General Rules of the Freemasons, with a Discourse on the Purpose of Masonry

Every upright brother should have an
insuperable respect for his Order The Masonic fraternity,
and from his first entry into
the same, he can believe that he is dealing with a
very important matter.

The ceremonies at his initiation original: "Aufnahme"; literally 'reception' or 'admission'
must not be regarded as the essential parts of the Or-
der, but rather as symbolic marks that
are intended to imprint themselves upon his soul. Mean-
while, it is useful and good for him if
he diligently reflects on the customs and all those things
that were performed with him: his
superiors solemnly assure him that
even the smallest detail has its reason.

One would do a great injustice to the mindset of reason-
able and honest people if
one were to imagine that the Freemasons
occupied themselves with nothing, or that they
had united without a specific
ultimate purpose. Such a judgment is
an exaggerated sophistry original: "Klügeley"; refers to overly-clever or trivial reasoning used to dismiss serious matters of those who live out-
side the Order; of the enemies who cannot suf-
fer that the Lodge should possess a se-
cret. — Thoughts of this kind sho-