Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
; : : ^
universall y * ^ as sufficient ^ httoher . And it is rema ^ ring to the ^ ^ that ^ didate Was S # en ^^
There is ; then , xmdoubtedl ^ ladder of Slasbii ^ with which 1 ^ ignorance of to ^ in $ ols for our ^ tiv ^ ladders of its kindred institutions ^ always Bad sevenv steps .,
although in modern times bnt three ; pri alluded to- 1 ^ ance > M supreinely , M ladder of Masb
In the ladder o £ i ^ occupying to charity lis signifying , not al ^ Sehse / 1 ^ when in our lectures on tliis sh ^ of virtues , becanse when ^ extends beyond the grave to to the DitinO love of our Creator . But Ported , in ^^ M
symbolic colours , informs us tot *^ to ^ ^ and gold indicates the goodness of God . '' ; . So that if charity is equivalent to Divine love , and D represented by the sun , and lastly if charity be the topmost round Of the Masonic ladder , then , again , we arrive , as the result of our researches , at the symbol so often already repeated by the solar orb ,
the natural sun or the spiritual sun . The sun , either as ^ the vivifying principle of animated nature , and there the special object of adoration , or as the more prominent instrument of the Creator ' s beneficence , was ever a leading idea in the symbolism of antiquity . Its prevalence , therefore , in the Masonic institution , is a pregnant
evidence of the close analogy existing between it and aU these systems . How that analogy was first introduced , and how it is to be understood , without detriment to the purity and truthfulness of our own religious character , has already been explained . I might have extended these researches still further ; enough , however , has been done , I trust , to establish the following leading
principles : — 1 . That Freemasonry is , strictly speaking , a science of symbolism . 2 . That , in this symbolism , it bears a striking analogy to the same science as seen in the mystic rites of the ancient religions . 3 . That as in these ancient religions the universe was symbolized to the candidate , and the sun as its vivifying principle made the object of his adoration , or at least of his veneration , so in Masonry VOL , III . 8 Y
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
; : : ^
universall y * ^ as sufficient ^ httoher . And it is rema ^ ring to the ^ ^ that ^ didate Was S # en ^^
There is ; then , xmdoubtedl ^ ladder of Slasbii ^ with which 1 ^ ignorance of to ^ in $ ols for our ^ tiv ^ ladders of its kindred institutions ^ always Bad sevenv steps .,
although in modern times bnt three ; pri alluded to- 1 ^ ance > M supreinely , M ladder of Masb
In the ladder o £ i ^ occupying to charity lis signifying , not al ^ Sehse / 1 ^ when in our lectures on tliis sh ^ of virtues , becanse when ^ extends beyond the grave to to the DitinO love of our Creator . But Ported , in ^^ M
symbolic colours , informs us tot *^ to ^ ^ and gold indicates the goodness of God . '' ; . So that if charity is equivalent to Divine love , and D represented by the sun , and lastly if charity be the topmost round Of the Masonic ladder , then , again , we arrive , as the result of our researches , at the symbol so often already repeated by the solar orb ,
the natural sun or the spiritual sun . The sun , either as ^ the vivifying principle of animated nature , and there the special object of adoration , or as the more prominent instrument of the Creator ' s beneficence , was ever a leading idea in the symbolism of antiquity . Its prevalence , therefore , in the Masonic institution , is a pregnant
evidence of the close analogy existing between it and aU these systems . How that analogy was first introduced , and how it is to be understood , without detriment to the purity and truthfulness of our own religious character , has already been explained . I might have extended these researches still further ; enough , however , has been done , I trust , to establish the following leading
principles : — 1 . That Freemasonry is , strictly speaking , a science of symbolism . 2 . That , in this symbolism , it bears a striking analogy to the same science as seen in the mystic rites of the ancient religions . 3 . That as in these ancient religions the universe was symbolized to the candidate , and the sun as its vivifying principle made the object of his adoration , or at least of his veneration , so in Masonry VOL , III . 8 Y