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Article FREEMASONRY CONSIDERED. Page 1 of 2 →
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Freemasonry Considered.
FREEMASONRY CONSIDERED .
LONDON , SATURDAY , MAT 18 , 1867 .
BY ANTHONY OSTEAL HATE . II . Continued from p . 363 . Now , no oue can object to all these degrees , if men are so minded to go in for them , but why
insist upon having them called Masonic , except it be for the purpose of evading the Act of Parliament in reference to the suppression of secret societies , and why claim an antiquity and importance for them , when History and their own
internal evidence combine to give the lie to such . Moreover , can the members not readjust their rituals , so that even they themselves be no longer put out of countenance by statements which are notoriously the opposite of truth . If it is asked ,
What business is it of mine ? I reply , that having already paid for grades ivhich I consider are an insult to any man of sense to have joined , I am bound , in honour , and in terms of my obligation , not to see another brother so misled as to
suppose he will hud any corn in the chaff of these degrees . If he desires to knoiv ivhat these degrees are , I recommend him to disburse a very small tithe of the expense of taking them , which Avill enable him to possess their whole secrets and mysteries , in print .
But if nothing else could show the absurdities of these multifarious degrees , the fact of their not being worked , because unworkable , shows their uselessness . Who would dream of attempting to work the rite of-Misraim ? It would require a
nation , and the income of a king . Let us take the Ancient and Accepted Rite as worked in Scotland . The following degrees are alone given : —The Apprentice , Fellow Craft , Master , Mark , Past , Excellent , and Royal Arch . Some
Arch Chapters give the Ark Mariner , and the Red Cross degrees , but these are not necessary for advancement . A jump is then made through the Royal Order , not known in England or recognised , into the Rose Croix ; that is from the seventh
degree to the eighteenth . Another jump is made to the thirtieth , and there ends all ceremony . What do we find ? Prom the seventh to the
thirtieth degree both inclusive , only three degrees worked ! I confess they manage these things better in England , and in Devon and Cornwall the grades below the eighteenth are all worked . But
how about Scotland ? I do not believe there ia a single man Avho wears the collar of the thirty third , thirty second , thirty first , or thirtieth , that knows anything to fit him to be considered , intellectually , qualified to hold these degrees , that is , if
intellectual qualification is to be tested by a knowledge of the degrees . Surely no one will say that this is proper , or that these degrees should be kept on the roll , Avhile in fact they are so many dead letters . The French at one time adopted a very
excellent plan of reducing the list of degrees to seven , J but after a short time the desire for decorations came in once more , and they reverted to the thirty three , to the delight and profit of the jeivellers .
Now , since the thirty-three degrees are unworkable , why not chose out certain of them , and cast aside the others , as the French , with a gleam of Masonic sense , did ? The brother who desires a cross ancl an eagle for his breast could easily be
gratified with the Rose Croix and the thirtieth . Might one suggest to the Templars before leaving these higher degrees that a slight study of the ancient ritual and of the internal economy of the
Order would be judicious ; to the hospitallers , a glance at the history of that noble Order by de Vertol , where they will learn things undreamed of in their philosophy , and perhaps they may then understand Avhat difference existed between the
Orders known as Knights of St . John of Jerusalem , Knights of Rhodes , Knights of Malta , whom historians , according to our native modern valiant Knights , have always been under the wrong impression ivere one and the same , and the Knights
Templars . They may then know that Pope Clement's Bull utterly annihilated the Order or the Temple , the members of which entered into that of the Hospital , not as Templars , but as Hospitallers ; and the name of Teniplar , as
indicative of an Order , became extinct . They may know that the Hospitallers , Avith the Templars , upon the loss of the Holy Land , established themselves in Cyprus , the rival Orders being then on the most intimate and friendly terms . The
Hospitallers shortly after attacked Puhodes , which they captured , and it was the fact of their being' engaged in this war that prevented them being involved in the Templar ' s fate , for the Grand Master was invited , along with Molai , by the Pope ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry Considered.
FREEMASONRY CONSIDERED .
LONDON , SATURDAY , MAT 18 , 1867 .
BY ANTHONY OSTEAL HATE . II . Continued from p . 363 . Now , no oue can object to all these degrees , if men are so minded to go in for them , but why
insist upon having them called Masonic , except it be for the purpose of evading the Act of Parliament in reference to the suppression of secret societies , and why claim an antiquity and importance for them , when History and their own
internal evidence combine to give the lie to such . Moreover , can the members not readjust their rituals , so that even they themselves be no longer put out of countenance by statements which are notoriously the opposite of truth . If it is asked ,
What business is it of mine ? I reply , that having already paid for grades ivhich I consider are an insult to any man of sense to have joined , I am bound , in honour , and in terms of my obligation , not to see another brother so misled as to
suppose he will hud any corn in the chaff of these degrees . If he desires to knoiv ivhat these degrees are , I recommend him to disburse a very small tithe of the expense of taking them , which Avill enable him to possess their whole secrets and mysteries , in print .
But if nothing else could show the absurdities of these multifarious degrees , the fact of their not being worked , because unworkable , shows their uselessness . Who would dream of attempting to work the rite of-Misraim ? It would require a
nation , and the income of a king . Let us take the Ancient and Accepted Rite as worked in Scotland . The following degrees are alone given : —The Apprentice , Fellow Craft , Master , Mark , Past , Excellent , and Royal Arch . Some
Arch Chapters give the Ark Mariner , and the Red Cross degrees , but these are not necessary for advancement . A jump is then made through the Royal Order , not known in England or recognised , into the Rose Croix ; that is from the seventh
degree to the eighteenth . Another jump is made to the thirtieth , and there ends all ceremony . What do we find ? Prom the seventh to the
thirtieth degree both inclusive , only three degrees worked ! I confess they manage these things better in England , and in Devon and Cornwall the grades below the eighteenth are all worked . But
how about Scotland ? I do not believe there ia a single man Avho wears the collar of the thirty third , thirty second , thirty first , or thirtieth , that knows anything to fit him to be considered , intellectually , qualified to hold these degrees , that is , if
intellectual qualification is to be tested by a knowledge of the degrees . Surely no one will say that this is proper , or that these degrees should be kept on the roll , Avhile in fact they are so many dead letters . The French at one time adopted a very
excellent plan of reducing the list of degrees to seven , J but after a short time the desire for decorations came in once more , and they reverted to the thirty three , to the delight and profit of the jeivellers .
Now , since the thirty-three degrees are unworkable , why not chose out certain of them , and cast aside the others , as the French , with a gleam of Masonic sense , did ? The brother who desires a cross ancl an eagle for his breast could easily be
gratified with the Rose Croix and the thirtieth . Might one suggest to the Templars before leaving these higher degrees that a slight study of the ancient ritual and of the internal economy of the
Order would be judicious ; to the hospitallers , a glance at the history of that noble Order by de Vertol , where they will learn things undreamed of in their philosophy , and perhaps they may then understand Avhat difference existed between the
Orders known as Knights of St . John of Jerusalem , Knights of Rhodes , Knights of Malta , whom historians , according to our native modern valiant Knights , have always been under the wrong impression ivere one and the same , and the Knights
Templars . They may then know that Pope Clement's Bull utterly annihilated the Order or the Temple , the members of which entered into that of the Hospital , not as Templars , but as Hospitallers ; and the name of Teniplar , as
indicative of an Order , became extinct . They may know that the Hospitallers , Avith the Templars , upon the loss of the Holy Land , established themselves in Cyprus , the rival Orders being then on the most intimate and friendly terms . The
Hospitallers shortly after attacked Puhodes , which they captured , and it was the fact of their being' engaged in this war that prevented them being involved in the Templar ' s fate , for the Grand Master was invited , along with Molai , by the Pope ,