Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. Evidences, Doctrines, And Traditions.
undeniable ; and on this authority the Grand Lodge at York held its periodical meetings , and transacted Masonic business , under the title of " The Grand Lodge of ALL England , " independently of any other power , down to a very recent period . Nor were its privileges ever disputed . On the contrary , when the Grand Lodge in London was formed , it never attempted to infringe on rights deduced from so unquestionable a source ; but was contented to adopt the modified denomination of , " The Grand Lodge of England . "
After the Conquest , the evidences are more numerous ; and initiations or makings are specifically mentioned . Thus , in an old record we find it stated that " in the glorious reign of King Edward III :, when Lodges were more frequent , the Right Worshipful the Master and Fellows , with consent of the lords of the realm , ( for most great men were then
Masons ) , ordained , That for the future , at the making , or admission of a Brother , the Constitutions and the Ancient Charges should be read by the Master or Warden . That at such congregations , it shall be inquired , whether any Master , or Fellow , has broke any of the Articles agreed to ; and if the offender , being duly cited to appear , prove rebel ,
and will not attend , then the Lodge shall determine against him , that he shall forswear ( or renounce ) his Masonry , and shall no more use this Craft ; for this cause , principally , have these congregations been ordained , that as well the lowest as the highest should be well and trul y served in this Art aforesaid , throughout all the kingdom of England . Amen , so mote it be . "
In these ages , Freemasonry was a system of science made subservient to the purposes of religion and morality ; and consequently , to a certain extent , was purely speculative . A writer in the Gentleman ' s Magazine , for January , 1829 , says , that the working principles of ecclesiastical architecture were founded on schemes analogous to the principles
of the doctrine of the Trinity ; that there is a great probability of these schemes having , in olden times , constituted a principal secret in the sublime Degree of Freemasonry ; that the bishops , priests , and other distinguished personages of the Roman Catholic Church , were nearly the sole professors of that Degree ; and that they styled the principal secret of their Order , the " Art of finding new Arts . "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. Evidences, Doctrines, And Traditions.
undeniable ; and on this authority the Grand Lodge at York held its periodical meetings , and transacted Masonic business , under the title of " The Grand Lodge of ALL England , " independently of any other power , down to a very recent period . Nor were its privileges ever disputed . On the contrary , when the Grand Lodge in London was formed , it never attempted to infringe on rights deduced from so unquestionable a source ; but was contented to adopt the modified denomination of , " The Grand Lodge of England . "
After the Conquest , the evidences are more numerous ; and initiations or makings are specifically mentioned . Thus , in an old record we find it stated that " in the glorious reign of King Edward III :, when Lodges were more frequent , the Right Worshipful the Master and Fellows , with consent of the lords of the realm , ( for most great men were then
Masons ) , ordained , That for the future , at the making , or admission of a Brother , the Constitutions and the Ancient Charges should be read by the Master or Warden . That at such congregations , it shall be inquired , whether any Master , or Fellow , has broke any of the Articles agreed to ; and if the offender , being duly cited to appear , prove rebel ,
and will not attend , then the Lodge shall determine against him , that he shall forswear ( or renounce ) his Masonry , and shall no more use this Craft ; for this cause , principally , have these congregations been ordained , that as well the lowest as the highest should be well and trul y served in this Art aforesaid , throughout all the kingdom of England . Amen , so mote it be . "
In these ages , Freemasonry was a system of science made subservient to the purposes of religion and morality ; and consequently , to a certain extent , was purely speculative . A writer in the Gentleman ' s Magazine , for January , 1829 , says , that the working principles of ecclesiastical architecture were founded on schemes analogous to the principles
of the doctrine of the Trinity ; that there is a great probability of these schemes having , in olden times , constituted a principal secret in the sublime Degree of Freemasonry ; that the bishops , priests , and other distinguished personages of the Roman Catholic Church , were nearly the sole professors of that Degree ; and that they styled the principal secret of their Order , the " Art of finding new Arts . "