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Article ORIGINAL AND SUPPLEMENTARY FREEMASONRY. Page 1 of 6 →
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Original And Supplementary Freemasonry.
ORIGINAL AND SUPPLEMENTARY FREEMASONRY .
J 1 V BROTHER 1 ) . W . NASH , OF THE ROYAL SUSSEX LODGE 01 ' HOSPITALITY , NO . 221 . THE many valuable papers which have appeared in the Freemasons ' Review , illustrative of the Origin and Antiquities of Freemasonry , and throwing light on the early history of our Order , contain frequent and repeated allusions to what has been called Spurious Freemasonry . The
same ideas as connected with this subject have also been repeatedly enunciated by Dr . Oliver , the learned author of those papers , in such of his works as more particularl y treat of this portion of Masonic literature , —a literature , indeed , of which he is almost the sole founder . While acknowledging the pleasure and information which I have derived ( in common with the whole Brotherhood ) from the perusal of those works , and admiring the research and scholarship which they evinceI am free
, to confess that I do not see the slightest foundation for the doctrine of the existence of two orders or branches of Freemasonry—the True and the Spurious . I must say that I am not aware that there is any evidence whatever to show that there ever were two orders or societies of Masonry , properly so called , existing at the same time , the one of which professed the pure and enlightened doctrines of a primeval age—the other , disfigured and disgraced by the phantasmata of false philosophy and base
superstition . On the contrary , there does appear to be evidence most abundant , and most conclusive , to demonstrate the intimate connection of all the Secret Mysteries of the ancient world ( as far as our knowledge of them will permit ) with that secret society which flourished in
Jerusalem at the period of the building of King . Solomon ' s Temple , ( the rites and ceremonies of which have been handed down to us , no doubt much mutilated and obscured ) and consequently with that Fraternity of which , under the name of Freemasons , we are members ; and , moreover , that evidence seems to warrant us in concluding that Freemasonry is not only derived from the Mysteries of the ancients , but that it is the representation of those associations , of which all that remains has been preserved in the ceremonies and traditions of modern Masonry .
The learned author is , however , of opinion , and has strenuously endeavoured to demonstrate , that the institution of the Mysteries , or secret religious associations of the ancients , such as the Egyptian , Cabiric , and Eleusinian Mysteries , which he specifies under the term Spurious Freemasonry , " was a decided imitation of the true system ; but in receding from the simplicity of its prototype to introduce imposing ceremonies , a florid ritual and splendid pageantry , all which had a
tendency to widen the distance between them , it soon degenerated , and became the depository of practices the most corrupt , and vices the most disgusting . " If it be true that there have been at any period two distinct systems of Masonry , of which Jewish Freemasonry , or that in which we have been initiated , is the more ancient , the offspring of a patriarchal and virtuous handed down to from generation to generationand that
age , us , the so called " spurious system is of later date and parasitic ori gin , it follows as a necessary consequence that we ought to discover on the one hand , in the Jewish system , internal evidences of greater antiquity ; and on the oilier hand , in the Mysteries of the pagan world , proofs of theiv
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Original And Supplementary Freemasonry.
ORIGINAL AND SUPPLEMENTARY FREEMASONRY .
J 1 V BROTHER 1 ) . W . NASH , OF THE ROYAL SUSSEX LODGE 01 ' HOSPITALITY , NO . 221 . THE many valuable papers which have appeared in the Freemasons ' Review , illustrative of the Origin and Antiquities of Freemasonry , and throwing light on the early history of our Order , contain frequent and repeated allusions to what has been called Spurious Freemasonry . The
same ideas as connected with this subject have also been repeatedly enunciated by Dr . Oliver , the learned author of those papers , in such of his works as more particularl y treat of this portion of Masonic literature , —a literature , indeed , of which he is almost the sole founder . While acknowledging the pleasure and information which I have derived ( in common with the whole Brotherhood ) from the perusal of those works , and admiring the research and scholarship which they evinceI am free
, to confess that I do not see the slightest foundation for the doctrine of the existence of two orders or branches of Freemasonry—the True and the Spurious . I must say that I am not aware that there is any evidence whatever to show that there ever were two orders or societies of Masonry , properly so called , existing at the same time , the one of which professed the pure and enlightened doctrines of a primeval age—the other , disfigured and disgraced by the phantasmata of false philosophy and base
superstition . On the contrary , there does appear to be evidence most abundant , and most conclusive , to demonstrate the intimate connection of all the Secret Mysteries of the ancient world ( as far as our knowledge of them will permit ) with that secret society which flourished in
Jerusalem at the period of the building of King . Solomon ' s Temple , ( the rites and ceremonies of which have been handed down to us , no doubt much mutilated and obscured ) and consequently with that Fraternity of which , under the name of Freemasons , we are members ; and , moreover , that evidence seems to warrant us in concluding that Freemasonry is not only derived from the Mysteries of the ancients , but that it is the representation of those associations , of which all that remains has been preserved in the ceremonies and traditions of modern Masonry .
The learned author is , however , of opinion , and has strenuously endeavoured to demonstrate , that the institution of the Mysteries , or secret religious associations of the ancients , such as the Egyptian , Cabiric , and Eleusinian Mysteries , which he specifies under the term Spurious Freemasonry , " was a decided imitation of the true system ; but in receding from the simplicity of its prototype to introduce imposing ceremonies , a florid ritual and splendid pageantry , all which had a
tendency to widen the distance between them , it soon degenerated , and became the depository of practices the most corrupt , and vices the most disgusting . " If it be true that there have been at any period two distinct systems of Masonry , of which Jewish Freemasonry , or that in which we have been initiated , is the more ancient , the offspring of a patriarchal and virtuous handed down to from generation to generationand that
age , us , the so called " spurious system is of later date and parasitic ori gin , it follows as a necessary consequence that we ought to discover on the one hand , in the Jewish system , internal evidences of greater antiquity ; and on the oilier hand , in the Mysteries of the pagan world , proofs of theiv