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Article G011ESFOIDEI6E ← Page 6 of 10 →
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G011esfoidei6e
remarkable passages , which deserve something more than the customary recognition accorded to a clever speech ; and I beg you , sir , to make known to the Masonic worlds through your widely read columns , that Bro . Havers , whose learning , whose acumen , and whose position among us render all he says well worthy of our best attention , has openly expressed his wishes
that a more especial cultivation of scientific subjects might exist m connection with ^ Masonry , and his hopes that we might , as we can well afford to do , even out of our surplus funds , establish a library , and lectures , and specific courses of instruction—so that the field of science , so peculiarly open to Masons , might be cultivated and improved hi a manner worthy of and consistent with the true scope and genius of the best and most enlightened
association which the world has ever produced . Sir ,. 1 fee" ! it my duty to record my growing conviction that , unless I see some such adaptation of Masonry to the advancing spirit of the age , unless some such evident and special promotion of those sciences which bring health , happiness , and moral elevation to man , be conjoined with the at present merely charitable and convivial arrangements of Masonry , Masonry will not long satisfy my reasonable requirements ; and I believe that there ar £ many others besides myself who , entertaining similar opinions , have either silently withdrawn from , or are quietly ceasing to take ah active ¦
interest hi Masonry as . it is . . V It is , in intent , a noble institution , admitting all true men who will . joinit to acts of brotherhood , to delightful association , and more especially to the advancement of science , whereby themselves may be refined and elevated , and others rendered better and happier . But , as we fmd it at present , Masonry barely accomplishes the two former of its intents , because , save in mere occasional expression , it wholly neglects the third . We lack due
devotion to science ; and , therefore , as our higher and nobler aspirations are unsatisfied , the unconscious cravings of our intellectual inner man communicate to the soul a sense of dissatisfaction ; and both charity and brotherhood seem less noble than they are , and give less pleasure than they might , just because they are practically dissociated from that grander knowledge which alone can teach us what true charity is , and what real brotherhood ought to be .
And Masonry , even in its rituals , declares that its members should not stop at mere acts of charity or meetings for conviviality . It expressly exhorts us to cultivate some science for the sake of the brotherhood and of ourselves . But at present it provides no normal machinery for the cultivation of any science . Brother Havers ' s arguments , therefore , on Friday
last , in favour of a library , of lectures , of scientific expositions , of the cultivation of the taste—and also concerning our duty to perpetuate in marble , as well as in toasts , " the merits and memory of our illustrious dead—all these words met an immediate echo in my own breast ; and I venture to prophet that , his memory and . his monument will be dearer to posterity than those of all other Masons- who will most zealously assist in the
realization of these exalted and truly Masorite hopes and wishes . Masonry ought to stand not only high , but highest of all human associations . To see it number thousands ' " of kindly , intelligent , and wealthy members of the most benevolent , intellectual , and opulent nations in the whole world ; and to think that so mighty an engine for human improvement
a , s the collective force of Masonry can supply , should be comparatively wasted , and except in various charitable donations , ( such as the same number of similar Englishmen would give if gathered together under any circumstances ) have little or no practical effect upon the improvement and happiness of mankind—such reflections fill the thoughtful with profound
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
G011esfoidei6e
remarkable passages , which deserve something more than the customary recognition accorded to a clever speech ; and I beg you , sir , to make known to the Masonic worlds through your widely read columns , that Bro . Havers , whose learning , whose acumen , and whose position among us render all he says well worthy of our best attention , has openly expressed his wishes
that a more especial cultivation of scientific subjects might exist m connection with ^ Masonry , and his hopes that we might , as we can well afford to do , even out of our surplus funds , establish a library , and lectures , and specific courses of instruction—so that the field of science , so peculiarly open to Masons , might be cultivated and improved hi a manner worthy of and consistent with the true scope and genius of the best and most enlightened
association which the world has ever produced . Sir ,. 1 fee" ! it my duty to record my growing conviction that , unless I see some such adaptation of Masonry to the advancing spirit of the age , unless some such evident and special promotion of those sciences which bring health , happiness , and moral elevation to man , be conjoined with the at present merely charitable and convivial arrangements of Masonry , Masonry will not long satisfy my reasonable requirements ; and I believe that there ar £ many others besides myself who , entertaining similar opinions , have either silently withdrawn from , or are quietly ceasing to take ah active ¦
interest hi Masonry as . it is . . V It is , in intent , a noble institution , admitting all true men who will . joinit to acts of brotherhood , to delightful association , and more especially to the advancement of science , whereby themselves may be refined and elevated , and others rendered better and happier . But , as we fmd it at present , Masonry barely accomplishes the two former of its intents , because , save in mere occasional expression , it wholly neglects the third . We lack due
devotion to science ; and , therefore , as our higher and nobler aspirations are unsatisfied , the unconscious cravings of our intellectual inner man communicate to the soul a sense of dissatisfaction ; and both charity and brotherhood seem less noble than they are , and give less pleasure than they might , just because they are practically dissociated from that grander knowledge which alone can teach us what true charity is , and what real brotherhood ought to be .
And Masonry , even in its rituals , declares that its members should not stop at mere acts of charity or meetings for conviviality . It expressly exhorts us to cultivate some science for the sake of the brotherhood and of ourselves . But at present it provides no normal machinery for the cultivation of any science . Brother Havers ' s arguments , therefore , on Friday
last , in favour of a library , of lectures , of scientific expositions , of the cultivation of the taste—and also concerning our duty to perpetuate in marble , as well as in toasts , " the merits and memory of our illustrious dead—all these words met an immediate echo in my own breast ; and I venture to prophet that , his memory and . his monument will be dearer to posterity than those of all other Masons- who will most zealously assist in the
realization of these exalted and truly Masorite hopes and wishes . Masonry ought to stand not only high , but highest of all human associations . To see it number thousands ' " of kindly , intelligent , and wealthy members of the most benevolent , intellectual , and opulent nations in the whole world ; and to think that so mighty an engine for human improvement
a , s the collective force of Masonry can supply , should be comparatively wasted , and except in various charitable donations , ( such as the same number of similar Englishmen would give if gathered together under any circumstances ) have little or no practical effect upon the improvement and happiness of mankind—such reflections fill the thoughtful with profound