Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Reaching After The Unattainable.*
all forgotten , laid aside , dispensed with , in the heartlessness of life , in the treacheries of the Avorld , in the " bassesse " of humanity ! We Avho looked for perfection have found frailty . we Avho expected friendship have discovered treachery ; AVO who hoped for truth have had to contend Avith falsehood ; Wc AVIIO counted on clinging affection have had to put up with cold-hearted desertion . " \ V have been " reaching unto the unattabiable " here beloAv . And yet once ' more how Avonderful often to us seems tbe creations of earth , the handiwork of mortal men !
We lay out skilful plans , Ave carve out goodly careers , Ave erect mighty buddings , Ave accumulate vast wealth ; Ave have laboured for Tune , and Time reAvards Avith it . fleeting praises , its ephemeral ciwvns . We arc prosperous and great , yes , ancl honoured and g lorious in the Avorld ' s sight ; applaudmg croAvds caress our names ; laudatory Gazettes declare Avorld-Avide our reputation ; Ave have reached oven tbe acme of human felicity , the apogee of eartldy greatness ! Ancl AAdiat then 1 Often in a moment the bouse AVC have reared tumbles down ; the vrealth we have
made crumbles aAvay ; honour , fame , rank , position , a good name , family mfluence—all vanish from us , flee from us , leave us here , lonely , disregarded , and friendless ! Ave have been reaching to the unattainable . Once again , in the history of this garish Avorld of ours , the Divbier Truth is ^ made sure as of ever , that the "battle is not to the strong , nor the race to the SAvift ; " that nothing earthly is stable or lasting , and that on every tlimg of earth , of man , of the the and the
world , is written as with an adamantine pen , " Nebusthan . " Tes , pomp pageantry , the wealth and the wisdom , the glory and the greatness , the felicity and tbe fellowship of man , all are at the best but evanescent and most uneertam , and in the very midst of apparently assured splendour and triumph , fade aAvay in an mstant , like as a dream Avhen one aAvaketh . Poor mortals all ! Ave haveVbeen reaching unto the Unattainable ! I might go through many illustrations , but the space accorded me goes no further , and I also fear to wearythe patience of my readers , for Avhom just now didactic essays
are , as they say , " a drug in the market ; " neither do I think it right-to make an article in the MASONIC MAGAZINE a Sermonetto . I have taken a philosophical view of lifei > cr se , and have touched on topics familiar , I am bold to belieA'e , to every thinking mind . Ot course , I presume that people have a " thinlring mind , " though , to confess the truth , m the present state of affairs that may with most represent the " unknown quantity . " We live , unfortunately , at a time Avhen easy living , material indulgence , and dubious the to
society , have apparently enervated our Aidiole moral bebig , ancl indisposed majority reflection or to thought . Society seems to me just IIOAV like a ship abandoned at sea ; its masts are gone , its . creAv have taken to the boats , and tossed to and fro , the sport ot tumultuous Avavcs , it is speedhig it knows not AvMther , destined either to founder on the open , or to go to pieces on treacherous sandbanks or piorcuig reefs . But , as Truth lies , and abvays has lain , at the bottom of the great well of Life , s ° there are some ardent imaginations , some generous dispositions , some thinking im ncl j > some cultivated understandings , to be touched and vrarned , and edified and restraincc ,
even in the humble pages of the MASONIC MAGAZINE . . , For them I Avrite to-day , ancl to them , I feel sure , my unpretending words will sourn neither unineanhig nor pharisaical , kolloAV , or untrue .
Reviews.
Reviews .
Later Lyrics . By Dr . J . E . CAM . E _ . TER . ( Charles E . Hawkesley , 13 , Queen Victo ' " street . ) WE have received Bro . Dr . Carpenter ' s " Later Lyrics " with pleasure , and perused tm n . itl-, m ~ . it . _ tip .-it . i nti Wi > liRr . tn . " . all tlin ii . tlc . iit . inn nf nnr rpj - flnrs tn them , as tllCV CllSP ¦
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Reaching After The Unattainable.*
all forgotten , laid aside , dispensed with , in the heartlessness of life , in the treacheries of the Avorld , in the " bassesse " of humanity ! We Avho looked for perfection have found frailty . we Avho expected friendship have discovered treachery ; AVO who hoped for truth have had to contend Avith falsehood ; Wc AVIIO counted on clinging affection have had to put up with cold-hearted desertion . " \ V have been " reaching unto the unattabiable " here beloAv . And yet once ' more how Avonderful often to us seems tbe creations of earth , the handiwork of mortal men !
We lay out skilful plans , Ave carve out goodly careers , Ave erect mighty buddings , Ave accumulate vast wealth ; Ave have laboured for Tune , and Time reAvards Avith it . fleeting praises , its ephemeral ciwvns . We arc prosperous and great , yes , ancl honoured and g lorious in the Avorld ' s sight ; applaudmg croAvds caress our names ; laudatory Gazettes declare Avorld-Avide our reputation ; Ave have reached oven tbe acme of human felicity , the apogee of eartldy greatness ! Ancl AAdiat then 1 Often in a moment the bouse AVC have reared tumbles down ; the vrealth we have
made crumbles aAvay ; honour , fame , rank , position , a good name , family mfluence—all vanish from us , flee from us , leave us here , lonely , disregarded , and friendless ! Ave have been reaching to the unattainable . Once again , in the history of this garish Avorld of ours , the Divbier Truth is ^ made sure as of ever , that the "battle is not to the strong , nor the race to the SAvift ; " that nothing earthly is stable or lasting , and that on every tlimg of earth , of man , of the the and the
world , is written as with an adamantine pen , " Nebusthan . " Tes , pomp pageantry , the wealth and the wisdom , the glory and the greatness , the felicity and tbe fellowship of man , all are at the best but evanescent and most uneertam , and in the very midst of apparently assured splendour and triumph , fade aAvay in an mstant , like as a dream Avhen one aAvaketh . Poor mortals all ! Ave haveVbeen reaching unto the Unattainable ! I might go through many illustrations , but the space accorded me goes no further , and I also fear to wearythe patience of my readers , for Avhom just now didactic essays
are , as they say , " a drug in the market ; " neither do I think it right-to make an article in the MASONIC MAGAZINE a Sermonetto . I have taken a philosophical view of lifei > cr se , and have touched on topics familiar , I am bold to belieA'e , to every thinking mind . Ot course , I presume that people have a " thinlring mind , " though , to confess the truth , m the present state of affairs that may with most represent the " unknown quantity . " We live , unfortunately , at a time Avhen easy living , material indulgence , and dubious the to
society , have apparently enervated our Aidiole moral bebig , ancl indisposed majority reflection or to thought . Society seems to me just IIOAV like a ship abandoned at sea ; its masts are gone , its . creAv have taken to the boats , and tossed to and fro , the sport ot tumultuous Avavcs , it is speedhig it knows not AvMther , destined either to founder on the open , or to go to pieces on treacherous sandbanks or piorcuig reefs . But , as Truth lies , and abvays has lain , at the bottom of the great well of Life , s ° there are some ardent imaginations , some generous dispositions , some thinking im ncl j > some cultivated understandings , to be touched and vrarned , and edified and restraincc ,
even in the humble pages of the MASONIC MAGAZINE . . , For them I Avrite to-day , ancl to them , I feel sure , my unpretending words will sourn neither unineanhig nor pharisaical , kolloAV , or untrue .
Reviews.
Reviews .
Later Lyrics . By Dr . J . E . CAM . E _ . TER . ( Charles E . Hawkesley , 13 , Queen Victo ' " street . ) WE have received Bro . Dr . Carpenter ' s " Later Lyrics " with pleasure , and perused tm n . itl-, m ~ . it . _ tip .-it . i nti Wi > liRr . tn . " . all tlin ii . tlc . iit . inn nf nnr rpj - flnrs tn them , as tllCV CllSP ¦