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Article ON THE INSTITUTION OF FREEMASONRY.* ← Page 7 of 13 →
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On The Institution Of Freemasonry.*
lecture , viy ,., the Pointed . It is , most probably , from the strict secrecy under which all their proceedings were conducted , that so much doubt exists respecting the first introduction of this st } -le . It appears clear , however , that , although the pointed style appeared nearly simultaneously in GermanyFranceand Englandit is in the first of these
, , , ihrcc , viz ., in Germany , that we must look for the earliest examples . This , however , is not a subject now to be entered upon . In the states of Lombardy , as we know , commerce , the offspring of industry , first gradually threw off the weight under which prosperity had been pressed to the earth b
y anarchy and barbarism since the overthrow of the Roman empire ; and architecture and Masonry , with the other sciences and arts , were again studied . This being the case , ancl the Lombardians , having before them the experience , and among them some of the descendants , of the modern Greek or Constantinopolitan school , which , as we have
seen , had attained a certain degree of perfection under the fostering hand of Constantine and his successors , they soon became , as a natural consequence , not only the merchants ofthe world , but its builders ; being eagerly sought for , when their own market was overstocked , and they appeared disposed to travel in search of employment , by all the potentates of adjoining nations , who were at that time universally employed in raising religious edifices .
wherever ancl whenever a missionary was despatched from the Pope to preach the Christian doctrine ( and these were every day departing ) , to that place speedily resorted a band of these wandering artizans , under the special direction of the most expert Craftsmen among them , whom they denominated the Master , to raise a fitting temple to the
Deity . So numerous , however , were the demands for their services , that their numbers were found to be inadequate to the purposes of religion ; and the Church of Rome , which must full y have felt how important a part of its machinery they at that time were , saw that some measures were necessary in order to swell their ranksand protect them in the
, undisturbed exercise of their duties . Bulls , it is said , were accordingly issued endowing them with various ri ghts and immunities : exemption was granted them from the Jaws of all local authorities ; and those who opposed or interfered with their purpose were loudly threatened with excommunication . This proceeding speedily had the desired effect :
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Institution Of Freemasonry.*
lecture , viy ,., the Pointed . It is , most probably , from the strict secrecy under which all their proceedings were conducted , that so much doubt exists respecting the first introduction of this st } -le . It appears clear , however , that , although the pointed style appeared nearly simultaneously in GermanyFranceand Englandit is in the first of these
, , , ihrcc , viz ., in Germany , that we must look for the earliest examples . This , however , is not a subject now to be entered upon . In the states of Lombardy , as we know , commerce , the offspring of industry , first gradually threw off the weight under which prosperity had been pressed to the earth b
y anarchy and barbarism since the overthrow of the Roman empire ; and architecture and Masonry , with the other sciences and arts , were again studied . This being the case , ancl the Lombardians , having before them the experience , and among them some of the descendants , of the modern Greek or Constantinopolitan school , which , as we have
seen , had attained a certain degree of perfection under the fostering hand of Constantine and his successors , they soon became , as a natural consequence , not only the merchants ofthe world , but its builders ; being eagerly sought for , when their own market was overstocked , and they appeared disposed to travel in search of employment , by all the potentates of adjoining nations , who were at that time universally employed in raising religious edifices .
wherever ancl whenever a missionary was despatched from the Pope to preach the Christian doctrine ( and these were every day departing ) , to that place speedily resorted a band of these wandering artizans , under the special direction of the most expert Craftsmen among them , whom they denominated the Master , to raise a fitting temple to the
Deity . So numerous , however , were the demands for their services , that their numbers were found to be inadequate to the purposes of religion ; and the Church of Rome , which must full y have felt how important a part of its machinery they at that time were , saw that some measures were necessary in order to swell their ranksand protect them in the
, undisturbed exercise of their duties . Bulls , it is said , were accordingly issued endowing them with various ri ghts and immunities : exemption was granted them from the Jaws of all local authorities ; and those who opposed or interfered with their purpose were loudly threatened with excommunication . This proceeding speedily had the desired effect :