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Article A SHORT TALE WITH A LONG MORAL. ← Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Short Tale With A Long Moral.
a most superficial antl desultory nature—that unsubstantial structure from which so many souls leap into the gulph of error and false light . Such unfortunately was the case with the little society mentioned , which deducing false conclusions from that which should have led them to the Deity , fell from one depth of error to another deeper , and still deeper , until , at length , they sunk into those of infidelity and impiety , antl casting aside the light of revelationattempted to pierce the shades that
, veil the hidden springs of life by the erring guide of human reason . Such were the men , and such their principles , who were assembled at the time mentioned , in the private room of the George Inn , Thickthorn .
The hour of meeting had passed some time , and their chairman , usually so punctual , not having arrived , they were about electing one of their number to fill that office pro-tempore , when he arrived , and apologizing to the meeting for his late arrival , made them acquainted with the cause . He had been to the town of W on business , and delayed his return to witness a Mason ' s funeral , which was to take place that afternoon , which ceremony having prevented him from commencing his journey homeward so soon as he intended , was the cause of his so late arrival at the meeting .
I hat same evening after supper , the Mason ' s funeral became a topic of discourse among them , and curiosity awakened in them the desire to solve the mysteries of a body so extensive , so respectable in number , ancl distinguished names , and which , from its own traditions , boasted so remote an antiquity . And then that peculiar , and , to them , unknown charm , which sealed the hps ancl closed the hearts of its disci ples!—what could that be which h
, througso many generations , have prevented the foolish and profane , as well as the wise and prudent , among its members from divulging its secrets to the popular world ! What a charming field was this lor their researches ! What a rich vein opened to that fatal curiosity which cost the world a paradise ! To them , who denied the existence of an after-state , and the surveillance of an omnipresent Deity , and the laws of whose country would visit with their thunders any open or covert attack upon their persons , what power could there be in Masonry to check the free expression of all its mysteries , supposing they had gained possession of them ?
At all hazards , they were determined to make trial of its force ; and Charles Melville , the young man who had witnessed the burial service that day , offered himself as their champion , to possess himself of the secrets and mysteries ofthe Royal Art , ancl lay open to the world ' s view the boasted light hitherto veiled from all but the initiated . From a layness in the discharge of that great principle of our Order which requires that no man shall be proposed or admitted who is not stnctlmoraland bows in adoration to the
y , Deity ; Melville found no difficulty in being proposed and seconded by two of the bretliren of the ~ - u S » and > at the appointed time , presented himself for initiation . He was admitted in due form , ancl . answered every necessary question and the stream of Heaven-born light was poured upon his benighted soul . ± The Master of the Lodge was a man of many years , upon whose countenance that
was seen expression of scrutiny , contentment , and cnanty which a life of virtue alone can delineate upon the features of age . Around lus venerable brow flowed the thin and silvered locks
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Short Tale With A Long Moral.
a most superficial antl desultory nature—that unsubstantial structure from which so many souls leap into the gulph of error and false light . Such unfortunately was the case with the little society mentioned , which deducing false conclusions from that which should have led them to the Deity , fell from one depth of error to another deeper , and still deeper , until , at length , they sunk into those of infidelity and impiety , antl casting aside the light of revelationattempted to pierce the shades that
, veil the hidden springs of life by the erring guide of human reason . Such were the men , and such their principles , who were assembled at the time mentioned , in the private room of the George Inn , Thickthorn .
The hour of meeting had passed some time , and their chairman , usually so punctual , not having arrived , they were about electing one of their number to fill that office pro-tempore , when he arrived , and apologizing to the meeting for his late arrival , made them acquainted with the cause . He had been to the town of W on business , and delayed his return to witness a Mason ' s funeral , which was to take place that afternoon , which ceremony having prevented him from commencing his journey homeward so soon as he intended , was the cause of his so late arrival at the meeting .
I hat same evening after supper , the Mason ' s funeral became a topic of discourse among them , and curiosity awakened in them the desire to solve the mysteries of a body so extensive , so respectable in number , ancl distinguished names , and which , from its own traditions , boasted so remote an antiquity . And then that peculiar , and , to them , unknown charm , which sealed the hps ancl closed the hearts of its disci ples!—what could that be which h
, througso many generations , have prevented the foolish and profane , as well as the wise and prudent , among its members from divulging its secrets to the popular world ! What a charming field was this lor their researches ! What a rich vein opened to that fatal curiosity which cost the world a paradise ! To them , who denied the existence of an after-state , and the surveillance of an omnipresent Deity , and the laws of whose country would visit with their thunders any open or covert attack upon their persons , what power could there be in Masonry to check the free expression of all its mysteries , supposing they had gained possession of them ?
At all hazards , they were determined to make trial of its force ; and Charles Melville , the young man who had witnessed the burial service that day , offered himself as their champion , to possess himself of the secrets and mysteries ofthe Royal Art , ancl lay open to the world ' s view the boasted light hitherto veiled from all but the initiated . From a layness in the discharge of that great principle of our Order which requires that no man shall be proposed or admitted who is not stnctlmoraland bows in adoration to the
y , Deity ; Melville found no difficulty in being proposed and seconded by two of the bretliren of the ~ - u S » and > at the appointed time , presented himself for initiation . He was admitted in due form , ancl . answered every necessary question and the stream of Heaven-born light was poured upon his benighted soul . ± The Master of the Lodge was a man of many years , upon whose countenance that
was seen expression of scrutiny , contentment , and cnanty which a life of virtue alone can delineate upon the features of age . Around lus venerable brow flowed the thin and silvered locks