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Article PROVINCIAL ← Page 11 of 36 →
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Provincial
far we are under a special obligation to do so , over and above our neighbours , on account of our having voluntarily undertaken the duties and responsibilities of Freemasonry . I am anxious that we should clearly un derstand this , in order that we may , by God ' s grace , be enabled to exert ourselves so as to become more and more , as each year rolls on , not only more consistent Christians , but true and worthy members of our great Society . Let us look to it , lest through our own neglect and insincerity , we should help to raise up a charge
of hollowness and unreality against our Order . We cannot , if we would , evade an examination of our duties , and of their fulfilment by each one of us . ^ We ought not , if we could . We ought not , because if a great and solemn obligation is laid upon us to be more than ordinarily zealous for the glory of God , and the welfare of our fellow-men , heavy will be our punishment if we fail in our duty . We cannot , because we have taken good care that our light shall not be hid under a bushel . Whatever else may be chargeable against us , it cannot , at any rate , be said that we are ashamed of our existence , and would hide ourselves from the face of day . We have on this occasion , as on many others , taken every
pains to proclaim ourselves to this ancient city . We have come here to God ' s house , publicly , openly , almost ostentatiously . We have invited every inhabitant of this place to ask the question , ' Who are these men ? What is this Society which claims for itself so prominent a position ? ' Let us then , my Brethren , both for their sakes and our own , spend a few minutes in recalling to our recollection both what we profess and what we are bound to perform . What is Freemasonry ? It is a system of morality , of which the great truths are veiled in allegory , and , after the example set us in the Old Testament , are illustrated by symbols . Time will not , as so many of you here well know , permit me to enum erate , much less to enlarge upon , one-tenth part of the great moral truths which our Order enforces
upon us , and I shall , therefore , confine myself to an examination of our teaching upon the two great branches of duty which are laid before us in our text . For the information of those who are not of our number , it will be as well to state that the maxims I am now about to quote stand at the very threshold of our instructions . They are the alphabet of Freemasonry—the first lesson which she
impresses upon her children . She tells us she would first recommend to our most serious contemplation the volume of the Sacred Law , charging us to consider it as the unerring standard of truth and justice , and to regulate our actions by the Divine precepts it contains , as therein we shall be taught the important duties we owe to God , to our neighbour , and to ourselves . To God , by never mentioning His name but with that awe and reverence which are due from the creature to
his Creator , by imploring His aid on all our lawful undertakings , and by looking up to Him in every emergency for comfort and support . As Masons , then , you are bound to set God always before you , to stand out from the crowd by which you are surrounded , as men who remember always that their Creator ' s eye is upon them—that all their works have to be done to His honour . Is there any undertaking which has for its object the glory of God , the spread of the knowledge of his Holy name—we , of all men , ought to be foremost in its promotion . It has been objected against us that our basis is too broad—that by admitting within our
pale all men , of all creeds and sects , we are making light of the Gospel , and placing it on a par with natural religion . Such charges , as we all know , are without foundation . We say to all men , as our Lord said , ' To love God and our neighbour is the great end of our being—come and let us join together to do this . Whatever teaching the volume of the Sacred Law conveys to you , that obey and follow ; we interfere not with your creed ; you may build what superstructure you please , only let this be our common starting point , to love and serve our Creator , and
benefit His creatures . ' It is , perhaps , a question whether we might not with wisdom return to the ancient plan of allowing the ritual of each private Lodge to bear more distinctly the impress of its members' faith . From the days of St . Alban , till within the present century , in Christian Lodges Christianity was openly professed ; in Hebrew and Mahommedan Lodges it was of course excluded ; nor could this course have been justly deemed a ground of offence by any . I am certain , however , that those who find most fault with our comprehensiveness , would themselves , if they were in earnest , act precisely as we have done . Sup-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Provincial
far we are under a special obligation to do so , over and above our neighbours , on account of our having voluntarily undertaken the duties and responsibilities of Freemasonry . I am anxious that we should clearly un derstand this , in order that we may , by God ' s grace , be enabled to exert ourselves so as to become more and more , as each year rolls on , not only more consistent Christians , but true and worthy members of our great Society . Let us look to it , lest through our own neglect and insincerity , we should help to raise up a charge
of hollowness and unreality against our Order . We cannot , if we would , evade an examination of our duties , and of their fulfilment by each one of us . ^ We ought not , if we could . We ought not , because if a great and solemn obligation is laid upon us to be more than ordinarily zealous for the glory of God , and the welfare of our fellow-men , heavy will be our punishment if we fail in our duty . We cannot , because we have taken good care that our light shall not be hid under a bushel . Whatever else may be chargeable against us , it cannot , at any rate , be said that we are ashamed of our existence , and would hide ourselves from the face of day . We have on this occasion , as on many others , taken every
pains to proclaim ourselves to this ancient city . We have come here to God ' s house , publicly , openly , almost ostentatiously . We have invited every inhabitant of this place to ask the question , ' Who are these men ? What is this Society which claims for itself so prominent a position ? ' Let us then , my Brethren , both for their sakes and our own , spend a few minutes in recalling to our recollection both what we profess and what we are bound to perform . What is Freemasonry ? It is a system of morality , of which the great truths are veiled in allegory , and , after the example set us in the Old Testament , are illustrated by symbols . Time will not , as so many of you here well know , permit me to enum erate , much less to enlarge upon , one-tenth part of the great moral truths which our Order enforces
upon us , and I shall , therefore , confine myself to an examination of our teaching upon the two great branches of duty which are laid before us in our text . For the information of those who are not of our number , it will be as well to state that the maxims I am now about to quote stand at the very threshold of our instructions . They are the alphabet of Freemasonry—the first lesson which she
impresses upon her children . She tells us she would first recommend to our most serious contemplation the volume of the Sacred Law , charging us to consider it as the unerring standard of truth and justice , and to regulate our actions by the Divine precepts it contains , as therein we shall be taught the important duties we owe to God , to our neighbour , and to ourselves . To God , by never mentioning His name but with that awe and reverence which are due from the creature to
his Creator , by imploring His aid on all our lawful undertakings , and by looking up to Him in every emergency for comfort and support . As Masons , then , you are bound to set God always before you , to stand out from the crowd by which you are surrounded , as men who remember always that their Creator ' s eye is upon them—that all their works have to be done to His honour . Is there any undertaking which has for its object the glory of God , the spread of the knowledge of his Holy name—we , of all men , ought to be foremost in its promotion . It has been objected against us that our basis is too broad—that by admitting within our
pale all men , of all creeds and sects , we are making light of the Gospel , and placing it on a par with natural religion . Such charges , as we all know , are without foundation . We say to all men , as our Lord said , ' To love God and our neighbour is the great end of our being—come and let us join together to do this . Whatever teaching the volume of the Sacred Law conveys to you , that obey and follow ; we interfere not with your creed ; you may build what superstructure you please , only let this be our common starting point , to love and serve our Creator , and
benefit His creatures . ' It is , perhaps , a question whether we might not with wisdom return to the ancient plan of allowing the ritual of each private Lodge to bear more distinctly the impress of its members' faith . From the days of St . Alban , till within the present century , in Christian Lodges Christianity was openly professed ; in Hebrew and Mahommedan Lodges it was of course excluded ; nor could this course have been justly deemed a ground of offence by any . I am certain , however , that those who find most fault with our comprehensiveness , would themselves , if they were in earnest , act precisely as we have done . Sup-