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Article ON FREEMASONRY, Page 1 of 5 →
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On Freemasonry,
ON FREEMASONRY ,
AS REGARDS ITS UNBOUNDED INFLUENCE ON THE MORAL AND SOCIAL CONDITION OF MAN . BY THE REV . GEORGE OLIVER , D . D .
EDITORIAL PRECOGNITION . lepa mKpa—THEocMTvs . " A simple hatter Should not go smntter In philosophic ; Nor ought a peddlar Become a meddlar In theologye . " —MORE .
" The common people have been taught ( I do not know on what foundation ) to regard lunacy as a mark of wit , just as the Turks and our modern enthusiasts do of holiness , lint if the cause of madness assigned by a great philosopher be true , it will unavoidably fall upon the dunces . lie supposes it to he the dwell ' uig over lonff on one object or idea ,- now as this attention is occasioned cither by grief or study , it will be fixed by dulness ; which hath not quickness enough to comprehend what it seeks , nor force and vigour enough to divert the imagination from the ohieet it laments . "—POPE .
" On ne donne rien si liberalement que ses conseils . —ROCHEFOUCAULT . " Look here—on this picture and on this . "—SHAKSPEARE . There is a capital story told of Douglas Jerrold—we cannot vouch for its truth , although it ought to be correct , because it is in the true Jerroldian style . At a recent re-union , as the French call it , of choice spirits , at the Coffee House , there was present a great talker , with whom few were acquainted ; and therefore , to show his consequence , he boved the company
incessantly with an account of what he had done , and what lie could do , and how he was noticed by the Duke of ; and in confidential intercourse with the Marquis of ——; aud smoked cigars with Lord & c . & c . ; until it was found necessary , for the general comfort of the party , to put a period to his senseless prate , and whispered hints were circulated to that effect . At length he made a dead set at our friend and brother , Douglas ; and taking a pinch of snuff , he said , " Why Jerrold , my dear fellow , you know me—you know me—don't you ? "— " Know you ! Item ! " said Douglas
, in his dry way— " Why yes—1 think I do—I may be mistaken though ! you are the man I saw acting Merry Andrew on the Mountebank's stage nt Maidstone last week . I was rather afraid of the rotten eggs myself ! " This was quite enough ; the bore made his exit , L . H ., without uttering another word ; and Nerval was highly applauded for his Grampian wit , fresh and breezy from his native hills . We would apply this tale to those who go out of their way to issue senseless tirades against the noble Order of Freemasonry . They may entertain a
very high opinion of themselves , and dream of the good ( or evil ) they are doing , and , like the clown in "Thorney Abbey , " fancy themselves " the principal ! verbe , " hut they seldom dream , that the fraternity esteem tliem no better than so many Merry Andrews , who serve very well to amuse them between the intervals of more serious business , like the clowns of our old writers , who were introduced between the acts and scenes of a play , and after it was finished , to keep the audience in good humour by their buffoonery and slang . Douce has recorded the usual stage direction , which was , " Pausa . Vadunt et stultus loquitur ; and he is several times introduced between the scenes , VOL . vi . s
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry,
ON FREEMASONRY ,
AS REGARDS ITS UNBOUNDED INFLUENCE ON THE MORAL AND SOCIAL CONDITION OF MAN . BY THE REV . GEORGE OLIVER , D . D .
EDITORIAL PRECOGNITION . lepa mKpa—THEocMTvs . " A simple hatter Should not go smntter In philosophic ; Nor ought a peddlar Become a meddlar In theologye . " —MORE .
" The common people have been taught ( I do not know on what foundation ) to regard lunacy as a mark of wit , just as the Turks and our modern enthusiasts do of holiness , lint if the cause of madness assigned by a great philosopher be true , it will unavoidably fall upon the dunces . lie supposes it to he the dwell ' uig over lonff on one object or idea ,- now as this attention is occasioned cither by grief or study , it will be fixed by dulness ; which hath not quickness enough to comprehend what it seeks , nor force and vigour enough to divert the imagination from the ohieet it laments . "—POPE .
" On ne donne rien si liberalement que ses conseils . —ROCHEFOUCAULT . " Look here—on this picture and on this . "—SHAKSPEARE . There is a capital story told of Douglas Jerrold—we cannot vouch for its truth , although it ought to be correct , because it is in the true Jerroldian style . At a recent re-union , as the French call it , of choice spirits , at the Coffee House , there was present a great talker , with whom few were acquainted ; and therefore , to show his consequence , he boved the company
incessantly with an account of what he had done , and what lie could do , and how he was noticed by the Duke of ; and in confidential intercourse with the Marquis of ——; aud smoked cigars with Lord & c . & c . ; until it was found necessary , for the general comfort of the party , to put a period to his senseless prate , and whispered hints were circulated to that effect . At length he made a dead set at our friend and brother , Douglas ; and taking a pinch of snuff , he said , " Why Jerrold , my dear fellow , you know me—you know me—don't you ? "— " Know you ! Item ! " said Douglas
, in his dry way— " Why yes—1 think I do—I may be mistaken though ! you are the man I saw acting Merry Andrew on the Mountebank's stage nt Maidstone last week . I was rather afraid of the rotten eggs myself ! " This was quite enough ; the bore made his exit , L . H ., without uttering another word ; and Nerval was highly applauded for his Grampian wit , fresh and breezy from his native hills . We would apply this tale to those who go out of their way to issue senseless tirades against the noble Order of Freemasonry . They may entertain a
very high opinion of themselves , and dream of the good ( or evil ) they are doing , and , like the clown in "Thorney Abbey , " fancy themselves " the principal ! verbe , " hut they seldom dream , that the fraternity esteem tliem no better than so many Merry Andrews , who serve very well to amuse them between the intervals of more serious business , like the clowns of our old writers , who were introduced between the acts and scenes of a play , and after it was finished , to keep the audience in good humour by their buffoonery and slang . Douce has recorded the usual stage direction , which was , " Pausa . Vadunt et stultus loquitur ; and he is several times introduced between the scenes , VOL . vi . s