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Article among their ranks were many learned eccl... ← Page 6 of 12 →
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Among Their Ranks Were Many Learned Eccl...
were seeking a country where the Masons were in the time of Solomon called into an association , and where some remains would certainly he found of the mysteries and wisdom of the ancieiits and of our predecessors , such degrees of Masonry as extended only to the acknowledgment of their being servants of the God of nature would not have distinguished them from those they had to encounter , had they not assumed the symbols of the Christian faith .
" All the learning of Europe in those times , as in the ages of antiquity , was possessed by the religious ( priesthood ) they had acquired the wisdom of the ancients , and the original knowledge which was in the beginning , and now is the truth : many of them had been initiated into the mysteries of Masonry ; they were the projectors of this enterprise , and as Solomon at the building of the temple introduced orders and regulations for the conduct of the work , which his wisdom had been enriched with from the
learning of the sages of antiquity , so that no confusion should happen during its progress , and so that the rank and office of each fellow-labourer might be distinguished and ascertained beyond the possibility of deceit in like manner , the priests projecting the crusades , being possessed of the mysteries of Masonry , the knowledge of the ancients , and of the universal language which survived the confusion of Shiiiar , revived the orders and regulations of Solomon , and initiated the legions therein who followed them to the Holy Land ; hence that secrecy which attended the crusaders .
, " Amongst other evidence which authorizes me in the conjecture that Masons went to the holy w r , is the doctrine of that order of Masons called the Higher Order . * I am induced to believe that ..-. order- ' . was- of Scottish extraction ; separate nations might be distinguished by some separate order as they were by peculiar ensigns ; but , be that as it may , it fully proves to me that Masons w ere crusaders . "
Having endeavoured thus far to trace the peculiarities of the Order of Templars , we will for the present leave that most interesting subject—upon very much more might be said—and will draw the reader ' s attention to the fact that secret societies , of a totally different kind existed in this country and on the continent long before the era of the Crusades . These were in fact associations by which men were enabled to gain subsistence for themselves and fellows .
The accounts handed down to us by the earliest Anglo-Saxon writers whose works have been preserved , and which are amply corroborated by Stow , Eitzstephen , and others , describe these associations very fully , under the name of gilds or guilds , as bodies maintaining certain secrets for the benefit of their own order . They were ecclesiastical and secular ; the former for the practice , of alms-deeds , the latter both for trade and alms : both were distinguished for their latter both for trade and alms ; both were distinguished for their
religious observances , : and partook much of the nature of monastic institutions . The trading guilds have survived ( of course in a modified form ) to the present day ; and , as our readers may have noticed , an effort has not been unsuccessfully made within the last few years , by a certain party in the Church of England , to revive the religious guilds , which are again flourishing under the names of divers saints , * Masonry , as practised by Preston , included all of what are now termed the Higher Degrees , but as one order or degree ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Among Their Ranks Were Many Learned Eccl...
were seeking a country where the Masons were in the time of Solomon called into an association , and where some remains would certainly he found of the mysteries and wisdom of the ancieiits and of our predecessors , such degrees of Masonry as extended only to the acknowledgment of their being servants of the God of nature would not have distinguished them from those they had to encounter , had they not assumed the symbols of the Christian faith .
" All the learning of Europe in those times , as in the ages of antiquity , was possessed by the religious ( priesthood ) they had acquired the wisdom of the ancients , and the original knowledge which was in the beginning , and now is the truth : many of them had been initiated into the mysteries of Masonry ; they were the projectors of this enterprise , and as Solomon at the building of the temple introduced orders and regulations for the conduct of the work , which his wisdom had been enriched with from the
learning of the sages of antiquity , so that no confusion should happen during its progress , and so that the rank and office of each fellow-labourer might be distinguished and ascertained beyond the possibility of deceit in like manner , the priests projecting the crusades , being possessed of the mysteries of Masonry , the knowledge of the ancients , and of the universal language which survived the confusion of Shiiiar , revived the orders and regulations of Solomon , and initiated the legions therein who followed them to the Holy Land ; hence that secrecy which attended the crusaders .
, " Amongst other evidence which authorizes me in the conjecture that Masons went to the holy w r , is the doctrine of that order of Masons called the Higher Order . * I am induced to believe that ..-. order- ' . was- of Scottish extraction ; separate nations might be distinguished by some separate order as they were by peculiar ensigns ; but , be that as it may , it fully proves to me that Masons w ere crusaders . "
Having endeavoured thus far to trace the peculiarities of the Order of Templars , we will for the present leave that most interesting subject—upon very much more might be said—and will draw the reader ' s attention to the fact that secret societies , of a totally different kind existed in this country and on the continent long before the era of the Crusades . These were in fact associations by which men were enabled to gain subsistence for themselves and fellows .
The accounts handed down to us by the earliest Anglo-Saxon writers whose works have been preserved , and which are amply corroborated by Stow , Eitzstephen , and others , describe these associations very fully , under the name of gilds or guilds , as bodies maintaining certain secrets for the benefit of their own order . They were ecclesiastical and secular ; the former for the practice , of alms-deeds , the latter both for trade and alms : both were distinguished for their latter both for trade and alms ; both were distinguished for their
religious observances , : and partook much of the nature of monastic institutions . The trading guilds have survived ( of course in a modified form ) to the present day ; and , as our readers may have noticed , an effort has not been unsuccessfully made within the last few years , by a certain party in the Church of England , to revive the religious guilds , which are again flourishing under the names of divers saints , * Masonry , as practised by Preston , included all of what are now termed the Higher Degrees , but as one order or degree ,