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Article TWO WELL-KNOWN* MASONS; Page 1 of 8 →
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Two Well-Known* Masons;
TWO WELL-KNOWN * MASONS ;
Exhibited by Rob . Moeris . We are not among those who worship great men . "We do not believe that the Masonic institution derives any considerable strength from the affiliation into its circles of those whose characters , civil , military , ecclesiastical , or literary , have made them famous in the w-orld . Ereemasonry is too exacting—it demands more of its votaries
than men who have a name of this kind to maintain will devote to it . Its difficulties are of a sort they will not encounter . Its method of esoteric instruction is too arduous—too slow for them ; and instances are rare indeed where heroes of that stamp add Masonic laurels to the other and easier ones they have already acquired . It is chiefly the class of men , young , zealous , and with their work
before them , who make names for themselves to live in the Masonic institution . In offering some observations upon the Masonic standing of "Washington and Eranklin , we design rather to show the condition of Masonry and its claims upon the attention of men during the last century , than to add a leaf to the laurel-crowns already deservedly encircling their heads . Unfortunately , there is but little at hand to illustrate this portion of Masonic history . It is only by collecting isolated facts , often trivial , indistinct , and uncertain , that any approxi-. a m . ¦« •¦ -a -i wrtr % ¦ ¦ *» t i . r \ —¦—«
mation to it can be accomplished . The whole history 01 Jbreemasoniy in the United States is involved in obscurity , only a few data—and those too often imperfectly established—being on record as guide-posts along the w ay . This fact made against our institution in the attacks of 1826 to 1836 , in paralyzing the arms of our defenders : and when a writer in Pennsylvania , Mr . Snyder , boldly declared that Washington himself was a renouncing Mason , there were not established facts enough at hand to answer and refute the falsehood . It is lamentable to witness the trips and stumbles made by our defenders of that period whenever they ventured within the
region of historical facts . The efforts of Hon . and M . E . Benj . B . Ereneh , of Washington , P . O ., have done something to draw forth the Masonic career of George Washington from the obscurity in which it had long been hidden . He demonstrated from the record , not only that that illustrious statesman and patriot was a Ereemason—a fact which , strange as it
may appear , had been a thousand times denied during the anti-Masonic M'arfaro already alluded to—but a consistent Mason , a Mason of long continuance—not less than forty-seven years—and the Master of a Lodge . The proposition , made and responded to in many quarters , of celebrating the centennial anniversary of his initiation , November 4 1852 , set many upon the search for historical
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Two Well-Known* Masons;
TWO WELL-KNOWN * MASONS ;
Exhibited by Rob . Moeris . We are not among those who worship great men . "We do not believe that the Masonic institution derives any considerable strength from the affiliation into its circles of those whose characters , civil , military , ecclesiastical , or literary , have made them famous in the w-orld . Ereemasonry is too exacting—it demands more of its votaries
than men who have a name of this kind to maintain will devote to it . Its difficulties are of a sort they will not encounter . Its method of esoteric instruction is too arduous—too slow for them ; and instances are rare indeed where heroes of that stamp add Masonic laurels to the other and easier ones they have already acquired . It is chiefly the class of men , young , zealous , and with their work
before them , who make names for themselves to live in the Masonic institution . In offering some observations upon the Masonic standing of "Washington and Eranklin , we design rather to show the condition of Masonry and its claims upon the attention of men during the last century , than to add a leaf to the laurel-crowns already deservedly encircling their heads . Unfortunately , there is but little at hand to illustrate this portion of Masonic history . It is only by collecting isolated facts , often trivial , indistinct , and uncertain , that any approxi-. a m . ¦« •¦ -a -i wrtr % ¦ ¦ *» t i . r \ —¦—«
mation to it can be accomplished . The whole history 01 Jbreemasoniy in the United States is involved in obscurity , only a few data—and those too often imperfectly established—being on record as guide-posts along the w ay . This fact made against our institution in the attacks of 1826 to 1836 , in paralyzing the arms of our defenders : and when a writer in Pennsylvania , Mr . Snyder , boldly declared that Washington himself was a renouncing Mason , there were not established facts enough at hand to answer and refute the falsehood . It is lamentable to witness the trips and stumbles made by our defenders of that period whenever they ventured within the
region of historical facts . The efforts of Hon . and M . E . Benj . B . Ereneh , of Washington , P . O ., have done something to draw forth the Masonic career of George Washington from the obscurity in which it had long been hidden . He demonstrated from the record , not only that that illustrious statesman and patriot was a Ereemason—a fact which , strange as it
may appear , had been a thousand times denied during the anti-Masonic M'arfaro already alluded to—but a consistent Mason , a Mason of long continuance—not less than forty-seven years—and the Master of a Lodge . The proposition , made and responded to in many quarters , of celebrating the centennial anniversary of his initiation , November 4 1852 , set many upon the search for historical