Skip to main content
Museum of Freemasonry

Masonic Periodicals Online

  • Explore
  • Advanced Search
  • Home
  • Explore
  • The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine
  • July 31, 1869
  • Page 3
Current:

The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, July 31, 1869: Page 3

  • Back to The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, July 31, 1869
  • Print image
  • Articles/Ads
    Article SERMON, Page 1 of 4 →
Page 3

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Sermon,

SERMON ,

Preached by the V . W . Bro . the Rav . Jons EDMUND Cox M . A ., P . G . Chap ., on Szmday , the 25 th inst ., in the church of St . Helen ' s , Bishopsgate , in aid of the Funds of the Masonic Institution for Boys , Wood-green . Am I my brother ' s keeper?—GEX . IV ., 9 . Irrespectively of the time and the occasion when

these words were first spoken—and to which there is no necessity that we more particularly now refer—they may be taken as the definition of that universal selfishness , which has prevailed amongst mankind from the very beginning of all things up to the present hour ; again and again repeated in every epoch , and in every place of the whole earth .

Amongst the societies of antiquity each race and people have been penned in within its own territory and its own limits . Its deities would neither free nor deliver them from such constraints . Every stranger was but a barbarian . The hopes of

religious , or even social unity , the associations of heart , soul , and spirit , indeed , were so far from being believed in the nations of antiquity , that in only the second century of our era the philosopher Celius , the then infamous opponent of Christianity ,

declared that " it was nothing but insanity to suppose that Greeks and Barbarians , Europe , Asia , and Libya , or any other people could ever be united in the bonds of the same feeling , " and that which Celius then enumerated , everybody agreed with .

Greeks and Romans , nay even the more enlightened Jews also themselves . None got beyond or above that selfishness which more or less bound the

world in its narrow mmdedness and ilhberality . Every one , in fact , asked , " Am I my brother's keeper ? " And Rome , enlightened as she was , the mistress of the then whole known globe could bring mankind only into unity of servitude and

bondage . And there has been since that era very little change in mankind , taking them in their natural condition , and uninfluenced by some other motive than their own natural disposition provides . Now , as then , except in rare instances here ancl there discovered the same indifference to the wants of

others ; the same insensibility to suffering and distress ; the same disinclination to be at any pains or trouble , except for the personal convenience , comfort , and aggrandisement of self , obtain . In the earlier ages of the world no one even

troubled himself about the poor , the slave or the disinherited . It remained for later times to inculcate holier principles , and to put in motion more

enlightened means for the amelioration of society . Of the condition of the poor , Plato , that bright and intelligent heathen genius , who has often been designated as the forerunner of " The Bright and Morning Star , "—who has " brought light and

immortality" from heaven to earth—having enquired in his " Republic , " whether the sick ancl dying poor man should be succored , replied " rio , " simply , " because , as he said , * it was not worth the trouble to do so / " As to the slave , not even a

philosopher ever gave him a thought . The orphan ancl the fatherless were alike left to perish , or prosper as chance might decide ; but there was neither orphanage nor hospital for their reception , no refuges for want or poverty . Man

felt and acted upon the one principle , which was given utterance to by the first murderer , and to the lamentations of the slave , the grievances of the poor , he answered by the lips of philosophers , legislators , and priests : — " Am I my brother ' s keeper ?" And thus to the end of time would the same

feeling and condition of the world have continued , absorbed in a degrading selfishness , if a better state of things had not been introduced . Amongst the first to attack this inordinate feelinsr of selfishness , and to put it in a lower place than that which

it had hitherto occupied , the Jew took the initiative . Blessed with brighter light , influenced by holier motives , and taught directly from heaven , his polity exhibited many distinct ancl agreeable variations from the common course of nature . Yet even

in that polity there was much more of bondage than of . freedom ; there was much more reference to self than to a universal benevolence ; and towards every other race than his own there was nothing but a sfcei'n unbending and

unrelentingdisposition to exercise the utmost selfishness . If a better state of feeling ; if a nobler principle ; if a growing desire for progress towards liberality sprung up , it never got beyond the land of Juda _ a , crossed the mountains , or traversed the seas to take the Gentiles into consideration or conciliation . The Jews lived for faith in themselves . Pirst the

tabernacle—then the temple at Jerusalem—was the centre of their whole world . Beyond these there was to be , and there was not the slightest advance , which could make mankind more civilised by imitation , or would better one another by

comparision . Even amongst themselves , sparing as they were of one another ' s faults , and willing to make allowance for any one of the house and kin-

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1869-07-31, Page 3” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 11 July 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/mmr_31071869/page/3/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
MASONIC DISCIPLINE.—XVII. Article 1
SERMON, Article 3
THE MARK DEGREE. Article 6
BURGH RECORDS.—No. 5. Article 7
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. Article 8
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 9
GRAND MARK LODGE. Article 10
THE ALYLUM FOR IDIOTS AT EARLSWOOD. Article 10
MASONIC MEMS. Article 11
UNITED GRAND LODGE. Article 11
METROPOLITAN. Article 11
PROVINCIAL. Article 11
ISLE OF MAN. Article 14
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. Article 14
ROYAL ARCH. Article 15
KNIGHTS TEMPLAR. Article 16
THE ROYAL ALBERT ORPHAN ASYLUM FOR THOROUGHLY DESTITUTE CHILDREN. Article 16
FREEMASONRY AMONG THE MORMONS. Article 17
LITERATURE, SCIENCE, MUSIC, DRAMA, AND THE FINE ARTS. Article 18
Poetry. Article 19
LIST OF LODGE, &c. MEETINGS FOR WEEK ENDING 7TH AUGUST, . 1869. Article 19
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 20
Page 1

Page 1

2 Articles
Page 2

Page 2

2 Articles
Page 3

Page 3

1 Article
Page 4

Page 4

1 Article
Page 5

Page 5

1 Article
Page 6

Page 6

3 Articles
Page 7

Page 7

2 Articles
Page 8

Page 8

2 Articles
Page 9

Page 9

3 Articles
Page 10

Page 10

4 Articles
Page 11

Page 11

4 Articles
Page 12

Page 12

1 Article
Page 13

Page 13

1 Article
Page 14

Page 14

4 Articles
Page 15

Page 15

3 Articles
Page 16

Page 16

3 Articles
Page 17

Page 17

3 Articles
Page 18

Page 18

3 Articles
Page 19

Page 19

4 Articles
Page 20

Page 20

3 Articles
Page 3

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Sermon,

SERMON ,

Preached by the V . W . Bro . the Rav . Jons EDMUND Cox M . A ., P . G . Chap ., on Szmday , the 25 th inst ., in the church of St . Helen ' s , Bishopsgate , in aid of the Funds of the Masonic Institution for Boys , Wood-green . Am I my brother ' s keeper?—GEX . IV ., 9 . Irrespectively of the time and the occasion when

these words were first spoken—and to which there is no necessity that we more particularly now refer—they may be taken as the definition of that universal selfishness , which has prevailed amongst mankind from the very beginning of all things up to the present hour ; again and again repeated in every epoch , and in every place of the whole earth .

Amongst the societies of antiquity each race and people have been penned in within its own territory and its own limits . Its deities would neither free nor deliver them from such constraints . Every stranger was but a barbarian . The hopes of

religious , or even social unity , the associations of heart , soul , and spirit , indeed , were so far from being believed in the nations of antiquity , that in only the second century of our era the philosopher Celius , the then infamous opponent of Christianity ,

declared that " it was nothing but insanity to suppose that Greeks and Barbarians , Europe , Asia , and Libya , or any other people could ever be united in the bonds of the same feeling , " and that which Celius then enumerated , everybody agreed with .

Greeks and Romans , nay even the more enlightened Jews also themselves . None got beyond or above that selfishness which more or less bound the

world in its narrow mmdedness and ilhberality . Every one , in fact , asked , " Am I my brother's keeper ? " And Rome , enlightened as she was , the mistress of the then whole known globe could bring mankind only into unity of servitude and

bondage . And there has been since that era very little change in mankind , taking them in their natural condition , and uninfluenced by some other motive than their own natural disposition provides . Now , as then , except in rare instances here ancl there discovered the same indifference to the wants of

others ; the same insensibility to suffering and distress ; the same disinclination to be at any pains or trouble , except for the personal convenience , comfort , and aggrandisement of self , obtain . In the earlier ages of the world no one even

troubled himself about the poor , the slave or the disinherited . It remained for later times to inculcate holier principles , and to put in motion more

enlightened means for the amelioration of society . Of the condition of the poor , Plato , that bright and intelligent heathen genius , who has often been designated as the forerunner of " The Bright and Morning Star , "—who has " brought light and

immortality" from heaven to earth—having enquired in his " Republic , " whether the sick ancl dying poor man should be succored , replied " rio , " simply , " because , as he said , * it was not worth the trouble to do so / " As to the slave , not even a

philosopher ever gave him a thought . The orphan ancl the fatherless were alike left to perish , or prosper as chance might decide ; but there was neither orphanage nor hospital for their reception , no refuges for want or poverty . Man

felt and acted upon the one principle , which was given utterance to by the first murderer , and to the lamentations of the slave , the grievances of the poor , he answered by the lips of philosophers , legislators , and priests : — " Am I my brother ' s keeper ?" And thus to the end of time would the same

feeling and condition of the world have continued , absorbed in a degrading selfishness , if a better state of things had not been introduced . Amongst the first to attack this inordinate feelinsr of selfishness , and to put it in a lower place than that which

it had hitherto occupied , the Jew took the initiative . Blessed with brighter light , influenced by holier motives , and taught directly from heaven , his polity exhibited many distinct ancl agreeable variations from the common course of nature . Yet even

in that polity there was much more of bondage than of . freedom ; there was much more reference to self than to a universal benevolence ; and towards every other race than his own there was nothing but a sfcei'n unbending and

unrelentingdisposition to exercise the utmost selfishness . If a better state of feeling ; if a nobler principle ; if a growing desire for progress towards liberality sprung up , it never got beyond the land of Juda _ a , crossed the mountains , or traversed the seas to take the Gentiles into consideration or conciliation . The Jews lived for faith in themselves . Pirst the

tabernacle—then the temple at Jerusalem—was the centre of their whole world . Beyond these there was to be , and there was not the slightest advance , which could make mankind more civilised by imitation , or would better one another by

comparision . Even amongst themselves , sparing as they were of one another ' s faults , and willing to make allowance for any one of the house and kin-

  • Prev page
  • 1
  • 2
  • You're on page3
  • 4
  • 20
  • Next page
  • Accredited Museum Designated Outstanding Collection
  • LIBRARY AND MUSEUM CHARITABLE TRUST OF THE UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER 1058497 / ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2025

  • Accessibility statement

  • Designed, developed, and maintained by King's Digital Lab

We use cookies to track usage and preferences.

Privacy & cookie policy