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  • Jan. 1, 1794
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The Freemasons' Magazine, Jan. 1, 1794: Page 21

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    Article THE PRINCIPLES OF FREE MASONRY EXPLAINED. ← Page 12 of 15 →
Page 21

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

The Principles Of Free Masonry Explained.

The very bestthings may be misrepresented : and when an outcry is once made against them , few people have either the candour to examine them impartially , or the courage to appear in their defence , on finding them injured in the opinion of the public . They are afraid to patronize what is generally condemned , lest the singularity of their judgment should , be misconstrued into an affeCtion for the bad qualities tothe

imputed thing , whose worth and utility they would assert ; as a man who vindicates his nei ghbour from the imputation of drunkenness , for instance , runs some hazard of being accused of a propensity to that vice himself . Nothing ever suffered , or continues to suffer , more unjustly by misrepresentation than Freemasonry . Upon . this account , I shall endeavour Brethrento remove some of the

, my , objections that ignorance and prejudice usually throw out against it . It is objeded against Freemasonry , that all who are to be initiated into it , must swear to conceit ] certain secrets before they are communicated to them , or have it in their power to examine into their nature and tendency . This practice they condemn as unlawful . This objection would indeed be of forceif they were obliged btheir oath to

, y keep secrets or perform actions contrary to the great laws of piety , humanity , or temperance ; but the very reverse is the case . It has been already shewn , that the doClrincs and precepts of Freemasonry are agreeable to the _ reason of all men , and confirmed by the Christian reli gion ; and that , its words and signs are no more than marks b y which Freemasons may know one another , and hinder impostors from

imposing on their brotherly affeCtion . These marks are the only secrets they pretend to possess ; and , considering their importance , no body surely can with , justice condemn the Brethren for taking the utmost care to preserve them from being discovered . Now , an oath , or something equivalent to it , has been found the strongest method that mankind have been yet able to devise ,, for securing the honesty and fidelity of anotherand that method

one ; Freemasons have thought proper to follow : Besides , the practice is common , and prudence justi _ ies it , to obtain a promise of secrecy , before we reveal to any person a thing which we would keep from the knowledge of the world . It may be necessary upon many occasions that another , and no body besides , should know our secrets , either for our own sake or for his ; ' but if we opened them to . himwithout securing his ba promise or an

, secrecy y oath beforehand , _ he mi ght divulge them if he pleased , and involve us ; n ruin . Now , if it is lawful to convey a secret under the security of ft promise of secrecy , I can see no reason why it should be declared pnlawful to secure it under the obligation of an oath . 'Tis true , there is a difference between a simple promise and a solemn oath ; but tiiat difference isperhapsnot so great as it is commonlimaginedA

, , y . promise , like every other moral aCtion , supposes the existence of a God , to whom the promiser acknowledges himself accountable , whom he invokes as witness . of the honesty of his intentions , and whose w-rath he imprecates on himself , if he carelessly or fraudulently violates his engagement , fill these particulars seem to be implied in the nar ture of a promise ; but in an oath they tire all expressed , with the ad-

“The Freemasons' Magazine: 1794-01-01, Page 21” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 28 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fmm/issues/fmm_01011794/page/21/.
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Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
Untitled Article 2
Untitled Article 3
LONDON:. Article 3
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 5
ERRATA. Article 5
THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE; OR, GENERAL AND COMPLETE LIBRARY. Article 6
A DISCOURSE, Article 7
DESCRIPTION OF FREEMASONRY. Article 9
THE PRINCIPLES OF FREE MASONRY EXPLAINED. Article 10
A PRAYER, USED AT THE INITIATION OF A CANDIDATE. Article 24
ADDRESS TO FREEMASONS IN GENERAL. Article 24
THE CEREMONY OBSERVED AT FUNERALS, Article 25
THE FUNERAL SERVICE. Article 27
FOR THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. Article 31
ON THE UTILITY, CHOICE, AND USE OF PLEASURES, Article 32
ANECDOTE OF A WRETCHED PORTRAIT PAINTER. Article 36
ON THE NATURE OF DESIGN AND DECORATION IN ARCHITECTURE. Article 37
ON GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. Article 39
A VIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF NAVIGATION. Article 41
ON LONGEVITY. Article 43
THOUGHTS ON THE NEW-YEAR; AND ON THE VICISSITUDES OF LIFE. Article 47
A FRAGMENT ON BENEVOLENCE. Article 49
ON THE SACRED CHARACTERS OF KINGS. Article 50
ON KEEPING A SECRET. Article 53
GENEROUS SENTIMENTS. Article 54
ANECDOTES OF THE LATE HUGH KELLY. Article 55
ANECDOTE OF MARESCHAL DE TURENNE. Article 60
EQUALITY OF THE SEXES. Article 61
DEAN SWIFT. Article 61
THE PRINCE OF WALES. Article 62
DOMESTIC PEACE AND HAPPINESS, Article 63
SINGULAR PROPHECY. Article 64
PARTICULARS OF THE PLAGUE IN PHILADELPHIA. Article 65
TEMPERANCE. Article 69
STRICTURES ON PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. Article 71
PROLOGUE Article 73
EPILOGUE Article 73
POETRY. Article 75
ON THE DECEIT OF THE WORLD. Article 76
ON THE VANITY OF THE WORLD. Article 77
LINES ON AMBITION. Article 77
ELEGIAC STANZAS Article 78
ODE Article 79
TO THE AFFLUENT. Article 80
FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. Article 81
MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. Article 85
Untitled Article 86
Untitled Article 86
Untitled Article 86
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

The Principles Of Free Masonry Explained.

The very bestthings may be misrepresented : and when an outcry is once made against them , few people have either the candour to examine them impartially , or the courage to appear in their defence , on finding them injured in the opinion of the public . They are afraid to patronize what is generally condemned , lest the singularity of their judgment should , be misconstrued into an affeCtion for the bad qualities tothe

imputed thing , whose worth and utility they would assert ; as a man who vindicates his nei ghbour from the imputation of drunkenness , for instance , runs some hazard of being accused of a propensity to that vice himself . Nothing ever suffered , or continues to suffer , more unjustly by misrepresentation than Freemasonry . Upon . this account , I shall endeavour Brethrento remove some of the

, my , objections that ignorance and prejudice usually throw out against it . It is objeded against Freemasonry , that all who are to be initiated into it , must swear to conceit ] certain secrets before they are communicated to them , or have it in their power to examine into their nature and tendency . This practice they condemn as unlawful . This objection would indeed be of forceif they were obliged btheir oath to

, y keep secrets or perform actions contrary to the great laws of piety , humanity , or temperance ; but the very reverse is the case . It has been already shewn , that the doClrincs and precepts of Freemasonry are agreeable to the _ reason of all men , and confirmed by the Christian reli gion ; and that , its words and signs are no more than marks b y which Freemasons may know one another , and hinder impostors from

imposing on their brotherly affeCtion . These marks are the only secrets they pretend to possess ; and , considering their importance , no body surely can with , justice condemn the Brethren for taking the utmost care to preserve them from being discovered . Now , an oath , or something equivalent to it , has been found the strongest method that mankind have been yet able to devise ,, for securing the honesty and fidelity of anotherand that method

one ; Freemasons have thought proper to follow : Besides , the practice is common , and prudence justi _ ies it , to obtain a promise of secrecy , before we reveal to any person a thing which we would keep from the knowledge of the world . It may be necessary upon many occasions that another , and no body besides , should know our secrets , either for our own sake or for his ; ' but if we opened them to . himwithout securing his ba promise or an

, secrecy y oath beforehand , _ he mi ght divulge them if he pleased , and involve us ; n ruin . Now , if it is lawful to convey a secret under the security of ft promise of secrecy , I can see no reason why it should be declared pnlawful to secure it under the obligation of an oath . 'Tis true , there is a difference between a simple promise and a solemn oath ; but tiiat difference isperhapsnot so great as it is commonlimaginedA

, , y . promise , like every other moral aCtion , supposes the existence of a God , to whom the promiser acknowledges himself accountable , whom he invokes as witness . of the honesty of his intentions , and whose w-rath he imprecates on himself , if he carelessly or fraudulently violates his engagement , fill these particulars seem to be implied in the nar ture of a promise ; but in an oath they tire all expressed , with the ad-

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