"Freemasonry, a beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols"The most ancient society in the world; its principles are based on  pure morality, its ethics are the ethics of pure religion, its doctrines, the doctrines of brotherly love; and its sentiments, the sentiments of exalted benevolence. It encourages all this is good, kind and charitable; and reproves all that is vicious, cruel, and oppressive.  Bhanson Manual p 17