Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
America.
however , allude to some of our most prominent enemies , —the Jesuits , who now govern the church of Rome , especially here in our own country . They , however , do not attack our institutions ; they publish no argument , nor give any reason for their course , and yet no son of the church while under the Masonic pledge , can receive absolution from his priest ; and the dying man who is a Mason , is
denied the last sacraments of the church until he has renounced his Masonic vows ; and one who dares in that hour of weakness and of fear to die in the Order , is denied even a burial in holy ground and with holy rites . A course so terrible to those exposed to its dominion ought to be sustained by reasons the most profound . Of these reasons they keep us ignorant . It may be that the power of the church is weakened or endangered when it becomes known , and is
allowed to be true , that there exists within its pale any secret which the confessional may not know . It may be , also , that the sons of Loyola can brook no rival as a secret and mysterious Order , and therefore denounce an association they cannot control . Some years ago there was kindled up in oar country a fanaticism of Anti-Masonry . It was one of a series which have passed away . So far as the thing was not a mental epidemic , infesting people without a visible cause , as did the " grippe " a few years since , its sole foundation was in an invented and perverted syllogism , thus expressed : " Some Masons have done wrong and wicked things ;
therefore , all Masons are bad men , and the Order ought to be suppressed . " Now , let such sophistry be answered by working the same logic upon other subjects , for instance : " Some Judges have heen corrupt , therefore all judges are bad men , and the courts ought to be abolished . " Again : " Some husbands are unkind to their wives , therefore all husbands are unkind , and the sacrament of matrimony should be abolished . " Others , again , have attacked the
Order theologically ; they say " the church is a society instituted by the Almighty God himself , and that membership in any other implies an imperfection in God ' s works . " Now , apply the same logic to something else and see its worth . Thus , for instance , rain was appointed by Almighty God to water and fertilize the earth ; so that he who waters his field or his garden charges the Almighty with imperfection . Others again say that secret societies may be
dangerous to human liberty , since the power is immense , unseen , and irresponsible , which a secret society well organized can wield , and on this account they ought to be denounced . But before men run so entirely wild with imagination , they should look to see where it will lead to . Fire is dangerous , and water is dangerous , and many other things , but does that begin to prove that they ought not to be used ? No . Indeed , it is man ' s noblest attribute that ho can wield with safety , that which is dangerous . Such sophistry is beneath the dignity of intelligent beings : it ought to be abandoned ; it degrades the intellect .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
America.
however , allude to some of our most prominent enemies , —the Jesuits , who now govern the church of Rome , especially here in our own country . They , however , do not attack our institutions ; they publish no argument , nor give any reason for their course , and yet no son of the church while under the Masonic pledge , can receive absolution from his priest ; and the dying man who is a Mason , is
denied the last sacraments of the church until he has renounced his Masonic vows ; and one who dares in that hour of weakness and of fear to die in the Order , is denied even a burial in holy ground and with holy rites . A course so terrible to those exposed to its dominion ought to be sustained by reasons the most profound . Of these reasons they keep us ignorant . It may be that the power of the church is weakened or endangered when it becomes known , and is
allowed to be true , that there exists within its pale any secret which the confessional may not know . It may be , also , that the sons of Loyola can brook no rival as a secret and mysterious Order , and therefore denounce an association they cannot control . Some years ago there was kindled up in oar country a fanaticism of Anti-Masonry . It was one of a series which have passed away . So far as the thing was not a mental epidemic , infesting people without a visible cause , as did the " grippe " a few years since , its sole foundation was in an invented and perverted syllogism , thus expressed : " Some Masons have done wrong and wicked things ;
therefore , all Masons are bad men , and the Order ought to be suppressed . " Now , let such sophistry be answered by working the same logic upon other subjects , for instance : " Some Judges have heen corrupt , therefore all judges are bad men , and the courts ought to be abolished . " Again : " Some husbands are unkind to their wives , therefore all husbands are unkind , and the sacrament of matrimony should be abolished . " Others , again , have attacked the
Order theologically ; they say " the church is a society instituted by the Almighty God himself , and that membership in any other implies an imperfection in God ' s works . " Now , apply the same logic to something else and see its worth . Thus , for instance , rain was appointed by Almighty God to water and fertilize the earth ; so that he who waters his field or his garden charges the Almighty with imperfection . Others again say that secret societies may be
dangerous to human liberty , since the power is immense , unseen , and irresponsible , which a secret society well organized can wield , and on this account they ought to be denounced . But before men run so entirely wild with imagination , they should look to see where it will lead to . Fire is dangerous , and water is dangerous , and many other things , but does that begin to prove that they ought not to be used ? No . Indeed , it is man ' s noblest attribute that ho can wield with safety , that which is dangerous . Such sophistry is beneath the dignity of intelligent beings : it ought to be abandoned ; it degrades the intellect .