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Article SIXTY POUNDS TO THE INCH. ← Page 5 of 6 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Sixty Pounds To The Inch.
turies in two ; it is clearly a work of time , and its full and healthful fruition will not be realized as the result of any hasty or railroad measures . We must first endeavour to understand the true design and scope of Masonry , its legitimate bearing on society and social progress , and then confer together on the best means of carrying forward to completion so great and noble a task .
The fraternity has never been placed in a better position for the commencement of this duty than at present . With a Lodge in almost every place capable of containing one , with a host of members to be counted by tens of thousands , and an equal number crowding the outer courts of the temple , our worldly prosperity k all that the most sanguine could wish- —greater , as I have attempted to show , than is really healthful ; and we can therefore turn our minds to the
subject of Masonic education as the first step in carrying out the grand design on our tracing board . Without knowledge , which is power , we shall accomplish nothing beyond what We are now doing , what our fathers have done before us , and what future generations will do after us , if the present golden opportunity be allowed to
escape us unimproved . I appeal , then , to our masters m Israel , to Israel or the Graft itself , to give an attentive ear , a willing support to this work of building a new temple , more glorious than the first , Avhose corner-stone shall be knowledge , and whose cape-stone shall be seated amidst the rejoicings of the Fraternity , disenthralled from the debasing ties of ignorance , and celebrated by humanity ; redeemed and elevated by their success , I appeal to them to cultivate the inner life—to pause awhile in the giddy chase after material wealth as men ,
or the addition of mere numbers as Masons , to consider that though the stores of the mind may not literally feed , clothe , or keep us warm ,
yet in our efforts to obtain them we are obeying the command , " Be ye perfect ; " we are raising our souls to the level of a new and higher revelation of beauty—giving men more faith in virtue and greater confidence in each other . Let me not be understood , however , as wishing to substitute one kind of haste for another , or as being willing that we should merely
transfer our operations to a new field—for I am not prepared to say that we should gain much , if anything , by the exchange ; but I would have what is done , well done , which it cannot be if u done quickly , " I would have all , from the Master to the youngest Apprentice , vie with each other in a generous strife to make their Masonry
consonant with its legitimate aims , I would have all unite Tin banishing ignorance , prejudice , and conventionalities , and become living examples of man in his highest estate . Then shall we realize the Roman poet's numbers , " The great series of ages begins anew .
Now , too , returns the virgin Astrsea—returns the rejgn of Saturn . The serpent ' s sting shall die , and poison ' s fallacious plant shall die , and the Assyrian spikenard grow on every soil ; and blushing grapes shall hang on brambles rude , and dewy honey from hard oaks distil ; and fruit and flowers shall spring up every where without man ' s care or toil . The sacred destinies , harmonious in the established order of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Sixty Pounds To The Inch.
turies in two ; it is clearly a work of time , and its full and healthful fruition will not be realized as the result of any hasty or railroad measures . We must first endeavour to understand the true design and scope of Masonry , its legitimate bearing on society and social progress , and then confer together on the best means of carrying forward to completion so great and noble a task .
The fraternity has never been placed in a better position for the commencement of this duty than at present . With a Lodge in almost every place capable of containing one , with a host of members to be counted by tens of thousands , and an equal number crowding the outer courts of the temple , our worldly prosperity k all that the most sanguine could wish- —greater , as I have attempted to show , than is really healthful ; and we can therefore turn our minds to the
subject of Masonic education as the first step in carrying out the grand design on our tracing board . Without knowledge , which is power , we shall accomplish nothing beyond what We are now doing , what our fathers have done before us , and what future generations will do after us , if the present golden opportunity be allowed to
escape us unimproved . I appeal , then , to our masters m Israel , to Israel or the Graft itself , to give an attentive ear , a willing support to this work of building a new temple , more glorious than the first , Avhose corner-stone shall be knowledge , and whose cape-stone shall be seated amidst the rejoicings of the Fraternity , disenthralled from the debasing ties of ignorance , and celebrated by humanity ; redeemed and elevated by their success , I appeal to them to cultivate the inner life—to pause awhile in the giddy chase after material wealth as men ,
or the addition of mere numbers as Masons , to consider that though the stores of the mind may not literally feed , clothe , or keep us warm ,
yet in our efforts to obtain them we are obeying the command , " Be ye perfect ; " we are raising our souls to the level of a new and higher revelation of beauty—giving men more faith in virtue and greater confidence in each other . Let me not be understood , however , as wishing to substitute one kind of haste for another , or as being willing that we should merely
transfer our operations to a new field—for I am not prepared to say that we should gain much , if anything , by the exchange ; but I would have what is done , well done , which it cannot be if u done quickly , " I would have all , from the Master to the youngest Apprentice , vie with each other in a generous strife to make their Masonry
consonant with its legitimate aims , I would have all unite Tin banishing ignorance , prejudice , and conventionalities , and become living examples of man in his highest estate . Then shall we realize the Roman poet's numbers , " The great series of ages begins anew .
Now , too , returns the virgin Astrsea—returns the rejgn of Saturn . The serpent ' s sting shall die , and poison ' s fallacious plant shall die , and the Assyrian spikenard grow on every soil ; and blushing grapes shall hang on brambles rude , and dewy honey from hard oaks distil ; and fruit and flowers shall spring up every where without man ' s care or toil . The sacred destinies , harmonious in the established order of