Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Liberorum Latomorum Primordia Et Recentiora Vera.
record , that have filled the minds and exercised the pens of very learned men , and very excellent Masons , have originated entirely in a want of distinguishing between operative and speculative Masonry ; in confounding the working stonemason , the real builder of our palaces and cathedrals , with the merely ( to
use the best title ) moral Mason , whose buildings are edifices not reared with hands , whose materials are the subjugated passions of the soul , and whose operations are the kindliest virtues of humanity . The moral Mason builds his temple in the human breast , and , as the angel Gabriel wrung out of Mahomet's heart the black drop by which it was taintedso he
, removes thence all obstruction of evil to his work , founds his structure on truth , and supports it with the pillars of intelligence to find the right , and of fortitude to uphold it . The altar at which he worships is good-Avill to all men , and fellowship to the brethren . The lights that guide him are reason and justiceand his materials are cemented by charityas the
, , entire edifice is sustained through countless ages by union . There can be no doubt but that from the most remote periods the operative masons formed themselves into guilds , or confraternities ; for the stonemason requires , perhaps more than any other handicraft , the union of numbers ; and Pope , I think it is , who tells us , —
" A fellow-feeling makes us wondrous kind . " It would therefore be but natural that those AA'hose working operations brought them into daily contact , should form themselves into societies with community of interests beyond the mere requirements of their daily callings . Such must have been , undoubtedly , those corporations of Masons to whom our constitutions so confidently refer . And that this idea is participated in by M . Ragon to the full , may be seen from the translation of a passage at p . 25 : —
" It is uninitiated writers who , after the revival of the Order , towards the end of the seventeenth century , have given to these confraternities of practical Masons , an importance at variance with their profession . These unlucky authors were succeeded by others , who , disdaining the light of the times , which marches forward and enlightens , have , even in our days , imitated the same errors , and have marched , notwithstanding the light , in the same darkness , and they continue to take the labours of masonry for
Masonic labours ( de prendre de maeonnerie pour des travaux Magonniques ) . All the ordinances which accord privileges to these confraternities , confirm our position . Consult the constitution of 926 , submitted to King Edwin , and approved by the representatives of the working corporations of the kingdom , who founded at York the head seat of working Masons . We find in it no regulations adapted to a philosophic society . " We believe this view is not general in England , and may
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Liberorum Latomorum Primordia Et Recentiora Vera.
record , that have filled the minds and exercised the pens of very learned men , and very excellent Masons , have originated entirely in a want of distinguishing between operative and speculative Masonry ; in confounding the working stonemason , the real builder of our palaces and cathedrals , with the merely ( to
use the best title ) moral Mason , whose buildings are edifices not reared with hands , whose materials are the subjugated passions of the soul , and whose operations are the kindliest virtues of humanity . The moral Mason builds his temple in the human breast , and , as the angel Gabriel wrung out of Mahomet's heart the black drop by which it was taintedso he
, removes thence all obstruction of evil to his work , founds his structure on truth , and supports it with the pillars of intelligence to find the right , and of fortitude to uphold it . The altar at which he worships is good-Avill to all men , and fellowship to the brethren . The lights that guide him are reason and justiceand his materials are cemented by charityas the
, , entire edifice is sustained through countless ages by union . There can be no doubt but that from the most remote periods the operative masons formed themselves into guilds , or confraternities ; for the stonemason requires , perhaps more than any other handicraft , the union of numbers ; and Pope , I think it is , who tells us , —
" A fellow-feeling makes us wondrous kind . " It would therefore be but natural that those AA'hose working operations brought them into daily contact , should form themselves into societies with community of interests beyond the mere requirements of their daily callings . Such must have been , undoubtedly , those corporations of Masons to whom our constitutions so confidently refer . And that this idea is participated in by M . Ragon to the full , may be seen from the translation of a passage at p . 25 : —
" It is uninitiated writers who , after the revival of the Order , towards the end of the seventeenth century , have given to these confraternities of practical Masons , an importance at variance with their profession . These unlucky authors were succeeded by others , who , disdaining the light of the times , which marches forward and enlightens , have , even in our days , imitated the same errors , and have marched , notwithstanding the light , in the same darkness , and they continue to take the labours of masonry for
Masonic labours ( de prendre de maeonnerie pour des travaux Magonniques ) . All the ordinances which accord privileges to these confraternities , confirm our position . Consult the constitution of 926 , submitted to King Edwin , and approved by the representatives of the working corporations of the kingdom , who founded at York the head seat of working Masons . We find in it no regulations adapted to a philosophic society . " We believe this view is not general in England , and may