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Article EXTRACT FROM AN ORATION, ← Page 3 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Extract From An Oration,
appear in the conduct of the best of us calculated to stagger your faith ancl justify your hesitation . The inquiry why , when we acknowledge your charms and sound your praise , we still exclude you from our society , has heretofore been a subject of much speculation with your sex ; and although the present race of females have been generally taught by wisdom and experience
the futility of all such questions , it is our duty , as far as our power extends , to gratify all your laudable wishes , —and duty to our order demands that we should refute the foul slander broached by some one , that we , by excluding you from our fraternity , treat you as an inferior race of beings , unworthy to participate in our highest enjoyments , and partake of the advantages we procure for ourselves .
Without inquiring into the circumstances attendant on the original formation of the sexes , or relying on the plain and obvious deductions of reason , I will only name some of the characteristic features of each . Man is distinguished for robustness of constitution , strength , and vigour of intellect , strong passions , courage , and perseverance , and also a host of evil qualities , which it would be ungallant , if not unjust , to
attribute to you . On the contrary , woman is adorned with charms of person , endowed with vivacity of fancy , elegance of taste , captivating manners and patient in suffering ; but withal , a frailty of body and delicacy of sensibility , which unfit her for the rough exercises , deep study and hardy enterprises of man . From these premises , the weakest intellect is capable of drawing the inference that a society may exist for moral purposes alone , whose peculiar rites and ceremonies make it unsuitable , if not impossible , for females to be admitted as members .
And does it hence follow , that we treat you as an inferior race of beings ? Reason , justice , and common sense forbid such a conclusion . The Mahometan delusion denies to your sex the possession of rational and immortal souls , and among barbarous and savage nations woman is a servile , drudged , and much-abused slave ; but wherever civilization has diffused its blessings , ( and there only has Masonry
flourished , ) you are exalted to your proper stations in society , and have become the acknowledged friends , companions , and equals of man . Should any fair hearer still ask the question , —why was not Masonry originally so constituted as to permit us a participation in its honours and advantages ? I can only answer , that the wisest and greatest king who ever reigned in Israel , is its acknowledged founder , the
occasion of the erection of the Holy Temple , he employed three thousand six hundred overseers , eight thousand journeymen , and seventy thousand apprentices , for the space of seven years , and we are not told that
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Extract From An Oration,
appear in the conduct of the best of us calculated to stagger your faith ancl justify your hesitation . The inquiry why , when we acknowledge your charms and sound your praise , we still exclude you from our society , has heretofore been a subject of much speculation with your sex ; and although the present race of females have been generally taught by wisdom and experience
the futility of all such questions , it is our duty , as far as our power extends , to gratify all your laudable wishes , —and duty to our order demands that we should refute the foul slander broached by some one , that we , by excluding you from our fraternity , treat you as an inferior race of beings , unworthy to participate in our highest enjoyments , and partake of the advantages we procure for ourselves .
Without inquiring into the circumstances attendant on the original formation of the sexes , or relying on the plain and obvious deductions of reason , I will only name some of the characteristic features of each . Man is distinguished for robustness of constitution , strength , and vigour of intellect , strong passions , courage , and perseverance , and also a host of evil qualities , which it would be ungallant , if not unjust , to
attribute to you . On the contrary , woman is adorned with charms of person , endowed with vivacity of fancy , elegance of taste , captivating manners and patient in suffering ; but withal , a frailty of body and delicacy of sensibility , which unfit her for the rough exercises , deep study and hardy enterprises of man . From these premises , the weakest intellect is capable of drawing the inference that a society may exist for moral purposes alone , whose peculiar rites and ceremonies make it unsuitable , if not impossible , for females to be admitted as members .
And does it hence follow , that we treat you as an inferior race of beings ? Reason , justice , and common sense forbid such a conclusion . The Mahometan delusion denies to your sex the possession of rational and immortal souls , and among barbarous and savage nations woman is a servile , drudged , and much-abused slave ; but wherever civilization has diffused its blessings , ( and there only has Masonry
flourished , ) you are exalted to your proper stations in society , and have become the acknowledged friends , companions , and equals of man . Should any fair hearer still ask the question , —why was not Masonry originally so constituted as to permit us a participation in its honours and advantages ? I can only answer , that the wisest and greatest king who ever reigned in Israel , is its acknowledged founder , the
occasion of the erection of the Holy Temple , he employed three thousand six hundred overseers , eight thousand journeymen , and seventy thousand apprentices , for the space of seven years , and we are not told that