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Article THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY. ← Page 3 of 8 →
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The Freemasons' Repository.
schisms in the fraternity of freemasons . ' He then proceeds to inform us that ' this account interested him a good deal , because , in his early life , he had taken some part in the occupations ( shall I call tbem ) of Freemasonry ; and having chiefly frequented the Lodges on the Continent , he had learned many doctrines , and seen many ceremonials , which have no plp . ee in the simple system of Freemasonry which obtains in this country . He also remarked ( he says ) that the
whole was much more the object of rcfle & ion ancl thought than he could remember it to hare been a .-nong his acquaintances at home . There he had seen a Mason-Lodge considered merely as a . pretext for passing an hoar or two in a sort of decent conviviality , not altogether void oi some rational occupation . He had ( indeed ) sometimes heard of differences of doctrines , or of ceremonies , hut in terms which
marked them as mere frivolities . But , on the Continent , he found them matters of serious concern and debate . ' f have quoted these passages at Jcugt . '] , from the consideration ' of their being entitled to a very particular notice , as affecting materially the credit of the subsequent parts of the work , indeed much more so than the author may have imagined . In the first place , then , it
should be observed , that the Professor supports himself on the authority of an anonymous publication , and that a periodical one . The inmost care should certainly have been taken to have established the credit of this work , before he translated its anecdotes , and so arranged them as to vender a society , now possessed of hi gh reputation , an object of jealousy to ail honest citizens . We are sensible , that intelligence thus communicatedin our own countrywould be slihted b
, , g y every liberal , mind ; and we should be disposed to laugh at the credulity of a German who should , from the diurnal , or n onthly journals , and the numerous flying pamphlets of this country , publish a bulk y volume , full of strange reports respecting societies and individuals , and then gravely appeal to his goodly authorities for the truth of them . Of this , howevermore hereafter . Let lisin the next laceattend
, , p , a little to the Professor ' s declarations founded on his own experience . He very flippantly mentions the occupations of Masonry ,, attended With' the doubtful question , whether it is proper for him to dignify them with that appellation . This is not exactly philosophic candour , and when compared with a remark , which follows in a few lines after , ' that the Masonic mectinp-s were not altogether void of rational
occupation , ' it will be found an inconsistency . First , Masonry is not an occupation , and afterwards it becomes a rational one 1 This is a slip at the threshold ; we shall meet , however , with more important ones in the course of our observation . Mr . ROBISON relates his Masonic progress on the Continent , the connections which he formedthe honours which were conferred
, on him , and the acquisitions he attained . What surprises one the most here is , the extraordinary anecdote respecting the Russian Mason , who entrusted him with a box of Masonic manuscripts at Petersburgh . He stiles this man a .-worthy brother , ' and yet immediately after informs us that he ran away the next day < with the funds ofaii
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Repository.
schisms in the fraternity of freemasons . ' He then proceeds to inform us that ' this account interested him a good deal , because , in his early life , he had taken some part in the occupations ( shall I call tbem ) of Freemasonry ; and having chiefly frequented the Lodges on the Continent , he had learned many doctrines , and seen many ceremonials , which have no plp . ee in the simple system of Freemasonry which obtains in this country . He also remarked ( he says ) that the
whole was much more the object of rcfle & ion ancl thought than he could remember it to hare been a .-nong his acquaintances at home . There he had seen a Mason-Lodge considered merely as a . pretext for passing an hoar or two in a sort of decent conviviality , not altogether void oi some rational occupation . He had ( indeed ) sometimes heard of differences of doctrines , or of ceremonies , hut in terms which
marked them as mere frivolities . But , on the Continent , he found them matters of serious concern and debate . ' f have quoted these passages at Jcugt . '] , from the consideration ' of their being entitled to a very particular notice , as affecting materially the credit of the subsequent parts of the work , indeed much more so than the author may have imagined . In the first place , then , it
should be observed , that the Professor supports himself on the authority of an anonymous publication , and that a periodical one . The inmost care should certainly have been taken to have established the credit of this work , before he translated its anecdotes , and so arranged them as to vender a society , now possessed of hi gh reputation , an object of jealousy to ail honest citizens . We are sensible , that intelligence thus communicatedin our own countrywould be slihted b
, , g y every liberal , mind ; and we should be disposed to laugh at the credulity of a German who should , from the diurnal , or n onthly journals , and the numerous flying pamphlets of this country , publish a bulk y volume , full of strange reports respecting societies and individuals , and then gravely appeal to his goodly authorities for the truth of them . Of this , howevermore hereafter . Let lisin the next laceattend
, , p , a little to the Professor ' s declarations founded on his own experience . He very flippantly mentions the occupations of Masonry ,, attended With' the doubtful question , whether it is proper for him to dignify them with that appellation . This is not exactly philosophic candour , and when compared with a remark , which follows in a few lines after , ' that the Masonic mectinp-s were not altogether void of rational
occupation , ' it will be found an inconsistency . First , Masonry is not an occupation , and afterwards it becomes a rational one 1 This is a slip at the threshold ; we shall meet , however , with more important ones in the course of our observation . Mr . ROBISON relates his Masonic progress on the Continent , the connections which he formedthe honours which were conferred
, on him , and the acquisitions he attained . What surprises one the most here is , the extraordinary anecdote respecting the Russian Mason , who entrusted him with a box of Masonic manuscripts at Petersburgh . He stiles this man a .-worthy brother , ' and yet immediately after informs us that he ran away the next day < with the funds ofaii