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Article A CENTURY OF FREEMASONRY* ← Page 4 of 15 →
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A Century Of Freemasonry*
The inducement of referring Masonry to so important an era as that of the Crusades , and so directly connecting the Fraternity with all that is clear to the mind of the Christian , whether Romish or Protestant , Avas very great , ancl Ave find that it Avas soon made use of . * NOAV , if any connection be attempted to
be proven betiveen the Crusades ancl Freemasonry , it must necessarily fall to the ground , if it be considered for one moment that the Freemasons of that era were operatives , Avhose business was to build rather than fi ght for churches . Besides this , as Mahometans and Jews were not then or UOAV excluded from the Fraternity , any defence of the reli gion of Western Europe by
Occidental Christian Freemasons would have led to dissensions betAveen their body ancl the Orient , in which case Ave should probably have seen an Oriental form of Masonry established , had it been possible for Masons , whose fundamental doctrines forbid all political movements , to have combined with such a political body as the Knights of St . John . The interests of the latter body Avere staked in the issue of the Crusades , AA * hile
those of Masonry never were . f We will not dwell upon the oration of Ramsay , the statements concerning which could scarcel y be sifted without much labour and more materials than are at present in our possession . We will rather pass on to the subject of reform , which was now beginning to be agitated . Persons of doubtful or unhappy
character were beginning to be admitted to the Lodges of Paris , ancl very reprehensible as these initiations were , they eould not be avoided , although it was seen , that they not only brought the Fraternity to a low state-by neglect in respect of the work , but stamped it as a society where bad characters might , if they chose to study , become expert ( though never
good ) Masons . It is indeed a bad time for any institution , when its serious obligations and intentions are forgotten , or ivittingly slurred over for the more pleasant duties of refreshment ancl recreation . Expressly as the institutions of the Society provide against such casualties , IIOAV often have they been trangressed in the case of this or that person , for the sole reason J that " he was such good company ! "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Century Of Freemasonry*
The inducement of referring Masonry to so important an era as that of the Crusades , and so directly connecting the Fraternity with all that is clear to the mind of the Christian , whether Romish or Protestant , Avas very great , ancl Ave find that it Avas soon made use of . * NOAV , if any connection be attempted to
be proven betiveen the Crusades ancl Freemasonry , it must necessarily fall to the ground , if it be considered for one moment that the Freemasons of that era were operatives , Avhose business was to build rather than fi ght for churches . Besides this , as Mahometans and Jews were not then or UOAV excluded from the Fraternity , any defence of the reli gion of Western Europe by
Occidental Christian Freemasons would have led to dissensions betAveen their body ancl the Orient , in which case Ave should probably have seen an Oriental form of Masonry established , had it been possible for Masons , whose fundamental doctrines forbid all political movements , to have combined with such a political body as the Knights of St . John . The interests of the latter body Avere staked in the issue of the Crusades , AA * hile
those of Masonry never were . f We will not dwell upon the oration of Ramsay , the statements concerning which could scarcel y be sifted without much labour and more materials than are at present in our possession . We will rather pass on to the subject of reform , which was now beginning to be agitated . Persons of doubtful or unhappy
character were beginning to be admitted to the Lodges of Paris , ancl very reprehensible as these initiations were , they eould not be avoided , although it was seen , that they not only brought the Fraternity to a low state-by neglect in respect of the work , but stamped it as a society where bad characters might , if they chose to study , become expert ( though never
good ) Masons . It is indeed a bad time for any institution , when its serious obligations and intentions are forgotten , or ivittingly slurred over for the more pleasant duties of refreshment ancl recreation . Expressly as the institutions of the Society provide against such casualties , IIOAV often have they been trangressed in the case of this or that person , for the sole reason J that " he was such good company ! "