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Article PROVINCIAL. ← Page 9 of 21 →
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Provincial.
Light ? They were traditions of the Creation and Deluge ; the unity and trinity of the deity and a future state ; with the doctrine of a mediator who should bruise the serpent ' s head , and atone for the sins of man by a voluntary sacrifice . All of which were obscurely conveyed in the Spurious Freemasonry of ancient times . Here then we have an exemplification of that great Masonic truth , that the Deity , from the creation of the worldnever left himself without a witness amongst men
, . Still they continued to propagate their system of mythological Masonry , with its train of hieroglyphical symbols , far and wide . With a reckless disregard of consequences , you will be surprised to hear me say , in the active pursuit of astronomical speculations ; when the hierophants of Egypt arranged the stars into asterisms ; they painted the history of initiation in legible characters on the concave vault of heaven , as a monument which could never be obliterated . This may be considered
a bold assertion . It is novel , it is original ; but I am persuaded it is true . I am persuaded that the constellations which have been placed in the southern hemisphere , contain a pictorial representation of the process of initiation into the spurious Freemasonry ; and the grounds on which my opinion is founded will be considered at large in the next number of our Quarterly Review . Thus the true and the spurious Freemasonrylike two parallel lines
, , progressed , without any material collision , until that remarkable epoch in our history , when Operative and Speculative Masonry were permanently re-united at the building of King Solomon ' s Temple . It may be unnecessary to add that at this period an arrangement of discipline was agreed on by the Grand Masters of each separate division ; which still continues to animate our proceedings , and interest our hearts . From this time Masons were accounted Free and Accepted ; the Science became
a tangible reality ; modified in its forms , and consistent in its principles ; blending morality and science in one beautiful tissue of gold and silver threads , to advance human happiness to its highest pitch , and in the end to crown it with glory and immortality .
Our Order is designed To expand the human heart , and bless mankind Wisdom herself contrived the mystic frame ; Strength to support , to adorn it Beauty came . We ' re taught , with ever grateful hearts , t ' adore The God of all , the universal power .
The prevalence of these great principles has elevated Freemasonry in our times to its legitimate rank amongst human institutions ; and in all the nations of the earth , monarchs are its patrons ; and its Lodges are crowded with the noblest and the best in the walks of learning and of science . And richl y does it merit such a distinction . Let its principles be philosophically analysed ; its excellence as a moral and scientific institution be impartially considered , and the inevitable conclusion will
be , that , as a source of amusement blended with sound instruction , its equal , humanly speaking , does not at present exist on the face of the habitable globe . It is unfortunate for Masonry that these results do not always appear . And wh y do they not ? Because many are initiated into its mysteries , who give themselves no further trouble about the matter;—they are satisfied with a few signs and tokens , which are but the trinkets of the Order , and never enquire into their use or moral tendency . To such
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Provincial.
Light ? They were traditions of the Creation and Deluge ; the unity and trinity of the deity and a future state ; with the doctrine of a mediator who should bruise the serpent ' s head , and atone for the sins of man by a voluntary sacrifice . All of which were obscurely conveyed in the Spurious Freemasonry of ancient times . Here then we have an exemplification of that great Masonic truth , that the Deity , from the creation of the worldnever left himself without a witness amongst men
, . Still they continued to propagate their system of mythological Masonry , with its train of hieroglyphical symbols , far and wide . With a reckless disregard of consequences , you will be surprised to hear me say , in the active pursuit of astronomical speculations ; when the hierophants of Egypt arranged the stars into asterisms ; they painted the history of initiation in legible characters on the concave vault of heaven , as a monument which could never be obliterated . This may be considered
a bold assertion . It is novel , it is original ; but I am persuaded it is true . I am persuaded that the constellations which have been placed in the southern hemisphere , contain a pictorial representation of the process of initiation into the spurious Freemasonry ; and the grounds on which my opinion is founded will be considered at large in the next number of our Quarterly Review . Thus the true and the spurious Freemasonrylike two parallel lines
, , progressed , without any material collision , until that remarkable epoch in our history , when Operative and Speculative Masonry were permanently re-united at the building of King Solomon ' s Temple . It may be unnecessary to add that at this period an arrangement of discipline was agreed on by the Grand Masters of each separate division ; which still continues to animate our proceedings , and interest our hearts . From this time Masons were accounted Free and Accepted ; the Science became
a tangible reality ; modified in its forms , and consistent in its principles ; blending morality and science in one beautiful tissue of gold and silver threads , to advance human happiness to its highest pitch , and in the end to crown it with glory and immortality .
Our Order is designed To expand the human heart , and bless mankind Wisdom herself contrived the mystic frame ; Strength to support , to adorn it Beauty came . We ' re taught , with ever grateful hearts , t ' adore The God of all , the universal power .
The prevalence of these great principles has elevated Freemasonry in our times to its legitimate rank amongst human institutions ; and in all the nations of the earth , monarchs are its patrons ; and its Lodges are crowded with the noblest and the best in the walks of learning and of science . And richl y does it merit such a distinction . Let its principles be philosophically analysed ; its excellence as a moral and scientific institution be impartially considered , and the inevitable conclusion will
be , that , as a source of amusement blended with sound instruction , its equal , humanly speaking , does not at present exist on the face of the habitable globe . It is unfortunate for Masonry that these results do not always appear . And wh y do they not ? Because many are initiated into its mysteries , who give themselves no further trouble about the matter;—they are satisfied with a few signs and tokens , which are but the trinkets of the Order , and never enquire into their use or moral tendency . To such