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Article PROVINCIAL. ← Page 8 of 15 →
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Provincial.
detrimental as it might otherwise be by improving the opportunity for his superior instructions as long as it shall last . He would not occupy more time with remarks , but in proposing the health of Bro . Thomas Hardy , and congratulating him on the jubilee of his Masonic life , he would say of him with the
poet" I worship not the rising sun , But bow to him whose race is run . " The toast was drunk with Masonic honours and enthusiastic acclamations . Brother HARDY on rising to return thanks was received with continued cheers—Silence being restored he said , he had to offer his most grateful and sincere thanks for the kindness they had evinced towards
him that day , by calling the then special meeting to celebrate the completion of his fiftieth year as a Mason and a Member of that Lodge , and also for the very flattering terms in which his health had been proposed by tbe R . W . D . P . G . M ., and the manner in which the toast of his health had been responded to by all present . He begged to assure them that his feelings were overpowered with gratitude for their kindness , so much so that it was impossible for him to find words to express
sufficiently the feelings he then experienced , indeed he found himself in a state to describe which silence might be more expressive than words . He would , therefore not detain them with any lengthened address , which if he were to attempt , it could only be to repeat a statement of his long services to the Lodge which might appear like egotism on his part . He therefore hoped that they would excuse him if he endeavoured to be as brief as possible . It was fifty years that day since he was made a Mason in that Lodge , and during that long time he had not been six times absent from the Lodge meetings . AVhen he become a Mason , he was so pleased with the principles of the Institution that he determined to
study them and obtain all the information he could concerning them ; not with a view to gratify any personal vanity of his own , but in order to make himself useful to the Lodge of which he had became a Member , and to the Fraternity at large , by assisting as far as his humble abilities would permit , to promulgate the sublime moral principles in whicli Freemasonry was founded ; and to contribute towards the improvement and edification of his Brethren , whose approbation of his endeavours was at all times an abundant reward for any trouble or attention
to which he might be subjected , and from the kindness evinced towards him on that occasion , he trusted he might justly conclude that his best wishes to be useful to the Fraternity had been fully realised . He was then in the 74 th year of his age , and he found that his faculties were beginning to be impaired . He could not look forward to any long period to be able to afford the same assistance by his services to the Lodge that he had hitherto done ; but he would assure them that as long
as he was blessed with health , strength , and memory to do so , nothing should be wanting on his part to assist to the utmost of his power . And when it should please the Almighty Architect ofthe Universe to remove him , he hoped that the example he had endeavoured to set , would tend to induce the Brethren not to relax in their efforts to preserve to the Lodge the high character it had hitherto enjoyed amongst the Fraternity at large , not only in this country , but also in foreign parts , of which he had received many pleasing accounts , from Brethren who had visited different Lodges on the Continent and in America . He would not
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Provincial.
detrimental as it might otherwise be by improving the opportunity for his superior instructions as long as it shall last . He would not occupy more time with remarks , but in proposing the health of Bro . Thomas Hardy , and congratulating him on the jubilee of his Masonic life , he would say of him with the
poet" I worship not the rising sun , But bow to him whose race is run . " The toast was drunk with Masonic honours and enthusiastic acclamations . Brother HARDY on rising to return thanks was received with continued cheers—Silence being restored he said , he had to offer his most grateful and sincere thanks for the kindness they had evinced towards
him that day , by calling the then special meeting to celebrate the completion of his fiftieth year as a Mason and a Member of that Lodge , and also for the very flattering terms in which his health had been proposed by tbe R . W . D . P . G . M ., and the manner in which the toast of his health had been responded to by all present . He begged to assure them that his feelings were overpowered with gratitude for their kindness , so much so that it was impossible for him to find words to express
sufficiently the feelings he then experienced , indeed he found himself in a state to describe which silence might be more expressive than words . He would , therefore not detain them with any lengthened address , which if he were to attempt , it could only be to repeat a statement of his long services to the Lodge which might appear like egotism on his part . He therefore hoped that they would excuse him if he endeavoured to be as brief as possible . It was fifty years that day since he was made a Mason in that Lodge , and during that long time he had not been six times absent from the Lodge meetings . AVhen he become a Mason , he was so pleased with the principles of the Institution that he determined to
study them and obtain all the information he could concerning them ; not with a view to gratify any personal vanity of his own , but in order to make himself useful to the Lodge of which he had became a Member , and to the Fraternity at large , by assisting as far as his humble abilities would permit , to promulgate the sublime moral principles in whicli Freemasonry was founded ; and to contribute towards the improvement and edification of his Brethren , whose approbation of his endeavours was at all times an abundant reward for any trouble or attention
to which he might be subjected , and from the kindness evinced towards him on that occasion , he trusted he might justly conclude that his best wishes to be useful to the Fraternity had been fully realised . He was then in the 74 th year of his age , and he found that his faculties were beginning to be impaired . He could not look forward to any long period to be able to afford the same assistance by his services to the Lodge that he had hitherto done ; but he would assure them that as long
as he was blessed with health , strength , and memory to do so , nothing should be wanting on his part to assist to the utmost of his power . And when it should please the Almighty Architect ofthe Universe to remove him , he hoped that the example he had endeavoured to set , would tend to induce the Brethren not to relax in their efforts to preserve to the Lodge the high character it had hitherto enjoyed amongst the Fraternity at large , not only in this country , but also in foreign parts , of which he had received many pleasing accounts , from Brethren who had visited different Lodges on the Continent and in America . He would not