Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-22
LOGIC AND RIDICULE
In Profusion at the State Christian
Association Meeting
TO DENOUNCE SECRET SOCIETIES.
Very Vigorous Language Used BY q Mum.
Der of the Speakers.
POINTS OF THE ARGUMENTS ADVANCED

State Christian Association, opposed t,
secret societies, opened yesterday in tn,
Second United Presbyterian Church, Sixtl
meeting was called to order by W. B
Stoddard, of Williamsburg DR.. Samue
Collins, of Allegheny, was elected
chairman and opened the meeting
by devotional exercises He wa.
followed by an address of welcome by
Rev. David S. Littell, d. d. During hi.
address he said:
1t is not a matter of formality with me
but from the depths of my heart 1 welcome
you. This is cause in which the U. P.'s, R
P.'s and many other "P's'' can unite. God
has given us three brotherhoods, the broth
erhood of humanity, the brotherhood of the
family and the brotherhood of Christ. These
are the tn. only brotherhoods nsa Haoo God gave gave
ganize other brotherhoods. and these
run directly across those which God
gave us. These brothernoods, organ.
iZed bv man, instead of uniting
humanity, divide humanity. They also di-
vide both the church and the family. That
they are bound to keep things from the
church and bound to keep the husband from
telling things to his wife, makes them not
Christ-like, and they are therefore not
Christianity. What Smith teaches is Smith.
anity, and what Christ teaches is Christian
iSy.
Some Strong Language Used.
After the committees were announced,
livered lengthy address ON 'sThe Lodge
Opened" He said: sDear brerhern, I
ought to know something about the lodge,
as in my city there there are S53 lodges"
He then produced a chart, alleged to
illustrate the various degrees and scenes in
the lodge of Free Masonry. he stated that
when man became Mason, he threw
away his rights. He then proceeded to de-
scribe the joining of a masonic lodge. He
said the 'victim" is ushered into a room,
where his left breast is made bare and the
point OF a sword is placed against him, with
the warning no. to divulge any secret of the
lodge. The victim, he said, is then asked
to swear that in the presence of
divulge any secret of the lodge. This, the
speaker said, prevented the husband from
telling his wife of any of his doings at the
lodge.
He then referred to Boston lodge,
where he said several of its members be-
came intoxicated, and yet the husband
could not tell this to his wife, and receive
her council and prayers in the matter of as
sociating with them. He also said:
The wife has as much right to know what
the husband is doing as tho husband has to
know what the wife is doing, yet If the hus-
band tells his wife OF his doings at the lodge
he forfeits his life, has his throat cut. Ma
sonry parts those whom God has Joined to-
gether. Multitudes who are in these lodges
to-day would never have thought of joining
them had they known more of the inside
A Menace to Society.
The first speaker at the night session was
ha Pax- nv r al ~ E>1I
He attacked secret societies, and asserted
that they are a menace to good society
Men, he said, join them to gain advantages
over their fellow men. They join to secure
advantages in politics about There
are officers to govern, and the many
must obey the few. It is
of Importance to Christian who follows
the Lord. He goes to the lodge and is
asked to swear to do something, he knows !
not what. When msn buys horse, if he
has any sense, he knows something about
it. When he takes wife to himself it is
generally supposed he has had some ac-
quaintance with her. But when he
goes into lodge he swears to |
and other matters.
Where, he asked, is the benefit of the |
Jury system wheE there are some on the jury |
who are sworn to obey the officers of their |
The members of these societies
have all that an honest man has |
and all that dishone est measures can give. |
he said: What does the lodge |
ask of the man? He swears to obey when |
he doesn't know what it is going to ask him |
Taking for granted that it is honest, the man
who takes that oath ought to know something.
Prof C. A. Blanchard, of Wheaton Col
lege, Illinois, said the question had been
asked why do secret societies multiply and
flourish? A man said at a convention in
Boston that they might as we'll try to take
census Of the lice in Egypt as to try to
count them. The reason they multiply, he
was not because they lacked the |
lenunciations of of some of the best men of
The country against them. Daniel Web |
ster, John Adams, John Quincy Adams,
Charles Sumner and others, are on record
IS opponents of secret societies and Free
Masonry in particular.
Alleged Power Over a jury.
1t gives an evil man a power over a Jury,
he Sheriff, the witnesses and sometimes the |
Judge AS an indication, he said, in this |
country where secret societies abound |
here will be 400 murders and about |
Is executions. In England where secret |
societies are much fewer, there will be 400 |
murders and about 375 executions. These |
Ire the charges, he said, and they are not |
The speaker then turned to ridicuIe, and |
said that it was not necessary for a man to |
secure the help of honest men if he was
honest himself, to first swear that he would |
lave his head cut of, or his body cut in |
wo, or his skull lifted and his brains ex-
posed to the scorching rays of MONDAY sun |
f he revealed any of the secrets
The reason they flourish, he supposed,
vas because of the avarice that makes men |
want to get something and give nothing, |
Using the lodges influence Also the ambi- /
ion to be grand master, ETC., and lord it |
'ver somebody. Another reason he set |
orth was the desire for a chapeau, sword, |
.loyes, ETC., to look fine when marching and |
lressed up. The speaker concluded by |
lrging his hearers to keep up the work
against the secret societies.
+ PoR strengthening and clearing the voice. use
Browns Bronchial Troches. ~ have COM
nended them to friends who were public speakers
nd they have proved extremely serviceable ',-
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.