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  • Oct. 1, 1795
  • Page 45
  • TO THE EDITOR.
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The Freemasons' Magazine, Oct. 1, 1795: Page 45

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    Article TO THE EDITOR. ← Page 2 of 4 →
Page 45

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

To The Editor.

It is remarkable , that these philosophers , in every age and every nation ^ distinguished themselves by the appellation which in all ages signifies a Mason . It is true that every Fellow-craft , before he obtained the dignity of a Master-mason , must have made great proficiency in grammar , logic , rhetoric , arithmetic , geometry , music , and astronomy . The Masons had long confined all the sciences within the limits of

their own fraternity , till they admitted amongst them those travelling Greek philosophers who visited Egypt in search of knowledge . —¦ They indeed were not very scrupulous in pursuing the means of obtaining science by any sacrifice , nor less nice or conscientious in divulging those secrets which were under the strongest obligation imparted to them .

Euclid first made public all he had learned of geometry ; the higher part of the mathematics he had not acquired . The application of this science to the measurement of land , building , and various other arts , was so obvious , that many ingenious Greeks availed themselves of it , to the no small detriment of the Masons . This , as it was the first , was the severest blow our society ever felt . Some of them to this day assertand seriously toothat the

extraor-, , dinary death of this apostate was a judgment on him for the breach of his obligation ; an eagle , mistaking his bald head for a stone , having dropped a tortoise oh it to crush the shell . Pythagoras resided more years in Egypt than any other Grecian philosopher . On his return he enjoined a three years inviolable

silence on all his pupils . He revealed to his countrymen several of the secrets of Masons , viz . the seven different tints of the colorific principle ; the seven tones in music , and the true system of astronomy , which placed the sun in the centre ; the eight revolving planets with their attendants ; the advent of comets , from one system to another , of which each star is a central sun . Not being furnished with instruments capable of discovering the

two most distant planets beyond the orbit of Saturn , his astronomy was turned into ridicule , by a people whose natural frivolity gave them a disgust to strong thinking , and whose vanity precluded close and severe examination of imported erudition . His school fell into disrepute , and he himself into neglect , though one of the best informed , and perhaps the wisest , of all their philosophers .

Aristotle studied grammar , logic , rhetoric , natural pmlosophy , metaphysics , and some other sciences among the Egyptian Masons . He conveyed a fund of knowledge to mankind which lie had no right to communicate . Much indeed of what he learned he has misplaced and disfigured in his writings . He has misrepresented some of their finest sentiments , not so much for want of judgment as taste ; partly perhaps to amuse his readersand partlfrom vanity .

, y Of all the Grecian philosophers who visited Egypt , and had the honour of being admitecl among the Masons ( which l ? y the way they carefully concealed ) , the most disingenuous was Plato . The sciences of theology , ethics , and metaphysics , were his peculiar favourites .

“The Freemasons' Magazine: 1795-10-01, Page 45” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 9 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fmm/issues/fmm_01101795/page/45/.
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Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
LONDON : Article 1
TO READERS, CORRESPONDENTS, &c. Article 2
Untitled Article 2
PRICES OF BINDING PER VOLUME. Article 2
Untitled Article 3
SOME ACCOUNT OF MR. BAKEWELL, OF DISHLEY. Article 4
ON THE ERRORS OF COMMON OPINION. Article 6
THE HAPPY WORLD. A VISION. Article 10
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. Article 13
DETACHED THOUGHTS ONBOOKS. Article 15
HISTORY OF MASONRY. Article 18
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. Article 25
ANECDOTE. Article 25
THE STAGE. Article 26
REMARKS ON GENERAL INVITATIONS. Article 27
AMERICAN ANECDOTES. Article 28
TO THE EDITOR. Article 31
ON THE LOVE OF NOVELTY. Article 34
ON THE DIFFERENT MODES OF REASONING Article 36
THE CHARACTER OF WALLER, AS A MAN AND A POET. Article 39
A METHOD OF ENCREASING POTATOES, Article 41
NEW SOUTH WALES, Article 42
TO THE EDITOR. Article 44
LIFE OF THE DUKE OF GUISE. Article 47
SINGULAR INSTANCE OF FACILITY IN LITERARY COMPOSITION. Article 48
A SWEDISH ANECDOTE. Article 49
ACCOUNT OF THOMAS TOPHAM, THE STRONG MAN. Article 50
SPEECH OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, ON MONOPOLIES. Article 51
DIRECTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS RELATIVE TO FOOD. Article 52
TO THE EDITOR. Article 54
THE WORM AND BUTTERFLY. Article 56
Untitled Article 57
ANECDOTE. Article 57
THE SENSITIVE PLANT AND THISTLE. A FABLE. Article 58
FRENCH ARROGANCE PROPERLY REBUKED. Article 58
A CAUTION TO THE AVARICIOUS. Article 58
A WELL-TIMED REBUKE. Article 59
NAVAL ANECDOTE. Article 59
TO THE EDITOR. Article 59
POETRY. Article 60
IMPROMPTU, Article 60
THE SUNDERLAND VOLUNTEERS. Article 61
IMPROMPTU, Article 61
MONSIEUR. TONSON. A TALE. Article 62
SONNET. Article 65
STRICTURES ON PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. Article 65
MONTHLY CHRONICLE. Article 66
HOME NEWS, Article 67
PROMOTIONS. Article 72
Untitled Article 72
Untitled Article 73
BANKRUPTS. Article 73
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Page 45

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

To The Editor.

It is remarkable , that these philosophers , in every age and every nation ^ distinguished themselves by the appellation which in all ages signifies a Mason . It is true that every Fellow-craft , before he obtained the dignity of a Master-mason , must have made great proficiency in grammar , logic , rhetoric , arithmetic , geometry , music , and astronomy . The Masons had long confined all the sciences within the limits of

their own fraternity , till they admitted amongst them those travelling Greek philosophers who visited Egypt in search of knowledge . —¦ They indeed were not very scrupulous in pursuing the means of obtaining science by any sacrifice , nor less nice or conscientious in divulging those secrets which were under the strongest obligation imparted to them .

Euclid first made public all he had learned of geometry ; the higher part of the mathematics he had not acquired . The application of this science to the measurement of land , building , and various other arts , was so obvious , that many ingenious Greeks availed themselves of it , to the no small detriment of the Masons . This , as it was the first , was the severest blow our society ever felt . Some of them to this day assertand seriously toothat the

extraor-, , dinary death of this apostate was a judgment on him for the breach of his obligation ; an eagle , mistaking his bald head for a stone , having dropped a tortoise oh it to crush the shell . Pythagoras resided more years in Egypt than any other Grecian philosopher . On his return he enjoined a three years inviolable

silence on all his pupils . He revealed to his countrymen several of the secrets of Masons , viz . the seven different tints of the colorific principle ; the seven tones in music , and the true system of astronomy , which placed the sun in the centre ; the eight revolving planets with their attendants ; the advent of comets , from one system to another , of which each star is a central sun . Not being furnished with instruments capable of discovering the

two most distant planets beyond the orbit of Saturn , his astronomy was turned into ridicule , by a people whose natural frivolity gave them a disgust to strong thinking , and whose vanity precluded close and severe examination of imported erudition . His school fell into disrepute , and he himself into neglect , though one of the best informed , and perhaps the wisest , of all their philosophers .

Aristotle studied grammar , logic , rhetoric , natural pmlosophy , metaphysics , and some other sciences among the Egyptian Masons . He conveyed a fund of knowledge to mankind which lie had no right to communicate . Much indeed of what he learned he has misplaced and disfigured in his writings . He has misrepresented some of their finest sentiments , not so much for want of judgment as taste ; partly perhaps to amuse his readersand partlfrom vanity .

, y Of all the Grecian philosophers who visited Egypt , and had the honour of being admitecl among the Masons ( which l ? y the way they carefully concealed ) , the most disingenuous was Plato . The sciences of theology , ethics , and metaphysics , were his peculiar favourites .

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