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Article OUR PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE Page 1 of 7 →
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Our Past, Present, And Future
OTTE PAST , PRESENT , AND ETJTTTEE .
If to belong to a country replete with associated records of eminent patriots , philosophers , statesmen , warriors , artists- —of those whose names , from their deeds , are immortal—tends to excite in successive generations the desire to emulate their worth , and to take
a stand upon " the very Ida of the intellect , " surely every Mason possesses the unique privilege of an universal stimulus , seeing that he is one of a Fraternity which concentrates within itself , the superexcellent of all countries and of all time . He is not , as an Athenian , limiting his triumphs to victories which , however great in their transit and issue , yet were bounded by the horizon of Grecian
sovereignty and decay . The traditions of Eome itself , the hoary empress of earth ' s fortunes , fade into youthful tales of yesterday , compared with the transmitted lines and marks of a Brotherhood in knowledge , spreading over the earth when Egypt and Assyria were in their prime , aad dotting stars of intellectual light upon the rare minds which shone in the early dawn of civilization , combating with the
night of barbarism as it slowly drew off its misty folds from the eastern chores . The first idea , next to the universal acknowledgment of Deity , was doubtless that of individual helplessness , and thence of the necessity of social protection ; but inasmuch as law was inoperative to cement the sympathies , though it mighty ensure the security of mankind , the heart originated a code of union founded upon moral principles , of which the intellect became the willing expositor . between
Combination arose therefore , we can readily understand , minds intellectually attached to the same pursuit of truth . The wise took counsel with the wise ; and because they could not carry out their system of enlightenment when their mutual converse was impeded by the presence of the fool , they excluded the fool from their society , whilst they ratified fidelity to each other by the agency of mystery and symbol . The delight that intellect takes in intellect , TOIi . i . 2 * y
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Past, Present, And Future
OTTE PAST , PRESENT , AND ETJTTTEE .
If to belong to a country replete with associated records of eminent patriots , philosophers , statesmen , warriors , artists- —of those whose names , from their deeds , are immortal—tends to excite in successive generations the desire to emulate their worth , and to take
a stand upon " the very Ida of the intellect , " surely every Mason possesses the unique privilege of an universal stimulus , seeing that he is one of a Fraternity which concentrates within itself , the superexcellent of all countries and of all time . He is not , as an Athenian , limiting his triumphs to victories which , however great in their transit and issue , yet were bounded by the horizon of Grecian
sovereignty and decay . The traditions of Eome itself , the hoary empress of earth ' s fortunes , fade into youthful tales of yesterday , compared with the transmitted lines and marks of a Brotherhood in knowledge , spreading over the earth when Egypt and Assyria were in their prime , aad dotting stars of intellectual light upon the rare minds which shone in the early dawn of civilization , combating with the
night of barbarism as it slowly drew off its misty folds from the eastern chores . The first idea , next to the universal acknowledgment of Deity , was doubtless that of individual helplessness , and thence of the necessity of social protection ; but inasmuch as law was inoperative to cement the sympathies , though it mighty ensure the security of mankind , the heart originated a code of union founded upon moral principles , of which the intellect became the willing expositor . between
Combination arose therefore , we can readily understand , minds intellectually attached to the same pursuit of truth . The wise took counsel with the wise ; and because they could not carry out their system of enlightenment when their mutual converse was impeded by the presence of the fool , they excluded the fool from their society , whilst they ratified fidelity to each other by the agency of mystery and symbol . The delight that intellect takes in intellect , TOIi . i . 2 * y