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Article TREVILIAN ON FREEMASONRY. ← Page 29 of 34 →
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Trevilian On Freemasonry.
Infidel among the Christians of the mountains of Kourdistan)—let every one , I say , kuow henceforth of a surety , that , at initiation , he must abandon the privilege and honour to which his Saviour has calfcd him , —of detecting , denouncing , and treading down His enemies ; ancl must follow as a mutilated captive , deprived of the tongue which was wont to defend the cause of Godin Satan ' s
, triumphant train . Mr . Denis Moore is at his wit ' s end hi referring to the " Sacred Law . " Ho omits to tell us how much of the New Testament is found in French and German Lodges . But I will exercise forbearance , in return for his " compassion . " I observe in Mr . Moore's letter what I am delighted to call a point
of agreement between us . He . classes together the terms " deistical , impious , and blasphemous , " as being all of equal weight , and mutually illustrative of each other , in the constitution of character ; ancl renounces them all alike in their application to Freemasonry . Thus , the law of this land puts together the terms " incorrigible , rogue , and vagabond" as equal portions of an entire character .
Freema-, sonry is neither impious nor blasphemous , if it be not deistical ; and if it is deistical , why then ( as Mr . Moore ancl myself unanimously pronounce ) , it is both impious and blasphemous . The dispute between us is thus delightfully narrowed . It rests , now , wholly upon the question , whether Freemasonry be , or be not , deistical .
Now , a recently departed friend of Mr . Moore's , a highly exalted Mason , declared ( aye , has often declared ) that it is deistical , for that there was a necessity for a " broad basis " of worship—( vide my book , p . 15 ) . Again , another Rev . gentleman , who attained , in Exeter , to the Royal Arch Degree , and then left the Society , says , —( lb . 113)—that " Masonry lends to Christianity no help whatever ; " which , in " Sacred Institution" and among " Holy Brethren "—( vide Masonic
, , books , passim )—and in a Christian land , I take to be equivalent to deism . If Mr . Moore values consistency , he will renounce the deistical order . Mr . Denis Moore persists in saying that the opinion I quoted from the Dean of Exeter admits , by examination of the context , & c , of material modification . He shall have the whole notedated 9 th
, May , 1849 ; ancl to it let mc append the following passage , from a note dated 21 st May , 1850 , "My opinions oil Freemasonry are quite unchanged . " Tlie first note runs thus : — " Dear Mr . Trevilian , — I ought to have thanked you long ago for a copy of your letter to Dr . Carwithen , on the Anti-Christian character of Freemasonry ; but I was unwilling to do so , till I could find leisure to read it ; which ,
till very recently , I have not been able to do . ( The above marks reflection , and gives an additional value to what follows . ) You have not only brought together a mass of very curious information on a subject to which few persons have directed their attention ; but , what is of much more importance , you have , I think , completely established your point , and vindicated your conduct in withdrawing
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Trevilian On Freemasonry.
Infidel among the Christians of the mountains of Kourdistan)—let every one , I say , kuow henceforth of a surety , that , at initiation , he must abandon the privilege and honour to which his Saviour has calfcd him , —of detecting , denouncing , and treading down His enemies ; ancl must follow as a mutilated captive , deprived of the tongue which was wont to defend the cause of Godin Satan ' s
, triumphant train . Mr . Denis Moore is at his wit ' s end hi referring to the " Sacred Law . " Ho omits to tell us how much of the New Testament is found in French and German Lodges . But I will exercise forbearance , in return for his " compassion . " I observe in Mr . Moore's letter what I am delighted to call a point
of agreement between us . He . classes together the terms " deistical , impious , and blasphemous , " as being all of equal weight , and mutually illustrative of each other , in the constitution of character ; ancl renounces them all alike in their application to Freemasonry . Thus , the law of this land puts together the terms " incorrigible , rogue , and vagabond" as equal portions of an entire character .
Freema-, sonry is neither impious nor blasphemous , if it be not deistical ; and if it is deistical , why then ( as Mr . Moore ancl myself unanimously pronounce ) , it is both impious and blasphemous . The dispute between us is thus delightfully narrowed . It rests , now , wholly upon the question , whether Freemasonry be , or be not , deistical .
Now , a recently departed friend of Mr . Moore's , a highly exalted Mason , declared ( aye , has often declared ) that it is deistical , for that there was a necessity for a " broad basis " of worship—( vide my book , p . 15 ) . Again , another Rev . gentleman , who attained , in Exeter , to the Royal Arch Degree , and then left the Society , says , —( lb . 113)—that " Masonry lends to Christianity no help whatever ; " which , in " Sacred Institution" and among " Holy Brethren "—( vide Masonic
, , books , passim )—and in a Christian land , I take to be equivalent to deism . If Mr . Moore values consistency , he will renounce the deistical order . Mr . Denis Moore persists in saying that the opinion I quoted from the Dean of Exeter admits , by examination of the context , & c , of material modification . He shall have the whole notedated 9 th
, May , 1849 ; ancl to it let mc append the following passage , from a note dated 21 st May , 1850 , "My opinions oil Freemasonry are quite unchanged . " Tlie first note runs thus : — " Dear Mr . Trevilian , — I ought to have thanked you long ago for a copy of your letter to Dr . Carwithen , on the Anti-Christian character of Freemasonry ; but I was unwilling to do so , till I could find leisure to read it ; which ,
till very recently , I have not been able to do . ( The above marks reflection , and gives an additional value to what follows . ) You have not only brought together a mass of very curious information on a subject to which few persons have directed their attention ; but , what is of much more importance , you have , I think , completely established your point , and vindicated your conduct in withdrawing