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Article OUE AECHITECTUEAL CHAPIEE , ← Page 2 of 4 →
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Oue Aechitectueal Chapiee ,
the result is far from satisfactory , for , as there is an intellectual torpor , Masonic instruction is not developed as it ought to be ; but still there are very many men who , by means of the Graft , have been induced to devote their minds to architectural subjects , and the prospects of greater devotion to these studies are better than they were . The establishment of so many Lodges of instruction is a step significant of a better spirit ; and it is expected that strict observance will be induced , as in the last century , to take the reform of Masonry in hand , and to adopt measures for promoting and maintaining its intellectual dignity .
It is the necessary consequence of an exclusive addiction to Graft Masonry that the intellectual and artistic development of the minds of the members must sufYer , the ritual sink to formalism , and the administration fall into the hands of the lower members of the Order , by a diminution in the initiations of men of high intellectual calibre , and by the inactivity or practical secession of those within the Order . The suppression of the fiigher degrees , that is of the higher Masonry , may be
very agreeable to those who are content to possess the administrative functions of the Order without genuine ( Qualifications for their exercise , but it is a policy most fatal to the true progress of the Order . When Masonry has so fallen , to restore the higher degrees to their full activity is the measure essential for restoring the efficacy of Masonry within and without . Thus , in the last century , when Craft Masonry had spread rapidly over the whole of Europe , a reaction set in , till the heads of the
Order brought the high degrees into vigour , and they continued to exercise the most powerful influence . It may be well for one of the school of Brother Oliver to affirm that the ineffable degrees are deserving of little esteem because the evidences on which they rest are of doubtful authority , and because neither are they essential to " the wellbeing of Freemasonry , which is perfect Without them , nor do they contain anything of value to
improve the morals or amend the heart—what can be the foundation of such assertions , or what can be their motive it is difficult to say—but the evidences on which the ineffable degrees rest are of no more doubtful authority than any part of Masonry , and their moral value is attested by the eminent Brethren who have laboured in them . Against this doctrine of Bro . Oliver , the writer in the Magazine ( p . 1106 ) enters a significant and sufficient protest .
To the development of the high degrees , some of the most eminent men of the last century , master minds of the world , devoted themselves , but their labours are only referred to here for the purpose of showing that they were of a very different character from what Bro . Oliver would lead the uninitiated to suppose , and that they have a distinct professional . purpose .
In the lower degrees , the development of the mason or builder as distinguished from the architect or artist , is a chief object . Thus we proceed from Master to Secret Master and Perfect Master , through Intimate Secretary , Provost and Judge to the eighth degree of Intendant of Buildings , or Master in Israel . Here we may pause to make a few remarks . And first with regard to the views of the writer of the article alluded to , that none but the actual Past Master of a Craft Lodge is eligible to a higher rank ; this he founds on words iii the certificate of the Supreme Council of the
33 rd Degree for England and Wales . Now this Supreme Council is only one out of many , and one which among the Supreme Councils , being of less practice , does ] not hold any pre-eminence of authority . The writer states very correctly , that in other countries the Supreme Councils confer the rank of Past Master , and this exactly defines the practice , as compared
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Oue Aechitectueal Chapiee ,
the result is far from satisfactory , for , as there is an intellectual torpor , Masonic instruction is not developed as it ought to be ; but still there are very many men who , by means of the Graft , have been induced to devote their minds to architectural subjects , and the prospects of greater devotion to these studies are better than they were . The establishment of so many Lodges of instruction is a step significant of a better spirit ; and it is expected that strict observance will be induced , as in the last century , to take the reform of Masonry in hand , and to adopt measures for promoting and maintaining its intellectual dignity .
It is the necessary consequence of an exclusive addiction to Graft Masonry that the intellectual and artistic development of the minds of the members must sufYer , the ritual sink to formalism , and the administration fall into the hands of the lower members of the Order , by a diminution in the initiations of men of high intellectual calibre , and by the inactivity or practical secession of those within the Order . The suppression of the fiigher degrees , that is of the higher Masonry , may be
very agreeable to those who are content to possess the administrative functions of the Order without genuine ( Qualifications for their exercise , but it is a policy most fatal to the true progress of the Order . When Masonry has so fallen , to restore the higher degrees to their full activity is the measure essential for restoring the efficacy of Masonry within and without . Thus , in the last century , when Craft Masonry had spread rapidly over the whole of Europe , a reaction set in , till the heads of the
Order brought the high degrees into vigour , and they continued to exercise the most powerful influence . It may be well for one of the school of Brother Oliver to affirm that the ineffable degrees are deserving of little esteem because the evidences on which they rest are of doubtful authority , and because neither are they essential to " the wellbeing of Freemasonry , which is perfect Without them , nor do they contain anything of value to
improve the morals or amend the heart—what can be the foundation of such assertions , or what can be their motive it is difficult to say—but the evidences on which the ineffable degrees rest are of no more doubtful authority than any part of Masonry , and their moral value is attested by the eminent Brethren who have laboured in them . Against this doctrine of Bro . Oliver , the writer in the Magazine ( p . 1106 ) enters a significant and sufficient protest .
To the development of the high degrees , some of the most eminent men of the last century , master minds of the world , devoted themselves , but their labours are only referred to here for the purpose of showing that they were of a very different character from what Bro . Oliver would lead the uninitiated to suppose , and that they have a distinct professional . purpose .
In the lower degrees , the development of the mason or builder as distinguished from the architect or artist , is a chief object . Thus we proceed from Master to Secret Master and Perfect Master , through Intimate Secretary , Provost and Judge to the eighth degree of Intendant of Buildings , or Master in Israel . Here we may pause to make a few remarks . And first with regard to the views of the writer of the article alluded to , that none but the actual Past Master of a Craft Lodge is eligible to a higher rank ; this he founds on words iii the certificate of the Supreme Council of the
33 rd Degree for England and Wales . Now this Supreme Council is only one out of many , and one which among the Supreme Councils , being of less practice , does ] not hold any pre-eminence of authority . The writer states very correctly , that in other countries the Supreme Councils confer the rank of Past Master , and this exactly defines the practice , as compared