Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Obituary.
Laurence Thompson , and Satterly , were the Masons who manfull y ami zealously attempted ( and succeeded in the attempt ) , to procure uniformity in Masonry , and to disseminate the genuine principles of our Order ; and we cannot fail to perceive that in ex-act proportion to the advancement of Masonic knowledge was the advancement of Masonic charity , the very end , aim , and object of our Institution . Doubtless a part of this was due to the Umo-n of the two Grand Lodges , but not much ; for we find that there were
nearly as many Lodges then as now , and that from time immemorial ( as it is the fashion to call it ) , up to the year 1813 , the two together mustered but some ; £ 250 Q per annum , and that since then our income and our funded property , and consequently our usefulness , has increased in a fourfold degree . No ! To those good and true Masons whom I have named , and to some others witb whose names I am not at this moment familiar , Masonry is far more deeplindebted than the Craft in general imagine .
y Not all the Princes—( and I say it with the utmost respect ) , —not all the Princes who have adorned our Order by their patronage and their presence —not all the Nobles who have given a tone to our proceedings—could have produced this result , bad it not been for that under-current of quiet and unostentatious men , who , whilst they taught the young Mason his Masonic ritual , guided him by precept and encouraged him by example to the due performance of bis social duties , —who guarded him from error , warned him
from danger , and thus formed tbe very life-blood oi the society . Thomson's labours began in 1 S 13 , —before many of those whom I now address were born , —before the majority of you were out of your nurseries . They ended but with bis life . It was and is necessary that there should be something to learn in Masonry—some greater bond than mere good-fellowship to hold men together . The impression produced on the new Mason by the due and effective performance of the Ceremony of Initiation was wanting in the Free-Masonry
of the earlier part of tbe present centiu-y . Here then did Thomson shine conspicuous amongst his fellow Masons . I wish to claim no more for bis memory than may be justly accorded to him , —and not to him alone , but to many of bis zealous colleagues . There is , however , one circumstance in which he differed in a remarkable degree from most , if not all other Masons . I mean in the possession of a vast influence . 1 think I may witb truth aver that during many years of his life ( and that during an eventful period in Masonry ) , no man possessed a larger influence in the Craft than lie
did . Not only bis acquirements pointed him out as a guide , but bis strict discipline both in and out of the Lodge led him to be looked upon as the leader of the opinions of the City Masons generally . Indeed few circumstances of moment occurred in which Bro . Peter Thomson ' s opinion and advice were not asked . How did he use this influence ? and how did he obtain it ? He used it invariably well ; be was ever found on the side of order ; he never presumed on bis station . To change one word of our immortal bard ' s-
" His life was fiemie , anil the elements So mixed in him , that Nature might stand up And say to all the world—this was a MASON' ! ' ' Void of ambition , save to do good , —homely in speech , unburdened with , and uncaring for much classic lore , be gloried in being a Mason , and a Mason only . He was a striking instance of the possibility of every mini , placed in whatever station be may be , rising to eminence . He obtained his great influence partlin tbe first instanceby bis acquirements in Masonry
y , , and his willingness to assist all who sought him , but chiefly from his inflexible honesty , —bis unbending integrity ! Independent to a fault ! honest as the . Sun ! 1 do not believe that the power exists upon earth which would have tempted that good old man to swerve from that course , or that von . II . I ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Obituary.
Laurence Thompson , and Satterly , were the Masons who manfull y ami zealously attempted ( and succeeded in the attempt ) , to procure uniformity in Masonry , and to disseminate the genuine principles of our Order ; and we cannot fail to perceive that in ex-act proportion to the advancement of Masonic knowledge was the advancement of Masonic charity , the very end , aim , and object of our Institution . Doubtless a part of this was due to the Umo-n of the two Grand Lodges , but not much ; for we find that there were
nearly as many Lodges then as now , and that from time immemorial ( as it is the fashion to call it ) , up to the year 1813 , the two together mustered but some ; £ 250 Q per annum , and that since then our income and our funded property , and consequently our usefulness , has increased in a fourfold degree . No ! To those good and true Masons whom I have named , and to some others witb whose names I am not at this moment familiar , Masonry is far more deeplindebted than the Craft in general imagine .
y Not all the Princes—( and I say it with the utmost respect ) , —not all the Princes who have adorned our Order by their patronage and their presence —not all the Nobles who have given a tone to our proceedings—could have produced this result , bad it not been for that under-current of quiet and unostentatious men , who , whilst they taught the young Mason his Masonic ritual , guided him by precept and encouraged him by example to the due performance of bis social duties , —who guarded him from error , warned him
from danger , and thus formed tbe very life-blood oi the society . Thomson's labours began in 1 S 13 , —before many of those whom I now address were born , —before the majority of you were out of your nurseries . They ended but with bis life . It was and is necessary that there should be something to learn in Masonry—some greater bond than mere good-fellowship to hold men together . The impression produced on the new Mason by the due and effective performance of the Ceremony of Initiation was wanting in the Free-Masonry
of the earlier part of tbe present centiu-y . Here then did Thomson shine conspicuous amongst his fellow Masons . I wish to claim no more for bis memory than may be justly accorded to him , —and not to him alone , but to many of bis zealous colleagues . There is , however , one circumstance in which he differed in a remarkable degree from most , if not all other Masons . I mean in the possession of a vast influence . 1 think I may witb truth aver that during many years of his life ( and that during an eventful period in Masonry ) , no man possessed a larger influence in the Craft than lie
did . Not only bis acquirements pointed him out as a guide , but bis strict discipline both in and out of the Lodge led him to be looked upon as the leader of the opinions of the City Masons generally . Indeed few circumstances of moment occurred in which Bro . Peter Thomson ' s opinion and advice were not asked . How did he use this influence ? and how did he obtain it ? He used it invariably well ; be was ever found on the side of order ; he never presumed on bis station . To change one word of our immortal bard ' s-
" His life was fiemie , anil the elements So mixed in him , that Nature might stand up And say to all the world—this was a MASON' ! ' ' Void of ambition , save to do good , —homely in speech , unburdened with , and uncaring for much classic lore , be gloried in being a Mason , and a Mason only . He was a striking instance of the possibility of every mini , placed in whatever station be may be , rising to eminence . He obtained his great influence partlin tbe first instanceby bis acquirements in Masonry
y , , and his willingness to assist all who sought him , but chiefly from his inflexible honesty , —bis unbending integrity ! Independent to a fault ! honest as the . Sun ! 1 do not believe that the power exists upon earth which would have tempted that good old man to swerve from that course , or that von . II . I ,