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Article REVIEW OF LITERATURE, THE|DRAMA, &c. ← Page 2 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of Literature, The|Drama, &C.
any peculiar import to these words , do they not in the fellowship ofthe Craft seem generally verified ? The beautiful passage on Masonic friendship , in page 14 , beginning— " the friendship of a Mason ' s Lodge , " and ending in the same page at the words , " like or dislike / ' also fully deserves copying . Altogether this is a very elegant and superior discourse . A Masonic Discourse , by Brother the Rev , Brooke Bridges Stevens , M . M . V . W . P . G . C of the districts of Montreal and William
Henry , Lower Canada . Delivered at the installation of the Hon . W . M'Gillivray , R . W . P . G . M ., Oct . 8 , 1823 . Published by command of the R . W . P . G . M . and request of the Brethren present . The profits arising from the sale of the sermon are appropriated by the author to the Montreal Orphan Asylum ! The text is judiciously chosen , 1 Pet . xxii . 15 , 16 , 17 . This sermon is quite original ; for instance , the folloiving curious distinction : — " Masonry , in the common acceptation of the wordi
, . e . Operative Masonry , is well nigh coeval with the creation ; but . Free-masonry , as a mysterious speculative system of science and ethics , of ivhich the former is at best only typical , is of a far more recent date . " The preacher appears erudite in antiquarian literature , and elevates the opinion we must naturally entertain of the advancement of our Canadian Brethren in the scientific knowledge of Masonry . Speaking of the Phoeniciansas the intelligent agents in their day in civilising
, various parts of the globe , he says , "it is even supposed , and not without foundation , that by them , in some form or other , the mysteries of our Order were taught in Great Britain , andpreserved among the Druids as a part of their religious ceremonial code . " Our learned author ' s account of the ancient sect of the Essenes among the Jews , as recited bv
Josephus , and the analogy it traces betiveen them and Masonry , is remarkably curious . There is a very just note in page 15 of this clever discourse . "It is absurd and preposterous in the extreme to accuse Masonic meetings of seditious tendency , when we recollect that the chair of England , during almost half a century , has been filled by princes of the blood . The whole royal family of England , and a large number of the continental princes , have been duly initiated . " The next is a sound definition of and the remarks
Masonry , upon it equally good . He divides it into " scientific and moral . " 'She former quality , duly appreciated perhaps by too few , even of our own Order ; but the latter , and more important , quality is , or ought to be , duly appreciated by the humblest Brother . " The following note to page 17 is worthy of an enlightened Brother , and merits circulation among the Lodges at home and abroad . " Can anything be more inconsistent than a Mason wearing jewel
a , adorned with a geometrical proposition ( Euc . i . 4-7 ) which he is unable to demonstrate . " The whole note is in reprobation of uninformed Brethren thrusting themselves " into the highest degrees with rash rapidity , and filling the higher offices with ridiculous temerity . " We shall close our necessarily brief notice of this peculiarly Masonic sermon ivith the subjoined most pertinent extract : — " If , ivithin the Lodo-e , that beautiful system which ht to be the vehiclofthe noblest sci
oug e - ences , and the emblem ofthe sublimest morality , degenerate into a mere system of words , and signs , and toasts , farewell to the di gnity ! farewell to the sanctity of Masonry ! The external walls of the Temple may happily for a while survive the profanation , but the insulted divinity that reigned therein hath for ever deserted lier violated shrine . Or if , ¦ without , the Lodge , by a total want of neighbourly kindness in general ^ or oi fraternal love in particular , we disgrace the honourable profession
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of Literature, The|Drama, &C.
any peculiar import to these words , do they not in the fellowship ofthe Craft seem generally verified ? The beautiful passage on Masonic friendship , in page 14 , beginning— " the friendship of a Mason ' s Lodge , " and ending in the same page at the words , " like or dislike / ' also fully deserves copying . Altogether this is a very elegant and superior discourse . A Masonic Discourse , by Brother the Rev , Brooke Bridges Stevens , M . M . V . W . P . G . C of the districts of Montreal and William
Henry , Lower Canada . Delivered at the installation of the Hon . W . M'Gillivray , R . W . P . G . M ., Oct . 8 , 1823 . Published by command of the R . W . P . G . M . and request of the Brethren present . The profits arising from the sale of the sermon are appropriated by the author to the Montreal Orphan Asylum ! The text is judiciously chosen , 1 Pet . xxii . 15 , 16 , 17 . This sermon is quite original ; for instance , the folloiving curious distinction : — " Masonry , in the common acceptation of the wordi
, . e . Operative Masonry , is well nigh coeval with the creation ; but . Free-masonry , as a mysterious speculative system of science and ethics , of ivhich the former is at best only typical , is of a far more recent date . " The preacher appears erudite in antiquarian literature , and elevates the opinion we must naturally entertain of the advancement of our Canadian Brethren in the scientific knowledge of Masonry . Speaking of the Phoeniciansas the intelligent agents in their day in civilising
, various parts of the globe , he says , "it is even supposed , and not without foundation , that by them , in some form or other , the mysteries of our Order were taught in Great Britain , andpreserved among the Druids as a part of their religious ceremonial code . " Our learned author ' s account of the ancient sect of the Essenes among the Jews , as recited bv
Josephus , and the analogy it traces betiveen them and Masonry , is remarkably curious . There is a very just note in page 15 of this clever discourse . "It is absurd and preposterous in the extreme to accuse Masonic meetings of seditious tendency , when we recollect that the chair of England , during almost half a century , has been filled by princes of the blood . The whole royal family of England , and a large number of the continental princes , have been duly initiated . " The next is a sound definition of and the remarks
Masonry , upon it equally good . He divides it into " scientific and moral . " 'She former quality , duly appreciated perhaps by too few , even of our own Order ; but the latter , and more important , quality is , or ought to be , duly appreciated by the humblest Brother . " The following note to page 17 is worthy of an enlightened Brother , and merits circulation among the Lodges at home and abroad . " Can anything be more inconsistent than a Mason wearing jewel
a , adorned with a geometrical proposition ( Euc . i . 4-7 ) which he is unable to demonstrate . " The whole note is in reprobation of uninformed Brethren thrusting themselves " into the highest degrees with rash rapidity , and filling the higher offices with ridiculous temerity . " We shall close our necessarily brief notice of this peculiarly Masonic sermon ivith the subjoined most pertinent extract : — " If , ivithin the Lodo-e , that beautiful system which ht to be the vehiclofthe noblest sci
oug e - ences , and the emblem ofthe sublimest morality , degenerate into a mere system of words , and signs , and toasts , farewell to the di gnity ! farewell to the sanctity of Masonry ! The external walls of the Temple may happily for a while survive the profanation , but the insulted divinity that reigned therein hath for ever deserted lier violated shrine . Or if , ¦ without , the Lodge , by a total want of neighbourly kindness in general ^ or oi fraternal love in particular , we disgrace the honourable profession