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Article THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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The Freemasons' Repository.
has been able to invent , expressly with the view to improve and secure the happiness of the world . Looking into yourselves , my Brethren , and feeling conscious of the purity of your own intentions ; referring too to the leading principles of our ancient and hitherto respected institution , one would hesitate to believe that so foul a charge could have possibly been adduced by malice itself;—and yet the Author of a book just published
in this country ( a learned Professor of Natural Philosophy , a man too of reputed eminence and character ) engages to produce unquestionable' Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Reli gions and Governments of Europe , carried on in the secret Meetings of Free-Masons , Illuminati , and Reading Societies , collected from good Authorities . ' * A celebrated French writer f too has lately published
Memoirs to substantiate the same charge ; and , in order to give stability to his proofs , he has given extracts of the correspondence which the principal leaders of this pretended conspiracy have held amongst each other . It would occupy too much time on this occasion to enter minutel y into the several accusations which have been stated by these authors ; and the best defence , perhaps , would be , to set the imputations at
defiance , and to treat them as they deserve , with silent contempt . Be they , however , false , or even admit it possible they could be true , the duty of cii'cumspecI . ion , which the text holds out , is considerably enhanced ; particularly too when it is considered , that the insinuations of falsehood and prejudice may even prove injurious to innocence itself ; and the best reputed . society for virtue , integrity , humanity , and brotherly affe & ionmay fall a viftim to the envenomed shafts of
, unmerited reproach . But , though a particular refutation of the charges already mentioned would exceed the limits which are generally allotted to discourses of this kind , it may serve as . a general defence of Masonry to give a statement ( however imperfed ) of the principles on which it is founded , and by which every honest and upright Mason is obliged to act .
By the adoption of such a mode , which , in the estimation of every real , unprejudiced mind , must be deemed , 1 trust , unexceptionable , every person here present , whether a member of our Society or not , will be enabled to judge of the tendency of the Masonic Institution ; nor can fail to distinguish whether a Mason , who is really actuated bv the genuine principles of his profession , can be a bad man or a bad citizen .
Allow me , however , to premise , that the object of this discourse is simply confined to the defence of Freemasons : as to the characters stiled , in modern terms , Illuminati , and the Members of Reading-Societies , it is best to leave them to defend themselves . Whatever attempts these authors may make to substantiate the existence of this alleged conspiracy , they will find it , I trust , no easy task to convince
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Repository.
has been able to invent , expressly with the view to improve and secure the happiness of the world . Looking into yourselves , my Brethren , and feeling conscious of the purity of your own intentions ; referring too to the leading principles of our ancient and hitherto respected institution , one would hesitate to believe that so foul a charge could have possibly been adduced by malice itself;—and yet the Author of a book just published
in this country ( a learned Professor of Natural Philosophy , a man too of reputed eminence and character ) engages to produce unquestionable' Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Reli gions and Governments of Europe , carried on in the secret Meetings of Free-Masons , Illuminati , and Reading Societies , collected from good Authorities . ' * A celebrated French writer f too has lately published
Memoirs to substantiate the same charge ; and , in order to give stability to his proofs , he has given extracts of the correspondence which the principal leaders of this pretended conspiracy have held amongst each other . It would occupy too much time on this occasion to enter minutel y into the several accusations which have been stated by these authors ; and the best defence , perhaps , would be , to set the imputations at
defiance , and to treat them as they deserve , with silent contempt . Be they , however , false , or even admit it possible they could be true , the duty of cii'cumspecI . ion , which the text holds out , is considerably enhanced ; particularly too when it is considered , that the insinuations of falsehood and prejudice may even prove injurious to innocence itself ; and the best reputed . society for virtue , integrity , humanity , and brotherly affe & ionmay fall a viftim to the envenomed shafts of
, unmerited reproach . But , though a particular refutation of the charges already mentioned would exceed the limits which are generally allotted to discourses of this kind , it may serve as . a general defence of Masonry to give a statement ( however imperfed ) of the principles on which it is founded , and by which every honest and upright Mason is obliged to act .
By the adoption of such a mode , which , in the estimation of every real , unprejudiced mind , must be deemed , 1 trust , unexceptionable , every person here present , whether a member of our Society or not , will be enabled to judge of the tendency of the Masonic Institution ; nor can fail to distinguish whether a Mason , who is really actuated bv the genuine principles of his profession , can be a bad man or a bad citizen .
Allow me , however , to premise , that the object of this discourse is simply confined to the defence of Freemasons : as to the characters stiled , in modern terms , Illuminati , and the Members of Reading-Societies , it is best to leave them to defend themselves . Whatever attempts these authors may make to substantiate the existence of this alleged conspiracy , they will find it , I trust , no easy task to convince