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Article THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY. ← Page 2 of 4 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Repository.
conclude , is suited to every season ; and if we may be permitted to form a judgment from the circumstances which will be presently adverted to , and in which the interests of the Masonic Institution are most seriously aud immediately concerned , it may be fairly urged , that the necessity of being circumspect increases in proportion as the times become more difficult . Whether the difficulties of these times , howeverexceed those of any former period of which history informs
, us , is not the purpose of -he present enquiry ; suffice it to say , that such are the events of the present Kra , ( whether we regard the causes which have produced , the circumstances which attend , or the consequences which will probably follow them ) that we have little occasion to abate our diligence in the line of our duty , nor have we less reason to be circumspect in our conduct to each other ; forin
, however favourable a light we choose to regard the transactions which are now actually exhibiting on the great theatre of the world , certain it is , that we have too great cause to lament a want of that purity of manners which is , and ever will be , requisite to good order in society , and without which no society can long subsist . Certain too is it , that we have to lament a departure from those regulations and duties which
it was the purpose of the blessed founder of Christianity to establish ; and by a compliance with which , even infidels are forced to allow , our happiness on earth would be best improved , and , believers have reason to hope , will be eternally secured in the world to come .
It has been justly remarked , by an able defender * of the Christian faith , that there is nothing , how well and wisely soever it is ordered by God or man , but exceptions may be taken against it by the ignorant or ill-disposed , and that very circumstance be made matter of complaint which ought to be , most of all , the subject of applause and admiration . The purity of the gospel of the benevolent Jesus , we know , has , unhappilyon this very perverseness of sentiment , found its objectors ;
, and even the superior atid acknowledged excellence of its moral precepts have been treated with ridicule and contempt . No wonder then that any institution , however approved , however confirmed in reputation , or established by long usage , should become the object of calumnv ' and detraction . I need not inform you , my Brethren , that the very institution of
which we are members , and for the further prosecution of its benevolent principles we are this day assembled , stands now accused of the most criminal intentions that can well be imagined . I doubt not but it will strike your minds with surprize and astonishment , not unmixed with indignation and honor , to be informed , that the venerable and ancient Fraternity of' Free and Accepted Masons ' are implicated ivith
the atheists and infidels of" the present day , in a charge of no less atrocity than a premeditated design , a long , preconcerted plan , to destroy the relig ion of Christ , —to disorganize , subvert , and annihilate every established government on earth , —and to tear up by the roots every system of civil society , which the virtuous ingenuity of man
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Repository.
conclude , is suited to every season ; and if we may be permitted to form a judgment from the circumstances which will be presently adverted to , and in which the interests of the Masonic Institution are most seriously aud immediately concerned , it may be fairly urged , that the necessity of being circumspect increases in proportion as the times become more difficult . Whether the difficulties of these times , howeverexceed those of any former period of which history informs
, us , is not the purpose of -he present enquiry ; suffice it to say , that such are the events of the present Kra , ( whether we regard the causes which have produced , the circumstances which attend , or the consequences which will probably follow them ) that we have little occasion to abate our diligence in the line of our duty , nor have we less reason to be circumspect in our conduct to each other ; forin
, however favourable a light we choose to regard the transactions which are now actually exhibiting on the great theatre of the world , certain it is , that we have too great cause to lament a want of that purity of manners which is , and ever will be , requisite to good order in society , and without which no society can long subsist . Certain too is it , that we have to lament a departure from those regulations and duties which
it was the purpose of the blessed founder of Christianity to establish ; and by a compliance with which , even infidels are forced to allow , our happiness on earth would be best improved , and , believers have reason to hope , will be eternally secured in the world to come .
It has been justly remarked , by an able defender * of the Christian faith , that there is nothing , how well and wisely soever it is ordered by God or man , but exceptions may be taken against it by the ignorant or ill-disposed , and that very circumstance be made matter of complaint which ought to be , most of all , the subject of applause and admiration . The purity of the gospel of the benevolent Jesus , we know , has , unhappilyon this very perverseness of sentiment , found its objectors ;
, and even the superior atid acknowledged excellence of its moral precepts have been treated with ridicule and contempt . No wonder then that any institution , however approved , however confirmed in reputation , or established by long usage , should become the object of calumnv ' and detraction . I need not inform you , my Brethren , that the very institution of
which we are members , and for the further prosecution of its benevolent principles we are this day assembled , stands now accused of the most criminal intentions that can well be imagined . I doubt not but it will strike your minds with surprize and astonishment , not unmixed with indignation and honor , to be informed , that the venerable and ancient Fraternity of' Free and Accepted Masons ' are implicated ivith
the atheists and infidels of" the present day , in a charge of no less atrocity than a premeditated design , a long , preconcerted plan , to destroy the relig ion of Christ , —to disorganize , subvert , and annihilate every established government on earth , —and to tear up by the roots every system of civil society , which the virtuous ingenuity of man