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Article FREEMASONRY VINDICATED, ← Page 4 of 6 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry Vindicated,
the great Architect of the Universe , the true and only God , and wherein it taught man to develop his mental faculties , to exercise and promote the moral and social virtues of humanity , decency , and good order in the world , ancl to alleviate one another from the physical evils under which the major part of the human race is
groaning . Thus Freemasonry , humble at first , by degrees spread itself wide over both hemispheres , where the beneficial influence of its precepts has been powerfully felt by every class of men . Its worship is God , the Creator of all ; its principles , Virtue and Science ; its mysteries , Universal Benevolence ; its precepts are
Toleration , Charity , and Humanity ; the world its Temple ; mankind its congregation , and all virtuous men are its ministers ; and as to its recompense , it is the ineffable satisfaction of a clear conscience , in promoting as much as possible the welfare and happiness of the human species at large , and of each member of the Order in particular . Actuated by these sacred principles , Freemasonry never ceases to impress in the mind of men that we are all children of the same
Father ; it never ceases to repeat to them , that we ought accordingly to love one another like brothers . It is at once a sad and painful thought that two-thirds of mankind are still at this moment groaning beneath the ignominious shackles of Despotism , Superstition , and Error . But such has been the fate of Truth upon the earth , that it requires an immense
deal of time and perseverance ere she can make her way through tbe dense clouds of Prejudice : her first steps have always been counteracted by obstacles which repulsed her a thousand times before she could surmount them , Nevertheless , she advances imperceptibly every day ; she acquires new strength ; and we
shall soon see her triumphantly overspread the earth . So it is with Freemasonry : sometimes persecuted , tolerated afterwards ; sometimes calumniated , at other times patronized ; yet it will triumph at last over all its enemies , by persuading the world that it is instituted for the benefit of man . We see it already ,
like the great planet that illuminates tbe Universe , pouring forth torrents of light on the very blasphemers who dared at first to outrage the sanctity of its dogmas . The main object of the first legislators of all nations and ofthe first Founders of profane institutions was to govern man ; and in
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry Vindicated,
the great Architect of the Universe , the true and only God , and wherein it taught man to develop his mental faculties , to exercise and promote the moral and social virtues of humanity , decency , and good order in the world , ancl to alleviate one another from the physical evils under which the major part of the human race is
groaning . Thus Freemasonry , humble at first , by degrees spread itself wide over both hemispheres , where the beneficial influence of its precepts has been powerfully felt by every class of men . Its worship is God , the Creator of all ; its principles , Virtue and Science ; its mysteries , Universal Benevolence ; its precepts are
Toleration , Charity , and Humanity ; the world its Temple ; mankind its congregation , and all virtuous men are its ministers ; and as to its recompense , it is the ineffable satisfaction of a clear conscience , in promoting as much as possible the welfare and happiness of the human species at large , and of each member of the Order in particular . Actuated by these sacred principles , Freemasonry never ceases to impress in the mind of men that we are all children of the same
Father ; it never ceases to repeat to them , that we ought accordingly to love one another like brothers . It is at once a sad and painful thought that two-thirds of mankind are still at this moment groaning beneath the ignominious shackles of Despotism , Superstition , and Error . But such has been the fate of Truth upon the earth , that it requires an immense
deal of time and perseverance ere she can make her way through tbe dense clouds of Prejudice : her first steps have always been counteracted by obstacles which repulsed her a thousand times before she could surmount them , Nevertheless , she advances imperceptibly every day ; she acquires new strength ; and we
shall soon see her triumphantly overspread the earth . So it is with Freemasonry : sometimes persecuted , tolerated afterwards ; sometimes calumniated , at other times patronized ; yet it will triumph at last over all its enemies , by persuading the world that it is instituted for the benefit of man . We see it already ,
like the great planet that illuminates tbe Universe , pouring forth torrents of light on the very blasphemers who dared at first to outrage the sanctity of its dogmas . The main object of the first legislators of all nations and ofthe first Founders of profane institutions was to govern man ; and in