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To The Editor Of The Freemasons' Magazine.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE .
SIR , THAT excellent moralist , Dr . Johnson , has somewhere in his " Rambler" an observation to this effect , " That no man should suffer his heart to be inflamed with malice but by injuries , nor busy himself in contesting the pretensions of others , but when some right of his own is involved in the question . "
I received great pleasure from the perusal of the Letter signed "A Past Master of the Lodge of Antiquity , " printed in p . 5 . of' your last Number , in answer to a slanderous essay on the subject of Masonry , which had appeared in another periodical publication of the preceding month . ' The " Past Master , " however , has taken it up in that general
manner which seems not to preclude some farther remarks on particular parts of the essay alluded to ; and if the few thoughts which may occur to me on the subject shall appear to you worthy of insertion , they are very much at 3 'our service . " The mysteries of Freemasonry ( says the essay-writer ) have in a great measure contributed to those changes in sentiment and morality , no less than in government , amongst a neig hbouring people , labicb the
surrounding nations view with such surprise . " The morality inculcated in the disciples of our Institution I never remember to have heard disputed before : and those to whom the Mysteries of our First Degree are familiar well know , that the Lectures peculiar to that Degree constitute one of the most perfect and most beautiful systems of morality that ever was inspired by God or conceh-ed by man . - - ¦
That the Institution of Masonry is of all others the most ill-calculated to effect any change of political opinion , much less to promote a revolution in any government under which it may be permitted to operate , is a truth ; for one of the most positive injunctions imposed on a candidate for our order , and the admonition most frequently repeated in our general assemblies , is , cheerfully to conform ourselves to the
government under which we live , and to pay implicit obedience to those laws which afford us protection ; this admonition accompanies our progress through all countries of the universe , as well as at home ; but it is strengthened with this further impression , that in whatever quarter of the world we may travel , we should never forget the allegiance due to our native sovereign , nor sulTer to subside that warm . and natural attachment which we owe to the soil whereon we first
drew breath . These , Sir , you well know , are among our most positive and binding regulations ; yet it seems as if our ancestors , fearful of not sufficiently guarding the Fraternity against- the possibility of being suspected of disloyalty , had judged it necessary , in their general VOL . III . M
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor Of The Freemasons' Magazine.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE .
SIR , THAT excellent moralist , Dr . Johnson , has somewhere in his " Rambler" an observation to this effect , " That no man should suffer his heart to be inflamed with malice but by injuries , nor busy himself in contesting the pretensions of others , but when some right of his own is involved in the question . "
I received great pleasure from the perusal of the Letter signed "A Past Master of the Lodge of Antiquity , " printed in p . 5 . of' your last Number , in answer to a slanderous essay on the subject of Masonry , which had appeared in another periodical publication of the preceding month . ' The " Past Master , " however , has taken it up in that general
manner which seems not to preclude some farther remarks on particular parts of the essay alluded to ; and if the few thoughts which may occur to me on the subject shall appear to you worthy of insertion , they are very much at 3 'our service . " The mysteries of Freemasonry ( says the essay-writer ) have in a great measure contributed to those changes in sentiment and morality , no less than in government , amongst a neig hbouring people , labicb the
surrounding nations view with such surprise . " The morality inculcated in the disciples of our Institution I never remember to have heard disputed before : and those to whom the Mysteries of our First Degree are familiar well know , that the Lectures peculiar to that Degree constitute one of the most perfect and most beautiful systems of morality that ever was inspired by God or conceh-ed by man . - - ¦
That the Institution of Masonry is of all others the most ill-calculated to effect any change of political opinion , much less to promote a revolution in any government under which it may be permitted to operate , is a truth ; for one of the most positive injunctions imposed on a candidate for our order , and the admonition most frequently repeated in our general assemblies , is , cheerfully to conform ourselves to the
government under which we live , and to pay implicit obedience to those laws which afford us protection ; this admonition accompanies our progress through all countries of the universe , as well as at home ; but it is strengthened with this further impression , that in whatever quarter of the world we may travel , we should never forget the allegiance due to our native sovereign , nor sulTer to subside that warm . and natural attachment which we owe to the soil whereon we first
drew breath . These , Sir , you well know , are among our most positive and binding regulations ; yet it seems as if our ancestors , fearful of not sufficiently guarding the Fraternity against- the possibility of being suspected of disloyalty , had judged it necessary , in their general VOL . III . M