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Article THE BOOK OF THE LODGE.* Page 1 of 7 →
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The Book Of The Lodge.*
THE BOOK OF THE LODGE . *
In this age of hand-books , where every tyro is furnished with an opportunity of storing his mind with the elements of wisdom in any art or science to which his taste may aspire , we have often wondered that Freemasonry , rife as it is in ceremonial observances , should not have its Book of Reference , as a guide to the fraternity in the performance of those public rites and ordinances which so frequently occur in the course of every brother ' s masonic life .
These kind of publications , on account of their extreme utility and extensive application , have become so common in our days , that every school-boy can tell us of the essential service he has derived from a perusal of their diversified contents ; not merely because he has thus easily acquired a smattering of science , but because he has been inspired with a desire to improve the studies which these elementary books have implanted in his mind ; and has increased his stock of general knowledge by pursuing the course which they have been the means of
pointing out . The first hand-book , or guide to the knowledge of an individual science that we have met with , is political and democratic , and strange to say , was written by a Jesuit . It is entitled De Institutione Regis ; describes the inalienable rights of a people , and asserts that kings are nothing more than presidents of the National Assembly , and ought to be directed in everything by the popular voice . Whether we agree with these doctrines or nothas nothing to do with our present purpose ; but we know
, that it is easier to invent systems of government than to carry them into execution ; as witness the efforts of our volatile neighbours to establish a republic , where every man ' s theory differs as to the best mode of framing it on such principles as to promote the permanent happiness of the people . Every one of the Grecian states differed in its opinions on legislation ; but the speculations of Aristotle , to which the protuberance of his nose—immodicum surgit pro cuspide rostrum—gives the weight
of authority , are so well known that we shall not add another word on a subject which will be of little interest to our readers . Hand-books of science came into vogue about the beginning of the present century ; although the idea was by no means a novel one , for the catechisms of the Church of England and the assembly , are to all intents and purposes , hand-books of religion . At first they were received with caution ; but they soon succeeded in occupying their merited lace
p in the elementary literature of the day . Indeed , their pretentions are so modest , and their real usefulness so evident , that their claims to public attention are now candidl y admitted and universally allowed . And like the history of Don Quixote at its original appearance , " Children thumb them , boys read them , men understand them , and old folks commend t !* em . They are tossed about ; conned , and thoroughly known ball sorts of le . " When one lays down a hand-bookanother takes
y peop , it up ; one asks for it , another snatches it . " A slight spark is sufficient to fire the train ; and we are never better pleased than when we hear our young friends maintaining a continuous argument in any of the sciences , although we have a shrewd suspicion that their knowledge extends no farther than what has been gathered from a hand-book .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Book Of The Lodge.*
THE BOOK OF THE LODGE . *
In this age of hand-books , where every tyro is furnished with an opportunity of storing his mind with the elements of wisdom in any art or science to which his taste may aspire , we have often wondered that Freemasonry , rife as it is in ceremonial observances , should not have its Book of Reference , as a guide to the fraternity in the performance of those public rites and ordinances which so frequently occur in the course of every brother ' s masonic life .
These kind of publications , on account of their extreme utility and extensive application , have become so common in our days , that every school-boy can tell us of the essential service he has derived from a perusal of their diversified contents ; not merely because he has thus easily acquired a smattering of science , but because he has been inspired with a desire to improve the studies which these elementary books have implanted in his mind ; and has increased his stock of general knowledge by pursuing the course which they have been the means of
pointing out . The first hand-book , or guide to the knowledge of an individual science that we have met with , is political and democratic , and strange to say , was written by a Jesuit . It is entitled De Institutione Regis ; describes the inalienable rights of a people , and asserts that kings are nothing more than presidents of the National Assembly , and ought to be directed in everything by the popular voice . Whether we agree with these doctrines or nothas nothing to do with our present purpose ; but we know
, that it is easier to invent systems of government than to carry them into execution ; as witness the efforts of our volatile neighbours to establish a republic , where every man ' s theory differs as to the best mode of framing it on such principles as to promote the permanent happiness of the people . Every one of the Grecian states differed in its opinions on legislation ; but the speculations of Aristotle , to which the protuberance of his nose—immodicum surgit pro cuspide rostrum—gives the weight
of authority , are so well known that we shall not add another word on a subject which will be of little interest to our readers . Hand-books of science came into vogue about the beginning of the present century ; although the idea was by no means a novel one , for the catechisms of the Church of England and the assembly , are to all intents and purposes , hand-books of religion . At first they were received with caution ; but they soon succeeded in occupying their merited lace
p in the elementary literature of the day . Indeed , their pretentions are so modest , and their real usefulness so evident , that their claims to public attention are now candidl y admitted and universally allowed . And like the history of Don Quixote at its original appearance , " Children thumb them , boys read them , men understand them , and old folks commend t !* em . They are tossed about ; conned , and thoroughly known ball sorts of le . " When one lays down a hand-bookanother takes
y peop , it up ; one asks for it , another snatches it . " A slight spark is sufficient to fire the train ; and we are never better pleased than when we hear our young friends maintaining a continuous argument in any of the sciences , although we have a shrewd suspicion that their knowledge extends no farther than what has been gathered from a hand-book .