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  • May 18, 1867
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  • FREEMASONRY CONSIDERED.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Freemasonry Considered.

FREEMASONRY CONSIDERED .

LONDON , SATURDAY , MAT 18 , 1867 .

BY ANTHONY OSTEAL HATE . II . Continued from p . 363 . Now , no oue can object to all these degrees , if men are so minded to go in for them , but why

insist upon having them called Masonic , except it be for the purpose of evading the Act of Parliament in reference to the suppression of secret societies , and why claim an antiquity and importance for them , when History and their own

internal evidence combine to give the lie to such . Moreover , can the members not readjust their rituals , so that even they themselves be no longer put out of countenance by statements which are notoriously the opposite of truth . If it is asked ,

What business is it of mine ? I reply , that having already paid for grades ivhich I consider are an insult to any man of sense to have joined , I am bound , in honour , and in terms of my obligation , not to see another brother so misled as to

suppose he will hud any corn in the chaff of these degrees . If he desires to knoiv ivhat these degrees are , I recommend him to disburse a very small tithe of the expense of taking them , which Avill enable him to possess their whole secrets and mysteries , in print .

But if nothing else could show the absurdities of these multifarious degrees , the fact of their not being worked , because unworkable , shows their uselessness . Who would dream of attempting to work the rite of-Misraim ? It would require a

nation , and the income of a king . Let us take the Ancient and Accepted Rite as worked in Scotland . The following degrees are alone given : —The Apprentice , Fellow Craft , Master , Mark , Past , Excellent , and Royal Arch . Some

Arch Chapters give the Ark Mariner , and the Red Cross degrees , but these are not necessary for advancement . A jump is then made through the Royal Order , not known in England or recognised , into the Rose Croix ; that is from the seventh

degree to the eighteenth . Another jump is made to the thirtieth , and there ends all ceremony . What do we find ? Prom the seventh to the

thirtieth degree both inclusive , only three degrees worked ! I confess they manage these things better in England , and in Devon and Cornwall the grades below the eighteenth are all worked . But

how about Scotland ? I do not believe there ia a single man Avho wears the collar of the thirty third , thirty second , thirty first , or thirtieth , that knows anything to fit him to be considered , intellectually , qualified to hold these degrees , that is , if

intellectual qualification is to be tested by a knowledge of the degrees . Surely no one will say that this is proper , or that these degrees should be kept on the roll , Avhile in fact they are so many dead letters . The French at one time adopted a very

excellent plan of reducing the list of degrees to seven , J but after a short time the desire for decorations came in once more , and they reverted to the thirty three , to the delight and profit of the jeivellers .

Now , since the thirty-three degrees are unworkable , why not chose out certain of them , and cast aside the others , as the French , with a gleam of Masonic sense , did ? The brother who desires a cross ancl an eagle for his breast could easily be

gratified with the Rose Croix and the thirtieth . Might one suggest to the Templars before leaving these higher degrees that a slight study of the ancient ritual and of the internal economy of the

Order would be judicious ; to the hospitallers , a glance at the history of that noble Order by de Vertol , where they will learn things undreamed of in their philosophy , and perhaps they may then understand Avhat difference existed between the

Orders known as Knights of St . John of Jerusalem , Knights of Rhodes , Knights of Malta , whom historians , according to our native modern valiant Knights , have always been under the wrong impression ivere one and the same , and the Knights

Templars . They may then know that Pope Clement's Bull utterly annihilated the Order or the Temple , the members of which entered into that of the Hospital , not as Templars , but as Hospitallers ; and the name of Teniplar , as

indicative of an Order , became extinct . They may know that the Hospitallers , Avith the Templars , upon the loss of the Holy Land , established themselves in Cyprus , the rival Orders being then on the most intimate and friendly terms . The

Hospitallers shortly after attacked Puhodes , which they captured , and it was the fact of their being' engaged in this war that prevented them being involved in the Templar ' s fate , for the Grand Master was invited , along with Molai , by the Pope ,

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1867-05-18, Page 1” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 21 July 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/mmr_18051867/page/1/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
FREEMASONRY CONSIDERED. Article 1
HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY IN CORNWALL. Article 2
CHESHIRE EDUCATIONAL MASONIC INSTITUTION. Article 4
THE NEMESIS: A TALE OF THE DAYS OF TRAJAN. Article 5
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. Article 6
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 8
THE LODGE OF CHARITY (No. 223). Article 9
A BUD OF PROMISE. Article 9
"PALMAM QUI MERUIT FERAT." Article 9
METROPOLITAN. Article 10
PROVINCIAL. Article 11
ROYAL ARCH. Article 11
MARK MASONRY. Article 12
HIGH KHIGHTS TEMPLAR. Article 13
KNIGHTS TEMPLAR. Article 13
RED CROSS KNIGHTS AND K.H.S. Article 16
CHANNEL ISLANDS. Article 16
REVIEWS. Article 16
NOTES ON LITERATURE, SCIENCE, MUSIC, DRAMA, AND THE FINE ARTS. Article 17
Poetry. Article 17
TRAIN UP A CHILD IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO. Article 17
MEETINGS OF THE SCIENTIFIC AND LEARNED SOCIETIES FOR THE WEEK ENDING MAT Article 17
THE WEEK. Article 17
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 20
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Freemasonry Considered.

FREEMASONRY CONSIDERED .

LONDON , SATURDAY , MAT 18 , 1867 .

BY ANTHONY OSTEAL HATE . II . Continued from p . 363 . Now , no oue can object to all these degrees , if men are so minded to go in for them , but why

insist upon having them called Masonic , except it be for the purpose of evading the Act of Parliament in reference to the suppression of secret societies , and why claim an antiquity and importance for them , when History and their own

internal evidence combine to give the lie to such . Moreover , can the members not readjust their rituals , so that even they themselves be no longer put out of countenance by statements which are notoriously the opposite of truth . If it is asked ,

What business is it of mine ? I reply , that having already paid for grades ivhich I consider are an insult to any man of sense to have joined , I am bound , in honour , and in terms of my obligation , not to see another brother so misled as to

suppose he will hud any corn in the chaff of these degrees . If he desires to knoiv ivhat these degrees are , I recommend him to disburse a very small tithe of the expense of taking them , which Avill enable him to possess their whole secrets and mysteries , in print .

But if nothing else could show the absurdities of these multifarious degrees , the fact of their not being worked , because unworkable , shows their uselessness . Who would dream of attempting to work the rite of-Misraim ? It would require a

nation , and the income of a king . Let us take the Ancient and Accepted Rite as worked in Scotland . The following degrees are alone given : —The Apprentice , Fellow Craft , Master , Mark , Past , Excellent , and Royal Arch . Some

Arch Chapters give the Ark Mariner , and the Red Cross degrees , but these are not necessary for advancement . A jump is then made through the Royal Order , not known in England or recognised , into the Rose Croix ; that is from the seventh

degree to the eighteenth . Another jump is made to the thirtieth , and there ends all ceremony . What do we find ? Prom the seventh to the

thirtieth degree both inclusive , only three degrees worked ! I confess they manage these things better in England , and in Devon and Cornwall the grades below the eighteenth are all worked . But

how about Scotland ? I do not believe there ia a single man Avho wears the collar of the thirty third , thirty second , thirty first , or thirtieth , that knows anything to fit him to be considered , intellectually , qualified to hold these degrees , that is , if

intellectual qualification is to be tested by a knowledge of the degrees . Surely no one will say that this is proper , or that these degrees should be kept on the roll , Avhile in fact they are so many dead letters . The French at one time adopted a very

excellent plan of reducing the list of degrees to seven , J but after a short time the desire for decorations came in once more , and they reverted to the thirty three , to the delight and profit of the jeivellers .

Now , since the thirty-three degrees are unworkable , why not chose out certain of them , and cast aside the others , as the French , with a gleam of Masonic sense , did ? The brother who desires a cross ancl an eagle for his breast could easily be

gratified with the Rose Croix and the thirtieth . Might one suggest to the Templars before leaving these higher degrees that a slight study of the ancient ritual and of the internal economy of the

Order would be judicious ; to the hospitallers , a glance at the history of that noble Order by de Vertol , where they will learn things undreamed of in their philosophy , and perhaps they may then understand Avhat difference existed between the

Orders known as Knights of St . John of Jerusalem , Knights of Rhodes , Knights of Malta , whom historians , according to our native modern valiant Knights , have always been under the wrong impression ivere one and the same , and the Knights

Templars . They may then know that Pope Clement's Bull utterly annihilated the Order or the Temple , the members of which entered into that of the Hospital , not as Templars , but as Hospitallers ; and the name of Teniplar , as

indicative of an Order , became extinct . They may know that the Hospitallers , Avith the Templars , upon the loss of the Holy Land , established themselves in Cyprus , the rival Orders being then on the most intimate and friendly terms . The

Hospitallers shortly after attacked Puhodes , which they captured , and it was the fact of their being' engaged in this war that prevented them being involved in the Templar ' s fate , for the Grand Master was invited , along with Molai , by the Pope ,

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