The
corporate character of the society, its rites and formularies, its
grades and ranks, are matter of deep interest to all its members, have
linked them together by an inviolable bond, and given them a strength
infinitely greater than numbers without such cohesion could possibly
have afforded. The Founder left us no moral code, imposed on us none
of his own most cherished ethical convictions, as he pledged us to
none of the conclusions which his own occult studies had led him to
anticipate, nearly all of which have been verified by later
investigation. Such rules as he imposed were directed only to the
cohesion and efficiency of the Order. Our creed still consists only of
the two fundamental doctrines; two settled principles only are laid
down by our aboriginal law. We are taught to cultivate the closest
personal affection, the most intimate and binding ties among
ourselves; to defend the Order and one another, whether by strenuous
resistance or severe reprisals, against all who injure us individually
or collectively, and especially against persecutors of the Order.
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