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Article THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY. ← Page 2 of 4 →
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The Freemasons' Repository.
pure principles of Freemasonry . Because the Church , of Rome has devised seven sacraments instead of two , invented a middle state for the temporary punishment of departed souls , and set up a human representative of the blessed Redeemer on earth , with various other articles repugnant to the plainest dictates of common sense ; shall we , therefore , concede this point to infidels , that Christianity has a natural tendency to deceive mankind ? I make the comparison with
becoming diffidence , and with great allowances of a vast disparity between the two subjetts . I contend , however , that this method of reasoning is fair ; and that thc Freemason is as much authorized to make use of thc argument as thc pious believer . But I will go yet farther , and maintain that in some , at least , of those very degrees and orders which the professor has reprobated , so
far from an anti-reli gious or levelling principle being inculcated , the very reverse is maintained , with a degree of strength unknown irr the preparatory steps of the institution . I pretend not to go farther than the order instituted in imitation of the Kni ghts of St . John of Jerusalem , andin which there is more efficient " loyalty , and more'direct Christianity , than in all other parts of Freemasonry . We areindeed
, , precluded from adducing our proofs . of this assertion , because it must be seen , that from the very nature of our subjett , we are barred from explanation . By the same rule , we contend that our opponents are inadmissible evidences on this trial ; for if they have been initiated into these mysteries , and have now declared the plain truth
concerning them , they are to be numbered among those who consider obligations as not binding ; and if they have not , as is clearly the case in the present instance , their information is not to be credited against the positive declarations , and still better conduct of numerous persons of rank and letters who still continue to patronize these orders . . Are we to suppose that all those who belong to thc Masonic institution ,
whether in the ordinary or higher branches , are ignorant of the fatal gulph to which it leads . ' —If the principles are , as the professor says , evidently sceptical and In-veiling , whence is it that so many acute , loyal , and 1 will venture to add , pious members of the fraternity are still ignorant of the real quality of those principles r—Is it , as hath been insinuated , that Masonry is one thing on the continent , and another
in England ?—This cannot be by any means tiie case , as there is a . mutual agreement kept up between the Briti . vh and Foreign lodges , and some of the wisest and most upri ght English Masons have visited their brethren abroad , without discovering this wonderful disparity , or being shocked at the abominable practices said to be carried on by ' them . Mr . Robison saw nothing of all this mischievous system
while he was in the closest habits of intimacy with the Foreign Masons ; and it is wonderful that a man of his penetration should not have been able to discern the nefarious design of an institution with which he was so well acquainted . And this must , 1 think , be admitted as a plain proof that Masonry has not the tendency which he has since attributed to it ; and that all the conspiracy which he ha / .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Repository.
pure principles of Freemasonry . Because the Church , of Rome has devised seven sacraments instead of two , invented a middle state for the temporary punishment of departed souls , and set up a human representative of the blessed Redeemer on earth , with various other articles repugnant to the plainest dictates of common sense ; shall we , therefore , concede this point to infidels , that Christianity has a natural tendency to deceive mankind ? I make the comparison with
becoming diffidence , and with great allowances of a vast disparity between the two subjetts . I contend , however , that this method of reasoning is fair ; and that thc Freemason is as much authorized to make use of thc argument as thc pious believer . But I will go yet farther , and maintain that in some , at least , of those very degrees and orders which the professor has reprobated , so
far from an anti-reli gious or levelling principle being inculcated , the very reverse is maintained , with a degree of strength unknown irr the preparatory steps of the institution . I pretend not to go farther than the order instituted in imitation of the Kni ghts of St . John of Jerusalem , andin which there is more efficient " loyalty , and more'direct Christianity , than in all other parts of Freemasonry . We areindeed
, , precluded from adducing our proofs . of this assertion , because it must be seen , that from the very nature of our subjett , we are barred from explanation . By the same rule , we contend that our opponents are inadmissible evidences on this trial ; for if they have been initiated into these mysteries , and have now declared the plain truth
concerning them , they are to be numbered among those who consider obligations as not binding ; and if they have not , as is clearly the case in the present instance , their information is not to be credited against the positive declarations , and still better conduct of numerous persons of rank and letters who still continue to patronize these orders . . Are we to suppose that all those who belong to thc Masonic institution ,
whether in the ordinary or higher branches , are ignorant of the fatal gulph to which it leads . ' —If the principles are , as the professor says , evidently sceptical and In-veiling , whence is it that so many acute , loyal , and 1 will venture to add , pious members of the fraternity are still ignorant of the real quality of those principles r—Is it , as hath been insinuated , that Masonry is one thing on the continent , and another
in England ?—This cannot be by any means tiie case , as there is a . mutual agreement kept up between the Briti . vh and Foreign lodges , and some of the wisest and most upri ght English Masons have visited their brethren abroad , without discovering this wonderful disparity , or being shocked at the abominable practices said to be carried on by ' them . Mr . Robison saw nothing of all this mischievous system
while he was in the closest habits of intimacy with the Foreign Masons ; and it is wonderful that a man of his penetration should not have been able to discern the nefarious design of an institution with which he was so well acquainted . And this must , 1 think , be admitted as a plain proof that Masonry has not the tendency which he has since attributed to it ; and that all the conspiracy which he ha / .