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  • The Freemasons' Magazine
  • Oct. 1, 1797
  • Page 29
  • THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY.
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The Freemasons' Magazine, Oct. 1, 1797: Page 29

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    Article THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY. ← Page 3 of 8 →
Page 29

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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

“The Freemasons' Magazine: 1797-10-01, Page 29” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 28 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fmm/issues/fmm_01101797/page/29/.
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Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
Untitled Article 2
LONDON: Article 2
Untitled Article 3
THE LIFE OF DAVID GARRICK, ESQ. Article 4
SlNGULAR CUSTOM IN DEVONSHIRE. Article 9
WEST INDIA CRUELTY. Article 9
A REVIEW OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EDMUND BURKE. Article 10
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCES FOR 1797. Article 16
DESCRIPTION OF THE PEAK OF TENERIFFE. Article 18
ON THE PECULIAR EXCELLENCIES OF HANDEL'S MUSIC. Article 20
THE COLLECTOR. Article 22
THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY. Article 27
ON THE MASONIC CHARACTER. Article 35
A VINDICATION OF MASONRY. Article 37
REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. Article 42
POETRY. Article 50
REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT. Article 54
HOUSE OF COMMONS. Article 55
MONTHLY CHRONICLE. Article 62
OBITUARY. Article 72
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Page 29

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

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