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  • May 26, 1866
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The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, May 26, 1866: Page 1

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    Article STRANGE REVELATIONS. Page 1 of 2 →
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Strange Revelations.

STRANGE REVELATIONS .

LONDON , SATURDAY , MAY 20 , I 860 .

RELIGION AND FREEMASONRY . A pamphlet . , entitled " The Issues of Religious Rivalry : A Narrative of Five Tears' Persecution , " by the Rev . Charles Rogers , LL . D ., F . S . A ., has lately come into our hands ; and it is of such an

extraordinary character , as regards the allegations that it makes respecting some who occupy elevated positions in the so-called " religious world /' and is , indeed , altogether , so start-ling a production , as to induce us to devote a special article to its examination .

There is , moreover , another reason , and a weighty one , that inclines us to give this pamphlet a more than passing notice—the author is a Freemason , and that fact has been made the ground of one ofthe charges brought , against him !

" Well / ' we can fancy our reader exclaiming , " this is too had ! Why should the Pope dare to persecute a British Freemason ? " " Tou are mistaken , my good brother ; the Pope , in this instance , is a Protestant one—no less exalted a

personage than George Henry Davis , Esq ., LL . D . ( late the Rev . G- . H . Davis , Baptist Minister ) , Secretary to the Religious Tract Society ! " Dr , Rogers writes : — " I am held up to public disfavour by Dr . Davis because I was ' Master of the

Stirling Freemasons . ' I know not whether Baptist Ministers such as Dr . Davis join the Roman Pontiff in opposing Freemasonry , but I am sure all Christian men who know what Freemasonry really is , will not regard me as an object of obloquy because I accepted the unanimous election of the Stirling . Freemasons to become Master of

their Lodge . Nor do I fear to acknowledge that I obtained the restoration of the Royal Arch Chapter of Stirling , believed to be the most ancient in the kingdom—that I ain in very heart a Freemason , and that it is my earnest desire and prayer

that the principles of Masonry , so distasteful to Dr . Davis , may spread wider and more wide ,

until" Man to man , the ivhole world o'er , May brothers be . " Let us now inquire who this person , that has had the audacity to charge our Pi , ev . brother with the heinous crime of being a Freemason , is . Be it premised that Ave know nothing of him save and except his name , and office in a society which

we have hitherto regarded as respectable and particular as to the selection of its officers . Assuming that the statements of Bro . Dr . Rogers are correct—and his statements are , it appears to us , abundantly supported by documentary

evidencewe learn that Dr . Davis seems to have been actuated by a desire to crush a society for the distribution of Religious Tracts , of which Dr . Rogers was the founder . Let Dr . Rosrfc'Vs describe in his own words one of the methods" adopted hy this

ex-Reverend to effect this object : — " In the second week of January a person called at my house . He represented himself as interested in tract distribution , and requested that he might have a shilling ' s worth of the different tracts . By

a member of my family he was informed that she had no authority to sell tracts , but that he should have a supply . He insisted on paying his shilling . f May I ask if you are a minister ? ' said my friend . ' I am not , ' was the reply . ' Who shall I say

called , when Dr . Rogers returns ? ' ' Henry / said the stranger . ' Has Dr . Rogers a committee ?' ' He has ; there is the list . ' I never heard of any of them / said the stranger . "

This Mr . Henry was no other than Dr . Davis , Secretary of the Religious Tract Society , who considers that the fact of a clergyman being a Mason may be alleged as a charge against him ! It appears that Dr . Davis obtained some very

important evidence from this little inquisitorial proceeding . " He saw , " says Dr . Rogers , during his incognito visit , a bust which he was informed was one of myself . He was particular in referring to this . Some , of course , might believe that I

was encouraging art and gratifying my own corrupt vanity by making such an acquisition at the cost of the society's funds . " Well , what is the history of the bust ? It' appears from the letter of the donor , Andrew Currie , Sculptor , that it was

presented by him as a mark of respect for Dr Rogers ' s integrity , unselfishness , and patriotism . This affair of the bust is quite on a par with the other wretched charges that have been made against Bro . Rogers . We have always had a

horror of religious dissentions and bickerings , but if any one wishes to be thoroughly disgusted with the odium theologicum and pious hatred , he . has only to read Bro . Rogers ' s pamphlet .

Verily , as the honest sculptor to whose letter reference has been made above says , " I have yet to learn how men who profess to be the spiritual guides of others can live in the commission of the

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1866-05-26, Page 1” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 4 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/mmr_26051866/page/1/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
STRANGE REVELATIONS. Article 1
LAYING THE FOUNDATION STONE OF THE GREYFRIARS' CHURCH, DUMFRIES. Article 2
MONITA SECRETA SOCIETATIS JESU. Article 4
LODGE OFFICERS, THEIR POWERS AND DUTIES. Article 5
MASONIC GLEANINGS. Article 7
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. Article 9
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 10
OLD MASONIC WORKS: Article 10
THE MASONIC MIRROR. Article 10
METROPOLITAN. Article 10
PROVINCIAL. Article 12
ROYAL ARCH. Article 15
CHATTEL ISLANDS. Article 16
INDIA. Article 18
Untitled Article 18
MEETINGS OF THE SCIENTIFIC AND LEARNED SOCIETIES FOR THE WEEK ENDING JUNE 2ND, 1866. Article 18
THE WEEK. Article 18
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 20
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Strange Revelations.

STRANGE REVELATIONS .

LONDON , SATURDAY , MAY 20 , I 860 .

RELIGION AND FREEMASONRY . A pamphlet . , entitled " The Issues of Religious Rivalry : A Narrative of Five Tears' Persecution , " by the Rev . Charles Rogers , LL . D ., F . S . A ., has lately come into our hands ; and it is of such an

extraordinary character , as regards the allegations that it makes respecting some who occupy elevated positions in the so-called " religious world /' and is , indeed , altogether , so start-ling a production , as to induce us to devote a special article to its examination .

There is , moreover , another reason , and a weighty one , that inclines us to give this pamphlet a more than passing notice—the author is a Freemason , and that fact has been made the ground of one ofthe charges brought , against him !

" Well / ' we can fancy our reader exclaiming , " this is too had ! Why should the Pope dare to persecute a British Freemason ? " " Tou are mistaken , my good brother ; the Pope , in this instance , is a Protestant one—no less exalted a

personage than George Henry Davis , Esq ., LL . D . ( late the Rev . G- . H . Davis , Baptist Minister ) , Secretary to the Religious Tract Society ! " Dr , Rogers writes : — " I am held up to public disfavour by Dr . Davis because I was ' Master of the

Stirling Freemasons . ' I know not whether Baptist Ministers such as Dr . Davis join the Roman Pontiff in opposing Freemasonry , but I am sure all Christian men who know what Freemasonry really is , will not regard me as an object of obloquy because I accepted the unanimous election of the Stirling . Freemasons to become Master of

their Lodge . Nor do I fear to acknowledge that I obtained the restoration of the Royal Arch Chapter of Stirling , believed to be the most ancient in the kingdom—that I ain in very heart a Freemason , and that it is my earnest desire and prayer

that the principles of Masonry , so distasteful to Dr . Davis , may spread wider and more wide ,

until" Man to man , the ivhole world o'er , May brothers be . " Let us now inquire who this person , that has had the audacity to charge our Pi , ev . brother with the heinous crime of being a Freemason , is . Be it premised that Ave know nothing of him save and except his name , and office in a society which

we have hitherto regarded as respectable and particular as to the selection of its officers . Assuming that the statements of Bro . Dr . Rogers are correct—and his statements are , it appears to us , abundantly supported by documentary

evidencewe learn that Dr . Davis seems to have been actuated by a desire to crush a society for the distribution of Religious Tracts , of which Dr . Rogers was the founder . Let Dr . Rosrfc'Vs describe in his own words one of the methods" adopted hy this

ex-Reverend to effect this object : — " In the second week of January a person called at my house . He represented himself as interested in tract distribution , and requested that he might have a shilling ' s worth of the different tracts . By

a member of my family he was informed that she had no authority to sell tracts , but that he should have a supply . He insisted on paying his shilling . f May I ask if you are a minister ? ' said my friend . ' I am not , ' was the reply . ' Who shall I say

called , when Dr . Rogers returns ? ' ' Henry / said the stranger . ' Has Dr . Rogers a committee ?' ' He has ; there is the list . ' I never heard of any of them / said the stranger . "

This Mr . Henry was no other than Dr . Davis , Secretary of the Religious Tract Society , who considers that the fact of a clergyman being a Mason may be alleged as a charge against him ! It appears that Dr . Davis obtained some very

important evidence from this little inquisitorial proceeding . " He saw , " says Dr . Rogers , during his incognito visit , a bust which he was informed was one of myself . He was particular in referring to this . Some , of course , might believe that I

was encouraging art and gratifying my own corrupt vanity by making such an acquisition at the cost of the society's funds . " Well , what is the history of the bust ? It' appears from the letter of the donor , Andrew Currie , Sculptor , that it was

presented by him as a mark of respect for Dr Rogers ' s integrity , unselfishness , and patriotism . This affair of the bust is quite on a par with the other wretched charges that have been made against Bro . Rogers . We have always had a

horror of religious dissentions and bickerings , but if any one wishes to be thoroughly disgusted with the odium theologicum and pious hatred , he . has only to read Bro . Rogers ' s pamphlet .

Verily , as the honest sculptor to whose letter reference has been made above says , " I have yet to learn how men who profess to be the spiritual guides of others can live in the commission of the

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