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Article TREVILIAN ON FREEMASONRY. ← Page 9 of 34 →
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Trevilian On Freemasonry.
tion of human nature , the " law of Christ" does not , as a rule , keep men from constant sin ; and , practically , it is found that those who enter into a voluntary engagement to abstain from a certain vice , e . g . drunkenness , do in effect keep that engagement , because they have made it themselves , though they were bound to keep it because it was the law of
Christ . And since experience shows us that brotherly kindness and mutual assistance in difficulties , is not to be met with even among Christians , because of that bond of union which our common faith ought to supply , it was found to be of the highest advantage to belong to a society , the members of which voluntarily bind themselves to do those very things
which Christians were bound to do before . Then it was found , that those who would not embrace Christianity might yet be brought to act according to the principles of Christianity , even in ignorance of the true source whence they were derived ; and so Mahometans , Infidels , and Jews , were made to unite with Christians in observing those laws of morality
and brotherl y love , which we , as Christians , know to have proceeded from God and Christ : and , as is beautifully expressed in one of the
charges" We are taught that in this perishable frame resides a vital and immortal principle , which inspires a holy confidence that the Lord of life will enable us to trample the king of terrors beneath our feet , and to lift our eyes to that bright Morning Star , whose rising brings peace and tranquility to the faithful ancl obedient of the human race . "
Such is Freemasonry , and whatever theorists like Mr . Trevilian may say , it is " A GREAT TACT " which cannot be disputed . To quote a passage from a most able pamphlet , on another subject , which will , however , be much to the point here :
" A man looks well , moves rapidly , eats heartily , takes a lively interest in what is going on , displays considerable strength—and you tell me ' These are all but appearances , I can prove to you that that man is dying . ' Assuredly before I believe you , I must have some better argument than that it must be so because it is according to the rules of art , according to the nature of things , that it was always so ; ancl accordingly I want better arguments in the parallel case , now . "
And so when we discover , that wherever we find a Mason , there we find a friend who is ready to give us any assistance in his power ; when we find that charity and morality are encouraged , and their contraries scouted : when vor .. i . r
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Trevilian On Freemasonry.
tion of human nature , the " law of Christ" does not , as a rule , keep men from constant sin ; and , practically , it is found that those who enter into a voluntary engagement to abstain from a certain vice , e . g . drunkenness , do in effect keep that engagement , because they have made it themselves , though they were bound to keep it because it was the law of
Christ . And since experience shows us that brotherly kindness and mutual assistance in difficulties , is not to be met with even among Christians , because of that bond of union which our common faith ought to supply , it was found to be of the highest advantage to belong to a society , the members of which voluntarily bind themselves to do those very things
which Christians were bound to do before . Then it was found , that those who would not embrace Christianity might yet be brought to act according to the principles of Christianity , even in ignorance of the true source whence they were derived ; and so Mahometans , Infidels , and Jews , were made to unite with Christians in observing those laws of morality
and brotherl y love , which we , as Christians , know to have proceeded from God and Christ : and , as is beautifully expressed in one of the
charges" We are taught that in this perishable frame resides a vital and immortal principle , which inspires a holy confidence that the Lord of life will enable us to trample the king of terrors beneath our feet , and to lift our eyes to that bright Morning Star , whose rising brings peace and tranquility to the faithful ancl obedient of the human race . "
Such is Freemasonry , and whatever theorists like Mr . Trevilian may say , it is " A GREAT TACT " which cannot be disputed . To quote a passage from a most able pamphlet , on another subject , which will , however , be much to the point here :
" A man looks well , moves rapidly , eats heartily , takes a lively interest in what is going on , displays considerable strength—and you tell me ' These are all but appearances , I can prove to you that that man is dying . ' Assuredly before I believe you , I must have some better argument than that it must be so because it is according to the rules of art , according to the nature of things , that it was always so ; ancl accordingly I want better arguments in the parallel case , now . "
And so when we discover , that wherever we find a Mason , there we find a friend who is ready to give us any assistance in his power ; when we find that charity and morality are encouraged , and their contraries scouted : when vor .. i . r