Masonic Rules according to the Resolutions of the Convent of Wilhelmsbad

II.

Immortality of the Soul.

Man! King of the Earth! Masterpiece of creation animated by the breath of God! feel your high destiny.

The entire animal kingdom is subject to your rule. All that weaves and floats German: webt und schwebt; a poetic idiom common in the 18th century to describe the activity of living things in the natural world. around you ceases to be: only your soul survives all composite things The author draws on Enlightenment-era philosophy which argued that material things are "composite" (made of parts) and therefore decay, while the soul is "simple" (indivisible) and therefore immortal., and is indestructible by virtue of its divine origin.

In this lies your true nobility. Feel your happiness German: Glük; here meaning both your internal happiness and your blessed state of being. without arrogance; pride German: Hoffart; an archaic term for high-handed pride or vanity, often used in religious contexts regarding the Fall of Man. brought your first parents German: Stameltern; referring to Adam and Eve as the progenitors of humanity. to their fall; it would plunge you into the same abyss.

Degenerate being! what are you before the Eternal, despite all the majesty that originally The sentence is incomplete as it reaches the end of the page.