Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Precepts, Translated From The German, For The Freemasons' Magazine.
Thy Obligation compels thee to be benevolent to mankind , but in particular to thy Brother . Is he blinded by errors , and hastens towards a precipice—take tip the brotherly arms of rational representations , and stop him . Reconduct the wavering creatures of God to the path of virtue , and raise up the fallen . Hast thou an animosity against thy Brother , on account of real
or imaginary offences—let not the sun set before thy-reconciliation . Call in an unprejudiced arbitrator , and invite him to brotherly mediation . ¦ • But never step over our threshold , unless thy heart is clear of hatred and vengeance . In vain wouldst thou attempt to supplicate down into our temples the Eternal , if they were not ornamented by the virtues of our Brethren , and consecrated by their unanimity .
IX . DUTIES TOWARDS THE ORDER . BY having admitted thee to partake of the advantages which are the consequences of our alliance , thou hast resigned a part of thy natural liberty . Fulfil with reli g ious strictness all those moral duties which the Order prescribes thee .
Fellow its wise precepts , and honour those , who , by the confi--dence of the Brethren , have been made the Guardians of the laws , and the interpreters of the universal union . Thy will is subordinate , in the Order , to the will of the law , and thy superiors . Thou wouldst not be a true Brotherif thou wouldst resist this
, subordination , so'vejy requisite in eveiy society , and nothing would remain for us then , but to banish thee from among us . In particular have we a law , the inviolable compliance with which thou hast promised before the face of Heaven ; it is the strictest silence concerning our rite ' s , ceremonies , signs , and the form of our alliance .
Do not imagine that this obligation is less sacred than that which thou takest in civil life . Thou wert free -when it was administered to thee : but it is not now at thy option to violate it - , the Eternal , whom thou hast invoked to witness it , lias ratified it . Tremble at the punishments of perjury ; never couldst thou escape
the gnawing reproaches of thy own heart . Thou wouldst lose for ever the esteem and the confidence of a numerous Society , who would have an undoubted ri g ht to declare thee to be a perjured and infamous being . CONCLUSION . SHO . ULD these Precepts , which- the Order communicates to thee , * o make the path to truth and happiness smooth , imprint themselves
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Precepts, Translated From The German, For The Freemasons' Magazine.
Thy Obligation compels thee to be benevolent to mankind , but in particular to thy Brother . Is he blinded by errors , and hastens towards a precipice—take tip the brotherly arms of rational representations , and stop him . Reconduct the wavering creatures of God to the path of virtue , and raise up the fallen . Hast thou an animosity against thy Brother , on account of real
or imaginary offences—let not the sun set before thy-reconciliation . Call in an unprejudiced arbitrator , and invite him to brotherly mediation . ¦ • But never step over our threshold , unless thy heart is clear of hatred and vengeance . In vain wouldst thou attempt to supplicate down into our temples the Eternal , if they were not ornamented by the virtues of our Brethren , and consecrated by their unanimity .
IX . DUTIES TOWARDS THE ORDER . BY having admitted thee to partake of the advantages which are the consequences of our alliance , thou hast resigned a part of thy natural liberty . Fulfil with reli g ious strictness all those moral duties which the Order prescribes thee .
Fellow its wise precepts , and honour those , who , by the confi--dence of the Brethren , have been made the Guardians of the laws , and the interpreters of the universal union . Thy will is subordinate , in the Order , to the will of the law , and thy superiors . Thou wouldst not be a true Brotherif thou wouldst resist this
, subordination , so'vejy requisite in eveiy society , and nothing would remain for us then , but to banish thee from among us . In particular have we a law , the inviolable compliance with which thou hast promised before the face of Heaven ; it is the strictest silence concerning our rite ' s , ceremonies , signs , and the form of our alliance .
Do not imagine that this obligation is less sacred than that which thou takest in civil life . Thou wert free -when it was administered to thee : but it is not now at thy option to violate it - , the Eternal , whom thou hast invoked to witness it , lias ratified it . Tremble at the punishments of perjury ; never couldst thou escape
the gnawing reproaches of thy own heart . Thou wouldst lose for ever the esteem and the confidence of a numerous Society , who would have an undoubted ri g ht to declare thee to be a perjured and infamous being . CONCLUSION . SHO . ULD these Precepts , which- the Order communicates to thee , * o make the path to truth and happiness smooth , imprint themselves