Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1848-07-07

10 not ask me To defend the Order, in any oil
heir indiscrc,ons, or their sins. No! mol It. /
therefore, the officers and members of any /
T,nduc, open their sacred courts TO the vicious, ,
.he unprincipled, and the profone, they do il in .
to Masonry ITSELF and they ought to I
meet and wilher under that public disapprOba. /.
lion, which their recreant conduct has so shame.
fully mrrilcd. lr there is any thing in Mason.
ry, which calls for a covering up Of crime, as a
Royal ch-Mason, am a stranger to it. |
have never learned the lesson Of sticking 10
each other, right or wrong"
Let not, then, the foot Of the licentious ever
beat in unison with those Of his brethren, nor
the lips Of the prolane ever lisp our kcy-names,
or mingIe his voice in the response Of our pray
ers. But every man, Of any righteousness
whatever, will go with me, when | ssy, that the
members of an institution may be unworthy Of
its name, and the guardians Of a cause may be
recreanl to the high trust commiued TO their care,
without Whaling the principles Of the society it.
self. Ii is as unjust TO make Masonry amenable
TO The tribunal Of public opinion, for the vile
deeds. Of MaSOHS, as it would be shamelully e.
norant, and deeply malignant 10 charge upon the
Constitution Of these United States, The high.
treason of an American citizen.
Again: Masonry is well known to the world,
and still better known TO the initiated by its un.
obtrusive and peaceable character. II is EN-.
phalcaIly humble and retiring. 1t does not,
like many, if not all other institutions, obtrude
its claims upon public patronage; nor does it find
fault with those societies which do so: it only
claims the rightof being known lothe iaquiring,
and the privilege of being lovedby the initiated.
If the members Of our Order were to become
missionaries and aggressive in their feelings and
movements, entertain no doubt, but that thou.
sands more would crowd our gates. But this is
not their calling. Their calling is TO walk wor-
thy of their principles, and to invite by their ST.
lence. So that he who comes into our Order,
does it of his own accord. If there should be
neither love nor taste torcsh beauty nor capacity
to comprehend the symbolic import of our cere-
monies, nor a heart sufficiently pure to respond
to the virtues inculcated; he has no one but
himself to charge with the guilt fhis self orig
mated disappointment
As Masonry is unobrusvein urging It's claims
upon individual attention and patronage, so, il is
pre.eminenly peaceful in both church and state.
am not, however, while saying this a stranger
TO the charges which have been brought against
our Order, as alike dangerous 10 the safety Of
civil liberty, and TO the interests of religion
But all this reminds me of liule boy once
heard, screaming, in the most piercing tones OF
alarm, for the protection Of his mother When
inquired Of, as TO the cause of his peril, he ex-
claimed: "Ohl the cat was GOING to kick me-
Such were his notions Of the belligerent habits
of the animal!
But, brethren, have not enough of morbit
charity, to predicate of every objector a pure
motive. If had, could believe that men are
sincere in expressing their fears concerning Ma
sonry. Were it possible to give to every aspi-
ring demagogue fat office, and to ensure the
triumphant march Of the principles of every un-
compromising politician, and to quiet the sus.
pcions of every Jealous mind; NY word for it,
there would be but little anti.masonry, either oI
moral or political character.
| As long as Masonry is in the hands of men o.
all religious creeds, who cling with tenacity tC
their respective sentiments, it is impossible fol
it to merge all the different sects of religion in
to one: and solongas Masonry is Masonry, there
cannot be no religion; for wherever the Rible is
their must be religious faith, if It's viewed in it
proper character. Not onl y must the Bible eX
/ ist in Masonry, but 1t must exist in the minds o
the initiated as the Bible, or Masonry is done.-
Destroy the Bible, and you destroy Masonry.
But. TO proceed: 1t cannot have escaped pub
lie observation, that Masons are men not onl
differing in their views Of religion and churcI
poly. but also in the politics Of our country
Let il be sad for the sake ofargument, that the
are all of the samepolitics whIeinthe Lodge;-
of what evil consequences could that be produc
tive, so long as they differ at the polls! D
Masons all vote the same way! Do they not q
vote for the common candidates? Where, thel
the danger? Do Masons want in power? The
, certainly do, Just like other citizens. But the
, do not want in power as MRsons, but for II
! same reasons that govern others in similar wsl
: es. Some of them are already high up in a
5 thority but party politics, put them ther
! But it exciles smile Of contempt, when it's i
tmated that Masons are careless of the swee
! of that republican government, for the eSta
= fishing of which their fathers blood was she
and in the erection Of which their brethren a
5 ted so conspicuous part.
: True, Masonry has been cause Of dstu
= bance and bitterness of feeling, both IN churc
and state; but only in the most indirect sense.-
Men have been so virulent in the abuse of 1t, al
so intolerably overbearlng in their deportme
4 towards its members, that they have eEtOrt
from them that self defence which the laws
: nature approve in every man; and then have n
= off, and criedin tones stepped in the quintescen
= of the sheerest and basest hypocricy: "LoC
g what Masonry has done!' | do not intimateth tn
!; any honorable ant-mason pursues this cours
/. for man, to be guilty of such course, mu
y first compromise all the feelings of a man, al
! be willing to take his rank among the most o
d iectionable nuisances of our race.
n Benevolence is another, and a very promine
j. trait in the character Of this institution. Al
l. never was this character more consistent
l. claimed by any other institution, than by t
IS Order of Free Masonry; for in all cIimes whe
= it exists, and among all the other nations II
" has been visited with its benign and cheering
J. fuences,i it has been "as ready to perform Xxi
offices ms to receive them"