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Article THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY. ← Page 2 of 3 →
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The Freemasons' Repository.
antiquity of Masonry in its literal acceptation . Let the Atheist , if such a being can exist , endowed with the sli ghtest degree of observation or of attention , reflect upon the state of man at his birth , and after his dissolution—does it not evince to him , beyond the possibility of a doubt , from the nature of things , that there must have been a . first Parent , originally formed by some intelligent Power ? Why not out of the dust of the earthsince it is evidentto that state
, , all do unexceptionably return ? Never could the progress of the Arts , of Science , or of Civilization , in Egypt , Greece , or Rome , have arrested the favourable attention , or escaped the invidious insinuations of such a man , had not the lasting monuments reared by this art bounded his presumptuous scepticism . What greater and more unequivocal proofs have we at this day of the state of civilized Society
, than the multitude and magnificence of its public and private edifices ? They , like the ornaments , which , upon the first impression , serve to discriminate the relative situation of the Orders in Architecture , enable the traveller to class in the scale of society and of perfection the relative situation of those countries and of those cities which they decorate .
By its capital , the architect ^ is enabled to recognize the order of the column ; but he can on ! } ' ascertain the real proportions by the more slow and tedious process of admeasurement . The Doric , to his discriminating eye , at one glance displays her triglyph ; the Ionic , her volutis ; and the Corinthian pillar , her axanthus . Much depends upon the nature and well directed choice of actions and of things , as well as the manner in which they are introduced to our attentionin
, the formation of a solid and rational taste , which enables us to determine with judgment and propriety , when it becomes necessary we should execute with firmness and dispatch , our most serious concerns in life . It is exceedingly natural , that the habit of mind which is acquired by attention to those more serious duties ; that the same dispositions , the same desire to find something steady , substantial , and
durable , on which the mind can lean as it were , and rest with safety , should be transferred to the pursuit of lighter Ttmusements . We only change our subject " , but pursue the same method in our search after the idea of Beauty , by looking for perfection—of Virtue , by looking forward , beyond ourselves , to society and to the whole—and of Arts , by extending our views , in the same manner , to all ages , and to all countries .
As early as in the fourth chapter of Genesis , verse 17 th , we have an accountof Cain building a city . Then do we observe the necessary consequences of civilization , and the progress of the arts and sciences , rising , into notice , and becoming an object worthy of record—the forming of tents , the handling of the harp and organ , the curious workmanshi p in brass and iron . Could it have been permitted me to have entered into the detailor
, had it been strictly allowable to have proved the antiquity of Speculative Masonry from more particular , though not less authentic evidence , than that to which this Essay has had recourse , I am satisfied within my own breast , your various readers would have agreed with
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Repository.
antiquity of Masonry in its literal acceptation . Let the Atheist , if such a being can exist , endowed with the sli ghtest degree of observation or of attention , reflect upon the state of man at his birth , and after his dissolution—does it not evince to him , beyond the possibility of a doubt , from the nature of things , that there must have been a . first Parent , originally formed by some intelligent Power ? Why not out of the dust of the earthsince it is evidentto that state
, , all do unexceptionably return ? Never could the progress of the Arts , of Science , or of Civilization , in Egypt , Greece , or Rome , have arrested the favourable attention , or escaped the invidious insinuations of such a man , had not the lasting monuments reared by this art bounded his presumptuous scepticism . What greater and more unequivocal proofs have we at this day of the state of civilized Society
, than the multitude and magnificence of its public and private edifices ? They , like the ornaments , which , upon the first impression , serve to discriminate the relative situation of the Orders in Architecture , enable the traveller to class in the scale of society and of perfection the relative situation of those countries and of those cities which they decorate .
By its capital , the architect ^ is enabled to recognize the order of the column ; but he can on ! } ' ascertain the real proportions by the more slow and tedious process of admeasurement . The Doric , to his discriminating eye , at one glance displays her triglyph ; the Ionic , her volutis ; and the Corinthian pillar , her axanthus . Much depends upon the nature and well directed choice of actions and of things , as well as the manner in which they are introduced to our attentionin
, the formation of a solid and rational taste , which enables us to determine with judgment and propriety , when it becomes necessary we should execute with firmness and dispatch , our most serious concerns in life . It is exceedingly natural , that the habit of mind which is acquired by attention to those more serious duties ; that the same dispositions , the same desire to find something steady , substantial , and
durable , on which the mind can lean as it were , and rest with safety , should be transferred to the pursuit of lighter Ttmusements . We only change our subject " , but pursue the same method in our search after the idea of Beauty , by looking for perfection—of Virtue , by looking forward , beyond ourselves , to society and to the whole—and of Arts , by extending our views , in the same manner , to all ages , and to all countries .
As early as in the fourth chapter of Genesis , verse 17 th , we have an accountof Cain building a city . Then do we observe the necessary consequences of civilization , and the progress of the arts and sciences , rising , into notice , and becoming an object worthy of record—the forming of tents , the handling of the harp and organ , the curious workmanshi p in brass and iron . Could it have been permitted me to have entered into the detailor
, had it been strictly allowable to have proved the antiquity of Speculative Masonry from more particular , though not less authentic evidence , than that to which this Essay has had recourse , I am satisfied within my own breast , your various readers would have agreed with