Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. Evidences, Doctrines, And Traditions.
who ever have you and me in his keeping , bless us now and ever . Amen . " Having thus presented the reader with a desultory view of the chief evidences which prove the perpetual existence of Freemasonry in this island , down to the commencement of the records existing in the Grand Lod about the
beginge , ning of the last century , which are continued with great regularity down to the present time—my task is finished . It is a record of facts , and may hence be usefully consulted by the Brethren who are anxious to know the real foundation on which the institution claims to be received on account of its antiquity .
The evidences of Freemasonry are not however sufficiently regarded by the Brethren at large , who generally rest satisfied with a formal profession of respect for the institution , without inquiring into the validity of the proofs on which its title to their respect is founded . They feel a reluctance to leave the beaten path , lest they should incur censure for
presumed innovations ; or sustain the disgrace of failure in the investigation of new or abstruse sources of knowledge . Satisfied with an attention to the trifling details of the system , the broad outline is overlooked ; and thus the true and only rational enjoyment whicli arises out of the system is exchanged for an acquaintance with a few technicalitiesor
, to acquire a facility in the interpretation of what Preston felicitously terms , " the keys of our treasure ; " vis . a series of hieroglyphical signs , tokens , or initial letters , which when known are of little comparative value towards the cultivation of the mind , or the improvement of the morals .
This is one reason why the science of Freemasonry has made such slow progress in the dissemination of its philosophical beauties until a very i * ecent period . The Brethren have been afraid to bring it before the public ; lest , in their zealous endeavours to magnify and exalt its merits , they should unconsciously betray a sacred trust , or
inadvertentlylet slip any desultory hints which might be quoted to the disadvantage of the institution . But these apprehensions are imaginary . Freemasonry is of such a nature as to acquire increase of respect from the world , as well as from the Fraternity , in proportion as its principles and doctrines are familiarized to the imaginationand impressed upon the
, heart . Hence the practice of disseminating Masonic knowledge through the medium of the press , of which the " Freemason ' s Quarterl y Review" is a noble example , becomes entitled to the patronage of the Fraternity at large .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. Evidences, Doctrines, And Traditions.
who ever have you and me in his keeping , bless us now and ever . Amen . " Having thus presented the reader with a desultory view of the chief evidences which prove the perpetual existence of Freemasonry in this island , down to the commencement of the records existing in the Grand Lod about the
beginge , ning of the last century , which are continued with great regularity down to the present time—my task is finished . It is a record of facts , and may hence be usefully consulted by the Brethren who are anxious to know the real foundation on which the institution claims to be received on account of its antiquity .
The evidences of Freemasonry are not however sufficiently regarded by the Brethren at large , who generally rest satisfied with a formal profession of respect for the institution , without inquiring into the validity of the proofs on which its title to their respect is founded . They feel a reluctance to leave the beaten path , lest they should incur censure for
presumed innovations ; or sustain the disgrace of failure in the investigation of new or abstruse sources of knowledge . Satisfied with an attention to the trifling details of the system , the broad outline is overlooked ; and thus the true and only rational enjoyment whicli arises out of the system is exchanged for an acquaintance with a few technicalitiesor
, to acquire a facility in the interpretation of what Preston felicitously terms , " the keys of our treasure ; " vis . a series of hieroglyphical signs , tokens , or initial letters , which when known are of little comparative value towards the cultivation of the mind , or the improvement of the morals .
This is one reason why the science of Freemasonry has made such slow progress in the dissemination of its philosophical beauties until a very i * ecent period . The Brethren have been afraid to bring it before the public ; lest , in their zealous endeavours to magnify and exalt its merits , they should unconsciously betray a sacred trust , or
inadvertentlylet slip any desultory hints which might be quoted to the disadvantage of the institution . But these apprehensions are imaginary . Freemasonry is of such a nature as to acquire increase of respect from the world , as well as from the Fraternity , in proportion as its principles and doctrines are familiarized to the imaginationand impressed upon the
, heart . Hence the practice of disseminating Masonic knowledge through the medium of the press , of which the " Freemason ' s Quarterl y Review" is a noble example , becomes entitled to the patronage of the Fraternity at large .