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Article THE REVELATIONS OF A SQUARE. ← Page 8 of 14 →
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The Revelations Of A Square.
was not onl y the representative of WISDOM , but had also the advantages of stud y and experience . The subject was repeatedl y discussed in our Lodges , and I have heard the opinions of every Mason during the 18 th century who held any authority in the Craft , and they all agreed in the above interpretation of the connexion between Freemasonry and
the reli gion in which all men agree . " During the Mastershi p of Dr . Manningham , the great gun of the opponents of Masonry , called Jachin and Boaz , made its appearance ; and passed through numerous editions . Its success stimulated other speculators to follow in the same track , and spurious rituals flooded the
community like an inundation . The number of competitors in the field served to neutralize each others claims on public credence . They differed on many material points , and therefore the conclusion to which the public very naturall y came was , that if any one of them was true , all the rest must necessaril y be false , and as none knew whether any ,
or which , was the real Simon Pure , it followed that all mi g ht be fabrications to impose on the credulous reader absurd ceremonials and fictitious secrets , for the base purpose of putting a few pounds into their own pockets . " This was the argument used ' b y Dr . Manningham to induce the Brethren to treat these furtive attempts with
silent neglect . ' I should like to know , ' he said one evening , when the matter was under consideration in the Lodge , ' I should like to know the real object of those who read these compilations . If they were really desirous of becoming acquainted with the secrets of Masonry , our Lodge are at hand ; no man of character and purity of motive is
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Revelations Of A Square.
was not onl y the representative of WISDOM , but had also the advantages of stud y and experience . The subject was repeatedl y discussed in our Lodges , and I have heard the opinions of every Mason during the 18 th century who held any authority in the Craft , and they all agreed in the above interpretation of the connexion between Freemasonry and
the reli gion in which all men agree . " During the Mastershi p of Dr . Manningham , the great gun of the opponents of Masonry , called Jachin and Boaz , made its appearance ; and passed through numerous editions . Its success stimulated other speculators to follow in the same track , and spurious rituals flooded the
community like an inundation . The number of competitors in the field served to neutralize each others claims on public credence . They differed on many material points , and therefore the conclusion to which the public very naturall y came was , that if any one of them was true , all the rest must necessaril y be false , and as none knew whether any ,
or which , was the real Simon Pure , it followed that all mi g ht be fabrications to impose on the credulous reader absurd ceremonials and fictitious secrets , for the base purpose of putting a few pounds into their own pockets . " This was the argument used ' b y Dr . Manningham to induce the Brethren to treat these furtive attempts with
silent neglect . ' I should like to know , ' he said one evening , when the matter was under consideration in the Lodge , ' I should like to know the real object of those who read these compilations . If they were really desirous of becoming acquainted with the secrets of Masonry , our Lodge are at hand ; no man of character and purity of motive is