Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ireland.
pay the least compliment in our power to the best of Alasons , and to show him , if it were at all necessary , that he has our full , our firm , and our entire confidence . AVe have met together this evening , Brethren , to hail , with delight , with pleasure , and with happiness , the return of the P . G . M . of North Munster from a continental tour , in good health ancl spirits ; and , Brethren , why should we not do so ? If we take a retrospective view of Alasonry , what do we find ; that a very few years
ago , it was at a low ebb in this city , ancl , I may say , nearly extinct , when the P . G . AI . threw himself into its ranks , with an ardour not easily to be described , and with a matchless perseverance wrought at it incessantly , until he brought it to the high position it now holds in your city—a position , I am happy to say , second to none in Ireland ; for I believe I am justified in saying , that we have as good ivorking Masons in Limerick as there are in Irelandand probablI need not
, y travel out of the precincts of Eden Lodge , 73 , in order to find them ; and I ask you , Brethren , to whom are we indebted for this ? I reply , to the P . G . AI ., who , by his fostering care , assiduity , and example , has rendered Limerick pre-eminently remarkable for its workings , and I sincerely believe if ever there was a man who hacl his heart and soul centred in Masonry it is our P . G . M . He not only labours at it incessantly by claybut it is my impression his nocturnal slumbers are
, engaged therein ; and , Brethren , 1 think I am perfectly warranted at coming to this conclusion , for his acts bear me out—and I would ask what are they ? I regret my inability to tell you all , but I will endeavour to detail one or two : —Take , for instance , a Brother who has an object in view , and let him make his case known to the P . G . M ., and I say ,
without fear of contradiction , that , if it were necessary , he the P . G . AI . will cross the Atlantic , aye , and that at the peril of his life , in order to accomplish that for which the Brother seeks ; ancl surely , Brethren , we cannot shut our eyes to his practical acts to the distressed Craft . Numerous , I must say , as they are bountiful—generous as they are considerate , and only , in my mind , to be equalled by the happiness that it affords the P . G . M . when bestowing them . Take the P . G . M . as a man and a Masonwe find him kind in dispositionbland in his mannerscourteous
, , , iu his demeanour—if our P . G . AI . was a selfish Brother , he , with his independent fortune , could retire to his elegant country estate , Cahirelly Castle , and there he might enjoy himself in the sweet retirement of private life—there he might recline on the richly embroidered couch , or bask in his delightful arbour , or might enjoy himself in his picturesque
demesne in following those pursuits that would be so congenial and beneficial to his health ; but , Brethren , what do we find the contrast to be , locked up in his study , in his town residence—there devoting his whole time and giving his undivided attention to the interest of the Craft . Brethren , I do fully persuade myself , that when it shall please Providence , in some fifty years hence , to receive the P . G . M . into celestial bliss , that such is the P . G . M . ' s love of Masonry , that the sign of the compass will be found engraved on his heartin the Grand Lodge above .
, Brethren , there is only one thing that mars the pleasureable feeling of this evening , to me it is , that your chair is not tilled by some other member of 73 , that could do some better justice to the P . G . M . ' s qualities as a Alason . Brethren , I confess my inability as much as I regret my incapability to do so ; you must , therefore , only take the will for the deed ; but , Brethren , it is to me at all times a high honour to have a Prince Alason on my right as well as on my left , and to be surrounded
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ireland.
pay the least compliment in our power to the best of Alasons , and to show him , if it were at all necessary , that he has our full , our firm , and our entire confidence . AVe have met together this evening , Brethren , to hail , with delight , with pleasure , and with happiness , the return of the P . G . M . of North Munster from a continental tour , in good health ancl spirits ; and , Brethren , why should we not do so ? If we take a retrospective view of Alasonry , what do we find ; that a very few years
ago , it was at a low ebb in this city , ancl , I may say , nearly extinct , when the P . G . AI . threw himself into its ranks , with an ardour not easily to be described , and with a matchless perseverance wrought at it incessantly , until he brought it to the high position it now holds in your city—a position , I am happy to say , second to none in Ireland ; for I believe I am justified in saying , that we have as good ivorking Masons in Limerick as there are in Irelandand probablI need not
, y travel out of the precincts of Eden Lodge , 73 , in order to find them ; and I ask you , Brethren , to whom are we indebted for this ? I reply , to the P . G . AI ., who , by his fostering care , assiduity , and example , has rendered Limerick pre-eminently remarkable for its workings , and I sincerely believe if ever there was a man who hacl his heart and soul centred in Masonry it is our P . G . M . He not only labours at it incessantly by claybut it is my impression his nocturnal slumbers are
, engaged therein ; and , Brethren , 1 think I am perfectly warranted at coming to this conclusion , for his acts bear me out—and I would ask what are they ? I regret my inability to tell you all , but I will endeavour to detail one or two : —Take , for instance , a Brother who has an object in view , and let him make his case known to the P . G . M ., and I say ,
without fear of contradiction , that , if it were necessary , he the P . G . AI . will cross the Atlantic , aye , and that at the peril of his life , in order to accomplish that for which the Brother seeks ; ancl surely , Brethren , we cannot shut our eyes to his practical acts to the distressed Craft . Numerous , I must say , as they are bountiful—generous as they are considerate , and only , in my mind , to be equalled by the happiness that it affords the P . G . M . when bestowing them . Take the P . G . M . as a man and a Masonwe find him kind in dispositionbland in his mannerscourteous
, , , iu his demeanour—if our P . G . AI . was a selfish Brother , he , with his independent fortune , could retire to his elegant country estate , Cahirelly Castle , and there he might enjoy himself in the sweet retirement of private life—there he might recline on the richly embroidered couch , or bask in his delightful arbour , or might enjoy himself in his picturesque
demesne in following those pursuits that would be so congenial and beneficial to his health ; but , Brethren , what do we find the contrast to be , locked up in his study , in his town residence—there devoting his whole time and giving his undivided attention to the interest of the Craft . Brethren , I do fully persuade myself , that when it shall please Providence , in some fifty years hence , to receive the P . G . M . into celestial bliss , that such is the P . G . M . ' s love of Masonry , that the sign of the compass will be found engraved on his heartin the Grand Lodge above .
, Brethren , there is only one thing that mars the pleasureable feeling of this evening , to me it is , that your chair is not tilled by some other member of 73 , that could do some better justice to the P . G . M . ' s qualities as a Alason . Brethren , I confess my inability as much as I regret my incapability to do so ; you must , therefore , only take the will for the deed ; but , Brethren , it is to me at all times a high honour to have a Prince Alason on my right as well as on my left , and to be surrounded