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Signs and symbols illustrated and explained, 12 lectures
Signs and symbols illustrated and explained 12 lectures Author:George Oliver 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: SIGNS AND SYMBOLS. LECTURE I. THE H1EROGLYPHICAL SYSTEM OF THE ANCIENTS CONSIDERED. " When first the golden Morn aloft, With maiden breezes whispering s... more »oft, Sprung from the East with rosy wing, To kiss the heavenly first-born Spring ; Jehovah then from hallow'd earth Gave Masonry immortal birth."—-MASONIC Ode. " Study eagerly the meaning of the hieroglyphics and emblems which the Order lays before thee. Even Nature does not always unveil her secrets ; she must be observed, compared, and frequently watched with attention in her operations.—Masonic ExHOBTATIONS, FROM THE GERMAN. " How shall I know ? By signs, tokens, and perfect points of entrance." It has long been my opinion that the most beneficial results would ensue to the Science of Freemasonry, were the Masters of Lodges to devote some portion of their time to the delivery of explanatory Lectures on subjects of general interest connected with the Institution. Such a practice might be the means of elucidating many points on which our customary Lectures leave us entirely in thedark. Some years ago a law, emanating from the M. W. G. M., passed the Grand Lodge,1 empowering every Master to deliver his Lectures " in a language suited to the character of the Lodge over which he presides," with this only proviso, that the established Landmarks be not removed.2 This liberal regulation leaves the local discussions of our Lodges open to considerable improvement, and relieves us from the shackles of a constituted form, whose unvarying features, beautiful as they are, after a few years' habitual repetition, become, to a certain extent, uninteresting ; for every human composition, how superior soever it may be, palls on the mind when the charm of novelty has faded away, and at a still more distant period, its salut...« less