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Article ON FREEMASONRY. ← Page 8 of 10 →
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On Freemasonry.
in which I have found an Asylum , that has suggested this exception . Gratitude , on the contrary , would silence every vain terror , and I should be seen exclaiming in the very streets of London , that England was lost , that it could not escape the French revolution , if its Freemason Lodges were similar to those of which I am about to treat . "
Such is a brief analysis of German Masonry , which has now retired to its proper channel ; and the following extract from a MS . Ritual of Helvetian Ceremonies now before me , will shew the ideas of propriety which at present prevail . " A good Lodge , may be well known by its ornaments ; in most Lodges all sorts of decorations are heaped together , without the slightest attention to propriety . " There should be no picture , statue , or emblem of heathen deities ; no bust , picture , or statue of the heathen
philosophers ; the proper images , or emblems , are to be taken from tbe Bible , and the Bible only , as it contains the authentic records of ancient Masonry . The decorations should be Masonic Emblems , intersecting triangles , p } square and compass , death's head , & c , and these , if properlmanagedcan be made highly ornamental . A
picy , ture of Solomon , or Moses , would be appropriate . A marble slab , containing the names of the Founders of the Lodge , and the date should be let into the north wall . "The names of the Lodges are sometimes ill chosen . The Apollo , the Minerva , the Vesta , & c . are heathen namesiving ideas of idolatry and superstitionand can
, g , have nothing to do with Masonry . The names of great Masons of old , may be chosen , and the builders would do well to find out what great man or bishop built the nearest Cathedra ] , and name the Lodge after him . For this is certain , that every Cathedral was built by the ancient Society of Free and Accepted Masons . "
The first royal charter granted to the Fraternity on the Continent , was in 1768 , by the King of Prussia , who accepted the office of G . M ., and from this period , the Lodges became numerous in all the northern countries of Europe . The southern parts do not appear to have offered a genial soil for the cultivation of Freemasonry ; for in
SpainPor-, tugal , and Italy , it never made any salutary advancement . It was believed by the Church to be unfavourable to religion , and fulminations of the papal see , augmented by the terrors of the Inquisition arrested its progress , and prevented it from assuming any beneficial form .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry.
in which I have found an Asylum , that has suggested this exception . Gratitude , on the contrary , would silence every vain terror , and I should be seen exclaiming in the very streets of London , that England was lost , that it could not escape the French revolution , if its Freemason Lodges were similar to those of which I am about to treat . "
Such is a brief analysis of German Masonry , which has now retired to its proper channel ; and the following extract from a MS . Ritual of Helvetian Ceremonies now before me , will shew the ideas of propriety which at present prevail . " A good Lodge , may be well known by its ornaments ; in most Lodges all sorts of decorations are heaped together , without the slightest attention to propriety . " There should be no picture , statue , or emblem of heathen deities ; no bust , picture , or statue of the heathen
philosophers ; the proper images , or emblems , are to be taken from tbe Bible , and the Bible only , as it contains the authentic records of ancient Masonry . The decorations should be Masonic Emblems , intersecting triangles , p } square and compass , death's head , & c , and these , if properlmanagedcan be made highly ornamental . A
picy , ture of Solomon , or Moses , would be appropriate . A marble slab , containing the names of the Founders of the Lodge , and the date should be let into the north wall . "The names of the Lodges are sometimes ill chosen . The Apollo , the Minerva , the Vesta , & c . are heathen namesiving ideas of idolatry and superstitionand can
, g , have nothing to do with Masonry . The names of great Masons of old , may be chosen , and the builders would do well to find out what great man or bishop built the nearest Cathedra ] , and name the Lodge after him . For this is certain , that every Cathedral was built by the ancient Society of Free and Accepted Masons . "
The first royal charter granted to the Fraternity on the Continent , was in 1768 , by the King of Prussia , who accepted the office of G . M ., and from this period , the Lodges became numerous in all the northern countries of Europe . The southern parts do not appear to have offered a genial soil for the cultivation of Freemasonry ; for in
SpainPor-, tugal , and Italy , it never made any salutary advancement . It was believed by the Church to be unfavourable to religion , and fulminations of the papal see , augmented by the terrors of the Inquisition arrested its progress , and prevented it from assuming any beneficial form .