Southern shield., 1855-10-20

swer, how do l know tlat? you mee
 in secret, you have signs md passwords
 you take horrid oaths, and if all youI
 objects are good there s no necessity for hiding them from tba light of day.
 If 1 do not chooso to aeswer your ob-
 lection in this way, it is not because
 do not consider the answer as fair as
 the objection, but because while lepre.
 eating unjust and ungenerous assump- tions I do not wish to be guilty of mak- ing them. Let it be granted that yours is mere philanthropic society, you will still find it difficult to give any reason in justification of its secret feature, which does not equally apply to every other body of men who choose .o shroud any portion of their proceedings with secrecy. Nay more, objections may well be taken to Free Masonry which do not attach to organizations for po- litical objects. Thc philanthrophy 1t teaches is a selfish philanthrorhy, hot that broad and comprehensive L0re which sheds its radiant glory upon the Christians creed. Your signs and symbols are for the purpose of enabling you to recognise and assist each other ai0ne. The man who arrives at your door penniless and stranger, if he can give the Masonic sign, is entitled to your assistance; but n who comes with out that sign, although just as poor, and perhaps more deserving, has no claim upon your bounty. This is not the philanthrophy of the Bible. Jesus taught Us to regard all mankind as brethren, and that wherever suffering is, there charity is due. Ido not wish, however, to enquire further into this branch Of the subject. 1 blame no man for being a Mason, but when I hear him denouncing the secrecy of Americanism, and remember at the same time the distinguishing feature of hls own order, I cannot help ciacula- ting, "pluck the beam out of thine own eve."
 .ors in the days of tie sAoia.lon, and many of them survived it. Gen. Wash ington was member of one to the day of his death. The time las been when his example was a sufficient justifca- ton of any one following in lis foot steps, but 1t is not the lea5t of the evils of emigration, that 1t hal flooded the country with class of voters who have never read his histcry-sho have no sympathy with his famc-no regard for his teachings. It is urged, how ever, that, although seclect societies were iustiftable in the da7s of the rev olution, they are not so now. That this is a land in which no innocent ac- tion of the citizen is prolibited-that every man may vote, wrie, and speak as he please, and there are "none to make him afraid" If this were true the question becomes 8 mere matter of taste, not of criminality. If 1 choose to do in the privacy of my own room,
 what I may do with equal impunity upon the public street, surely 1 am nc
 more to be blamed, than .he christian is to be blamed for dispensing his char ities in secret. But 1t is not true,-- Such is indeed the theory of our Gov
 ernment, but theory is moi always fact,
 and we all know that in tlis case 1t has
 been practically annuled for years.--
 Gangs of foreign bulHes lave surroun-
 ded the polls at every election in the
 cities, knocking down peac'abIe citizen:
 and in some instances preceding ever
 to murder. Timid men, men ayerst
 from public broiIs, and tlose peaceful
 sects who regard strife as the worst Q
 evils, giveup the right of suffrage rath
 CT than encounter those desperadoes a i the ballot-box. There has also beer
 exercised not unfrequently mora ! constraint quite as potent as physlca
 force. In one of the eastern counhe in my own State, but shor. time sine
 a Church passed resolutions to eXpe any of its members who voted tn American ticket, and instances are no unfrequent of members abandoning their Churches because the Pastor were supposed to entertain America sentiments. l am sure you Will adm F that this is an intolerance more detes table-a prescription more dangerou than any which has been attributed t us. In the beginning, when the Amer ican party was small and weak, thes !, dangers were forseen, and secrecy va resorted to for c protection. It Ina , now grown strong and powerful. Tb ;; safeguards which were thrown aroun
 its infant struggles are no longer need ed, and hence we find the Nationi Convention openly proclaiming its prlr ciples, and inculcating the same dut upon every member of the Order. Wit the proceedings of that Convention De fore you, it is little surprising tha , you should have put no limitation upo f your language, but left it to be infer , red that all their proceedings, all the , principles, were hidden from the public