| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: Continent exclusively by English and Scotch gentlemen and noblemen.
Lord Derwentwater is said by some to have founded the "Loge
Anglaise" in Paris in 1725; the Duke of Richmond one in his own
castle of Aubigny shortly after. It was through Hanoverian
influence that the movement seems to have spread into Germany. In
1733, for instance, the English Grand Master, Lord Strathmore,
permitted eleven German gentlemen and good brethren to form a lodge
in Hamburg. Into this English Society was Frederick the Great, when
Crown Prince, initiated, in spite of strict old Frederick William's
objections, who had heard of it as an English invention of
irreligious tendency. Francis I. of Austria was made a Freemason at
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Michael Strogoff by Jules Verne: "You do not think so, little father?" resumed Nicholas.
"You think that they will march on to Irkutsk?"
"I fear so," replied Michael.
"Yes . . . you are right; they have with them a bad
man, who will not let them loiter on the way. You have
heard speak of Ivan Ogareff?"
"Yes."
"You know that it is not right to betray one's country!"
"No . . . it is not right . . ." answered Michael, who
wished to remain unmoved.
"Little father," continued Nicholas, "it seems to me that
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: perstition and held down by the despotism of the
Greek Church. It was the cumbrous ritual and
dogma of the orthodox state religion which roused
Tolstoy to impassioned protests, and led him step
by step to separate the core of Christianity from
its sacerdotal shell, thus bringing upon himself
the ban of excommunication.
The signal mark of the reprobation of "Holy
Synod" was slow in coming--it did not, in fact,
become absolute until a couple of years after the
publication of "Resurrection," in 1901, in spite
The Forged Coupon |
