Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. The History And Antiquities Of Freemasonry.
towards each other , in a degree wholl y unprecedented in the history of any other order or society or men . They had a community of goods ; and esteemed it hig hly disgraceful to enjoy the blessings of abundance , if a single member of the society suffered the privations attendant on poverty and distressed circumstances . ' Their charity ,
however , was discriminative ; and they deemed it prudent to leave a member , whose conduct was in any degree liable to suspicion , to suffer , for a period , the miseries of indigence , that adversity mi g ht effect a reformation which had resisted the attempts of precept and example . They had lodges or establishments in every city , that the wants of sojourning
brethren mi g ht be expeditiousl y supplied ; and the principal person in each of these local establishments had this particular charge , to see that travelling bretliren were accommodated with every thing necessary for theiv comfort and
convenience . Their cleanliness was proverbial . They were commonl y habited in white , garments , as emblems of innocence ; and it was their firm opinion that internal purity and rectitude of conduct were most strikingly evidenced by a person ' s outward appearance . This was probabl y derived from that
famous precept of King Solomon , who had constantly the same emblematical reference on his lips : " Let th y garments be always AVHITE . " Jesus Christ also , many years afterwards , used the same figure , as a mode of communication familiar to our Grand Master , St . John the Evangelist : " Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not
defiled their garments ; and they shall walk with me in WHITE ; for they are WORTHY . He that overcometh , the same shall he clothed in white ¦ ra iment ; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life ; but I will confess his name before my Father , and before his angels . " Such were the Essenes ; a very harmless and inoffensive
sect , amongst whom the rites of Freemasonry were undoubtedly preserved , though probabl y deteriorated by the introduction of some particular dogmas , which were equally inconsistent with its spirit , and unknown in former times . It is admitted , however , by Josephus and other learned writersthat a few of its members arrived at such a hi gh
, degree of perfection as to be endowed with a partial spirit of prophecy . An Essene , named Judas , foretold the death of Antigonus , and the event verified the prediction . And another member of the same society , named Manahem , prophesied , while Herod was yet a boy , that he should be
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. The History And Antiquities Of Freemasonry.
towards each other , in a degree wholl y unprecedented in the history of any other order or society or men . They had a community of goods ; and esteemed it hig hly disgraceful to enjoy the blessings of abundance , if a single member of the society suffered the privations attendant on poverty and distressed circumstances . ' Their charity ,
however , was discriminative ; and they deemed it prudent to leave a member , whose conduct was in any degree liable to suspicion , to suffer , for a period , the miseries of indigence , that adversity mi g ht effect a reformation which had resisted the attempts of precept and example . They had lodges or establishments in every city , that the wants of sojourning
brethren mi g ht be expeditiousl y supplied ; and the principal person in each of these local establishments had this particular charge , to see that travelling bretliren were accommodated with every thing necessary for theiv comfort and
convenience . Their cleanliness was proverbial . They were commonl y habited in white , garments , as emblems of innocence ; and it was their firm opinion that internal purity and rectitude of conduct were most strikingly evidenced by a person ' s outward appearance . This was probabl y derived from that
famous precept of King Solomon , who had constantly the same emblematical reference on his lips : " Let th y garments be always AVHITE . " Jesus Christ also , many years afterwards , used the same figure , as a mode of communication familiar to our Grand Master , St . John the Evangelist : " Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not
defiled their garments ; and they shall walk with me in WHITE ; for they are WORTHY . He that overcometh , the same shall he clothed in white ¦ ra iment ; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life ; but I will confess his name before my Father , and before his angels . " Such were the Essenes ; a very harmless and inoffensive
sect , amongst whom the rites of Freemasonry were undoubtedly preserved , though probabl y deteriorated by the introduction of some particular dogmas , which were equally inconsistent with its spirit , and unknown in former times . It is admitted , however , by Josephus and other learned writersthat a few of its members arrived at such a hi gh
, degree of perfection as to be endowed with a partial spirit of prophecy . An Essene , named Judas , foretold the death of Antigonus , and the event verified the prediction . And another member of the same society , named Manahem , prophesied , while Herod was yet a boy , that he should be