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Article HINTS ON THE SECRET LITERATURE OF FREEMASONRY. ← Page 5 of 10 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Hints On The Secret Literature Of Freemasonry.
to enervate and to destroy . The brethren of thtTfuture have still to complete their labours and , the legitimate inheritors of the persecuted Templars , have still to press forward in aid of the great Avork of moral and political regeneration . In this early literature of the media 3 A al times , there is an
undercurrent of much greater magnitude and importance than has generally been surmised , A \* hieh , in such an investigation , from its very nature being ambiguous and perplexed , requires the greatest delicacy of discrimination and an acquaintance with early rites , ceremonies , and the customs of foreign ¦ brethren ,
irot easily attainable . But abundant documents of the kind are in existence , and it only requires time and study to . perfect the hypothesis . We think it Avill be granted that whereA er we find identity of expression , Ave shall be entitled to assume identity of purpose ,
and if it be admitted that certain societies , existing at different periods , make use of similar metaphors in order to designate their secret proceedings , it folloAvs that those proceedings are so far identified that a connection , beyond mere outside resemblance of language , must exist betAveen them . Similar circumstances are constantly producing similar results ,
XTOAV all secret societies are , m respect to their secrecy , similarly situated . All have the same necessity of expressing , in symbolical language , that relation of contrast to the uninitiated , on Avlrich this constitution depends . It is natural , therefore , that all should seek for metaphorical analogies to indicate this
contrast , and those analogies will be sought in the contrasts of outAvard nature , in the opposition , for instance , of light to darkness , heat to cold , life to death , and the great number of others which afford a decisive proof of affiliation betAveen the older and younger branches of the order .
Many of the poets , of Avhom Ave are treating , fix their leading incidents at certain hours of the day and peculiar months—that of May , the month of Love , in particular—and these points are identical with well known masonic catechisms . Injustice is sure to be done to the theory by the citation of fragmentary points , for the proofs are of a cumulative character , and de-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Hints On The Secret Literature Of Freemasonry.
to enervate and to destroy . The brethren of thtTfuture have still to complete their labours and , the legitimate inheritors of the persecuted Templars , have still to press forward in aid of the great Avork of moral and political regeneration . In this early literature of the media 3 A al times , there is an
undercurrent of much greater magnitude and importance than has generally been surmised , A \* hieh , in such an investigation , from its very nature being ambiguous and perplexed , requires the greatest delicacy of discrimination and an acquaintance with early rites , ceremonies , and the customs of foreign ¦ brethren ,
irot easily attainable . But abundant documents of the kind are in existence , and it only requires time and study to . perfect the hypothesis . We think it Avill be granted that whereA er we find identity of expression , Ave shall be entitled to assume identity of purpose ,
and if it be admitted that certain societies , existing at different periods , make use of similar metaphors in order to designate their secret proceedings , it folloAvs that those proceedings are so far identified that a connection , beyond mere outside resemblance of language , must exist betAveen them . Similar circumstances are constantly producing similar results ,
XTOAV all secret societies are , m respect to their secrecy , similarly situated . All have the same necessity of expressing , in symbolical language , that relation of contrast to the uninitiated , on Avlrich this constitution depends . It is natural , therefore , that all should seek for metaphorical analogies to indicate this
contrast , and those analogies will be sought in the contrasts of outAvard nature , in the opposition , for instance , of light to darkness , heat to cold , life to death , and the great number of others which afford a decisive proof of affiliation betAveen the older and younger branches of the order .
Many of the poets , of Avhom Ave are treating , fix their leading incidents at certain hours of the day and peculiar months—that of May , the month of Love , in particular—and these points are identical with well known masonic catechisms . Injustice is sure to be done to the theory by the citation of fragmentary points , for the proofs are of a cumulative character , and de-