Albert Mackey

Name: The Principles of Masonic Law — Book Fourth, Chapter I
Author: Albert Mackey

The Principles of Masonic Law… (1856 | portal)

Summary

“The Principles of Masonic Law — Book Fourth, Chapter I”, published in 1856 | portal, is a work by Albert Mackey. It explores elements such as Mason, offense and lodge.

Quotes from The Principles of Masonic Law… (Albert Mackey)

Albert Mackey, The Principles of Masonic Law… (1856 | portal)

“ The division of wrongs, by the writers on municipal law, into private and public, or civil injuries and crimes and misdemeanors, does not apply to the jurisprudence of Freemasonry. Here all wrongs are crimes, because they are a violation of the precepts of the institution; and an offense against an individual is punished, not so much because it is a breach of his private rights, as because it affects the well-being of the whole masonic community. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Albert Mackey, The Principles of Masonic Law… (1856 | portal)

“ Whatever moral defects constitute the bad man, make also the bad Mason, and consequently come under the category of masonic offenses. The principle is so plain and comprehensible as to need no further exemplification. It is sufficient to say that, whenever an act done by a Mason is contrary to or subsersive of the three great duties which he owes to God, his neighbor, and himself, it becomes at once a subject of masonic investigation, and of masonic punishment. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Albert Mackey, The Principles of Masonic Law… (1856 | portal)

“ Religion and politics are subjects which it is well known are stringently forbidden to be introduced into Masonry. And hence arises the doctrine, that Masonry will not take congnizance of religious or political offenses.
Heresy, for instance, is not a masonic crime. Masons are obliged to use the words of the Old Charges, "to that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves;" and, therefore, as long as a Mason acknowledges his belief in the existence of one God, a lodge can take no action on his peculiar opinions, however heterodox they may be. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Albert Mackey, The Principles of Masonic Law… (1856 | portal)

“ All improper revelations, undue solicitations for candidates, angry and over-zealous arguments in favor of Masonry with its enemies, every act which tends to impair the unsullied purity of the Order, want of reverence for and obedience to masonic superiors, the expression of a contemptuous opinion of the original rulers and patrons of Masonry, or of the institution itself ”

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Source: Wikisource

Albert Mackey, The Principles of Masonic Law… (1856 | portal)

“ The first charge says: "a Mason is obliged by his tenure to obey the moral law." Now, although, in a theological sense, the ten commandments are said to embrace and constitute the moral law, because they are its best exponent, yet jurists have given to the term a more general latitude, in defining the moral laws to be "the eternal, immutable laws of good and evil, to which the Creator himself, in all dispensations, conforms, and which he has enabled human reason to discover, so far as they are necessary for the conduct of human actions." ”

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Source: Wikisource

Albert Mackey, The Principles of Masonic Law… (1856 | portal)

“ They say, putting perhaps the strongest case by way of exemplifying the principle, "that if a Brother should be a rebel against the State, he is not to be countenanced in his rebellion, however he may be pitied as an unhappy man; and, if convicted of no other crime, though the loyal Brotherhood must and ought to disown his rebellion, and give no umbrage or ground of political jealousy to the government for the time being, they cannot expel him from the lodge, and his relation to it remains indefeasible." ”

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Source: Wikisource

Albert Mackey, The Principles of Masonic Law… (1856 | portal)

“ Perhaps the well known summary of Justinian will give the best idea of what this law is, namely, that we "should live honestly, (that is to say, without reproach,) [2] should injure nobody, and render to every one his just due." ”

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Source: Wikisource

Albert Mackey, The Principles of Masonic Law… (1856 | portal)

“ In like manner, although all the most ancient and universally-received precepts of the institution inculcate obedience to the civil powers, and strictly forbid any mingling in plots or conspiracies against the peace and welfare of the nation, yet no offense against the state, which is simply political in its character, can be noticed by a lodge. ”

Albert Mackey

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