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Article ANCIENT WRITERS AND MODERN PRACTICES. ← Page 3 of 9 →
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Ancient Writers And Modern Practices.
from the mysteries : as every governor has it at his option to make himself fully acquainted with them , by procuring his own admission into the society ; and it is this fact which , in most countries , has reconciled governments , however opposed to them , to Masonic societies ; for to . whatever political purposes other societies have been
applied , this , at least , has never been the case with Free-Masonry . Princes and prelates have at various times made themselves Brothers of the Order as the condition of admission to the mysteries ; and , think what they would of these my steries in other respects , he admits that they found nothing in them which could justify any hostility on the part of the state . Next : " These Orders have a general system of
signs ( e-g ., that of recognition ) , usages , symbols , myths , and festivals . " Granted , every word of it ( we suppose that " myth" means traditions , and our whole ritual , it is well known , is traditional ) , but we must rather demur to the next statement , viz ^ , that a part of our ritual and " mythology '' is known to the p uMic , This we emphatically deny , with the exception of that one portion of our ceremonies , which
we ourselves print , viz ., the charges at initiation . It is doubtless strange that any secrets should have remained so long undivulged , though in the possession of so large a body of men , in which , of course ( for no society is without its black sheep ) , bad and unprincipled men have been mingled with men of rectitude and honour ; but , to quote a short paragraph from Dr . Oliver ' s " Book of the Lodges" as correctly as we can from memory , for the work is not before us .
" Masonic secrecy , says Brother Blanchard , a learned Transatlantic Mason , ' is a mysterious thing : it has never been divulged . The most tattling man , if he be a Mason , never tells ; mad , drunk , or crazy , he never tells ; does he talk in his sleep—it is not about Masonry . In a word ,
discipline , expel , imprison , torture him—lie may sink under the infliction , but —he never tells . ' ' And , ' say our enemies and cavillers generally , 'it is because he can't ; there is nothing to tell . If this be the case , how do we always recognise each other with such ease ? 'Oh ! that ' s only the sign or the word / Very well , then , there ' s that to tell , and it has never come out yet . "
"While we are on this subject of Masonic secrecy ( mind—not mystery ) , we may as well mention another very common objection brought against our Order , —viz ., if this secret has any good in it , any benefit to confer on those to whom it is known , wily restrict it to a few—why not publish it to the world , and let all mankind share the benefit ? A simple answer to this objection is , that if made thus public , bad men as well" as good men would share it ; and though , as
we above observed , we do not deny that we have had , and may now have for all we know , some black sheep among us , yet we wish as far as possible to restrict it to good men ; and if any good and upright man likes to come among us and be put in possession of those signs , & c , in the same way in which we ourselves were intrusted with them , we are glad to welcome him—if not , he can let it alone , and has no business to blatne us .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ancient Writers And Modern Practices.
from the mysteries : as every governor has it at his option to make himself fully acquainted with them , by procuring his own admission into the society ; and it is this fact which , in most countries , has reconciled governments , however opposed to them , to Masonic societies ; for to . whatever political purposes other societies have been
applied , this , at least , has never been the case with Free-Masonry . Princes and prelates have at various times made themselves Brothers of the Order as the condition of admission to the mysteries ; and , think what they would of these my steries in other respects , he admits that they found nothing in them which could justify any hostility on the part of the state . Next : " These Orders have a general system of
signs ( e-g ., that of recognition ) , usages , symbols , myths , and festivals . " Granted , every word of it ( we suppose that " myth" means traditions , and our whole ritual , it is well known , is traditional ) , but we must rather demur to the next statement , viz ^ , that a part of our ritual and " mythology '' is known to the p uMic , This we emphatically deny , with the exception of that one portion of our ceremonies , which
we ourselves print , viz ., the charges at initiation . It is doubtless strange that any secrets should have remained so long undivulged , though in the possession of so large a body of men , in which , of course ( for no society is without its black sheep ) , bad and unprincipled men have been mingled with men of rectitude and honour ; but , to quote a short paragraph from Dr . Oliver ' s " Book of the Lodges" as correctly as we can from memory , for the work is not before us .
" Masonic secrecy , says Brother Blanchard , a learned Transatlantic Mason , ' is a mysterious thing : it has never been divulged . The most tattling man , if he be a Mason , never tells ; mad , drunk , or crazy , he never tells ; does he talk in his sleep—it is not about Masonry . In a word ,
discipline , expel , imprison , torture him—lie may sink under the infliction , but —he never tells . ' ' And , ' say our enemies and cavillers generally , 'it is because he can't ; there is nothing to tell . If this be the case , how do we always recognise each other with such ease ? 'Oh ! that ' s only the sign or the word / Very well , then , there ' s that to tell , and it has never come out yet . "
"While we are on this subject of Masonic secrecy ( mind—not mystery ) , we may as well mention another very common objection brought against our Order , —viz ., if this secret has any good in it , any benefit to confer on those to whom it is known , wily restrict it to a few—why not publish it to the world , and let all mankind share the benefit ? A simple answer to this objection is , that if made thus public , bad men as well" as good men would share it ; and though , as
we above observed , we do not deny that we have had , and may now have for all we know , some black sheep among us , yet we wish as far as possible to restrict it to good men ; and if any good and upright man likes to come among us and be put in possession of those signs , & c , in the same way in which we ourselves were intrusted with them , we are glad to welcome him—if not , he can let it alone , and has no business to blatne us .