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Article PROVINCIAL. ← Page 8 of 21 →
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Provincial.
had undergone a fearful change . Soon the unhappy offspring of our progenitors evinced the fatal effects of a departure from Brotherl y Love . Speedily a scene was exhibited before the high heavens at which angels wept—a brother stained with a brother ' s blood . Before this period Spiritual Masonry , or in other words , Morality , united with the simple worship of the Creator , was practised by the little family of man . But the death blow which Cain inflicted on his brothercaused a violent
dis-, ruption of the great principles of the Order , and separated it into those two grand divisions which are termed Speculative and Operative Masonry . The former was practised in the line of Seth , and the latter in that of Cain . And here we find one striking fact which constitutes an unerring guide in our estimate of these two divisions of Freemasonry . When the descendants of Cain had lost sight of their Creator , they devoted all their attention to the arts of civil life ; and it is thought that the seven liberal
sciences were invented by this race before the flood . This however is doubtful . But it is quite certain that they made considerable progress in the scientific pursuits attached to Operative Masonry . Cain brought the first principles of geometry and architecture into operation , and built a city . Jubal invented music . Tubal Cain the art of working metals . And astronomy was the delight and practice of both the Speculative and Operative Masons who existed in the antediluvian world .
But the children of Cain were idolaters ; and it is remarkable that in all the first ages , these mistaken men were the most accomplished in the knowledge of human science . After the flood , the posterity of Ham perpetuated the errors of the unhappy race of Cain . Here a question naturally arises , had they no desire to emerge from these corruptions ?
Search into the mythologies of the various heathen nations , and you will find a solution of this enquiry;—you will find that amidst all their errors they had an evident desire to emulate the Spiritual Masonry of the holy worshippers of God . It was for this purpose that rites of initiation were adopted before the dispersion of mankind from the plains of Shinar . It was for the same purpose that these rites were subsequently propagated throughout the world . Wonderful it is to reflect on the extravagancies to which these institutions led . Bwhat processdo you thinkthese
y , , errors were perpetuated ? By any mysterious agency ? Certainl y not . It was by a system of false and inconclusive reasoning . The people who practised this spurious imitation of our science , were very solicitous to share in the privileges of true Masonry ; because they were witnesses to the peaceable fruits which it produced . But they were too proud to suhmit to the guidance of a theocracy . They had heard from some remote traditionthat Light was the object of the Freemasonry practised
, by the holy patriarchs ; and therefore transferred their adoration to the Sun ; which being the great source of material Light , they mistook for that lucid principle which emanates from the throne of God . Their institutes , their ceremonies , their deities , both actual and symbolical , all tended to the same point ; until their ideas were so completely involved in my thism , that though the system of Light shone brightly in the world , yet their darkness was so intense that they comprehended it not .
These irradiations of Light pervaded every false system from the east to the west ; from the Brahmins of Hindoostan to the Druids of Britain ; and existed in the remotest regions of the North . Why then did they not operate to the purification of these unholy systems ? Why ? Because the people could not understand them . Because they were so perverted by fable as to be unintelligible . Do you ask what were these rays of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Provincial.
had undergone a fearful change . Soon the unhappy offspring of our progenitors evinced the fatal effects of a departure from Brotherl y Love . Speedily a scene was exhibited before the high heavens at which angels wept—a brother stained with a brother ' s blood . Before this period Spiritual Masonry , or in other words , Morality , united with the simple worship of the Creator , was practised by the little family of man . But the death blow which Cain inflicted on his brothercaused a violent
dis-, ruption of the great principles of the Order , and separated it into those two grand divisions which are termed Speculative and Operative Masonry . The former was practised in the line of Seth , and the latter in that of Cain . And here we find one striking fact which constitutes an unerring guide in our estimate of these two divisions of Freemasonry . When the descendants of Cain had lost sight of their Creator , they devoted all their attention to the arts of civil life ; and it is thought that the seven liberal
sciences were invented by this race before the flood . This however is doubtful . But it is quite certain that they made considerable progress in the scientific pursuits attached to Operative Masonry . Cain brought the first principles of geometry and architecture into operation , and built a city . Jubal invented music . Tubal Cain the art of working metals . And astronomy was the delight and practice of both the Speculative and Operative Masons who existed in the antediluvian world .
But the children of Cain were idolaters ; and it is remarkable that in all the first ages , these mistaken men were the most accomplished in the knowledge of human science . After the flood , the posterity of Ham perpetuated the errors of the unhappy race of Cain . Here a question naturally arises , had they no desire to emerge from these corruptions ?
Search into the mythologies of the various heathen nations , and you will find a solution of this enquiry;—you will find that amidst all their errors they had an evident desire to emulate the Spiritual Masonry of the holy worshippers of God . It was for this purpose that rites of initiation were adopted before the dispersion of mankind from the plains of Shinar . It was for the same purpose that these rites were subsequently propagated throughout the world . Wonderful it is to reflect on the extravagancies to which these institutions led . Bwhat processdo you thinkthese
y , , errors were perpetuated ? By any mysterious agency ? Certainl y not . It was by a system of false and inconclusive reasoning . The people who practised this spurious imitation of our science , were very solicitous to share in the privileges of true Masonry ; because they were witnesses to the peaceable fruits which it produced . But they were too proud to suhmit to the guidance of a theocracy . They had heard from some remote traditionthat Light was the object of the Freemasonry practised
, by the holy patriarchs ; and therefore transferred their adoration to the Sun ; which being the great source of material Light , they mistook for that lucid principle which emanates from the throne of God . Their institutes , their ceremonies , their deities , both actual and symbolical , all tended to the same point ; until their ideas were so completely involved in my thism , that though the system of Light shone brightly in the world , yet their darkness was so intense that they comprehended it not .
These irradiations of Light pervaded every false system from the east to the west ; from the Brahmins of Hindoostan to the Druids of Britain ; and existed in the remotest regions of the North . Why then did they not operate to the purification of these unholy systems ? Why ? Because the people could not understand them . Because they were so perverted by fable as to be unintelligible . Do you ask what were these rays of