Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1914-06-12

Another objection is that a society
which does it work with closed doors
and darkened windows and admit
members with passwords and greet
each other with a secret grip can
not be right. Well l don't know
that there is anything wrong in keep
ing a secret. 1t surely adds nothing
to the character of a man to tell all
he knows. 1t is this divulging of
secrets, this everlasting blab, blab,
blab that causes one half of all the
trouble in a community. What a
great many men need and women too
is a little more capacity to keep their
mouth shut. 1t does no good to tell
all your hear. You'll all know we,
have two ears and one mouth and
that fact suggests that we ought to
hear a great deal more than we tell.
Two of the worst persons that ever
que and Mrs. Allear. attend court
great deal. There / have learned two
things. FirstAEvery man is innoc-
ent until he is proven guilty. Second
The man who receives stolen goods
is just as guilty as the person who
stole them if he knew them to be
stolen. Now if that be true then ]
hold that the man or the woman who
makes his ears the dumping ground
of the worlds gossip is just as guilty
as the gossiper and the sentence of
this court is that both of them ought
to be hanged the one by the tongue
and the other by the ears. Solomon
says "Discover not a secret to an
other" This betraying of confidence,
this divulging of secrets has torn
families, churches and communities
apart. By the power of "a secret well
kept charitable societies have been
organized and great reformatory
movement advanced. Secrecy of
plot can only be wrong where the OBJ
iect is wrong. Every family every
business firm, every institution
should be secret society. The man
who cannot keep a secret is not fit
for position of trust any where.
Another objection is that secret
societies are detrimental to the
church. No society can lessen a
mans obligation to the church. The
church is Gods institution. 1t alone
meets the longings of the human
heart. 1t alone teaches man how to
find God. It is too true that many
Of the members of secret societies
seldom il ever find their way to the
house of God on the Sabbath Day.
Hear me men. If you are a Mason,
Pythian, and Odd Fellow you believe
the Bible or else the Bible has no
business in the lodgeroom. If you
are a Mason, a Pythian, an Odd Eel
low you believe in the church for the
Bible and the church stand or fall to-
gether. If you were living the prin-
fciples of your order there is not, a
man of you but would be in the
church every Sabbath Day. Jesus
Christ is the founder Of the church.
His blood purchased the church and a
society stands or falls only as it
abides in him. There are only two
roads-the christian and the un-
christian. There can be no difference
lof opinion on this point. Any socie-
ty that would obliterate that fact
| from your mind is bad society. But
societies that are pouring very
| heaven of sunshine and benedictipn
into the home of suffering, founded
| on fidelity to good citizenship and
the Bible cannot be detrimental to
the church. / am not claiming that
these are divine institutions or that
they are ever to take the place of he
church in the plan of God. Butt do
claim that they are doing a divine
work and rendering a religious SER
vice. These institutions stand for re-
ligion. A belief in the ever living
God has been their deep corner stone.
Never were you so much of "a man as
when you bowed before the scepter
of the cross acknowledge loce and
loyalty to the thorn-crowned king
and endeavoring to keep his COM
mandments without reproach.
Y Some one has said that most re-
4 lipions are straight lines connecting
/ two points God and man. But chris
tianity has three points God and man
and his brother, connected with two
lines that make right angle. Each
lone of us if we are true to our best
self is at one point of the angle look
ing up to God and out to our brother
What God sends down the perpendi-
cular line we must pass along the
] Continued next week)