Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
America.
But we are asked , what does Masonry teach ? We answer , that another of its prominent doctrines is the unity of men . As the result of an act of voluntary disobedience , men have beeu widely dispersed over the globe , divided into tribes and nations , separated by laws , religion , and habits—one bowing submissively to kingly dominion , and another exulting in the priceless love of liberty ; one
dwelling in the stately mansion , surrounded by every blessing that wealth can bestow , and another roaming in his native forests , the wild and uncultivated child of nature . Yet the Infinite Being has made all of " one blood . " He has given to each the same aversion to pain , the same desire for happiness . He has so ordered it , that each shall be dependent on the other ; hence the Masonic institution recognizes all as God ' s own great family . andin a moral sense
, , , brothers to each other . It levels those distinctions which have been introduced among us by the purse-pride of wealth . Its principles are purely democratic , making no distinctions except upon the score of personal merit , and then only to stimulate its members to deeds of virtue . At the entrance to the mystic temple the ruler and the judge lay off their robes of dignitand mingle
harmoniy , ously with the poorest subject that tills the soil . Here the minister of heaven , who serves at the altar of God , and dispenses the word of life to the hungry soul , lays aside for the time being his sacerdotal distinctions ; the rich and the poor , the young man in the
prime of life s early morn , and the father of venerable age , all meet as on equal and consecrated ground , hairing each other as brothers . Here the discordant passions of man's corrupt nature are rebuked , and those animosities which are found to exist among men in the various pursuits of life , are buried for ever . It is a trite , but true maxim , that precept and example should ever go with equal paceand on this basis we intend to examine the
, principles taught by Freemasonry , and analyse their tendency for good or for evil . And in oui application of ( practice to precept ) we shall claim no more for human nature when found in a Mason than is readily conceded to the most rigid sects associated under any other form of truth or religion . I repeat , then , that Masonry acknowledges , teaches , and has ever taught , that there is a
Godover all—ruling , reigning , and governing , not less in this than in the numberless worlds that are around us , all framed by the same Divine Artist , which roll through this vast expanse , and are all conducted by the same unerring laws . Masonry requires an unfeigned belief to be audibly expressed by all who enter its portals , in the one only living and true God . This is its required religion so far as faith is concerned . Is not this a good—can it be an evil ?
Are you Masons , let memory do its office , ancl remind you of your acknowledgments and promises hereon ( the Bible ) solemnly made . Let conscience answer how have you lived : review your whole Masonic life . Has Masonry been honoured , or have you lived only
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
America.
But we are asked , what does Masonry teach ? We answer , that another of its prominent doctrines is the unity of men . As the result of an act of voluntary disobedience , men have beeu widely dispersed over the globe , divided into tribes and nations , separated by laws , religion , and habits—one bowing submissively to kingly dominion , and another exulting in the priceless love of liberty ; one
dwelling in the stately mansion , surrounded by every blessing that wealth can bestow , and another roaming in his native forests , the wild and uncultivated child of nature . Yet the Infinite Being has made all of " one blood . " He has given to each the same aversion to pain , the same desire for happiness . He has so ordered it , that each shall be dependent on the other ; hence the Masonic institution recognizes all as God ' s own great family . andin a moral sense
, , , brothers to each other . It levels those distinctions which have been introduced among us by the purse-pride of wealth . Its principles are purely democratic , making no distinctions except upon the score of personal merit , and then only to stimulate its members to deeds of virtue . At the entrance to the mystic temple the ruler and the judge lay off their robes of dignitand mingle
harmoniy , ously with the poorest subject that tills the soil . Here the minister of heaven , who serves at the altar of God , and dispenses the word of life to the hungry soul , lays aside for the time being his sacerdotal distinctions ; the rich and the poor , the young man in the
prime of life s early morn , and the father of venerable age , all meet as on equal and consecrated ground , hairing each other as brothers . Here the discordant passions of man's corrupt nature are rebuked , and those animosities which are found to exist among men in the various pursuits of life , are buried for ever . It is a trite , but true maxim , that precept and example should ever go with equal paceand on this basis we intend to examine the
, principles taught by Freemasonry , and analyse their tendency for good or for evil . And in oui application of ( practice to precept ) we shall claim no more for human nature when found in a Mason than is readily conceded to the most rigid sects associated under any other form of truth or religion . I repeat , then , that Masonry acknowledges , teaches , and has ever taught , that there is a
Godover all—ruling , reigning , and governing , not less in this than in the numberless worlds that are around us , all framed by the same Divine Artist , which roll through this vast expanse , and are all conducted by the same unerring laws . Masonry requires an unfeigned belief to be audibly expressed by all who enter its portals , in the one only living and true God . This is its required religion so far as faith is concerned . Is not this a good—can it be an evil ?
Are you Masons , let memory do its office , ancl remind you of your acknowledgments and promises hereon ( the Bible ) solemnly made . Let conscience answer how have you lived : review your whole Masonic life . Has Masonry been honoured , or have you lived only