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Article PROVINCIAL. ← Page 11 of 18 →
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Provincial.
should be wanting in good taste if I were to indulge in any compliments to the character or talents of our Worshipful Brother ; I will content myself with saying , that jibe inhabitants of this city unanimously believe him- to be endowed with every qualification for his high office , and we , as Masons , offer him our congratulations on the attainment of his dignified position . " Bro . Dr . Willbraliam Palconer ( Mayor of Bath ) , P . Prov . G . S . W ., in a very excellent and eloquent speech , expressed his gratification at meeting such a numerous and influential body of Masons as he saw around him that evening , a
convincing proof of the high estimation in which their newly-elected Master was held , not only in the city of Bath , but by the surrounding Provinces . Gifted , as he was , by talents of the highest order ; practising , as he did , those principles of moral truth and virtue on which the Order was founded , his high standard of Masonic worth eminently qualified him for the position of the Master of the Lodge , and he was sure that under his guidance and direction his year of office would be characterized as one of great service to the Lodge , and satisfaction to its members . The Worshipful Brother concluded by calling on the Brethren to give due Masonic effect to the toast of the W . M .
The W . M ,, who was very enthusiastically received , replied , that if he possessed ever so much confidence , or was endowed with ever so much power of language , the flattering manner in which his health had been proposed and received would effectually deprive him of both , and render him incapable of thanking them as he ought . "To you , " said the W . M-. / " the Brethren of my own Lodge , my thanks are especially due for the confidence you have this day reposed in me , and to the visitors who have this day crowded round us in such numbers to do us honour ,
they are no less so . Brethren , in carrying out the duties of W . M . of this Lodge I shall endeavour to take the landmarks of the Order for my standard , and the Book of Constitutions for my guide . I will not knowingly dissent from the one , or swerve from the other . We are all fallible and prone to error , and if I commit errors , as it is most probable I shall , rest assured it will proceed from a defective judgment , and not from a wilfulness of purpose . I will as much as possible perform my duties with deference to the feelings of the Brethren , looking to them
for counsel and support in times of difficulty . I am painfully aware that I shall need all your forbearance , all your support , and all your charity ; but if at the end of my term of office I shall have maintained your Lodge in all its integrityshall have conducted its various ceremonies and presided over its deliberations to your satisfaction , I shall be more than recompensed for any amount of time and labour I may be called upon to give it . Brethren , I look upon the design of Masonry to be an institution established for mutual improvement and mutual
benefit ; and to attain this end it is necessary that there should exist mutual good feeling and undisguised interchange of sentiment . , But , Brethren , this cannot be accomplished unless we are in charity with each other . We are told that the three great principles of Masonry are Brotherly love , relief and truth ; and we also know that the three cardinal virtues which form the principal steps of Jacob ' s ladder , which reached to the heavens , are Faith , Hope , and Charity . When I speak of charity , I do not simply mean that charity which would lead us to give
relief to a fellow-creature in distress , but charity in its broadest and most exalted sense . Brethren , if you would trace the sublime principle to its source , you must look beyond the bounds of time , you must penetrate the heaven of heavens , and you will there find it in the happy society of angels—the bond of peace and of all virtues ; and when the world shall have passed away , —when the G . A . O . T . IT . shall descend from heaven with a shout , and with the voice of an archangel ,- —Masonic charity will continue to illuminate
those blest abodes where the just live to all eternity . All other virtues are mortal , but charity is immortal . Brethren , the charity I now speak of is that which is so eloquently described by St . Paul—the charity * which sufferetli long and is kind , which vaunteth not itself , is not puffed up , doth not behave itself unseemly , and which never faneta . ' The charity of the heart is the Masonic characteristic ; our Order is built upon it , and had its foundation been on the sand it would have vanished centuries ago . Brethren , a moral responsibility rests upon us ; it is for ub to show the opponents of our Order that Masonry is real ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Provincial.
should be wanting in good taste if I were to indulge in any compliments to the character or talents of our Worshipful Brother ; I will content myself with saying , that jibe inhabitants of this city unanimously believe him- to be endowed with every qualification for his high office , and we , as Masons , offer him our congratulations on the attainment of his dignified position . " Bro . Dr . Willbraliam Palconer ( Mayor of Bath ) , P . Prov . G . S . W ., in a very excellent and eloquent speech , expressed his gratification at meeting such a numerous and influential body of Masons as he saw around him that evening , a
convincing proof of the high estimation in which their newly-elected Master was held , not only in the city of Bath , but by the surrounding Provinces . Gifted , as he was , by talents of the highest order ; practising , as he did , those principles of moral truth and virtue on which the Order was founded , his high standard of Masonic worth eminently qualified him for the position of the Master of the Lodge , and he was sure that under his guidance and direction his year of office would be characterized as one of great service to the Lodge , and satisfaction to its members . The Worshipful Brother concluded by calling on the Brethren to give due Masonic effect to the toast of the W . M .
The W . M ,, who was very enthusiastically received , replied , that if he possessed ever so much confidence , or was endowed with ever so much power of language , the flattering manner in which his health had been proposed and received would effectually deprive him of both , and render him incapable of thanking them as he ought . "To you , " said the W . M-. / " the Brethren of my own Lodge , my thanks are especially due for the confidence you have this day reposed in me , and to the visitors who have this day crowded round us in such numbers to do us honour ,
they are no less so . Brethren , in carrying out the duties of W . M . of this Lodge I shall endeavour to take the landmarks of the Order for my standard , and the Book of Constitutions for my guide . I will not knowingly dissent from the one , or swerve from the other . We are all fallible and prone to error , and if I commit errors , as it is most probable I shall , rest assured it will proceed from a defective judgment , and not from a wilfulness of purpose . I will as much as possible perform my duties with deference to the feelings of the Brethren , looking to them
for counsel and support in times of difficulty . I am painfully aware that I shall need all your forbearance , all your support , and all your charity ; but if at the end of my term of office I shall have maintained your Lodge in all its integrityshall have conducted its various ceremonies and presided over its deliberations to your satisfaction , I shall be more than recompensed for any amount of time and labour I may be called upon to give it . Brethren , I look upon the design of Masonry to be an institution established for mutual improvement and mutual
benefit ; and to attain this end it is necessary that there should exist mutual good feeling and undisguised interchange of sentiment . , But , Brethren , this cannot be accomplished unless we are in charity with each other . We are told that the three great principles of Masonry are Brotherly love , relief and truth ; and we also know that the three cardinal virtues which form the principal steps of Jacob ' s ladder , which reached to the heavens , are Faith , Hope , and Charity . When I speak of charity , I do not simply mean that charity which would lead us to give
relief to a fellow-creature in distress , but charity in its broadest and most exalted sense . Brethren , if you would trace the sublime principle to its source , you must look beyond the bounds of time , you must penetrate the heaven of heavens , and you will there find it in the happy society of angels—the bond of peace and of all virtues ; and when the world shall have passed away , —when the G . A . O . T . IT . shall descend from heaven with a shout , and with the voice of an archangel ,- —Masonic charity will continue to illuminate
those blest abodes where the just live to all eternity . All other virtues are mortal , but charity is immortal . Brethren , the charity I now speak of is that which is so eloquently described by St . Paul—the charity * which sufferetli long and is kind , which vaunteth not itself , is not puffed up , doth not behave itself unseemly , and which never faneta . ' The charity of the heart is the Masonic characteristic ; our Order is built upon it , and had its foundation been on the sand it would have vanished centuries ago . Brethren , a moral responsibility rests upon us ; it is for ub to show the opponents of our Order that Masonry is real ,