Freemasonry And Its Teachings.

FREEMASONRY AND ITS TEACHINGS .

LONDON , SATURDAY , OCTOBER 4 , 1802 .

T RANSLATION OE AN ADDRESS DELIVERED IN FRENCH BT BBO . RONDEAU , MENBEE OF LODGE LA CESAREE ( NO . S 60 ) , AT THE MASONIC HJSLL , JERSEY , SEPTEMBER 25 TH , 1 S 62 . Three brethren having received the Master Mason's apron , Bro . Eondeau thus explained the meaning of the symbols of the degree . Wh

"WorshipfulMaster andbrethren , — "at is the signi ^ fication of these signs of mourning ? Why this funeral ceremony ? What means this commemoration of the death of a man , of an architect assassinated by three workmen , and carrying with him into the other world the great secret of Ereemasonry ?

"What interest can be produced in your minds by this drama , which has just been enacted before your eyes ? None , if we take a literal interpretation of it . In what respect , I repeat , is so ordinary an event ivorthy to occupy the minds of so many enlightened men , in all ages , among all nations ? How is it , that

after the 3000 years that have elapsed since the erection of King Solomon ' s Temple , the whole Masonic world still celebrates , with marks of emotion and grief , the death of a chief among mechanics , while so many sages , so many philosophers , so many benefactors of the human racehave lost their lives under

circum-, stances more or less tragical , without anyremembrances of them beyond those recorded in the pages of history ? But , as regards this Hiram himself , is he one of those benefactors of mankind , the mention of whose name alone suffices to recall to our minds eminent

virtues or signal services ? I open the records of the history of nations , and I find not even a mention of his name therein ; no historian has preserved any remembrance of him . The sacred writer , the only one who has furnished us even with his name , scarcely adds to it the appellation of perfect workman ; he does not even allude to his tragical deathan event

, which , as a writer of scrupulous correctness , be might certainly be expected not to have omitted . In the absence of written testimony , the memory of man has doubtless transmitted to posterity this event , the remembrance of which has become perpetuated in our society . No ; here tradition is still at fault , and

nothing calls to mind the fact that Hiram fell under the blows of assassins , though it is one which has been banded down to us by Masonic tradition . Hence , then , we have no alternative but to draw the inference that bis death is only an allegory , of which it will be easy for ns to find the key , if you will , with me , turn

your thoughts to tbe past . At your initiation , my dear brethren , you were informed as to the nature of the institution into which you bad just gained admission ; you were made acquainted with and its origin , its objects ; an explanation ivas given to you of tbe emblems and tbe allegories Avith

which it is surrounded ; yon were told also , that our Order goes back to tbe most remote antiquity ; that , from the earliest period when there were human beings _ suffering under tbe afflictions common to humanit y , there were Masons ready to aiford tbem assistance and consolation ; that no sooner did unjust Wen arise in the world , than there were Masons seeking to repair the ivrongs theyjinflicted ; that , from tbe time when men first became subject to the harsh and

cruel deeds of extortioners and oppressors , Masons were ready to ojiipose tbem , and to diminish tbe evils which they spread over the face of the earth . Lastly , you were told that Ereemasonry had its origin iu a hatred of wickedness and a love of virtue ; it is , then , as olcl as the Avorld , and will endure so long as the world itself shall be in existence .

A statement of the origin of Ereemasonry is at the same time a statement of the object and the value of this institution . The object of Ereemasonry is , then , to make men better , more pure , more holy ; but what are the means of attaining so elevated an aim ? The means are , to cause the darkness of

ignorance to be dissipated , to give birth and effect to all the virtues which flow from the instructions of Solomon , and others distinguished for tlie enlightenment of their minds , and the elevation of their -sentiments . Yes , my brethren , to substitute solid knowledge for ignoranceblindnessand prejudice ; to learn to love

, , one another ; mutually to render assistance and support—that is the work which true Ereemasons ' hai * e had to do in all ages ; such is the doctrine which it is incumbent on ns to teach and to practise . Happier in this respect than our forefathers , ours is at this period a task more easy . The thunders of the

Vatican are no longer heard as more than a weak and vain report ; the anathema hurled from its courts on Ereemasonry no longer brings doivn on our devoted heads desolation and death ; the funeral pyres are extinguished ; no longer , by command of a Council of Parliamentdo we see given to the flamesby the hands

, , of the common executioner , the works of a Helvetius , of a Eousseau , of a Voltaire , of a Diderot ; yes , thanks to Ereemasonry , and to the philosophers who have conferred honour upon it , human reason has made a great stride . In this age , I repeat , the task of the Masons is more easy . The wav is open ; we have

only to advance along it with a firm and unhesitating step . "Was it so in former times ? Alas ! no , my brethren . Without desiring to lay before you a history of the persecutions of which our Order has been the victim , permit me to inform you how our institution was established , and in doing so I will be brief . Let us take it from its oriin—that is to sayfrom that

g , point where we can lay hold of the thread of tradition ; let us penetrate into the sanctuary of the Egyptian priests . It is there that Ave find our art practised , under the form of mysteries . These mysteries , as we have good ground to believe , formed a school ; in Avhich the initiatedwho could sustain

, , certain physical and moral trials , were admitted to a knowledge of the arts and sciences , of which the Masons of the present day content themselves with giving to their neophytes merely the nomenclature . Deprived of their ignorance , and imbued with sound and true notions of all things , the aspirants became

in a condition fit for the reception of the sacred dogmas of one true Grod , and of immortality . Initiation was not a science , for it comprehended neither rules , nor scientific principles , nor special instruction . It was not a religion , since it possessed neither dogma , nor discilinenor a ritual exclusivelreliiousbut

p , y g ; it was , as I have before said , a school , in which were taught the arts , the sciences , morality , legislation , philosophy , and philanthropy—a regard for and study of the phenomena of nature , in order that the initiated might attain to the truth on all points . All