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Article TREVILIAN ON FREEMASONRY. ← Page 9 of 9
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Trevilian On Freemasonry.
times ) , together with another gentleman a few years older , bear unequivocal testimony , by accusing me criminally of breaking that clause , that there is such a clause . My own testimony on the subject , of course , I do not insist upon . One further witness , howover , I would wish to call , because of the singular nature of the testimony he offers ; it is that of a brother-in-law of minethrough
, whom I hope to send you this note , and whom you will immediately recognise as a veiy high Mason . He says , in a note about a twelvemonth ago , " I have read with much interest your book on Freemasonry ... I think that , however you may have been charged unjustly on the first occasion with a breach of your solemn engagement , the same imputation may with less injustice be cast
upon yon now . " Putting aside the question of the " when" and the "how" I have broken my solemn engagement ( i . e ., denounced deistical practices ) , which I only allude to to show the amusing diversity of sentiment upon such a point among Masons , we have in this quotation a direct recognition of the clause . Thirdly , tbe reviewer says , speaking of supplication for the Divine blessing on a Masonic meeting and its objects : " This is the sole subject of the prayers , which are as short and concise as may be . " The notion he would convey lnainly is , that the addresses to the
Deity are , for brevity , rather of the nature of " graces" than of " formal worship . " But what says Preston , an undeniable witness in Masonry 1 He gives long—exceedingly long—services , together with abundance of prayers on " particular occasions , " as likewise do otlier writers . I may add , though not to the point , that they arc all of them deistical , according to my mind ; but which tbe reviewer is content to describe by the milder term of " not Christian "—a
distinction ( most people will say ) without a difference . Now , what are we to say to these remarkable contradictions ? How are they to be reconciled with , truth ? And they are not on subjects of rite and ceremony , which , in so extensive an institution , we might expect to vary greatly in different localities , but on subjects involving principles of the last importance . Lesser discrepancies
might be cited innumerable . I address the question to your readers , sincerely and without reproach , as to Christian men . In each of the above cases the testimony is complete and perfect on either side ; and the natural inference would be that there must be false testimony somewhere . Far be it from me to think so ; on the contrary , I believe it to have been everywhere genuine and honest . I impute
the anomaly to the system . But here I abstain from remarks , wishing rather to invite them from your readers , and to beg an explanation of these fearful evidences of confusion . I am , Sir , your obedient servant , M . C . TREVILIAN . vor ,. I . Q Q
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Trevilian On Freemasonry.
times ) , together with another gentleman a few years older , bear unequivocal testimony , by accusing me criminally of breaking that clause , that there is such a clause . My own testimony on the subject , of course , I do not insist upon . One further witness , howover , I would wish to call , because of the singular nature of the testimony he offers ; it is that of a brother-in-law of minethrough
, whom I hope to send you this note , and whom you will immediately recognise as a veiy high Mason . He says , in a note about a twelvemonth ago , " I have read with much interest your book on Freemasonry ... I think that , however you may have been charged unjustly on the first occasion with a breach of your solemn engagement , the same imputation may with less injustice be cast
upon yon now . " Putting aside the question of the " when" and the "how" I have broken my solemn engagement ( i . e ., denounced deistical practices ) , which I only allude to to show the amusing diversity of sentiment upon such a point among Masons , we have in this quotation a direct recognition of the clause . Thirdly , tbe reviewer says , speaking of supplication for the Divine blessing on a Masonic meeting and its objects : " This is the sole subject of the prayers , which are as short and concise as may be . " The notion he would convey lnainly is , that the addresses to the
Deity are , for brevity , rather of the nature of " graces" than of " formal worship . " But what says Preston , an undeniable witness in Masonry 1 He gives long—exceedingly long—services , together with abundance of prayers on " particular occasions , " as likewise do otlier writers . I may add , though not to the point , that they arc all of them deistical , according to my mind ; but which tbe reviewer is content to describe by the milder term of " not Christian "—a
distinction ( most people will say ) without a difference . Now , what are we to say to these remarkable contradictions ? How are they to be reconciled with , truth ? And they are not on subjects of rite and ceremony , which , in so extensive an institution , we might expect to vary greatly in different localities , but on subjects involving principles of the last importance . Lesser discrepancies
might be cited innumerable . I address the question to your readers , sincerely and without reproach , as to Christian men . In each of the above cases the testimony is complete and perfect on either side ; and the natural inference would be that there must be false testimony somewhere . Far be it from me to think so ; on the contrary , I believe it to have been everywhere genuine and honest . I impute
the anomaly to the system . But here I abstain from remarks , wishing rather to invite them from your readers , and to beg an explanation of these fearful evidences of confusion . I am , Sir , your obedient servant , M . C . TREVILIAN . vor ,. I . Q Q