Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Historical Account Of Master And Free Masons.
in those Avhich have been preserved to the present day , constitutes their true praise , Only let us reflect , upon a comparison with the present A'alue of money , Avhat an expenditure would be necessary to complete even the least considerable of them ! Funds always accumulating , Avere dedicated solely
to those purposes , with a perseverance , and to an extent , of which Ave can recognize uo other example . It would be invidious to attribute the only cause to their superfluous A \* ealth . But the honour due to the oriinal
g founders of these edifices is almost invariably transferred to the ecclesiastics under Avhose patronage they rose , rather than to the skill and design of the master-mason , or professional architect , because the only historians Avere monks . The masons
rejected history , as their system allowed oral tradition only ; and it is from their contracts , or epitaphs , that we can rescue any individual name . That the ori ginal plan , or the details of it , Avas often suggested by one of the more ingenious of the
ecclesiastics , cannot be candidly doubted ; but that in more instances the mastermason had the exclusive execution , is not less an approved fact . In the earliest sera of the masonic
establishment , a geometrical figure , or canon Avas adopted in all sacred buildings , Avhich had an import hid from tbe vulgar . As it had a decided reference to the Christian religion , it might haA * e been invented b y the Church ; but it has likewise an equal
analogy with other mysteries professed b y the first societies " of masons . " This hieroglypbical device was styled Vesica Piscis . * " It may be traced from the church of St . John Lateran , and Old St . Peter ' s at Rometo the church of Bath
, , one of the latest Gothic buildings of any consequence in England . It was formed by two equal circles , cutting each other in their centres , and was held in high veneration , having been invariably adopted by master-masons in all countries . In
bas-reliefs , Avhich are seen in the most ancient churches , over doorways , it usually circumscribes the figure of Our Saviour . " It Avas , indeed , a princip le Avhich pervaded every building dedicated to the Christian religion . But this fact alloAved" it has
, been exclusively attributed to a knowledge of Euclid , ancl necessarily involves the construction of the pointed arch . The early architects Avere certainly not ignorant of Euclid ' s works , Avhich bad been translated from Greek into Latin , by Boethius .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Historical Account Of Master And Free Masons.
in those Avhich have been preserved to the present day , constitutes their true praise , Only let us reflect , upon a comparison with the present A'alue of money , Avhat an expenditure would be necessary to complete even the least considerable of them ! Funds always accumulating , Avere dedicated solely
to those purposes , with a perseverance , and to an extent , of which Ave can recognize uo other example . It would be invidious to attribute the only cause to their superfluous A \* ealth . But the honour due to the oriinal
g founders of these edifices is almost invariably transferred to the ecclesiastics under Avhose patronage they rose , rather than to the skill and design of the master-mason , or professional architect , because the only historians Avere monks . The masons
rejected history , as their system allowed oral tradition only ; and it is from their contracts , or epitaphs , that we can rescue any individual name . That the ori ginal plan , or the details of it , Avas often suggested by one of the more ingenious of the
ecclesiastics , cannot be candidly doubted ; but that in more instances the mastermason had the exclusive execution , is not less an approved fact . In the earliest sera of the masonic
establishment , a geometrical figure , or canon Avas adopted in all sacred buildings , Avhich had an import hid from tbe vulgar . As it had a decided reference to the Christian religion , it might haA * e been invented b y the Church ; but it has likewise an equal
analogy with other mysteries professed b y the first societies " of masons . " This hieroglypbical device was styled Vesica Piscis . * " It may be traced from the church of St . John Lateran , and Old St . Peter ' s at Rometo the church of Bath
, , one of the latest Gothic buildings of any consequence in England . It was formed by two equal circles , cutting each other in their centres , and was held in high veneration , having been invariably adopted by master-masons in all countries . In
bas-reliefs , Avhich are seen in the most ancient churches , over doorways , it usually circumscribes the figure of Our Saviour . " It Avas , indeed , a princip le Avhich pervaded every building dedicated to the Christian religion . But this fact alloAved" it has
, been exclusively attributed to a knowledge of Euclid , ancl necessarily involves the construction of the pointed arch . The early architects Avere certainly not ignorant of Euclid ' s works , Avhich bad been translated from Greek into Latin , by Boethius .