Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Practical Benevolence Of Freemasonry.
project with every demonstration of joy , as being in strict accordance with the best principles of the Order ; and an emanation of that Divine ardour which prompted the first Christians to divide their substance amongst the poor and the maimed , the halt and the blind . This noble project , when carried into active operation , will not only prove a refuge to the destitute Brother , and bring down daily blessigns on the heads of its supporters ; but it will seal for ever the high position ivhich Masonry undoubtedly possesses amongst the scientific and charitable institutions of our country , and will he an object of imitation to the Brethren , in all other lands where the Order flourishes or is known . If we look at
the consequences , whether contingent or direct , they will equally serve to illustrate the principal point of Masonry , Brotherly Love , Relief , and Truth ; and show to the world that our professions are not merel y nominal , but that they are indications of great and substantial benefits . I am a friend to the Asylum on its own simple and intrinsic merits . It deserves to be popular ; and it ivill undoubtedly meet with the support ivhich its importance so imperiousl y demands . The present moment
is a crisis of great scientific improvement and mental amelioration . The public mind is sensitively alive to the calls and invitations of charity , to meet the wants , whether temporal or spiritual , of the inferior classes of our population ; as witness the numerous appeals ivhich are made in the great manufacturing toivns to the benevolence of Christian congregations , both of the church , ancl those which dissent from her communion ; which are always heard with pleasureand answered with
, liberality . And shall Freemasonry—shall that Institution ivhich claims precedence in all works which have Charity , and Brotherly love for their basis , linger behind , and resign the first place to any other establishment ? Shall Freemasonry be content ivith a subordinate station in the dignified march of benevolence ? I am not , I firmly believe , misrepresenting our noble and wealthy Brethren , when I say that they will never submit that Masonry shall relinquish the rank which public estimation has
assigned to it , as a reward for the practical virtues by which its precepts are illustrated . Masonry is in the van , and she will not fail to maintain the high distinction which her charitable institutions have secured . The Asylum for Aged and Decayed Freemasons is a noble idea , and will add fresh laurels to the great body by which it is fostered and protected .
There can he no doubt of its ultimate success ; and the above suggestions have been thrown out with a view of awakening those Brothers to its merits , who , like myself , have no pretensions whatever to participate in the credit of its establishment . I should rejoice , nulla ambitione , to see an institution in existence attached to the Order which I so highly esteem , where the aged and destitute Freemason who has seen better days , may have leisure to reflect , that the lessons he has
heard from the Master ' s Chair , were not vapid and uninteresting , but pregnant ivith real benefits , of which himself ivould be so happy an illustration . It is from this simple and unmixed feeling that I have been induced to place my sentiments on record in this valuable periodical , respecting the general outline of the plan . Its minor details I am unacquainted with ; and though I conceive that much grave consideration ivill be necessary before they can be brought to perfection , yet I am not without an -entire confidence that the philanthropy ivhich could project such a noble institution , will not want genius to devise the best means of carrying it into effective operation .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Practical Benevolence Of Freemasonry.
project with every demonstration of joy , as being in strict accordance with the best principles of the Order ; and an emanation of that Divine ardour which prompted the first Christians to divide their substance amongst the poor and the maimed , the halt and the blind . This noble project , when carried into active operation , will not only prove a refuge to the destitute Brother , and bring down daily blessigns on the heads of its supporters ; but it will seal for ever the high position ivhich Masonry undoubtedly possesses amongst the scientific and charitable institutions of our country , and will he an object of imitation to the Brethren , in all other lands where the Order flourishes or is known . If we look at
the consequences , whether contingent or direct , they will equally serve to illustrate the principal point of Masonry , Brotherly Love , Relief , and Truth ; and show to the world that our professions are not merel y nominal , but that they are indications of great and substantial benefits . I am a friend to the Asylum on its own simple and intrinsic merits . It deserves to be popular ; and it ivill undoubtedly meet with the support ivhich its importance so imperiousl y demands . The present moment
is a crisis of great scientific improvement and mental amelioration . The public mind is sensitively alive to the calls and invitations of charity , to meet the wants , whether temporal or spiritual , of the inferior classes of our population ; as witness the numerous appeals ivhich are made in the great manufacturing toivns to the benevolence of Christian congregations , both of the church , ancl those which dissent from her communion ; which are always heard with pleasureand answered with
, liberality . And shall Freemasonry—shall that Institution ivhich claims precedence in all works which have Charity , and Brotherly love for their basis , linger behind , and resign the first place to any other establishment ? Shall Freemasonry be content ivith a subordinate station in the dignified march of benevolence ? I am not , I firmly believe , misrepresenting our noble and wealthy Brethren , when I say that they will never submit that Masonry shall relinquish the rank which public estimation has
assigned to it , as a reward for the practical virtues by which its precepts are illustrated . Masonry is in the van , and she will not fail to maintain the high distinction which her charitable institutions have secured . The Asylum for Aged and Decayed Freemasons is a noble idea , and will add fresh laurels to the great body by which it is fostered and protected .
There can he no doubt of its ultimate success ; and the above suggestions have been thrown out with a view of awakening those Brothers to its merits , who , like myself , have no pretensions whatever to participate in the credit of its establishment . I should rejoice , nulla ambitione , to see an institution in existence attached to the Order which I so highly esteem , where the aged and destitute Freemason who has seen better days , may have leisure to reflect , that the lessons he has
heard from the Master ' s Chair , were not vapid and uninteresting , but pregnant ivith real benefits , of which himself ivould be so happy an illustration . It is from this simple and unmixed feeling that I have been induced to place my sentiments on record in this valuable periodical , respecting the general outline of the plan . Its minor details I am unacquainted with ; and though I conceive that much grave consideration ivill be necessary before they can be brought to perfection , yet I am not without an -entire confidence that the philanthropy ivhich could project such a noble institution , will not want genius to devise the best means of carrying it into effective operation .