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Article SHOULD FEMALES BE INITIATED OR NOT? ← Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Should Females Be Initiated Or Not?
sex . To use the words of Henry the Vlth ., in describing a certain Peter Gower , through whom , I think , he says— " Masonic arte in processe of tyme passed into Englande , we have been wacksynge and becommyne myghtye wyseacres ; " and now in our own days , when men profess to attach such great importance to the influence of mothers on the characters of their sons , it is surely desirable that those institutions , from which they assert that they derive so much instructionshould be open
, to us likewise . They tell us , that Freemasonry tends to purify and elevate the mind ; that every moral virtue is inculcated by its precepts ; that no man can be a good Mason without becoming thereby a better husband , father , friend , and citizen ; if such be the fruits ofthe doctrines taught them , does it not follow that if imparted to us also , we must be rendered thereby better wives and mothers , meeter friends for our husbands , and more able instructresses of the little citizens whom it is our
duty to train up in the paths of loyalty and virtue . The habits of tbe world would appear to imply , that there is a feminine code of morality to be found in the Hol y Scriptures , and another somewhere else for the guidance of the masculine conscience—where Ibis second rule of life may be found we women know not ; and we should deem ourselves exceedingly uncharitable were we to imagine that the secret of the Craft was the indoctrinization of the lords of the creation in the dubious
very morality which seems to regulate the conduct of many of them . But if , as we wish to believe , the one true and perfect moral law be the foundation of your system , why should we be debarred from joining those meetings , professedly for purposes of instruction , ivhich are now closed against our whole sisterhood . The idea of Freemasonry is connected
with the most frightful images in the minds of half the women in the world—flashing swords , horrid oaths , magic incantations—the bare imagination of which causes their flowing locks to erect themselves " like quills upon the fretful porcupine , " while they tremble to fancy what " awful doings" may be performed at those secret conclaves , about which they must not venture to make a single inquiry I The less credulous of us , however , are disposed to think ' that all these appalling ideas have
been disseminated by a few artful men ( to be found in all sects ) , who have sought , by frightening their wives and daughters almost out of their wits , to raise themselves to a kind of supernatural position , very convenient for those who have little real ground on which to . build a title to respect . We therefore consider that all this array of horrors forms no part of true Freemasonry , but that it is , as we are told by the welldisposed amongst the Brethren , a system of such purity as would bear
the investigation of even female delicacy , which , permit' me to say , supplies whatever may be deficient , in our judgment , on any question wherein morals are concerned . If so , Mr . Editor , why not let us attend the Lodges of instruction , and place yourselves and us on the proper footing for rational husbands and wives—why not let us partake your mental food , instead of only feasting us so magnificentl y at your festal meetings ? Something is clue to us on another account—were we so
lightminded as not to be worthy of trust , we should long since have been in possession of your secrets , without having to ask admission to them as a boon . Is it to be believed by any observant person , that out of the many men who attend Masonic feasts , none of those who take too much wine ( ancl you must not deny there are many who do ) , should happen to display the powers of the grape by becoming particularly communicative ? in vino Veritas , you know ; thus , either women have heard
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Should Females Be Initiated Or Not?
sex . To use the words of Henry the Vlth ., in describing a certain Peter Gower , through whom , I think , he says— " Masonic arte in processe of tyme passed into Englande , we have been wacksynge and becommyne myghtye wyseacres ; " and now in our own days , when men profess to attach such great importance to the influence of mothers on the characters of their sons , it is surely desirable that those institutions , from which they assert that they derive so much instructionshould be open
, to us likewise . They tell us , that Freemasonry tends to purify and elevate the mind ; that every moral virtue is inculcated by its precepts ; that no man can be a good Mason without becoming thereby a better husband , father , friend , and citizen ; if such be the fruits ofthe doctrines taught them , does it not follow that if imparted to us also , we must be rendered thereby better wives and mothers , meeter friends for our husbands , and more able instructresses of the little citizens whom it is our
duty to train up in the paths of loyalty and virtue . The habits of tbe world would appear to imply , that there is a feminine code of morality to be found in the Hol y Scriptures , and another somewhere else for the guidance of the masculine conscience—where Ibis second rule of life may be found we women know not ; and we should deem ourselves exceedingly uncharitable were we to imagine that the secret of the Craft was the indoctrinization of the lords of the creation in the dubious
very morality which seems to regulate the conduct of many of them . But if , as we wish to believe , the one true and perfect moral law be the foundation of your system , why should we be debarred from joining those meetings , professedly for purposes of instruction , ivhich are now closed against our whole sisterhood . The idea of Freemasonry is connected
with the most frightful images in the minds of half the women in the world—flashing swords , horrid oaths , magic incantations—the bare imagination of which causes their flowing locks to erect themselves " like quills upon the fretful porcupine , " while they tremble to fancy what " awful doings" may be performed at those secret conclaves , about which they must not venture to make a single inquiry I The less credulous of us , however , are disposed to think ' that all these appalling ideas have
been disseminated by a few artful men ( to be found in all sects ) , who have sought , by frightening their wives and daughters almost out of their wits , to raise themselves to a kind of supernatural position , very convenient for those who have little real ground on which to . build a title to respect . We therefore consider that all this array of horrors forms no part of true Freemasonry , but that it is , as we are told by the welldisposed amongst the Brethren , a system of such purity as would bear
the investigation of even female delicacy , which , permit' me to say , supplies whatever may be deficient , in our judgment , on any question wherein morals are concerned . If so , Mr . Editor , why not let us attend the Lodges of instruction , and place yourselves and us on the proper footing for rational husbands and wives—why not let us partake your mental food , instead of only feasting us so magnificentl y at your festal meetings ? Something is clue to us on another account—were we so
lightminded as not to be worthy of trust , we should long since have been in possession of your secrets , without having to ask admission to them as a boon . Is it to be believed by any observant person , that out of the many men who attend Masonic feasts , none of those who take too much wine ( ancl you must not deny there are many who do ) , should happen to display the powers of the grape by becoming particularly communicative ? in vino Veritas , you know ; thus , either women have heard