Natchitoches spectator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1867-18??, 1867-12-31
NUMBER 5.

spring forth, full grown Giant from it's
birth, and stretching forth its arms over
the Whole world, declare these are my
dominions, this is my Empire. have
built one House of stone and of cedar
that displays my wisdom; henceforth, L
shall build my Temples in the hearts of
men, to declare my power. $50
1t may be safely said that Masonry
exists in every part of the habitabIe
globe where the foot of the traveller has
yet trod; and its signs and its tokens
form medium of intercourse and %
bond of friendship between all nations
and tongues, and tribes, and kindred.
The hooded Laplander, amid the eternal
icebergs of his frozen land; the dusky
Arab, with knees buried in the burning
sands of the Sahara. Historically wor-
ships the same Invisible aud ineffable
Canse, as does the jew and the Chris
tan. And their untutored hearts, stir
ed to their innermost depths by the
contemplation of its sublime mysteries,
move within them to burst from the
caverns of moral darkness and come to
light. To say the least, wherever the
light of civilization has reachd, the
sound of the Gavel is heard, aud the
Square and the Compasses are recogniz-
ed rs mystic emblemS. The Lamb-skin,
the emblem of Innocence and the Badge
of a Mason, has the same significance
with the Turk as with this Christians;
and is worn with equal pride by tire
King and the Peasant.
But the most beautiful feature in the
history of our Order is its Stability.
Since it was founded, century after cen
fury, filed with mighty changes, have
wheeled away into the silent cycles Of
the Past. and nations, and governments
and dynasties have been swept from the
Earth by the mighty upheavings Of
Time. Institution after institution has
arisen and lived the life of a day and
passed away without leaving scarcely %
vestige of what they had been. Even
the land of the birth of Masonry has
been wrenched from the hands of its
owners, and is no longer homo and sin
abiding place for the children of Israel.
The Holy City, the Tabernacle and the
Temple, have crumbled into dust, and
the bearded Turk stalks boldly over their
ruins. Yet uninjured by the shock of
clements and the jar of revolutions, orr
grand old Order has stood, unchanging
and unchanged, and has come down to
us over the troubled stream of Time,
with her colors flying from her mast
head and her pilots at the helm, thing
of beauty and of life.
Having thus glanced at the history of
our Order, we will now consider the
principles it inculcates. Masonry, as
we have seen, is of Divine appoint
ment; but it is not religion. It's broad
egis is equally the shield of the Rabbi;
the Mahomedan, and the follower of
Christ 1t is wonderful and incompar-
able system which combines within
itself the great elements of all religions,
but which adopts no particular creed
nor formula. 1t is an institution, SO to
sneak, which has been u common plat
form, upon which all men might meet,
| in ali times and in all countries. 1T has
but one faith and one doctrine, Oottef tH
God. and lore to all mankind. THIS is the
,choie scope Of ats Philosophy. These
being, therefore, tlsse sole objects OF It's
existence. il has neither communion nor
companionship. with any religious sect
or political party, pursuing the even
tenor OF its way, it yields neither to,the
nersuasions of the one nor to the clam
ors of the other. Throughout its entire
history its reign has been one of peace
and of love--aspiring neither to potltl-
cal precedence nor to ecclesiastical pow
er to uphold OR perpetnate its doctrines.
| IT. n "A ever kept its hands free from, the
| blood of man; although she has often
felt the knife OF Tyranny, and stood p
lchaincd martyr at the stake OF bigntry,
she can stand before the world to-day,
with her hands upon her heart, and say,
I have never added one mite to the ma
nv miseries of mankind. Though Ihave
been prosecuted and maligned; though
have been hated and hunted down;
though 1 have been scourged from coun-
try to county, and from age to age;
though my children have been driven
from valley to hill, and from hill back
to valley, yet have / ever shed my tears
in secret and Lave not turned back
: upon my pursuers. Yea! 1 stand here
Ito day as one Of her children, aad chal-
Iienge the bloody ages of the past, to call
M from the roll, of the murdered dead
of nations, the victims that have fallen
nv Masonic swords. l challenge the
living to point to one foul spot upon her
garments.
Does this prove nothing for Masonryi
Is faith evidenced by worksl is the
Tree known by its fruitsl Do men gath.
er grapes OF thorns, or figs of thistlesl
Yea! as sure as the stern fact OF Phllos
oDhy exists, that like causes produce
: like effects, is the moral truth, that that
. ia truly good which never does wrong
. | Is il strange, that Masonry, as an 1nstl
ltn+;o, hos never been sslured away by