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  • Sept. 1, 1796
  • Page 15
  • A DEFENCE OF MASONRY,
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The Freemasons' Magazine, Sept. 1, 1796: Page 15

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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

A Defence Of Masonry,

SOUND of the GRINDING is the noise of the voice ; the VOICE of the BIRD is the crowing of the cock ; the DAUGHTERS of MUSIC are the two ears ; the SILVER COED is the siring .. f the tongue ; the GOLDEN - BOWL is the pia-mater ; the PITCHER at the FOUNTAIN is the heart , the fountain of life ; the WHEEL is the great artery ; and the CISTERN is the left ventricle of the heart ! IV . There could not possibl y have been devised a more

significant token of love , friendship , integrity , and honesty , than the joining of the ri g ht bands ; a ceremony made use of by all civilized nations ^ as a token of a faithful and true heart . Fides , , or Fidelity , was a deity among the ancients , of which a learned writer * has g iven us this description , viz . ' The proper residence of Faith , or Fidelity , was thought to be in the right hand ; and , therefore , this deity sometimes was represented by two riht hands joined together ;

g sometimes by two little images shaking each the other ' s ri g ht hand ; so that the ri g ht hand was by the ancients esteemed as a thing sacred . And agreeable to this are those expressions in Virgil , iEneid , IV . En dextra jldesque ! as if shaking by the ri ght hand was an inseparable token of an honest heart . And iEneid I , cur dextras j : mgere dexlram

Non datur , et veras audire et reddere voces ? that is , Why should we not join ri ght hand to ri ght hand , and heap and speak the truth ?

In all contracts and agreements ( says Archbishop Potter , f in his Antiquities of Greece ) it was usual to take each other b y the ri ght hand , that being the manner of plighting faith . And this was done either out of respect to the number ten , as some sa } -, there being ten fingers on the two hands ; or because such a conjunction was a token of amity and concord ; whence at all friendly meetings they join hands , as a sign of the union of their souls .

It was one of the cautions of Pythagoras to his disciples , ' Take heed to whom you offer your rig ht hand ! ' Which is thus explained by Jamblichus . % . Take no one by the ri ght hand but the initiated , that is , in the mystical form : for the vulgar and profane are altogether unworthy of the mystery ! V . The Dissector frequently' faking notice of the number seven ,

I instantly recurred to the old Egyptians , who held the number seven to be sacred ;§ more especially they believed , that whilst their feast of seven days lasted , the crocodiles lost their inbred cruelty : and Leo Afer , in his description of Africa , Lib . VIII . says , that even in his time , the custom of feasting seven days and ni ghts was still used for the happy overflowing of the Nile . The Greeks and Latins professed the same regard for that number ; which mi ght be proved by many examples . VI . The accident , by which the body of Master Hiram was found after his death , seems to allude , in some circumstances , to a

“The Freemasons' Magazine: 1796-09-01, Page 15” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 9 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fmm/issues/fmm_01091796/page/15/.
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Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
Untitled Article 2
LONDON: Article 2
TO READERS, CORRESPONDENTS, &c. Article 3
THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE, AND CABINET OF UNIVERSAL LITERATURE . Article 4
A DEFENCE OF MASONRY, Article 10
FEMALE SECRESY. Article 17
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE OF WILLIAM OF WYKEHAM. Article 18
ON THE ABUSES PRACTISED BY MILLERS AND DEALERS IN CORN. Article 22
REFLECTIONS ON HISTORY. Article 24
ON THE POWER OF HABIT. Article 25
SKETCHES OF CELEBRATED CHARACTERS. Article 28
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF PROMISSORY NOTES AND PAPER CREDIT. Article 34
THE REMOVAL OF THE MONUMENTS OF THE FINE ARTS FROM ITALY TO FRANCE. Article 37
CURIOUS ANECDOTE OF A FRENCH TRAVELLER. Article 38
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE REPRESENTING A COMPANION OF THE ANCIENT KNIGHTS TEMPLARS, Article 40
ON THE DEGENERATE MANNERS OF THE ATHENIANS. Article 42
REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. Article 44
LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. Article 53
POETRY. Article 54
ODE TO FORTITUDE. Article 55
ELEGY, ON MR. MATTHEW WINTERBOTHAM, Article 56
VERSES, Article 57
SONNET. Article 58
THE SIGH AND THE TEAR. Article 58
EPIGRAMS, Article 59
THE CONJUGAL REPARTEE. Article 59
MONTHLY CHRONICLE. Article 60
INTELLIGENCE OF IMPORTANCE Article 62
ARMIES IN ITALY. Article 64
HOME NEWS. Article 66
THE ARTS. Article 66
OBITUARY. Article 68
LIST OF BANKRUPTS. Article 73
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

A Defence Of Masonry,

SOUND of the GRINDING is the noise of the voice ; the VOICE of the BIRD is the crowing of the cock ; the DAUGHTERS of MUSIC are the two ears ; the SILVER COED is the siring .. f the tongue ; the GOLDEN - BOWL is the pia-mater ; the PITCHER at the FOUNTAIN is the heart , the fountain of life ; the WHEEL is the great artery ; and the CISTERN is the left ventricle of the heart ! IV . There could not possibl y have been devised a more

significant token of love , friendship , integrity , and honesty , than the joining of the ri g ht bands ; a ceremony made use of by all civilized nations ^ as a token of a faithful and true heart . Fides , , or Fidelity , was a deity among the ancients , of which a learned writer * has g iven us this description , viz . ' The proper residence of Faith , or Fidelity , was thought to be in the right hand ; and , therefore , this deity sometimes was represented by two riht hands joined together ;

g sometimes by two little images shaking each the other ' s ri g ht hand ; so that the ri g ht hand was by the ancients esteemed as a thing sacred . And agreeable to this are those expressions in Virgil , iEneid , IV . En dextra jldesque ! as if shaking by the ri ght hand was an inseparable token of an honest heart . And iEneid I , cur dextras j : mgere dexlram

Non datur , et veras audire et reddere voces ? that is , Why should we not join ri ght hand to ri ght hand , and heap and speak the truth ?

In all contracts and agreements ( says Archbishop Potter , f in his Antiquities of Greece ) it was usual to take each other b y the ri ght hand , that being the manner of plighting faith . And this was done either out of respect to the number ten , as some sa } -, there being ten fingers on the two hands ; or because such a conjunction was a token of amity and concord ; whence at all friendly meetings they join hands , as a sign of the union of their souls .

It was one of the cautions of Pythagoras to his disciples , ' Take heed to whom you offer your rig ht hand ! ' Which is thus explained by Jamblichus . % . Take no one by the ri ght hand but the initiated , that is , in the mystical form : for the vulgar and profane are altogether unworthy of the mystery ! V . The Dissector frequently' faking notice of the number seven ,

I instantly recurred to the old Egyptians , who held the number seven to be sacred ;§ more especially they believed , that whilst their feast of seven days lasted , the crocodiles lost their inbred cruelty : and Leo Afer , in his description of Africa , Lib . VIII . says , that even in his time , the custom of feasting seven days and ni ghts was still used for the happy overflowing of the Nile . The Greeks and Latins professed the same regard for that number ; which mi ght be proved by many examples . VI . The accident , by which the body of Master Hiram was found after his death , seems to allude , in some circumstances , to a

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