Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Charity.
Cxi AJhJL I jl #
[ From the New York Masonic Mirror and Keystone . \ Charity , in the Avorks of , moralists , is defined to be the love of our brethren , or a kind brotherly affection one tOAA ard another . In order to exercise this virtue both in he character of Masons and common life Avith propriety , and agreeably Avith such principles , v ? e should forget every obligation but affection ; for othenvise it Avere to confound charity AA ith
duty . The feelings of the heart ought to direct the hand of Charity . To this purpose we should be divested of eA ^ ery idea of superiority , and estimate ourseh es as being of the same rank and race of men : in this disposition of mind Ave may be susceptible of those sentiments Avhich Charity delighteth in , to feel the Avoes and miseries of others Avith a genuine and true sympathy of soul . Compassion is of Heavenly birth ; it is one ; of the first characteristics of humanity . Peculiar to our race , it distinguishes us from
the rest of creation . He Avhose bosom is locked up against compassion is a barbarian . ; his manners must be brutal , his mind gloomy and morose , and his passions a $ savage as the beasts of the forest . What kind of a man is he avIio , full of opulence , and in Avhose hands abundance overfioAVS , can look on virtue in distress , and merit in misery ^ without pity ? Who could behold Avithout tears the desolate and forlorn
estate of a widoAV , who . . in early life , having been brought up in the bosom of a tender mother , Avithout knowing care and Avithout tasting of necessity , was not fitted for adversity ; Avhose soul was pure as innocence , and full of lionour ; whose mind had been brightened by erudition , under an indulgent father \ avIiosc youth , untutored in the school of sorrows , had been flattered Avith the prospect of days of prosperity and plenty ; one , who at length , by the cruel adversity of winds and seas , with her dying husband
is AA recked in total destruction and beggary ; driven by ill fortune from peace and plenty ; and from the bed of ease , changes her lot to the dank dunghill for the relief of her weariness and pain ; groAvn meagre Avith necessity and sick with avoc ; at her bosom hanging her famished infant , draining off the dregs of parental life for sustenance , bcstoAved from maternal , love yielding existence to support the babe ? Hard-hearted
eovetousness , and proud titles , can you behold such an object dry-eyed ? Can avarice grasp the mite which should sustain such virtue ? Can high life lift its supercilious hro \ y above such scenes in human life , above such miseries sustained by a fellow-creature ? If perchance the voice of tlie unfortunate and wretched wickw is heard in complainings , when wearying
patience and relaxing resignation breathe a sigh , while modesty forbids her supplication is not the groan , the sigh , more pathetic to your oar , you rich ones , than all the flattering petitions of a cringing knave , who touches your vanity and " tickles your follies , extorting from your very Aveaknesses the prostituted portion of Charity ? Perhaps the fatal hour is at hand when
consolation is required to close the last moments of this unfortunate one ' s life . Can the man absorbed in pleasure roll his chariot wheels beyond the scene of sorroAV without compassion , and without pity see the last convulsion and the deadly gaze which paint misery upon the features of an expiring saint ? If angles weep in heaven , they Aveep for such ; if they can knoAv contempt , they feel it for the Avealthy who bestoAv not of their superfluities , and snatch not them from their vices what Mould gladden souls sunk in
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Charity.
Cxi AJhJL I jl #
[ From the New York Masonic Mirror and Keystone . \ Charity , in the Avorks of , moralists , is defined to be the love of our brethren , or a kind brotherly affection one tOAA ard another . In order to exercise this virtue both in he character of Masons and common life Avith propriety , and agreeably Avith such principles , v ? e should forget every obligation but affection ; for othenvise it Avere to confound charity AA ith
duty . The feelings of the heart ought to direct the hand of Charity . To this purpose we should be divested of eA ^ ery idea of superiority , and estimate ourseh es as being of the same rank and race of men : in this disposition of mind Ave may be susceptible of those sentiments Avhich Charity delighteth in , to feel the Avoes and miseries of others Avith a genuine and true sympathy of soul . Compassion is of Heavenly birth ; it is one ; of the first characteristics of humanity . Peculiar to our race , it distinguishes us from
the rest of creation . He Avhose bosom is locked up against compassion is a barbarian . ; his manners must be brutal , his mind gloomy and morose , and his passions a $ savage as the beasts of the forest . What kind of a man is he avIio , full of opulence , and in Avhose hands abundance overfioAVS , can look on virtue in distress , and merit in misery ^ without pity ? Who could behold Avithout tears the desolate and forlorn
estate of a widoAV , who . . in early life , having been brought up in the bosom of a tender mother , Avithout knowing care and Avithout tasting of necessity , was not fitted for adversity ; Avhose soul was pure as innocence , and full of lionour ; whose mind had been brightened by erudition , under an indulgent father \ avIiosc youth , untutored in the school of sorrows , had been flattered Avith the prospect of days of prosperity and plenty ; one , who at length , by the cruel adversity of winds and seas , with her dying husband
is AA recked in total destruction and beggary ; driven by ill fortune from peace and plenty ; and from the bed of ease , changes her lot to the dank dunghill for the relief of her weariness and pain ; groAvn meagre Avith necessity and sick with avoc ; at her bosom hanging her famished infant , draining off the dregs of parental life for sustenance , bcstoAved from maternal , love yielding existence to support the babe ? Hard-hearted
eovetousness , and proud titles , can you behold such an object dry-eyed ? Can avarice grasp the mite which should sustain such virtue ? Can high life lift its supercilious hro \ y above such scenes in human life , above such miseries sustained by a fellow-creature ? If perchance the voice of tlie unfortunate and wretched wickw is heard in complainings , when wearying
patience and relaxing resignation breathe a sigh , while modesty forbids her supplication is not the groan , the sigh , more pathetic to your oar , you rich ones , than all the flattering petitions of a cringing knave , who touches your vanity and " tickles your follies , extorting from your very Aveaknesses the prostituted portion of Charity ? Perhaps the fatal hour is at hand when
consolation is required to close the last moments of this unfortunate one ' s life . Can the man absorbed in pleasure roll his chariot wheels beyond the scene of sorroAV without compassion , and without pity see the last convulsion and the deadly gaze which paint misery upon the features of an expiring saint ? If angles weep in heaven , they Aveep for such ; if they can knoAv contempt , they feel it for the Avealthy who bestoAv not of their superfluities , and snatch not them from their vices what Mould gladden souls sunk in