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Article ANCIENT WRITERS AND MODERN PRACTICES. ← Page 4 of 9 →
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Ancient Writers And Modern Practices.
To return , however , to the article before us— "Of the external characteristics , or those which the society itself announces to the world , the main is , the fublic profession of beneficence ; not to the brothers only , though of course to them more especially , but also to strangers . And it cannot be denied by those who are least favourable to the Order of Freemasons , that many states in Europe ( where Lodges have formerly existed or do still exist ) , are indebted to them
lor the original establishment ot many salutary institutions , having for their objection the mitigation of human suffering . ^ Ko slight admission this , we think , in our favour from one who spoke some years later of having in this article " shattered the whole Masonic edifice , " & c . In another passage , he speaks of an event , now completely
unknown , but which once might have been common—a visit from the police ; when , however , such an event happens , he says , and naturally it has happened many times , the business is at an end , and the Lodge i ypso facto dissolved ; besides that , all the acts of the members are symbolic and unintelligible to all but the initiated . We now pass on to the remaining external characteristics , which he says are properly negative , and
are—^ 1 . That Masonry is compatible with every form of civil constitution . 2 * That it does not impose celibacy ( we should think not ) , which criterion distinguishes it from the religious orders , and from many of the old knightly orders , in which celibacy was an indispensable law .
3 . That it enjoins no peculiar dress ( except indeed in the official assemblages of the Lodges for the purpose of marking the different degrees ) , no marks of distinction in the ordinary commerce of life , and no abstinence from civil offices and business . This again forms a remarkable distinction between Masonry and the religious or
knightly orders . 4 . It grants to every member a full liberty to dissolve his connection with the Order at any time , and without even acquainting the superiors of the Lodge ; though , of course , he cannot release himself from the obligation of his vow of secresy . Nay , even after many years of voluntary separation from it , a return to it is always allowed . In the religious and knightly orders the members had not the power , except under certain circumstances , of leaving them , and under no circumstances of returning to them . This last , he says , was a politic regulation ; for whilst , on the one hand , the society was sufficiently secured by the oath of secresy , on the other hand , by the easiness of the yoke which it imposed , it could the more readily attract members .
So far at least , our friend , w ho in the paper wo have above quoted has written such bitter things against us , has advanced nothing hostile , nothing even unfriendly , to our Craft ; on the contrary , his remarks bear all the appearance of a friendly and by no means uninteresting dissertation upon an Order whose principles were thoroughly congenial to him . In concluding his first chapter he
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ancient Writers And Modern Practices.
To return , however , to the article before us— "Of the external characteristics , or those which the society itself announces to the world , the main is , the fublic profession of beneficence ; not to the brothers only , though of course to them more especially , but also to strangers . And it cannot be denied by those who are least favourable to the Order of Freemasons , that many states in Europe ( where Lodges have formerly existed or do still exist ) , are indebted to them
lor the original establishment ot many salutary institutions , having for their objection the mitigation of human suffering . ^ Ko slight admission this , we think , in our favour from one who spoke some years later of having in this article " shattered the whole Masonic edifice , " & c . In another passage , he speaks of an event , now completely
unknown , but which once might have been common—a visit from the police ; when , however , such an event happens , he says , and naturally it has happened many times , the business is at an end , and the Lodge i ypso facto dissolved ; besides that , all the acts of the members are symbolic and unintelligible to all but the initiated . We now pass on to the remaining external characteristics , which he says are properly negative , and
are—^ 1 . That Masonry is compatible with every form of civil constitution . 2 * That it does not impose celibacy ( we should think not ) , which criterion distinguishes it from the religious orders , and from many of the old knightly orders , in which celibacy was an indispensable law .
3 . That it enjoins no peculiar dress ( except indeed in the official assemblages of the Lodges for the purpose of marking the different degrees ) , no marks of distinction in the ordinary commerce of life , and no abstinence from civil offices and business . This again forms a remarkable distinction between Masonry and the religious or
knightly orders . 4 . It grants to every member a full liberty to dissolve his connection with the Order at any time , and without even acquainting the superiors of the Lodge ; though , of course , he cannot release himself from the obligation of his vow of secresy . Nay , even after many years of voluntary separation from it , a return to it is always allowed . In the religious and knightly orders the members had not the power , except under certain circumstances , of leaving them , and under no circumstances of returning to them . This last , he says , was a politic regulation ; for whilst , on the one hand , the society was sufficiently secured by the oath of secresy , on the other hand , by the easiness of the yoke which it imposed , it could the more readily attract members .
So far at least , our friend , w ho in the paper wo have above quoted has written such bitter things against us , has advanced nothing hostile , nothing even unfriendly , to our Craft ; on the contrary , his remarks bear all the appearance of a friendly and by no means uninteresting dissertation upon an Order whose principles were thoroughly congenial to him . In concluding his first chapter he