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Article OLD ANTIQUITY. ← Page 4 of 7 →
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Old Antiquity.
the breasts of citizens of the United States causes those of them who are Freemasons to indulge in more public display than is consonant with the principles of a society which professes to have the exclusive custody of important secrets , and which conducts its business in strict privacy . But Freemasonry , like many other institutions , has its ranks , its degrees , and also its offshoots , and those parts of it which are least useful are the most demonstrative . One
addition to the ordinary degrees is that of the Kni ght Templars , being an attempt to carry on the tradition of the old foes of the Saracens and conquerors of the Holy Land . This degree is a favourite one in the United States , partly because the clothing is very showy and partly because all its members cease to be plain Jones , Brown , and Robinson , and become , for the time being , Sir Thomas JonesSir John Brownand Sir Joseph Robinson . It
, , is their custom to have an annual gathering- in some city , where they parade in public and march about with a mock military air . When the International Exhibition took place in Philadelphia in 1876 , the Knight Templars assembled there to the number of eight thousand , and proved themselves to be the most extraordinary sight which had been provided for the astonishment of the foreign visitors . In this country and in other European countries Freemasons
are seldom seen in public , and are not often the subjects of comment , except in a Papal Bull . Yet in Europe , as in America , they are neither few in number nor wanting in influence . A curious and interesting list might be compiled of the distinguished persons who have been Freemasons . Many men of note have been active members of the Order . The supposition that Cardinal Wolsey presided over a lodge may be classed among unauthenticated stories .
There is evidence in favour of Bacon being a Freemason , which every understanding reader can gather froni a perusal of his ' New Atlantis . ' An ingenious attempt has been made to prove that Shakespeare belonged to the Craft ; but , then , what is there that ShakesiDeare has not heen credited with
having done r Most of our countrymen of note during the last and the present century are known to have been Freemasons . In Prussia the Great Frederick was not only a Freemason , but was the head of the Order ; both the present German Emperor and the Crown Prince have followed the example set them by the illustrious consolidator of the Prussian realm . Germany numbers such men as Lessing , Herder , Fichte , and Goethe in the Masonic ranks . The latterlike his brother poet Burnsemployed his poetical talents
, , in celebrating the merits of the Order . Late in life Voltaire became a Freemason , and the majority of noteworthy Frenchmen since his clay have also been members of the fraternity . . It is supposed , not without reason , that the Masonic lodges were instrumental in fostering the First Revolution in France . Not long ago the Grand Lodges in this country and the United States severed their connexion with that of France , on the ground that the latter had expunged
from the formula of initiation the expression of belief in a Deity . Indeed , the French have always been disposed to practice Freemasonry after a fashion of their own . They even turn the lodge meeting to a very practical purposethat of promoting great engineering enterprises . M . Littre , being recently mentioned among those persons who deserved credit for setting on foot a scheme for piercing the Isthmus of Panamadeclared in explanation that the project
, had really been conceived in the Lodge of Clemente-Amitie , of which he became a member in 1875 . Should Freemasons' lodges add the furtherance of engineering to the practice of charity and good-fellowship , they will assuredl y become more important bodies than even their advocates have deemed possible . In dealing with the pretensions of Masonry it is necessary , indeed , to pass judgment in the dark . The general public cannot repose full confidence in a
secret society , whether , like that of the Freemasons , its objects are the practice of charity and the recognition of the personal equality anct mutual dependence of mankind , or whether , like that of the Jesuits , its aims are the advancement of the Church of Rome . Perhaps , if the Freemasons and the Jesuits disclosed
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Old Antiquity.
the breasts of citizens of the United States causes those of them who are Freemasons to indulge in more public display than is consonant with the principles of a society which professes to have the exclusive custody of important secrets , and which conducts its business in strict privacy . But Freemasonry , like many other institutions , has its ranks , its degrees , and also its offshoots , and those parts of it which are least useful are the most demonstrative . One
addition to the ordinary degrees is that of the Kni ght Templars , being an attempt to carry on the tradition of the old foes of the Saracens and conquerors of the Holy Land . This degree is a favourite one in the United States , partly because the clothing is very showy and partly because all its members cease to be plain Jones , Brown , and Robinson , and become , for the time being , Sir Thomas JonesSir John Brownand Sir Joseph Robinson . It
, , is their custom to have an annual gathering- in some city , where they parade in public and march about with a mock military air . When the International Exhibition took place in Philadelphia in 1876 , the Knight Templars assembled there to the number of eight thousand , and proved themselves to be the most extraordinary sight which had been provided for the astonishment of the foreign visitors . In this country and in other European countries Freemasons
are seldom seen in public , and are not often the subjects of comment , except in a Papal Bull . Yet in Europe , as in America , they are neither few in number nor wanting in influence . A curious and interesting list might be compiled of the distinguished persons who have been Freemasons . Many men of note have been active members of the Order . The supposition that Cardinal Wolsey presided over a lodge may be classed among unauthenticated stories .
There is evidence in favour of Bacon being a Freemason , which every understanding reader can gather froni a perusal of his ' New Atlantis . ' An ingenious attempt has been made to prove that Shakespeare belonged to the Craft ; but , then , what is there that ShakesiDeare has not heen credited with
having done r Most of our countrymen of note during the last and the present century are known to have been Freemasons . In Prussia the Great Frederick was not only a Freemason , but was the head of the Order ; both the present German Emperor and the Crown Prince have followed the example set them by the illustrious consolidator of the Prussian realm . Germany numbers such men as Lessing , Herder , Fichte , and Goethe in the Masonic ranks . The latterlike his brother poet Burnsemployed his poetical talents
, , in celebrating the merits of the Order . Late in life Voltaire became a Freemason , and the majority of noteworthy Frenchmen since his clay have also been members of the fraternity . . It is supposed , not without reason , that the Masonic lodges were instrumental in fostering the First Revolution in France . Not long ago the Grand Lodges in this country and the United States severed their connexion with that of France , on the ground that the latter had expunged
from the formula of initiation the expression of belief in a Deity . Indeed , the French have always been disposed to practice Freemasonry after a fashion of their own . They even turn the lodge meeting to a very practical purposethat of promoting great engineering enterprises . M . Littre , being recently mentioned among those persons who deserved credit for setting on foot a scheme for piercing the Isthmus of Panamadeclared in explanation that the project
, had really been conceived in the Lodge of Clemente-Amitie , of which he became a member in 1875 . Should Freemasons' lodges add the furtherance of engineering to the practice of charity and good-fellowship , they will assuredl y become more important bodies than even their advocates have deemed possible . In dealing with the pretensions of Masonry it is necessary , indeed , to pass judgment in the dark . The general public cannot repose full confidence in a
secret society , whether , like that of the Freemasons , its objects are the practice of charity and the recognition of the personal equality anct mutual dependence of mankind , or whether , like that of the Jesuits , its aims are the advancement of the Church of Rome . Perhaps , if the Freemasons and the Jesuits disclosed