American Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1855-1860, 1855-12-13

exercise Of 6rmness, with diserimiualiay
taet, but slso, in union with these , Tbs com
mandiDg inauspcs Of ofiisial aushofity!---
IL is, > singular fact. but nevertheless a
true one, that, take our p.oIesssd Masonic
teachers or leetnrers as boIyland no
where else viii you find like number of
men 80 dogmaliGjn Iheir smell opiuiOus.
so captious 10 ,littIo unimportant 1thiDes.
and SO cemplacentIy poised In tl,eits own
.selffconceit. Each esissns himself 10 DO
infalhhle. One claims tbs standard ortL-
Iodoxy because he is Of Paul, anothere a.
of Apollos, and lie third Of Cepl,As. and
too frequently and sadly, all .Irec Of them
viii disagree, in TIE lfundamenlal ,d;eta Of
instruction, and upouj cardinal lpoin:s Of
faith. !. use this language in tie. to.alily
of its application, wilbons intending ths
slightest disrespact or reflection ul,stsoey-
er, or to sigBalize any individual Brother
living or dead. To attempt TO reason with
and convince tu,:h 4 befson Wa1flSba =
waste Of time. Being often selected for
his capacity Of memory alone, he blindly
stores up the programme II work which
he bhniy receives from some peripatetic ven
derof its mysteries, IS coming IN Iin4al uu-
broken traditionAry decent from solomon
himself;in the oatne blind spirit. 100, he
would teach il unto. others. Through
such ins.rumentalilies il came frequently
TO pass chat The work would no. harmon
ize with the lectures, while bo.li outraged
the laws of analogy and tho dictates Of
common sense. It was tho ardent dssir.
of our Grand Master to insiil into the gen
eral mind Of the Graft rational percent
ion Of lis synibolized Significance. ana OF
the broad i.uman uses and great uiiIitarian
ends which Masonry is capable Of produc-
ing, andwhich he thought twas ofiginal-
ly fashioned to subSsrve lie SUNNI oned
70 his aid the most ayaihble ;aldnt in the
State. ana put forth all the Influence Of his
high station 10 effect this dcsiIora:um. as
his annual messages and their 6onconli-
:ant papers Of learned research, abundant
ly show. rT'lH 8''f %.
Ihsye snid that he entertained pro-
found regard for Masonry, viewing it as
practical Institution, conducive to tie high
est u'ilitarian ends, and that consequently
it both enlisted the affections Of his heart.
and called in:o redusi,ion the best powers
of his mind, whether in the subordinate
bodies. or in the chair ofthe Graud Lodge.
What-permit me to ask, and the question
is not an ,irrevalenl oneLwllat has sustain
ed as q human organization during the
long centuries Of its existence, and main
tanned it ohangelsss and intact in the midst
Of universal change? Beyond all perad-
venture. it isthe divine principles which
'underlis its representative rituals, u al (,
Uhquestionably tho real mission Of Mas
onry upon the earth has been to CONNIE N
orate the ONE only living and true God,
aRd to vitalizo the sentiment of human
brotherhood. 1t were folly TO suppose
that the time will ever come again, when
our members will bo required to become
Masons in the handioraft sense Of that
word; its parentago necessitascd its being
written in the analogical alphabet Of the
East. hsnceit became symbolic or specula
tive in its very inception. and it utterly
fails to eliminate its grand design, when it
fails msst largely to propagate those grea,
practical truths which constitute the es-
sentiality of its life. When the magni6-
cent Temple at Jerusalem was about TO be
dedicated the priests brought the Ark Of
the Covenant Of the Lord into the most ho-
ly place, under the wings of the golden
cferubim, and 'fherc was nothing inthO
ark save tlietgo tables which Moses put
therein at Horeb. On one ofthGse were
written the supremo,requiremsnts of man.
toward God, and on the other his moral
obligations to his brother man. These
constitute the innermost things Of the typ
ical ceremonial worship under the old
TheocraGy.l Butts types have long since
been merged in their supreme Anti Type.
THE unapproschable vail which shrOuded
the Holy Of Holes oftlat Temple, has been
F"rent in twain" its shadOwy priesthood
and their bloody oblations' have passed l.
way forever, and even the tables Of stone
cease themselves to be significant, when
the Almighty imprintse the laws Of his
true worship pAdpon1 the human understand
ing, and writes them in living character,
in the human heart. We throw away the
rind when the juices of the orange have
been expressed. Men do not now require
any trsditiouarya cab6lats perpetuate in
their memories "tAs sacred name of Deity.''
The natural sciences hass begun to be
christianissdgand are demonstrating upon