Minutes of the Christian Convention, Held at Aurora, Illinois. Oct. 31st and Nov. 1st, 1867 by Christian Convention at Aurora Ill. of 1867
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Title:Minutes of the Christian convention, held at Aurora, Illinois.

Oct. 31st and Nov. 1st, 1867. Containing the proceedings &
resolutions of the Convention [respecting freemasonry] …

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Print Source:Minutes of the Christian convention, held at Aurora, Illinois. Oct. 31st and Nov. 1st, 1867. Containing the proceedings &
resolutions of the Convention [respecting freemasonry] …

56 p. 21 cm.

Chicago,

V. Dean & Ottaway,

1867.

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MINUTE S OF THE CHRISTIAN CONYENTION, HELD AT AURORA, ILLINOIS, Oct. 31st and Nov. 1st, 1867. CONTAINIliNG THE fROCEEDINGS AND ESOLUTION OF THE

CONVENTION) H D D R E S S E S OF REV. MESSRS. HART, SMITH, TRAVIS AND

BLANCHARD, WITH COPIOUS XTRACTS ROM CONGRATULATORY LETTERS.. WITH COPIOUS

E,XTRACTS FROM CONGRATULATORY LETTERS. C~fICA GO: DEAN & OTTAWAY, STEAM

BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS, 148 LAKE STREET. 1867. - O 3 I’Ir I

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INTRODUCTORY NOTE. The Christian Convention at Aurora was the result of a deep conviction that the evil of organized secrecy has reached such dimensions that longer silence and inaction cannot be innocently maintained. It was seen that the dark floods of secret influence were not only overflowing the plains, but were covering the hills and reaching the mountains; not only filling the world, but pouring into the church; not only infecting the youth, but grave ministers were being carried away with the dissimulation. While the press and the pulpit were,as a general rule, observing as studied a silence on the subject, as might be expected if they were subsidized or struck dumb with terror. Organized Deism was seen in open day laying the corner stones of christian churches. Even the General Association of Illinois, a body which has heretofore borne decided testimony against the chiefest of the dark Orders, lately refused to entertain a resolution against using the charitable education funds of the churches in educating Masons and Odd Fellows for the ministry. Perplexed and distressed by this state of things, a few like-minded christians determined to invite a convention for prayer and consultation. They regarded it merely as a local movement, not expecting members from more than a few counties at most. A portion of the religious press showed great reluctance to publishing the call. Others, however, secular as well as religious, gave it unsolicited insertion and commendation. And when the convention assembled, to the surprise of those who had called it, earnest men were found there from Ohio, from Mithigan, from Indiana,‘from Iowa and Nebraska, as well as firom Illinois. There were Episcopal Methodists and Protestant Methodists, Friee Methodists, Wesleyans, Baptists and Free Will Baptists, United Brethren, Congregationalists and Presbyterians, all speaking the same things. Eighty-seven members enrolled their names, and letters of congratulation poured in firom Wisconsin to Maison and Dixon’s line, and from 1hode Island to Washington Teriitoiy. We were thrilled aid awed. We were evidntly in the focus of that light whic.h shinetlh firom one end of heaven to the other. The spirit which biooded over the chaos at creation was evidently moving on the deep of mind, was lifting np the staid:ard promised “when the enemy cometh in like a flood.” We were reassured that ttheie wert reserved at least “seven thousand men that have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.” We gathered what we could of the light which shone around us, and the result is the work before you. We ask for it a candid and prayerful reading. COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION. I

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MINUTES. Pursuant to the following call, a convention met at the City Hall in Aurora, and was called to order by Benj. Hackney, Esq. “In compliance with the expressed wish of persons of different denominations, the undersigned respectfully request such of their fellow Christians as may choose to do so to meet them in convention on Thursday, Oct. 31st, at 3
o’clock P. M., at the City Hall in the city of Aurora, Ill., for prayer and consulsation on the following topics: 1. The relation of prevalent Secret Orders to the Christian religion. 2. The duty of professing Christians in reference to them. 3. The propriety of calling a Nation1al Convention on the subject.” Signed Joseph Travis, Royal Arch Mason, I. A.

Hart, a seceding Mason of 1828, E. P. Hart, Master Mason, C. L. Stow, J.

Blanchard, David West, D. W. Stockwell, B. Hackney, Philo Carpenter, T. G.

Damon, M. M. Miles, Seth Griffiths, W. Tyler, J. Denny, O. Dewey, Edward Ebbs, S. McCarty, Charles Gill, Newton Otis, S. Town, B. West, E. Denny, N. D. Fanning, J. G. Terrill, C. H. Underwood, W. Stannard, Master Mason, Lewis Bailey, L. Bishop, G. H. Fox, Joseph Catterlin, Isaac Preston. In view of the fact that the word “christian” admits of various significations the Committee of Arrangements passed the following resolution and caused it to be published with the call, viz: That the Convention be composed of the various evangelical denominations. A temporary organization was effected by calling Rev. N. D. Fanning, of Elgin, to the chair, and appointing Rev. C. H. Underwood, of Freeport, and Joseph Denny, Esq., of Aurora, clerks. After which, the Convention spent a season of earnest prayer for the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The following brethren were then chosen a Committee on Permanent Organization: Benjamin Hackney, Esq., Rev. Edward Ebbs, Rev. Jamnes I.

Baber, Rev. J. P. Richards and-I,. W. Mills, Esq. Prof. O. F. Lumry, Joseph Denny, Esq., and R. T. Morgan were appointed Committee on the Roll.

[See Appendix F.] I

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4 During the retirement of these committees the Convention spent the time in the reading of the Scriptures and in prayer. The Committee on Permanent Organization reported recommending Rev. Jonathan Blanchard, D. D., of Wheaton College, for President, Philo Carpenter, Esq., and Rev. R. Loggan for Vice Presidents, Rev. N. D. Fanning, Secretary, and Rev. J. P.

Richards and Joseph Denny, Esq., Assistants. The report was accepted and adopted. Questions of privilege being raised by Dr. Kilbourne and Wyatt Car, Esq., adhering Masons, the Convention voted that they be permitted to speak and to record their names as members, which, after speaking, they declined to do; Dr. Kilbourne entering a formal protest against the Convention taking any action in reference to Free Masonry. The Rev. I. A.

Hart, of Wheaton, a seceding Mason, was then called for, and addressed the Convention until the hour of recess. [See Appendix A.] The Committee on Permanent Organization was made the Business Committee of the Convention.

The Committee on the Roll reported. Report accepted and adopted. [See Appendix F.] Recess until 7 P. M. EVENING SESSION. The first half hour was spent in prayer. Rev. J. Travis was substited for B. Hackney, Esq., as chairman of the Business Committee. Rev. I. A. Hart resumed his remarks which had been interrupted by the hour of recess. At the close of these remarks the President gave notice that a large number of letters had been received firom various parts of the country, addressed to the Convention, some of them of great interest and value. Rev. I. A. Hart moved that a committee be appointed to examine these letters and read to the Convention such letters or parts of letters as the time will permit or they shall judge for the edification of the assembly. Adopted, and Rev. J. Terrill, F. Wells and C. L. Blanchard, Esqs., were appointed said commnittee, to which the officers of the Convention were afterwards added.[See Appendix B,] Rev. Joseph Travis, in behalf of the Business Committee, reporited the following preamble and resolutions viz: WHEREAS Christianity in its origin is an (emanation from Christ, in its experiences is a union with Christ, and admits of no rival in the hearts of His subjects, and, I

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~‘t humility and Christian love. Mr. Clark was also added to the Business Committee. Rev. Mr. Danforth, of Chicago, requested leave to speak concerning a new secret order among the Spiiitua-lists, which he thought likely to become remarkable among secret orders, both for its corruption and its extent. He was heard accordingly and made disclosures which were both startling and disgusting. Philo Carpenter, Esq., Rev. C. H.

Underwood, Rev. Edward Ebbs, and S. H. Salls, Esq., were appointed a Committee of Ways and Means for publishing the Minutes. Recess until 2
o’clock, P. M. AFTERNOON SESSION. Opened with prayer by the President. In answer to the call of the Convention Rev..R. Loggan, of Nebraska, and Isaac Preston, Esq., of Lockpoit, Ill., addressed the meeting. W. W.

Richardson, Rev. Messrs. Geo. Clark, H. HIawkins, N. D. Fanning and Edward Ebbs were appointed a committee to nominate a National Executive Committee. The Committee of Ways and Mleans, after alluding to the importance of diffusing information on the subjeet which has convened us, recommended the opening of a subscription for the purpose of printing and circulating the Minutes of the Convention, embracing the proceedings, resolutions, letters and speeches, as far as practicable. That the subscription shall show the P.O. address of the subscriber, and that one-half the amount of his subscription be returned to each subscriber in copies of the MIinutes. That the subscription be opened here and also in the churches in sympathy with the object. That the other half of the printed Minutes be circulated by the Committee of Publication, some depository being established by them, of which notice shall be given in the Minutes, and that such committee be chosen to whom the funds may be sent, and whose business it shall be to see that said Minutes are properly printed and circulated. The report was accepted and adopted. Rev. I. A.

Hart, Rev. J. Blanchard, Prof. O. F. Lumry In11 1,. W. Mills, Esq., of Wheaton, and Rev. N. D. Fanning, of Elgin, were chosen Committee of Publication. A subscription was circulated in the Convention and the amount of $160 was subscribed on the spot for printing the Minutes.

Recess.

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9 WVHEREAS Masonry, with its kindred systems, neither emanates from Christ, nor consists in union with Him, but adheres to rites and ceremonies not deducible fiom the Word of God, and imposes obligations upon men’s consciences often inconsistent with that Word, therefore, Resolved, That it and they sustain a relation of rivalship to our common christianity, and are therefore anti-christian. Resolved, That we believe our duty to be plain, viz: first, to religiously abstain firom any affiliation with these societies; sece ondly, to calmly, truthfully and lovingly expose their unchristian character, and thirdly, by all legitimate means to oppose their progress and influence amongst us. Rev.

Joseph Travis, seceding Royal Arch Mason, was called for and addressed the Convention upon the preceding resolutions. [See Appendix C.] The officers of the Convention were made a Committee, with plenary power to revise the resolutions which had been or might be offered. On motion, it was voted to meet at 8 o’clock to-morrow morning for prayer, and that the business session open at 9 o’clock. The Rev. Milton Smith, of DuPage Co., Ill., and Rev. James I. Baber, of the State of Nebraska, then addressed the Convention with ability and great earnestness. [See Appendix D.] MORNING

SESSION. Convention met at 8 o’clock, and spent an hour in devotion. The business session was opened at 9 o’clock with prayer by the Piesident. The Convention resolved to hold a meetiig in the evening, and invited President Blanchard to occupy a principal share of the time with an address. Wm. B. Lloyds A. J. Bailey, R. T. Morgan, P. V. Livingston and J.

F. Ellis were appointed to prepare and post printed notices of the meeting through the city. A collection for the object was taken up, amounting to $10.81. Rev. C. H. Underwood, Rev. H. T. Bessy, Sylvanus Town, Esq., W. W.

Richardson, Esq., and P. Hurlesq, Esq., were appointed a committee to report the names of such religious periodicals and papers as are believed to be friendly to the object of this Convention. (See Appendix E.) The reading of letters to the Convention next followed. (See Appendix B.) Rev.

Geo. Clark, of Oberlin, Ohio, interested the Convention by an address, which was characterized by much earnestness, I

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7 EVENING SESSION. Opened with prayer by Rev. J. G. Terrill. President Blanchard spoke for an hour and three quarters with telling effect. (See Appendix F.) After which, the business session was opened by prayer. The following gentlemen were recommended by the nominating com,nittee, and approved by the Convention, to constitute the National Executive Committee, to correspond with other coinmiltees, to fix the time and place, to call and arrange for a National, Ch,iitiai Convention, opposei to Secret Societies, with power to fill their own vacancies and add to their numbel as they may judge expedient. Pres. J. Blanchard, of Wheaton, Ill., Prof. H. Fairchild, of Oberlin, O., Rev. B. F. Roberts, Rochester, N.Y., Rev. John Lawrence, Nashville, Tenn., Rev. A Crooks, Syracuse, N.

Y., Rev. A. C. Vau Roalte, Holland, Mich., Rev. Nathan Brown, New York City, Rev. AIl-. Livingstoll, Wis., T. P. Stevenson, Editor Christian Statesman, Philadelphia, Rev. De Los Love, Milwaukee, Wis. The following resolutions were adopted: WaE,r.s our republican institutions were dictated and sustained by a free discussion and ample elitcidation of their foundation principles, and resort has never been had to secret combinations of any character for their maintainrace, and WHEREAS the same is true of all the teachings and works of Christ respecting His kingdom, as also of the apostles and martyi s, and the whole church of God in its reformatory movements; an (, WuEREAS permanent social secrecy is the invariable badge of all associated evil doers, and we are commanded to shunii the very appearance of evil; and, WHEREAs the history of secret temperance orders for the last twenty years plainly demonstrates that organizations operating secretly for good objects are easy stepping-stones to the more imyvstic and dangerous orders; therefore, as tlhe earnest friends of the temperance reformation, we ask for it an open field and free discussion, believing that it is impossible to reform mHen by ceremonial obligations, but al(one by the creation of a right feeling and principle, through the truth, untrammeled by rites and ceremonies and unimpeded by the suspicion which always follows secrecy; we therefore deem it unwise and unsafe to affiliate with or in any way to countenance such secret organizations. Resolved, That the thanks of the Convention be tendered to the various papers that have published the call for this Convention, hoping for like courtesy on future occasions from the newspaper press generally. I

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8 Resolved, That the thanks of the Convention be tendered to the citizens of Aurora for their ho.pitality to the members, and to the City Council for the use of their hall. Resolved, That the removal and overthrow of the secret orders be made a subject of special prayer on the first Sabbath evening of each month, wherever practicable, and thanks be given to God onl tile next day of public thanksgiving, for the auspicious inauguration of this movement. The hour being late, the Convention adjourned sine die, with singing the Doxology in Old Hundred. J. BLANCHARD, President. N. D.

FAXNING, Secretary. APPENDIX A. SPEECH OF REV. I. A. HART. MR. PRESIDRNT

AND BRETHREN: When, to avoid confession of crime a man commits suicide, that suicide is the strongest kind of a confession. So, when men murder a man for disclosing their secrets, by that act they confess and declare that he has actually and trlly disclosed their secrets, more strongly than they could do it by words or affidavits. Masons have said to me, when I have confessed to the truth of Morgan’s and Bernard’s revelations, ” You are a perjured man.” The haste and holy horror with which the last speaker fled fromn this house upon the call for a speech from a seceding Mason, was plainly meant to convey the same impression. Well, if I am a perjured man, it is because I have violated my oath by disclosing Masonic secrets.

I have disclosed no such secrets unless Bernard’s book is true. The Mason who says I am pejured says, thereby, that the book is true. For on no other supposition can my attestation of it amount to perjury. And if I am perjured, he is perjured, and by the same act-the attestation of Morgan’s book. And his attestation is even stronger and less to be suspected than mine; because it is an unintentional and unwilling attestation. Yes, I love to have Masons talk about seceding Masons being perjured. They never say it to me but once, and only sucheb as Masons would pronounce indiscreet ones do that. A smart and wily Mason never says that. He says, ” According to your owvn account of the matter you are perjured, and therefore are not fit to be believed.” That’s shrewd. During the war detectives went and joined the IK. G. I .1

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9 Cs. for the express purpose of disclosing their secrets and thus defeating and breaking them up. What patriot says they are perjured? And if paramount duty to country justified these detectives in treating the oaths they took in these dark conclaves as a nullity, a promise honored only in the breach of it, how much more would they be justified in violating those oaths, if they had gone into them in good faith, lured and wheedled in by goodly professions of loyalty and solemn assurances that the order was pure in its principles and objects, in perfect harmony with their duty to God and their country? Not fit to be believed? Who were the old seceding Masons? They were counted by thousands. They were men than whom among the Masonic fraternity certainly there were none in better repute up to the day of their seceding. Their entire testimony is a harmonious unity. They agree perfectly. There was not, and is not to-day, a man in all the land, whom his neighbors would believe under oath, that dares to utter a straight forward contradiction to their testimony. Not fit to be believed? And yet the valorous legions of Masonry, were, to a man, silenced in their presence and fled in dismay before their testimony; forsook their lodges and did not return to them for about the space of twenty years, and very few of the old Masons even thlen. If f,lse witness against Masonry had such power, what would the truth have done? But now, after forty years, we find these routed legions are again in the field.

What seemed a dead carcass is again raised to life. It even boasts more largely than ever, and its vain boasting is deluding a generation which knew not Morgan. The greater part of the original seceders sleep with the fathers; and although no well informed and truthful man dares squarely contradict their testimony or impeach their characters, yet great efbforts are made, by indirection and inuendoes, by cunningly framed questions, by special pleading and quibbling, and double entendres, to make the impression that their testimony was false, and still more to bury them out of mind or push them into insignificance or forgetfulness, by the imposing grandeur of the living orders. It seems, therefore, both appropriate and necessary to recall that testimony, and that the few who survive should repeat it to an age who have come upon the stage of life since these things were transacted. I may be told that it will be useless: that Freemasonry has now reached such a magnitude, and has so entrenched itself that it can hurl defiance at all its enemies and treat the assaults of such miserable dclotards as old seceding Masons with utter contempt and scorn. As to the scorn of Masons or of men, it is a small matter, since even Paul was accounted a fool for the truth’s sake, and all true reformners have shared this odium. Anrd if it were not so, “He that is down needs fear no fall.” Just reproaches I have no right to complain of, and unjust ones give me no concern, especially if thereby truth may be elicited and good may come to my b.ethren of man kind. As to the effect of our testimony upon the colossal power of Ma sonry and other secret orders, that will be not as men pronounce, but as God wills, feeble or mighty. We may seem, in this effort, like one who AW-I ,,:….:. I,

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10 attempts to match the north wind with his breath; and yetwe may gain this satisfaction, if no more, the consciousness of having done our duty.

I therefore, as one standing on the shore of the silent river, take this occasion to renew a seceding Mason’s testimony once more, before I make the returnless passage, anxious mainly to do my duty, and leave the results with Him who disposes of our lives and of all things, making great events to spring often from slight causes, and bringing to nought the counsels of the proud. I am not certain that the time has fully come to speak or act with immediate or decisive success against the secret orders of the day. But I do feel as sure as I do of Christ’s final triumph, that it will come. It will come. And then, and not till then, let my epitaph be written. I ask now your indulgence while I state some of the reasons why I renounced Freemasonry, and feel it my duty to testify against it and all analagous institutions. In doing this, let me premise that I do not pre tepid to be revealing Masonic secrets. That work was done up forty years ago; and yet men reproach and sneer at me as a revealer of secrets, when I only take a universally conceded liberty, that of freely discus sing matters that have become the property of the public by being print ed, stereotyped and sent over the land for forty years. Secrets, for sooth!!

The truth is, Free Masonry has no secrets, and never had any worth knowing. But if their pomps and boasts awakens any one’s cu riosity, and you cannot resist the suggestion that where there is so much smoke there must be some fire, and you must trace the thing to its source and know what it is that makes all this parade and ado, I testify to you that at a very trifling expense you can learn more in a few hours from books of the secrets and wonders of Freemasonry, and 0. F. too, than you can by attending their lodges for years, and retain your purse, your life, and your conscience in your own keeping, instead of committing them to a mysterious and irresponsible tyranny. I say you can learn more from books in a short time than by attending the lodges for years. For if there be anything that gives plausibility to their pretense of high antiquity, it is the fact that in this age of advanced civilization and improved methods of instruction they still cling to the laborious and uncertain methods ot the most primitive and barbarous times, of relying wholly upon oral tradition and the individual memory for almost everything in their history, in their creed and liturgy and work, that is peculiar to them as Masons. To that extent they are behind the age, and copy the USAGES of the savage period, if they have not descended from them. I say, then, to all who are curious regarding these mysteries, “Read and you’ll know.” If a Mason with a dignified sneer asks you if you really suppose you can get any knowledge of what has never been revealed, and never can be revealed, from such debauched and miserable swindlers as aIr. Morgan, or David Bernard, or Jabez Richardson, be you sure that this swagger is all the more a real and certain lie, for being only an implied and acted one. From these books you can know Freemasonry as certainly as you can know the American Revolution from Marshall’s and ‘ -t… I, 4,‘k.-..

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11 Remsey’s histories, or the laws of the United States from the published journals of Congress, or the (‘bristian religion from the Old and New Testament. I feel, therefore, at perfect liberty to speak of any or all their ” secrets,” as they call them, because they are no secrets. If they were, I wouild be justified ” in foro conscientea ” as I believe I would be in Heaven in disclosing them. Tho’ even as it is, I am far from feeling safe from those arrows which are shot secretly at the upright. by unhappy men in whom Seeretism has engendered a fanaticism which makes them verily think they do no more than right and justice when they kill the traitors of Masonry. Or. failing through fear or poli(cy to as.‘assinate. sloot poisoned words and wreak Masonic vengeance on their victim in the words of their own oral lecture: “By pointing him out to the world as an unworthy and vicious vagabond, by opposing his interests, by disarranging his business, by transferring his character after him wherever he may go, by exposing him to the contempt of the whole fraternity and of the world, but of our illustrious order more especially, during his whole natural life.”-

(L. on M., p. 394.) This is their boasted charity. But I shall not be hit or hurt by their arrows, unless it be given to the archers from above to hit me; and if God shall so will, I say with John Brown, 1 may be worth as much to hang as for anything else. I propose, therefore, to use my right of free speech as I find occasion, and to treat all pretended obligation to the contrary as Paul did idols-as nothings in the world-as I would a promise or an oath extorted by fraud or fear not to inform against marauding bandits nor to warn my friends of their approach or of their designs. The obligation to give warning of approaching and insiduous danger is divinely imposed and pre-existing, and therefore paramount to all oaths or promises which man can impose. The attempt to do it is as impious as it is futile; and because Freemasonry attempts to do this and to seal up free speech, and commands silence on pain of death, therefore I denounce it, and will denounce it if I die for it. But in general terms I will say, 1 renounced it because I found it to be in no respect what it professes to be, but to be built up upon a foundation of false pretenses.

Upon close inspection I became satisfied that however sincere and well-disposed a large part of its members might be, the institution itself, from turret to foundation stone, is a thoroughly false institution. It is a stupendous lie, and the truth is not in it. Their very name is a misnomer. They are not Masons-they are not free. Look at the initiatory ceremonies and general work of the lodge room. These all seemed to me like the creations of evil fairies. First, the candidate is divested of all his clothing, except that he is allowed to have on one slipper, one leg of a pair of drawers, one arm of a shirt, a hangman’s rope about his neck, and a bandage over his eyes that effectually prevents his enjoying, or at least seeing the splendor of his costume. Thus neither barefoot nor shod, neither naked nor clothed, in fit array for the gallows, without a penny or a pin, the Masons play that he is a poor blind candidate, journeying from the west to the east in search of light. I

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12 As in this ludicrous and indecent plight he gropes his way to the door by the aid of a conductor, and after a short parley, he is bidden to “
enter in the name of the Lord.” And then while he marches slowly around the room, come funeral scripture readings and solemn prayers, as if he were in the p)erils of death; and then amidst the darkness, and the excitement, and the gloom of these ominous allusions to uncertain ter rors, enough to unnerve common men, the awful oath is thrust upon him.

Then and there he must take it, no matter what it imports or whether he has enough of self-possession left to be morally accountable or not. Then they play that they open the blind eyes, and imitate the Omnipotent in creating light. And then follow the opening of the wondrous myste ries; and what are they? Why, the poor blind candidate sees an open Bible, which perhaps Ie never saw befbre. He sees, too, a square and compass, and is tol( that IMaisons use these carpenter’s tools as a rule of moral rectitude-about as sensible as making a God of wood or stone; and then he is taught (marvelous attainment!) where to place his thumb in shaking hands, so as to say thereby ” I am a Mason; moreover a password is given him, and he is grieeted a brother Boaz. And then fol low some pleasant instructions and practical jokes that would be really amusing if the whole scene did not savor as much of the profanation of things sacred as of puerile amusement. Is there anything of reality or truth in all this? Is the candidate poor? is he blind? is he journeying’? Is it praying, to ask God-no, the Grand Architect or Grand MIas ter of the Celestial Lodge-to preserve him from dangers which are only the creations of their fancies?

Their fancies are exceedingly fruitful in creations. They play that they are in Jerusalem, working upon Solo mon’s temple. Some ale workmen, some overseers; one is Solomon, one Hiram Abiff. Oh! they are kings and princes, and priests and high priests, and grand commanders and grand sovereign pontiffs. They are worshipful and most worshipful, most excellent and most puissant, and all sorts of nice things. And as they assume the titles of nobility and hierarchy, so they affect their pominps and their glittering array. Is there any truth or reality in all this? Or is it all a glittering show of empty, deceitful vanity? At the best empty creations of fancy, better suited to amuse children than waste the time and dilute the thoughts of men. To me all seemed heartless and unreal.

except, perhaps, the call from labor to refreshments, especially when bar-roomus and saloons were at band. The refreshments were real, but the effect of them often was to people the brain with fancies still more weird and unreal. And there was one thing more-the payment of dues was real.

That “‘nobody can deny.” But the devotion I found there seemed to me to have no sort of relation to true Christian devotion. If anybody can find Christian worship there, they can find what I cannot. And so I came to the conclusion that as childhood was past with me, I had better put away childish things. It would be more profitable for me to work than to play that I work; more edifying to pray than to play we say prayers. If all their plays were such as might benefit the innocence of I

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13 childhood, I would smile on it and let it pass. But the genius of this institution ever and anon mingles with its pleasantries the irreverent and the malign. They often play murder, and the arrest and punishment of the perpetrators, or the assassination of some betrayer of their secrets, thus familiarizing their members with the idea that the power of life and death belongs to the lodge, and preparing them to sacrifice on this altar of Moloch such victims as Wm. Morgan and many others who have from time to time been disposed of in the same way. Their regal and hierarchal titles, their kingly and aristocratic robes, their papal and pagan pomps, might be passed over as peurilities, did they not tend powerfully to engender the spirit that sustains the civil and ecclesiastical despotisms of the Old World, and thus work insidiously and dangerously against the simplicity and purity of religious worship for which our fathers fled to the western wilderness, and as insiduousl]y and dangerously against the republican liberty and equality for which they shed their blood. But here I dismiss these shadows, and come to something more tangible. A more positive and decisive objection to the Order I found in II. Their Oaths. First, I believe the oath of God to be a sacred instrument for the investigation of matters that concern men’s highest and dearest rights; an instrument appropriated to the State and the Church. When employed by the proper functionaries, and for the proper objects, ” the oath is holy and an end of strife.” But for private persons or ordinary voluntary associations to employ it for personal and private ends, is to usurp and profane it. It is to violate the Savior’s command, “Swear not at all.” These private or extra-judicial oaths are condemned by the soundest jurists. Sonme of the States have positive enactments against them. The Odd Fellows claim that even they are innocent of this wrong, though I think they have used only a formal evasion while they retain the substance of an oath-an indirect appeal to God and the terrors of death. The secret temperance orders all disclaim the use of oaths, and thus admit that this objection to Freemasonry is well taken. But if extra-judicial oaths were allowable, that would be very far from excusing Masonic oaths. Their peculiarities would fix the seal of their condemnation. (a) Thou shalt not forswear thyself, is God’s command. The Masonic oath is nothing but a foreswearing of one’s self in every instance. As I understand this matter, a man who takes an oath forswears himself, unless he knows, beforehand or at the time, what he swears to do, and knows both the practicability and lawfulness of the doing, and at the proper time does it, “Thou shalt not forswear thyself,’)ut shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths.” But that these conditions should be fulfilled in the Masonic oath is an utter impossibility, and therefore no man can take it and not forswear himself; e. g., in the first oath he swears to ” keep the” secrets of Freemasonry which I have received, am about to receive, or may hereafter be instructed in. How could he know whether this oath bound him to conceal lawful secrets, or innocent pleasantries, or mysteries of iniquity? He could not know, and therefore I

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14 could not take the oath without forswearing himself in palpable violation of God’s command. (b) Swear not at all, is Christ’s command in reference to all such swearing: “Neither by Heaven, for it is God’s throne; neither by the earth, for it is his footstool; neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one bair black or white.” When a man swears under penalty of death, does he not swear by his head? Is it not to violate the command, “Neither shalt thou swear by thy head “? From first to last there is scarcely a Masonic oath in which this is not done.

The deponent swears that his life may be taken in every savage and conceivably horrid form, if he proves false. Now then, I affirm that, unless a man has a right to commit suicide he has no right to take such an oath. And unless those who administer the oath have a right to murder the false deponent in form stipulated, they have no right to administer such an oath. It partakes of the guilt of murder either to take or to administer such an oath. Men shudder when they read of the laws of Draco being written in blood; but a pictorial work on Masonry would present as an appropriate vignette to every oath, throats cut and streaming with gore, bodies severed in twain and the bowels burning to ashes between the parts, limbs torn from the body, tongues torn out by the roots, eyes dug from their sockets, skulls knocked off and the brains exposed and broiling in the sun. Whether these would be appropriate emblems of an institution that claims especial eminence in all the element. of love and gentleness, I do not decide; but such were the gentle persuasives which Freemasons employed to ensure the silence of every one she trusted with her secrets.

Their oaths were disgusting, shocking, murderous-that was another reason why I denounced the institution. It did not satisfy me to be told laughingly, as tyros in Masonry will tell you now, that nothing was meant by the e )bloody imprecations a mere flourish of rhetorical tragedy, a pretty hard joke, “only this and nothing more.” If that were true, it would be an impious profanity. This scattering of fire-brands, arrows and death, and saying, ” Am I not in sport?” was not to my taste. But the history of the Morgan affair settled the Masonic interpretation of their oaths, and demonstrated that they were no mere brutumfulmen, but that Masonry meant to rule its members, if inclined to revolt, by the terrors of horrid assassination-and that in these terrors was the secret of their secrets being kept so closely and so long. There at length the world has the solution of that mystery. Fear has done it. This most ancient, most honorable, most pure, most mild and most charitable institution carried a concealed dagger, which ever and anon flashed terror into the souls of the wavering, while it carried death to those who dared to speak the truth concerning it, and returned to its covert with such electric quickness that the world never saw it. Murder its members for speaking the truth!

Morgan might have told as many lies as he pleased about Masonry, but no sooner does he tell the truth than he must die. Could an institution that frames such deedsj by law and oaths have an author or a patron saint less wicked than the Prince of Hell? I

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15 (c) There are other things in those oaths that to me seemed the footprints of the same infernal patron-e. q., swearing not to defraud or wrong a Mason to the value of one cent, or of anything, ” knowing him to be such,” nor to insult his female relatives, knowing them to be such.

Those clauses always shocked me. I seemed to see old Cloven-foot himself peeping through some crack, and chuckling and ready to split his sides in repressing his laughter, to see how piously he had got these men to license general fraud and licentiousness, under pretense of being extra honest with Masons. As if when the Almighty thundered forth his law, “Thou shalt not steal,” he had managed to have this poor hoodwinked and frightened creature to answer him to his face, “Lord, I won’t steal from a Mason if I know him; otherwise I shall do as I please about it.” When God says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” the answer is, “Lord, I won’t, if all the women will be wives, or daughters, or sisters, or mothers of Masons, and inform me of the fact: otherwise I shall do as I please about it.” I remember how this was glossed over at the time, and I have heard the same glossing lately, viz: that a promise or oath to do part of our duty is not a refusal to do the whole. This does not, to my mind, relieve such oaths of a manifestly corrupt implication. It is coolly informing the Author of a universal and unconditional law that determines our d~ty definitely towards all mankind, that we will, upon certain conditions and contingencies, observe that law towards a very small portion of them-a making void the law of God in a way that seems to partake of the insolence of blasphemy. (d) And again, these oaths often bind the subject, i. e., if they have any validity or binding force at all-if they were not made void and null by very wickedness-they would bind the subject to do that which is positively andpalpably wicked-e. 9g., “to keep the secrets of a brother or companion Mason as sacredly in my breast as they would be in his own, murder and treason excepted,” in the third degree-” murder and treason “
not excepted in the seventh. God forbids us to help the wicked .y biding their crimes, and thus screening them from justice. But Masonry s,. ears us to do it. The government, in the legitimate use of its God-given prerogatives, swears us to testify the whole truth within our knowledge touching certain crimes. But Masonry forswears us not to testify, if the culprit be a Mason. Which oath shall be violated?-the oath of one’s country and of God, or the oath of the lodge? The oath of the government certainly is binding. If the Masonic oath is binding, too, then is the Mason’s soul briought into a snare wherein he must be inevitably perjured, obey which hle mnay. Into such a dilemma of bondage does the Masonic oath bring its hapless subject. To keep that oath is to make himself particeps criminis in murder or treason, or any other crime, and to stain his soul with the guilt of perjury. And yet the true Mason will be almost sure to prefer the double guilt of screening a criminal from justice and perjuring his soul, rather than deny the validity of the sinful obligation by which Satan has brought him into bondage. This is not the only case in which the Mason’s oath conflicts squarely I

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16 with right and duty, and binds him, if that were possible, to commit positive sin. He is sworn in some degrees to warn a brother of approaching danger (e.g., a criminal of the approach of the sheriff, rebels in arms of the approach of the loyal forces): “To aid a brother when engaged in any difflculty,” ” to espouse his cause so as to extricate him, if in my power, whether he be right or wrong.” If that is not the Devil’s bond, I would be willing to give him a carte blanche and let him do his worst.

“Oh,” but says the Mason, “these obligations refer only to worthy brethren, and don’t bind us to screen bad men or to help them in any evil.” That seems to me a very weak sophism. What has a truly just man to do with having secrets kept for him respecting murder or treason or any other crime? What need has a good man to have you espouse his cause so as to extricate him, whether he be right or wrong? The just have no need of these benefits; they are meant, therefore, for the unjust, and can be meant for no other. The truth is, that in Masonic phrase the worthy Mason is one who keeps his oaths and pays his dues, then whatever difficulty he gets into, by whatever crime, his brethren of the mystic tie are bound to stand by him and help him out if in their power. And if this is not to be in league with the Devil, what is it? And so some of them in the higher degrees are sworn to commit murder, by sacrificing the traitors of Masonry, and int,he lower degrees they are taught the same by implication and indirection. But this is so cautiously and artfully put forth that the honest and well disposed in the lodges don’t exactly so understand it, and the leaders don’t want they 3bould, for fear of revolt among the conscientious portion; therefore we are often told that the men who murdered Morgan were bad Masons, and we must not judge the institution by them-bad or stupid men, who took a joke in earnest and carried it quite too far. And then we are told “the best societies sometimes have bad members-there are bad men in the church, and that’s true-good and bad everywhere, and that’s true-and it is a blessed thing to be charitable.”

But charity is not a fool. In the church of Christ thile institution is I)etter than the members, but in the lodge the members are better than the institution. And I never could doubt, and can’t to-day, that the men who murdered Morgan were more consistent as Masons than those who condemn them. That act of abduction and murder was the-eonsistent carrying out of Masonic principles and obligations to their legitimate results. It wasn’t so much the poor man who lately deposed on his dying bed in the city of Racine, that with his own hand he pushed Morgan into the Niagara river, as it was the order and institution of Masonry itself. He and his assistants were the faithful servants and true exponents of the mystic order, only they failed in the vital matter of perpetual secrecy. Most grievous unmasonic conduct that. Hence they are branded as bad Masons-” a mob of excited lliasorns,” so their Masonic historian styles them, showing that, Spartan-like, the Masons do not punish for crime, but only for getting found out. Violating secrecy, or failing in it, seems to be the unpardonable sin with Masonry. I

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17 IV. Of the many false pretenlcses which I found in Masonry, I have time barely to iMention a few, and not to prove and illustrate them as I could wish. 1st. They claim the most hoary antiquity, going back to the ages of myth and fable, where thle memory of man runneth not to the contrary. The mayor of Chicago had the hardihood to put forth this idea at the laying of the cornerstone of their water works lately, and their spread eagle orators indclulge so much in this littering twaddle that charity would fain hope they believe it; vwhile yet the finger index of history points infallibly to 1717 as tlheo period of the origin of specuilatitre Miasonry. It is not as old by a century as the Plymouthl Colony, andc the Book of Mormons proves Mormon (,)itiquity as clearly as the Miasons can prove theirs. 2d. They made great pretenses of bein,[ possessed of valuable mysteries of knowledge, of science anild arts. -!ut in this respect I found their archives and arcana to be as barren as Sahara. As to aniy valuable information, any oi/iyi)za1 idea, historical, sc,entific, moral or religious, they have absolutely none. All its stores would not be a perceptible increase to the stock of k;n:owledge in an infant class in a common school. These things may perhaps Lbe loolkel upon as small or indifferent matters, but I have aliwayis su,pp,)sep Ily fa1,se pretense clearly made out, is the braind of the impostor or the swindler. 3d. Then there is the claim par excellence of relief and ellariiy. I-Ire they boast themselves superior to everything that is called reat oo good, I had almost said in earth or hleaven, and yet I fonuln th.e n bsoluely perverting and destroying the vital idea of -‘iactieal benevolen ce.s taught by Christ. Their teachi.ngs and p.actice tenl buh to blot out the light of thleit he,.venborn idea from the world and restore t’ midaihit of suprele selfishness. For Paul teaches that a man ma.y (,ive his goo’ts to icfcd tlhe poor to any extent, and have not charity; a:d( Clhriit tel s,is ti:.t puLli ens and siinners do good to tanl ( endl to each( 1 ohier tTo -I I, u h anlad are entitled to no praise. A\nd tis i;, a’, t’,, 0!as’n,; do oI teach, as Masons, and they don’t do any such vast iaouant otit a, t iipoverish tlenmselves very materially. All tl,hey bestow in teii wy of relief is what the receiver has bought at a fair bargtain wt’i} l his moine, and even of suchl relief neither Masons nor Odd Fellows use n rete per centage of their vast Incomes (and their publishled reports will piove it) -they do not expend a greater percentage of their incomes in such mocki benevolence than fishermen do for bait; anld I am not uncharitable in saying bjoth are done for the same purpose-so ca(c, f/lttdgeo;t,. These orders do not exist for the sake of relief, but relief is bestowed for the sake of the orders. Talk About the benevolence of the order towards the needy Talk of this as the obic! of the order, when o10 conceivable scheme which human foresi,ght can devise is omitted to keep as many who are likely ever to want relief from the order as possIble. All thle ofeebler sex, all the minors, all the infirm and crippled, all the enslaved, all the aged, all who are poor, and not likely to be oltherwise-none are received who seem likely to come to want. And all who come in pay a stipulated premium for a right to a dividend if want should overtake tlhem, and it may be one 2 I

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18 in fifty or a hundred claims his purchased dividend. And this with a great flourish of trumpets is called benevolence. I do not wish to undervalue any sums which these orders may pay to the needy; but I say that to call this benevolence, is false teaching. They are not benevolent institu tions. In no human institution is selfishness more fully incarnated and intensified than in these very institutions. If I was ever certain of anything, 1 became certain that the true idea of benevolence never had a place in Freemasonry, or has utterly perished from it if it had. Benevolence is not its object. What is it? I will tell you in one word Favoritism. This is not one of their secrets, it is rather one of their most effective’boasts. And this I own is not wholly a vain boast. It is as truthful as Satan’s offer of the whole world to Chtlst, and is substantially the same proposal. Nor should they regard it as an accusation from me, since themselves glory in the substance if not in the name-albeit, in so doing they glory in their shame. “Cast in your lot with us,” say they, “we will all have one purse, will help you to social position, to business, to office. We’ll relieve your necessities, will aid you in your law suits. We’ll beat back your enemies and extricate you from trouble. You must join us if you expect to do anything; you can’t do anything if you don’t.” I don’t say that these pretensions are altogether false. But I do say that if they are true, they ought to sink the institution into deeper damnation than if they were false. If a man cannot achieve the success in life he deserves, by honesty, and skill and industry, without selling himself to these secret orders, and himself paying the purchase money, it is because they conspire to prevent him, by neglect, or even by actively diverting the good which he merits fiom him, and conferring it upon others because they belong to their caste and clan.

If the one in whose favor this diversion is made is equally worthy as a man, he can get on without this favoritism. If he is not as worthy, it implies injustice of very especial meanness. In either case I charge that if Masonry makes its promise of favoritism good, it is guilty of an unjust and contemptible interference with the business of its neighbors. And he’s a mighty mean man who will either justify such favoritism, or seek or accept its benefits. It is not only a mean interference with other folks’

business, but it is a wicked interference with God’s plan and law for the government of human society. “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” God’s impartial law of human rights enacts that, in the race and competition of life, every one shall have a fair and equal chance; and men have re-enacted it in the proverb, “Fair play is the jewel.” A just weight and a just measure, and the same to every one. According to his worth, shall be thy love; accordiuJg to what thou receivest shall be thy payment; according to his merit, thy meed of honor; according to his necessities (not his password), thy charity. Mian’s chief end, as God appointed it, is to glorify God and do good to his fellow men impartially.

Masonry’s chief end is slyly to gain control of the governments and religions of the whole world, and parcel out the chief benefits of both among the fraternity; always remembering that outsiders have no rights which they are bound to respect, I

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19 only in so far as they may have men’s persons in admiration because of advantage. In civil matters this is the way they operate. With the slyness of a cat au d the cunning of a fox they monopolize the chief offices.

Having gained office by favoritism, they use it for the exercise of favoritism. The magistrate will refuse a warrant against a brother Mason; or if the case be so clear that he dare not do that, he will get before the sheriff and inform him of “the app?roaching danger.” The sheriff observing the hailing sign of distress will fail to see the man that made it; or witnesses will be absent from the stand, or refuse to testify to the tchole truth; or the judge will rule out the evidence that would convict; or the juror will “espouse his cause so as to extricate him from his difficulty;” or the jailor will forget to take out his key when he locks up; or the executive will pardon-and thus truth will be strangled.

Your Jeff. Davises will go free, your Johnsons cannot be impeached, truth will be strangled in our streets, and equity cannot enter, and judgment will be turned into hemlock, and society, law and government will exist, not equally for all, but mainly for a caste. I do not slander Masons when I say of the leaders they are as much bent on ruling as ever the slaveholders were. If they were as open and bold about it, I should fear them less and respect them more than I do. But before a secret conspiracy, whose rights are safe, andi what is our defence? It is a leopard watching the gates-it is a snake in the grass. I know they claim to have nothing to do with politics. That is only one of their false pretenses. They swear their higher Masons to promote brother Masons’ ” political preferment in preference to another of equal qualifications.” And this oath they intend shall be, and it is, a far-reaching instrument of political power. By it the high Masons calculate to control, nolens volens, the political influence of the whole fraternity, and thus the nation, and make their grand commanders most puissant in fact as well as in title. And yet I believe I should let all this pass in silence, if it were not for one thing more, which I consider worse than all the things I have alleged against Masonry put together. V. And that is its position on Religion. I am aware that Masonic authorities are not clear as to what that position is. One will tell you that it is not a religious institution at all, but if a man lives up to it he’ll be about as good as the best. Another, that it is a good enough religion for him. Another, that a man cannot be a true Mason and not a true Christian; and another will not scruple to declare that it is ahead of the churches, and if he can belong to but one, it shall be the lodge. I leave it to others to thread the mazes of ambiguity and contradiction which abound in Masonic authorities, oral and written, on this point-only remarking, that this very incertitude and diversity argues anything but a frank, honest and desirable position. My object is simply to testify to what I know and believe. I believe that the great mass of Masons, by which I mean those who really in their hearts approve of Masonry, do make a religion of it. Neither have I any doubt that it is, in theory and in practice, and in God’s estimate, a religion. But as such, it is a false I

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20 religion, and whoever reclies upon it misi,es the only salvation and loses his soul. This objection to Masonry will be derided as foolishness by those who look upon all religions alike, because they have true faith in none. To them there may be Lords many and Gods many, and the s.keptic’s Great First Cause, the Jupiter or Baal of the ancient, and the Vishnu of mod ern Pagans, or the Indian’s Great Spirit, are as good as the God of the Christian. But to us there is but one God, the Father of all, and one Miediator, Jesus Christ, neither is there salvation in any other. This is the one grand, absorbing issue between the true religion and all the other religions of the world. Jehovah takes IHis stand on this platformr ” I am God, and there is none else.” All others are a “vanity and a lie. I know them not, nor their worshipers.” W.hat agreement hath tile Tem ple of God with idols? What concord hath “Christ with Belial”? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? Therefore “come out from among them, my people, and be separate; touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive vou ” saith the Lord. In the estimation of this world’s wisdom, this is a narrow platform, a bigoted and insufferable in tolerance. Nevertheless, the true God and the true religion is, and has been, and eternally will be, just so narrowly and inflexibly intolerant. (Godl and His church occupies this position, and he says to His servants, “Let them return to you, but return not thou to them.” All other religions, all worldly systems betray a conscious inferiority and falseness by what they fondly deem a nobler and more geherous liberality. Oh, yes! Jehovah, you arc a Godcl; your religion is a good one. And I, Zeus, am a God, and my religion is good also; and so is Jupiter’s, and so is Baal’s, and Molochl’s, and Vishnu’s, and the Great Spirit’s, and other Gods as numerous as the stilrs. Just own to this, and your statute shall have the first place in our Pantheon. Jehovah scorns the proposal as an insult, and they rave and kindle the fires of persecution. And right on this issue the battle is set in array, and on this line it will be fought out if it takes the whole period of the world’s continuance. The question is not whether our religion is trute; that is conceded on all hands; but whether it is the only one that is true. According to Josephus, the worshipers of Baal, at Peor, said to the Israelites whom they enticed to their feasts, ” Seeing you have come to our country you ought to worship the proper Gods of the country, especially as your God is so exclusive and peculiar that he belongs to but one little nation, and our God is common to every nation.”

And the rebels who joined themselves to Baal Peor said to Mloses, “We will no longer submit ourselves to the teachings and laws of one man, who pretends to be God’s mnouth, but will be jf-eo to ga,ether our knowledge, i. e., our religious knowledge, from all people, and to do that which is agreeable to our own minds. You may enjoy your narrow and tyrranieal religion if you will, but you shall not impose it upon us. That was large-mindedness and liberality, as they deemed it. And that is the precise religious attitude of Freemasonry. Its God is fetmmon to al people. It is a spiritual harlot, treating the Gods of all peo I

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11e alike, and yielditng to each whatever favors they demland, exceptiug onlly the intolerant Nazarene; of him it sometimes says, ” Crush the wretech.” And like all harlots, her ways are inoveable, too, so that “thou eanst not know them,”-for among( Christians she would carry the idea that the God she worships is their God, and the Bible she talkes as her guide is the book of the Clii’istian law. But in Aral)bia, it is thle Ioran; in India, the Shliasters; in China, the works of Confue.us; in Salt Lake, the Book of Mormon. All these arc the sacred writings to mi[asons. Baal of old meant God in general, without specifying any one in particular. God, iii Masonie language, means precisely the satmei, and-the same leaven of idolatry which silently and secretly crept into thi-camp of Israel and taughlt the Israelites to svwear by BIaal, is to-day creeping, into the Christian churchl and teaching( Christia.ns to sweari’ )y tle same deity.

It is idolatry under a neo name and with new rites. For God, in the Masonic lano’ua, e, is the e.ect translation and synlonym of Baal in the lan jliage” ot 3Iidian az,id all the Oriental naition. Wrhn, therefore, the Christian and the.Jew, the MIahlomiedan’rnd tlie Tartar, the MIormon and the Sav ge, toi Infidel aild the )ervisl ii t t)gce ter on tlhe square, profess tteir cotmnon trust in Gocd, inld hov eter ii, worship of God, ithcat Gotl do they woiship?: Who can tell liwhether it is the God of the Christ’:n or tl(e Paain? of the Fire worshipe(r or the ])evil worshiper? c1-to crn to i’ l Of onle thin(r all 1nc111 may be suie. Our God accepts no suchLel dboub honae. Ile is not worslhip d ill ucL
comnpany. It is to.him stiang,c fire, ain utter abominatiQn. Andl ias we kanow our God will a cknoledge no suchi coalition, we ai.t3r say witlh Paul, ” We,know that tlie thians whichl tlie Gentiles saeriliec they sacrifiee to d(evi.’.” As the truc God will rot 1r-cive it, of course thle Devil takecs it. To the &,e’ t 11and infildel, to atiy one vwo0 does liot worship Christ as the ozly hope of sinners s the true (-od and eterlnal life, it will be no oUjection to MIasonry that iii all its claims of teaching the way to heaven, in all its prayers, in all its liturgies and funeral services, in all its expressed hopes of a resurrection and of heaven, it has no definite or certain recognition of Jesus (C/tr-ist in his true character. Jesu-vwho bought us with I,is )Ilood, Jesus the 1Cesurrection and the life, Jesot whom all heaven worships, Jesus to vwhiom God hath given a name that is above every name, Jesus whom all the saints love beyond all that words can express; that thal,Lt dcar name lshouldl have no place in Masoiie voceabularies or lIasonic theiology, will be no serious objection againist Ficemasonry to those who honor and losve him not. But to every true 0i’iend of Jcsus this slight p)ut ui,on Him should be a fatal and conclusive objection to the vhole semhIeo. WVill tne Mason deny this,,nd say that they do recogynize Christ because in one of their written prayers, at least, tlhey a.sl God to lpardon their sins “for his Son’s sake ”’? But who is God? Until that -; dcefinitey determined how shall it be known who hIis Sonz is’ Julpiter was the son of Satturn, and Saturn was the son of Chronos, and IIercury was the son of Jupiter. And I know not but every one of the one thousand millions of Indlit’s gods has his son. Yes, and with some so-called 21 I

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22 liberal Christians, Theodore Parker was as much God’s son as Jesusyes, every mother’s son of us is that. Who is God’s Son, in Masonic phrase? I tell you the ways of this harlot are moveable. Masonry is Christless. It has a religious basis, and that basis is Deism. It has its worship, but that is not Christian worship. It has its code of rules and duties, but that code is not the gospel of Christ it is the false code of honor and of the mere moralist. All its religious tendencies are towards that false liberality that confounds error with truth, that fellowships and brothers everything but evangelical and living piety, and uniformly repels that with scorn, and persecutes it with covert and bitter hate. It is very religious! 0, yes! But the misfortune is, that it is a religion of human works, and not the living, conquering, saving faith of Christ. It is the righteousness of the law by which Paul assures us, with God’s authority, that no fesh shall be justified in his sight. Oh! thou self-complacent mortal, who glories in being a “worthy Mason,” and ” fondly hopest to reap in Heaven the merited reward of thy virtuous life,” I solemnly declare to you, in God’s name, that this is all delusion. Your virtues are spurious; your righteousness but “filthy rags.” You are in one of Satan’s most fatal snares, and I warn and beseech you to escape for thy life from all thy works, and all thy sins, and all thy confidence in this refuge of lies, and come to Christ, that you perish not with all them that hasten after strange Gods. But alas! alas! few that have tasted this circean cup will heed the warning or accept the heavenly call. From the smallness of the number of those that are converted to Christ after espousing Freemasonry, it would seem as if God had said, “They are joined to their idols, let them alone.” The Christian who adheres to these lodges usually loses his spirituality, if he ever had any, and is lost to the church on earth, if not in heaven. And Christ may complain and say of him as he did of old, “He did not know that I gave him corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied his silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.” Yea, and he might add, offered it on an altar that literally smokes with the blood of human sacrifices. Wherefore it is clear to my mind that all Christians should keep from the worships of these lodges as from idolatry, as from an unclean thing that cannot be touched without spiritual defilement to the temple of God, which temple ye are. Love all men, but confine the law of religious fellowship and brotherly love to the household of faith. I apply this especially to Freemasonry. Odd Fellowship I esteem but little better; indeed no better, only not quite so mature in badness. Good Templars and Sons of Temperance are the unintentional tools of Freemasonry, its pioneers and armor bearers. Or, to change the figure, its primary and Sunday schools; or, to borrow a figure from their own specialty, they sustain to Masonry a relation like that of beer to brandy, and it is useless to condemn one while you use the other. [ho only remedy is ” total abstinence.” Still some reflecting and kind-hearted Christian may ask, “How can these things be? If Masonry is so false and corrupt, how is it that so many great and good men adhere to it.” That is the grand defence and the real mystery of this dark order. I

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28 I have time to answer this in no other way than simply by a:king a r questions in reply: 1st. If Masonry is so good as it pretends to be, how is it that so many bad men adhere to it, and are loudest in its praise?

2d. If Masonry is so good and useful, how is it that so many good men not only withdraw silently, but positively and earnestly condemn and denounce it? 3d. If Satan is transformed as an angel of light, ought we to marvel that many well-meaning people should mistake him for a real angel of light? Or, in the words of Clirist, that he should ” deceive many; yea, if it were possible, the very elect?” If he could not skill to do as much as this, what would be the use of his transforming himself as an angel of light at all? And why should he not call into requisition “all deceivableness of unrighteoutsness” in this as well as in any other system of false religion, by which to deceive mankind and war against Christ?

4th. If idolatry is as abominable as God, by Moses and the Prophets, declared it to be, how was it that so many great and good men in Israel were drawn into it, even Solomon himiself, even the great body of that ancient church, and persisted in it to their ruin? Whoever can answer that question, need not be stumbled at the numbers or the standing of those who have been enticed into joining themselves to this modern Baal Peor.

APPENDIX B. The following extracts fi’om letters to the Convention will serve to show how it was hailed fiom all parts of the Northern States, and disclose a unanimity of sentiment that intimates the working of one all-pervading spirit, and that the time for a general movement has come, and God is in it: Retv. W. W. Ames writes from Dunn Co., Wis.: I am rejoiced that suchl a call as brings you together has sounded over the land. ‘ To my nlind, it’is as the rallying trumpet of Divine Providence, summoning the children of light to an onset against the unfiruitful works of darkness,.’ * Christianity has nothing to cover up. It is the lig(rht of the world in the persons of the disciples and churches of Jesus Christ. They are not the children of the night nor of darkness, but the children of light, and are commanded to let the’ir light so shine that others seceng their good works, may glorify their Father I

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Icould niot roeftaiii-ficin thius ex,):S1l~m o sci~n-the call for your (i-n’t on Itws i1)OOby ay that the miur4ler of W~7ii. M1ol]i,~ti) f~os I~
e l -.“low to MIasol,].,y. IVe,’], tl-e inistitution, d;,(Ily abj-out s oth~e sp~ace of’ atbo,,t thiirty year, r,-h it b~ega’i~ to Si’o’ O’il of eur lif,,ly iinstitu,.till”, ill fthie fii-stplace, osti e inniocen,Yt ojs uhas SOi1is of’ Tei-i,)eraiic,, Cadets of TI’iul)er~ance, &c., so as to, if p)ossible., cucii, thec, I)iiblie mii,.d tlie p.-cjtidiee existing ag,-ainst secr-et socie~ties, anid teewere imadie stelppiug stonies byr whic tlhe lo(I-c i’oomi (,f’?ao] l~as becn anid is being flled iu ). T]‘le ball sh~ouild be, set iinimotion thjat shiall cxpcl th-is vile ii~itrudCer from,,all evange,,clical clitrel-es, th~oughI-all Masoni rycare-cs for the chutrchi is ihat s]ie sl-l’,l g,ive it at good niame, its chiief aiim being p~oliticali. YeF,, evei-v minister-that eai be ini(iuced to becorle a p~oor, bli,.nd adI ~ e free o,f cill,arg(e, is capital well investedi.

It 1)asts; for,,, ~5tItin, hisf(lc ell-be(,oiie candlcicates ic)i-the llctY. ter,wichl Ave r~egriet i,,,c.!C(o’le to ab~~efor wan’Iit of’ ~-acc.

l~e says I aim muich tl4ca,ed w~ithi 3 ou,r (nlfor-‘aii Aitli-Sccriet-Society ( ( n~ entio as wovll -is with,I, reg,ardl to, the s,il)0t els ),,op,,osed for coiii~“itertion. I would glad]-, conviene o’vithl youi, huit th~e in,firmnities of f’ol-r-io~s mie tha,,t plaue The radtest priniciple of zIl.-Ile of secr-et self-seeI~in,, societies or fraternities, is nione ‘ dar’ l (.r72es~s itselfl. Tllc Scr-iptuires,, tr-ea,tingcr of’ sOcrlecy, lo-%‘r-t the thei teri-i of d1tnss; en,ce, any mieasur~e pr~o iosc.no miatter how atr~ociousq, e. y., aniother’Mloigcan iiurder-, iL,aiy be a,,doitedI by it, if’ it only be dark en,,ough-to st,andI~ tiie tcst I

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seei’ret s(-,cie-ty, wvere It,-,re to.-dav lie would dlou,btless exclaim-, withi thei Patri rcli J.-c,,b, I 0 m~y soul, comie not thou, iiuto their sec-.,,t, aidii( 1 I~-tl~‘i 1oiei1’oo(I win-iie hionoi’ I)e not thiou J.

Jl-.~, i., of Stel,)i,31lsOll Co., Ill., rie 11Your Con.veiitioii ha.,s imy3 enitir-e sympilatliy, aIs I renionuiced -Alasonriy -it’)ouit Iiai,c y\,ears ae, ill other secr-et or-(-ailizationis as wvell. N. -).0iy: yt’ihA~~n;iilitiated(,‘1l)oiit 16 oi-1r -iears II~rof. JonAl.igl of OeilCI-iii, ),\itC The di,setiissioii 1e)etn loiivstill g,oes’Oil ]leie.

PI-e-st. I ~iiie )i-eacliedl ver-y al)!y (-ii t.le’ sa iet eadiri(-
cop)ious. extr-iact.s t’-i om Lil~~ - It iiaT sonii’,N,- thei substantial cor-” i’eies o.!L hi-iih, wvitli i’e-Lard to tieo f,~i-st three degi’ees, lie attest el‘2-o~i~ hts ouic~ I,)c(soItctl /iv~e(je I o ell exipress tie. Iitcii-erst 1I’c,,el ilk, this stul eet. Theire ai-e ic (otoiibt, large iiumibei-s olt’ (,,o0oIei Iule~of tic M.-isonic ol:(del. thiough-to mec~ it is 1, iiattci-of’.~tn~ie tltl,tt it I1(~( )e so). AN’C imust look at the f, iet q., it is, an(‘ malke wise aiim i eft~i-ts to rescue-u oitr br-ethiren- and the tliouis,,tids of oiii’ cotirtryinieni’,nd n-eighIbor-s whlo arec eiitangi,led ini  n inst~itution-I of’thle niaturle of’wliicli tlli), ai-e I)rol-)ab.ly ii0 morec awar-e tli’l i veiolIisan other defendc,I-s of slap,very wiere awar,l.e of the ila’.Lce of that cursesc of 0111’ land. We jiiiist pi-repare for, 1i-eiiiscisti-iictioni and( bitter-per1secuitioni ninch’t of’ it to pr)iocee.cd fi-oi-,ocud ])tt blinided aei to wholl their secret,-ociety is as the(, ap])l,.I of’tli(eii’ eyec. -i -‘1 I ~iu wvill dm,) en,d ulilail th,e spir)iit withl, i iN,e coii(idue,t tie, cointro I

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versy, the temnpe’ance as well as the zeal in our management of the case; on our dealing little in hard words and much in hard arguments and firaternal persuasions. It seems to me that at the present time it is much more important to enlighten the church and the nation on the subject of secret societies than to determine what the churches ought to do with entangled members and candidates. If the light is made strong enough, thle entantangled, if truly good men, will generally rescue themselves without the help of disciplinary measures, and the enlightened must manifest a spirit of patience and fiaternal confidence.” Rev. Wm. Dillon, Butler Co., O., wrlites: “Dear Brethren and Friends “To you I send greetings. I congratulate you upon the purpose for which the Convention is assembled, and bid you God speed in devising measures to stay the plague of sebrecy.

The church with which I stand connected, namely, the United Brethren in Christ, numbering 100,000 communicants, positively forbids the admission to membership any who are connected with secret societies.” The venerable Father Dodge, of Milburn, Ill, now in his 85th year, and nearly blind, but seeing clearly, sent us the following brief but weighty testimony: “Whilst I have nothing but kind feelings towards members of secret societies, I am opposed to them, especially the Masonic, because so far as my observation has extended, their influence on the spiritual interests, both of individuals and communities, is bad. I believe they are among the obstacles that must be removed before the kingdoms of this world will all become the kingdom of Christ.’.’ Rev. J. G. Schoaff, of Bigr Spring, Pa., writes: ” As a Christian minister I have been pained to see the intoxication new so prevalent in the country, on the subject of secret societies, and 1 have a confidence that God will yet destroy it. My opposition to these societies arises fromn a thorough conviction of their deistical character.” From Moses Pettingill, Esq., of Peoria, Ill.: “I feel in my very soul the fearfully growing power and evil of Masonry and Odd Fellowship, the former especially; having been familiar with the history of Masonry and their doings in Western New York, from the September that Morgan was abducted on through the few years of excitement that followed. Previous to that September, I had great confidence in the institution. But witnessing as I did the trial of some of the abductors, and know. 26 I

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ing personally quite a number of the conspirators, I became convinced of the utter rottenness of their boasted’ handmaid of religion.’ What mockery!! In numbers and influence they are mighty, and the friends to oppose tham sadly too few. And I am sometimes led to exclaim,‘“Who will venture to stay their vain pretentions, pomp and foolishness?’ God alone is able to bring all their boasted greatness low, as he has the slave power. And when a majority of Christiall men and women shall be found praying for the overthrow of this great deceiver, as they did for the overthrow of slavery, it will.fall, yea, tumble as that did.” MX Bennett, Presiding Elder of M. E. Church, writes from Kilbourne, Wis. “I am glad there are others thinking and feeling in regard to the character of certain societies in our country as well as myself, and I hope your movement will not be permitted to fail, however small the beginning,.

I have never been an antiMason, deeming Masonry a mutual aid society; I have been willing that those who saw their interest in insuring in that company should do so. But within two years past circumstances have not only set me to thinking, but sent my thoughts out over a wider plain of investigation, and I have convinced myself that most of the voluntary societies of the present are, in the mode of their organization, essentially vicious and vitiating.” Letter fiom the Editor of the American Baptist, New York city: I was truly rejoiced to learn that you had called an anti-Masonic Convention in Aurora, to consider the subject of secret societies and their relation to the churches. Were it not so far I should have been glad of an opportunity to attend such a Con tion, but as it is, must be content with wishing you God speed in your very difficult but very necessary effort. Freemasonry is swallowing us up. It governs in church and state. The last churlch in this city belonging to the denomination with which I am connected, that has resolutely stood out till this time against the admission of adhering Masons, has now thrown the gate open, and contents itself with merely placing on its records a recommendation to withdraw from the institution. Even this slight protest will not be allowed to remain long. a I have sent you by mail a few numbers of our paper, in which the subject has been discussed, and hope you will receive them before your meeting. Please notice what is said about the source firom wlhich Elder Bernard obtained the higher and mlost obnoxious degrees. I have evidence for the facts I state, duly signed by the responsible parties, that the copy from which Bernard’s degrees were taken was in Dr. Dalcho’s own handwriting, and 27 I

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28 was the official document in thle hands of the proper authorities of the 32d and.33d degrees. Aiasons are endeavoring t(o narrow us down to the first thlree degrees, pretending that the upper de grees are not real Masoinry. Ve must not let them thus de ceive us. The high degrees are thle 9eal onies-those for which the lowelr are made. The h igh-JItsots, and not the low ones, control the order. Anti-Masons are often led astray by buying a botgus book calle,-l “M Aorgan’s Freemasonry Exposed,” &e.-a work which is onl many of tli bookstands in New York, through the influence of Ailasons, whlile not a genuinie book like Bernard or Steain. s is to )be seen aiiywliere. The spuri ous book is mlade up of the thlree degrees which Morgan published, giveg, correctly, and then foilr others in whichl the oaths are thrown out, and their places supplied by a few uinmeaning affirmations; the whole char acter of the degrees are changed, and the whole winds up withl a confession of lortgan that he never was a real 3Mason! Thou sanlds buy these books, and seeing how different the degrees are fiom Bernard, and thinking that ~5:lorgai wrote them, give up the search in despair, sllp)osillng that PBernardl, Stearns, Morgan atnd all are in irreconcilable cont,iradietion. “I hope you will call.i National Coiivenitioni, as sug,geted, and that it wvill be a general one, not merely religious, but taking the subject in all its bearings, and invite all real antiMasons of whatever sect or name, to unite; and if you could f,)rni a,reglr society, and establish a ncwsi)al)er oi0-c_i, it vwould be of rreat a.dvantage. The coInmon religious paoies c~mnnot mieet the gigantic evil it’ tllhey would, and ala.! too maiiiy of thenI-would not if they could. We lave eontendted an.inst it itno0u)aper, notwithstandimg it has cost us thousands of subscribers and crippled us in ourI general missionary operations, an(l I trust we have done SOmething toiwards checking the evil, but it is al work that cannoiot be cecomplished by one or twro religious papiers. There must be a iregular orcganiza,tiot, wvitli t seia l orlgan to iueet the cgiant evil inl an eftfctual iauie.” A.

S.afoird, Oi(leums Co., N.Y., writes: “3Iy heart greCatly ejOiCes tlhaLt Cihristianis 0 v.irious ordeis tiiC wakingr up to this dan.~erous and rapidly increasing evil, the iival of Christianity. It 1has long beeni apparent to the writeri that the combined efforts of fitlleli men and angrels have been en(rated to produce a religion so pleasin g to the iatural heart, that Pagans, iiifidclels aind skeptics are all equally qualified for its fellowship without renouncing their contradictory viewvs of God or I-lHis word, anid this undercl the iname of Freenliasonrly.

* It cannot be successfully contradieted that 3[asoiiry claims to (do for the lhumaii heart that whichv the grace of God alone can do, viz: cleanse and purifv, and prepare it foir tlChe bliss of IIeaveCnn; I

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nii(d tihis is to’ivttl Chiristianitiy. Sturely it, i.s high tiiel these f.ls systems were publicly exposed, tliat tlhe world mav no longer I)e d(cci ved l)r thloei’ failse i. n….’ It may here be stated, instead of giving thle w1ords of the several coicrrespondents, tlhat witih eCiti-e iiia-.ntimity tlhey declare in f:.lveol of a National Coiiveitioin. Ti’e lettei of Iolli. Aaroiil W‘“liite, of’ lllodle Island, did not a’ ]ive ii season to b)e read iii tle Coii velitioil, tand( is partly of a pri vate eharaatet-, hut its testit)ioiiy is too valuable to be left out or abridged: ” DE.r 1l’uoTIIEn-oA111 lettel of October 28thl, enclosing a letter fiom Dr. Blaiicliard of October 22d, was received by me on the 31st ult.-of course too late for an1 answyer to reach the AInrora Convention in due season. J nI the warifire aga’ilist the institution of Freelnasonry, which tool place i 182(6 ad l832, you and I felt quite an interest. The iresilt of tlat conflict was sluch tlhat I thllotlght, and still tliiinl, tlhat the, ol(d mnonster lireemasoii-y was klilled. It certainly lay miotioile:ss loi a number of years. Its lodgles were nearly all disbanded, tlheir hlalls were sold, and their jewels acnd gewgaws scattered as curiosities. Their special regimentals were given in part as second-hand clothing’ to the Odd(l Fellows, while the reiminants were patched into tinsel garments and used by some of our fanciful college boys. Recently, however, attempts.lavc e been ade, by L newv geneiratioii, to re-enilter and resuscitate the old forsaken c arcass, and some are fcarfiil that, like the Demioniac of old, the last state ofl Freemasonry will be w-orse than the first. As an old soldier in thlle confict, I have felt some interest in the inovenlcut, and kept watcl, and I iimust say that thle present action of FreciiasonIry has no more resemblance to its former action tha,i do the (.;ontortions of a galvanized carcass to the regular motions of nat:.:‘al vitality. The additioil of a few more years gives to us two a great advantage over our younger friends in this imattei. We remember what Freemasonry once was, vwhlen its churches were in every villagre and its members included a majority of the wealth and iinflenee of community. At that time, the world wvithout, and,sits votaries within the wvalls of the lodge, believed that the instittution was possessed of certain ineffable secrets known only to the initiated, andi by them seen but dimnly, whose talismanie power gave protection to the humblest Mason, similar to that afforded by the charms of the NorthmOen, the relies of the Catholic, the amulets of the Mahometans, and the medicine bags of our Western Indians. Under this imagination the institution of FreemSsonr!y was certainly feared)- all. 5 ‘19 I

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s0 “During the searching ordeal of the Morgan excitement, Freemasonry was -thoroughly analyzed. Its character, its constitution, its mysteries, its secrets, and all that it had, for good or ill, was opened to the eye of the werld; and not only to the world, but Freemasons themselves had a better opportunity of seeing what Freemasonry actually was thani they ever had before. At that time Rhode Island was the Mecca of Masonry. It was the seat of the beast, and on that seat it received the deadliest blows, for in Rhode Island the institution was, by legislative action, subjected to legal investigation, in which the secrets and constitution of the society were brought forward by its highest officers. These officers then swore that these revealed secrets were all that they had ever known, and I believe they swore to the truth, for their testimony was published and has never been contradicted. “Most men of the present generation have, I think, a very imperfect idea of the true character of the Morgan excitement. By most it is regarded as a temporary ebullition of popular frenzy-a kind of a crusade. This is a great mistake. William Morgan, a member of the Masonic society, published a small book in which were disclosed some of the secrets of the order, and by so doing exposed himself to certain Masonic penalties. These penalties some misguided Masons undertook to enforce, and actuially did enforce, by the instrumentality of legal forms and civil process. Now, in all civil society, legal formns and civil process are regarded as things sacred, and this monstrous perversion of them, to effect a purpose for which they were never intended, was looked upon as a kind of sacrilege, and justly aroused the indignation of every one. The excitement ran like fire, and never stopped until the institution in whose behalf the crime had been committed, was completely overthrown. I verily believe that a large portion of the then Masonic society in our free States were as much pleased to see its fall as the rest of the world. They saw the danger of having this Morgan case as a precedent. It changed the nature of their terrible oaths. By the aid of civil process these horribly constructed scarecrows became living demons, of whom they were sure to become the first victims. ” The Masonic society still exists in name, and other secret societies are among us. The Masonic society has its signs, passwords and means of recognition, and so have other secret associations; but I do not see that the Masonic society, in its present condition, is entitled to more jealousy than any other secret society using the same machinery. In my opinion, all secret combinations of men have a dangerous tendency. Public opinion is one of God’s great checks, restraining the evil propensities of mankind. Everything calculated to weaken this restraining power must be pernicious. ” I will now slightly touch upon two topics having particular I

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31 reference to what may be considered our friend Dr. Blanchard’s particular case. He occupies two important positions. First, he is a special teacher of youth; next, as a minister of the Gospel he is a special teacher of men. Now, as a teacher of youth, h(‘ is held responsible for their moral welfare. To perform this duty faithfully and well he must understand the disposition and opinions of his pupil, and should know the temptations, associations and teachings to which he is exposed. Would such a teacher be willing to have his pupil conniect himself with an association, all whose teachings and moral influences are purposely kept unknown to him? “Again. If I were a teacher of men, and had in my congregationl a member who insisted on attending the services of another teacher, whose sermons and prayers were studiously and effectually kept out of my sight and hearing, should I not be jealous? “I have no wish to enter again into the Masonic controversy. At three score and ten a man should leave the field to younger and abler combatants. Still, I have no objection, if you think proper, to Dr. Blanchliard’s seeing this letter. I think he is right, and if my good opinion is any encourageinent to him I will gladly let him have it. “These remarks are for his particular use; not that I despise the power of the press, but if I can make an impression on the mind of an honest and earnest man, such as I consider him to be, I valne that impression more than I do the circulation of twenty newspapers.

“From your affectionate brother, _ WH From Rev. A. A. Phelps, Rochester, N.Y. To the Anti-Secret Society Convention, of Aurora, Ill.: ” DEARI BRIET.HREN-I hail you as the friends of CGod and hu. manity, committed against one of the direst abominations of this or any other land. The pressure of duties incident to a change in the field of my ministerial labor, deprives me of the very great privilege of mingling personally in your ranks. I must not, however, allow so rich an opportunity to pass, without speaking one earnest wordfor truth. “Observation, research and the philosophy of the case force me to the conclusion that all secret societirs stand in the way of the world’s progress. A bad institution ought not to be secret, because secrecy is favorable to the abuse of power and the perpetration of crime. A good institution need not be secret, because truth challenges the severest scrutiny, and all valuable knowledge is for the world. Good works grow up in the simplicity and sunlight of the Gospel; hence there is no need of curtains of con ,,AARON WHITE.” I

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principles aInd reveigful sl1)lit; despite its salrillions ceemonies an,d senseless inmuni-i eries; d(espite its sl)(ycritial pretelsionris nd muritlderouts exploits, it ]:s;rowii to t)e onle of tlhe luost popular and Ipowerfittl ilstitutiols of-‘ tlhe lad. Civil ln.ws succuinb to AIasoiiic laws. Politi.a (o,ilc c iostly tille(d 1)v devotces of the orderi.

Iiohl-li-iii(l(cd c(ri -, ndl(] r t l(e l)rc)tectiig wing of the iiystic bro,terl-(lo,.l” (‘(-)i,t itcd witli illil)ullity. III miany sectiouIs of our cotii t’x’ tllt!‘v is,,utlliiig of i.stieC btf an empty lnamie.

Mlasoiils intenllt to rI1cl tie Iaiin, t;l( a11 “lr,y tlley be(gin to 1-run up tlhe strea, lig banneirs oi’ i(tcrt. “Wotldcl to God that tl,‘e (i abonina,tioii stoatiiil l}iri! Bult, alas! it has infiused its deadly vius iinto miost oft thlte i elioious orgatlizations of tllhe country, and tlireatelis to di aliii off tlliat little piety remaiajs ini the churchles. ])octor s of d(iviinity lea(d the wa, followed by tlhousands of lesser ministeria l lilghts. Of course niultitudes of the laity feel jlUstifidc( in foll)wiing, the footsteps of their religious lealdeis.

rlI(e consequence is that the clhurch becomes the nursery of tlhe lod,ge, aind Christ and ):lelial ae priactically unite(. In tlie tiame of (Go)d we enter ouir solemn-ll protest ag,ainst the unautliorLized union! If wvorldly incI ite illl formi stuch unholy alliances, for pecuniary, l)olitical or ally othler purpose, let Christians remember that they a:re a peculiar p)eople, and inmust stand onl the high-l)ltiine of nioral p)uiity, or be sho,in of tlher strelgth. “It is tilme to crty atloud(
against this girowliiig evil, whichl threatelis to rle tlhe State andl ruin the church. By all means let iis hlave a National Convention to discuss this whole subeject, and sendcl out a record of fiets and arguments that shall tlhrill the liearts of the millionl! L,et it be held in some celntral locality, that we may secure the attendancee of the strongest anti-seciet I

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33 society men from every part of the couintry; and as soon as. pri,ac ticable, th.it we ilmay lose 1io time ill strikintr sone effectulal blows befbre tle last opportunity for successful effort is swel)t butfoe the resistless tide! lMay thie Go(l ot irutli stir all ClhristelidoIn on tile subject, aild nerve the arm of every philanthiropist to deeds of noble dLrilg! “Very truly yours, “A. A. PHIIELPS. ” Rochester, N. Y., Oct. 8, 1867.” APPENDIX C. SPEECH OF REV. MR. TRAVIS. Rev. Mr. Travis, seceding Royal Arch Mason, sai(d We do not come here to expose the secrets of F’reemasonrv. It has none to expose. The writings of Elder Bernard and otllers give all the secrets and work of the order. We meet it not as a social, 01or benevolent, or political arrangement, but we meet it on its anti-Christian character. Our principal attention is bestowed upon Masonry for the same reason that the Washingtonians aimed their chief attacks against ctistilled liquors. As John Hawkins said, when the old sow and her pigs get into your corn, you don’t weary yourself with chasing the pigs, for you know if you diive the old sow out the pigs will follow. When the foundation-stone of this government was laid, it was based upon tile Bible and the doctrine of the equality of mannot because Socrates taught it, but because the Word of God taught it. The Queen of Englantd is reported to have said to a barbarian prince visiting heri, when he inquired the cause of Briitaiii’s prosperity, “The Bible is the cause.” As we hlave stood upon the Bible, so have we been blessed. When Lincoln came out for the equality of man, our battles were all victories..We are opposed to sec(iet society influence as opposed to Christianity. We defend Clhristianity in the resolution against secriet order1s. The spirit and influence that pervades them is not tl.at of Cliistianity. It is the old leaven. You may have a bank note ever so nicely engraved, but if it lacks the signature it is valueless. If these societies lack the spirit of Christ they are as naught, no 3

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34 matter if they have all the doctrines of the Bible and all the rites of a church. Because Masons and Templars do things that Christians do, that does not give them any claim to that name. Compare the systems of secret societies with the teachings of Christ. They do not profess to have emanated from him; don’t recognize him, i. e., the leading ones; don’t mention his name; don’t recognize him, and he has no part in their ceremonies. Suppose a Union soldier during the war went down to a river and drank, and that a rebel soldier should come to the opposite bank and drink, and then claim that hle was a Union man, because ho had quenched his thirst in the same manner and from the same stream as a Union soldier did, would you acknowledge such a claim to be just? Such is the claim of secret societies. They claim to be right, even Christian, because they do in form some things which Christians should, while they neither cultivate the spirit of Christ, nor seek to honor or exalt him at all, but the contrary. It is for this reason, and this only, that we oppose them. They are decidedly anti-Christian. They put men under bonds and rites, that Christ never put upon men, ruling by fear instead of love. And as they do not initiate their members in the name of Christ, do not even profess to belong to him, we have no ground for regarding Christ as belonging to them; for he says expressly that ” he that is notfor me is against me.”

[The Committee regret that they have not been able to obtain a more full report of Mr. Travis’ remarks, and none of Mr. Clark’s, Mr. Loggan’s or Mr. Preston’s.] APPENDIX D. SPECH OF REV. MILTON SMITS. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentleme n: The subject before us is one that needs to be handled candidly. I am no Mason, never have seen the inside of ra lodge.

Masons differ on the subject; some say it is a religious institution, others say it is not. Some Masons affirm there are only three degrees, others say seven and still others, thirty-three. That some consider it a religious organization, there is no doubt. Members of churches have joined the Masons, and have left the church altogether, saying Masonry is as good a religion as they want; these I

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85 are consistent. If it is a religious order, it is not necessary to belong to any other religious body I am disposed to grant it to be a religious institution, and propose to let them have all the benefit they can derive from it. We are not allowed to belong to two religious bodies at once. I propose to apply tho same rule to thenm-if they prefer the lodge, let them enjoy it; if they prefer the (church, let them abandon the lodge. One thing is evident, our rock is higher than their rock-they themselves being judges. Masons are bound to help those who can give the Masonic sign of distress. Christianity binds its votaries to recognize the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, and to provide for suffering humanity under all circumstances. Masonry says ” thou shalt not commit adultery with a Mason’s wife or daughter.” Christianity says ” thou shalt not commit adultery at all.” I think the Bible shuts Christians out of Masonic lodges. “Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” The Christian puts on the Masonic yoke; he has for his companions Jews, Mohammedans, etc. When the Christian enters the lodge the blessed Savior goes with him, and he turns to his brother Jew and says, “Do you love the Savior?” “Who is the Savior?” says the Jew, ” that impostor who was crucified eighteen hundred years ago? No, sir! I have no respect for your Savior.” The minister closes his prayer, “for Jesus’ sake.” The Jew cries out, “Hold! that is not Masonic!” He spits on Jesus, and the Savior is turned out of the Lodge. The Christian next inquires of the Mohammedan, “Do you love the blessed Savior?” The reply is again, “Who is this Savior?

Great is Allah, and Mohammed is his Prophet! but who is Jesus?” and again Christ is expelled. I will not take my friends where they will be insulted-no, nor my enemies either-consequently, if the Savior will dwell in my heart, I will not introduce him where he will be insulted. ” What part hath Christ with Belial, or he that believethi with an infidel?”

There is another view of the subject. I have no doubt it preventsjustice between men, when one party is a Mason. Thaddeus Stevens more than intimated that Masonry prevents the impeachment of President Johnson. If the clause is true, ” murder and treason not excepted,” this doubtless is the reason why Jefferson Davis is not hung. He has committed nothing worse than murder and treason. True, it is on a large scale, yet it is only the same-murder and treason-and Masonry says “he must be saved!” President Johnson says he has ever acted in accordance with the principles of Masonry, consequently he has pardoned the whole batch of rebels. “- Now, Sir, I do not intend to lay violent hands on this misguided fraternity.

Two things will effectually kill it. 1st. Cease to baptize it in the name of the Holy Trinity. Slavery would I

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never have survived a decade if the Christian world had pronounced it man-stealing, and classed its aiders and abetters with sheep-stealers. Let ministers and members be shut out whenever they come connected with Masonic lodges, and the institution is more than half dead. The Wesleyan Methodist denomination settled this matter more than twenty years ago, and no Mason has ever been admitted. They deem the two elements antagonistic, and all who came clad in Masonic armor and asked admittance, have found the church FULL. 2d. Cease to vote Masons into office. They monopolize nineteen-twentieths of all the civil offices. Congressmen are Masons, judges are Masons, and there are probably not ten sheriffs in the State who are not Masons. When men learn that Masonry does not profit them, religiously or politically, they will drop it, and insure somewhere else.

At all events, we have nothing to fear from an open contact with Masonry.

One thing, it dreads the light. Let the Gospel be applied to this as well as other evils. If its fruits are bad, hew it down and cast it into the fire. APPENDIX E. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE PRESS. The grave questions which have called us together are not only matters of interest with us, but are equally so with thousands of honest hearts all over the civilized world. The evils to whiclh reference is had in the deliberations and prayers of this Convention, are not only formidable, but all the more dangerous because of their universality. A matter of such general bearing should be so treated as to elicit the general sympathy and co-operation of all who regard the independence and triumph of the Redeemer’s kingdom as of paramount importance. To accomplish our high design, all the available channels of information should be seized upon, all the windows thrown open that floods of light, in the form of appropriate literature, may be scattered broadcast over the land. Your Committee regard the Press as a powerful agent for the accomplishment of this result. And while we regret that we are not more fully informed as to the number of journals 36 I 1%

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37 whose columns are open to articles bearing upon the objects of this Convention, it is with pleasure that we mention the following: The Religious Telescope, Dayton, O. The American Baptist, New York City. The Church Union, New York City. The Independent, New York City. The American Wesleyan, Syracuse, N. Y. The Earnest Christian, Rochester, N. Y. The Morning Star, Dover, N. H. The Northern Independent, Auburn, N. Y. The Christian Press, Cincinnati, O. The Christian Statesman, Philadelphia, Pa.

The Committee further recommend that an abstract of the proceedings of this Convention be furnished to each of these periodicals, and any others the Convention may name. C. H. UNDERWOOD, H. T. BESSE, W. W. RICHARDSON, PARKER HURLESS, Committee. A voice has reached the President of the Convention from the Pacific Coast, asking with intense earnestness: Why does almost the whole press preserve such a total and studied silence on a subject that is so intimately connected, for weal or woe, with every interest of society, government and religion, as that of the prevalent secret orders of the day? Where are the periodicals that clamored for the free and fearless discussion of slavery? That with unsparing severity rebuked the studied silence of the Southlern and border press on that question? If they continue this silence now, they must at least give some satisfactory and justifiable explanation, or else retract their former position; relinquish all the honor of their past noble record; recall all their severe criticisms and their sharp rebukes of the men and the journals which maintained a similar silence, upon questions no more important, no more pertinent, no more pressing than this subject of secret societies. Otherwise they should expect men with whom consistency is sometimes as sacred as right, to gather up all those criticisms and rebukes and hlurl them back whence they came, with the emphatic utterances: ” Thou art the man.” Wherein thou judgest another thou condemnest thyself, for thou that judgest doest the same things.” ” Behold thou hast instructed many, but now it is come upon thee and thou faintest, it toucheth thee and thou art troubled.” The evil to be exposed is in your own community and at your own door, and you are found to be even as they whom you lately rebuked for their reQreancy and despised for their cowardice,

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U APPENDIX G. PRESIDENT BLANCHARD’S ADDRESS. On the 24th day of June, 1717, just 150 years ago, four lodges of working Masons-all that then existed in the South of England-met at the Apple-tree tavern, Covent Garden, in the city of London, and formed the first Grand Lodge of “Free and Accepted” Masons. This was the origin of Freemasonry as it now exists, i. e., in the lodges of persons who are not Masons, but persons of all and no trades and professions. There are, in history, some few traces of lodges or corporations of working Masons of an earlier date; and Masonic writers have carefully gathered and given all the historic notices there are. Mackey, in his “Lexicon of Freemasonry,” (Philadelphia, 1866) collates and quotes all the standard writers on Masonry, and the information which he gives concerning its history, before and since the Apple-tree tavern meeting in 1717, here follows. Before that time “every lodge was independent;” Masons met when, where and in such manner as they pleased; initiated their apprentices, fellow-crafts and master-masons as they chose; their meetings were composed of such working Masons of the neighborhood as could conveniently meet; their annual gatherings were called ” assemblies,” and were strictly voluntary meetings of mechanics who laid brick and stone in mortar, and who met for conviviality, sociality and the interests ofthat particular craft. Since the Apple-tree meeting, the local lodges are affiliated, governed and taxed by Grand Lodges. They meet under rules and practice rites prescribed by higher bodies; the annual meet. ings are called “Grand Lodges;” they are no longer composed of individual working Masons, but of “grand officers,”

“masters,” and “wardens of lodges “; they are in no sense voluntary meetings, but meet by charter and permission of a Grand Master! But what marks the modern lodge as a totally and entirely different thing from those which existed before the Lolldon meeting of 11717, is this: that at that time Masonry ceased to be operative and become speculative, and the lodges have since had no more to do with building than have convents of priests! On this clear and substantial proof, given by Masonic authorities, rests the assertion that the Freemasonry of this and other countries had its origin at the London meeting, June 24th, 1717! At that:time and place four local lodges undertook to charter, tax and govern all other Lodges of Masons in the world, and they succeeded but too well in the attempt. They attempted more. I

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39 Retaining the tools, symbols and names of the old lodges, in order to swell numbers and receipts, by taxing others besides masons, they turned those old lodges into something entirely and totally different from what they were before-they, in fact, dropped out the nature of the old lodges and made a new set, as different from the old as a convent is from a trades-union. They dropped stone-masonry, and set up what they call a “world-wide religion”! They left stone and mortar and set up priest-craft and rites! TIlE TERMS ” FREE AND ACCEPTED MASON.” The words “Free and Accepted Mason” have a specific and definite meaning. The word ” Mason “
meant a worker in stone or brick, and this sort of mechanics were accustomed to erect and inhabit temporary lodges near the great building (cathedral or other) while employed upon it; as the Irish build along our railroads. This word, “lodge,” was transferred to a meeting of masons, as the word “church” means the building or the people. Thirty such mechanics’

guilds or lodges have met for centuries in London. They are mentioned in Rees’ Cyclopedia in the order of their importance. There were twelve which had pre-eminence by tll,ir age and wealth. The stone-masons were not of this twelve, but were of an inferior guild. These “guilds” or lodges, of Loirse, were rivals, and their rivalry led them to wish to have titled persons as chairmen; the same which now puts an English Lord in the chair at an Exeter Hall meeting. Hence Mackey informs us that the first Grand Lodge, at the Apple-tree tavern, ” Resolved to hold the annual assembly and .feast, and choose a Grand Master from themselves till they Should have the honor of a noble brother at their head.”-(Sec. 169.) But English noblemen did not lay stone or brick, that is, were not masons. The lodge therefore voted to “accept” them as members, and give them the “freedom”

of the lodge. Accept. ing them made them ” accepted,” and the freedom of the lodge made them “free’.” This made them “Free” and ” Acceptecd”

Masons. Thus the word’free;” in Masonry, has no reference to popular liberty, but meant, and still means, simply “entitled to the privileges of a secret clan or lodge,” and the first Freemasons were titled aristocrats.

(See Mackey and Morris’ Dictionary, art. “Accepted.”) Indeed, the desire of respectability, numbers and fees had led lodges of working Masons to “accept” some members who were not such, as early as 1663-Mackey, p.

16)but the practice became general at the revival and spread of the lodges from the Covent Garden meeting of June, 1717, when, in a short time, the “accepted,” or non-working Masons, became the majority, and took control of the funds; and the drones have ruled the bees and held the hives ever since! So a “Free and

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40 Acepted Ma.qon” is simply no mnason at all, butt a member of a ysterm of priest-craft and mock iites, professing to fit mein for lieavell-” the lodge above!” FREEMASONRY A SIMPITE DESPOTISM. It is absolutely necessary, in order to correctly understand Fieem:lsonry, to clearly a)pprehend the kind and sort of work wlichl thle tour lodges, met at the Apple.tree tavern, performed. ‘J’lie fir.t formed tliemselves into a Giand Lodge, and then ord.-in(d tlat l n(o lodge or’ body of MaIsons could legally meet and tiati,sact their own business without getting (and of course paying for) a warrant or clihrter fiom their Giaii(l Ma.ter! By this :act tlhe li-)ei-ties of a lai’ge and industrious cl-;ss of mankind (the b)iilders in stone and brick) were seized, usurped and taken awvay witlhout color or even pieteuce of right. It is exactly as if four sl)iritu;il ciicles, four debating societies, or any other tfoir bodies of men should get together, resolve themselves into a sovereign body, and ordain that uo similar bodies of persons should nmeet togt,tlier without submitting to and paying tlhemn a tribute! And the Grand Lodge, or central government which they formed was, and is still, a simple, absolute despotism! No -language can be cleai’el or stronger on this point than that of Dr. Mackey, who, on page 18S3 f his Lexicon, says: “TaHE GOVERNMENT OF GRAND LODGES IS

COM31PLETELY DESPOTIC. WHILE A GRAND LODGE EXISTS, ITS EDICTS MUST BE

RESPECTED AND OBEYED WITHOUT EXAMINATION BY ITS SUBORDINATE LODGES!” And the “Lexicon” goes on to argue that if a Grand Lodge should decree contrary to the aicielit constitution,’; there is no redress for its subordinates!” but the only way to reach the offending Grand Lodge would be by revo(luntionariy action of other Grand Lodges against it! One can scartculy believe his own eyes wliile readilg such abominable laws, which yet exist, and are in force and operatiing all around lus! In thle words of Grattati, “They resemble rather a judgmnent of God thlan an act of leg,islatuie!!” And what adds to the cool effiontery of this wholesale usurpation and “despotism,” Dr. Mackey tells us that tlhe foiur lodges which’ made it took good care to exeml)t themselves fiom its opeiration.

He savs: “Iii compliment to the four old lodge.s, the privileges which they had ilwa,ys possessed, were practici,lly reserved to them. It was enacted that no laiw, iule oi regulation, to be hereafter made or ).passed in Grand Lodge, should ever deprive them of such ])iivileges,”-that is, of assemn-bling together without permission asked ol’ ti’ibute paitl, and dloing tlieir own business in tleir own way. Bad men, like Lotis Nipoleon, and bad systems, like Jesuitismi, often owe thleir success to their boldness and impudence; and this Masonic usurpation succeeded by like means, and now, I

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41 weekly, trains thousands on thousands among us to the theory and practice of a despotism of the da,k ag(es! Thus it appears by the highest Masonic authority, that the four lodges at Apple-tree tavern, created a pure, unmixed despotism, and imposed it on all Masons except themselves, and on all others since drawn into it; that this despotism was and is submittel to because it is daik-as the Christian churches submitted to the Papacy; and despotic power once gained, by admitting “accepted” “Masons who were not really such, they seized the fuinds, the tools, the symbols, nay! the order itself; and turned it into something, totally different from what it was originally designed! Never since Satan entered and subverted Eden, was a darker, cooler, more complete or more daming revolution accomplished in the ideas and institutions and against the rights of men! WHY THEY SUBMIT TO IT. MIen never submit to despotism from the mere love of it-it is always for the sake of something which cannot be h:ad without it. Thus, for the pomp, and show, and license of Monarchy, the Hebrews, though warned by Samuel, submitted to the despotism of a king. Thus, for the inspiration of superstition, and the delirium of strange rites, all Asia and Afi’ica to-day submit to pri.sts. Thus, Moirmons submit to the hoirible reign of their prophet; and thus, for like reason, Freemasons submit to a gover ment declared by their ” I.exicon” to be “completely despotic “! Nor does the most abject superstition exclude firom its dupes the shrewdness of self-interest or the cunning of leg,erdemain. Mormons are at once most thriving and inost abject; and when once priestism and delusion have inaugurated a movement, the eagles will gather to its carcass. Tihe present delegate of Utah at Washington boasts that he is “only Mormon enough to go to Congress;” and thousands of Freemasons are to-day in the lodge who have onily “received the mark of the beast in their hand.” In both head and heart they detest it, but they yield to its claims and practice its idolatries, as Christ did not Satan’s, for ” the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them;” for gain, glory or votes; or, once in the eel-pot of the lodge, thlough inly loathing it, the sharp points of Masonic vengeance prevents their leaving it. WHAT IS MASONIC VENGEANCE? If Freemasonry should not persecute, even to murder, those who thwart, expose or oppose it-when it can do so without losing more than it gains by the operation-it is the fitst system of spurious rites which has not done it since Cuin killed Abel for that very cause. The power of Freemasonry, as of all false religions, is in the rites; these gone, all is gone. Hence, every sys.

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42 tern of rites contrived as a substitute for, or rival of the rites given by Jesus Christ, must have despotic power to protect itself. Hence, too, priestism and despotism are hand in hand the world over. Even in Christian countries the power of every church grows despotic in direct proportion to the rites and government it has added to Christ’s; and Mormonism could not hold together a month if the Mormon chief was not an absolute despot! Hitherto we have quoted Masonic authorities; we shall also quote anti-Masonic authorities-and any person would stultify himself by saying or insinuating that the seceding Masons on this floor, who are listening to this report, and who will vote upon its statements, are not to be believed. There are here to day among us brethren who have taken the Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, Masters’ and Royal Arch degrees; some were made Masons before and some since the Morgan outrage, and if these, added to the thousands of good men who have renounced the lodge and exposed its secrets, are not to be believed-if the Rev. Charles G. Finney, known on both sides the Atlantic and revered wherever known, and who has lately from the Oberlin pulpit assured us that the Masonic degrees are correctly revealed, as far as he went in them-if, I say, such men as these cannot be relied on, then nobody can be relied on. But men who renounce error and declare the truth, ought to be, always were and always will be believed; and such are seceding Masons; such the martyrs of all ages-and the slur or insinuation that we might know more of these things by joining the lodge, only discredits his veracity and sense who makes it. What, then, by the “cloud-of witnesses” firom 1826 to this day, is “Masonic vengeance?” The victims of its many murders are dead, and only the resurrection trumpet can bring them into court; but the’ theory,‘at least, of its vengeance is found in its oaths, a slight portion of which will be sufficient. In the Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Masters’ degrees, the candidate, blindfolded, stripped’to his shirt, kneeling, after being led beast-like with rope about his neck, obligates himself to conceal the present and future proceedings of the lodge under the following, among other, penalties: “To have his throat cut firom ear to ear;” “his tongue torn out by the roots;” “his left breast torn open;” “the heart and vitals,taken out;” “the body severed in two;” “the bowels burned to ashes’;” with other like penalties, the ideas of which were taken from the Inquisitionii, and from torments and tortures [actually inflicted2,in the savage and bloody wars and executions of the dark ages. If we are to hope that such more than fiendish penalties wouldinot now be inflicted, why has such a lodge-literature [been kept up:? -a literature borrowed from the acts of inquisitors, and fit only for beasts and devils. There are men on this floor who are ready to-testify, with President Finney, of Oberlin, that these horrible I

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43 oaths, with their more than horrible penalties, were imposed on them in the lodges, and forty-five thousand out of a little above fifty thousand, who seceded after Morgan died, the same. Why have such oaths been kept up through a whole century of progress and light, unless for purposes of intimidation, and to subject seceding Masons to real danger of assassination? The late Judge Daniel H. Whitney, of Belvidere, Boone Co., Ill., published in the American Baptist, and afterwards in a pamphlet over his own name, that members of that lodge, while he was Worshipful Master thereof, attempted to screen a brother of the same lodge who had seduced and murdered a young girl named Ellen Slade; that an arrangement was made to assassinate him (Judge Whitney) in the lodge room, and that he verily believed that he would have been assassinated, had not an excited populace outside become aware of his danger, and would instant ly have avenged his death! The whole pamphlet of Judge Whitney, published in 1852, should be re-printed and circulated for general use. But if we suppose the same causes, to wit: light and progress, and fear of the people, which protect us fiom the inquisition and the stake, ordinarily secure us from these Mi sonic penalties, there is other vengeance, meaner than murder, if not more cruel. And the late Hon. Owen Lovejoy, in personal conversation with the writer of this report, said that Masonic lodges had been used by Masons for the destruction of political opponents, by sending to distant lodges certificates duly certifying that their victims had been expelled the lodge under infamous charges; and that these false certificates, going on secret records in the principal lodges throughout the State, would be believed by the fi’aternity, who could have no means of knowing the falsehood of the paper, while the victim, not being a Mason, could not know of its existence. And Mr. Lovejoy further stated that such a paper was sent to a Chicago lodge, containing malignant charges against himself, but that the paper was met and quashed by a personal fi’iend of his who was a member of the lodge, and who informied him of the fact! Moreover, a letter lately dated from the Tremont House in Chicago, purporting to come from a member of a lodge, states that it i~no uncommon thing for wicked men who are Masons, to firame or cause to be preferred charges against men outside whom they wish to destroy, falsely averting that they had been Masons in other jurisdictions; carry their case by false testimony, so far as to get it on record, and thus set the fraternity against them as unworthy Masons; when their victims and the public outside could never know a word of the matter. The writer says this is called “‘putting a black shirt on a man!” The letter further states that “the enemies of the secret orders in the lodges are more than legion;” but that deterred by their dread of its facility for destroy

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44 ing the characters of men by such and similar methods, they either hold their peace, or even speak in praise of the order. There are, of course, multitudes of high-minded and honorable men who pass for Masons, who would abhor such practices, but who pay little or no attention to the proceedings of lodges; and who, if they know of them, or suspect them, allow them to pass as evils which they cannot correct. THE REVIVAL AND

GROWTH OF MASONRY. The new centralized organization fiamed in 1717, at Covent Garden, contained the three elements of success found in all false religions, viz: despotism, solemn rites and mysteries, and showy parades; and, like all such false religions,.it spread. The old Eleusiroian Mysteries, Mahometanism or modern Mormonism, neither of them excelled it in the accumulation of funds or the rapidity of its march. From the Apple-tree tavern lodge, in spite of bitter feuds and sectarian quarrels, which kept up two or three rival Grand Lodges, wrangling for the spoils, until 1813, when, “under the Duke of Sussex, they were happily united”

(Mac. Lex., L71), in the short period of twenty-one years it had spread from that center into France, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, the United States, Saxony, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Portugral, Turkey, Asia, Afiica, and among the exported convicts at Botany Bay. -A few years later it had gained footing in Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Bohemia, Canada, the West India Islands and Brazil, so that now “most of all the existing Grand Lodges on earth have derived their origin, directly or indirectly, from that Apple-tree tavern lodge.”-(Chase’s Dig. Masonic Law, p. 15.) Nothing in modern times has equalled the spread of this dark, despotic order, unless it be the spread of Spiritualism, from the “knockings” in the little village of Hydesville, near Rochester, N.Y., in 1848, which in twenty years boasts in its books that its ” circles” count more members than all the Christian churches in this country! In September, 1826, William Morgan was kidnapped by Masons (see Morris’ Dictionary of Freemasonry, art. Anti-Masonry) and murdered. The discussion of Freemasonry was taken before the people, and 1,500 lodges answered by giving up their charters! Even the Grand Lodge of Illinois, then an extreme frontier State, suspended its existence for several years, but was reorganized in 1840. After the first shock of the Morgan discussion, and a few feeble efforts to stem the tide by the lodge-men, the lodges out of the slave States everywhere went down. Robert Morris, I.L. D., states that of a little more than 50,000 in all, 45,000 seceded. Lodge meetings were held in churches by seceding Masons, and the degrees conferred in open daylight. All the lodge-secrets were thus revealed, and the whole system was I

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45 loathed and detested as a swindle and a cheat. But the slavepower, which then controlled the politics, and the organized religion of the country, protected and preserved Freemasonry from discussion in the slave States, and Freemasonry, in turn, protected slavery until it fell by civil commotion and the proclamation of President Lincoln. The recovery of Freemasonry from popular odium and detestation is, perhaps, without a parallel in the history of human error and folly; and it shows that the forces on which the secret orders depend to manage minds are strong and mighty. Beginning with Odd Fellowship, which, as the name indicates, was a mere piece of secret and solemn buffoonery, the spirit of idolatry, cast out by the fall of Freemasonry, seized upon several popular virtues, as temperance, patriotism, and even upon Protestantism, in the Know Nothings; and these, by educating the people, creating a thirst for sham mysteries and harlot rites, have piloted Freemasonry back into popular favor, so that Freemasonry was never so popular in this country as at this hour!

Without answering one argument which condemns it (for it cannot), it has glided back into power “Still as the breeze and awful as the storm.”’ Like the brothel, which is the Scriptural type and emblem of all false religions, it has crept back into our towns and villages by night and in silence. Like the brothel, too, propagating itself, not by reasons addressed to the understanding, but by lures which appeal to lusts; bitter, and haughty and scoffing, it already presents itself, by its representatives, in public places laying cornerstones of churches, with prayers to its unknown God; omitting the name of Christ, for whose worship the church professes to be built,-it has to so vast an extent silenced press and piilpit, or subsidized them in its interest, that bold men stand silen6 and the timid quail before it! Some faint idea of its rapid return to power can be had from the following facts: In the State of Michigan the applications for Masonic initiation for the year ending January, 1864, were 2,858; in the year following, 5,075! Under the rule requiring $5 to be sent in by each applicant, along with his application, whether he be received or not, the revenue of the order from mere applicants, in that single year, would be more than twentfy-ve thousand dollars. In our own State of Illinois, from 1840, when the Grand Lodge was reorganized, to 1866, the number of lodges has a,isen to 430, with a membership of twentylfve thousand.-(Morris, art. Illinois.) The charge for initiating a candidate into these secrets, which are not secrets) varies from twenty up to fifty dollars for the first three degrees. If we take the smallest sum for an average, the degree. I

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46 fees of Illinois Masons, excluding other dues, cannot have been ‘ess thanifive millions of dollars. THE MONEY-WHAT BECOMES OP IT?9 There are no means of knowing or even estimating the amount of money drawn by secret orders from the industrious masses, and placed in secret hands, which makes no reports to the people who pay in the funds, or to the legislatures which chartered the lodges; and Masons in general are as ignorant as outsiders of the amount raised, or what becomes of the money.

The lodge pays no interest on deposits, declares no dividends, publishes no defaulters. WVhen, in tile Morgan discussions, fifteen hundred lodges suspended or went down, and 45,000 out of 50,000 Masons left their lodges forever, though millions on millions had accumulated in their hands, in city blocks and other real and personal property, the mechanics and laborers who had paid in the money received nothing back; and no poor were known to suffer by the stoppage of their vaunted charities! Indeed, as has been forcibly said, ” These orders expend no more in proportion to what they receive, in charity, than a skillful fisherman would expend in bait.”

But the history of society, and what few statistics we get, show that more money can be drawn fiom men by means of secret societies, than by any other voluntary means whatever. And, in the absence of returns, we are left to infer, firom the known tendencies of such accumulations, that, as in past years, so in the present, the gains of these orders by rents, fines, dues and degree fees, are expended for regalia, stolen by defaulters, or squandered upon favorites; and that, in one way and another, the money they receive constitutes a vast corruption-fund for the support of idleness, luxury and vice. RELATION TO CHRISTIANITY.

Stone-laying masonry is older than the Pyramids; as old as stone walls.

And the small, independent, voluntary societies of stone-masons, which appear in English history, had friendly relations to the Christian religion. But Freemnasonry, which dates back no farther than our g randfathers, holds no relation to Christianity but of rivalship and substitution. There is no way for a Christian minister or church to be at peace with the lodge, but to submit to it, and thus virtually becomie a part of it. The Covent Garden lodge did not limit its aspirations to taxing and governing the little lodges of stone-masons. It opened its doors to and “accepted” members from all trades and professions, and set deliberately at work, like all spurious religions, for the conquest of the world. Hence, like the Roman Empire, which undertook the same conquest by its arms, which this order did I

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47 by its rites, it undertook to include and fuse in itself all the religions of men. And the lodge stands, since the Covent Garden meeting, a sort of spiritual pantheon of the nations. On a point so important, let us hear the Masonic authorities themselves: Mackey says: “The religion of Freemasonry is pure theism, on which its different members engraft their own peculiar opin:ons, but they are not permitted to introduce them into the lodge.” (Lex., art. Religion, p. 402.) This is explicit. The worship of the lodge excludes Christ. Chase (Digest of Masonic Laws 1864, p. 206,) says: “To require that a candidate profess his belief in’the div’ine authenticity of the Bible’ or’ a state of future rewards and punishments,’

is a serious innovation in the very body of Masonry.” Again, same book and page: “It is Anti-Masonic to require any religious test, other than the candidate should believe in a God, the Creator and Governor of the Universe.” Again, p. 208, same work: “Freemasonry calls no man to account for his belief of any religion on the globe.”-( Constitution Grand Orient, France.) These quotations might be indefinitely multiplied, showing that the intent and meaning of the lodge was to construct religious rites and worship, which should do precisely what Satan proffered to do for Christ, viz: Unite’I all the kingdoms of the world” in one religion. Now, it needs no words to show that the religions of the world are not the religions of Christ, but Anti-Christ. The lodge is, therefore, Anti-Christ, by the definition of its own authorities. Hence, Dr. O. I. Tiffany, at the laying of the cornerstone of Douglas’ monument by Andrew Johnson, at Chicago, read a prayer, which he had written for the occasion, in which no name or attribute of Christ occurred! The same professed Christian minister officiated at the laying of the cornerstone of the M. E. Church at Kankakee, Ill., without once uttering the name of Christ. It would have been unMasonic to do so. For why should Jews, Mohammetans, Pagans and deists be asked to recognize Christ in the prayers of the lodge, to which vast numbers of them belong? Thus the lodge is, by constitution, by definition, by nature and by necessity a Christ-excluding or Anti-Christ iaD religion. It is a religion; and it is nothing else. Its “work”

consists of religious ceremonies. It has no more to do with building or stone-masonry, from which it sprung, than a squad of Monks or Mormons, or a phalanx of Spiritualists. Its candidate begins at the door of the lodge with uttering a Jew’s or deist’s religious confession of faith. Inside the lodge all is professedly religious ceremony. He kneels at an altar; binds himself by oaths;

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48 Christless prayers are said over him; he enters a religious covenant; he is called a “brother,” living and dead, and is buried as a brother; and the liturgy of the lodge lands him in heaven, “the lodge above.” The motto on the seal of our Grand Lodge of Illinois, “Faith, Hope and Charity,” is a religion condensed; and he who, in the face of these facts can deny that FreemasoInry is an anti-Christian or Christ-excluding, Gentile religion, is either deceived, or else ignorantly, wilfully or judicially blind t OBJECTIONS. But the Entered Apprentice is told at the threshold that the obligation he is to assume is not to infringe his “religion or his politics.” Yes, but the very prayer which is said over him while on his knees, and in which he is expected to join, is a Christless prayer!-See the New Masonic Trestleboard, p. 22. ” But the name of Christ is sometimes used in prayers offered in the lodge.” True; but these are unMasonic prayers, used to deceive Christians, and when Jews and deists are not present to object. “But the higher and templar degrees abound in allusions to Christ.” True, again; but these are properly no part of “Universal Masonry.” (See Morris’ Dictionary, art. Blue Lodge.) They are side-degrees, like those invented for women; “denominational excrescences”

which Masonry will “shake off.”-Id. p. 30. But the “Holy Scriptures” are one of the “lights” of Freemasonry, “carried in processions,” etc., etc.

This is also true. But “Holy Scriptures,” in lodge language, meant, “in Christian countries, the Bible; in other countries, those books supposed to contain a revelation of the divine will.” Arabs are Masons. Have Arabs the Bible? In a few instances, too, Christian Masons have car’ied votes in some Grand Lodges to recognize the Christian Scriptures. But all such votes have been promptly condemned by other Grand Lodges, as against the ancient coiistitutions, in words like the following, found in Chase’s Digest, p. 208: “Masonry has nothing whatever to do with the Bible. It is not founded on the Bible. If it was it would not be Masonry, it would be something else.“‘f his is not only Masonic authority, but simple truth.

The system was devised with the intent and purpose to include what is common to the religions of the earth, and to exclude what is peculiar to them; and Christ is not included in the various reli gions of this earth, and therefore ite is excluded by Freemasonry -which is thus proved to be one of the “many Anti-Christs” now in the world.-1 Jno. 2: 18. I

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49 SUBVERTS THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. But the Christian religion is found in Christian churches; and, as in theory the lodge excluides Christ, so in practice nod in fact it sulverts ihe churches whiich worship and obey him.

The proof of this is manifest-thus: 1. Mlasoniy, along with other secret orders to which it has given birth, divides up the members of a Christian church into several distinct ” lbrotlier-hoods,” so that the wo.‘d “
brother ” ill slo(h a church has either none or an uncertain meaning; thu, a milister stands in the pulpit before a church made up of mem beirs of the secret orders, himself belonging to several. Before him are say, ten Freemasons, half of them Christians, the other half skeptics or nothing; anotlher set, “Odd Fellows;” another, “Good Templars,” or “Grand Army;”

another set, ” Sons,” etc., etc., and all “brothers.” Now let him address this motley group of rival and conflicting “brotherhoods,” all sacred and holy: ” My dlearly beloved BRETHREN-It dotli not yet appear,” etc., etc.

Who under the whole heavens can tell whether he means “brother Christian,”

“brother Mason,” or what “brothers” he does mean!? These orders empty and eviscerate the very word brother of all its meaning and import. 2. These orders divide up a church of Christ (which is his body) into separate squads, each pledged to secrecy from the other, and so kill and destroy Christian fellowship in that church. 3. They thus destroy the unity of the “body of Christ,” by tlhese sheet-iron partitions of secrecy, so that His blood cannot flow freely to his members. 4. In their oaths and obligations they do not swear in the name of Chri.,t, and so exclude and set him aside as the author of moral and religious obligation. 5. They occupy the time and social feelings of the Christians who join them, leaving neither time nor disposition for the social meetiings of the church. 6. No man can give his chief allegiance to both church and lodge at once. “He will cleave to the one and forsake the other, or hiold to the one and despise the other.”’ 7. When ClIistians, who belong to lodges, retain any traces of Chlristianity, tihey ire despised and condemned by Masons. A Masonic writer (” Mystic Star,” May, 1867, p. 136,) says: ” These men of sectarian bias are the bad material, the soft, cross-grqailed, crunibling, shaky, cracked, unmaniagreable candidates wvith whom we have most trouble.” He specifies “Presbyterians,” “Quttakers,” and “Baptists,” as such ” bad material”! I Being thus suspected, they must lose their lodge-influence or go with it against the church. 4

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50 8. There is something ill the lodge rites which destroys all relish in those who practice them for the rites appointed by Christ. 9. Judge Whitney (Pamphlet, p. 22,) says that a high Mason and worthy man remarked to him, about the time of Ellen Slade’s murder, that “A Masonic lo7dge is the strangest mecdley of priests and murderers, deacons arid whoremasters, church members and gamblers, decent men and loafers, drunkards and rowdies, that THE ALL-SEEING EYE looks downl upon.” So promiscuous a body must, of course, collide with a neighboring church on questions of Christian doctrine and public morals; and in every such collision, church members who are Masons, must be )proscribed by the lodge, or take part with it against the church. In either case the church is weakened. 10.

Prayer, baptism, and the communion supper are rites appointed by Christ, as channels through which God’s grace and presence come to men. All Masonic, and other mian-made religious rites, by drawing people from these roads to Christ, in a hunter’s phrase “put men upon a false scent,” and so cheat them out of their approaches to God. 11. A neighboring lodge has power to intimidate and corrupt the ministry, by agreeing in secret to withdraw their patronage, and drive him from his pulpit, unless he will bow the knee to their dark idolatries; and thus compel the church to receive a pastor chosen secretly in the lodge, and so, virtually take possession of the church, and adulterate and [slowly change the gospel preached from its pulpit into “another gospel which is not another.” We conclude, therefore, that Freemasonry is hostile to, ac,d subversive of, the Christian religion, and that the two cannot permanently continue side by side in the same country. And that the duty of Christians in these lodges is given in the Word of God: ” Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her plagutes I” SPEECH OF REV. JAMES J. BABER.

Questions being raised whether discussion on the other side would be allowed, MIr. Baber said: I have repeatedly challenged discussion in Iowa, but it has been refused. It is contrary to Masonic rules to discuss or defend Freemasonry before the uninitiated vulgar. Good reason why. I got set against Freemasonry first fromt what its enemies said. I thought that was hardly right, so I went to considering, and set myself against it stronger still by my own reasoning; and then I thought that wouldn’t do, and I;went to its friends and its books, I

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.and that set me against it the most of all. I am inot going to impose my opinions upon anybody, but I want to read a little firom books that are regarded as authority among Masons. Town’s work on Masonry is one of that kind. It is endorsed by the Grand Lodge of N. Y., and by Hon. DeWitt Clinton, a high dignitary of the order. Ilere is an extract: ” Our principles being drawn frontm Revelation, we are not bound to make them known.” IIere is another: “Speculative Masonry consists of the very essence of the Christian system.” They have strange notions, surely, of what the essence of the Christian system is. They even profess to work miracles, to foretell future events, and claim affinity with the Ancient Egyptian Magi. Essenc(,e of Christianity! I want to show you how nice they mix it. In the eiglhthl degree they say they shall be pi)iests, tc., before God’s thronie forever and ever, (no matter whether Christian, Mohamniedan or Pagani, if they are only Masonis). But in another place they elaini that all the Bacchanalian gaoing of Hieathen ages belong to them. Ilow nicely these two things agree. The truth, plainly told, is tliis: tlhey want to grow, swell and infidelize the world; therefore they are all thiings to all people, and nothing in particula,. It is blank, outright Deism. They call God the Supreme Arelitect of the Univei’se.

Tlhey follow the universal religion of iiatu:‘e, and make it the nucleus around which they revolve. At all events, we knownv they don’t revolve around Christ. They say they are reinarka)l)y benevolent. -Yes, it reaches a worthy brothei, be he Jewv or Cihristian, but no one else, be he ever so worthy. Elder Bradley, another Mason in authority of unquestioned soundness, ofltrs an apology for the non-admission of females witl.iiii M:isonic p).les. It is that the delicacy and modesty of fei-les could not staend tlhe ordeal of the scrutiny, &c., of the initiatioIl of any important degree of Masonry. How moral! How Christian! But they build on a back shanty to accommnodate the ladies-aid in my opinion they have many side-shows in the shape of modern dark-lantern societies. Praying in the name of Jesus is contrary to the universality of Masonry. By Masonry I mean the whole batch of societies-they are all alike. They must hide spies and fugitives firom justice the same as an innocent manl. In the records of the Rhode Island Legislature the Masoilc oath is recorded, as sworn to by the highest Masonic authorities in the State, and it runs thus: “Moreover, do I promise and swear that I will keep the secrets of a brother Mason as sacred and inviolable in my breast as they would be in his own, murder and treason only excepted.” This was sworn to there, but it was said they generally added the mental reservation, “at my option.”

We are told they are full of heaven-born benevolence. Probably they are towards sound and able men; but for a man with a wooden leg, one leg, or no legs at all, why they Si I

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52 cannot do anything for him just now. You often hear Masons say it is a good insurance company. If a man only keeps healthy and well, then I guess likely it is. But if hlie gets sick, and has no money to pay dues, I shouldn’t wonder if it mightbe a little shaky. 6

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5S APPENDIX F. :R 0LL NAMES. P.O. ADDREES. DENOMINATION. G. A. Jones –––- Wheaton, Ill. -.Congregationalist. Rev. Milton Smith, –-

Danby, Ill.  - Wesleyan Methodist. S. H. Salls,. ––— Decorah, Iowa.  Congregationalist. R. E. Adams and wife, -.Wheaton, Il.. do. Miss Bailey, ––––- do. do. do. Chas. Preston, ––— Earlville, Ill. I - do. Wm. Cowan and wife, –— Wheaton, Ill. - Wesleyan Methodist. Rev. Benjamin Danforth,  Chicago, Ill. -. .Protestant Methodist. Rev. John Miller, –––––––— United Brethren in Christ. Silvanus Town ––– Aurora, Ill. – New England Congregationalist. Rev. W. F. Maly, . - Chicago, Ill. – Free Methodist. Q. Wilcox, –––— Earlville, Ill. — Congregatio,alist.

C. C. Breed,. – E. PawPaw, Ill.  do. J. M. Deitz, –– ––-

Marengo, Ill.  Free Methodist. Rev. N. D. Fanning,- - do. do.. –- do.

do. Edwv-rd Gillett, ––- Aurora, Ill. –- New Engltlid Congregationalist Isaac Preston,.. ––. Lockport, Ill. —

Congregationalist. H. L. Kcllogg,. ––— Wethersfield, Ill.- do. R. J.

Morgan, - –– Wheaton, Ill. do. Rev. Joseph Travis –– Elgin, Ill.

–— Free Methodist. John Hubbard, ––— Freedom, III. —

Congregationalist. Rev. Henry hIawkins, — Granville, Ill.  Wesleyan Methodist. JolhnH. Lathrop, –– Aurora, Ill. – Methodist Episcopal.

Rev. A. C. Van Raalte, -Holland,-Mich. - German Lithlieran. W. T.

Elliott, ––– Aurora, Ill. –- Congregatio nalist. Rev. S.

Roberts, ––– do. do. – Free Methodist. John Gardlner, –––- do. do. – Union Baptist. Oliver Dewey, –––- do. do.

– New England Congregationalist. J. Denny. ––––— do. do. –

Congregationalist. D. W. Stockwell,  do. io -;- do. First Baptist. Rev.

Edward Ebbs, –– do. do. - New England3Congregationalist. Pilo Carpenter, ––— do. do. – Congregationalist. Samuel Brown, –––- do.’. do. –. Free Methodist. J. H. Porter, ––––-
do. do. –– do. do. Hiram Baxter, –––- do. Ldo. –– do. do.

.Benjamin Hackney –– do. do. –– do. do. John E.“Burleen, A-‘do.

do. – do. do. R. B. Smith,……o do. ‘do. do. Chas. Gill, –––— Ado.’? do.. -.. Union Baptist. J. D. Sperry, –––—
do. do. – Free Methodist. Rev. Mr. Clark and wife, -Oberlin, 0. –-

Congregational. Dr. M. M. Miles. ––- Aurora, Ill. –- Union Baptist. Mr. Rawson and wife, — Wheaton, Ill. –- Free Methodist. B.

West ––––- Aurora, Ill. – Baptist. Rev. Robert Loggan, –

Plattsmouth, Neb. United Brethren. Rev. James I. Baber, -. Swede Point, Ia. - do. do. r ::.,..:’ I

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I 54 ROLL-CoNTINUED. NAMBS. P.O. ADDRESS. DENOMINATION. Rev. M. S. Drury, ––-……..Castalia, Ia…….U - United Brethren Dr. W. W.

Richardson, - — do. do. –— do. do. Rev. I. A. Hart, ––- Wheaton, Ill. -.Congregationalist. F. Wells, –––– Galesburg, Ill. do.

Rev. Cyrus H. Underwood, Freeport, Ill. — Free Methodist. O. F. Lumry, –––- Wheaton, Ill. — Congregationalist. A. H. Post,. ––—

Geneva, Ill. I — do. D. C. Cooper,……….. Elgin, Ill. –—

Presbyterian. Mrs. Cooper, –––- do. do. ––– do. L. W. Mills, –––- Wheaton, Ill. -.Wesleyan. Mrs. E. Mills, –––— do. do.

–- do. Rev. Lewis Baily ––- Belvidere, Ill. - Free Methodist. Rufus Stratton, ––- Rockford, Ill. –- do. do. John Dorcas, –––

Redcock, Ia. — United Brethren. J. L. Fonda, ––– Wheaton, Ill.

— Congregationalist. C. A. Blanchard,. ––— do. do. do. Wm. B.

Lloyd, –––- do. do. do. Albert E. Matson, ––– do. do. do. J.

D. Dickenson,. ––– do. do. do. Rev. H. T. Besse, –– Princeton, Ill.  Wesleyan Methodist. Rev. L. W. Whitney, – Nora, Ill. ––-
do. do. Parker Hurless, ––- Adeline, Ill.. - United Brethren. A. B.

Frazier, ––— Polo, Ill. –– do. do. Elder T. B. Ashley, –-

Plainfield, Ill. - Baptist. Amos J. Baily, ––– Wheaton), Ill…Congregationalist. W. O. Hart. ––––- do. do. do. P. V.

Livingston, ––— do. do. do. J. F. Ellis, ––––— do. do. do.

Rev. J. G. Ferrill, –— Winnebago, 111. -Free Methodist. Rev. J. E.

Roy, ––- Chicago, I ll. – Congregationalist. Rev. J. Richards, –– Avon, Ill. ––– do. J. J. Updyke, ––— Geneva, Ill. –

Free Methodist. B. G. Updyke, –––- do. do. –– do. do. Joseph Denny, Sr., - - - - Aurora, Ill. –– Congregationalist. Rev. Jonathatn Blanchard, do. do. - — do. Mrs. Blanchard, ––— do. do. - — do. ;:; * i: I

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PAGI. Apple-tree Tavern. –––––––––––––— 38, 39 Attestation of Morgan and Bernard’s Revelations - 8, 10, 11, 13, 25, 27, 28, 30 Convention-Call for

–––––––––––––––- 3 Minutes of..

–––––––––––––––- 3, 8 Committees of.

–––––––––––––– 6, 7 National ––––––––––––––- 28, 29, 32 Letters, Congratulatory and Extracts from-Of Rev. W. W. Ames –— 23 Jos. B.

Nessel.. ––––––––––––––— 24 Wm. Elder.

––––––––––––––— 24 J. Mense ––––––––––––––––— 25 Prof. Morgan.

––––––––––––––- 25 Rev. Wm. Dillon ––––––––––––––— 26 Father Dodge –––––––––––––––- 26 Rev. J. G. Schoaff.

––––––––– ––––— 26 Rev. M. Bennett.

–––––––––––––– 27 Moses Pettingill, Esq.,…

–––––––––––– 26 Rev. N. Brown..

–––––––––––––––- 27 Hon. Aaron White –––––––––––––-.29 A. Sanford…..

––––––––––––––— 27 Rev. A. A. Phelps –––––––––––––—.31 Masonry-Its antiquity.

–––––––––––––— 17, 38 Its mummeries……

––––––––––––––- 11, 13 Its oaths dissected ––––––––––––– 13, 16 Its charity….

–––––––––. –––—.17 Its secrets.

––––––––––––––— 10, 29 Its false pretenses… - -. –––––––––— 11, 17 Its real object ––––––––––––––- 18, 19 A religion, but deistical, anti-Christian and Baalistic. 19, 21, 26, 28, 34, 35 Its titles ––––––––––— 12, 25, 39 Christless.

––––––––––––––— 21, 22 The enemy of justice and equity ––––––- 18, 19, 32, 35 Vindictive and murderous-.

––––––– 14,16, 32, 41, 43 Blasphemous..

––––––––––––––— 15, 25 Political –––––––––- 19, 24, 43 A simple despotism –––––––––––––– 40 Not to be tolerated in the churches –— 5, 22, 24, 26, 27, 32, 35, 36 Relation of 0, F., G. T. and S. T. to –––––– 7,22, 24, 26, 2a The terms “Free and Accepted Mason”… ––––––– 39 Why they submit to it.

––––––––––––- 41 What is Masonic vengeance?..

–––––––––– 41 Its revival and growth ––––––––––––– 44 The money-what’ becomes of it?

–––––––––— 46 Relation to Christianity ––––––––––––- 46 Objections……

–––––––––––—.48 Subverts the Christian church…………………………..-…49 I:D E’ X I

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56 INDEX-CONTNUED. PAGE. Report of Committee of Ways and Means.

–––––––––— 6 On the Press and notice of Rev. J. B.

Chamberlain’s letter fromn Walla Walla, W. T,..

–––––––––––––- 86, 37 Resolutions -

–––––––––––––––– 5, 7, 8 Roll..

––––––––––––––––––– 53, 54

Revelations-Of Bernard, Morgan &c., attested – 8, 10,‘1, 25, 27, 28, 30, 33 Spurious, –––––––––––––––––- 28

Spiritualists-New secret society of. ––––––––––– 6

Speeches-Of Rev. I. A. Hart ––––––––––––— 8, 23

Rev. Joseph Travis ––––––––––––––- 33 Rev.

Milton Smith –––––––––––––- 34, 36 Prest. J.

Blanchard –––––––––––––- 38, 50 Rev. James I.

Baber.. –––––––––– - 50, 51, 52 I

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