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Article THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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The Freemasons' Repository.
chants of the Christian persuasion , for the accommodation of such of their brethren who might go in- pilgrimage to the holy sepulchre . This edifice was called the LODGE of ST . JOHN . As pilgrims came from all parts of Europe , and as the brethren of the LODGE could not be supposed to understand the language of all of them , of course some peculiar signs and words of recommendation must have been adopted to prevent their being imposed upon bspiesAt length there were
y . many of these LODGKS erected in different places , all dependent , however , on the parent LODGE at Jerusalem , in which pilgrims going to or returning from Palestine were hospitably , entertained , and ( he traveller gave in his pass-word accordingly . Such evidently was the foundation of that systematic form which the Order of Free Masonry took in Europeas a society principally of
, a benevolent and fraternal cast . It was , beyond a doubt , mostly confined to the military monasteries , because the reli gious kni ghts were its first conductors into Christendom . The other orders treated it with contempt , because they envied the professions and power of its patrons , and when the Order of the Knights Templars fell , through the covetousness of Philip the Fairaided bthe machinations ofthe
, y religious Friars , Free-masonry suffered with it . In all that is here said , 1 have enly aimed at sketching the most rational ground of the importation of this institution into Europe . I believe the Christians found it ori ginally in the east . It has all the marks of such an ori gin upon its face . It wears no appearance of being a modern invention . It is too reli gious in its reference , and too simple in its religious
principles , to be the offspring of intriguing policy , as the learned Professor would have us believe . From thence it was brought , in the manner , at the time , and by the persons I have already mentioned . Under the hands of these adventurers it underwent a great alteration . The Christian system , and the great mysteries of our reli gion , were engrafted upon it , principally , however , in the ritual of the order . In the lapse of ages many of these became obscurefrom various cor- ?
, niptions being blended with them ; and from the fraternity ' s being ignorant of their original signification . What 1 have thus stated will , I hope , sufficiently disprove the Professor ' s assertion , that Masonry proceeded from Britain . For what is this but to give it a very modern date indeed : —and that , too , contrary to every evidence both external and internal ? But his motive is
plain , if MASONRY had its origin in this island , all its pretensions to high antiquity must vanish , and his favourite hypothesis stand on a pretty fair foundation , namely , that it was a mere political device . With his contemptuous treatment of Anderson ' s book of constitutions 1 hold myself not at all concerned . On the contrary , I must confessthat the book never me any satisfactionand
, gave ; upon the whole perhaps the society would have lost neither credit or advantage'if the work in question had never been compiled . The idea of fetching the institution from the creation is a piece of bombastic enthusiasm as ridiculous as the pedigree of Cadwallader ; the historian and the mason are not to be satisfied with such pompous but inane professions . We settle ourselves upon rational
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Repository.
chants of the Christian persuasion , for the accommodation of such of their brethren who might go in- pilgrimage to the holy sepulchre . This edifice was called the LODGE of ST . JOHN . As pilgrims came from all parts of Europe , and as the brethren of the LODGE could not be supposed to understand the language of all of them , of course some peculiar signs and words of recommendation must have been adopted to prevent their being imposed upon bspiesAt length there were
y . many of these LODGKS erected in different places , all dependent , however , on the parent LODGE at Jerusalem , in which pilgrims going to or returning from Palestine were hospitably , entertained , and ( he traveller gave in his pass-word accordingly . Such evidently was the foundation of that systematic form which the Order of Free Masonry took in Europeas a society principally of
, a benevolent and fraternal cast . It was , beyond a doubt , mostly confined to the military monasteries , because the reli gious kni ghts were its first conductors into Christendom . The other orders treated it with contempt , because they envied the professions and power of its patrons , and when the Order of the Knights Templars fell , through the covetousness of Philip the Fairaided bthe machinations ofthe
, y religious Friars , Free-masonry suffered with it . In all that is here said , 1 have enly aimed at sketching the most rational ground of the importation of this institution into Europe . I believe the Christians found it ori ginally in the east . It has all the marks of such an ori gin upon its face . It wears no appearance of being a modern invention . It is too reli gious in its reference , and too simple in its religious
principles , to be the offspring of intriguing policy , as the learned Professor would have us believe . From thence it was brought , in the manner , at the time , and by the persons I have already mentioned . Under the hands of these adventurers it underwent a great alteration . The Christian system , and the great mysteries of our reli gion , were engrafted upon it , principally , however , in the ritual of the order . In the lapse of ages many of these became obscurefrom various cor- ?
, niptions being blended with them ; and from the fraternity ' s being ignorant of their original signification . What 1 have thus stated will , I hope , sufficiently disprove the Professor ' s assertion , that Masonry proceeded from Britain . For what is this but to give it a very modern date indeed : —and that , too , contrary to every evidence both external and internal ? But his motive is
plain , if MASONRY had its origin in this island , all its pretensions to high antiquity must vanish , and his favourite hypothesis stand on a pretty fair foundation , namely , that it was a mere political device . With his contemptuous treatment of Anderson ' s book of constitutions 1 hold myself not at all concerned . On the contrary , I must confessthat the book never me any satisfactionand
, gave ; upon the whole perhaps the society would have lost neither credit or advantage'if the work in question had never been compiled . The idea of fetching the institution from the creation is a piece of bombastic enthusiasm as ridiculous as the pedigree of Cadwallader ; the historian and the mason are not to be satisfied with such pompous but inane professions . We settle ourselves upon rational