The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1870-07-02
rothers, Ladies and Gentlemen :;

Brothers, Ladies and Gentlemen
The age Of revolutions is the age o
light. For many centuries before th
star of empire had risen on these west
ern shores the aristocracy of learning
was more arrogant and exclusive thar
the aristocracy Of birth or wealth, ane
the ignorant many were everywhere the
slaves Of the enlightened few. Ii Will
never be SO again. By the wisdom
which springs from experience and by
the patience which is born OF nope, the
world ID beginning to comprehend the
great problem ofnational happiness, and
ia the giant senescence Of the nineteenth
century : will find its solution in the de-
rnocracy Of mind. The cry Of the dy.
ing Gethe-" Light-more light p is
echoed from every quarter Of tie globe.
The people are no longer willing to be
governed solely by the authority Of
great names. They desire to investi-
gate and to understand for themselves.
They insist on subjecting to the ordeal
ofa public and searching analysis every
invention and Improvement in art and
science, and every scheme for social,
moral, religious and politioel progress.
Amid this general and ardent pursuit
Of knowledge it is seriously to be re-
GREETED that the real purposes of an in
stitution as ancient, universal, honorable
and useful, as that of FreemaOnry, are
as unintelligible to the great mass of the
uninitiated as the most sacred OF its
mysteries. I say this ignorance is to
be regretted, because it is equally inju.
rious and unnecessary unnecessary,
because Masonry affects no concealment
of its principles; injurious. because it
induces thousands to form the most un-
Just opinions of an Order which would
otherwise enjoy theR unqualified res
pect An institution which has every
where, and in all ages, commanded the
patronage of the wise, the noble and the
good, and which has survived the most
desperate assaults from enemies with
out, and from traitors within,
has nothing to fear, and everything
to gain. from public exposition of its
principles; and in support of these
premises I propose on this occasion to
discnss, briefly, the origin, the nature,
and the advantages of Freemasonry, and
the most prominent objections which
have been urged against it. AS vol
umes have been written on each of these
topics. a discourse embracingall of them
must necessarily be Of aedetached and
fragmentary character =
Freemasonry has been elegantly de-
fined to be a beautiful SYSTEM of NOR
ality. yelled in allegories, and illustrated
by symbols The precise period of
it's origin cannot be satisfactorily de-
termined. On this point its most emf
nent friends and enemies differ widely
among themselves; the former dating it,
indifferently, before, and Immediately
after, the food--at the building of Solo
mons Temple--and protesting to iden-
tify it. at least partially, with the Di-
onysian, the Eleusinian and the Esse-
nian, Mysteries !; and the latter as va
riously contending that it arose during
the Crusades--that it sprang from the
the order Of the Templars-and that it
is an invention Of the English Jesuits.
In this very contrariety ofopinion |
find powerful argument for the vast
antiquity Of our Order, II, as some Of
our enemies assert. it can date no further
back than the beginning of the fifteenth
century, surely some authentic evidence
of that fact would have been discovered
during that fierce and relentless persecu-
tion which followed its footsteps all
over Europe, and which in. 1929 con-
vulsed the northern and eastern sections
Of our own Union. On this important
point. however, theintelligent Mason is not
left wholly to conjecture. The entire
of Symbolic Masonry points
unerringly to the building Of solomon's
Temple as the period of its construction II
while careful comparison ofthe legend
Of the Masters Degree with those of
the ancient Egyptian Mysteries will al
most inevitably force the Masonic reader
to the conclusion that Masonry existed
long anterior 10 that event.
Mans nature is essentially social, and
as society at the beginning was COM
posed of diverse and discordant elements,
the formation Of particular associations.
for the benefit Of the few, to the exclu-
sion of the many. must have been of |
very early origin. AS some knowledge
Of architecture was necessary To man il |
his primitive state, and as great pro-
gress was made In that science In the
worlds infancy, as evidenced by the
cities built BY the immediate descendants
of Adam, and By the existing ruins Of
Egypt, whose colossal grandeur and ex-
quisite symmetry smile seorntully at thei
boosted ingenuity Of today, and the
period 81 whose erection lies far back
&c fhe records Of the most remote history,
we are warranted In presuming that
among The first select societies Of. men
we're those composed exclusively Of
architects. who having At the expense
IL much labor and study acquired some
knoWladge of their profession, were
aatnrally desirons Of confning that
10 themsels and dof seeking to
ncreasa II through The manifest advan.
ages of secret ana intimate inter-
lgglre0.
Such society once organized, It'll
would have baen found necessary to Il
leyiss nleans for The projections Of its
nenhsrs and nestings from the impo-
lion and inerusion Of those who might Z
Injustly seek I'd avail themselves Of its
.dyantages, or u disturb ths harmony ]
1 Hi assemblies. This would natural