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Article ON FREEMASONRY. ← Page 2 of 7 →
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On Freemasonry.
sciences are inseparable from the system ; and accordingly have heen faithfully transmitted to our own times . " The secret meetings of the Master Masons , " says Dallaway , " within any particular district , were confined to consultations with each other , which mainly tended to the communication of science , and of improvement in their art . An evident result was seen in the general uniformity of their designs in architecturewith respect both to lan and ornamentyet not without deviations
, p , . We may conclude that the craft or mystery of architects and operative masons was involved in secresy , by which a knowledge of their practice was carefully excluded from the acquirement of all who were not enrolled in their fraternity . Still it was absolutely necessary that when they engaged in contracts with bishops , or patrons of ecclesiastical buildings , a specification should be made of the component parts , and of the terms by which either contracting party should be rendered conversant
with them . A certain nomenclature was then divulged by the Master Masons for such a purpose , and became in general acceptation in the middle ages . " The abstruse calculations which accompanied the sciences of geometry and arithmetic , are no longer necessary to Freemasonry , as an institution purely speculative ; and they were accordingly omitted in the revised system as it was recommended to the notice of the fraternity b
y the Grand Lodge in 1717 , aud we retain only the beautiful theory of these sciences , with their application to the practice of morality , founded on the power and goodness of the G . A . O . T . U . in the construction of the system in which we live .
It would be an injustice to our Brethren of the last century to believe that they did not entertain a profound veneration for the principles of the Masonic Order . But the customs and habits of the people of England , living in that day , differed materially from our own . They were times when conviviality and a love of social harmony prevailed over the more sedate pursuits and investigations of science , in which such an astonishing progress distinguishes the present times . In the seventeenth ancl eihteenth centuries London was an atmosphere of clubsand
g , a society of this kind existed in every street for the peculiar use of its inhabitants , besides those which were exclusively frequented by persons possessing similar tastes or habits of amusement . And it will be no disparagement to Masonry , if we believe that its private Lodges did not sustain a much higher rank than some of these celebrated meetings ; for the Kit Cat , the Beefsteak , and other clubs , were frequented by the nobility and most celebrated literary characters of that polished era . It the
was organization of Freemasonry that gave it the distinctive character which elevated its pretensions above the common routine of club life ; and although it is admitted that the members of the latter entertained a strong attachment to their several institutions , yet none were so enthusiastic as those who had enlisted in the cause of Masonry , as we may learn from the few testimonies which remain . A Mason of hih standinga hundred thus his feelings respecting
g , years ago , expresses the Order . " Masonry is the daughter of heaven ; and happy are those who embrace her . By it youth is passed over without agitation , the middle age without anxiety , and old age without remorse . Masonry teaches the way to content , a thing almost unknown to the greatest part of mankind . In short , its ultimate resort is to enjoy in security the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry.
sciences are inseparable from the system ; and accordingly have heen faithfully transmitted to our own times . " The secret meetings of the Master Masons , " says Dallaway , " within any particular district , were confined to consultations with each other , which mainly tended to the communication of science , and of improvement in their art . An evident result was seen in the general uniformity of their designs in architecturewith respect both to lan and ornamentyet not without deviations
, p , . We may conclude that the craft or mystery of architects and operative masons was involved in secresy , by which a knowledge of their practice was carefully excluded from the acquirement of all who were not enrolled in their fraternity . Still it was absolutely necessary that when they engaged in contracts with bishops , or patrons of ecclesiastical buildings , a specification should be made of the component parts , and of the terms by which either contracting party should be rendered conversant
with them . A certain nomenclature was then divulged by the Master Masons for such a purpose , and became in general acceptation in the middle ages . " The abstruse calculations which accompanied the sciences of geometry and arithmetic , are no longer necessary to Freemasonry , as an institution purely speculative ; and they were accordingly omitted in the revised system as it was recommended to the notice of the fraternity b
y the Grand Lodge in 1717 , aud we retain only the beautiful theory of these sciences , with their application to the practice of morality , founded on the power and goodness of the G . A . O . T . U . in the construction of the system in which we live .
It would be an injustice to our Brethren of the last century to believe that they did not entertain a profound veneration for the principles of the Masonic Order . But the customs and habits of the people of England , living in that day , differed materially from our own . They were times when conviviality and a love of social harmony prevailed over the more sedate pursuits and investigations of science , in which such an astonishing progress distinguishes the present times . In the seventeenth ancl eihteenth centuries London was an atmosphere of clubsand
g , a society of this kind existed in every street for the peculiar use of its inhabitants , besides those which were exclusively frequented by persons possessing similar tastes or habits of amusement . And it will be no disparagement to Masonry , if we believe that its private Lodges did not sustain a much higher rank than some of these celebrated meetings ; for the Kit Cat , the Beefsteak , and other clubs , were frequented by the nobility and most celebrated literary characters of that polished era . It the
was organization of Freemasonry that gave it the distinctive character which elevated its pretensions above the common routine of club life ; and although it is admitted that the members of the latter entertained a strong attachment to their several institutions , yet none were so enthusiastic as those who had enlisted in the cause of Masonry , as we may learn from the few testimonies which remain . A Mason of hih standinga hundred thus his feelings respecting
g , years ago , expresses the Order . " Masonry is the daughter of heaven ; and happy are those who embrace her . By it youth is passed over without agitation , the middle age without anxiety , and old age without remorse . Masonry teaches the way to content , a thing almost unknown to the greatest part of mankind . In short , its ultimate resort is to enjoy in security the