , eyes and fingers , the powers of the body and the powers of the mind , are in spasmodic , merciless activity . "
jSTow , whether what we do in such hot haste is as well done as it would be if more time were spent upon it ; whether our whole life might not be improved if we were to travel at a slower pace ; whether our wonderful but feverish progress as a people is best calculated to result in a vigorous manhood , when , as a nation , we shall have attained sufficient maturity to claim that distinction—are questions to be resolved in the future , and by more profound philosophers
than I am . Our speed is unquestionably great , and it behoves us to inquire whether a material benefit would not be realized , if the safety-valve were raised a trifle while we proceed more soberly on our way . To become a great people it is not sufficient that , like the men of Tyre , we should be merchant princes , that our marts of traffic should surpass all others ; but we must become a thinking people , not swayed by every idle wind of doctrine , nor yet content to have
one individual to make law for us all . The general mind must be directed in some other channel than that of endless money-getting , some element tending to raise it from the degrading influence of gold-hunting , must be cultivated , earnestly , truthfully and faithfully to the end , by strong and loving hearts , willing to make a sacrifice even of themselves for the melioration of their kind . The germ of this fertilizing element we have among us in the institution of Freemasonry . Sealed on its brow with the very impress of the Deity , upborne by good men and true in every corner of the land , its mission is already begun , and its effects shall be as lasting as the eternal hills , or as evanescent as the morning dew , just as its
votaries shall choose ; but even this is thoroughly under the pressure of the times , and is progressing with more pounds of steam to the inch than can be safely carried . Less than a hundred years have elapsed since Masonry obtained a foothold here , and yet we have already once passed the zenith of glory , and , like vaulting ambition , toppled down to recommence our upward journey . Nothing daunted by the trials and misfortunes of the past , we are again under full headway . Lodges , chapters , councils and commanderies—every organization of which Masonry is susceptible—are in vigorous existence ; while multitudes of the profane , like the surging waves of the ocean , are pressing to our doors and seeking admission , without , ib is to be feared , any too well defined purpose in view ; nor can we , who stand within the Temple , consistently indulge in any very extensive felicitations on our position . We have been making
progress as regards quantity ; our lodges , if I may be pardoned the comparison , are with " good capon lined" till they distend in fair round
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Sixty Pounds To The Inch.
ago , and found out that as the bow always bent will break at last , so the man for ever on the strain of thought and action will at last go mad or break down . Thrown upon a new continent—eager to do the work of twenty centuries in two —the Anglo-American
population has overworked , and is daily overworking itself . From morning to night , from January to December , brain and hands , eyes and fingers , the powers of the body and the powers of the mind , are in spasmodic , merciless activity . "
jSTow , whether what we do in such hot haste is as well done as it would be if more time were spent upon it ; whether our whole life might not be improved if we were to travel at a slower pace ; whether our wonderful but feverish progress as a people is best calculated to result in a vigorous manhood , when , as a nation , we shall have attained sufficient maturity to claim that distinction—are questions to be resolved in the future , and by more profound philosophers
than I am . Our speed is unquestionably great , and it behoves us to inquire whether a material benefit would not be realized , if the safety-valve were raised a trifle while we proceed more soberly on our way . To become a great people it is not sufficient that , like the men of Tyre , we should be merchant princes , that our marts of traffic should surpass all others ; but we must become a thinking people , not swayed by every idle wind of doctrine , nor yet content to have
one individual to make law for us all . The general mind must be directed in some other channel than that of endless money-getting , some element tending to raise it from the degrading influence of gold-hunting , must be cultivated , earnestly , truthfully and faithfully to the end , by strong and loving hearts , willing to make a sacrifice even of themselves for the melioration of their kind . The germ of this fertilizing element we have among us in the institution of Freemasonry . Sealed on its brow with the very impress of the Deity , upborne by good men and true in every corner of the land , its mission is already begun , and its effects shall be as lasting as the eternal hills , or as evanescent as the morning dew , just as its
votaries shall choose ; but even this is thoroughly under the pressure of the times , and is progressing with more pounds of steam to the inch than can be safely carried . Less than a hundred years have elapsed since Masonry obtained a foothold here , and yet we have already once passed the zenith of glory , and , like vaulting ambition , toppled down to recommence our upward journey . Nothing daunted by the trials and misfortunes of the past , we are again under full headway . Lodges , chapters , councils and commanderies—every organization of which Masonry is susceptible—are in vigorous existence ; while multitudes of the profane , like the surging waves of the ocean , are pressing to our doors and seeking admission , without , ib is to be feared , any too well defined purpose in view ; nor can we , who stand within the Temple , consistently indulge in any very extensive felicitations on our position . We have been making
progress as regards quantity ; our lodges , if I may be pardoned the comparison , are with " good capon lined" till they distend in fair round