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Article ON FREEMASONRY, ← Page 4 of 6 →
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On Freemasonry,
yourselves . You shall have fair play , because your services are too valuable to be endangered by any untimely disclosure . Ubiincl , ibi apes , which our old schoolmaster used to translate— " Where mischief is to be done , there will be no want of agents . " Do you say we do not see things with the same eyes ? Indeed we do not . Masons are purblind , of course ; it is their opponents only who are capable of rightly exercising their organs of vision .
An American writer , speaking against Freemasonry , says— " The minister tells me to let it alone , and it will die of itself ; but I begin to think , if we wait for it to die of itself , all the good things planted by our fathers in the soil of liberty will have to die with it . The next time I see the minister , I mean to ask him why he does not let sin alone because it will die of itself when the millenium comes . " A very pithy observation , friends . Masonry will not die of itself . It is too useful either to be voluntarily abandoned , or suffered to pine away for want of cultivation . You must put your
sapping and mining instruments in order , and set to work in downright earnest , if you are desirous of overthrowing the citadel . A long pull , and a strong pull , and a pull altogether , may do it . Who knows ? Some of your coadjutors have adopted a deep project , and we congratulate you on the genius by whicli it has been dictated . They will have Masonry to be a system of sorcery , witchcraft , and diablerie of various kinds ; and for this purpose give it a Rosicrucian origin . It will only be necessary to refer you to the article which follows this introduction , for your
enlightenment on a subject which your oracles have wonderfully mystified , although they have expended much useless labour on the accumulation of authorities for its discussion . One writer thus concludes an able dissertation , on which he endeavours to prove the identity of Freemasonry with Kosicruciiinism : —
' ' In thus assigning the internal and external characteristics ofthe Rosicrucians and Freemasons , I have purposely said nothing of the distinctions between the two orders themselves . That the above characteristics were common to both , is not to be doubted . Rosierucianism , it is true , is not Freemasonry ; but the latter borrowed its form from the first . He that gives himself out for a Rosicrucian , without knowing the general ritual of Freemasonry , is unquestionably an impostor . " And another writer , following so excellent a model , says —• " I feel not the least hesitation in saying , that the
Freemasons have no secret beyond a few trumpery legends , & c , and that all their symbols are of Rosicrucian origin , for the Freemasons never belonged to the working guilds , their objects being totally different . " And for this reason , he adds , " the day of mysticism is gone by ; and men for the most part begin to see too plainly to be the dupes of such absurd pretensions . The very attempt , however , to continue them , is an effort to perpetuate ignorance and error ,- and upon this principle , the sooner the Freemasons lay aside their apronsand talk like the rest of the worldthe better . " *
, , Carlile , the infidel , had made the same observation long before ; and Mr . Soane ' s conclusion is but another version of the following passage in the " Republican , " ( vol . xii . p . -91 ) -. — " Speculative Masonry has never been anything but a trick , and a cheat , and a permanent hoax . The legislature should sweep it down , and include in- the same act , Orangism , Druidism , and Oddfellowship , as the last of secret associations existing in this country , where the parties , as an association , assume publicity , and are bound together by an oath to observe certain marks of distinction . This is the
peculiar duty of a legislature , which in all its acts should legislate for the benefit of all . Thus have I put out the artificial lights of Masonry ; and thus I desire to reclaim you , and to make you good and useful men , for the benefit of yourselves , your wives and your children . "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry,
yourselves . You shall have fair play , because your services are too valuable to be endangered by any untimely disclosure . Ubiincl , ibi apes , which our old schoolmaster used to translate— " Where mischief is to be done , there will be no want of agents . " Do you say we do not see things with the same eyes ? Indeed we do not . Masons are purblind , of course ; it is their opponents only who are capable of rightly exercising their organs of vision .
An American writer , speaking against Freemasonry , says— " The minister tells me to let it alone , and it will die of itself ; but I begin to think , if we wait for it to die of itself , all the good things planted by our fathers in the soil of liberty will have to die with it . The next time I see the minister , I mean to ask him why he does not let sin alone because it will die of itself when the millenium comes . " A very pithy observation , friends . Masonry will not die of itself . It is too useful either to be voluntarily abandoned , or suffered to pine away for want of cultivation . You must put your
sapping and mining instruments in order , and set to work in downright earnest , if you are desirous of overthrowing the citadel . A long pull , and a strong pull , and a pull altogether , may do it . Who knows ? Some of your coadjutors have adopted a deep project , and we congratulate you on the genius by whicli it has been dictated . They will have Masonry to be a system of sorcery , witchcraft , and diablerie of various kinds ; and for this purpose give it a Rosicrucian origin . It will only be necessary to refer you to the article which follows this introduction , for your
enlightenment on a subject which your oracles have wonderfully mystified , although they have expended much useless labour on the accumulation of authorities for its discussion . One writer thus concludes an able dissertation , on which he endeavours to prove the identity of Freemasonry with Kosicruciiinism : —
' ' In thus assigning the internal and external characteristics ofthe Rosicrucians and Freemasons , I have purposely said nothing of the distinctions between the two orders themselves . That the above characteristics were common to both , is not to be doubted . Rosierucianism , it is true , is not Freemasonry ; but the latter borrowed its form from the first . He that gives himself out for a Rosicrucian , without knowing the general ritual of Freemasonry , is unquestionably an impostor . " And another writer , following so excellent a model , says —• " I feel not the least hesitation in saying , that the
Freemasons have no secret beyond a few trumpery legends , & c , and that all their symbols are of Rosicrucian origin , for the Freemasons never belonged to the working guilds , their objects being totally different . " And for this reason , he adds , " the day of mysticism is gone by ; and men for the most part begin to see too plainly to be the dupes of such absurd pretensions . The very attempt , however , to continue them , is an effort to perpetuate ignorance and error ,- and upon this principle , the sooner the Freemasons lay aside their apronsand talk like the rest of the worldthe better . " *
, , Carlile , the infidel , had made the same observation long before ; and Mr . Soane ' s conclusion is but another version of the following passage in the " Republican , " ( vol . xii . p . -91 ) -. — " Speculative Masonry has never been anything but a trick , and a cheat , and a permanent hoax . The legislature should sweep it down , and include in- the same act , Orangism , Druidism , and Oddfellowship , as the last of secret associations existing in this country , where the parties , as an association , assume publicity , and are bound together by an oath to observe certain marks of distinction . This is the
peculiar duty of a legislature , which in all its acts should legislate for the benefit of all . Thus have I put out the artificial lights of Masonry ; and thus I desire to reclaim you , and to make you good and useful men , for the benefit of yourselves , your wives and your children . "