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Article A LECTURE. Page 1 of 4 →
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A Lecture.
A LECTURE .
BY BRO . F . II . S . ORPEN , D . D . G . M . GRIQTJALAND . THE ceremonies of initiation became graduall y more and more elaborate , and soon required scientific aucl mechanical appliances for producing startlinoeffects upon the neophyte , and making an ineradicable impression upon his mind . Such appliances could not be constructed or fitted up by but those
any who understood their object , nor could they be used either in the open air or in buildings accessible to eavesdroppers . Temples , therefore , had to be constructed , which , in accordance with the policy of the hierarchy , were outwardl y and ostensibly intended for the worship which obtained among the multitude in the time and country , but whose elaborate recesses and ad yta must necessarilhave been constructed binitiated adeptsand as almost all the
y y ; great buildings of antiquity were temples , ' raised at a time when dwellings were constructed of so perishable a nature that few , if any , remains of them are now to be found , it naturally and necessarily followed that the names masons and architects became synonymous with adepts—the initiated or the
like , and these old builders had , like ourselves , their signs and tokens of mutual recognition . Such , my brethren , I believe to have been the ori gin of our Craft . It had no single fountain-head in any one country ; but , like language itself , it arose and developed itself spontaneously in various places ; and , in all , its distinctive characteristics were three in number . 1 . Its members believedbut divulged not to otherstheir belief in God
, , , the G . A . O . T . U ., and in a future state . 2 . They were all , more or less , conversant with the constructive arts , more especially with architecture . 3 . They conducted all their proceedings in secret , and had private means of mutual recognition . The ancient mysteries of E gypt , of India , of Greece , and of Rome were therefore
, I believe , identical with Freemasonry . They were , it is true , at times polluted and prostituted , for no human institution is free from such a liabilit y ; but , nevertheless , in all times their essence , when divested of their temporary coating of sensuality or superstition , was the same , and this essential rallying point of them all was monotheism and a belief in a life beyond the grave . K
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Lecture.
A LECTURE .
BY BRO . F . II . S . ORPEN , D . D . G . M . GRIQTJALAND . THE ceremonies of initiation became graduall y more and more elaborate , and soon required scientific aucl mechanical appliances for producing startlinoeffects upon the neophyte , and making an ineradicable impression upon his mind . Such appliances could not be constructed or fitted up by but those
any who understood their object , nor could they be used either in the open air or in buildings accessible to eavesdroppers . Temples , therefore , had to be constructed , which , in accordance with the policy of the hierarchy , were outwardl y and ostensibly intended for the worship which obtained among the multitude in the time and country , but whose elaborate recesses and ad yta must necessarilhave been constructed binitiated adeptsand as almost all the
y y ; great buildings of antiquity were temples , ' raised at a time when dwellings were constructed of so perishable a nature that few , if any , remains of them are now to be found , it naturally and necessarily followed that the names masons and architects became synonymous with adepts—the initiated or the
like , and these old builders had , like ourselves , their signs and tokens of mutual recognition . Such , my brethren , I believe to have been the ori gin of our Craft . It had no single fountain-head in any one country ; but , like language itself , it arose and developed itself spontaneously in various places ; and , in all , its distinctive characteristics were three in number . 1 . Its members believedbut divulged not to otherstheir belief in God
, , , the G . A . O . T . U ., and in a future state . 2 . They were all , more or less , conversant with the constructive arts , more especially with architecture . 3 . They conducted all their proceedings in secret , and had private means of mutual recognition . The ancient mysteries of E gypt , of India , of Greece , and of Rome were therefore
, I believe , identical with Freemasonry . They were , it is true , at times polluted and prostituted , for no human institution is free from such a liabilit y ; but , nevertheless , in all times their essence , when divested of their temporary coating of sensuality or superstition , was the same , and this essential rallying point of them all was monotheism and a belief in a life beyond the grave . K