Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Sermon,
man . " You know the affecting sequel ; his eyes were put out , he was " bound with fetters of brass , " and " made to grind in the prison-house " till his death . Ditl any one of you ever read this interesting narrative without surprise and contempt at so degrading a proof of human infirmity ? Who then , though himself unacquainted with the secrets of Freemasons , would not blush for one of that fraternity who could so abuse tbe confidence of liis brethren ?
But if we believe the minute and elaborate accounts of certain writers , the most mischievous conspiracies have been formed and conducted on tbe Continent , in Mason ' s lodges , or under the name ancl pretext of Freemasonry . It is certain that any society which overspreads the whole habitable globe , the members of which are united by the closest bonds of fellowship , bound by the same obligations , easily known to each other by night as well as by day , and possessing certain secrets in common , would be universally formidable if it were founded on bad
principles . Many volumes , professedly illustrative of the craft , have from time to time been published in this country , most of them absurd and the work of mere conjecture ; a few of them authentic and compiled from the mass of our materials , among which rank foremost those from the pen of our eminent brother , the Rev . Dr . Oliver . In the latter , as well as in our constitutions , which are also printed and open to public examination , you may find that loyalty is ; in whatsoever country we meet ,
a virtue indispensable in every brother ; and I pronounce a disloyal Freemason the worst of all disloyal men . But civil discord seldom fails to furnish citizens with new means of distinguishing themselves ; and next to the instigators of rebellion , the most desperate intruders on the public peace are they who talk of conspiracies that never existed , or ascribe treason to any society to which they themselves do not belong . Should any of our brethren basellend themselves to the schemes of innovators
y or the plots of rebels , they would be more liable to detection than other men ; for any brother ' s knowledge ofthe common secret ivould give him freer access to the illicit meetings of such conspirators ; ancl no worthy member of the Society would be at a loss to distinguish what he ought to conceal from what he ought to reveal , or fail to procure the expulsion of those ivho so wickedly disgraced their badge , and brought odium on their ancient order .
Dignitaries of tbe Roman church , and I regret to add , of the Church of England , have recently displayed a hostility towards Freemasonry that can only possibly originate either in some rival jealousy of our secret influence throughout all ranks of socirty for the destruction of evil prejudices , or in total ignorance of its glorious principles for the dissemination of charity in will and in deed among all mankind . Now the most horrible abuse of secrecy was that which belonged to
the Inquisition , in those devoted countries where once it exercised a paramount authority . The unfortunate victim who fell under its cognizance , neither knew his accusers nor his judges : all was secret as the grave . No oral or written communication was allowed between the prisoner or any friend , unless through bribery , or interest , or consummate address he obtained a temporary relaxation of rigour . Every process of his trial was secret , the place of his confinement was secret ,
and nothing was made known but his ultimate acquittal or death . If any country could long endure , as some have clone , such secrecy as this , why , then , well may all countries endure without suspicion that of . Freemasons , who disclaim all interference in political and religious
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Sermon,
man . " You know the affecting sequel ; his eyes were put out , he was " bound with fetters of brass , " and " made to grind in the prison-house " till his death . Ditl any one of you ever read this interesting narrative without surprise and contempt at so degrading a proof of human infirmity ? Who then , though himself unacquainted with the secrets of Freemasons , would not blush for one of that fraternity who could so abuse tbe confidence of liis brethren ?
But if we believe the minute and elaborate accounts of certain writers , the most mischievous conspiracies have been formed and conducted on tbe Continent , in Mason ' s lodges , or under the name ancl pretext of Freemasonry . It is certain that any society which overspreads the whole habitable globe , the members of which are united by the closest bonds of fellowship , bound by the same obligations , easily known to each other by night as well as by day , and possessing certain secrets in common , would be universally formidable if it were founded on bad
principles . Many volumes , professedly illustrative of the craft , have from time to time been published in this country , most of them absurd and the work of mere conjecture ; a few of them authentic and compiled from the mass of our materials , among which rank foremost those from the pen of our eminent brother , the Rev . Dr . Oliver . In the latter , as well as in our constitutions , which are also printed and open to public examination , you may find that loyalty is ; in whatsoever country we meet ,
a virtue indispensable in every brother ; and I pronounce a disloyal Freemason the worst of all disloyal men . But civil discord seldom fails to furnish citizens with new means of distinguishing themselves ; and next to the instigators of rebellion , the most desperate intruders on the public peace are they who talk of conspiracies that never existed , or ascribe treason to any society to which they themselves do not belong . Should any of our brethren basellend themselves to the schemes of innovators
y or the plots of rebels , they would be more liable to detection than other men ; for any brother ' s knowledge ofthe common secret ivould give him freer access to the illicit meetings of such conspirators ; ancl no worthy member of the Society would be at a loss to distinguish what he ought to conceal from what he ought to reveal , or fail to procure the expulsion of those ivho so wickedly disgraced their badge , and brought odium on their ancient order .
Dignitaries of tbe Roman church , and I regret to add , of the Church of England , have recently displayed a hostility towards Freemasonry that can only possibly originate either in some rival jealousy of our secret influence throughout all ranks of socirty for the destruction of evil prejudices , or in total ignorance of its glorious principles for the dissemination of charity in will and in deed among all mankind . Now the most horrible abuse of secrecy was that which belonged to
the Inquisition , in those devoted countries where once it exercised a paramount authority . The unfortunate victim who fell under its cognizance , neither knew his accusers nor his judges : all was secret as the grave . No oral or written communication was allowed between the prisoner or any friend , unless through bribery , or interest , or consummate address he obtained a temporary relaxation of rigour . Every process of his trial was secret , the place of his confinement was secret ,
and nothing was made known but his ultimate acquittal or death . If any country could long endure , as some have clone , such secrecy as this , why , then , well may all countries endure without suspicion that of . Freemasons , who disclaim all interference in political and religious