-
Articles/Ads
Article GRAND LODGE. 1 ← Page 6 of 6 Article "BRETHREN, WE MUST DIE!" Page 1 of 1
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Grand Lodge. 1
Grand Lodge , thus affording the Brethren a fair opportunity of seeing what is likely to be brought before them , and of protesting against motions of ' which they do not approve , before it has become too late to do so . Other minor alterations have also taken place in the conduct of the
business of Grand Lodge , and we doubt not that other and even greater improvements will be carried when the recollection of the excitement under which they were originally proposed shall have passed away , as it happily is now speedily doing . On the merits of the notices of motion which stand for discussion this evening Ave shall not now
express any opinion beyond this , that We object to the addition to the salary of any officer of the Graft by way of " gratuity . " If the brother has by his position and services rendered himself deserving of an increased salary , let it be given him in that form , for no man should receive under one title that which he has earned under
another . We are aware that there is a precedent for voting the addition as a " gratuity ; " but we hope a mere adherence to precedent will not be considered a good ground for following it . The addition of the £ 100 a year , or whatever it may be , will lose half its value as a gratuity , it not being so full an acknowledgment of the value of a man ' s services as would be the addition of a like amount to his salary .
"Brethren, We Must Die!"
" BRETHREN , WE MUST DIE ! "
The above record , in the language of our Masonic Funeral Service , is to us " a most solemn admonition , to regard the uncertainty of human life , the immutable certainty of death , and the vanity of all earthly pursuits . Decrepitude and decay arc written on every living thing . The cradle and the coffin stand in juxtaposition to each other ; and it is a melancholy truth , that so soon as we begin to live , that moment also we begin to die . Weakness ? and imperfection are the incidents
of our fallen condition ; the damp grave is our destiny and our doom . Ifc is passing strange , that notwithstanding the daily mementos of mortality that cross our path ; notwithstanding the funeral boll so often tolls in our ears , and tho ' mournful processions' go about our streets ; that we will not consider our latter end , and lay it more seriously to heart that we must ourselves go down into the silent chambers of the tomb . What an . eloquent commentary is here exhibited upon the instability of every human pursuit ; and how touohingly , with what deep
pathos , does it echo the sad sentiment of the great preacher , who , having tested all tli 6 pleasures and fascinations of this world , having drunk deep from the golden cup of its ambition , its honours , and its wealth , of its intellectual enjoyments , and its sensual gratifications , wrote , from remorseful experience and for our perpetual warning , the immortal text— ' Vanity of vanities ; all u vanity ! ' My Brethren , does not that warning voice come to us with most peculiar emphasis in thin ' valley of death ? ' And shall it not exercise over our future actions the deep and pervading influence its high Masonic source is entitled to command ?"—Proceedings , Grand Lodge of OUioy 1857 .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Grand Lodge. 1
Grand Lodge , thus affording the Brethren a fair opportunity of seeing what is likely to be brought before them , and of protesting against motions of ' which they do not approve , before it has become too late to do so . Other minor alterations have also taken place in the conduct of the
business of Grand Lodge , and we doubt not that other and even greater improvements will be carried when the recollection of the excitement under which they were originally proposed shall have passed away , as it happily is now speedily doing . On the merits of the notices of motion which stand for discussion this evening Ave shall not now
express any opinion beyond this , that We object to the addition to the salary of any officer of the Graft by way of " gratuity . " If the brother has by his position and services rendered himself deserving of an increased salary , let it be given him in that form , for no man should receive under one title that which he has earned under
another . We are aware that there is a precedent for voting the addition as a " gratuity ; " but we hope a mere adherence to precedent will not be considered a good ground for following it . The addition of the £ 100 a year , or whatever it may be , will lose half its value as a gratuity , it not being so full an acknowledgment of the value of a man ' s services as would be the addition of a like amount to his salary .
"Brethren, We Must Die!"
" BRETHREN , WE MUST DIE ! "
The above record , in the language of our Masonic Funeral Service , is to us " a most solemn admonition , to regard the uncertainty of human life , the immutable certainty of death , and the vanity of all earthly pursuits . Decrepitude and decay arc written on every living thing . The cradle and the coffin stand in juxtaposition to each other ; and it is a melancholy truth , that so soon as we begin to live , that moment also we begin to die . Weakness ? and imperfection are the incidents
of our fallen condition ; the damp grave is our destiny and our doom . Ifc is passing strange , that notwithstanding the daily mementos of mortality that cross our path ; notwithstanding the funeral boll so often tolls in our ears , and tho ' mournful processions' go about our streets ; that we will not consider our latter end , and lay it more seriously to heart that we must ourselves go down into the silent chambers of the tomb . What an . eloquent commentary is here exhibited upon the instability of every human pursuit ; and how touohingly , with what deep
pathos , does it echo the sad sentiment of the great preacher , who , having tested all tli 6 pleasures and fascinations of this world , having drunk deep from the golden cup of its ambition , its honours , and its wealth , of its intellectual enjoyments , and its sensual gratifications , wrote , from remorseful experience and for our perpetual warning , the immortal text— ' Vanity of vanities ; all u vanity ! ' My Brethren , does not that warning voice come to us with most peculiar emphasis in thin ' valley of death ? ' And shall it not exercise over our future actions the deep and pervading influence its high Masonic source is entitled to command ?"—Proceedings , Grand Lodge of OUioy 1857 .