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  • The Freemasons' Magazine
  • Aug. 1, 1795
  • Page 8
  • ON THE PRESENT STATE OF FREEMASONRY.
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The Freemasons' Magazine, Aug. 1, 1795: Page 8

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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

“The Freemasons' Magazine: 1795-08-01, Page 8” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 2 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fmm/issues/fmm_01081795/page/8/.
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Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
LONDON: Article 1
TO OUR READERS, CORRESPONDENTS, &c. Article 2
PRICES OF BINDING PER VOLUME. Article 2
Untitled Article 3
THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE, OR GENERAL AND COMPLETE LIBRARY . Article 4
ON THE PRESENT STATE OF FREEMASONRY. Article 7
HISTORY OF MASONRY. Article 10
CHARACTER OF BERNARD GILPIN, Article 14
THE KHALIF AND HIS VISIER, AN ORIENTAL APOLOGUE. Article 18
ANECDOTES OF HENRI DUC DE MONTMORENCI. Article 20
EXTRAORDINARY INSTANCES OF GRATITUDE. Article 24
EXTRACTS FROM A CURIOUS MANUSCRIPT, CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR THE HOUSEHOLD OF HENRY VIII. Article 25
BON MOT. Article 27
THE STAGE. Article 28
CHARACTER OF LOUIS THE SIXTEENTH. Article 29
A THIEF RESCUED BY AN ELEPHANT. AN AUTHENTIC ANECDOTE. Article 31
ANECDOTES OF THE LIFE OF THEODORE, KING OF CORSICA*. Article 32
ORIGIN OF ST. JAMES'S PALACE. Article 33
THE UNION OF LOVE TO GOD AND LOVE TO MAN, A SERMON, Preached in St. Andrew's Church, New Town, Edinburgh, Article 34
ACCOUNT OF AN EXTRAORDINARY NATURAL GENIUS, Article 42
PHYSIOGNOMICAL SKETCHES. Article 47
CURIOUS METHOD OF PROTECTING CORN. Article 50
ON COMPASSION. Article 50
ON MODESTY, AS A MASCULINE VIRTUE. Article 53
SOME ACCOUNT OF BOTANY BAY, Article 55
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE . Article 56
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. Article 58
ON POVERTY. Article 60
DISSERTATIONS ON THE POLITE ARTS. Article 61
POETRY. Article 64
THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE, A SKETCH. Article 67
TO INDUSTRY. Article 67
WRITTEN IN MEMORY OF MY FATHER, Article 68
PORTRAIT OF AN HYPOCRITE. Article 68
MASONIC INTELLIGENCE. Article 69
MONTHLY CHRONICLE. Article 69
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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

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