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Article ON FREEMASONRY. ← Page 5 of 9 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry.
Cabinc rites ? from all that we have read , they ivere instituted originall y by the Egyptians in honour of the creative or vegetative princi p le , and stolen from them by the Heirophants of Greece , who still , however , retained their orio-in in view when they adapted them to the Avorshi p of Cybele or Ops , the wife of Saturn , Chronos , or Time , and the mother of the gods , who may thence emblematicall y be considered as the parent of all things . An allegory Avhich mav
tend to prove an identity with the rites of Budhism , or the mystic Avorship . of the Iranians ; but certainl y not with ' the pure doctrines of Freemasonry . Equall y distinct were the Eleusiman mysteries which , screened from the comprehension ofthe vulgar by the veil of mythology , Avere purely of a scientific and astronomical character . The Or < na and wild fables of the
Pelasgi are still more foreign to the Craft , l ' rorri the coincidence of a degree attached to the order , called tlie Rosicrusian , its enemies have endeavoured to identif y it Avith the wild and chimerical pursuits of that celebrated society , which flourished in the middle ages , and is at present supposed to exist in some parts of
Germanyno two institutions can be more forei gn in their ori g in , principles , and operation . In urging this truth , we do not join in the senseless cry Avhich mankind have raised ao- ainst them ; for without more than a common-place knowleclo-e or the objects of that singular fraternity , we are aAvare that much good has resulted from their researches—true , their
science was fable , but its offspring was truth , the world being indebted for many of those important results which form the basis of modern chemistry to their indefatigable perseverance ; the onl y shadow of resemblance we can perceive between them is , that their neophites were bound to secrecy by the mystery of the chalice of the rose-cmix , which the Rosicrusian
Freemason venerates in his rites ihe Vehem , or Franc tribunals , which exercised so fearful and secret a jurisdiction , could onl y have existed in a land uivided b y the feudal tenure . Masons , it is possible , were amongst them ; but their laws were abhorent to our principles In travelling through Bavaria , we latel y examined one ottheir most celebrated
holds . Masons never raised that pile ^ its purposes could not have been masonic ; its front ivas neariy north-east ; the remains of dung eons are still visible ' Vv e now come to one of the most important fables of our detractors , the reason assigned b y the Roman church for the condemnation of our order . « That , amongst other
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry.
Cabinc rites ? from all that we have read , they ivere instituted originall y by the Egyptians in honour of the creative or vegetative princi p le , and stolen from them by the Heirophants of Greece , who still , however , retained their orio-in in view when they adapted them to the Avorshi p of Cybele or Ops , the wife of Saturn , Chronos , or Time , and the mother of the gods , who may thence emblematicall y be considered as the parent of all things . An allegory Avhich mav
tend to prove an identity with the rites of Budhism , or the mystic Avorship . of the Iranians ; but certainl y not with ' the pure doctrines of Freemasonry . Equall y distinct were the Eleusiman mysteries which , screened from the comprehension ofthe vulgar by the veil of mythology , Avere purely of a scientific and astronomical character . The Or < na and wild fables of the
Pelasgi are still more foreign to the Craft , l ' rorri the coincidence of a degree attached to the order , called tlie Rosicrusian , its enemies have endeavoured to identif y it Avith the wild and chimerical pursuits of that celebrated society , which flourished in the middle ages , and is at present supposed to exist in some parts of
Germanyno two institutions can be more forei gn in their ori g in , principles , and operation . In urging this truth , we do not join in the senseless cry Avhich mankind have raised ao- ainst them ; for without more than a common-place knowleclo-e or the objects of that singular fraternity , we are aAvare that much good has resulted from their researches—true , their
science was fable , but its offspring was truth , the world being indebted for many of those important results which form the basis of modern chemistry to their indefatigable perseverance ; the onl y shadow of resemblance we can perceive between them is , that their neophites were bound to secrecy by the mystery of the chalice of the rose-cmix , which the Rosicrusian
Freemason venerates in his rites ihe Vehem , or Franc tribunals , which exercised so fearful and secret a jurisdiction , could onl y have existed in a land uivided b y the feudal tenure . Masons , it is possible , were amongst them ; but their laws were abhorent to our principles In travelling through Bavaria , we latel y examined one ottheir most celebrated
holds . Masons never raised that pile ^ its purposes could not have been masonic ; its front ivas neariy north-east ; the remains of dung eons are still visible ' Vv e now come to one of the most important fables of our detractors , the reason assigned b y the Roman church for the condemnation of our order . « That , amongst other