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Article ORIGINAL AND SUPPLEMENTARY FREEMASONRY. ← Page 4 of 6 →
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Original And Supplementary Freemasonry.
immediately opened a school for the purpose of imparting the knowledge which he had derived from his Egyptian instructors . He afterwards passed over into Italy , and founded schools among the Grecian colonies established in that country . Pythagoras , besides giving public lectures , wherein he advocated the cause of virtue and morality , formed an association , or Lodge , to which only select disciles were admitted . Nor were these received without
p undergoing a long course of probationary discipline , and a strict examination as to their fitness , both moral and physical , to be admitted into the society . Abstinence , frugality , humility , industry , and silence , were particularly enjoined , and a perfect equality maintained among the members . On initiation they were bound by a solemn oath to keep inviolate the doctrines or secrets which should be revealed to them , and these secrets were orally delivered and concealed under the veil of symbols
, lest any of their mysteries might be betrayed into the hands of the profane . There were also several steps or degrees , which each member was obliged to pass through in a regular order , before he was admitted to a full participation in the benefits of the society . Of the doctrines taught by Pythagoras , the following is a brief summary . "The end of philosophy is to free the mind from those circumstances which hinder its progress towards perfectionand to
, raise it to the contemplation of immutable truth , and the knowledge of divine and spiritual objects . The first step towards wisdom is the study of mathematics , which includes arithmetic , geometry , and astronomy . " Next to these music was considered an important object of study . Among his moral maxims and precepts were— " Virtue is divided
into two branches , public and private ; private virtue respects education , silence , abstinence , fortitude , sobriety , and prudence . The powers of the mind are reason and passion , and when the latter is preserved in subjection to the former , virtue is prevalent . Silence is better than idle words . Sobriety is the strength of' the soul , for it preserves its reason unclouded by passion . No man ought to be esteemed free who has not the perfect command of himself . The design and end of all moral precepts is to lead men to the imitation of God . " A collection of maxims
which bear comparison with some parts of our excellent lecture in the first degree . The chief object of study among the Pythagorean sect was theoretical philosophy , which treats of Nature and its origin , in which were insluded the theological and cosmogonical doctrines derived by its founder from the Egyptian priests , and which were carefully concealed in allegory and conveyed by symbols . The unity and universality of the Deity , the
immortality of the soul , and the doctrine of the metempsychosis , were the leading opinions of the sect . Such were the doctrines propagated by the founders of a school of philosophy , which afterwards branching out into the Eleatic , Heraclitean , Epicurean , and Sceptic sects , spread extensively over civilized Europe , and diffused the benefits of knowledge and the light of moral truth over that portion of the globe . Even more famous in character and reputation
were the later branches of the Ionic sect founded by Thales of Miletus . From them sprung Socrates and his disciples , Plato and the Academic , Aristotle and the Peripatetic , Zeno and the Stoic schools of philosophy —names imperishable in the annals of the human mind , all of whom acknowledge their obligations to the chief source of Grecian wisdom , the Egyptian priesthood .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Original And Supplementary Freemasonry.
immediately opened a school for the purpose of imparting the knowledge which he had derived from his Egyptian instructors . He afterwards passed over into Italy , and founded schools among the Grecian colonies established in that country . Pythagoras , besides giving public lectures , wherein he advocated the cause of virtue and morality , formed an association , or Lodge , to which only select disciles were admitted . Nor were these received without
p undergoing a long course of probationary discipline , and a strict examination as to their fitness , both moral and physical , to be admitted into the society . Abstinence , frugality , humility , industry , and silence , were particularly enjoined , and a perfect equality maintained among the members . On initiation they were bound by a solemn oath to keep inviolate the doctrines or secrets which should be revealed to them , and these secrets were orally delivered and concealed under the veil of symbols
, lest any of their mysteries might be betrayed into the hands of the profane . There were also several steps or degrees , which each member was obliged to pass through in a regular order , before he was admitted to a full participation in the benefits of the society . Of the doctrines taught by Pythagoras , the following is a brief summary . "The end of philosophy is to free the mind from those circumstances which hinder its progress towards perfectionand to
, raise it to the contemplation of immutable truth , and the knowledge of divine and spiritual objects . The first step towards wisdom is the study of mathematics , which includes arithmetic , geometry , and astronomy . " Next to these music was considered an important object of study . Among his moral maxims and precepts were— " Virtue is divided
into two branches , public and private ; private virtue respects education , silence , abstinence , fortitude , sobriety , and prudence . The powers of the mind are reason and passion , and when the latter is preserved in subjection to the former , virtue is prevalent . Silence is better than idle words . Sobriety is the strength of' the soul , for it preserves its reason unclouded by passion . No man ought to be esteemed free who has not the perfect command of himself . The design and end of all moral precepts is to lead men to the imitation of God . " A collection of maxims
which bear comparison with some parts of our excellent lecture in the first degree . The chief object of study among the Pythagorean sect was theoretical philosophy , which treats of Nature and its origin , in which were insluded the theological and cosmogonical doctrines derived by its founder from the Egyptian priests , and which were carefully concealed in allegory and conveyed by symbols . The unity and universality of the Deity , the
immortality of the soul , and the doctrine of the metempsychosis , were the leading opinions of the sect . Such were the doctrines propagated by the founders of a school of philosophy , which afterwards branching out into the Eleatic , Heraclitean , Epicurean , and Sceptic sects , spread extensively over civilized Europe , and diffused the benefits of knowledge and the light of moral truth over that portion of the globe . Even more famous in character and reputation
were the later branches of the Ionic sect founded by Thales of Miletus . From them sprung Socrates and his disciples , Plato and the Academic , Aristotle and the Peripatetic , Zeno and the Stoic schools of philosophy —names imperishable in the annals of the human mind , all of whom acknowledge their obligations to the chief source of Grecian wisdom , the Egyptian priesthood .