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On The Symbolical Character Of Medlæval Heraldry, And Its Connection With Freemasonry .
ON THE SYMBOLICAL CHARACTER OF MEDL ? VAL HERALDRY , AND ITS CONNECTION WITH FREEMASONRY .
"Heraldry is a glorious hieroglyphic and symbolical language , more universal than any tongue , Latin not excepted . "—POOLE .
( Continued . ) IN our last number we attempted to trace the connection which exists between the system of heraldic bearings and the causes which led to the adoption of those symbols , which have from the earliest ages been recognised as the significant emblems of Freemasonry .
Such an attempt , for various reasons , was but imperfect , so scanty are the printed works of information relative to the Freemasons of the middle ages , and so few of those which do exist have been within our reach whilst engaged in compiling these hasty notes , that the labour of elucidating a subject connected with a period so remote must necessaril
y be difficult , and its results , at first , unsatisfactory . But we had a further object in view than , whafmay appear to many , the idle discussion of a useless point . The subject of Freemasonry , as practised and carried out in the middle ages , is
one of so great interest , and so boundless in extent , that we could not but feel desirous of introducing it as an appropriate addition to a publication which we earnestly hope may speedily become the great organ of the Craft . We hoped , and hope still , that other brethren learned in Masonic and archiuological lore may join us in the field , and assist us by
their superior knowledge and experience . Certain we are that there must exist somewhere or other more satisfactory and authentic sources of information on the subject of mediaeval Freemasonry than those which at present exist , and which have been thoroughly drained and exhausted without any attempt to explore the plains of antiquity for a
fresh spring of knowledge . The principal writers on the subject of Freemasonry have taken the greatest pains to trace the history of the Craft from a period of which we have no record but that of the book of books , tlie holy Bible . vor „ i . ¦ 11 B
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Symbolical Character Of Medlæval Heraldry, And Its Connection With Freemasonry .
ON THE SYMBOLICAL CHARACTER OF MEDL ? VAL HERALDRY , AND ITS CONNECTION WITH FREEMASONRY .
"Heraldry is a glorious hieroglyphic and symbolical language , more universal than any tongue , Latin not excepted . "—POOLE .
( Continued . ) IN our last number we attempted to trace the connection which exists between the system of heraldic bearings and the causes which led to the adoption of those symbols , which have from the earliest ages been recognised as the significant emblems of Freemasonry .
Such an attempt , for various reasons , was but imperfect , so scanty are the printed works of information relative to the Freemasons of the middle ages , and so few of those which do exist have been within our reach whilst engaged in compiling these hasty notes , that the labour of elucidating a subject connected with a period so remote must necessaril
y be difficult , and its results , at first , unsatisfactory . But we had a further object in view than , whafmay appear to many , the idle discussion of a useless point . The subject of Freemasonry , as practised and carried out in the middle ages , is
one of so great interest , and so boundless in extent , that we could not but feel desirous of introducing it as an appropriate addition to a publication which we earnestly hope may speedily become the great organ of the Craft . We hoped , and hope still , that other brethren learned in Masonic and archiuological lore may join us in the field , and assist us by
their superior knowledge and experience . Certain we are that there must exist somewhere or other more satisfactory and authentic sources of information on the subject of mediaeval Freemasonry than those which at present exist , and which have been thoroughly drained and exhausted without any attempt to explore the plains of antiquity for a
fresh spring of knowledge . The principal writers on the subject of Freemasonry have taken the greatest pains to trace the history of the Craft from a period of which we have no record but that of the book of books , tlie holy Bible . vor „ i . ¦ 11 B