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Article A MASONIC GIFT. ← Page 2 of 2 Article IOWA'S GRAND LIBRARY. Page 1 of 2 Article IOWA'S GRAND LIBRARY. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Masonic Gift.
Uefore the meeting VOPP Mr . J . J . Withrow moved a vote of thanks io tho Chairman , and also thanks to the Ontario Government aud tho City Council for their liberality iu treating with tho twin institutions—the Lakeside Home and tho Hospital for Sick Children . The
motion was secondtd by Mr . M . Gibhs , who announced that though he and friends liko Mr . Withrow were not at tho speaking end of the hall , yet from that quarter there was no lack of sympathy and admiration . The motion was carried amid applause .
After a suitable reply , a pleasant hour was spent in thf refreshment room , and in inspecting the building . The assembly departed , all delighted with the afternoon ' s ceremony . —Toronto Globe .
Iowa's Grand Library.
IOWA'S GRAND LIBRARY .
IF Masonry were to cease this year in Iowa , what would it leave behind to prevent its being forgotten ? Its kindnesses , friendships and charities would fade out of mind liko tho mists of the morning ; for in this unspiritual world
there must be a visible monument built by each one or p ' actd at his grave , or soon oblivion will come . We admire tho good and the beautiful , but we forget them unless some memorial is left behind .
Many a mind has pictured tho Divine family , but only those are immortal who have painted on canvas that endures their perfect ideals . Through all time men have been pointing to tho cure for unbelief and doubt , the way of escapo from the snares and temptations around us , the road to the
better land , but one only has written down his itinery by doubting castles beyond the cities of destruction and of vanity and through the delectable mountains and the peaceful land of Beulah , and his story , read through the years and repeated in every tongue , shall endure while the others are forgotten .
We who desire the just renown of the Order , the strengthening of its influences , and the widening of its fields , what shall wo build ? That the good and the great do not wholly deom us drones in this busy hive of tho world , what shall we rear for the welfare of the race ?
Shall it be a Masonic Home for the poor and needy of the Order ? Already some of our sister jurisdictions have begun . New Tork is contemplating a Home to cost one hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars , and expended last year more than twenty thousand dollars . The
appropriation in Missouri was twenty thousand dollars , and that is the amount which Kentucky expends , or seeks to expend , yearly for the same purpose . It is for some builder in Iowa to consider this subject and fully mature a plan which will succeed ; to consider the original cost
and the annual appropriations , and how these sums can be satisfactorily raised by us , and to present this subject for our consideration , together with the number who could be benefitted , and the number who would accept the benefit .
This will de done in the spirit of building up , not of tearing down , and this will be tbe work of years and will require the best consideration we can give before it can be even began .
Then let us consider the great possession we now have , and what can be done to the library of this Grand Lod ge to extend its fame and iti usefulness . Already it has become the most distinguished feature of Iowa Masonry , the work to which we may point as the result of our
labours , and that which shall live after us , whether as a Grand Body we live or die . Whatever may be our corporate destiny , that will endnre to our honour , and in the eye of the historian of the future we will appear as students and preservers of its record ; the citizen of Iowa desirous
cfkeeping the annals of the State , its growth and achievements , here sees that Masons are likewise citizens and lovers of the State ; the student of religion , its progress and denominations in Iowa , sees , in looking through these shelves , that Masonry likewise reveres religion , and is
interested in its doings ; the admirer of the great names in Masonry and in the state and nation will here perceive that we , too , respect the patriotic will and loyal heart . And so for us the library and all it contains is a memorial
shrine , bringing honour and respect from those whose good opinion we desire , uniting Masonry by stronger bonds to the State and its citizens , and conferring influence and power and that immortality of fame that follows beneficent deeds . By building it we build ourselves .
Iowa's Grand Library.
There is another reason , in this happy land where hunger is but seldom folt , and physical neglect and exile seldom known , why we should gladly receive and nourish
thia food for the soul , this haven for the mind . How many in sicknes 3 and sorrow , in poverty and bereavement , in refuge from the active toils of life , have found the consolation and rest in books and in studies which this mental
life only can give ! Whoever builds a great library has built a hospital to weary intellectual life , where those who need help and advice , and mental tonic , and rest , may gather and b 9 refreshed . Here the Mason io student may find the
beginnings of the Order , or if not quite the beginnings , at least those pleasant theories of the beginnings , which ought to be true if they are not . Here he may find what it has done and what it seeks to do , and in a larger measure than elsewhere . Here is what the fathers and the great lights have
written ; here the fullest discussions on Masonio jurisprudence . He best will esteem the Order who knows how broad , and deep , and pure , its foundations have been laid . They are the fittest advisers who know what has been done that is worthy to be followed and needful to bo shunned .
Here , too , the student of anti-Masonry , as well , may find what he moat desires , and get such consolation as he may from the enemies of the Craft . Here are the latest reports , and all of them , from Masonic bodies throughout the world ,
a collection that is worthy of the Fraternity and constitutes this body the recorder , as it were , of Masonry on earth , especially of the more than six hundred thousand Masons in North America .
Here , too , the citizen of Iowa who wishes to read the record the State has made must come to find the fullest collection of that intollcctualand material progress which
has been so swift as to dazzle the slower East , and among ourselves almost to raise a fear of its permanency . The State , in its public library at Des Moines , nor elsewhere , can furnish no such collection .
Here are the works of the authors in Iowa , not yet complete , but wonderful in their incompleteness . Here the religionist can find the records of the several sects within the State more complete than the bodies have themselvesthe Baptist , the Congregatioaalist , and the rest . Here
must come the Iowa patriot and the Iowa historian , for here in these archives are laid up his perpetual memorials ; the pamphlets on Masonry , in many volumes and tongues ; the records of the rebellion , with its vast stores of
information ; French and German Masonic works , and the wonderful discoveries in Egypt that seem to shorten the old and countless centuries , and fill once more with wonderful voices the silent years .
The pictures , the statuettes , the adornments , you can partly see ; the most wonderful of the autographs you cannot see , for after I had looked tho case through , and ransacked the drawers on my knees , and saw the outside of the countless and priceless letters wrapped up in
bales and laid away , I began to appreciate the magnitude of this branch . " What is it all worth , " does some one say ? What was Lincoln ' s speech at Gettysburg worth ? You cannot measure its value in dollars any more than the flight of the eagle in mid-heaven by the twenty-four inch guage ,
and yet there is over there a letter written by the hand of Lincoln rivalling iu pathos that famous speech . Letters of the presidents , the judges , the founders aud preservers of the nation , of the governors and the great ones of the State , of the Grand Masters of this body , and those whom wo
revere . There is something in these words the great and good have written in the midst of great events , with their own hands , which sets our souls into no Lydian measare , but to the true Doric harmony of noble words attuned to noble lives .
Finally , it may be asked : "Does it pay , not in increased enthusiasm and pleasure , in learning , in patriotism , in Masonry , bat . in dollars and cents ? " And most wonderful to tell , it actually pays in the vulgar coin of the realm . The Grand Lodge is richer by these expenditures .
When I looked at the many stores and volumes on the second floor , I was astonished to know they had cost us nothing , absolutely nothing , but the housing and shelving : that throughout the whole building , perhaps one-half we
had bought , and the rest had been received through the zeal , enthusiaHm , and liberality of friends . So it will be ever . We will continue to accumulate at little cost each year , and yet the aggregate has an actual market value , each letter its quotations , as wheat or corn , but with in-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Masonic Gift.
Uefore the meeting VOPP Mr . J . J . Withrow moved a vote of thanks io tho Chairman , and also thanks to the Ontario Government aud tho City Council for their liberality iu treating with tho twin institutions—the Lakeside Home and tho Hospital for Sick Children . The
motion was secondtd by Mr . M . Gibhs , who announced that though he and friends liko Mr . Withrow were not at tho speaking end of the hall , yet from that quarter there was no lack of sympathy and admiration . The motion was carried amid applause .
After a suitable reply , a pleasant hour was spent in thf refreshment room , and in inspecting the building . The assembly departed , all delighted with the afternoon ' s ceremony . —Toronto Globe .
Iowa's Grand Library.
IOWA'S GRAND LIBRARY .
IF Masonry were to cease this year in Iowa , what would it leave behind to prevent its being forgotten ? Its kindnesses , friendships and charities would fade out of mind liko tho mists of the morning ; for in this unspiritual world
there must be a visible monument built by each one or p ' actd at his grave , or soon oblivion will come . We admire tho good and the beautiful , but we forget them unless some memorial is left behind .
Many a mind has pictured tho Divine family , but only those are immortal who have painted on canvas that endures their perfect ideals . Through all time men have been pointing to tho cure for unbelief and doubt , the way of escapo from the snares and temptations around us , the road to the
better land , but one only has written down his itinery by doubting castles beyond the cities of destruction and of vanity and through the delectable mountains and the peaceful land of Beulah , and his story , read through the years and repeated in every tongue , shall endure while the others are forgotten .
We who desire the just renown of the Order , the strengthening of its influences , and the widening of its fields , what shall wo build ? That the good and the great do not wholly deom us drones in this busy hive of tho world , what shall we rear for the welfare of the race ?
Shall it be a Masonic Home for the poor and needy of the Order ? Already some of our sister jurisdictions have begun . New Tork is contemplating a Home to cost one hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars , and expended last year more than twenty thousand dollars . The
appropriation in Missouri was twenty thousand dollars , and that is the amount which Kentucky expends , or seeks to expend , yearly for the same purpose . It is for some builder in Iowa to consider this subject and fully mature a plan which will succeed ; to consider the original cost
and the annual appropriations , and how these sums can be satisfactorily raised by us , and to present this subject for our consideration , together with the number who could be benefitted , and the number who would accept the benefit .
This will de done in the spirit of building up , not of tearing down , and this will be tbe work of years and will require the best consideration we can give before it can be even began .
Then let us consider the great possession we now have , and what can be done to the library of this Grand Lod ge to extend its fame and iti usefulness . Already it has become the most distinguished feature of Iowa Masonry , the work to which we may point as the result of our
labours , and that which shall live after us , whether as a Grand Body we live or die . Whatever may be our corporate destiny , that will endnre to our honour , and in the eye of the historian of the future we will appear as students and preservers of its record ; the citizen of Iowa desirous
cfkeeping the annals of the State , its growth and achievements , here sees that Masons are likewise citizens and lovers of the State ; the student of religion , its progress and denominations in Iowa , sees , in looking through these shelves , that Masonry likewise reveres religion , and is
interested in its doings ; the admirer of the great names in Masonry and in the state and nation will here perceive that we , too , respect the patriotic will and loyal heart . And so for us the library and all it contains is a memorial
shrine , bringing honour and respect from those whose good opinion we desire , uniting Masonry by stronger bonds to the State and its citizens , and conferring influence and power and that immortality of fame that follows beneficent deeds . By building it we build ourselves .
Iowa's Grand Library.
There is another reason , in this happy land where hunger is but seldom folt , and physical neglect and exile seldom known , why we should gladly receive and nourish
thia food for the soul , this haven for the mind . How many in sicknes 3 and sorrow , in poverty and bereavement , in refuge from the active toils of life , have found the consolation and rest in books and in studies which this mental
life only can give ! Whoever builds a great library has built a hospital to weary intellectual life , where those who need help and advice , and mental tonic , and rest , may gather and b 9 refreshed . Here the Mason io student may find the
beginnings of the Order , or if not quite the beginnings , at least those pleasant theories of the beginnings , which ought to be true if they are not . Here he may find what it has done and what it seeks to do , and in a larger measure than elsewhere . Here is what the fathers and the great lights have
written ; here the fullest discussions on Masonio jurisprudence . He best will esteem the Order who knows how broad , and deep , and pure , its foundations have been laid . They are the fittest advisers who know what has been done that is worthy to be followed and needful to bo shunned .
Here , too , the student of anti-Masonry , as well , may find what he moat desires , and get such consolation as he may from the enemies of the Craft . Here are the latest reports , and all of them , from Masonic bodies throughout the world ,
a collection that is worthy of the Fraternity and constitutes this body the recorder , as it were , of Masonry on earth , especially of the more than six hundred thousand Masons in North America .
Here , too , the citizen of Iowa who wishes to read the record the State has made must come to find the fullest collection of that intollcctualand material progress which
has been so swift as to dazzle the slower East , and among ourselves almost to raise a fear of its permanency . The State , in its public library at Des Moines , nor elsewhere , can furnish no such collection .
Here are the works of the authors in Iowa , not yet complete , but wonderful in their incompleteness . Here the religionist can find the records of the several sects within the State more complete than the bodies have themselvesthe Baptist , the Congregatioaalist , and the rest . Here
must come the Iowa patriot and the Iowa historian , for here in these archives are laid up his perpetual memorials ; the pamphlets on Masonry , in many volumes and tongues ; the records of the rebellion , with its vast stores of
information ; French and German Masonic works , and the wonderful discoveries in Egypt that seem to shorten the old and countless centuries , and fill once more with wonderful voices the silent years .
The pictures , the statuettes , the adornments , you can partly see ; the most wonderful of the autographs you cannot see , for after I had looked tho case through , and ransacked the drawers on my knees , and saw the outside of the countless and priceless letters wrapped up in
bales and laid away , I began to appreciate the magnitude of this branch . " What is it all worth , " does some one say ? What was Lincoln ' s speech at Gettysburg worth ? You cannot measure its value in dollars any more than the flight of the eagle in mid-heaven by the twenty-four inch guage ,
and yet there is over there a letter written by the hand of Lincoln rivalling iu pathos that famous speech . Letters of the presidents , the judges , the founders aud preservers of the nation , of the governors and the great ones of the State , of the Grand Masters of this body , and those whom wo
revere . There is something in these words the great and good have written in the midst of great events , with their own hands , which sets our souls into no Lydian measare , but to the true Doric harmony of noble words attuned to noble lives .
Finally , it may be asked : "Does it pay , not in increased enthusiasm and pleasure , in learning , in patriotism , in Masonry , bat . in dollars and cents ? " And most wonderful to tell , it actually pays in the vulgar coin of the realm . The Grand Lodge is richer by these expenditures .
When I looked at the many stores and volumes on the second floor , I was astonished to know they had cost us nothing , absolutely nothing , but the housing and shelving : that throughout the whole building , perhaps one-half we
had bought , and the rest had been received through the zeal , enthusiaHm , and liberality of friends . So it will be ever . We will continue to accumulate at little cost each year , and yet the aggregate has an actual market value , each letter its quotations , as wheat or corn , but with in-