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Article LITERARY NOTICES. ← Page 5 of 7 →
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Literary Notices.
The title of the work , when verbally translated , would be , " Freemasonry in its real meaning , shown by ancient and genuine records of tiie Stone Alasons , Alasons , and Freemasons . By G . K . " It contains a frontispiece , being the arms of the Society of Masons in London in 1477 , the Fraternity of Tilers and Bricklayers in London in 1568 , and the Seal of Grand Lodge of Freemasons of England in 1743 and 1767 . It is stated in the introduction that— " During the past hundred
, years so many theories have been started , and such strange conjectures hazarded in print , upon the history and object of Freemasonry , that if any person possessed a stock of them , and attempted to gain any information therefrom , he would find himself so mystified and bewildered that it would be hopeless to endeavour to disentangle himself from the labyrinth into which he had been dragged . However well intentioned the object of writers may have been , they could but hope to draw new deductions .
Thus , a traditional history has been obtained , which those believed who took for granted what one writer had copied or altered from another . Subsequent examination of original authorities has often shown the later authors to be in error . The principal intention of the present compiler , therefore , has been to give the original sources of Masonic history , comparing , at the same time the contemporary writers , many of them not before quotedor referred to so loosely as to have been thrown aside b
, y others as unworthy or useless material . The work is divided into six parts . The first , an account of the German and English Stonecutters , Alasons , Stone-masons , and Freemasons since the first mention of them in histories , as also to quote the passages and point out the places where allusions to them may be found ; the second part details all the known
laws and regulations pertaining to the ancient hewers and stone-masons , and which are chronologically arranged and compared : thus showing , without any comments , the gradual changes into Freemasonry . The discerning mind will be enabled to form its own conclusions , and all the prejudiced remarks of an author avoided . In many instances paragraphs are given without any apparent object beyond the fact of their being in existence , but of most important consequence to any historian , which our author does not pretend to bemerely offering to the future compiler
, stores of knowledge to enrich and authenticate his work . The third period treats of the formation of the fraternity of Stonemasons in Germany until the time of its disappearance as one insulated body . If it has been found impossible to demonstrate the connexion so clearly as could have been wished between the anti-Christian mysteries and the present Freemasonry , it will be evident this was not the place to record
i ' ables or fictitious hypothesis , Ihe fourth part introduces us to authorities now for the first time revealed to the general reader , " The collection of statutes of the realm , " published in London in 1817—19 , being the acts of Parliament of Great Britain . Like an impartial judge , Dr . Kloss having given his proofs without interruption , sums up the case to the consideration of the jury in the fifth part , and shows the intentions and objects , tlie commencement and history , pf Freemasonry , leaving every one of his readers to give a verdict according to the
evidence ; but that no doubt may remain as to the opinions of the learned Brother himself , he records briefly his opinions , and the reasons for them in the sixth part , which concludes with the thirty-third section thus : — " The present Freemasonry is therefore ( as has been clearly shown ) the transition from the Stoncmasonry of former days , without any change of importance , lt may be called Templar , Chivalric , Christian , high
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Literary Notices.
The title of the work , when verbally translated , would be , " Freemasonry in its real meaning , shown by ancient and genuine records of tiie Stone Alasons , Alasons , and Freemasons . By G . K . " It contains a frontispiece , being the arms of the Society of Masons in London in 1477 , the Fraternity of Tilers and Bricklayers in London in 1568 , and the Seal of Grand Lodge of Freemasons of England in 1743 and 1767 . It is stated in the introduction that— " During the past hundred
, years so many theories have been started , and such strange conjectures hazarded in print , upon the history and object of Freemasonry , that if any person possessed a stock of them , and attempted to gain any information therefrom , he would find himself so mystified and bewildered that it would be hopeless to endeavour to disentangle himself from the labyrinth into which he had been dragged . However well intentioned the object of writers may have been , they could but hope to draw new deductions .
Thus , a traditional history has been obtained , which those believed who took for granted what one writer had copied or altered from another . Subsequent examination of original authorities has often shown the later authors to be in error . The principal intention of the present compiler , therefore , has been to give the original sources of Masonic history , comparing , at the same time the contemporary writers , many of them not before quotedor referred to so loosely as to have been thrown aside b
, y others as unworthy or useless material . The work is divided into six parts . The first , an account of the German and English Stonecutters , Alasons , Stone-masons , and Freemasons since the first mention of them in histories , as also to quote the passages and point out the places where allusions to them may be found ; the second part details all the known
laws and regulations pertaining to the ancient hewers and stone-masons , and which are chronologically arranged and compared : thus showing , without any comments , the gradual changes into Freemasonry . The discerning mind will be enabled to form its own conclusions , and all the prejudiced remarks of an author avoided . In many instances paragraphs are given without any apparent object beyond the fact of their being in existence , but of most important consequence to any historian , which our author does not pretend to bemerely offering to the future compiler
, stores of knowledge to enrich and authenticate his work . The third period treats of the formation of the fraternity of Stonemasons in Germany until the time of its disappearance as one insulated body . If it has been found impossible to demonstrate the connexion so clearly as could have been wished between the anti-Christian mysteries and the present Freemasonry , it will be evident this was not the place to record
i ' ables or fictitious hypothesis , Ihe fourth part introduces us to authorities now for the first time revealed to the general reader , " The collection of statutes of the realm , " published in London in 1817—19 , being the acts of Parliament of Great Britain . Like an impartial judge , Dr . Kloss having given his proofs without interruption , sums up the case to the consideration of the jury in the fifth part , and shows the intentions and objects , tlie commencement and history , pf Freemasonry , leaving every one of his readers to give a verdict according to the
evidence ; but that no doubt may remain as to the opinions of the learned Brother himself , he records briefly his opinions , and the reasons for them in the sixth part , which concludes with the thirty-third section thus : — " The present Freemasonry is therefore ( as has been clearly shown ) the transition from the Stoncmasonry of former days , without any change of importance , lt may be called Templar , Chivalric , Christian , high