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Article THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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The Freemasons' Repository.
pretended to discover , either never existed , or must be charged to other causes than the one which he has mentioned . It mast strike the mind with astonishment , that an institution , already organized and reduced to a complete system , should , in the interval of a very few years , be changed from a harmless and innocent appearance to one the most ferocious and deadly ; and that from being friendly to good
order and relig ion , it should become the most powerful and inveterate enemy of both .. He who considers this , and learns that great numbers of the wisest and best of men have ever g iven , and still continue to crivc Masonry their countenance , ancl to take pleasure in its assemblies , will be disposed to wonder at the extreme weakness of man ; or he will rather be led to question the truth of the assertion itself .
When we contrast the names of those who have shone as the most brilliant ornaments of this institution , with those persons brought forward by Mr . Robison and the Abbe Barruel a . the agitators _ of this conspiracy , and when we examine particularly the _ writings which have appeared in illustration of Masonry , and the discourse ; which have been delivered in the temples of public worship before Masonic
Lodges , we shall be inclined either to question the morality of every society without exception , or to think that these two writers have gone too wide in their charges , and have suffered a heated imagination to teem with prejudices which have no foundation in truth . The simple fad appears to be this : —Too many Foreign MASONS have oiven into the modern wretched philosophy , ancl may have permitted
discussions in thei . - Lodges opposite to the true principles of the institution . But even this concession will by no means warrant thc assertion of a regular confederacy having ever been formed upon this basis , or that the corruptions of this institution were sp far systematized as to have produced th ct shock which religion and government have lately received . Those who view the wonderful changes which
have recently taken place in Europe , and which are still going on , will naturally be led to examine into thc causes of so stupendous an event . But whatever the present discoverers may . think of their own sagacity , the future historian will see no reason to compliment them for their sagacity . Possessed of greater lig hts than they can boast of , he will see no formal conspiracy , the ingenious scheme of
any body of men devised for effecting these great alterations . He will see much in the natural constitution of things , much in the very princi ple of society itself , more it . the corruptions of society , a great part in the general diffusion of letters , not a little in the various art ' s of life , and in the extension of commerce , and , above all the rest , in the hi gh p itch of luxury—1 say he will look into ail these things , and
conneftinu' them with circumstances and persons , he will come at a hurer conclusion than our ingenious professor . I shall make no remarks upon the illuminati or the enlightened ; they may have arisen or not from Freemasonry ; it is a matter of little moment to the man who is well acquainted with the principles of his society , what ambitious or corrupt minds have devised in imitation . of it . To him it is enough that the doctrines of the institution to . which
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Repository.
pretended to discover , either never existed , or must be charged to other causes than the one which he has mentioned . It mast strike the mind with astonishment , that an institution , already organized and reduced to a complete system , should , in the interval of a very few years , be changed from a harmless and innocent appearance to one the most ferocious and deadly ; and that from being friendly to good
order and relig ion , it should become the most powerful and inveterate enemy of both .. He who considers this , and learns that great numbers of the wisest and best of men have ever g iven , and still continue to crivc Masonry their countenance , ancl to take pleasure in its assemblies , will be disposed to wonder at the extreme weakness of man ; or he will rather be led to question the truth of the assertion itself .
When we contrast the names of those who have shone as the most brilliant ornaments of this institution , with those persons brought forward by Mr . Robison and the Abbe Barruel a . the agitators _ of this conspiracy , and when we examine particularly the _ writings which have appeared in illustration of Masonry , and the discourse ; which have been delivered in the temples of public worship before Masonic
Lodges , we shall be inclined either to question the morality of every society without exception , or to think that these two writers have gone too wide in their charges , and have suffered a heated imagination to teem with prejudices which have no foundation in truth . The simple fad appears to be this : —Too many Foreign MASONS have oiven into the modern wretched philosophy , ancl may have permitted
discussions in thei . - Lodges opposite to the true principles of the institution . But even this concession will by no means warrant thc assertion of a regular confederacy having ever been formed upon this basis , or that the corruptions of this institution were sp far systematized as to have produced th ct shock which religion and government have lately received . Those who view the wonderful changes which
have recently taken place in Europe , and which are still going on , will naturally be led to examine into thc causes of so stupendous an event . But whatever the present discoverers may . think of their own sagacity , the future historian will see no reason to compliment them for their sagacity . Possessed of greater lig hts than they can boast of , he will see no formal conspiracy , the ingenious scheme of
any body of men devised for effecting these great alterations . He will see much in the natural constitution of things , much in the very princi ple of society itself , more it . the corruptions of society , a great part in the general diffusion of letters , not a little in the various art ' s of life , and in the extension of commerce , and , above all the rest , in the hi gh p itch of luxury—1 say he will look into ail these things , and
conneftinu' them with circumstances and persons , he will come at a hurer conclusion than our ingenious professor . I shall make no remarks upon the illuminati or the enlightened ; they may have arisen or not from Freemasonry ; it is a matter of little moment to the man who is well acquainted with the principles of his society , what ambitious or corrupt minds have devised in imitation . of it . To him it is enough that the doctrines of the institution to . which