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Article ON THE PRESENT STATE OF FREEMASONRY. ← Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Present State Of Freemasonry.
tny eyes against evils which creep in among its professors , and tend to o-jve some colour to the deep-rooted prejudices which are entertained against it . - One of these , if not the most formidable , I shall beg leave here to brino-forward , and that is the desire which seems to actuate the general body of enlarging the number of members . That Masonry itself should be universal ' I cheerfully allow . I wish to see its
influence operating in every clime , and among every race of men , because wherever its footsteps are discerned , civilization assuredly will be seen . But this by no means calls for . an universality of numbers . Brotherly love , relief , and truth , are the standing characteristics of the order ; but if all men are masons those characteristics will be no more . They would be the properties of men , merely in common
with other human properties , heig htened or lessened according to the influence of passions and caprice . Where the numbers are select , the more distinction will attach to the professor of-the science , the more disgrace to his vicious course , and the more love and respect to his . upright conduct and conversation . Easiness of access to a society induces a consequent light
apprehension of its merits . If there are peculiar excellencies belonging to an institution ; if it confers a dignity , and promises privileges ; a strict attention , certainly , should be observed by those who belong to it to preserve its honours and its advantages from being prostituted . Is this strictly attended to by the administrators of those mysterious
secrets which kings and the best of men have delig hted to exercise themselves in ?—I fear not . Far be it from me to sport with the nakedness of that which I revere . It is the professor , and not the science , which calls for this paternal animadversion . When a man of a light and airy mind , in a sportive mood , heightened by the cheerful lassconceives the desire to become a Mason ,
g , is it consistent with the princip les of that chaste sobriety which Masonry inculcates , to meet his inclinations , and to receive him . while under the influence of gaiety ? His conceptions of the institution will naturally afterwards be in unison with the circumstances which characterized his initiation . Again , shall every other society be observant of the characters of such persons as offer themselves to be
members , and even , perhaps , when moral grace or turpitude is of little moment to its interests , and shall we , who belong to a society refined in its principles , elevated ' in its professions , and marked with distinctions of the most flattering kind , be less scrupulous than those who are remote from such pretensions ? When a man undistinguished by the ornament of an uniform
virtue , is invested with the badge of the antient Craft , a stone is loosened from the edifice , and a humiliating stain is marked on the sacred veil . Let it appear that a difficulty impedes the entrance into the Masonic temple ;—let it be fully manifested , that without the grace of moral accomplishment , a firm and virtuous industry , and the desire of knowledge , there is no way of obtaining an association among the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Present State Of Freemasonry.
tny eyes against evils which creep in among its professors , and tend to o-jve some colour to the deep-rooted prejudices which are entertained against it . - One of these , if not the most formidable , I shall beg leave here to brino-forward , and that is the desire which seems to actuate the general body of enlarging the number of members . That Masonry itself should be universal ' I cheerfully allow . I wish to see its
influence operating in every clime , and among every race of men , because wherever its footsteps are discerned , civilization assuredly will be seen . But this by no means calls for . an universality of numbers . Brotherly love , relief , and truth , are the standing characteristics of the order ; but if all men are masons those characteristics will be no more . They would be the properties of men , merely in common
with other human properties , heig htened or lessened according to the influence of passions and caprice . Where the numbers are select , the more distinction will attach to the professor of-the science , the more disgrace to his vicious course , and the more love and respect to his . upright conduct and conversation . Easiness of access to a society induces a consequent light
apprehension of its merits . If there are peculiar excellencies belonging to an institution ; if it confers a dignity , and promises privileges ; a strict attention , certainly , should be observed by those who belong to it to preserve its honours and its advantages from being prostituted . Is this strictly attended to by the administrators of those mysterious
secrets which kings and the best of men have delig hted to exercise themselves in ?—I fear not . Far be it from me to sport with the nakedness of that which I revere . It is the professor , and not the science , which calls for this paternal animadversion . When a man of a light and airy mind , in a sportive mood , heightened by the cheerful lassconceives the desire to become a Mason ,
g , is it consistent with the princip les of that chaste sobriety which Masonry inculcates , to meet his inclinations , and to receive him . while under the influence of gaiety ? His conceptions of the institution will naturally afterwards be in unison with the circumstances which characterized his initiation . Again , shall every other society be observant of the characters of such persons as offer themselves to be
members , and even , perhaps , when moral grace or turpitude is of little moment to its interests , and shall we , who belong to a society refined in its principles , elevated ' in its professions , and marked with distinctions of the most flattering kind , be less scrupulous than those who are remote from such pretensions ? When a man undistinguished by the ornament of an uniform
virtue , is invested with the badge of the antient Craft , a stone is loosened from the edifice , and a humiliating stain is marked on the sacred veil . Let it appear that a difficulty impedes the entrance into the Masonic temple ;—let it be fully manifested , that without the grace of moral accomplishment , a firm and virtuous industry , and the desire of knowledge , there is no way of obtaining an association among the