Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Part Of A Charge Lately Delivered To A Society Of Free Masons On An Extraordinary Occasion*.
sufficient confutation of that malignant slander , that MASONRY there put the sword into the hands of a sanguinary faction * . But yet 1 apprehend there is some necessity for guarding the minds of many of our well-meaning brethren against the pernicious influence of that spirit , ' which , under the guise of friendship , would introduce the same . scene of horror into every well-ordered society . A daemon got access into the pure region of holinesspeaceand
, , bliss ; and under the artful pretence of adding to their enjoyments , procured the misery of its inhabitants . With such an example then in view , we should consider that no institution is free from the possibility of perversion ; nor any society , however virtuous their principles and strong their obligations , removed from the necessity of caution and exhortation .
You will , therefore , my brethren , readily bear with me while I endeavour to improve the alarming and truly awful appearance of affair's in this apparently latter age of the world to our particular benefit as Masons , by exhorting you to the " study of those things which make for peace . " We make up one peculiar societyand indeed the onl y one in the
, world wherein neither political nor religious differences , not even the most opposite sentiments or customs , or the most violent contentions that agitate the several countries where we reside , can disunite us from each other . Under ail the adventitious distinctions that political necessity has made to exist in this chequered state , and which
divide the tribes of mankind , still the members of the social band are the same , and feel their concerns to be mutual . Their princi ples elevate them far above all the petty distinctions and partial considerations which to other societies prove the seeds of their destruction . Considered as Masons ; and regarding each other merely under that title , they lose all idea of every other object , and view their brother either with a satisfaction at his prosperousor commiseration
, at his adverse condition in life . Universal benevolence is the grancl characteristic of him who has a true sense of the origin and nature of this sublime institution . But , my brethren , this generosity of spirit , this universality of love , is not so to be understood as though it went to supersede more particular points of duty . Though we are said to be indifferent to local or temr
porary circumstances that divide one part of the bod y from the other , we are not therefore to be insensible to peculiar connections . Masonry , though it makes us in reality citizens of the world , does not tend to alienate us from the country to which we belong ; nor , because we extend our equal love to brethren of every clime , are we to lose si ght of that grand branch of natural duty , the love of our native land . We are
indeed called the sons of peace , but it is to be considered also that peace cannot subsist without order . It is our province then to preserve a consistency with our profession , by labouring earnestly for the things which make for peace : this can be done in no other way than by a strict attention to the duties of good citizens , in endeavouring to merit the protection of the legislature by an obedience to its laws ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Part Of A Charge Lately Delivered To A Society Of Free Masons On An Extraordinary Occasion*.
sufficient confutation of that malignant slander , that MASONRY there put the sword into the hands of a sanguinary faction * . But yet 1 apprehend there is some necessity for guarding the minds of many of our well-meaning brethren against the pernicious influence of that spirit , ' which , under the guise of friendship , would introduce the same . scene of horror into every well-ordered society . A daemon got access into the pure region of holinesspeaceand
, , bliss ; and under the artful pretence of adding to their enjoyments , procured the misery of its inhabitants . With such an example then in view , we should consider that no institution is free from the possibility of perversion ; nor any society , however virtuous their principles and strong their obligations , removed from the necessity of caution and exhortation .
You will , therefore , my brethren , readily bear with me while I endeavour to improve the alarming and truly awful appearance of affair's in this apparently latter age of the world to our particular benefit as Masons , by exhorting you to the " study of those things which make for peace . " We make up one peculiar societyand indeed the onl y one in the
, world wherein neither political nor religious differences , not even the most opposite sentiments or customs , or the most violent contentions that agitate the several countries where we reside , can disunite us from each other . Under ail the adventitious distinctions that political necessity has made to exist in this chequered state , and which
divide the tribes of mankind , still the members of the social band are the same , and feel their concerns to be mutual . Their princi ples elevate them far above all the petty distinctions and partial considerations which to other societies prove the seeds of their destruction . Considered as Masons ; and regarding each other merely under that title , they lose all idea of every other object , and view their brother either with a satisfaction at his prosperousor commiseration
, at his adverse condition in life . Universal benevolence is the grancl characteristic of him who has a true sense of the origin and nature of this sublime institution . But , my brethren , this generosity of spirit , this universality of love , is not so to be understood as though it went to supersede more particular points of duty . Though we are said to be indifferent to local or temr
porary circumstances that divide one part of the bod y from the other , we are not therefore to be insensible to peculiar connections . Masonry , though it makes us in reality citizens of the world , does not tend to alienate us from the country to which we belong ; nor , because we extend our equal love to brethren of every clime , are we to lose si ght of that grand branch of natural duty , the love of our native land . We are
indeed called the sons of peace , but it is to be considered also that peace cannot subsist without order . It is our province then to preserve a consistency with our profession , by labouring earnestly for the things which make for peace : this can be done in no other way than by a strict attention to the duties of good citizens , in endeavouring to merit the protection of the legislature by an obedience to its laws ,