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Article MASONIC FACTS. ← Page 2 of 2 Article ON THE ORIGIN OF GRAND LODGES AND THE POWERS OF GRAND MASTERS. Page 1 of 5 →
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Masonic Facts.
"Fig . 53 . —COLOGNE C AHEEDEAI
tion of the church , certain officers were chosen for ¦ gathering the money for charitable uses . Old John Wastfield , of Langley , was Peter man at St . Peter ' s Chapel there . " Borlase says , that the parish feasts instituted in ¦ commemoration of the dedication of parochial churches ,
were highly esteemed amongst the primitive Christians , ¦ and originally kept on the Saints days , to whos ' e memory the church was dedicated . —See Dugdale ' s Wariciclcsliire , p . 515 . The Wake or Tillage Yeast is now generally held
¦ on the Sunday following the proper day . There is a tradition preserved amongst masons to the effect that , when they were going to set out the orientation of a church , a number of them assembled on the night before the day of the Saint to whom the church was to be dedicatedon the ground whereon
, it was to be built , and spent the night in prayer until the sun arose , when one of them planted a pole or cross on the spot to be occupied by the altar ; another ¦ one then took a pole , and p laced it in lino with the Bun and the cross ; thus obtaining the orientation due for the period of the year , when the church was
"Commenced . Wordsworth has alluded to this custom in the following beautiful lines : —
"When in bhe antique ago of bow and spear , Aud feudal rapine clothed with iron mail , Oame ministers of peace intent to rear , The mother church in yon sequestered vale ; "" Then , to her Patron Saint a previous rite , Resounded , with deep swell and solemn close , Throuh unremitting vigils of the night
g , Till from his couch the wished for sun uprose . '"He rose ; and straight , as by Divine command , They who had waited for that sign to trace , Their work's foundation , give with careful hand To tho High Altar its determined place ; "Mindful of Him who in this Orient born ,
There livecl , , and on the Cross His life resigned , And who , from out of thc regions of thc morn , Issuing in pomp , shall come to judge mankind . ¦ " So taught their creed ; nor failed tho Eastern sky 'Mid these more awful feelings , to infuse The sweet and natural hopes that shall not die , Long as the sun his gladsome course renews .
¦ ¦ " For us hath such prelusive vigil ceased ; Yet still we plant , like men of elder days , Our Christian altar faithful to the East , Whence the tall window drinks the morning rays . '" That obvious emblem giving to the eye Of meek devotion , which oreivliilo it gave , That symbol oftlie day-spring from on high , . Triumphant o'er the darkness of the grave . "
On The Origin Of Grand Lodges And The Powers Of Grand Masters.
ON THE ORIGIN OF GRAND LODGES AND THE POWERS OF GRAND MASTERS .
The following extract from the report of the committee on Poreign Correspondence of the G . L . of Louisiana , from the pen of Bro . J . Q . A . Pellows , its chairman , is a most excellent production . Without , however , sanctioning all that Bro . Pellows says in the following extractwe give his views upon the
, orig in of Grand Lodges and the powers of Grand Masters ; they will be found interesting to the Masonic student : THE Oracis" op PIIEEMASO ^ is indeed involved
in obscurity , from which there is no escape . We know it must have existed many centuries ago , and we believe it was the sanctuary in which reposed in safety every right principle of morality and virtue , aud every truth which points out the nobilit y of man ; in short , that within its secret chambers there reposed , during many centuries of darknessthe germs
, of that civilization which now so distinguishes this country ancl the most enlightened nations of Europe from the rest of the world . The great principles of our institution have ever remained the same , and in regard to them there is a remarkable degree of unanimity . This is because these principles have ever been
inculcated at each initiation . We will suppose , in the first place , that they were communicated to every apprentice taken into these bunds or lodges of Preemasons , which were the authors of so many works of art during the middle ages , as the rule of their life and conduct towards their fellows and the world . It is safe , we think , to presume that all the
sovernmental rules and regulations of the society grew upwere fashioned—as the necesities of these associations required . Hence it is , that there exists such an exact similarity in every land in the moral teachings of the Order , being based , as they are , upon the immutable principles of right and wrong . The near
approximation however , in tiie forms of government can be accounted for , under all the circumstances through which the institution has passed , only by regarding the force of the grand principles so often inculcated in the moral teachings of the Order , of the dignity of labour , the supremacy of moral worth over all
adventitious circumstances , and the common brotherhood ancl common destiny of the human race— -the carrying out of these principles necessitating a similar form of government . What these teachings were in the earlier ages of our existenceas an orderwe onlknoiv from the
, , y intrinsic evidence of our secret ceremonies as unfolded in the various emblems and symbols of our Order . In onlj * a few instances have we on record the rules a few general ones—and regulations of Preemasons .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Facts.
"Fig . 53 . —COLOGNE C AHEEDEAI
tion of the church , certain officers were chosen for ¦ gathering the money for charitable uses . Old John Wastfield , of Langley , was Peter man at St . Peter ' s Chapel there . " Borlase says , that the parish feasts instituted in ¦ commemoration of the dedication of parochial churches ,
were highly esteemed amongst the primitive Christians , ¦ and originally kept on the Saints days , to whos ' e memory the church was dedicated . —See Dugdale ' s Wariciclcsliire , p . 515 . The Wake or Tillage Yeast is now generally held
¦ on the Sunday following the proper day . There is a tradition preserved amongst masons to the effect that , when they were going to set out the orientation of a church , a number of them assembled on the night before the day of the Saint to whom the church was to be dedicatedon the ground whereon
, it was to be built , and spent the night in prayer until the sun arose , when one of them planted a pole or cross on the spot to be occupied by the altar ; another ¦ one then took a pole , and p laced it in lino with the Bun and the cross ; thus obtaining the orientation due for the period of the year , when the church was
"Commenced . Wordsworth has alluded to this custom in the following beautiful lines : —
"When in bhe antique ago of bow and spear , Aud feudal rapine clothed with iron mail , Oame ministers of peace intent to rear , The mother church in yon sequestered vale ; "" Then , to her Patron Saint a previous rite , Resounded , with deep swell and solemn close , Throuh unremitting vigils of the night
g , Till from his couch the wished for sun uprose . '"He rose ; and straight , as by Divine command , They who had waited for that sign to trace , Their work's foundation , give with careful hand To tho High Altar its determined place ; "Mindful of Him who in this Orient born ,
There livecl , , and on the Cross His life resigned , And who , from out of thc regions of thc morn , Issuing in pomp , shall come to judge mankind . ¦ " So taught their creed ; nor failed tho Eastern sky 'Mid these more awful feelings , to infuse The sweet and natural hopes that shall not die , Long as the sun his gladsome course renews .
¦ ¦ " For us hath such prelusive vigil ceased ; Yet still we plant , like men of elder days , Our Christian altar faithful to the East , Whence the tall window drinks the morning rays . '" That obvious emblem giving to the eye Of meek devotion , which oreivliilo it gave , That symbol oftlie day-spring from on high , . Triumphant o'er the darkness of the grave . "
On The Origin Of Grand Lodges And The Powers Of Grand Masters.
ON THE ORIGIN OF GRAND LODGES AND THE POWERS OF GRAND MASTERS .
The following extract from the report of the committee on Poreign Correspondence of the G . L . of Louisiana , from the pen of Bro . J . Q . A . Pellows , its chairman , is a most excellent production . Without , however , sanctioning all that Bro . Pellows says in the following extractwe give his views upon the
, orig in of Grand Lodges and the powers of Grand Masters ; they will be found interesting to the Masonic student : THE Oracis" op PIIEEMASO ^ is indeed involved
in obscurity , from which there is no escape . We know it must have existed many centuries ago , and we believe it was the sanctuary in which reposed in safety every right principle of morality and virtue , aud every truth which points out the nobilit y of man ; in short , that within its secret chambers there reposed , during many centuries of darknessthe germs
, of that civilization which now so distinguishes this country ancl the most enlightened nations of Europe from the rest of the world . The great principles of our institution have ever remained the same , and in regard to them there is a remarkable degree of unanimity . This is because these principles have ever been
inculcated at each initiation . We will suppose , in the first place , that they were communicated to every apprentice taken into these bunds or lodges of Preemasons , which were the authors of so many works of art during the middle ages , as the rule of their life and conduct towards their fellows and the world . It is safe , we think , to presume that all the
sovernmental rules and regulations of the society grew upwere fashioned—as the necesities of these associations required . Hence it is , that there exists such an exact similarity in every land in the moral teachings of the Order , being based , as they are , upon the immutable principles of right and wrong . The near
approximation however , in tiie forms of government can be accounted for , under all the circumstances through which the institution has passed , only by regarding the force of the grand principles so often inculcated in the moral teachings of the Order , of the dignity of labour , the supremacy of moral worth over all
adventitious circumstances , and the common brotherhood ancl common destiny of the human race— -the carrying out of these principles necessitating a similar form of government . What these teachings were in the earlier ages of our existenceas an orderwe onlknoiv from the
, , y intrinsic evidence of our secret ceremonies as unfolded in the various emblems and symbols of our Order . In onlj * a few instances have we on record the rules a few general ones—and regulations of Preemasons .