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Article THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY. ← Page 8 of 8
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The Freemasons' Repository.
Our learned Professor , however , destroys his own assertion , by relating the contempt with which Masonry was treated b y James II . That monarch ' s attachment to the Jesuits , and zeal for the Church of Rome , would have led him to embrace an institution modelled by those emissaries , and so well calculated to establish the great object -which ruled his mind . But say that he knew not its principles ; yet sarely his spiritual directors , who were so deeply in the secret ,
would gladly have ma'de him acquainted with its importance to his designs . If Jesuitism and Freemasonry had so near a relation , however frivolous the offspring might be in itself , that sapient monarch would have cherished the bantling for the sake of its nurse . What are we to think then of such conjectures as these , with which a grave philosopher introduces a flaming memorial against a society composed of men of all persuasions , ranks , and professions ? And what . sort of credit can ' 'be considered as due to the subsequent declarations ,
either by him or the anonymous journalists , whose reports he has taken such uncommon pains to translate and embellish " If our author has betrayed a want of judgment in his conjectures on the state of Masonry at that period , he is also censurable for the want of candour . He observes , that 'it was not till some years after this , that the Lodges made open profession of the cultivation of general benevolenceand that . the grand aim of the fraternity was to
, enforce the exercise of . all the social virtues , lt is not unlikely that this was an after thought . ' P . 23 . This narrow-minded conjecture deserves to be treated with silent contempt . But that it is totally unfounded in truth , may be proved from a response in a Masonic catechism , discovered by Mr . Locke in the Bodleian Libraryand is at least as old as the reign of King Henry
, VI . It is asked , ' Doth Maconnes love eider odher myghtylye as beeth sayde ? ' To which this beautiful reply is made : ' Yea verelyche , ^ nd yt may not odhenvise be : for gude menne and treu , kennynge eider odher to be soche , doeth always love the more as they be more glide . ' ' ¦
This manuscript refutes all Mr . Robison ' s conjectures , and the sentiments of Mr . Locke on the subject are as philosophical as those of the other are illiberal . That great philosopher , in his letter to the- Earl of Pembroke , accompanying the MS . mentions his intention of becoming member of a society which had attracted his curiosity and admiration . 1 have no doubt but that he put his intention in execution , and found him- >
yelf no way disappointed . [* T 0 BE CONTINUED . )] VOL . IX . 1 i
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Repository.
Our learned Professor , however , destroys his own assertion , by relating the contempt with which Masonry was treated b y James II . That monarch ' s attachment to the Jesuits , and zeal for the Church of Rome , would have led him to embrace an institution modelled by those emissaries , and so well calculated to establish the great object -which ruled his mind . But say that he knew not its principles ; yet sarely his spiritual directors , who were so deeply in the secret ,
would gladly have ma'de him acquainted with its importance to his designs . If Jesuitism and Freemasonry had so near a relation , however frivolous the offspring might be in itself , that sapient monarch would have cherished the bantling for the sake of its nurse . What are we to think then of such conjectures as these , with which a grave philosopher introduces a flaming memorial against a society composed of men of all persuasions , ranks , and professions ? And what . sort of credit can ' 'be considered as due to the subsequent declarations ,
either by him or the anonymous journalists , whose reports he has taken such uncommon pains to translate and embellish " If our author has betrayed a want of judgment in his conjectures on the state of Masonry at that period , he is also censurable for the want of candour . He observes , that 'it was not till some years after this , that the Lodges made open profession of the cultivation of general benevolenceand that . the grand aim of the fraternity was to
, enforce the exercise of . all the social virtues , lt is not unlikely that this was an after thought . ' P . 23 . This narrow-minded conjecture deserves to be treated with silent contempt . But that it is totally unfounded in truth , may be proved from a response in a Masonic catechism , discovered by Mr . Locke in the Bodleian Libraryand is at least as old as the reign of King Henry
, VI . It is asked , ' Doth Maconnes love eider odher myghtylye as beeth sayde ? ' To which this beautiful reply is made : ' Yea verelyche , ^ nd yt may not odhenvise be : for gude menne and treu , kennynge eider odher to be soche , doeth always love the more as they be more glide . ' ' ¦
This manuscript refutes all Mr . Robison ' s conjectures , and the sentiments of Mr . Locke on the subject are as philosophical as those of the other are illiberal . That great philosopher , in his letter to the- Earl of Pembroke , accompanying the MS . mentions his intention of becoming member of a society which had attracted his curiosity and admiration . 1 have no doubt but that he put his intention in execution , and found him- >
yelf no way disappointed . [* T 0 BE CONTINUED . )] VOL . IX . 1 i