Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. The Spurious Freemasonry Of Ancient Times.
upright stones consecrated by our Druidical forefather s are still extant in many parts of Britain ; but their shape s are so various that they appear to havo been determined by accident . All the migratory tribes , however , who peopled distantof
countries , did ' not at once depart from the simplicity the patriarchal worship . The Greeks were first led astray by the poets Orpheus , Homer , and Hesiod , who applied names and attributed actions to certain individuals whom they elevated to the rank of deities ; for before their time the mythological worshiof this le was directed to an
p peop invisible God . The Noachida ., by the influence of p rimitive Freemasonry , succeeded for a time in stemming the torrent of idolatrous innovation , and were hence subsequently distinguished by the name of sages , " wise men , philosophers ,
masters in Israel , & c . . and were ever venerated as sacred persons . They consisted of men of the brightest parts and genius , who exerted their utmost abilities in discovering and investigating the various mysteries of nature , from whence to draw improvements and inventions of the most useful consequences . Men whose talents were not only employed
in speculation , or in private acts of beneficence , but who were also public blessings to the age and country in which they lived , possessed with moderate desires , who knew how to conquer their passions , practisers and teachers of the purest morality , and ever exerting themselves to promote the harmony and felicity of society . They weretherefore ,
, consulted from all parts , and venerated with that sincere homage which is never paid but to real merit ; and the greatest and wisest potentates on earth esteemed it an addition to their imperial dignities to be enrolled among such bright ornaments of human nature . " *
Hence the religion of Freemasonry had not wholly degenerated in the time of Abraham . Melchizedek , kins ; of * i ^ IT * Salem , is mentioned as a righteous man , as . are also Abimelech the Philistine , and his people . Potipherah , the father-in-law of Joseph , Job , Balaam , and Jethro . Speaking of the latter , Calvin said that he was doubtless a
worshipper of the true God ; but adds , " Mihi videtur vitiatnm fuisse aliqua exparte illius sacerdotium . " All these men were hierophants of the mysteries , and therefore Procopius
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. The Spurious Freemasonry Of Ancient Times.
upright stones consecrated by our Druidical forefather s are still extant in many parts of Britain ; but their shape s are so various that they appear to havo been determined by accident . All the migratory tribes , however , who peopled distantof
countries , did ' not at once depart from the simplicity the patriarchal worship . The Greeks were first led astray by the poets Orpheus , Homer , and Hesiod , who applied names and attributed actions to certain individuals whom they elevated to the rank of deities ; for before their time the mythological worshiof this le was directed to an
p peop invisible God . The Noachida ., by the influence of p rimitive Freemasonry , succeeded for a time in stemming the torrent of idolatrous innovation , and were hence subsequently distinguished by the name of sages , " wise men , philosophers ,
masters in Israel , & c . . and were ever venerated as sacred persons . They consisted of men of the brightest parts and genius , who exerted their utmost abilities in discovering and investigating the various mysteries of nature , from whence to draw improvements and inventions of the most useful consequences . Men whose talents were not only employed
in speculation , or in private acts of beneficence , but who were also public blessings to the age and country in which they lived , possessed with moderate desires , who knew how to conquer their passions , practisers and teachers of the purest morality , and ever exerting themselves to promote the harmony and felicity of society . They weretherefore ,
, consulted from all parts , and venerated with that sincere homage which is never paid but to real merit ; and the greatest and wisest potentates on earth esteemed it an addition to their imperial dignities to be enrolled among such bright ornaments of human nature . " *
Hence the religion of Freemasonry had not wholly degenerated in the time of Abraham . Melchizedek , kins ; of * i ^ IT * Salem , is mentioned as a righteous man , as . are also Abimelech the Philistine , and his people . Potipherah , the father-in-law of Joseph , Job , Balaam , and Jethro . Speaking of the latter , Calvin said that he was doubtless a
worshipper of the true God ; but adds , " Mihi videtur vitiatnm fuisse aliqua exparte illius sacerdotium . " All these men were hierophants of the mysteries , and therefore Procopius