Mystic masonry, or, The symbols of freemasonry and the greater ...

The
258 Mystic Masonry.
complete philosophy of the existence and relations
of Deity, Nature, and Man. .
average Mason,
taking the symbols for the things symbolized, and
knowing nothing of the profound philosophy upon
which they rest, is incredulous that it ever existed,
and so he treads the "burning sands" in search of
a novel sensation or a new joke. As mere pastimes
these jovial entertainments are neither better nor
worse than many others. They represent one extreme
into which the Ancient Wisdom has degenerated.
Let every intelligent Mason reflect on the
sublimity and sanctity of the ceremonies in some of
the degrees, where the name of Deity is invoked,
where the highest moral precepts are inculcated,
and where the purest and most exalted ethics are
taught, and then let him ask himself the question,
whether it is consistent and devoid of hypocrisy to
round all this with a roaring farce ? Does not such
a course tend to make all sacred things also a mere
matter of form, a jest and a byword?
Every Mason is familiar with this extreme and
with the extent to which these recent innovations
and associations have been carried, and the present
writer is by no means the first to protest against it,
however ungraciously his protest may be received or
unpopular this work may be. Let every intelligent