The Theocratic Philosophy Of Freemasonry 12 Lectures PDF Download

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: LECTURE III. THE PERFECTION TO WHICH OPERATIVE OR SCIENTIFIC MASONRY WAS CARRIED IN THE EARLIEST TIMES. Those tents thou saw'st so pleasant, were the tents Of wickedness, wherein shall dwell his race Who slew his brother; studious they appear Of arts that polish life, inventors rare, Unmindful of their Maker, though his Spirit Taught them, but they his gifts acknowledged none. Milton. The study of Freemasonry in its several branches, and under every designation by which it has been recognised in all ages from the creation, cannot fail to enhance the moral dignity of man, from the influence which it has ever exercised over human institutions, whether civil or religious.1 The political relations which the nomadic tribes of antiquity sustained towards each other, were cemented by the awful sanction of its local name, as the sacred vehicle of religiousmystery; and the rites of initiation conveyed privileges which constituted a bond of union amongst individuals of every clime and every language; while under another form, as a medium for the development of scientific knowledge, its influence was no less felt, by its command over the arts which dignified and adorned nations, and contributed to the necessities and elegancies of social and domestic life. 1 In tracing the divine origin and government of a system, dimly seen through the veil of many thousand years, and to be sought out through the imperfect tale which has reached us by tradition, it is of course necessary to dwell much on the minutest points of traditionary story, to fill up the chasms where they exist, by looking to probabilities, and by speculating deeply on causes and their effects. It is in this search for the precious jewel of truth, that the anxious Mason will meet with his reward. The cloud-cap...