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Article THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY. ← Page 2 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Repository.
in <> - an ornamented and splendid edifice , the work of men ' s hands , which is vanity , unless accompanied by the more efficacious workings of sincere hearts ; he prays that the congregation then assembled would incline their ways to the service of" God , and concludes the solemn ceremony with the short but pathetic address to those around him , which I have read to you : « Let your heart , therefore , be perfect with the Lord our God , to walk in his statutes , and to keep his commandments . '
On the present occasion , then , without attempting to enter into a discussion of any of * the scientific particulars of that order of Free-masonry here convened , I shall proceed to lay before you a few practical observations and rules of conduct , which , if adhered strictly to , will do honour to you , as well individually as collectively , and will tend at once to silence the cavils , repel
the malice , and confute the rancorous aspersions of the inveterate enemies of the institution ; and from whence this conviction will force itself naturally on your own minds , that unless the heart be perfect with the Lord God , and ye walk in his ways , and keep his commandments , the fabric which ye raise will be without a foundation-stone , and not being built to him , must fall to the ground ; and , on the other hand , that if the superstructure rests on its proper basis , it will evince to the world , that in the envied mysteries of the
society are comprized all the duties of mankind , whether civil , political , moral , or religious . Free-masonry , by those who know it , has ever been revered as a scientific as well as moral institution ; but whatever , my brethren , may be the speculative and scientific parts of" any established order , and into how many soever distinct branches they may be separated , however learned , excellent , and sublime , they may be in theory , yet still , in every point of view , the
operative and instrumental parts are ever the most valuable ; for what use is there in ever so great a variety of instructive maxims and apothegms , unless we bring them into practice ? What credit is derived to any of us to rise in the higher orders , and to be exalted to the sublime degrees of improvement in the understanding , unless , as we rise in these , we advance in virtue and in honour ? What boast have we to strengthen our memories , and to be enabled , by due courses of reasoning , to trace up causes from their effects , and to ascend gradually
from the infancy to the manhood of science , unless , as we make a progress here , we habituate the mind to rectitude of principles , and , as we cultivate our intellectual powers , we meliorate the dispositions of the heart and improve in morals ? thus , as it were , linking science , morality , and virtue , and making them as closely united as the three sisters of our relig ion , Faith , Hope , and Charity . All human societies took their rise from the social principle implanted in
our minds , which makes us unite and combine together for the mutual aid and comfort of each other , and they are intended to supply the deficiency of positive law , and to draw us more closely together by the cords of virtuous philanthropy . To comply with those duties , which the union of society calls fur , we should exercise every friendly , social , generous , and loyal virtue ; we should be united to our government , for without this attachment to the laws , which are framed for our welfare , no society ought to exist . Society is
intended to restrain the passions of men inclined to be vicious , to correct the natural degeneracy of human nature , to check the progress of vice by its united force , to inspire us with the general principles of Love , Humanity , Justice , ? -nd Charity ; to enliven the endearments of conversation , and to rivet' mail to man . ' And although , of all social institutions , none ever had its views so widely
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Repository.
in <> - an ornamented and splendid edifice , the work of men ' s hands , which is vanity , unless accompanied by the more efficacious workings of sincere hearts ; he prays that the congregation then assembled would incline their ways to the service of" God , and concludes the solemn ceremony with the short but pathetic address to those around him , which I have read to you : « Let your heart , therefore , be perfect with the Lord our God , to walk in his statutes , and to keep his commandments . '
On the present occasion , then , without attempting to enter into a discussion of any of * the scientific particulars of that order of Free-masonry here convened , I shall proceed to lay before you a few practical observations and rules of conduct , which , if adhered strictly to , will do honour to you , as well individually as collectively , and will tend at once to silence the cavils , repel
the malice , and confute the rancorous aspersions of the inveterate enemies of the institution ; and from whence this conviction will force itself naturally on your own minds , that unless the heart be perfect with the Lord God , and ye walk in his ways , and keep his commandments , the fabric which ye raise will be without a foundation-stone , and not being built to him , must fall to the ground ; and , on the other hand , that if the superstructure rests on its proper basis , it will evince to the world , that in the envied mysteries of the
society are comprized all the duties of mankind , whether civil , political , moral , or religious . Free-masonry , by those who know it , has ever been revered as a scientific as well as moral institution ; but whatever , my brethren , may be the speculative and scientific parts of" any established order , and into how many soever distinct branches they may be separated , however learned , excellent , and sublime , they may be in theory , yet still , in every point of view , the
operative and instrumental parts are ever the most valuable ; for what use is there in ever so great a variety of instructive maxims and apothegms , unless we bring them into practice ? What credit is derived to any of us to rise in the higher orders , and to be exalted to the sublime degrees of improvement in the understanding , unless , as we rise in these , we advance in virtue and in honour ? What boast have we to strengthen our memories , and to be enabled , by due courses of reasoning , to trace up causes from their effects , and to ascend gradually
from the infancy to the manhood of science , unless , as we make a progress here , we habituate the mind to rectitude of principles , and , as we cultivate our intellectual powers , we meliorate the dispositions of the heart and improve in morals ? thus , as it were , linking science , morality , and virtue , and making them as closely united as the three sisters of our relig ion , Faith , Hope , and Charity . All human societies took their rise from the social principle implanted in
our minds , which makes us unite and combine together for the mutual aid and comfort of each other , and they are intended to supply the deficiency of positive law , and to draw us more closely together by the cords of virtuous philanthropy . To comply with those duties , which the union of society calls fur , we should exercise every friendly , social , generous , and loyal virtue ; we should be united to our government , for without this attachment to the laws , which are framed for our welfare , no society ought to exist . Society is
intended to restrain the passions of men inclined to be vicious , to correct the natural degeneracy of human nature , to check the progress of vice by its united force , to inspire us with the general principles of Love , Humanity , Justice , ? -nd Charity ; to enliven the endearments of conversation , and to rivet' mail to man . ' And although , of all social institutions , none ever had its views so widely