The Mississippi Creole. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1841-1851, 1847-01-09
CANTON MISSISSIPPI SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, ls47.

IN "Charity, Brotherly Love and Kindness
Sc which, with talsmanic virtue, protected
.e over whom it waved, and shadowe forth benz
a fits to the whole human family.
e When we contemplate the inestimable benz
Is fits and privileges conferred on our race by th
ancient benevolent institution, we are brougf
o to venerate and admire the order. And ye
e there are found those who scoff at our mystt
g rtes and abuse the order, not only among thos
y who have been the remote, but likewise anon
. those who have been the immediate and direc
! benefciaries of their virtues and merits. TheS
g mysteries of ours have stayed the oppressor'
] violence, and arrested the sword in the victor
hands, when uplifted to destroy The PROSTATE
, and unresisting captive. The mystic sigma
r has withheld the word inbruedin carnage, ant
subdued the insolence of triumph, 10 pay HON
: age to the craft. By these the horrors of wa
have been diminished, and the prisoners fetter
broken. The universally of the art, has beer
the occasion of uniting in bonds of the tender
est friendship men of the most opposite tenets
and of the most distant countries. Masonry
exists in the East and in the West, in the North
and in the South, under every form of Govern.
ment, and every mode of worship that acknowl-
edges the existence of Supreme God of Hea-
ven and Earth, wherever human belplessness
stands in need of succor, and human miseries
of alienation. So that, sin every nation a
Mason may find friend, and in every country
home."
| ,et n,n I'D hx,h bis f,ft,f ard
ture to association, to share his joys and sor-
cows, pleasures and pains, qualifications and
disappolntments, with others. Masonry stands
upon this primary disposition to associate for
mutual security, benefit and improvement. -
Long before the societies for the propagation Of
he glad ii Iings Of peace, for the diffusion of
knowledge, for the suppression of vice, or any
of this character was established, Freemasonry
existed and her charity had knelt beside the
bed of the poor and afflicted and poured the
balsam of consolation into their wounds, and
inspired the sufferers with new feelings, caus-
pondency and sorrow,
As a society, Masonry, being founded on
immutable principles, has the most perfect
Constitution, as its antiquity proves The
other societies of this world, Empires, King
doms and Commonwealth, have been of less
permane nt duration. Though men have busted
themselves through all ages, in forming and re-
forming them, in casting down and building up
yet still their labors have proved unayailing.
The reason was. they daubed with untempered
mortar, and admitted into their structures, the
base, discordant, heterogeneous materials, of
pride, selfshness, ambition, "maIce, guile, hy-
Pocricies, envies, and evil speaklng," which
Masonry rejects. Hence, their fabrics, unable
to support themselves, tumbled to the founda-
tion from internal weakness, or were shaken to
pieces by external violence. The Assyran,
the Babylonian, the Egyptian, the Prussan
Empires the Commemorative of Athens,
Sparta, and Rome, where are they now! The
weeping of History replies, fallen fall
LEM! falle1!!! The meteors of an age, the
gaze of one part of the world, they rose, they
blazed awhile on high. then burst and sank
again, beneath the horizon, TO that place Of OBJ
livion, where the pale ghosts of departed gran
deur float about in sad lamentation of their
former greatness and glory. Such have been
the changes and revolutions which, as Frater-
nifty, we have seen. From the bosom of the
Lodge (seated on an eminence,) its founda-
tons reaching the centre, and its summit to
the sky, we have beheld, as upon a turbulent
ocean at an immense distance beneath US, the
States of this world alternately mounted up
and cast down, as they have regarded or neg
lected the true principles; while supported by
them the sublime fabric of our Constitution
has remained mistaken through ages and
thus supported it shall remain while the sun
opens the day to guide its Handicapped towers,
or the moon leads on the night to checker its
starry canopy. The current of things may
roll along its basis, the tide of chance and time
may beat against its walls-the stormy gusts of
passion and malice may assault its lofty battle
ments, and the heavy rains Of calumny may
descend upon its spacious roof; but all in vain
a building constructed and supported as this,
is impregnable from without, and can then
only be dissolved, when the pillars of the Uni
verse are shaken and the great globe itself,
yea all which it inhabit shall "like the baseless
fabric of vision" pass away before the AL
mighty Architect.
There are some who censure us for having
secrets! And these tauntingly ask, if Masonry
be so beneficial and entitled to the confidence
and respect of mankind, why surround it with
mystery? Why not unveil its secrets to the
gaze and scrutiny of the worldl To these
inquiries we say, is there nothing good, nothing
nothing adorable but that which
is seenl The Great First Cause is known, in
his mighty works as displayed in the Heavens
and the Earth, in his wise and uniform laws and
lender merces. The heavens declare His
glory and the armament showeth His handy
work. Yet none have seen Him. When He
bowed the Heavens and came down, darkness
was under his feet. He made darkness His
'ecret place. His pavilion round about were
lark waters and thick clouds of the skies
His voice may be heard walking in the silent
orest, in the lonely vale and thick mountain
Cd. in the reliant beauty Of the evening sky
md in the terror and sublimity Of the Storm