-
Articles/Ads
Article CORRESFOIDENCE, ← Page 6 of 6
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Corresfoidence,
for , though not established as rivals , it cannot but be that by how "local ' institutions are siipported ^ heir operations being neeessarir ^ stricted—by so inuch the old institutions , whose operations are co-extensive with the Craft , must suffer . The building at Wandsworth was constructed for one hundred children , though the number is at present limited to seventy . The house lately
purchased at Hornsey for the Boys School will accommodate thirty , the number actually there being twenty-five . If funds were forthcoming , thirty additional girls could be admitted to the former , with a very slight , if any , addition to the staff ; and at Hornsey measures are already in progress for enlarging the accommodation so as to admit the seventy boys now on the institution ; and it rests with the Brethren to say how soon these desirable results shall be accomplished .
Thoroughly ventilated as the subject of our charities has lately been , it is needless for me to encumber this communication with details . I ask your assistance in submitting these considerations to the attention of our provincial Brethren more especially , who , I feel sure , will not deem me presumptuous in offering them to their notice , but wdll , I hope , receive theiii in the spirit in wdiich they are intended . Though no longer a member of the committee to which this subject was specially referred , I feel a lively
hitetestiii ' the . ' welfare of our truly noble charitable institutions , and should deeply regret to see their prosperity imperilled by the diversion of any portion of those resources -which , if concentrated for tlieir support , would at no distant day secure to them a rank and position second to none , if not superior to any of the establishments of a kindred character . I am , Sir and Brother , yours faithfully and fraternally , LiOndon , 24 $ Nov ., 1858 . " " Fre ' dk . Binckes .
Darkness . —Darkness among Freemasons is emblematical of ignorance ; for , as our science has technically been called " Lux * " or light , the absence of light mu , st be the absence of knowledge . Hence the rule that the eye should nob see , until . the heart has conceived , the true nature of those beauties which constitute the mysteries of our order . In the spurious Freemasonry of the ancient mysteries the aspirant was always shrouded in darkness , as a preparatory step to the reception of the full light of khowledge . The time of this confinement in darkness and
solitude , varied in the different mysteries . Among the Druids of Britain the period was nine days and nigbts ; in the Grecian mysteries it was three times nine days ; while among-the Persians , according to Porphyry , it was extended to the almost incredible period of fifty days of darkness , solitude , and fasting . In the beginning , light was esteemed above darkness , and the primitive Egyptians worshipped On , as their chief deity , under the character of eternal night . But , as the learned Oliver observes , " this worship-was soon debased by superstitious practices . " Darkness was then adorned astho first born , as the progenitor of day , and
the state of existence before creation . Freemasonry lias restored darkness to its proper place , as a state of preparation , the symbol of that aiitelnundate chaos from whence light issued at the divine command ; of the state of nonei . ititybefo . ro birth , and of ignorance before the reception of knowledge . Hence , iu the mysteries , the release of the aspirant from solitude and darimess was called the act of regeneration , and he was said to be born again , or to be raised from the dead . And in Masonry , tho darkness which envelopes the mind of the uninitiated , being removed by the bright effulgence of Masonic light , Masons are appropriately called " the sons of light . "—Mackeyz lexicon ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Corresfoidence,
for , though not established as rivals , it cannot but be that by how "local ' institutions are siipported ^ heir operations being neeessarir ^ stricted—by so inuch the old institutions , whose operations are co-extensive with the Craft , must suffer . The building at Wandsworth was constructed for one hundred children , though the number is at present limited to seventy . The house lately
purchased at Hornsey for the Boys School will accommodate thirty , the number actually there being twenty-five . If funds were forthcoming , thirty additional girls could be admitted to the former , with a very slight , if any , addition to the staff ; and at Hornsey measures are already in progress for enlarging the accommodation so as to admit the seventy boys now on the institution ; and it rests with the Brethren to say how soon these desirable results shall be accomplished .
Thoroughly ventilated as the subject of our charities has lately been , it is needless for me to encumber this communication with details . I ask your assistance in submitting these considerations to the attention of our provincial Brethren more especially , who , I feel sure , will not deem me presumptuous in offering them to their notice , but wdll , I hope , receive theiii in the spirit in wdiich they are intended . Though no longer a member of the committee to which this subject was specially referred , I feel a lively
hitetestiii ' the . ' welfare of our truly noble charitable institutions , and should deeply regret to see their prosperity imperilled by the diversion of any portion of those resources -which , if concentrated for tlieir support , would at no distant day secure to them a rank and position second to none , if not superior to any of the establishments of a kindred character . I am , Sir and Brother , yours faithfully and fraternally , LiOndon , 24 $ Nov ., 1858 . " " Fre ' dk . Binckes .
Darkness . —Darkness among Freemasons is emblematical of ignorance ; for , as our science has technically been called " Lux * " or light , the absence of light mu , st be the absence of knowledge . Hence the rule that the eye should nob see , until . the heart has conceived , the true nature of those beauties which constitute the mysteries of our order . In the spurious Freemasonry of the ancient mysteries the aspirant was always shrouded in darkness , as a preparatory step to the reception of the full light of khowledge . The time of this confinement in darkness and
solitude , varied in the different mysteries . Among the Druids of Britain the period was nine days and nigbts ; in the Grecian mysteries it was three times nine days ; while among-the Persians , according to Porphyry , it was extended to the almost incredible period of fifty days of darkness , solitude , and fasting . In the beginning , light was esteemed above darkness , and the primitive Egyptians worshipped On , as their chief deity , under the character of eternal night . But , as the learned Oliver observes , " this worship-was soon debased by superstitious practices . " Darkness was then adorned astho first born , as the progenitor of day , and
the state of existence before creation . Freemasonry lias restored darkness to its proper place , as a state of preparation , the symbol of that aiitelnundate chaos from whence light issued at the divine command ; of the state of nonei . ititybefo . ro birth , and of ignorance before the reception of knowledge . Hence , iu the mysteries , the release of the aspirant from solitude and darimess was called the act of regeneration , and he was said to be born again , or to be raised from the dead . And in Masonry , tho darkness which envelopes the mind of the uninitiated , being removed by the bright effulgence of Masonic light , Masons are appropriately called " the sons of light . "—Mackeyz lexicon ,