Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The True History Of Freemasonry In England.
I think no one can sincerely and carefully consider our Masonic ritual and traditions without feeling persuaded that they represent old forms and usages jealously guarded and carefully retained . And when wo remember that the Master Masons , in medieval times , were all men of education , ancl held a very high place in society , and that many ecclesiastics were members of these building brotherhoods , there really is very little difficulty in the supposition that they handed on , if mechanically , as intelligently as wo do
ourselves , the old forms of initiation and reception , which , coming from a long-forgotten past , were bound up with then- own existence as a body , claiming special secrets and conferring great and valuable privileges .
Another objection has been raised by one or two writers in the freemasons Magazine to this theory , that we have no proof that our secrets and those of the operative guilds ivere the same . But Bro . Findel seems to say , and his statement has so far met with no denial or attempted refutation , that the secrets and ritual of the German Operative lodges are identicaUy the same with those of the present German Speculative Masons , and their secrets ancl ritual are almost identical with our own . Indeed , there is a MS . on the Secrets of Masonry in the British Museumwhich , as I read itis in itself a
, . , complete answer to such an objection , and a copy of the old Constitution in the handwriting of Randle Holmes further sets this matter at rest . At the same time it is not possible , in my opinion , to dogmatize too much on this point , as we are still much in the dark as to the operative usages , whether Germanic or Anglican . It may be sufficient to say , that it is for our antagonists to prove " a negative . " ( To be Continued , )
Lost And Saved ; Or Nellie Powers The Missionary's Daughter.
LOST AND SAVED ; OR NELLIE POWERS THE MISSIONARY'S DAUGHTER .
B Y C . II . L 0 0 MI s . CHAP . V . MISS POWERS was naturally of a timid nature , and the strange scenes she was now passing through tended to fill her mind with apprehension .
Having spent aU her young life among the young ladies of the seminary , and rarely enjoying the society of the opposite sex , she was naturally startled , when alone on the great ocean , and hi company with Nature ' s roughest men , she should perceive two of these rough men staring at her , and she thought wickedly staring at her , from under the main boom . She had been on the sea long enough to have noticed that the officers and men were not intimate one with the other , and therefore wondered that the third mate should be so intimate with the most hardened-looking man aboard the vessel . She
did not show any trepidation noticeable to her fellow-passenger , or to Mr . Evans , although her heart seemed about to leap out of her mouth ivhen she opened it to say : — "I cannot see IIOAV men dare engage in such dangerous undertakings , " her face changing to fainting whiteness , despite her endeavour to appear calm . " When danger is far away , " replied the mate , " we are brave enough , and when danger does come , we can ' t get away , and are obliged to grin and bear it . The whale fishery is not half so likel y to frighten a seaman as a cyclone in the Indian Ocean . " " Do we go near the Indian Ocean ? " timidly inquired Miss Nellie . Mr . Evans smiled as he answered " No , " and as it Avasnear noon he went below to get his quadrant to take the . sun , The captain , mate , or navigating officer aboard a
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The True History Of Freemasonry In England.
I think no one can sincerely and carefully consider our Masonic ritual and traditions without feeling persuaded that they represent old forms and usages jealously guarded and carefully retained . And when wo remember that the Master Masons , in medieval times , were all men of education , ancl held a very high place in society , and that many ecclesiastics were members of these building brotherhoods , there really is very little difficulty in the supposition that they handed on , if mechanically , as intelligently as wo do
ourselves , the old forms of initiation and reception , which , coming from a long-forgotten past , were bound up with then- own existence as a body , claiming special secrets and conferring great and valuable privileges .
Another objection has been raised by one or two writers in the freemasons Magazine to this theory , that we have no proof that our secrets and those of the operative guilds ivere the same . But Bro . Findel seems to say , and his statement has so far met with no denial or attempted refutation , that the secrets and ritual of the German Operative lodges are identicaUy the same with those of the present German Speculative Masons , and their secrets ancl ritual are almost identical with our own . Indeed , there is a MS . on the Secrets of Masonry in the British Museumwhich , as I read itis in itself a
, . , complete answer to such an objection , and a copy of the old Constitution in the handwriting of Randle Holmes further sets this matter at rest . At the same time it is not possible , in my opinion , to dogmatize too much on this point , as we are still much in the dark as to the operative usages , whether Germanic or Anglican . It may be sufficient to say , that it is for our antagonists to prove " a negative . " ( To be Continued , )
Lost And Saved ; Or Nellie Powers The Missionary's Daughter.
LOST AND SAVED ; OR NELLIE POWERS THE MISSIONARY'S DAUGHTER .
B Y C . II . L 0 0 MI s . CHAP . V . MISS POWERS was naturally of a timid nature , and the strange scenes she was now passing through tended to fill her mind with apprehension .
Having spent aU her young life among the young ladies of the seminary , and rarely enjoying the society of the opposite sex , she was naturally startled , when alone on the great ocean , and hi company with Nature ' s roughest men , she should perceive two of these rough men staring at her , and she thought wickedly staring at her , from under the main boom . She had been on the sea long enough to have noticed that the officers and men were not intimate one with the other , and therefore wondered that the third mate should be so intimate with the most hardened-looking man aboard the vessel . She
did not show any trepidation noticeable to her fellow-passenger , or to Mr . Evans , although her heart seemed about to leap out of her mouth ivhen she opened it to say : — "I cannot see IIOAV men dare engage in such dangerous undertakings , " her face changing to fainting whiteness , despite her endeavour to appear calm . " When danger is far away , " replied the mate , " we are brave enough , and when danger does come , we can ' t get away , and are obliged to grin and bear it . The whale fishery is not half so likel y to frighten a seaman as a cyclone in the Indian Ocean . " " Do we go near the Indian Ocean ? " timidly inquired Miss Nellie . Mr . Evans smiled as he answered " No , " and as it Avasnear noon he went below to get his quadrant to take the . sun , The captain , mate , or navigating officer aboard a