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  • The Masonic Magazine
  • Jan. 1, 1875
  • Page 15
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The Masonic Magazine, Jan. 1, 1875: Page 15

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    Article SAVED FROM PRISON. ← Page 4 of 4
    Article THE SOLOMONIC ORIGIN OF FREEMASONRY. Page 1 of 2 →
Page 15

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Saved From Prison.

action during a battle fought somewhere in Virginia . As a lawyer , he was eminent ; as a friend , warm-hearted and true ; as a man and Mason , none excelled him . Dr . William Quail was surgeon to Col . Black ' s regiment in the Mexican warand

, for many years was an active member and an officer of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania . Like Bro . Black , he was held in high esteem by all who knew him . All honour to them both . —Masonic Review .

The Solomonic Origin Of Freemasonry.

THE SOLOMONIC ORIGIN OF FREEMASONRY .

( 'Continued from page 190 ., ) Among these legends , one of the most important is that which finds the actual , historical origin of our Order in the Temple of Solomon . Of all the mythical

narratives connected with the history of Freemasonry , this is the one which it will be the most difficult to eradicate , because it is the most intimately connected , from beginning to end , with the entire system of Masonic symbolism .

Forty years ago , Chemin Dupontes , one of the most philosophical of the French Masonic writers , had said : "The opinion which supposes that we are the direct descendants of the workmen at the Temple of Solomon is one which I shall presume to call superstitious and vulgar ; and yet it is taught in many Masonic works , in poems

which are not destitute of merit , and is the ordinary text of the discourses of most of the orators of our lodges . It may , in fact , be called the conventional error of Freemasonry . " He rejects the theory , of course , and recalls to mind that there were other associations with which the idea uf a

temple was familiar . Thus , the knights of the Middle Ages called the institution of chivalry a " Temple of Honour , " and he mentions one society in particular , which existed at Rennes , in France , in 1784 and which was named the " Temple

, of the Country , " a society consisting of many of the nobility and men of letters of the province . The object of the society may be best gathered from the inscri ption placed in front of the presiding officer : " Here God is served without hypocrisy ,

the King without venality , and the country without ambition . " In all of these , and similar instances , the temple , says Dupontes , was but a figure , and so it is with us ; and he therefore expresses his surprise that modern Masonic books should so seriously enter into the complex details , and

repeat so many mystical stories on the subject of the material construction of the Temple at Jerusalem . In the four decades that have passed since the French philosopher wrote these words , the sentiment which they express

has been gradually but perceptibly gaining strength . And now it is scarcely to be doubted that no Masonic scholar of any reputation would risk that reputation by a serious attempt to defend the Solomonic theory of the origin of Freemasonry .

And yet there has been and there can be no abandonment of the Temple legend . It is still retained , and must ever be retained , in the ritual . It is and must ever be referred to as the most important , the most philosophical , and the most attractive source of our system of symbolism . The historical and the mythical elements of Freemasonry are so intimately connected ,

so closely interwoven with each other , that the one is essentially necessary to the other , and both are required to make up the complete and perfect whole that makes Masonry what it is and always has been . They are like the Siamese twins , into the connecting cord of whom so much of the

vital organization of each had entered that there could be no separation without imminent , and indeed positive , death to each . Then , as regards Freemasonry , the Temple of Solomon is a myth and not a history . To claim that the formerwith its present

, organization , with its lodges , and its degrees , comes in a direct , uninterrupted , and unchanged descent from the latter , is to claim what cannot be proved , and which , if not impossible , is at least so imjn-obable and so contrary to the current of historical

evidence , as to be unworthy of serious discussion . To the Mason the Temple of Solomon is a spiritual idea , and as such it forms an indispensable part of his system . The Freemasonry of the present day is built on the symbolic idea of that great

Temple which , of all the relig ious edifices of the ancient world , was the only one that was dedicated to the worship of the true God .

“The Masonic Magazine: 1875-01-01, Page 15” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 23 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmg/issues/mmg_01011875/page/15/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
Monthly Masonic Summary. Article 2
OUR MASONIC MSS. Article 3
LUCY MATILDA JANE. Article 3
MASONIC SONG. Article 7
TWO SIDES OF LIFE. Article 7
WAS THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON A FREEMASON? Article 7
SAVED FROM PRISON. Article 12
THE SOLOMONIC ORIGIN OF FREEMASONRY. Article 15
THREE THINGS. Article 16
MASONIC UNITY. Article 17
THE LITTLE RIFT WITHIN THE LUTE. Article 18
TRUST IN GOD AND DO THE RIGHT. Article 21
THE SPIRIT OF FREEMASONRY. Article 22
GRAND PRIORY OF CANADA. Article 24
THE THREE STEPS. Article 29
ROMAN CATHOLIC PERSECUTION OF FREEMASONS. Article 29
IMMORTALITY. Article 31
Chippings. Article 32
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Saved From Prison.

action during a battle fought somewhere in Virginia . As a lawyer , he was eminent ; as a friend , warm-hearted and true ; as a man and Mason , none excelled him . Dr . William Quail was surgeon to Col . Black ' s regiment in the Mexican warand

, for many years was an active member and an officer of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania . Like Bro . Black , he was held in high esteem by all who knew him . All honour to them both . —Masonic Review .

The Solomonic Origin Of Freemasonry.

THE SOLOMONIC ORIGIN OF FREEMASONRY .

( 'Continued from page 190 ., ) Among these legends , one of the most important is that which finds the actual , historical origin of our Order in the Temple of Solomon . Of all the mythical

narratives connected with the history of Freemasonry , this is the one which it will be the most difficult to eradicate , because it is the most intimately connected , from beginning to end , with the entire system of Masonic symbolism .

Forty years ago , Chemin Dupontes , one of the most philosophical of the French Masonic writers , had said : "The opinion which supposes that we are the direct descendants of the workmen at the Temple of Solomon is one which I shall presume to call superstitious and vulgar ; and yet it is taught in many Masonic works , in poems

which are not destitute of merit , and is the ordinary text of the discourses of most of the orators of our lodges . It may , in fact , be called the conventional error of Freemasonry . " He rejects the theory , of course , and recalls to mind that there were other associations with which the idea uf a

temple was familiar . Thus , the knights of the Middle Ages called the institution of chivalry a " Temple of Honour , " and he mentions one society in particular , which existed at Rennes , in France , in 1784 and which was named the " Temple

, of the Country , " a society consisting of many of the nobility and men of letters of the province . The object of the society may be best gathered from the inscri ption placed in front of the presiding officer : " Here God is served without hypocrisy ,

the King without venality , and the country without ambition . " In all of these , and similar instances , the temple , says Dupontes , was but a figure , and so it is with us ; and he therefore expresses his surprise that modern Masonic books should so seriously enter into the complex details , and

repeat so many mystical stories on the subject of the material construction of the Temple at Jerusalem . In the four decades that have passed since the French philosopher wrote these words , the sentiment which they express

has been gradually but perceptibly gaining strength . And now it is scarcely to be doubted that no Masonic scholar of any reputation would risk that reputation by a serious attempt to defend the Solomonic theory of the origin of Freemasonry .

And yet there has been and there can be no abandonment of the Temple legend . It is still retained , and must ever be retained , in the ritual . It is and must ever be referred to as the most important , the most philosophical , and the most attractive source of our system of symbolism . The historical and the mythical elements of Freemasonry are so intimately connected ,

so closely interwoven with each other , that the one is essentially necessary to the other , and both are required to make up the complete and perfect whole that makes Masonry what it is and always has been . They are like the Siamese twins , into the connecting cord of whom so much of the

vital organization of each had entered that there could be no separation without imminent , and indeed positive , death to each . Then , as regards Freemasonry , the Temple of Solomon is a myth and not a history . To claim that the formerwith its present

, organization , with its lodges , and its degrees , comes in a direct , uninterrupted , and unchanged descent from the latter , is to claim what cannot be proved , and which , if not impossible , is at least so imjn-obable and so contrary to the current of historical

evidence , as to be unworthy of serious discussion . To the Mason the Temple of Solomon is a spiritual idea , and as such it forms an indispensable part of his system . The Freemasonry of the present day is built on the symbolic idea of that great

Temple which , of all the relig ious edifices of the ancient world , was the only one that was dedicated to the worship of the true God .

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