-
Articles/Ads
Article ORATION ON MASONRY, ← Page 3 of 7 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Oration On Masonry,
2 . And as Masonry is of this remote antiquity , so is it , as might reasonabl y be imagined , of boundless EXTENT . We trace it ' s footsteps m tne most distant , the most remote ages and nations ot the world . We find it amongst the first and most celebrated cmlizers of the East , we deduce it regularly , from the first astronomers on tlie lains of Cbaldea to the wise and mystic and
p , kings priests of E gypt ; —the sages of Greece , the philosophers of Rome : —my , and even to the rude and Gothic builders of a dark and degenerate age ; whose vast temples still remain amongst us , as monuments of their attachments to the Masonic tarts , and as high proofs of a taste , which , however irregular , must always be esteemed awful and venerable .
In truth , in no civilized age or country hath Masonry been neglected : the most illustrious characters , —kings and nobles , —sages and legislators , —authors and artists , —have thought it their o-loW to protect and to honour it . And , at the present hour , while we find the brotherhood successfully established in every kingdom of the earthwe are happy to rank in that list which do
, many names , honour to their own , —would have done honour to any a ° -e To enumerate them would be a task abundantl y pleasing ; but the time allows me not . It would , however , be inexcusable to omit particularising that Hero-King , that bri ght and northern star , whom the admiring world allows to beone of the greatest princes , and of whom we may justly boast as one of the first and most distinguished friends and lovers of
our Art!—that ancient , honourable Art , for whose promotion and di gnity LODGES are opened in every quarter of the globe . —For I cannot but remark with peculiar pleasure , that in whatsoever else men may dispute and disagree , yet they are all unanimous to respect and to support a singularly amiable institution ; which annihilates all partiesconciliates all private inions
; op - and renders those who by their Almi ghty Father were made of one blood , to be also of one heart and one mind ; BRETHREN , bound firmly bound together by that indissoluble tie— " the love of their " GOD , and the love of their Kind . "
3 . This alone mi ght well be judged a sufficient reason for the extent , and , if we may so say , universality of the Craft . But , when to this we fartheradd , the COMPREHENSIVENESS of the institution , and the vast circle of arts and sciences which it takes , we shall no longer wonder at that extent ; but be satisfied , " That MASONRY " must and will always keep pace , and rurrparallel with the culture and civilization of mankind
" . " Nay , we may pronounce with strict truth , That where Masonry is not , civilization will never be found . -And so in fact it appears : for , in savage countries , and barbarous climes where operative Masonrv never lays the ' line , nor stretches the compass—where skilful Architecture never plans the dome , nor rears the well-ordered column ; on those benighted realms , liberal Science never smiles , nor does ingenuous Art exalt refine , embellish , and soften the mind ! ' '
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Oration On Masonry,
2 . And as Masonry is of this remote antiquity , so is it , as might reasonabl y be imagined , of boundless EXTENT . We trace it ' s footsteps m tne most distant , the most remote ages and nations ot the world . We find it amongst the first and most celebrated cmlizers of the East , we deduce it regularly , from the first astronomers on tlie lains of Cbaldea to the wise and mystic and
p , kings priests of E gypt ; —the sages of Greece , the philosophers of Rome : —my , and even to the rude and Gothic builders of a dark and degenerate age ; whose vast temples still remain amongst us , as monuments of their attachments to the Masonic tarts , and as high proofs of a taste , which , however irregular , must always be esteemed awful and venerable .
In truth , in no civilized age or country hath Masonry been neglected : the most illustrious characters , —kings and nobles , —sages and legislators , —authors and artists , —have thought it their o-loW to protect and to honour it . And , at the present hour , while we find the brotherhood successfully established in every kingdom of the earthwe are happy to rank in that list which do
, many names , honour to their own , —would have done honour to any a ° -e To enumerate them would be a task abundantl y pleasing ; but the time allows me not . It would , however , be inexcusable to omit particularising that Hero-King , that bri ght and northern star , whom the admiring world allows to beone of the greatest princes , and of whom we may justly boast as one of the first and most distinguished friends and lovers of
our Art!—that ancient , honourable Art , for whose promotion and di gnity LODGES are opened in every quarter of the globe . —For I cannot but remark with peculiar pleasure , that in whatsoever else men may dispute and disagree , yet they are all unanimous to respect and to support a singularly amiable institution ; which annihilates all partiesconciliates all private inions
; op - and renders those who by their Almi ghty Father were made of one blood , to be also of one heart and one mind ; BRETHREN , bound firmly bound together by that indissoluble tie— " the love of their " GOD , and the love of their Kind . "
3 . This alone mi ght well be judged a sufficient reason for the extent , and , if we may so say , universality of the Craft . But , when to this we fartheradd , the COMPREHENSIVENESS of the institution , and the vast circle of arts and sciences which it takes , we shall no longer wonder at that extent ; but be satisfied , " That MASONRY " must and will always keep pace , and rurrparallel with the culture and civilization of mankind
" . " Nay , we may pronounce with strict truth , That where Masonry is not , civilization will never be found . -And so in fact it appears : for , in savage countries , and barbarous climes where operative Masonrv never lays the ' line , nor stretches the compass—where skilful Architecture never plans the dome , nor rears the well-ordered column ; on those benighted realms , liberal Science never smiles , nor does ingenuous Art exalt refine , embellish , and soften the mind ! ' '