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  • Oct. 1, 1858
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The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, Oct. 1, 1858: Page 60

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    Article FREEMASONRY VINDICATED. ← Page 3 of 7 →
Page 60

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Freemasonry Vindicated.

a The Masonic institution is certainly exclusive . Its members not only admit that this is its character , hut ,-they : ' regard ' . it to be one of its chief merits . Who are the parties whom it excludes ? It excludes the atheist , the libertine , the liar , the traitor , the thief , the disturber of the public peace—in short , all persons who

abstained with vice or crime of any description whatever . The place for such individuals is certainly not the Masons' lodge . In an open and properly regulated lodge , they would be completely out of their latitude , and would not be allowed to manifest any of their distinguishing propensities for a single moment . On the other hand , tjis door of Freemasonry stands open to all freemen of mature years who possess an able body and a sound mind ; who believe in an Almighty Being , the Creator and Governor of the Universe ; who cangive satisfactory evidence that they respect and obey the laws of their country , and the rules laid down in Scripture for the regulation of their conduct "; and who are willing to make a solemn declaration that their sole object in seeking for admission into the Order of Freemasonry , is a desire to obtain knowledge and to be of greater service to their fellow men . "

Upon the matter of secrecy , after alluding in an able maimer to the value of that virtue in conducting the ordinary affairs of this life ,. in private and public . business , and in ecclesiastical affairs , "A Freemason" adds : — Cc Freemasonry , ladmit , has its secrets . It has secrets peculiar to itself ; but of what'dp these principally consist ? They consist of signs and tokens which serve as testimonials of character . and ' qualification , which , are only conferred after a due course of instruction and examination . ' These are of no small value . They speak a universal language ., and act as a passport to the attention and support of the initiated in all parts of the world . They cannot be lost so long as memory retains

its power . Let the possessor of them be expatriated , shipwrecked , or imprisoned , — let him be stripped of everything he has in the world , still these credentials remain , and are available for use as circumstances require . The good effects which they have produced are established by the most incontestable facts of history . They have stayed the uplifted hand of the destroyer ; they have softened the asperities of the tyrant ; they have mitigated the horrors of captivity ; they have subdued the rancour of malevolence , and broken down the barriers of political animosity and sectarian alienationr : Grrthe field of battle , in the solitudes of the uncultivated forest , or in ' the busy haunts of the crowded city , they have

made men of the most hostile feelings , the most distant regions , and the most diversified conditions , mall to the aid of each other , and feel special joy and satisfaction that they have been able to afford relief to a brother Mason . To communicate these . secrets to all and sundry , to the unworthy as well as to the worthy , to the unqualified aw well as to the qualified , would destroy the institution altogether , and would be as absurd as if a religious sect were to license all the vagabonds that crowd our jailf ? and our haunts of iniquity to preach the ( iospel;—or as if the incorporations of Burgeons and physicians of this city were to invite to their respective halls all the denizens of the Grassmarkct and the Oowgate , and furnish them with , the requisite authority to practise the healing art . "

The remainder of this excellent ewsay ( for such it is ) upon . 'Freema sonry ^ is of great value und interest , and we have seldom met with more terse and vigorous writing upon any subject . . 'Hut enough of "M ' edicus . " We certainly should Dot have bestowed so much of our limited space upon that benighted individual , save for the good lie has unwittingly done to the Craft by showing 'how utterly untenable are the arguments in its disfavour .

The recollection of this correspondence had hardly time to fade away from the minds of the newspaper readers of Edinburgh , before the whole of the inhabitants of that fair city were aroused from the somewhat humdrum ( Tuietness usually prevailing there , by the proceedings incident upon laying the foundation of the new Masonic Hall on Midsummer-day . We need scarcely remind our readers of the excitement and delight produced in the ancient city by the proceedings of that day , Suffice it to say . that the

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1858-10-01, Page 60” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 9 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/frm_01101858/page/60/.
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Title Category Page
PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGES. Article 1
ANGLO-SAXON HISTORY ILLUSTRATED BY TOPOGRAPHICAL NOMENCLATURE. Article 6
OUR ARCHITECTURAL CHAPTER. Article 11
WHAT IS FREEMASONRY? Article 16
TIDINGS FROM THE CRAFT IN THE UNITED STATES Article 21
FREEMASONRY IN ENGLAND AND IN INDIA. Article 23
HAPPY TO MEET. Article 24
CORRESPONDENCE Article 25
THE MASONIC MIRROR Article 31
PROVINCIAL Article 33
MARK MASONRY Article 37
ROYAL ARCH Article 40
KNIGHTS TEMPLAR Article 41
SCOTLAND Article 41
AMERICA Article 43
THE WEEK Article 43
Obituary Article 47
NQTICES, Article 48
PROVINCIAL GRAND OFFICERS. Article 49
OUR ARCHITECTURAL CHAPTER Article 52
Selections Article 53
ANGLO-SAXON HISTORY ILLUSTRATED BY TOPOGRAPHICAL NOMENCLATURE. Article 54
FREEMASONRY VINDICATED. Article 58
REMARKS ON THE HISTORICAL SCRIPTURES. Article 64
REVIEWS OF NEW MUSIC, Article 66
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 67
THE MASONIC MIRROR Article 75
METROPOLITAN. Article 75
PROVINCIAL. Article 81
MARK MASONRY Article 88
ROYAL ARCH Article 89
IRELAND Article 89
SCOTLAND Article 90
CANADA Article 90
THE WEEK. Article 91
Obituary. Article 95
NOTICES. Article 96
THE "FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE" AND THE GRAND LODGE CLUB. Article 97
MASONIC CONSECRATION OF A CEMETERY IN KENTUCKY. Article 99
ANGLO-SAXON HISTORY ILLUSTRATED BY TOPOGRAPHICAL NOMENCLATURE. Article 109
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 114
THE MASONIC MIRROR. Article 121
METROPOLITAN. Article 124
PROVINCIAL Article 129
ROYAL ARCH. Article 137
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE Article 137
SC0TLAND Article 139
THE WEEK Article 140
THE PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER OF TASMANIA. Article 145
OUR ARCHITECTURAL CHAPTER Article 149
TIDINGS FROM THE CRAFT IN THE UNITED STATES Article 152
FREEMASONRY AND ARCHITECTUEE. Article 154
ANGRY WORDS. Article 158
CORRESPONDENCE Article 159
THE GRAND MASTER AND THE "MASONIC OBSERVER." Article 163
THE MASONIC MIRROR. Article 171
METROPOLITAN. Article 171
PROVINCIAL Article 174
MARK MASONRY Article 181
ROYAL ARCH Article 184
KNIGHTS TEMPLAR Article 185
SC0TLAND Article 185
COLONIAL Article 186
INDIA Article 186
THE WEEK. Article 189
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 192
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Page 60

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Freemasonry Vindicated.

a The Masonic institution is certainly exclusive . Its members not only admit that this is its character , hut ,-they : ' regard ' . it to be one of its chief merits . Who are the parties whom it excludes ? It excludes the atheist , the libertine , the liar , the traitor , the thief , the disturber of the public peace—in short , all persons who

abstained with vice or crime of any description whatever . The place for such individuals is certainly not the Masons' lodge . In an open and properly regulated lodge , they would be completely out of their latitude , and would not be allowed to manifest any of their distinguishing propensities for a single moment . On the other hand , tjis door of Freemasonry stands open to all freemen of mature years who possess an able body and a sound mind ; who believe in an Almighty Being , the Creator and Governor of the Universe ; who cangive satisfactory evidence that they respect and obey the laws of their country , and the rules laid down in Scripture for the regulation of their conduct "; and who are willing to make a solemn declaration that their sole object in seeking for admission into the Order of Freemasonry , is a desire to obtain knowledge and to be of greater service to their fellow men . "

Upon the matter of secrecy , after alluding in an able maimer to the value of that virtue in conducting the ordinary affairs of this life ,. in private and public . business , and in ecclesiastical affairs , "A Freemason" adds : — Cc Freemasonry , ladmit , has its secrets . It has secrets peculiar to itself ; but of what'dp these principally consist ? They consist of signs and tokens which serve as testimonials of character . and ' qualification , which , are only conferred after a due course of instruction and examination . ' These are of no small value . They speak a universal language ., and act as a passport to the attention and support of the initiated in all parts of the world . They cannot be lost so long as memory retains

its power . Let the possessor of them be expatriated , shipwrecked , or imprisoned , — let him be stripped of everything he has in the world , still these credentials remain , and are available for use as circumstances require . The good effects which they have produced are established by the most incontestable facts of history . They have stayed the uplifted hand of the destroyer ; they have softened the asperities of the tyrant ; they have mitigated the horrors of captivity ; they have subdued the rancour of malevolence , and broken down the barriers of political animosity and sectarian alienationr : Grrthe field of battle , in the solitudes of the uncultivated forest , or in ' the busy haunts of the crowded city , they have

made men of the most hostile feelings , the most distant regions , and the most diversified conditions , mall to the aid of each other , and feel special joy and satisfaction that they have been able to afford relief to a brother Mason . To communicate these . secrets to all and sundry , to the unworthy as well as to the worthy , to the unqualified aw well as to the qualified , would destroy the institution altogether , and would be as absurd as if a religious sect were to license all the vagabonds that crowd our jailf ? and our haunts of iniquity to preach the ( iospel;—or as if the incorporations of Burgeons and physicians of this city were to invite to their respective halls all the denizens of the Grassmarkct and the Oowgate , and furnish them with , the requisite authority to practise the healing art . "

The remainder of this excellent ewsay ( for such it is ) upon . 'Freema sonry ^ is of great value und interest , and we have seldom met with more terse and vigorous writing upon any subject . . 'Hut enough of "M ' edicus . " We certainly should Dot have bestowed so much of our limited space upon that benighted individual , save for the good lie has unwittingly done to the Craft by showing 'how utterly untenable are the arguments in its disfavour .

The recollection of this correspondence had hardly time to fade away from the minds of the newspaper readers of Edinburgh , before the whole of the inhabitants of that fair city were aroused from the somewhat humdrum ( Tuietness usually prevailing there , by the proceedings incident upon laying the foundation of the new Masonic Hall on Midsummer-day . We need scarcely remind our readers of the excitement and delight produced in the ancient city by the proceedings of that day , Suffice it to say . that the

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