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Article TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. ← Page 2 of 3 →
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To The Editor Of The Freemasons' Magazine.
You will not require , I am persuaded , that I should explain to you our mysteries ; you are much too prudent . You would entertain a passion for a man of honour , and not for a traitor , a monster . It is my interest to convince you of my discretion , and to make you sensible that a man who can keep a secret from the woman he adores , ought to be esteemed by her as worthy to have other secrets to keep . You must therefore commend my discretion ancl nourish my virtue .
I shall not , at the same time , keep from you any information concerning our society that it is in my power ' to give ; but for its mysteries , they are sacred ! One reflection that dissipated my scruples and hastened my reception was , that I knew this order to be composed of a great number of very worthy men ; and who I was sure would never have twice
entered a Lodge , if any thing had passed there that was in the least incompatible with a character of the strictest virtue . It is true , that into this sanctuary of virtue there sometimes steal unworthy brethren , men whose morals and conduct are not such as could be wished ; but such is the condition of all things in this world , that the good and the bad are inevitably mixed with each other ; for the small number of
twelve apostles was not exempt from one unworthy member . I did not expect , by becoming a Freemason , to be introduced to a society of angels , but of worthy men ; and I have not been disappointed . * I readily confess , that what is called Freemasonry may be made a disgrace as well as ornament to society . If a company of young
fellows , destitute of sense and merit , assemble in the form of a Lodge , and after performing certain ridiculous mummeries , proceed to scenes of disorder , certainly nothing can be more detestable than such an assembly . But if you consider our society as the most solemn and perfect fraternity that ever existed upon the earth ; in which there is no distinction of men by the language they speak , by the dress they wearbthe rank to which they were bornor the dignities they
, y , possess * , who regard the whole world but as one commonwealth , of which each nation forms a family , and each individual a member ; who endeavour by these means to revive the primitive maxims of mankind in the greatest perfection ; to unite under their banner men of knowledge , virtue , and urbanity ; whose members mutually defend each other by their authorityand enlighten each other by their
know-, ledge ; who sacrifice all personal resentment ; who banish from their Lodges all that can disturb the tranquillity of mind or the ' purity of manners ; and who , in the intervals of their delig htful labours , enjoy the innocent pleasures of life ; ifT , I say , you regard Masonry in this light , you must agree that the interest of this society must be . that of the whole race of mankind ; and that it must operate on the human
heart in a manner that religion itself cannot effect without great difficulty . It is not therefore wonderful , that this order has been sometimes encouraged and sometimes persecuted by the ruling powers in a state : they who commend and they who blame may have their
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor Of The Freemasons' Magazine.
You will not require , I am persuaded , that I should explain to you our mysteries ; you are much too prudent . You would entertain a passion for a man of honour , and not for a traitor , a monster . It is my interest to convince you of my discretion , and to make you sensible that a man who can keep a secret from the woman he adores , ought to be esteemed by her as worthy to have other secrets to keep . You must therefore commend my discretion ancl nourish my virtue .
I shall not , at the same time , keep from you any information concerning our society that it is in my power ' to give ; but for its mysteries , they are sacred ! One reflection that dissipated my scruples and hastened my reception was , that I knew this order to be composed of a great number of very worthy men ; and who I was sure would never have twice
entered a Lodge , if any thing had passed there that was in the least incompatible with a character of the strictest virtue . It is true , that into this sanctuary of virtue there sometimes steal unworthy brethren , men whose morals and conduct are not such as could be wished ; but such is the condition of all things in this world , that the good and the bad are inevitably mixed with each other ; for the small number of
twelve apostles was not exempt from one unworthy member . I did not expect , by becoming a Freemason , to be introduced to a society of angels , but of worthy men ; and I have not been disappointed . * I readily confess , that what is called Freemasonry may be made a disgrace as well as ornament to society . If a company of young
fellows , destitute of sense and merit , assemble in the form of a Lodge , and after performing certain ridiculous mummeries , proceed to scenes of disorder , certainly nothing can be more detestable than such an assembly . But if you consider our society as the most solemn and perfect fraternity that ever existed upon the earth ; in which there is no distinction of men by the language they speak , by the dress they wearbthe rank to which they were bornor the dignities they
, y , possess * , who regard the whole world but as one commonwealth , of which each nation forms a family , and each individual a member ; who endeavour by these means to revive the primitive maxims of mankind in the greatest perfection ; to unite under their banner men of knowledge , virtue , and urbanity ; whose members mutually defend each other by their authorityand enlighten each other by their
know-, ledge ; who sacrifice all personal resentment ; who banish from their Lodges all that can disturb the tranquillity of mind or the ' purity of manners ; and who , in the intervals of their delig htful labours , enjoy the innocent pleasures of life ; ifT , I say , you regard Masonry in this light , you must agree that the interest of this society must be . that of the whole race of mankind ; and that it must operate on the human
heart in a manner that religion itself cannot effect without great difficulty . It is not therefore wonderful , that this order has been sometimes encouraged and sometimes persecuted by the ruling powers in a state : they who commend and they who blame may have their