Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
America.
the exclusion of others . AVe aro , in that volume , the Bible , taught to " do good unto all men , es ]_ ecially to thc household of the faith , " the Brethren of tho Craft . But it is said , Masons arc no better than other men , and pure as our moral principles arc , the drunkard , tho swearer , the dishonest man , are of thc Order . Masons are frail as well as others , and are
not necessarily converted men , nor have we claimed for Masoniy any power to transform man , and make him " a new creature in Christ Jesus . " It can only modify or check , not regenerate ; hence , it receives men degenerate and defiled ; and though we deeply regret the indiscretions and sins of the members of the Order , while all other institutions composed of mortals are liable to the same afflictions , we will not abandon ours for sharing a similar fate . Nor do
I intend by these remarks to justify our errors , much less excuse the gross abandonment of principal which is manifest in the conduct of some men who have been permitted to enjoy the lights and benefits of Masonry , and then return like the sow to wallow again in the mire . Neither do I wish to be understood , in speaking of Masons , as embracing these . No man thinks of including Arnold among the heroes of the revolution ; and no man includes Judas among the self-denying band of Apostles , who followed Christ and " witnessed a good profession . "
Brethren , while upon this subject , let me caution , let me entreat you , officers and members here assembled , to guard well the outer doors of the temple . No man shoidd be admitted , whose public or private character is known to be immoral— " Know no man after the . flesh . " If your own brother , or father , knocks for admission , and you know him to be unworthy , turn a deaf ear to his application . Your officers should be " good men and true" and the reins of
, government should never become slack . Who that has watched the path of Masonry does not see , that the fury of its foes has been greatest , when thc unworthy are seen in our ranks . But the history of the past admonishes us of our danger , and furnishes us with instruction too important to be neglected . The church and the state , the kingdom and the republic , the prince , and the subject , the evil
and the good , have marshalled their combined forces to overthrow us ; like the " waves ¦ of old ocean " have the floods gathered and broken against us , and yet we stand . We are this day the oldest human organized body on the face of the earth ; our foimdation was laid deep and broad , and time , which wastes most things , has given strength and grace to the sur _ erstrueture we have wrought , and firm
we shall stand , until He who " spake , and it was done , " shall dissolve the framework of nature , and transfer the Ashler , polished here , to " that house , not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . " Our foes are powerless , unless we are shorn of our strength by the indiscriminate admission of members , or the base inconsistency of those who , with thc light before them , plunge into the darkness . The forvoii . r . 3 K
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
America.
the exclusion of others . AVe aro , in that volume , the Bible , taught to " do good unto all men , es ]_ ecially to thc household of the faith , " the Brethren of tho Craft . But it is said , Masons arc no better than other men , and pure as our moral principles arc , the drunkard , tho swearer , the dishonest man , are of thc Order . Masons are frail as well as others , and are
not necessarily converted men , nor have we claimed for Masoniy any power to transform man , and make him " a new creature in Christ Jesus . " It can only modify or check , not regenerate ; hence , it receives men degenerate and defiled ; and though we deeply regret the indiscretions and sins of the members of the Order , while all other institutions composed of mortals are liable to the same afflictions , we will not abandon ours for sharing a similar fate . Nor do
I intend by these remarks to justify our errors , much less excuse the gross abandonment of principal which is manifest in the conduct of some men who have been permitted to enjoy the lights and benefits of Masonry , and then return like the sow to wallow again in the mire . Neither do I wish to be understood , in speaking of Masons , as embracing these . No man thinks of including Arnold among the heroes of the revolution ; and no man includes Judas among the self-denying band of Apostles , who followed Christ and " witnessed a good profession . "
Brethren , while upon this subject , let me caution , let me entreat you , officers and members here assembled , to guard well the outer doors of the temple . No man shoidd be admitted , whose public or private character is known to be immoral— " Know no man after the . flesh . " If your own brother , or father , knocks for admission , and you know him to be unworthy , turn a deaf ear to his application . Your officers should be " good men and true" and the reins of
, government should never become slack . Who that has watched the path of Masonry does not see , that the fury of its foes has been greatest , when thc unworthy are seen in our ranks . But the history of the past admonishes us of our danger , and furnishes us with instruction too important to be neglected . The church and the state , the kingdom and the republic , the prince , and the subject , the evil
and the good , have marshalled their combined forces to overthrow us ; like the " waves ¦ of old ocean " have the floods gathered and broken against us , and yet we stand . We are this day the oldest human organized body on the face of the earth ; our foimdation was laid deep and broad , and time , which wastes most things , has given strength and grace to the sur _ erstrueture we have wrought , and firm
we shall stand , until He who " spake , and it was done , " shall dissolve the framework of nature , and transfer the Ashler , polished here , to " that house , not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . " Our foes are powerless , unless we are shorn of our strength by the indiscriminate admission of members , or the base inconsistency of those who , with thc light before them , plunge into the darkness . The forvoii . r . 3 K