Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Eeeemasons' Quarterly Magazine And Review.
to do so , wherein , by the initiation of one or two intelligent individuals , zeal has at once taken the place of indifference , and the too long dormant condition of the Craft has been roused into a state of activity . And as this change has progressed , the further alterations which have followed
have led many who previously scoffed at Freemasonry , and who held it up to ridicule and scorn , —because the Brethren , after their Lodges were closed , too frequently carried their carousings beyond the hours of propriety , and pained their nearest and dearest relatives by many
acts of indecorum , —to hail its resuscitation with o-ladness , and to attribute , as they may do truly , the altered manners and the changed pursuits of their relatives and friends to the fact of their having become members of the once despised Order .
The progression of the age has , doubtless , not been without its effect upon Freemasonry . The Craft became involved almost imperceptibly in the degeneracy of former times .
Men could not themselves be the victims of debasing manners without imparting some portion of the discredit belonging to themselves to whatever society they belonged . The proverb is as old as Freemasonry itself , — for it was written by " the Royal Solomon , " to whom the Craft owes
so much of its grandeur and magnificence , —that it is impossible "to touch pitch without being defiled ; " and consequently the Order was brought into discredit by the misconduct of those , who pretended to be the exponents of its principles and pursuits , whilst they did the very
things , which it disallows . The fashion of the last century —nay , it was so even within our own remembrancewas to commit acts of indiscretion , and to be continually guilty of breaches of manners , the bare appearance of which would at the present time justly exclude the
persons so offending from the pale of society . But in too many instances the refinement of manners which has superseded these older customs , possesses no extraordinary advantages , as far as human intellect is concerned , because ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Eeeemasons' Quarterly Magazine And Review.
to do so , wherein , by the initiation of one or two intelligent individuals , zeal has at once taken the place of indifference , and the too long dormant condition of the Craft has been roused into a state of activity . And as this change has progressed , the further alterations which have followed
have led many who previously scoffed at Freemasonry , and who held it up to ridicule and scorn , —because the Brethren , after their Lodges were closed , too frequently carried their carousings beyond the hours of propriety , and pained their nearest and dearest relatives by many
acts of indecorum , —to hail its resuscitation with o-ladness , and to attribute , as they may do truly , the altered manners and the changed pursuits of their relatives and friends to the fact of their having become members of the once despised Order .
The progression of the age has , doubtless , not been without its effect upon Freemasonry . The Craft became involved almost imperceptibly in the degeneracy of former times .
Men could not themselves be the victims of debasing manners without imparting some portion of the discredit belonging to themselves to whatever society they belonged . The proverb is as old as Freemasonry itself , — for it was written by " the Royal Solomon , " to whom the Craft owes
so much of its grandeur and magnificence , —that it is impossible "to touch pitch without being defiled ; " and consequently the Order was brought into discredit by the misconduct of those , who pretended to be the exponents of its principles and pursuits , whilst they did the very
things , which it disallows . The fashion of the last century —nay , it was so even within our own remembrancewas to commit acts of indiscretion , and to be continually guilty of breaches of manners , the bare appearance of which would at the present time justly exclude the
persons so offending from the pale of society . But in too many instances the refinement of manners which has superseded these older customs , possesses no extraordinary advantages , as far as human intellect is concerned , because ,