Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Address To The Brethren Of St. John's Lodge, No. 534, Lahcaster.
The first is emblematic of Man ' s state of nature , from his first Disobedience to the time of God ' s Covenant with Abraham , and the establishment of the Jewish ( Economy . The second , from that period to the sera of the last , full , and perfect-Revelation from Heaven to Mankind , made by our GREAT REDEEMER . The third , comprehending the glorious interval of the Christian Dispensationdown to the Consummation of all Things .
, The state of darkness , or obscurity , of the FIRST DEGEEE , strongly figures out the darkness of chaos before man ' s creation ; or the ni g ht into which his glorious faculties were plunged , by the fall consequent upon his original transgression . It is also forcibly emblematic of the darkness of the womb antecedent to man ' s natural birth ; and the pain inflicted at his entrance aptly represents his this
pangs , and bitter sensations , on his entrance into the L ODGE of chequered life . Like a ivoeful and benig hted traveller , found in a dreary and hopeless desert , his indigent condition suggests to him the forlorn aud helpless situation of man in a state of nature ; teaches him the value of mutual good offices ; and directs him to extend that relief afterwards to otherswhich he then so much wants himselfby
, , comforting ihe afflicted , feeding the hungry , and covering the naked with a garment , lie is brought to the lig ht of the world , and the lig ht of knowledge , by the help of others . His investiture is strongly significant of the first * cloathing of the human race , and marks out
the modestf purpose of primaeval dress . His tools are the rough implements of" uninstructecl genius , and the rude emblems of the simplest moral truths , pointing out the hard labour which human industry must undergo , when unassisted by the cunning and compendious devices of cultivated art . His Lodge is described to him as an universal wilderness , wherein he cautiously associates with his
human brothers upon the highest of hills , or in the lowest of valleys ; the green grass its pavement ; the cloudy canopy of Heaven its ¦ covering . Thus he is taught to consider this whole terrestrial globe as his LODGE ; and is thereby instructed to look upon all mankind as his BRETHREN , and to grasp the whole human race to his heart with the arms of universal benevolence and compassion . Hence , also , he
learns to view the whole earth as one TEMPLE of the Deity , with its length due East and West marked out by the line of the Zodiac , and the | Giant ' s Course of the Sun and Moon therein ; and to contemplate every human heart , as an ALTAR burning with the incense of adoration to the GRAND ARCHITECT OF THE UNIVEBSE . As the darkness of heathenismor natural reliionpreceded . the
, g , divine revelation vouchsafed to the favorite people of God ; so , by ' our initiation into the SECOND DEGREE , we advance still farther into the'Aram figured out by the Mosaic . dispensation , which preceded "the more perfect CHRISTIAN DAY . Here the noviciate is brought to light , to behold and handle tools of a more artificial and ingenious
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Address To The Brethren Of St. John's Lodge, No. 534, Lahcaster.
The first is emblematic of Man ' s state of nature , from his first Disobedience to the time of God ' s Covenant with Abraham , and the establishment of the Jewish ( Economy . The second , from that period to the sera of the last , full , and perfect-Revelation from Heaven to Mankind , made by our GREAT REDEEMER . The third , comprehending the glorious interval of the Christian Dispensationdown to the Consummation of all Things .
, The state of darkness , or obscurity , of the FIRST DEGEEE , strongly figures out the darkness of chaos before man ' s creation ; or the ni g ht into which his glorious faculties were plunged , by the fall consequent upon his original transgression . It is also forcibly emblematic of the darkness of the womb antecedent to man ' s natural birth ; and the pain inflicted at his entrance aptly represents his this
pangs , and bitter sensations , on his entrance into the L ODGE of chequered life . Like a ivoeful and benig hted traveller , found in a dreary and hopeless desert , his indigent condition suggests to him the forlorn aud helpless situation of man in a state of nature ; teaches him the value of mutual good offices ; and directs him to extend that relief afterwards to otherswhich he then so much wants himselfby
, , comforting ihe afflicted , feeding the hungry , and covering the naked with a garment , lie is brought to the lig ht of the world , and the lig ht of knowledge , by the help of others . His investiture is strongly significant of the first * cloathing of the human race , and marks out
the modestf purpose of primaeval dress . His tools are the rough implements of" uninstructecl genius , and the rude emblems of the simplest moral truths , pointing out the hard labour which human industry must undergo , when unassisted by the cunning and compendious devices of cultivated art . His Lodge is described to him as an universal wilderness , wherein he cautiously associates with his
human brothers upon the highest of hills , or in the lowest of valleys ; the green grass its pavement ; the cloudy canopy of Heaven its ¦ covering . Thus he is taught to consider this whole terrestrial globe as his LODGE ; and is thereby instructed to look upon all mankind as his BRETHREN , and to grasp the whole human race to his heart with the arms of universal benevolence and compassion . Hence , also , he
learns to view the whole earth as one TEMPLE of the Deity , with its length due East and West marked out by the line of the Zodiac , and the | Giant ' s Course of the Sun and Moon therein ; and to contemplate every human heart , as an ALTAR burning with the incense of adoration to the GRAND ARCHITECT OF THE UNIVEBSE . As the darkness of heathenismor natural reliionpreceded . the
, g , divine revelation vouchsafed to the favorite people of God ; so , by ' our initiation into the SECOND DEGREE , we advance still farther into the'Aram figured out by the Mosaic . dispensation , which preceded "the more perfect CHRISTIAN DAY . Here the noviciate is brought to light , to behold and handle tools of a more artificial and ingenious