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Article THE FREEMASONS' QUARTERLY REVIEW. ← Page 9 of 10 →
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The Freemasons' Quarterly Review.
have given , had we space . The following letter from the editor of a provincial paper , however , is so much to the point , that without adopting the fulness of the opinion of the estimable writer , one of the popular or profane world—we give it verbatim—and hope that the honourable member for Perth , and all those who supported him , may profit by the admirable lesson it contains . " Every institution has , or has had , its uses , and on that ground , so
far at least as the past is concerned , is entitled to respect ; no matter how it may conflict with the requirements of our present social state , it has been worth preserving ; but all things have their day , that which ivas useful and beneficial in one set of circumstances , becomes useless and hurtful in another ; and all this may be said of that for which various quidnuncs are now contending , namely , ' secresy . ' These reflections particularly apply to the flutter and alarm which the Freemasons '
Quarterly has excited in some ancient-minded gentlemen , who seem to be possessed by an idea ( if indeed the sensation which they experience deserves to be dignified by that name ) that if even light is suffered to flow into the doings of their once secret society , then once and for ever will be an end of the Craft . " Miserable hallucination ! These delusionists show that the voice of history is a secret to them—that progress brings no knowledge to their
minds—no liberalism to their hearts . They tell their Brethren at once that they are unable to recognize the presence of that spirit of change , which is ever and anon flitting around and among us—that they cannot tell when an instrument has become worthless because the nature of the work to be done has been transformed—that they mistake medicine for nutriment . Time was when monarchs ruled with sway as potent almost
as the behests of Omnipotence—when iron-handed and steel-cased and leaden-brained barons spurred over all opposition—when the voice of the people was not heard—when the fourth estate was an unformed existence in the womb of time—when there was no public opinionwhen intellect was powerless , unless to direct physical force—when the world was in its pupilage and governed by blows;—then it was necessary to be secret—then such a law as now blots the statutes of Masonry was prompted by the instinct of self-preservation — thenthose who
, loved mankind were the weakest , those who sought to bind the human family in one wide bond of brotherhood and knowledge , were at the mercy and under the feet of the strong-handed many , and privacy was one of the conditions of existence . The Masonic was then necessarily a secret society . The right of strength was against them , and they shipl / lpi-l tlipmsplvpe : hpl . inrl mvsf . ic . fiifrns and nass-wnrds- anfl . .. nrlprthp ~
— . . . . . . — ---, —n L .. , „ .. u , .... u _ . .... _ , cloak of darkness , ami there formed the nucleus—laid the foundations of a combination , which , if properly directed , may lead to the most important results which union is capable of producing . Tempus edax rerum , —and , among other things , the necessity of concealment . The power of the crown is defined—the once armed barons are circumscribed within constitutional limits—the voice of the people is loud and sonorousand the printing press re-echoes its accents with more force
, and power than if thundered forth from all the cannons that ever played ( what a mockery of the word ) on fields of blood and slaughter . The European world has emerged from the leading-strings of childhood , and the dark ages have given way before the torrent of intellectual light which beams from many quarters . Secrecy is no longer necessary—it is not even possible . No union of men can now so hermetically seal themselves up , that the voice of the great world , moving and throbbing
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Quarterly Review.
have given , had we space . The following letter from the editor of a provincial paper , however , is so much to the point , that without adopting the fulness of the opinion of the estimable writer , one of the popular or profane world—we give it verbatim—and hope that the honourable member for Perth , and all those who supported him , may profit by the admirable lesson it contains . " Every institution has , or has had , its uses , and on that ground , so
far at least as the past is concerned , is entitled to respect ; no matter how it may conflict with the requirements of our present social state , it has been worth preserving ; but all things have their day , that which ivas useful and beneficial in one set of circumstances , becomes useless and hurtful in another ; and all this may be said of that for which various quidnuncs are now contending , namely , ' secresy . ' These reflections particularly apply to the flutter and alarm which the Freemasons '
Quarterly has excited in some ancient-minded gentlemen , who seem to be possessed by an idea ( if indeed the sensation which they experience deserves to be dignified by that name ) that if even light is suffered to flow into the doings of their once secret society , then once and for ever will be an end of the Craft . " Miserable hallucination ! These delusionists show that the voice of history is a secret to them—that progress brings no knowledge to their
minds—no liberalism to their hearts . They tell their Brethren at once that they are unable to recognize the presence of that spirit of change , which is ever and anon flitting around and among us—that they cannot tell when an instrument has become worthless because the nature of the work to be done has been transformed—that they mistake medicine for nutriment . Time was when monarchs ruled with sway as potent almost
as the behests of Omnipotence—when iron-handed and steel-cased and leaden-brained barons spurred over all opposition—when the voice of the people was not heard—when the fourth estate was an unformed existence in the womb of time—when there was no public opinionwhen intellect was powerless , unless to direct physical force—when the world was in its pupilage and governed by blows;—then it was necessary to be secret—then such a law as now blots the statutes of Masonry was prompted by the instinct of self-preservation — thenthose who
, loved mankind were the weakest , those who sought to bind the human family in one wide bond of brotherhood and knowledge , were at the mercy and under the feet of the strong-handed many , and privacy was one of the conditions of existence . The Masonic was then necessarily a secret society . The right of strength was against them , and they shipl / lpi-l tlipmsplvpe : hpl . inrl mvsf . ic . fiifrns and nass-wnrds- anfl . .. nrlprthp ~
— . . . . . . — ---, —n L .. , „ .. u , .... u _ . .... _ , cloak of darkness , ami there formed the nucleus—laid the foundations of a combination , which , if properly directed , may lead to the most important results which union is capable of producing . Tempus edax rerum , —and , among other things , the necessity of concealment . The power of the crown is defined—the once armed barons are circumscribed within constitutional limits—the voice of the people is loud and sonorousand the printing press re-echoes its accents with more force
, and power than if thundered forth from all the cannons that ever played ( what a mockery of the word ) on fields of blood and slaughter . The European world has emerged from the leading-strings of childhood , and the dark ages have given way before the torrent of intellectual light which beams from many quarters . Secrecy is no longer necessary—it is not even possible . No union of men can now so hermetically seal themselves up , that the voice of the great world , moving and throbbing