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Article THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY. Page 1 of 6 →
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The Freemasons' Repository.
THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY .
A SERMON , MEACIIED AT NEWCASTLE UPON TYKE , DECEMBER 27 , I 797 , BEFORE THE PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE FOR NORTHUMBERLAND . BY THE REV . JOSEPH SIMPSON , PROVI-yCJ .-C GUAND CHAP / . /; I . V .
f See then that ye walk circumspectly . ' EPHESIANS V . . ™ ; ' . ^ CONCLUDED FROM VOL . X . PACE 39 8 . J
T WILL go further , and add , without fear of being susp . efted of th ? smallest eaggeration , that no set of men whatever , in his Majesty ' s dominions , are more warmly attached or more zealousl y devoted to the British Constitution , and the religion of Christ , than the Praternity of Masons in this county . To ascertain the precise period when the first Society of Masons
was instituted , would be s , speculation as little useful , perhaps , as uncertain ;—but such is unquestionably the antiquity of its institution , that it dates its ori gin from the earliest epoch of- human society . Its primary design is to promote and improve the happiness of men , by connecting them together in the bonds of benevolence ; and to extend ana establish the spirit of iety and charity over corner of the
p every habitable world . A reverence for the Supreme Being , the grand iirchitecl : of Heaven , is , as it were , the elemental life , the primordial source of all its principles , the very spring and fountain of all its virtues . He , therefore , who does not revere his Maker in sincerity
and truth , —who _ does not feel an inward convi & ion , that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom , '—can have no claim to the distinguished appellation of a Mason : —he deviates from the very outline of his order , and is an apostate from the tenets of his profession . But , though Masonry be thus founded on the rock of man ' s salvation , —on the belief , the . loVe , and fear of an Almighty Ruler of the Universe- and 'hough it will not dispense with the duty of adoration
, of the Hi gh and Mi ghty One , v / ho inhabiteth eternity , —a duty so truly suited to the condition of mortal man , —yet , in conformity to the liberality of its spirit , it presumes not to dictate any special observance of reli gious rites ; it . affects not to distinguish the Gentile fromtlie jew ; but , afting on the basis of a pure and unlimited toleration , it leaves to every man a liberty of conscience to address his
Maker in _ the manner best suited . to his own persuasions . Such , however , is the strictness and severity ofthe laws of Masonry , fa / which the order and regulation of every Lodge has been hitherto
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Repository.
THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY .
A SERMON , MEACIIED AT NEWCASTLE UPON TYKE , DECEMBER 27 , I 797 , BEFORE THE PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE FOR NORTHUMBERLAND . BY THE REV . JOSEPH SIMPSON , PROVI-yCJ .-C GUAND CHAP / . /; I . V .
f See then that ye walk circumspectly . ' EPHESIANS V . . ™ ; ' . ^ CONCLUDED FROM VOL . X . PACE 39 8 . J
T WILL go further , and add , without fear of being susp . efted of th ? smallest eaggeration , that no set of men whatever , in his Majesty ' s dominions , are more warmly attached or more zealousl y devoted to the British Constitution , and the religion of Christ , than the Praternity of Masons in this county . To ascertain the precise period when the first Society of Masons
was instituted , would be s , speculation as little useful , perhaps , as uncertain ;—but such is unquestionably the antiquity of its institution , that it dates its ori gin from the earliest epoch of- human society . Its primary design is to promote and improve the happiness of men , by connecting them together in the bonds of benevolence ; and to extend ana establish the spirit of iety and charity over corner of the
p every habitable world . A reverence for the Supreme Being , the grand iirchitecl : of Heaven , is , as it were , the elemental life , the primordial source of all its principles , the very spring and fountain of all its virtues . He , therefore , who does not revere his Maker in sincerity
and truth , —who _ does not feel an inward convi & ion , that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom , '—can have no claim to the distinguished appellation of a Mason : —he deviates from the very outline of his order , and is an apostate from the tenets of his profession . But , though Masonry be thus founded on the rock of man ' s salvation , —on the belief , the . loVe , and fear of an Almighty Ruler of the Universe- and 'hough it will not dispense with the duty of adoration
, of the Hi gh and Mi ghty One , v / ho inhabiteth eternity , —a duty so truly suited to the condition of mortal man , —yet , in conformity to the liberality of its spirit , it presumes not to dictate any special observance of reli gious rites ; it . affects not to distinguish the Gentile fromtlie jew ; but , afting on the basis of a pure and unlimited toleration , it leaves to every man a liberty of conscience to address his
Maker in _ the manner best suited . to his own persuasions . Such , however , is the strictness and severity ofthe laws of Masonry , fa / which the order and regulation of every Lodge has been hitherto