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Article ON FREEMASONRY. ← Page 2 of 13 →
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On Freemasonry.
It is true , these are the words of a professed atheist , but they have been adopted in substance b y many a . serious Christian , to throw discredit upon Masonry ; and used as a powerful and unanswerable argument to identif y it with the heathen mysteries . An hypothesis which , if true , would place the Indian Vedas , the Persian Shaster , the Koran of
Mahomet , the Jewish Mikra , and the Christian Gospel , on one and the same level . There can be little doubt , but the spurious Freemasonry recommended and practised the solar superstition ; a devotion which was not confined to any one country or people , but was as widely disseminated as the migrations from the plain of Shinar . When a new Lodge , or place of initiation was to be established , the hierophant sought out some natural cavern , and in default of this ho excavated a rock artificiallv , and formed it into a series of
galleries and apartments which would be convenient for the exercise of the secret rites . These usually terminated in a sacellum , which was furnished and decorated for effect . The fitting up of this room or saloon formed a matter of grave consideration ; but , however the enrichments mi ght be diversified in other respects , it always contained a series of
astronomical emblems , which were closely connected with the mythology of the country , and consisted generall y of a zodiac and central Sun , with planets and stars revolving about it ; for they compared the Deity , amidst his host of mediators , to the Sun in his career through the heavenly bodies ;* and in the euresis of the initiation , or revivification and raising
of the patron demon , who ivas no other than the Sun , it was symbolized b y a new-born infant , seated on the calyx of the lotus , or water lily . The candidate was considered the representative of that hol y personage , in his character of the great benefactor of the universe . The most ancient astronomers were so struck with the dimensions of the solar orb , and its properties of light and
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry.
It is true , these are the words of a professed atheist , but they have been adopted in substance b y many a . serious Christian , to throw discredit upon Masonry ; and used as a powerful and unanswerable argument to identif y it with the heathen mysteries . An hypothesis which , if true , would place the Indian Vedas , the Persian Shaster , the Koran of
Mahomet , the Jewish Mikra , and the Christian Gospel , on one and the same level . There can be little doubt , but the spurious Freemasonry recommended and practised the solar superstition ; a devotion which was not confined to any one country or people , but was as widely disseminated as the migrations from the plain of Shinar . When a new Lodge , or place of initiation was to be established , the hierophant sought out some natural cavern , and in default of this ho excavated a rock artificiallv , and formed it into a series of
galleries and apartments which would be convenient for the exercise of the secret rites . These usually terminated in a sacellum , which was furnished and decorated for effect . The fitting up of this room or saloon formed a matter of grave consideration ; but , however the enrichments mi ght be diversified in other respects , it always contained a series of
astronomical emblems , which were closely connected with the mythology of the country , and consisted generall y of a zodiac and central Sun , with planets and stars revolving about it ; for they compared the Deity , amidst his host of mediators , to the Sun in his career through the heavenly bodies ;* and in the euresis of the initiation , or revivification and raising
of the patron demon , who ivas no other than the Sun , it was symbolized b y a new-born infant , seated on the calyx of the lotus , or water lily . The candidate was considered the representative of that hol y personage , in his character of the great benefactor of the universe . The most ancient astronomers were so struck with the dimensions of the solar orb , and its properties of light and