-
Articles/Ads
Article TWO WELL-KNOWN* MASONS; ← Page 4 of 8 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Two Well-Known* Masons;
Saint Eirmin . After the ballot had been spread , lie entered the Lodge , leaning on the arms of Eranklin and Count de Gebelin . All the tests applied were moral ones , and thensual forms of initiation ( which , by the Ereneh method , are numerous and arduous ) were
omitted . It is said that the examining committee themselves received more instruction than they imparted to him . It was not necessary , indeed , to examine Voltaire ; sixty years devoted to genius and virtue had made him sufficiently known . " His initiation , according to the description of the Chevalier , was a triumph to him and inestimable to all who witnessed it .
Immediately upon its consummation , he was conducted to the East , where the M . W . M . Lalande saluted him , and the Brethren , La Dixmeric , Gamier , and Grouvelle honoured him with addresses . a Some time before this , the widow of Helvetius had presented to the Lodge the Masonic regalia of her late consort . The apron of this
was given to Voltaire , who , before binding it uponhimself , kissed it , in token of his esteem and remembrance of one of the most eminent philosophers and illustrious Masons of Erance . When he received the lady ' s gloves- —which , according to the custom in the French Lodges , were presented to him as a newly-initiated Brotherhe turned to the Marquis de Villette , and said : As these gloves are designed for a person toward whom i confess an honest , tender , and well-deserved attachment , I beg leave to present them to that beautiful and virtuous lady , your wife ? "
These polite expressions , in later times , formed the basis of the establishment of a Lodge of Adoption , entitled Belle et Bonne , m which that lady made her appearance . " Voltaire died May 30 th of the same year . The Lodge held a Sorrow Lodge , of a very solemn character , on the 28 th of the subsequent November , in commemoration of his decease . In this ,
Jjalande acted as W . M . ; Benjamin ± rankhn and btrogonoir , as Wardens ; Lechangeaux , Orator . Visiting Brethren , to the number of two hundred , entered the room , two by two , in profoundest silence . The first artistes in the city performed the musical portion of the ceremonies . Mme . Denis , Voltaire ' s niece , and the Marchioness de Villette were the only ladies admitted . The room was draped heavily with black cloth , and lighted dimly by lamps . The walls exhibited passages selected from the prose and poetry of the
talented dead . The mausoleum was placed in the background of the Lodge . After some introductory remarks by the W . M ., the Orator , Bro . Lechangeaux , and Bro . Coron , addressed the assembly , and Bro . La Dixmeric pronounced a eulogy upon Voltaire . During its delivery , and upon a given signal , the mausoleum disappeared , and a representation of the apotheosis of Voltaire came in view .
Bro . Boucher then recited a poem , the passage of which , ' On repose un grand homme un dieu doit habiter , ' caused such emotion , as to demand the repetition of the entire poem . When , during the ceremonials of this Sorrow Lodge , it was required to deposit the mystic sprig upon the cenotaphium , Eranklin stepped forward ; and laid there
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Two Well-Known* Masons;
Saint Eirmin . After the ballot had been spread , lie entered the Lodge , leaning on the arms of Eranklin and Count de Gebelin . All the tests applied were moral ones , and thensual forms of initiation ( which , by the Ereneh method , are numerous and arduous ) were
omitted . It is said that the examining committee themselves received more instruction than they imparted to him . It was not necessary , indeed , to examine Voltaire ; sixty years devoted to genius and virtue had made him sufficiently known . " His initiation , according to the description of the Chevalier , was a triumph to him and inestimable to all who witnessed it .
Immediately upon its consummation , he was conducted to the East , where the M . W . M . Lalande saluted him , and the Brethren , La Dixmeric , Gamier , and Grouvelle honoured him with addresses . a Some time before this , the widow of Helvetius had presented to the Lodge the Masonic regalia of her late consort . The apron of this
was given to Voltaire , who , before binding it uponhimself , kissed it , in token of his esteem and remembrance of one of the most eminent philosophers and illustrious Masons of Erance . When he received the lady ' s gloves- —which , according to the custom in the French Lodges , were presented to him as a newly-initiated Brotherhe turned to the Marquis de Villette , and said : As these gloves are designed for a person toward whom i confess an honest , tender , and well-deserved attachment , I beg leave to present them to that beautiful and virtuous lady , your wife ? "
These polite expressions , in later times , formed the basis of the establishment of a Lodge of Adoption , entitled Belle et Bonne , m which that lady made her appearance . " Voltaire died May 30 th of the same year . The Lodge held a Sorrow Lodge , of a very solemn character , on the 28 th of the subsequent November , in commemoration of his decease . In this ,
Jjalande acted as W . M . ; Benjamin ± rankhn and btrogonoir , as Wardens ; Lechangeaux , Orator . Visiting Brethren , to the number of two hundred , entered the room , two by two , in profoundest silence . The first artistes in the city performed the musical portion of the ceremonies . Mme . Denis , Voltaire ' s niece , and the Marchioness de Villette were the only ladies admitted . The room was draped heavily with black cloth , and lighted dimly by lamps . The walls exhibited passages selected from the prose and poetry of the
talented dead . The mausoleum was placed in the background of the Lodge . After some introductory remarks by the W . M ., the Orator , Bro . Lechangeaux , and Bro . Coron , addressed the assembly , and Bro . La Dixmeric pronounced a eulogy upon Voltaire . During its delivery , and upon a given signal , the mausoleum disappeared , and a representation of the apotheosis of Voltaire came in view .
Bro . Boucher then recited a poem , the passage of which , ' On repose un grand homme un dieu doit habiter , ' caused such emotion , as to demand the repetition of the entire poem . When , during the ceremonials of this Sorrow Lodge , it was required to deposit the mystic sprig upon the cenotaphium , Eranklin stepped forward ; and laid there