Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1870-02-08

4
tory. Its psincipals-a firm belle; in
God and ia, Bible, obedience to ciUit
and masonic. authority, charity to all
manf(ad and perfect uprightneSS in all
relations Of lise---these constitute the
true glory ard beauty of Freemason-
~. 1t, is nos my intention at this or
at any time 90 defend Freemasonry.
The zine for;that has gone by. An
institation Which amid all attack has
remained uaseathed, which amid all
the various ;nhanges of all other hui
man associations has itself remained
unchanged, it is safe to assume con-
talns q central life which requires
meme Of our .seble nursing to keep
out Of its grave. We, my brethren,
may spass away, and the GaUel, the
PEnnS. ,Squaie and Level of our mys-
tic craft fall xooner or later from our
hand3, wear:sd unto death by the
life struggles but other AMI better
hands will gather them up, and far
dcwp the Centuries of coming time
shall they as of olden years, speak
the same language to all nations and
in .all'climes.:
Ii may neg be out of place, how
ever, at this sime and on this public
ocessjon--hoAored as we are tonight
by the preseAce of our ueighbors and
friends who are not members OF our
order AID who perhaps through the
influences of sarly training and asso-
cistiols haze become prejudiced
against the institution, aud as a re-
suit ~ such associations have failed
to nferm themselves in regard to the
principles, faith and foundation
on,wlEch oue superstructure has been
rearea---to GiEerge for few mo-
monts from accepted and time hon
ored custout. aud present a few
points in ol;' history and belief.
Having briefly traced the origin of
our drdar, u: might not be out OF
place 20 enqp're next, its principles
What,is Frecnasonry? alt is a Pc
cuIiar system. OF morality yelled in
allogosy and illustrated by sym boIs."
1t Is divided into two parts-opera-
tive aad spec Native, or the practical
aud sroculat;se. For an exhibition
of the practical, history reveals their
workn. in the'pyramids of Egypt, the
statue of Jupiter Olympus, IN the
Colossus Of Rhodes, and last but not
least, in the great temple of Solomon
at JerQssleT$ Speculative Masonry
belonRs 20 mind, not to matter. For
its disqualification in living charac-
ters hehold :Aristotle, Phythagoras,
Socra YES, Cipeinnatns, Solomon, John
the Baptist, and John the Evangelist
or wOuid you soc it in later days,
behold, thea the great philoso-
piers, Locks and Newton, and in our
own laud George Washington. la
the lives Of these men you behold
the result OF speculative Masonry
elabor&tely brought. In them the
vine has brought forth bud, blossom
and fruit B:it we would turn aside
and geo the :secret cause of all this
excclleuce, s,hd we shall find it in
the lessons 9,sught in speculative Ma
sonry. DO not here, my friends,
comp|sih that these lessons are
shrou3sd in Secrecy and darkness /;
they sre cnlyshidden to the unworthy
and unqualified. To every worthy
mar Masonr; throws wide open her
door, and bies him trust in God and
be welcome, Many Of these lessons
are open TO hbe world, and TO few
OF them shall now call your atten-
ton.
The first great lesson taught by
Masonry is the existence of God.
AT tho'very threshold of our sanctu-
airy man IS taught to "put his trust
in Ged,7 Masonry and Atheism are
direos antagonists. No man can be-
come n Masoh who denies or doubts
the existence Of that Being Whom
the sun, moon and stars obey, Who
guideg the Comets in their stupen-
douarevolutisns, and Whose All-See-
ing Gye pervides the Utmost recesses
of the hamaIi heart. This lesson is
of exceeding great value because of
it's snblinity Its power to elevate
and expand 1.-The human faculties.
Another lessen taught by specula-
tive Masonry is the Divine authori-
ty Of the Bibse. Masonry presents
US with the bible as the first great
light Of the Older. 1t is woven as an
integral part OF each and every
branoh Of thG order Its prominent
position arrerts the attention of the
youngest nfvitiate, and from the
first atsp, to She highest round in the
Id
sighr Of ilsiglorious lessons AL
thosgb&we ;ave been silent, yet we
have rot bsen deaf TO the bitter
taunj of tho Atheist and skeptic,
"tha: the circle of all biblical knowl-
edge. was narrow and restricted.
And new I'M Gail charity to them we
throw 1owns the gauntlet TO them,
and deliberately challenge compeli-
ton IN the great task of mental and
moral Improvement. We bid them
star. forth j: the great work of re-
sear,h amidAt the Arts and sciences
Of civilized slife. We will go with
thera SIDE hy+side as they work their
weary way. through grammar, rhet-
ORIG, logic, arithmetic, geometry,
music and astronomy. In this last
science we would go with them to
the plssetsrsg world above, survey
the ataSs, MEASURE their dimensions
and their crnits, determine their We
locitv sud tt.e periods of their revo-
lutioasi Bug it is in vain to reason
with the Asheist concerning the
truth Of tho Bible he doubts or dis
believes the .<ery existence on which
all the evide.ice of that authenticity
rests. In answer to all of your ar
gusisnts anck tender appeals, he only
sends f6rta Nrood after brood of dis
mai, sulicn doubts. Reason will not
remove his doubts, for he was not
reasoneS intp it, it was simply the
offsprins ofibigoted prejudice. To
che Atheistt constant and unceasing
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