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Article SYMBOL OF GLORY* Page 1 of 11 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Symbol Of Glory*
SYMBOL OF GLORY *
THERE must bo a rooted vigour and an inexpugnable vitality in that institution , if such there bo , which has defied the rudest shocks of time ancl change , the slow decay of wasting centuries , the decadence of nations , the subversion of dynasties , the ' earthquakes of revolutionary usurpations , tho dark jealousy of despotisms , the gloomy intolerance of official religionsthe assaults of barbarism and
, ignorance ; outliving all successive religious , political , and social transformations ; commanding all times , and ( to use a strong Germanism ) , anticipating " all possible futures " as from the serene and sublime height of an IDEA , imperishable as tho hopes and destinies of humanity . Is there an institution at once eclectic and universal , in which all
tho earliest types of man ' s ceaseless yearning towards the infinite of perfect happiness and beauty , all the simplest elements of his faith and wonder veiled in the mysteries of ancient symbols , and thence emerging into the light and freedom of a purer and more perfect spiritualism , are traditionally mirrored 1 This is our Order . The origin of Freemasonry , as a distinct brotherhood , is lost indeed in the night of ages . It is more difficult , however , to tell
when it was not , than when it first began to be . To say that it arose in the East is merely to assert extreme antiquity . "We find its alphabet in the records of the first mythologies ; we pursue its emblems on the walls of Assyrian temples ; we recognise its symbols on the mysteries of Egyptian Isis , and in the religious festivals of the Greek Eleusis . The old philosophy was not a stranger to its tenets . OiSeis dyemperpnTos is in the highest sense a truly
Masonic motto . There are those who claim the son of Zillah , the first artificer in brass and iron , for the first Master Mason . In fact , if we only ' trace the Masonic pedigree back far enough with the eye of faith , we shall find ( on the principle that at one time or other everybody has been related to everybody else ) , the whole antideluvian world a family of Freemasons . Pleasantry apart , it is well that
the Order should have its patient and pious archaeologists to trace its historical and traditionary landmarks ; but it is better not to neglect the living spirit for the dead letter . It is at least a fundamental article of our faith , that the wisest of kings and men was the Grand Master from whom we arc content to date , if wc may so speak , our constitutional history . But we do not propose to pursue
this path of investigation , so ably marked out by the indefatigable researches of the amiable and learned author of "The Symbol of Glory . " To his works we earnestly commend all really inquiring
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Symbol Of Glory*
SYMBOL OF GLORY *
THERE must bo a rooted vigour and an inexpugnable vitality in that institution , if such there bo , which has defied the rudest shocks of time ancl change , the slow decay of wasting centuries , the decadence of nations , the subversion of dynasties , the ' earthquakes of revolutionary usurpations , tho dark jealousy of despotisms , the gloomy intolerance of official religionsthe assaults of barbarism and
, ignorance ; outliving all successive religious , political , and social transformations ; commanding all times , and ( to use a strong Germanism ) , anticipating " all possible futures " as from the serene and sublime height of an IDEA , imperishable as tho hopes and destinies of humanity . Is there an institution at once eclectic and universal , in which all
tho earliest types of man ' s ceaseless yearning towards the infinite of perfect happiness and beauty , all the simplest elements of his faith and wonder veiled in the mysteries of ancient symbols , and thence emerging into the light and freedom of a purer and more perfect spiritualism , are traditionally mirrored 1 This is our Order . The origin of Freemasonry , as a distinct brotherhood , is lost indeed in the night of ages . It is more difficult , however , to tell
when it was not , than when it first began to be . To say that it arose in the East is merely to assert extreme antiquity . "We find its alphabet in the records of the first mythologies ; we pursue its emblems on the walls of Assyrian temples ; we recognise its symbols on the mysteries of Egyptian Isis , and in the religious festivals of the Greek Eleusis . The old philosophy was not a stranger to its tenets . OiSeis dyemperpnTos is in the highest sense a truly
Masonic motto . There are those who claim the son of Zillah , the first artificer in brass and iron , for the first Master Mason . In fact , if we only ' trace the Masonic pedigree back far enough with the eye of faith , we shall find ( on the principle that at one time or other everybody has been related to everybody else ) , the whole antideluvian world a family of Freemasons . Pleasantry apart , it is well that
the Order should have its patient and pious archaeologists to trace its historical and traditionary landmarks ; but it is better not to neglect the living spirit for the dead letter . It is at least a fundamental article of our faith , that the wisest of kings and men was the Grand Master from whom we arc content to date , if wc may so speak , our constitutional history . But we do not propose to pursue
this path of investigation , so ably marked out by the indefatigable researches of the amiable and learned author of "The Symbol of Glory . " To his works we earnestly commend all really inquiring