En:Masonic Jurisprudence

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INSTITUTES or MASONIC JURISPRUDENCE. ON THE VALUE OE MASONIC PUBLICATIONS

BY THE EEV. JOHN OSMOND DAKEYNE, M.A.

The following Extract is copied from the Freemasons' Quarterly Review, for June, 1844, from the Speech of the Rev. J. Osmond Dakeyne, delivered on the occasion of his presiding at the Masonic Festival of the Oliver Testimonial at Lincoln, on the 9th of May, 1844.

"I need not tell you. Brethren, what Freemasonry is: before I was initiated, now some twenty years ago, I had read a good deal about what it is not. I allude to a book published by Professor Robison, of Edinburgh, towards the close of the last century, entitled, 'Proofs of a Conspiracy,' &c, in which he, with great ingenuity and considerable ability, endeavoured to connect Freemasonry with the worst features of the illuminati, &c, of the Continent. He was kind enough to say that he thought Masonry in England was, in some degree, free from the charges he had brought against it. And what were those charges? That we were disloyal, irreligious, and conspiring to overturn all sacred and settled institutions! This book made a great impression ; but that impression is removed. And how? By these books which lie before me !—[Great cheering as the Rev. Brother then held up splendidly bound copies of Dr. Oliver's Masonic Works.] These have dissipated for ever the accusations brought against our Craft. Disloyal/ Why, at the very moment when Professor Robison published his book, who were the heads of our Order? The chivalrous Earl of Moira, George Prince of Wales, and Edward Duke of Kent! Disloyal/ Was not George the Fourth our Grand Master? Was not William the Fourth our Brother and 'Patron? Our last Grand Master was a Royal Duke. The Duke of York was one of the Brotherhood. The King of Hanover is a Freemason! Would all these princes have belonged to a disloyal society? Are we conspirators to overthrow settled institutions? Who is the present head ^of the army? The Duke of Wellington! Ay, the Duke of Wellington is a Freemason! Are we irreligious? The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primate of all England, is a Freemason, and was once Master of a Bristol Lodge! But I need not pursue these points; but sure I am that neither I nor my Rev. Brothers near me would be present were it possible to bring any such charges to bear against us. These facts, and above all these books, have set our order in its true light. And who wrote these books? Our friend and Brother and guest, whom we are now assembled to honour? They are the witnesses to his exertions—they are the vouchers for his services. Our Brother Goodacre has aptly alluded to the spreading of Masonry in the East, and, indeed, over the world. Wherever our principles have gone, thither also has passed the name of Dr. Oliver, the historian and the sage of Masonry : and contributions to this offering from the distant climes prove in some measure that his labours are not unrecognized."

%* See the end of this Volume for a list of Dr. Oliver's Worlcs on Freemasonry. [ocr errors][merged small]

METHODICALLY DIGESTED UNDER APPROPRIATE HEADS;

TOGETHER WITH A SUMMARY VIEW OF

BY THE

REV. G. OLIVER, D.D.

A FAST DEPUTY GRAND MASTER, AND HONORARY MEMBER OP NUMEROUS LODGES AND LITERARY SOCIETIES IN EVERY QUARTER OF THE GLOBE.

Indocti discant, et ament meminisse periti.

LONDON:

R. SPENCER, 26, GREAT QUEEN STREET,

OPPOSITE THE FREEMASONS' HALL; NEW YORK: R. MACOY, 29, BEEKMAN STREET. 1859. [ocr errors]