Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1843-07-29


|, candidates were submitted, was intend
10 impress on their minds a love Of Writ
and an adherence Of vice, a belief in q
,r Punishment Of The wicked and The hnpT
ness Of the good. and In the eternal esis
. enee of the ono only living and true Go'
Their sacred symbols we e corn, wiae NJ
oil. In these and many other fespsc
they exactly resembled the Institute
@ which we call masonry. Il this resen
9 blance the result If accident. Ingenuit
Q is baff1ed In the attempt 10 account Il
o their exact resemblances, on the suppos
/. tion that they are foftuitous. and %cantio,
. wisdom aoquiesces in the certainty ths
under the Eloisinian mysteries, snasonr
r yelled herselfin other days. The Hssene
n Jewish sect, from which sprahg the FRI
proselyte# to Christianity, were masnns-
, Tor both their external ceremonies, and III
principles they involved were identioa
with masonry. They instituted the strict
est scrutiny into the character Of cnndi
dates for admission, and If their walk ant
conversation had been exemplary, and if
moreover, they appeared both willing mn,
anxious TO avail themselves Of All posaibI,
means, both natural and a%dsentttieus 1,
10 enable them tn eenttol their passions
and subdue their iusts, they were presented
with a white apron, e~mb'ernatical of tha
purity which was to chafacterize both theiI
intentions and actions. They then tool
nm oath never 10 attempt innovations OF
the principles of the order, or to dtvnigs
its secrets. The Essences had private
signs of recognition. and retired places
OF meeting. They abolished all dig.
tinctions Of rank, and showed a pre-.
ference only to knowledge and piety. One
eircumsta ice. however, was supposed to
be fatal 10 the superstition that the Essenes
werc masons. They did not appear in
any respect connected with practical archi.
lecture, nor addicted TO those sciences that
arc auxiliary to building. But this cir.
cumstanee is more apparent than renl,
more plausible than true. For Sealises.
he most learned historian Of antiquity.
anu himself n mason, afirms that they
were descended from the Raridla ms. who
cut such a conspicuous figure in the apoch.
ryphaI writings. and were n religious fra.
ternity who bnuDd themselves by an oath
to restore the porches Of the temple. AMI
preserve It from decay. And Basnage.
un antimasonic writer, 1--WE have many
such now a days IN whom we miss no
part of Basnage but his brains, whose
n~lalignity would be formidable were 1t
not impotent, who possess all The mild in.
sipidity of SKINNED milk, and at It's
strengthen whom. to use the larguage
Of ST. Paul, "the spirit Is willing. but the
flesh Is weakly Basnage himself COMES.
SOS that they were in existence three hun.
dred years before the time of Christ, whilst
the fact that without my previous Hcqnain.
lance they Immediately recognized each
other, falls in with the supposltion that they
were masuns, 1t is the privilege Of some
Of us Ia know they were known ,tndst
sorto tile ur other. Masonry has al.
ways c$erted and always been known to
have strength ID support aud beauty to
adoru, and benevolenee to blese, and TO
have survived tts shock III which NAMES
have persisted. "Muhdsqne per amos, stdt
dontnsdte ada t,tnteraa'ar aDdrttm."
When the masonic fraternity changed
the name but retained the principle, they
showed that they held it inyiolable. From
everlasting, before the heavens were fran.
cd, masonry existed. When comets and
were launched urrn tts suffice of
infinite space to dance heavenly cotil'ons
TO the music of the spheres, masonry was.
When the waters drowned the earth, ma
sonrv noated in the ark-bullt On impor.
ishable and indestructible principles. Al
the erection of the ten.pIo enshfinins the
Shekinah, masonry was there to p%foiett,
superintend and to execute. When tho
was about 10 become incarnate,
guided by the light Of Bethle.
tranquil star, went before her dev0-
tee from the East to authenticate the birth
of II God matifest in the flesh. In that
long and sad procession which in the yeaf
Of light A033, moved from Jerusalem to-
Calvary 10 witness the death of the
victim ever inundated Mt tite
shrine Of malice, 10 mitigate his death
and disarmf crucifixion Of some of
its ~,errors. was masonry. Yes it hath seen
all.e II hath seen our departed brother,
Constantine tho Great. seat Christianity
on the throne Of Imperial Rome, and In
stall her mistress of the known world and
hath seen the u~nostentatious emblem Of
The Rcdeerrer's humiliation, the cross, put
The Roman eagle to flight and chase Him
away from the field Of glory. Flinging
across the chasm that separates eter.
nifty from time, it has advanced with on. '
ward and intrepid steps through the grave
yard Of buried enemies, its path strcwn
with the fragments Of beauty and of
thrown down by time in il,
march, and wearing The same
serene and majestic aspect, creations
behold, has come down to this day
combining the grace Of youth with the
of age ; venerable bnt not deere
pid old, but without n single gray hair +;
held out by an arm thrust from impenetsa.
BILE darkness, to the applause of the good,
the envy Of the wicked, and the admira.
ton Of both. There is in all this where.
to- captivate a generous heart, and
even dazzle the eye of a towering intel.
lect to check the mind on the brink Of
rash and presumptuous censure, and over.
awe it into silence, if not into respect.
81 But fools rush in where angels fear to
These reflections direct our
minds TO the contemplation of The present
condition of masonry. 1t were to have
been hoped that an Institution flowing
down through all ages, and rolling its wa.
ters owe the Zaharah of human affairs, !
embellishing humanity with its beauties,