-
Articles/Ads
Article MASONIC FUNERALS. ← Page 2 of 2 Article MASONIC FUNERALS. Page 2 of 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Funerals.
perusal , not without sonic confidence that you will thereby be led to think more charitably of us , even though you may differ from the writer on many points . Not having been present at the scrvk-i referred to , . 1 am of course unaware of the specific objections which you presented to your hearers . I shall be most happy if the pamphlet can at all tend to remove them , not doubting that in such case yon will have thc candour to acknowledge any modification of your
opinions , I have the honour to remain , yours obediently , HlONllV IIOI'KINS . Tiie Kev . II . Belli * . ——Clureniiiiil House , St . llelier , March , Sth , 1860 . Sin , —I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your ' courteous
communication , together with the accompanying pamphlets . I feel it necessary , at the same time , to acquaint you that you have been misinformed as to my having , from my pulpit , taken occasion " to deprecate thc society " under whose auspices a public funeral was lately conducted . My remarks were entirely directed to thc published account ( corroborated by one of the pamphlets ) of thc proceedings on that occasion , especially an address stated to have
been delivered over thc grave , in that address the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ , and the great truth of the sinner ' s salvation through him alone , is entirely omitted and ignored ; and , at thc conclusion , a prayer is ostensibly offered to the Almi ghty on behalf of the deceased . The proceedings were public and ostentatious , and therefore I felt it my duty , as a minister of Christ , in my public place to statewhat I still maintainthat the above ivas not
, , Christian burial , and to warn 1113 * hearers against being . misled b y such professedly religions displays . I shall hope to road the lectures on Preemasonry you have been good enough to send me , but I must say at once , that if its tenets and principles arc to be identified ivith the funeral address in question , no possible explanation can persuade 111 c that they arc also in accordance with the Christian faith .
i am , Sir , yours faithfully , Dr . Henry 'Hopkins , ' B , ionAi ; i > BI-I . I . IS , ( ' / car View Collage , St . Laurence , Jersey , ' March . Y'ili , 1860 . . lli-VEici-xi- Si is , — -Allow me to thank you for your prompt and candid reply to my former communication . Though I ' still adhere
to my desire net to enter on a discussion , there arc one or two points which require explanation , and to these I will limit myself . 'fhe only definite statement you arc alleged to have made which has reached me is , that "Preemasonry is antagonistic to the AVord of God . " This is a serious charge , ' if well founded , but I confidently assert that it is one which is refuted in all parts of our rites and ceremonies , iu which the study of thc Scriptures as
the rule of conduct and of faith is most strictl y enjoined . I am glad to learn that you did not " deprecate the society " on the occasion referred to , and merely wish to add , that any funeral service conducted by us , whether in the Lodge or at thc grave , is not intended as a substitute for that of thc church , but as supplementary to it . The fault of omission in this case does not lie with us , but with those ivho refused it , though desired both by the deceased and b y the Preemasons—who endeavoured to act 011 ids instructions—as well as in accordance with the
feelings of myself and very many others , members of the Church nl J ' " 4 T 1 ' A Pphcation on the subject was made to the Hector of St . llcher . In a similar instance ' ivhich occurred a year a « o when a ilonian Catholic Ereemason died , his church allowed that which the Church of England has now refused—that is to say thelites of the Church before thc Masonic ceremonial . "' Vou remark that " the proceedings wero public and ostentatious' and that the above
, - " was not Christian burial : " that therefore , you felt it a duty to caution your hearers . The ' funeral ofthe late Joseph Sturgc was a public one ; there was an attendance of fifty carriages and of several hundred persons in the procession , including clergy and magistrates , with more disnlay than accords with thc opinions of the Quakers . There ivas no service at the grave , and I believe only a lev , - words of addresspoken the
m chapel . I presume that if you hacl at . the time been officiating m Birmingham , you ivould not have thoiHit it necessary to utter the same warniiio- to your hearers , in the recent case the deceased ivas a Quaker " too . ' , fn the Church of Scotland , moreover , consecration of the ground is considered unnecessaiy , as it . is by the Quaker * , -md there 13 no service at the grave . Vet , their form of burial is not generally deemed antichristian . The same may be said of the Itinera ! last autumn of the Kev . John Au . ; ell James ; , the well
Masonic Funerals.
known independent minister , at Birmingham , which was attended by nearly a hundred clergymen oftlie Church of England ( several of them being pall bearers ) in the chapel previously occupied by the deceased . You do not make an important point of the ostentation , farther than as a reason for your notice of the matter from the pulp it . Personally I should have preferred an avoidance of the display ,
as you will find by reference to page 47 of my pamphlet . Though I stated my opinion in the recent case , I hail no right to a voice in the matter , and the only circumstances which reconciled mo to it were the wish of thc deceased , and the fact that he was a poor man ; so that , hacl it been refused , it might have been supposed that a distinction was made on this account between his case and that , of the late Dr . Ciiqucmcllc .
I think you ' will see that there was a considerable complication in . thc circumstances I have mentioned , which caused many difficulties to arise on the late occasion . I conclude ivith a quotation from an article which appeared in the Freemasons' Magazine of Saturday last , and this will , perhaps , explain why so many clergymen advocate the Order , whilst otherslike yourselfobject to it .
, , " Wc claim , and even insist , that 110 man or class of men havethc right to judge of our merits as a society , who have never investigated , never viewed from the stand point of the initiated , the true secrets , thc teachings of our Order . " AVith a promise not to trouble you with further correspondence on thc subject , I am , reverend Sir , yours faithfully ,
The Bev , U . Bern ' s . IIENHY HOIMUXS . Cliirviuoitt House , St . llelier , March l-2 lh , 1860 . Sin , —Cue or tivo points ofthe further communication with ivhich you have favoured mC require some brief animadversions on my part before the correspondence closes .
In the first place ; whatever words any person may have taken upon himself to attribute to me , I . content myself with simply repeating the statement of my last , respecting what I really did say . ' _ ' In thc next place , will you permit me to observe , that the analogy of the other funerals ivhich you mention could not applyto thc present case , because my objection was not that nothing
was said at the grave , but that something was said there , of the nature adverted to in my last . This is tho real point at issue , and it seems to 111 c , that the truth , at which I trust we both aim , ivill be best served by not turning aside to generalities , but by bringing the onl y infallible standard—God ' s word—to bear upon it , I am , Sir , yours faithfully , Dr . i 1 . Hopkins . BtcitAUo BEIJJS .
Clear V-ieic Collaije , St .. Laurence , Jersey , ' March li ' th , 1860 . llnvEiiExn Sin , —Your reply , with which I . unfavoured , is just such as I could not but anticipate . Unwilling , as already stated , to enter on a controversy , among other reasons , for the one mentioned in the quotation with which I concluded my last note , I did not notice tiie point you urge . I trust , as you have remarked ,
that " we both aim at the truth , " ancl arc actuated by conscientious motives . I write again , not to renew the discussion , but only to ask your permission to send the correspondence to the Editor of the Freemasons' Magazine . Of course I shall not clo so if you have any objection . * I am , reverend Sir , yours faithfully , The Pvcv , 1 | . Bellis , IIRNUT Hoi-iaxs .
Ckrrcmont , House . St . llelier , ¦ March nth , 1860 . _ Sin , —I have not the least objection to your publishing in the Freemasons'' Magazine the correspondence which has taken p lace between us , and I . beg in every way to reciprocate your friendly acknowledgments , I am , Sir , yours faithfully , Dr . II . Hopkins . * ErcuAi ? i > BF . I . I . IS ,
COLOURS . —The Masonic colours , like those used in the Jewish tabernacle , aro intended to represent the four elements . The white typifies tho earth , the . sen is represented Iry the purple , tho sky bine is an emblem oH the air , and the crimson of fire . —Dr . Oliver . * The latter portion of the letter is omitted , as it contains 110 reference to the subject .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Funerals.
perusal , not without sonic confidence that you will thereby be led to think more charitably of us , even though you may differ from the writer on many points . Not having been present at the scrvk-i referred to , . 1 am of course unaware of the specific objections which you presented to your hearers . I shall be most happy if the pamphlet can at all tend to remove them , not doubting that in such case yon will have thc candour to acknowledge any modification of your
opinions , I have the honour to remain , yours obediently , HlONllV IIOI'KINS . Tiie Kev . II . Belli * . ——Clureniiiiil House , St . llelier , March , Sth , 1860 . Sin , —I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your ' courteous
communication , together with the accompanying pamphlets . I feel it necessary , at the same time , to acquaint you that you have been misinformed as to my having , from my pulpit , taken occasion " to deprecate thc society " under whose auspices a public funeral was lately conducted . My remarks were entirely directed to thc published account ( corroborated by one of the pamphlets ) of thc proceedings on that occasion , especially an address stated to have
been delivered over thc grave , in that address the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ , and the great truth of the sinner ' s salvation through him alone , is entirely omitted and ignored ; and , at thc conclusion , a prayer is ostensibly offered to the Almi ghty on behalf of the deceased . The proceedings were public and ostentatious , and therefore I felt it my duty , as a minister of Christ , in my public place to statewhat I still maintainthat the above ivas not
, , Christian burial , and to warn 1113 * hearers against being . misled b y such professedly religions displays . I shall hope to road the lectures on Preemasonry you have been good enough to send me , but I must say at once , that if its tenets and principles arc to be identified ivith the funeral address in question , no possible explanation can persuade 111 c that they arc also in accordance with the Christian faith .
i am , Sir , yours faithfully , Dr . Henry 'Hopkins , ' B , ionAi ; i > BI-I . I . IS , ( ' / car View Collage , St . Laurence , Jersey , ' March . Y'ili , 1860 . . lli-VEici-xi- Si is , — -Allow me to thank you for your prompt and candid reply to my former communication . Though I ' still adhere
to my desire net to enter on a discussion , there arc one or two points which require explanation , and to these I will limit myself . 'fhe only definite statement you arc alleged to have made which has reached me is , that "Preemasonry is antagonistic to the AVord of God . " This is a serious charge , ' if well founded , but I confidently assert that it is one which is refuted in all parts of our rites and ceremonies , iu which the study of thc Scriptures as
the rule of conduct and of faith is most strictl y enjoined . I am glad to learn that you did not " deprecate the society " on the occasion referred to , and merely wish to add , that any funeral service conducted by us , whether in the Lodge or at thc grave , is not intended as a substitute for that of thc church , but as supplementary to it . The fault of omission in this case does not lie with us , but with those ivho refused it , though desired both by the deceased and b y the Preemasons—who endeavoured to act 011 ids instructions—as well as in accordance with the
feelings of myself and very many others , members of the Church nl J ' " 4 T 1 ' A Pphcation on the subject was made to the Hector of St . llcher . In a similar instance ' ivhich occurred a year a « o when a ilonian Catholic Ereemason died , his church allowed that which the Church of England has now refused—that is to say thelites of the Church before thc Masonic ceremonial . "' Vou remark that " the proceedings wero public and ostentatious' and that the above
, - " was not Christian burial : " that therefore , you felt it a duty to caution your hearers . The ' funeral ofthe late Joseph Sturgc was a public one ; there was an attendance of fifty carriages and of several hundred persons in the procession , including clergy and magistrates , with more disnlay than accords with thc opinions of the Quakers . There ivas no service at the grave , and I believe only a lev , - words of addresspoken the
m chapel . I presume that if you hacl at . the time been officiating m Birmingham , you ivould not have thoiHit it necessary to utter the same warniiio- to your hearers , in the recent case the deceased ivas a Quaker " too . ' , fn the Church of Scotland , moreover , consecration of the ground is considered unnecessaiy , as it . is by the Quaker * , -md there 13 no service at the grave . Vet , their form of burial is not generally deemed antichristian . The same may be said of the Itinera ! last autumn of the Kev . John Au . ; ell James ; , the well
Masonic Funerals.
known independent minister , at Birmingham , which was attended by nearly a hundred clergymen oftlie Church of England ( several of them being pall bearers ) in the chapel previously occupied by the deceased . You do not make an important point of the ostentation , farther than as a reason for your notice of the matter from the pulp it . Personally I should have preferred an avoidance of the display ,
as you will find by reference to page 47 of my pamphlet . Though I stated my opinion in the recent case , I hail no right to a voice in the matter , and the only circumstances which reconciled mo to it were the wish of thc deceased , and the fact that he was a poor man ; so that , hacl it been refused , it might have been supposed that a distinction was made on this account between his case and that , of the late Dr . Ciiqucmcllc .
I think you ' will see that there was a considerable complication in . thc circumstances I have mentioned , which caused many difficulties to arise on the late occasion . I conclude ivith a quotation from an article which appeared in the Freemasons' Magazine of Saturday last , and this will , perhaps , explain why so many clergymen advocate the Order , whilst otherslike yourselfobject to it .
, , " Wc claim , and even insist , that 110 man or class of men havethc right to judge of our merits as a society , who have never investigated , never viewed from the stand point of the initiated , the true secrets , thc teachings of our Order . " AVith a promise not to trouble you with further correspondence on thc subject , I am , reverend Sir , yours faithfully ,
The Bev , U . Bern ' s . IIENHY HOIMUXS . Cliirviuoitt House , St . llelier , March l-2 lh , 1860 . Sin , —Cue or tivo points ofthe further communication with ivhich you have favoured mC require some brief animadversions on my part before the correspondence closes .
In the first place ; whatever words any person may have taken upon himself to attribute to me , I . content myself with simply repeating the statement of my last , respecting what I really did say . ' _ ' In thc next place , will you permit me to observe , that the analogy of the other funerals ivhich you mention could not applyto thc present case , because my objection was not that nothing
was said at the grave , but that something was said there , of the nature adverted to in my last . This is tho real point at issue , and it seems to 111 c , that the truth , at which I trust we both aim , ivill be best served by not turning aside to generalities , but by bringing the onl y infallible standard—God ' s word—to bear upon it , I am , Sir , yours faithfully , Dr . i 1 . Hopkins . BtcitAUo BEIJJS .
Clear V-ieic Collaije , St .. Laurence , Jersey , ' March li ' th , 1860 . llnvEiiExn Sin , —Your reply , with which I . unfavoured , is just such as I could not but anticipate . Unwilling , as already stated , to enter on a controversy , among other reasons , for the one mentioned in the quotation with which I concluded my last note , I did not notice tiie point you urge . I trust , as you have remarked ,
that " we both aim at the truth , " ancl arc actuated by conscientious motives . I write again , not to renew the discussion , but only to ask your permission to send the correspondence to the Editor of the Freemasons' Magazine . Of course I shall not clo so if you have any objection . * I am , reverend Sir , yours faithfully , The Pvcv , 1 | . Bellis , IIRNUT Hoi-iaxs .
Ckrrcmont , House . St . llelier , ¦ March nth , 1860 . _ Sin , —I have not the least objection to your publishing in the Freemasons'' Magazine the correspondence which has taken p lace between us , and I . beg in every way to reciprocate your friendly acknowledgments , I am , Sir , yours faithfully , Dr . II . Hopkins . * ErcuAi ? i > BF . I . I . IS ,
COLOURS . —The Masonic colours , like those used in the Jewish tabernacle , aro intended to represent the four elements . The white typifies tho earth , the . sen is represented Iry the purple , tho sky bine is an emblem oH the air , and the crimson of fire . —Dr . Oliver . * The latter portion of the letter is omitted , as it contains 110 reference to the subject .