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Article FREEMASONRY VINDICATED, ← Page 6 of 6
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Freemasonry Vindicated,
himself—he practises its dictates—peace and comfort begin to relieve his overburdened heart ; and it is then that he discriminates the immense distance that separates this Institution of Wisdom and fraternal Benevolence from the sordid institutions of tbe world , where Selfishness alone preponderates . From our Temple he turns his looks on the vast amphitheatre of life ; he sees that
Passions preside over every thing—they rear all and overthrow all ; he sees pride taldng possession of grandeur—Audacity claiming deference—Baseness demanding honors , and obtaining them ; he sees Insolence overwhelming Modesty—Opulence insulting Poverty—Ignorance persecuting Knowledge ; he sees Merit and Talent despised—Innocence often punished , while hypocrisy ,
perfidy , ingratitude , and crime are not only tolerated , but oftentimes rewarded . There his ears are consecutively assailed with these repetitions , " be the first—be the strongest—get riches—obtain power—overthrow thy rivals—crush thy competitors , " & c . & c . ' He sees , in short , that every body is dissatisfied with his own condition , which he struggles to ameliorate , to the flagrant , injury of his fellow ; for
" Lucrum sine damno alterius fieri non potest . " Does FREEMASONRY represent any such picture , any such wretchedness ? No . Its very enemies , who could calumniate it , have never dared to impute to it any of those iniquities with which the world abounds . In Masonry there is neither " first nor last ;" there are neither " strongest nor weakest , " " highest nor lowest ;"
there are only brethren , all equal—all wishing the welfare of one another—all united to enjoy the pleasure ancl happiness of rectify ing each other ' s hearts , - of edifying each other ' s minds , and of promoting as much as possible the social virtues of charity , good will , and harmony among themselves and in the world at large . In our Fraternity there is neither ambition , hatred , nor jealousy to
disturb its harmony ; we have no insolence to dread , no enmity to fear . The sole scope and aim of every brother are to seek and propound Truth and Science ; to forgive and forget offences ; to love , edify , and assist one another . Any dispute , which a zeal too ardent may sometimes elicit , soon disappears , to make room to tbe general good , which is ultimatel y decided upon ; while the
spontaneous avowal of those who were in the wrong , attended by instant reconciliation , brings back the pristine concord and peace among the Craft . ( To be concluded in our next . )
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry Vindicated,
himself—he practises its dictates—peace and comfort begin to relieve his overburdened heart ; and it is then that he discriminates the immense distance that separates this Institution of Wisdom and fraternal Benevolence from the sordid institutions of tbe world , where Selfishness alone preponderates . From our Temple he turns his looks on the vast amphitheatre of life ; he sees that
Passions preside over every thing—they rear all and overthrow all ; he sees pride taldng possession of grandeur—Audacity claiming deference—Baseness demanding honors , and obtaining them ; he sees Insolence overwhelming Modesty—Opulence insulting Poverty—Ignorance persecuting Knowledge ; he sees Merit and Talent despised—Innocence often punished , while hypocrisy ,
perfidy , ingratitude , and crime are not only tolerated , but oftentimes rewarded . There his ears are consecutively assailed with these repetitions , " be the first—be the strongest—get riches—obtain power—overthrow thy rivals—crush thy competitors , " & c . & c . ' He sees , in short , that every body is dissatisfied with his own condition , which he struggles to ameliorate , to the flagrant , injury of his fellow ; for
" Lucrum sine damno alterius fieri non potest . " Does FREEMASONRY represent any such picture , any such wretchedness ? No . Its very enemies , who could calumniate it , have never dared to impute to it any of those iniquities with which the world abounds . In Masonry there is neither " first nor last ;" there are neither " strongest nor weakest , " " highest nor lowest ;"
there are only brethren , all equal—all wishing the welfare of one another—all united to enjoy the pleasure ancl happiness of rectify ing each other ' s hearts , - of edifying each other ' s minds , and of promoting as much as possible the social virtues of charity , good will , and harmony among themselves and in the world at large . In our Fraternity there is neither ambition , hatred , nor jealousy to
disturb its harmony ; we have no insolence to dread , no enmity to fear . The sole scope and aim of every brother are to seek and propound Truth and Science ; to forgive and forget offences ; to love , edify , and assist one another . Any dispute , which a zeal too ardent may sometimes elicit , soon disappears , to make room to tbe general good , which is ultimatel y decided upon ; while the
spontaneous avowal of those who were in the wrong , attended by instant reconciliation , brings back the pristine concord and peace among the Craft . ( To be concluded in our next . )