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 THE 
 
 GENIUS OF MASONRY, 
 
 OR 
 
 A DEFENCE OF THE ORDER, 
 
 ttONTAINTNO SOME RXMABK8 OK TH1! ORTOIT AK7) HISTOBT ; THE 
 
 USES AND ABUSES OF THE SCIENCE, WITH SOME SOT1CKS OF 
 
 OTHER SECHET SOCIETIES IK TH UNITED STATES, IIT 
 
 THREE LECTURES. 
 
 B7 SA3VSU32L I.. KlfAFP. 
 
 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is, hear it, 
 And know thou it for thy good. Job v. 27. 
 
 PROVIDENCE.- 
 CRANSTON &. MAI Si; ALL, PRINTERS.
 
 RHODE-ISLAND DISTRICT, SO. 
 Be it remembered, That on the 23d day of 
 October, 1828, and in the fifty-third year of the 
 Independence of the United S'ates of America, 
 Samuel L. Knapp, of said District, deposited in 
 this Office, the title of a book, the right whereof 
 lie claims as proprietor, in the following- words, viz : " The 
 Genius of Masonry, or a Defence of the Order, containing 1 
 some remarks on the origin and history ; the Uses and Abuses 
 of the Science, with some notices of other Secret Societies in 
 the United States, in three Lectures, by Samuel L. K;iapp." 
 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is, hear ic, 
 And know thou it, for thy good Job v. "7." 
 In conformity to an act of Congress of the United States, 
 entitled "An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing 
 the copies of Maps, Charts and Books to the authors and pro- 
 prietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned, and 
 also to an Act entitled " An Act for the encouragement of 
 learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts and Boc ks to the 
 authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein 
 mentioned, and extending the benefit thereof to the art of de- 
 signing 1 , engraving and etching historical or other prints." 
 Witness, 
 
 BENJAMIN CO WELL, 
 Clerk ot the Rhode-Island District.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 At the threshold, I make this distinct declarctioa, 
 that no political, party, or sectarian views ; no ma- 
 sonic excitement, or momentary resentments have 
 entered into the work I propose to publish. This 
 is the simple history of my labours. 
 
 About two years since a distinguished brother, 
 high in office, requested me to write a succinct de- 
 fence of masonry in answer to some objections which 
 had from time to time been made by some enlighten- 
 ed men out of our pale. The excitement in the 
 western parts of the state of New York had not then 
 commenced. To his request other inducements 
 were added, and at my leisure, some materials were 
 collected for the discourses found in this work. My 
 object was to show the origin, history, uses, abuses 
 and general effccls of Masonry. Before I had found 
 an opportunity of presenting my labours to the crit- 
 ical inspection of this friend of masonry and of man, 
 to whom I have alluded, he had passed the confines 
 of time for eternity, and had left me to mourn the 
 loss of his learning and advice. The form in which 
 I had prepared my defence was that of lectures to be. 
 addressed to a mixed audience, and of course it was 
 
 20371
 
 jy. 
 
 my aim to avoid all technicalities, and such word- 
 and phrases as have a masonic meaning, in addition 
 to their common definition. I have never found 
 time to deliver them. I now offer these humble la^ 
 bours to the public on my own responsibility, not 
 wishing to involve any body of men in them, be they 
 for good, or be they for evil. I am well aware of the 
 critical moment in which I offer myself as a defender 
 of our faith, perhaps a martyr lo it ; but I have 
 weighed well the possible consequences, and poising 
 myself on the rectitude of my motives in which there 
 lurks no party purpose, no political intrigue, noth- 
 ing against a single article of religious belief, I shall 
 fearlessly proceed. 
 
 In this excitement about masonry, many of my 
 brethren are disposed to recommend a profound si- 
 lence and a perfect quietude, while the waves dash 
 over us, in hopes that a calm will soon succeed. Thia 
 would be well, if only the fanatical were excited ; 
 but the enlightened who are not masons, are awake to 
 enquiry, and they ought to be answered. The luke- 
 warm say, be still, from an indifference to the sub- 
 ject ; but from those, who would take advice ? The 
 timid cry beware, for they fear that too much of ma- 
 sonic secresy may be discovered to the eyes and 
 ears of the uninitiated. These should not be regar- 
 ed ; but to ease them of their fears, we would tell 
 them that the lawyers of a former age were in dis-
 
 V, 
 
 tress at the appearance of Blackstone's Commenta- 
 ries, thinking that every man would understand -the 
 law, and their business would be at an end. Has it 
 been so ? The independent, in absolute fearlessnesn 
 of consequences say, let the enemies of masonry go 
 on, they can do us no lasting injury ; and perhaps 
 some of the very judicious may think the anti-masonic? 
 spirit is transitory and harmless ; in this they are 
 deceived. The enemies of masonry are rapidly 
 gaining ground, from the listlessness of our or- 
 der ; not from the force of their arguments ; but from 
 the constant repetitions of falsehoods, which if doubt- 
 ed at first are afterwards believed beaause they are 
 not contradicted. I repeat it, that if we had only to 
 contend with frenzied opponents, silence might be 
 wisdom ; but the coo/, the thinking, the intelligent are 
 seeking to be instructed, and are constantly making 
 these enquires of us ; " can we put a few plain ques- 
 tions to you of the masonic family, without being 
 parried olf with some technical or mystical answer ? 
 If so, then are the principles you profess, capable of 
 a full defence ; and if they be, why do you not make 
 it ?" My plain answer has been, now is, and ever 
 shall be, yes, you may put your questions, and they 
 shall be honestly replied to. Masonry is suscepti- 
 ble of a full defence, and the defence should be made 
 privately and publickly for the double purpose of sat- 
 isfying you, and for vindicating ouridvea. There is 
 A2
 
 VI. 4 
 
 another class of half-believing, halt-doubting, candid 
 sortof folks, who think that black is not so very black, 
 nor white so very while, who say, wont you stop until 
 this or that matter is decided, perhaps it may be bet- 
 ter, all things considered. This is the constant din 
 about the ears of every one who ventures on any thing 
 new or not sustained by precedents. They add, this 
 is an evil hour, for masonry ; many wise men, they 
 say, ponder upon it. Has not every thing valuable 
 in this world had its evil hours ? Has not all that it 
 great and good been proscribed ? Letters, science^ 
 religion, liberty have had their days of proscription, 
 and their lukewarm, timid, doubling friendi. The 
 lamp of science, instead of being placed on the altar 
 of a country's glory, has in the past, gleamed for 
 ages in the recesses of a monastery ; and our holy 
 religion, when it was professed with the utmost se- 
 verity and fanaticism, was almost entirely destitute 
 of morality and its train of virtues ; and this was at 
 the very time too, when crusades were undertaken 
 against the heathen to rescue the holy land from the 
 profanation of the Saracens, and infidels, and also, 
 to conquer and convert these benighted wretches ; 
 by whom, in the end, we were taught the high and 
 stern virtues of morality, as well as the sciences, the 
 arts, and letters, known to them. It was then un- 
 safe for the few holy men to preach morality : lib- 
 erty, too, has seen many evil hours and had her aw-
 
 Vll. 
 
 f'ul struggles. These she had even In (he land of her 
 birth and of her adoption ; when driven from Greece 
 to Italy she lingered long among the palaces of the 
 mighty ; but taking her flight from hill top to mountain, 
 she at length found an asylum on our shores ; and 
 even here, she is often abused and trodden down by 
 those who profess to be her friends,and when she arises 
 is found to have lost something of her purity and 
 beauty. If learning, religion and liberty have been 
 assailed, can masonry expect to pass on without her 
 troubles also ? Has not every effort been made to 
 preserve these blessings to mankind, and in the best 
 form. 
 
 And shall masons yield all they love without a 
 struggle ? Every precedent is against it : the per- 
 severing zeal of the school man, the suffering of th 
 saint ; the deeds of the patriarch, bear witness that 
 they spared no pains and shrunk from no danger 
 in support of their cause, and shall masons be the 
 first body to part with the blessings they enjoy, with- 
 out offering a few reasons, against the injustice of 
 being so ill-treated, and the wickedness of the inva- 
 sion made on Ihem ? Thank heaven there are good, 
 sound, authoritative precedents for our guides. When 
 the old and new testaments were attacked, and rev- 
 elation derided from the wayward disposition of men, 
 and from the breaking up of the great deeps of the 
 moral world, Watson came out with his " Apology for
 
 vm. 
 
 the Bible" and this was done contrary to the advice 
 of some of his best friends. It has been said that a 
 majority of the bench of Bishops thought it was haz- 
 arding much to meet sturdy infidelity on the ground 
 of reason in matters of faith. This was however 
 done, and successfully too, by Watson and others. 
 The mists of infidelity were blown away and all was 
 pure and serene again. If the chronicles of Israel, 
 the wisdom of Solomon ; the psalms of David, and 
 the inspirations of Isaiah, with the new and glorious 
 dispensation of the gospel, required an appeal to rea- 
 aon and argument for a defence, surely masonry 
 need not be backward in making use of the treas- 
 ures ofhistory, the help of the advocate, and the de- 
 cisions of common sense to place the question of her 
 honesfy, utility and importance in a correct light be- 
 fore a candid and discriminating public. 
 
 I hope my humble labours will be read by all class- 
 es in the community and fairly commented upon and 
 judged by them. Of this however I have no fears. 
 The liberal minded clergyman of every creed, I 
 would invoke to ponder well, before he takes up a 
 crusade against masonry. Who in former ages built 
 the houses of God and defended the priests at the al- 
 tar ? Masons. The Fair too, I would entreat to 
 read, and before they join the cry of overthrow and 
 extermination, to listen to me for a moment, and judge 
 for themselves, if I have not given a plausible rea-
 
 rx. 
 
 son, at least, for many things in masonry they com- 
 plain of. Whether I have succeeded in one thing 
 or another, the public will judge, and for their calm 
 decision I shall wait with patience, and shall claim 
 no appeal from such a tribunal. To thoge already 
 disposed to censure every thing in defence of ma- 
 sonry, I shall apply the words of a great man of an- 
 tiquity, against whom the bludgeon was raised, to 
 awe him to silence, when he was speaking for his 
 country's good striLt but hear !
 
 IDEFEiTOS 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 *' Truth beguiled us on, 
 
 Through many a maze of garden and of porch, 
 
 Through many a system, where the scatter'd 1 ght 
 
 Of hravfiily truth lay, like a broken beam 
 
 From ihc pure sun, which though ret'i acted all 
 
 Into a thousand hues, is sunshine still, 
 
 And bright through every change. 
 
 So quiet have been the opposers of masonry for 
 many years past in this country, that \ve have hardly 
 thought a defence of it would ever be required ; but 
 strange as it may seem, the time has arrived when it 
 is proper, indeed, almost indispensable to defend our- 
 selves against the ravings of fanaticism, and the 
 suggestions of suspicion. The great doctrines of 
 toleration are infringed, and a few persons have ar- 
 isen, as they often did in former ages, to alarm the 
 credulous, and to cause them to act against (hat 
 which they do not understand. At this moment, 
 when we are reviled by somo, and threatened by 
 others, we will take a candid review of masonry, 
 equally regardless of what may be thought of it, even 
 by those who are within, as well as those without
 
 12 
 
 the pale of the order. I shall not make orations upon 
 masonry to delight you with a picture of its effects 
 alone, and to amuse you with what it has done for 
 society, and what it will do for mankind, if suffered 
 to go on without molestation. No : I shall dwell 
 upon its origin, history, and tendency, craving no 
 privileges, asking no immunities for masonry, and 
 fearing no censures on the craft ; hut shall go on, 
 plainly stating what I believe, and what I know. 
 
 Masonry has been well defined by one of our 
 brethren " to be a compact throughout the world, to 
 perform towards each other, and to each other's fam- 
 ilies, the offices of charity and friendship, whenever 
 the vicissitudes of fortune place them in a situation 
 to require it." To this definition I would add, that it 
 has a universal language to convey morals, philan- 
 thropy and social feelings amongst all people who 
 have learned its value ; that it contains maxims and 
 principles enforced by strong pledges and obliga- 
 tions which goto support the humble, to cherish the 
 desponding, to soften the niHe ; to subdue the obsti- 
 nate, and to rouse the sluggish ; and, in fine, it m:ike 
 a common chain that binds men together that cir- 
 cumstance, gpas, countries, or climates have other- 
 wise made strangers. 
 
 The origin of Masonry has caused many disputa- 
 tions amongst the craft themselves ; some bringing 
 it from the remotest antiquity ; and others dating its
 
 13 
 
 origin in the fifth, or sixth, or seventh century. I have 
 examined with great care both of these opinions, and 
 the researches in Asiatic literature which have been 
 made within these few years past, and the stores of 
 antiquarian knowledge which the scholars of Europe 
 have lately given to the world, have enabled me to 
 proceed with more helps than any one could have 
 had a few years since. In truth, every day some 
 new light is thrown upon the origin of the arts and 
 sciences, and we are under the necessity of revising 
 the opinions we have received from the common sour- 
 ces of knowledge, and in some instances obliged to 
 reverse them, if we wish to cherish the truth. The 
 solution of these opposite opinions I think to be this, 
 that all the principles of Masonry, many of its rules 
 and regulations, features and habits, customs, words, 
 signs, degrees, &c. &.c. existed long before the Chris- 
 tian era in various parts of the world, and probably 
 had as much, or more influence on the conduct of men 
 then as they now have ; but that Masonry was not 
 known by that name until after the Christian era. It is 
 agreed by all the antiquarian writers, Masons or not, 
 that the order was brought into England by the mis- 
 sionaries from Rome who came to convert the peo- 
 ple of the Island of Great Britain. These artists 
 had travelled in the east and were acquainted with 
 the science of architecture which embraces the great 
 principles of geometry and mathematics to a consid- 
 B
 
 14 
 
 Arable extent, and all the rules of taste, and the prac- 
 tice of the whole circle of the arts. The Grecian 
 temples erected to profane Divinities would not an- 
 swer for these devotees, nor would the ponderous and 
 clumsy architecture of the Egyptians suit their taste. 
 In this moment they sat down, and with great talents, 
 which they certainly possessed, and with admirable 
 success invented that solemn and imposing style of 
 building that has since been callf-d the Gothic, as it 
 sprang up after the Goths had conquered Rome, and 
 mastered their learning as well as their cities. Still 
 it must be confessed that many useful hints for this 
 style were found in the castles and temples of 
 the East. With the knowledge they received in the 
 East was incorporated that which was called myste- 
 ry, and given under the sanction of strong pledg- 
 es of secresy. In the East, habits and customs 
 change but little in the lapse of many centuries, and 
 nearly the same forms of secret societies are found 
 at this day which existed then. In taking a view of 
 the early ages of intelligence, we shall be under the 
 necessity of bringing in matters and things that may 
 not seem at first to have a bearing on the subject, 
 but I trust I shall be able to convince you in the 
 end that they have. It requires a considerable 
 knowledge of botany to judge of the flowers by the 
 roots of the plant ; but after a short examination, the 
 connexion and peculiar fitness for each other is seen
 
 15 
 
 and makes no small part of the beauty of nature and 
 fitness of things, which is every where observable in 
 the works of that Providence that suckles each herb, 
 and spread$ out every flower. The connexions in 
 the moral world perhaps are as intimate if not so dis- 
 cernable. 
 
 Ancient learning was full of mysteries.(l) Every 
 scholar meets allusions to them in every author he 
 examines ; and in general, he finds that they were 
 highly respected by these authors. The wisdom of 
 the Egyptians was unquestionably full of mysteries, 
 as their temples and their tombs bear witness, a* 
 well as the pages of history which the Greeks hav 
 given concerning this nation. (2) The Hebrews who 
 were at first a pastoral people, could not have at- 
 tended much to the arts or sciences, but took them 
 from the Egyptians with most of their ether learning, 
 and in truth, their term of bondage was well spent 
 in treasuring up that knowledge they had an oppor- 
 tunity to acquire. 
 
 The Magi of Persia were also the repository of 
 the learning of the Empire, and from knowing many 
 of the laws of nature which others did not know, they 
 secured to themselves distinction, and often the rev- 
 erence due to superior nature. The different orders 
 of their soothsayers, and astrologers, and wise men, 
 were only the different classes of their schools. 
 These mysieries were often kept from their monarch^,
 
 16 
 
 who were as credulous as the people ; but perhaps 
 more often these kings were initiated into their se- 
 crets. 
 
 The Greeks who early cultivated letters, made 
 made themselves acquainted with this learning of 
 Egypt and Persia, and even the farthest India, as 
 rapidly as they could in those days of violence and 
 war. That there should be some sagacious minds 
 constantly at work, is natural ; that they thould 
 make discoveries of valuable principles, and perhaps 
 of more valuable phenomena, without knowing the 
 principles of them, is equally certain. These some- 
 times elevated the discoverer into notice and conse- 
 quence, of course he would keep his secret for his 
 own profit and advantage. If it was in morals, or in 
 that mental philosophy from which the discoverer 
 could not derive any immediate profit, and he wished 
 to make others equally wise, he would of course 
 make known to others his secret under the most sa- 
 cred promises of concealment, and on certain condi- 
 tions, which might bring others into league with 
 themselves, and with equal responsibilities. Thus 
 it was natural that each inventor should manage his 
 discoveries to the benefit of himself -and family. All 
 mechanical professions used the terms art and 
 mystery in regard to apprentices who were bound to 
 serve them for their instruction. These smaller 
 mysteries at length expanded into larger ones ; rea-
 
 17 
 
 .sonings and principles were made mysteries, and each 
 faculty of knowledge associated under particular ob- 
 ligations to communicate their information to each, 
 other. These iormed societies, and were of more 
 or less importance as the age in which they lived 
 abounded in men of talents, or found favor in the 
 eyes of Potentates, or Nations. It is not in the na- 
 ture of man that his knowledge should ever be free 
 from imposture, even in the utmost extent of the 
 improvement of the human race. In the early ages 
 sometimes the wise wore obliged to hide their wisdom 
 in fanaticism or deceit for fear of the ignorance 
 around, as David did his sanity in the appearance of 
 a mad man, for fear of Achish ; and somtimes it took 
 this form from a disposition to impose upon credulity 
 for their own advantage, for the learned are not al- 
 ways good. All human knowledge is intimately 
 connected with some modes of religious belief ; and 
 *t was as distinct a law then, as now, that men " looked 
 through nnture, up to nature"** God." These differ- 
 ent creeds mingled themselves with every form of 
 knowledge ; and often it was ncessary to humour 
 the vulgar errors whose tide could not be resisted, 
 and security was often found in hidden meanings, 
 and dark sayings. The imagination of the early in- 
 habitants of the East had peopled the world with de- 
 ities. These were brought to the West and North 
 with the learning of those nations, and the produc- 
 B2
 
 18 
 
 tions of their soil. The Greeks, who were a people 
 of taste and judgment, rather than ofinvention, took 
 this importation as it came, but the wisest of them 
 only considered those Asiatic Gods as personifica- 
 tions of the passions, and simbols of thought, and 
 power. To say this openly would have roused the 
 feelings of those who were delighted with these crea- 
 tions; for, after a while every creature of our belief is 
 treated with reverence; for man is generally as fond 
 of the progeny of his brain, as of his other children, 
 and this would be dangerous : the intelligent there- 
 fore, associated, and formed secret societies to en- 
 lighten one another in what they considered the 
 nature and destiny of man, and what ideas they had 
 of its creator ; thus originated in the early days of 
 Greece, the mysteries of Ceres, celebrated in the 
 City of Eleusis,and from that circumstance called the 
 Eleusinian mysteries. It must of course have been 
 got up so as not to offend popular prejudice, and 
 therefore must seem to spring from a super-human 
 source. Ceres had this honor ; but if we have got 
 at their secrets, it was taught in their inner school 
 that Ceres was only an earth-born dame. But the 
 whole current of history, from the ages of fable, far 
 down into the Christian history, goes to shew, that 
 to obtain the honor of an initiation, one must be en- 
 lightened, and of good morals ; and that deviations 
 from Fectitude were most rigidly punished by those
 
 19 
 
 aonducting that institution ; and through all the ages of 
 the Eumolpidae, no Hierophantes the High Priest 
 of this order, was ever known to be a profligate man. 
 The forms of initiation were solemn, and well cal- 
 culated to impress upon the minds of the initiate the 
 punishments of vice, and the rewards of virtue. The 
 society was open to the virtuous of both sexes ; but 
 there were lesser mysteries for youths, and those not 
 so well informed, and the aspirant ascended by de- 
 grees as his virtues and information increased. It 
 was the general belief of the best informed men that 
 this society was of great importance in keeping up 
 good morals, and this belief extended to many who 
 did not belong to the fraternity. The doctrine of one 
 living and true God, a great first cause, was undoub- 
 tedly taught in these mysteries, which in all ages has 
 been- a fundamental principle in inducing men to 
 practice virtue. 
 
 At the same time that Greece had secret societies 
 to teach them with other wisdom, the worship of the 
 one God, the Hebrews, who had been taught by rev- 
 elation this great truth, had connected with this wor- 
 ship school* to perpetuate the knowledge they had 
 acquired from their experience and their intercourse 
 with the world. Religious forms were found to be 
 the best to keep up this knowledge, and in those 
 days Solomon who was deeply versed in the wisdom 
 of the age, and much indeed in advance of it, made
 
 20 
 
 use of this association in building an edifice to the 
 Most High Gnd whom he worshipped, to shew at 
 once the greatness of Jehovah, and the blessings he 
 had showered upon his people. He knew enough of 
 the nature of man to discern, that by dividing men 
 into classes, and promising promotion, was the sure 
 way of securing their services, and satisfying their 
 ambition. But the highest honors after all were not 
 bestowed upon the first builders, but on the Priests 
 who officiated in the Temple. The traditions that 
 have come down to us are clear, connected, lull of 
 meaning, and are corroborated by every chronicle of 
 those days, so that no man who has examined them 
 can have a doubt of it. If the Hebrew records were 
 lost this day, there is enough of their form of wor- 
 ship incorporated with the ceremonies of the four 
 higher degrees of the seven degrees of masonry to 
 preserve a considerable knowledge of the ceremoni- 
 al law to all ages. (3) 
 
 These secrets were carried to Babylon, and were 
 undoubtedly kept alive until the fall of Belshaz- 
 zar, when Daniel, being then the most distinguished 
 of this Hebrew school, came into favor, and in the 
 reign of Cyrus, the Temple was rebuilt, and the 
 same attachment for their native land and its habits 
 and societies which had lasted through the long cap- 
 tivity now gained fresh ardor ; and when Cyrus was 
 made acquainted with the hidden knowledge of the
 
 ftl 
 
 Hebrews, as that of the Medes and the Persians, he 
 entertained a friendly feeling for this oppressed peo- 
 pie. 
 
 The Eleucinian mysteries had been communicated 
 to Rome, and there took another form. The wo- 
 men of Rome took the lead. The Roman women had 
 more to do with public affairs than the women of 
 Greece ever had; and the rites of the Bona Dca 
 were established under their auspices and direction. 
 This was one of the meatis in connexion with their 
 code of laws, which kept their influence alive, and 
 permit me to say, preserved the republic so long. 
 The rites of Ceres are mentioned by almost every 
 Roman writer. Horace alludes to thenij and says, 
 
 " Est et fideli tula siientio 
 
 Merces : Vetabo, qui Cereris sacrum 
 
 Vulgarit arcanae, sub iisdem 
 
 Sit trabibus, frag-ilemque mecum 
 
 Solvat pliaselum." 
 
 Safe is (he silent tongue, which none can blame, 
 
 The faithful secret merit fame ; 
 
 Beneath one roof ne'er let him rest with me, 
 
 Who Ceres' mysteries reveals ; 
 
 In one frail bark ne'er let us put to sea, 
 
 !Nor tempt the jarring winds with spreading sails, 
 
 Virgil and others mention them with respect. 
 Cicero speaks ofthese Eleucinian mysteries in the 
 same manner ; and says " Athens seems to have 
 given birth to many excellent and divine things, and 
 to have introduced them among men ; and indeed 
 lone is more useful than those mysteries, by which,
 
 from wild and uncultivated life, we are pruned and 
 softened down to humanity ; and we thus learn by 
 experience the initia (first principles,) as they art 
 called, are the very principles of life.'' It has been 
 the opinion of the wisest men, that secret societies, 
 even the more mysterious existences, the Oracles, 
 and all that made up the knowledge of the science* 
 and the arts, with all the conjectures about the great 
 first cause, assisted in preparing the way to a fuller 
 revelation than man had before been blest with. "God 
 darted from far, into the minds of men, the rays of 
 several great truths, to dispose them for the reception 
 of others more important. He prepared them for 
 the instructions of the gospel, by those of philoso- 
 phers ; and it was with this view that God permitted 
 the heathen professsors to examine, in their schools, 
 several questions, and establish several principles, 
 which are nearly allied to religion ; and to engage 
 the attention of mankind, by the brilliancy of their 
 disputations. It is well known, that the philosophers 
 inculcate in every part of their writings, the exis- 
 tence of a God, the necessity of a Providence that 
 presides over the government of the world, the im- 
 mortality of the soul, the ultimate end of man, the 
 reward of the good, and punishment of the wicked, 
 the nature of those duties which constitute the bond 
 of society, the character of the virtues that are the 
 bams of morality, prudence, justice, fortitude, ten>
 
 23 
 
 perance, and other similar truths, which, though in- 
 capable of guiding men to righteousness, were yet 
 of use to scatter certain clouds, and to dispel certain 
 obscurities." 
 
 When the Christians first began their course, they 
 were a few simple men, but soon after the apostles 
 met in their primitive way, others of a more eleva- 
 ted character came into their belief. Paul, who 
 was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, and learned 
 in all th~e wisdom of the age, joined the converts, and 
 brought all the stores of his learning into the cause. 
 He became all things to all men, that he might thereby 
 g-ai'n .tome. Except in a few cities of the Jews, and 
 other Roman dependencies, the Christians were not 
 allowed to assemble openly, and therefore had re- 
 course to dens, caverns ; and even the tombs of the 
 Scipios, and of other mighty dead near Rome, were 
 used for places of secret meetings, and without doubt, 
 they had all the forms which they had previously re- 
 ceived from the learning of other nations, and per- 
 haps a mixture of all the sign? and symbols that were 
 then known to all these nations, some of whose people 
 had adopted the new faith, which enabled tlir new con- 
 verts to Christianity to pass with safety and security. 
 Paul in his defence before the court of Areopagus, 
 spoke to them of the Temple of the unknown God ; 
 this was one erected by the votaries oJ'the mysteries 
 of Eleusis, and treated the subject as though he wa
 
 24 
 
 perfectly acquainted with all their secrets of religion 
 and laws. The fathers of the Christian Church 
 were, many of them, wise men, and they found that 
 the pure doctrines of Jesus of Nazereth would not 
 spread rapidly by simply preaching them in their ab- 
 stract forms, and they brought into the service of 
 the Church certain imposing ceremonies, to impress 
 on the human mind the solemnity and importance of 
 the truths they taught, knowing that the eye is the 
 window of the soul. They therefore took the purest 
 and best of these ceremonies that could be found ev- 
 ery where. These preachers kept as near as possi- 
 ble to the Jewish costume, and Jewish law. In ev- 
 ery country, instead of outraging their customs and 
 habits, they conformed to them as far as possible. 
 At Athens nothing was said against the solemn cer- 
 emonies of Ceres, nor at Rome against the rites of 
 Bona Dea ; that which was wicked was preached 
 against ; that which was harmless was passed by, 
 and whatever could come in to aid the cause, was 
 readily selected. The author of our religion knew 
 what was in man, and he came to purify and elevate 
 what was in him ; not to destroy his nature, but to 
 exalt it ; not to quench his ray of knowledge, but 
 to extend it ; not to extinguish his love of earth, but 
 to connect it with his hopes of heaven. Whenever 
 his disciples pursued his policy, the doctrines of the 
 cross flourished, and man was made purer and better.
 
 25 
 
 It fe vrelljcnown, that learning flourished among 
 the Mahomedana from the ninth to the fourteenth 
 century. In the days of that splendid (Jaliph of Bag- 
 dad, Haroun-al Raschid, who began his reign in 
 784, and lived until 809, letters, and arts and scien- 
 ces were cultivated with more enthusiasm than at 
 any other period in the history of the world. Then, 
 and for several centuries afterwards, the mind of 
 man was in its greatest activity. All that had been 
 known fo man in former ages was gathered up, and 
 untrodden regions explored. New and splendid cre- 
 ations of the imagination were poured forth every 
 day, to delight and instruct the votaries of learning. 
 The mind, the taste, the fancy, was kept perpetual- 
 ly feasting. In this golden age of the Muse, such 
 as she will never see again, this divine enthusiasm 
 broke down all religious distinctions ; for in the 
 Courts of the Caliphs were seen those of every creed 
 under the sun. In this mental age a Lodge was 
 founded in Egypt, after the manner of the Pythago- 
 reans, and those of India. The assemblies wer 
 called the Societies of Wisdom, and made their head 
 quarters at Grand Cairo. In the reign of the sixth 
 Caliph of the Fatemite race, this Grand Lodge, 
 Dai-al hiemet, or House'of Wisdom, was in full glo- 
 ry. Here was collected the greatest library in the 
 world, and the largest number of the literati, that 
 ever were congregated at one place, were here ag- 
 C
 
 26 
 
 sembled. The Caliph was at the head of them, and 
 delivered speeches, or attended the lectures which 
 were daily given in the institution. They were di- 
 vided into seven degrees, after the manner of Pyth- 
 agoras ; and afterwards, for men are always striving 
 to do something more than those who have gone be- 
 fore, two more were added. These additional or- 
 ders have beep described by their enemies, and 
 much vilified ; but even their enemies agree, that 
 they had all the secrets of nature and art in their 
 body, and much wisdom and eloquence. The at- 
 tacks they made upon them, are in articles of faith ; 
 and the well read person must be aware, that in ev- 
 ery age, crimination and recrimination have pre- 
 vailed in all countries in matters of religion. The 
 members of these orders at the Grand Lodge of Cai- 
 ro, were divided into the four Great Faculties ; 
 LOGIC, MATHEMATICS, LAW, and MEDICINE. They 
 gave regular lectures in their various branches, 
 clothed in robes of ceremony ; which robes were 
 precisely the same in form as those now used by 
 the Doctors at Oxford and Cambridge in England, 
 and at Cambridge in this country by the President 
 and Professors on commencement days. This in- 
 stitution at Cairo was supported in a most magni- 
 ficient style by the Caliphs, who gave for its support 
 the immense sum of 278,000 ducats yearly. The 
 persons of the first order were called Dais ; these
 
 27 
 
 were near the person of the Caliph. The Refecks 
 were their companions and friends. As the orders 
 of the house of Wisdom began to decline, the ages 
 of Chivalry began to blazon, out of which, the Mil- 
 itary and religious orders of Knighthood grew up. 
 Numerous causes had been for centuries operating 
 to bring them forward. The gradual increase of 
 population, v/ealth and power of Europe, particular- 
 ly of France and England, with the advancement of 
 tho^e hardy virtues then practised by the Danes, 
 and other northern nations, had given them celebri- 
 ty and influence. The perpetual wars taught them 
 the accomplishment of arms, and the light which 
 had come frcm Rome, and from the East, had illu- 
 mined their minds, while it softened the f -cecities 
 of war ; and thence arose a splendor from the union 
 of corporeal and mental prowess, that had not been 
 known before. Christianity, that had then been 
 spread over Europe, had elevated the rank of wo- 
 men, in the scale of being ; for they had done much 
 for its diffusion throughout these countries, and the 
 advancement of it had secured to them rights that 
 had not been given them before, in barbarous ages. 
 With their wishes for the rescue of the holy land, 
 they mingled the courtesies of friendship for the de- 
 fenders of their country. The young men who were 
 trained to arms, when the orders of Knighthood 
 were founded, introduced some pledge of affectioA
 
 and protection for women, which proved to be of 
 permanent nature. The women of the north had 
 always held a higher rank in the scale of being thao 
 those of the east, with a few exceptions. They not 
 nly were the promoters of Christianity, and assist- 
 ed to erect the altar, but they had been found intht 
 feattle field, and often by their presence had turned 
 the tide of war. These military and religious or- 
 ders of Knighthood, fired with love and valour, wish- 
 ed to seethe land of which they had heard so much, 
 and which they considered as then profaned by be- 
 ing held by the Ismailites. The history of the Cru- 
 sades is familiar to all. The gallantry of the orders 
 f Knighthood ; their prodigies of valour ; their zeal 
 in getting acquainted with the wisdom of the east, 
 are equally well known to all ; but the foundation 
 for the rancour with which the Templars, and other 
 rders, have been assailed by religionists, and his* 
 torians, and lately by novelists, particularly by Sir 
 TTalter Scott, is not so well known ; and perhaps 
 the cause of this hostility was in some degree un- 
 known to those who took pleasure in reviling these 
 rders of Knighthood. We will then spend a mo- 
 ment in explanation. In the days of the decline of 
 the Lodge of Wisdom at Cairo, amongst its converts 
 was Hassan Ben Sabah, the founder of a new 
 branch of this order, called the Order of Assassins, 
 or Eastern Ismailites, as authors of that day called
 
 29 
 
 them, to distinguish them from the Egyptians, or 
 Mother Lodge : the term was then used in a harm- 
 less sense. Hassan was ambitious, and full of re- 
 sources ; but he loved power to that extent that he 
 would put both worlds at defiance to obtain it. Se- 
 lecting a mountain in the north of Persia, he trained 
 his followers to the same desperation, and pouring 
 from their fastnesses in Mount Almoot, he took cas- 
 tles and towns at will. They were trained the up- 
 per part of the order, to the higher knowledge of 
 the secrets, and made the minor part their blind fol- 
 lowers. At the same time the Knights were attack- 
 ing Damascus on the west these Assassins were 
 attacking it on the east, but without any concert, at 
 first, or probably any knowledge of each other. 
 The arms of the Assassins were daggers. They 
 closed in fight, and used every species of cruelty in 
 war. They neither gave nor took quarter ; plunder 
 was their immediate object, power their general 
 aim, and murder their means. The Ismailites found 
 both enemies attacking them at once, and in their 
 accounts of these campaigns, groupe<Tlhe two or- 
 ders together ; but it must be remembered, that 
 the assailed were the most prolific historians of 
 that day, and from their accounts, most of these 
 things have been taken by Europeans since ; 
 and in fact, it .vas impossible while enemies were 
 sacking their cities, for them to discriminate motives. 
 C2
 
 The Ismailites of Damascus knew much of the hor- 
 rid deeds of the Assassins, and pretended to know 
 all the doctrines they held, and they were bad 
 enough no doubt, for the perversion of knowledge IB 
 the worst of crimes. They charged the Templam 
 who were engaged with the Assassins as having pro- 
 fessed the same principles, and this error has beea 
 propagated ever since ; but we regret to see suck 
 ui antiquarian as Walter Scott assisting to perpetu- 
 ate these groundless charges. But this may pro- 
 duce good in the end ; for one way of finding out 
 truth is by the boldness of falsehood. The Agt of 
 Reason produced "the Apology for the Bible," and 
 the blasphemies of the infidel often affords to us a 
 lesson upon the depravity of the human mind whea 
 it travels beyond its powers ; but the reaction was 
 equal to the attack ; yea, much greater ; and the 
 hidden truths, and magnificent proofs of the authen- 
 ticity of our religion, grew more evident, in propor- 
 tion to its danger. The misrepresentation was in- 
 deed, natural, for what difference could the ill-treat- 
 ed Damascenes see between the sword of the Tem- 
 plar, or that of any other Christian knight, and the 
 dagger of the Assassin, when both were directed 
 against himself and his people, and kindred. In the 
 sight of heaven there was a difference. The Assas- 
 sins have perished and left no trace behind, but in 
 the memory of those nations which have written the
 
 St. 
 
 epitaph of the Assassin in revenge. The Templar* 
 have been vilified and scattered, shorn of their glo- 
 ries and abased, and suffered, for centuries, tht 
 scorn of nations ; but they have still a name and a 
 praise left, which will grow purer and brighter witk 
 the lapse of ages. The Templars have had a Grand 
 Master through a long succession of years, and are 
 now reviving the record of their glories, and polish- 
 ing their escutcheon. The world owes them much 
 for what they have done : The learned and the fair 
 should never suffer them to be reviled in history or 
 legend ; for in the cause of both, they fought and 
 bled, free from selfishness, or sinister motives, and 
 laid the foundation of the refinement of modern na- 
 tions, on a broad and firm base. I have blended the 
 orders of Knighthood together, for in our day it ie 
 difficult to divide them, without entering into details 
 too minute for the general reader, and unnecessary 
 for my purpose. I atn happy in seeing a general 
 attention to these Christian orders in this country ; 
 it argues well for the taste of the times. There can- 
 not be too many stimulants in our minds to this lofty 
 virtue which fhe order inoulcafes. arid has preserv- 
 ed in the darkest hours in the history of man, since 
 they grew up to notice and honour. (4) 
 
 We will now return to the age of the introduction 
 of Masonry into Great Britain, about which tim 
 this secret society took the name of masons, being
 
 32 
 
 builders ; some derive the term from a French word, 
 some from a Latin word, but it is not easy to de- 
 cide, and the question is not one of much impor- 
 tance. It was then a society who had knowledge 
 and skill, not only in the art of designing a struct- 
 ure, but in all the arts which are required to finish 
 it, which extends to glass-makers, workers in iron 
 and brass, and almost the whole circle of the arts. 
 With this knowledge, as but little of it was in bookg, 
 they had certain obligations to bind them into a fra- 
 ternity of artists, and men of professional knowledge; 
 and they had amongst them certain traditions from 
 other countries, and from men of former days, whose 
 virtues, and zeal in building houses to God, had be- 
 come renowned ; such Gods as they were taught to 
 believe in : and this stimulated them in their relig- 
 ious duties, and inspired them with brotherly love, 
 whose fruits are always harmony and prosperity. 
 Their different degrees were the natural advances 
 of knowledge ; and assisted as in the case of the wise 
 King of Israel in the government of their order. 
 Glastonbury Abbey is supposed by some antiquari- 
 ans to have been the first work of the Craft. Pope 
 Gregory and St. Austin were the friends of these 
 early masons ; the latter was their Grand Master. 
 Alfred the wise of Northumbria, who had been ed- 
 ucated in Ireland, and who was in advance of his- 
 subjects in the arts and sciences, as well as in lite-
 
 38 
 
 rature, began his reign in G86, was the friend and 
 protector of the Craft ; but it was reserved for Al- 
 fred the Great, about two centuries afterwards, to 
 be their first great protector, patron, and brother. 
 This extraordinary man appropriated one eighth of 
 all the Royal revenues of his kingdom, and which, 
 by his knowledge of political economy, and his prac- 
 tice of judicious taxation, was a very large sum, to 
 the craft, and built Abbeys, Monasteries and Chap- 
 els during the whole of his reign. He placed hit 
 instructor, confessor, adviser and primate, at th 
 head of the craft, and every one who wished to b 
 distinguished applied himself to some branch of me- 
 chanical knowledge. Alfred worked in gold, and 
 became quite an adept in the business. A late An- 
 glo-Saxon writer says, that some specimens of his 
 workmanship were in existence not many years 
 since. This Great King studied the Hebrew and 
 other oriental languages to get at their history, and 
 to sound the hidden depths of their knowledge, 
 He considered this institution as one of the great 
 means of civilizing his subjects, of whom he com- 
 plains as sadly ignorant. In a few years after the 
 demise of Alfred in 926, the first English Lodge 
 was collected and established under the immediate 
 care of Edward the elder. This lodge was the care 
 and pride of Athelstan, the first king of all England, 
 fcis predecessors not having extended their
 
 54 
 
 o-Yer the whole Island. This monarch was well ed- 
 ucated, bold, liberal and discerning. He gave the 
 Craft constant labor, and placed them high in the 
 scale of his favourites. He founded during his reign 
 more than forty houses of a religious, scientific and 
 charitable character. In the reign of Edwin or Ed- 
 wy, as many historians call him, about 965, Duns- 
 tan, known in history as St. Dunstan, arose. Liv- 
 ing near Glastonbury it is said that he received hit 
 first inspirations in the old Church we have mention- 
 ed, and became a politician, a prelate and a saint, 
 in rapid succession. He bwcdnie grand Master of 
 the Masonic fraternity in England, and was a tru 
 and powerful friend to the Craft until the day of hit 
 death. His wonderful influence gave them a very 
 high standing at that early age of improvement. 
 Masonry declined from his day until about 1050, 
 when Edward the confessor, a wise and learned 
 monarch took masonry into his favor, and gave the 
 masons privileges and distinctions as members of the 
 Lodge of England, for then, all masons in that 
 country ranked as members of one Lodge. The 
 subordinate branches were considered as mere em- 
 enations for several years afterwards. When Wil- 
 liam of Normandy come to England in 1066, and 
 succeeding in conquering it, masonry was in a 
 flourishing condition ; but what part he took in it, we 
 do not know; at least, as far as my researches extend,.
 
 35 
 
 history is quite silent upon the subject ; others may 
 have been more successful in their exertions to get 
 information on this point. The nation was under- 
 going a change in its records and institutions, and 
 it is probable that the conquerer and reformer had 
 too much to do to look after particular societies, and 
 too many calls for his wealth to expend it on Church- 
 es or Converts. Masonry however, must have been 
 flourishing in no small degree in the first century 
 after William of Normandy, for the fraternity have 
 many of the words in their ancient works which 
 were formed about that time out of the old Saxon 
 words partaking in some degree of Norman termin- 
 ations. The College of Oxford was commenced, it 
 was said, by Alfred, to keep alive all the informa- 
 tion the people of his kingdom could collect. He 
 established this institution in order that learning 
 need not be interrupted by war, or court quarrels, 
 but that the walks of learning should be free from 
 fears and contentions. 
 
 In 1272 the fraternity was again gathered by the 
 Arch-Bishop of York, who was Grand Master, and 
 employed then in finishing Westminster Abbey, a 
 work which the Craft had commenced an half cen- 
 tury previous ; but from some cause, probably but 
 little known at this time, the work was not contin- 
 ued : they were also employed in building other 
 Colleges at Cambridge and Oxford at this, and in 
 subsequent times.
 
 36 
 
 During the long and disastrous wars between the 
 Houses of York and Lancaster, all the Lodges were 
 suspended, and the fraternity were only found in 
 private meetings. They had sworn to banish par- 
 ty feuds from their borders, and they shut up their 
 Lodges in order to preserve themselves pure from 
 this charge. Henry the 7th when he came to the 
 throne of England, was so fully convinced that it 
 had been efficaicous in softening the calamities of 
 civil war, that ho called the fraternity together, and 
 enrolled himself among them, and became a true 
 friend to them. Masonry was in favor with Henry 
 the 8th, and when that great child of honor, Car- 
 dinal Woolsey was at the zenith of his power,- he was 
 installed Grand Master, and gave the fraternity hon- 
 ors commensurate with his own. By the Craft he 
 built the Colleges he founded. He was accquain- 
 ted with the orders of knighthood which had been 
 auper-added to masonry at the close of the eleventh 
 century, and the commencement of the twelfth. 
 With the fraternity Woolsey had enrolled most of 
 the learned men in the kingdom, and then the first 
 masonic lectures were given ; I mean those public 
 lectures which were given at Oxford on the scien- 
 ces. From the fall of this great man, for great in- 
 deed he was, we see him through the medium of 
 history only as an ambitious Ecclesiastic, striving 
 for the'chair of St. Peter, and as an avaricious man,
 
 37 
 
 amassing wealth; but there was another side ofth 
 picture, and this is dear to every lover of learning. 
 " He was a scholar, a ripe and good one, 
 Exceeding wise, fair spoVen, and persuading;" 
 and if he was ambitious, he was ambitious of giving 
 glory to his age, as an era of knowledge. Power 
 has often been courted for worse purposes. Thom- 
 as Cromwell was his successor as Grand Master ; 
 he died on the scaffold. He was a zealous ma- 
 son, but this was never set down as one of his crimes 
 by his enemies. He was a great and good man, 
 who had the misfortune to serve a capricious tyrant. 
 The history of the reigns of Edward and Mary, as 
 far as I have been able to discover, is silent upon 
 the condition of the craft ; but in all probability they 
 were not in good odour, for masonry seldom flour- 
 ishes when bigots bear sway. We find in the reign 
 of Elizabeth this singular fact, that when the Lodg- 
 es were resuscitating from a long slumber, that she, 
 not being fully acquainted with their designs, and 
 the nature of the institution, sent an order for them 
 to desist ; but on being so far let into their secrets 
 as to form a correct judgment of the nature and ten- 
 dency of their society, she became a good friend 
 to the order, and protected them throughout her long 
 and prosperous reign. In her time Inigo Jones, 
 the great architect, was the active head of the craft. 
 He built many fine edifices by their assistance, and 
 D
 
 38 , 
 
 continued an active member of the fraternity until 
 extreme old age deprived them of his usefulness. 
 
 In 1666, after the great fire of London, the ma- 
 sons made every exertion to have the city built up 
 with more taste and regularity than it had before 
 exhibited. In the time of Cromwell, every thing was 
 for a while absorbed in that conventicle spirit, which, 
 like Aaron's rod swallows up all around it, and we hear 
 but little of masonry, until the return of Charles the 
 2d, who had been initiated into the mysteries of the 
 craft while absent from his country, an exile. 
 When he came again to power, he became the 
 friend of the fraternity, and protected and patron- 
 ized them as much as such an indolent and volup- 
 tuous man could ; but as a proof of the purity and 
 elevation masonry was in, when Villers, Duke of 
 Buckingham was grand master, he gave up his 
 charge as feeling that his profligate life was a stain 
 upon the jewels ofthe oider. When bigotry began 
 again to assume power and influence, masonry be- 
 gan to decline ; and during the time James the sec- 
 end filled the throne of England, clamors were in- 
 cessent against the craft ; but when William of Or- 
 ange came to the throne, the masons once more re- 
 vived. William was a mason, and so much attach- 
 ed to the order that he presided in a lodge ; and it 
 is said by the chronicles of that age, that he was an 
 excellent master mason, and presided with due care 
 to all the rights ofthe brethren.
 
 39 
 
 In the first part of the reign of Queen Ann, iwafar 
 sonry was neglected, but she was so far enlightened 
 as to the true designs and principles of masonry, as 
 to become a warm friend of the order, and a patron- 
 ess as long as she lived. At this time, many of the 
 scholars of the realm joined the fraternity, and their 
 accession of learned men was remarkable, for it 
 made an era in masonry. The great metaphysician, 
 John Locke, had previously joined the masonic 
 family, and in some of his writings had spoken with 
 great respect of them. He endeavoured to show 
 that some masonic papers coming through the 
 French language into English in a rude translation, 
 purporting to have been the opinions held by Peter 
 Gore, were no others than those of Pythagoras. The 
 testimony of so great and so good a patriot and schol- 
 ar as John Locke is of no small importance in our fa- 
 vor, if it stood alone ; but it is corroborated by oth* 
 rs, wise, and good as he. 
 
 In 1720, the masons met with a great loss in the 
 destruction of their records by fire. This loss wa 
 deeply lamented, for these records were very ancient 
 and valuable. This destruction, it has been thought 
 was the work of some weak brothers, who were ap- 
 prehensive that the secrets of masonry would be di- 
 vulged if they were not destroyed. The oriental 
 scholar might as well be alarmed at leaving an Ar- 
 abic manuscript in some place where children might
 
 40 
 
 see it, for fear they would carry off all the learning 
 it contained. Weak friends are often more danger- 
 ous than magnanimous enemies. From the earliest 
 ages the fraternity had encouraged charity in 
 thought, word and deed ; but it was reserved for 
 the Duke of Buccleugh, in the year 1720, who was 
 then grand master, with his associates, to institute 
 a permanant charity fund. The plan succeeded 
 wonderfully well, and has been imitated ever since 
 in this country as well as in England, not only by 
 grand but subordinate lodges. 
 
 In 1733 the first Grand lodge was established in 
 America. Its history and progress the men who 
 have taken part in our society, will be the subject 
 of our next lecture. We have too long spoken of 
 masonry in barren generalities, and sweeping ex- 
 pressions ; but the time has come when we must 
 come to facts, principles and arguments ; all of 
 which are at hand for the use of the sincere mason ; 
 and a portion of which we shall attempt to bring 
 forth. Our deficiencies will be hereafter supplied 
 by those of more learning and leisure We claim no 
 merit in our undertaking, but that of honest intention, 
 and some little industry.
 
 LECTURE XX, 
 
 " 'Tis a heavenly light 
 Impregnating the soul ; secret it acts, 
 Unconscious of all motives but its own ; 
 Equal to gods and men, it forms its laws, 
 And bears but one effect, from one unaltered cause .V 
 
 After masonry was brought into this country in 
 1733, from England, it was soon propagated in the 
 several provinces, and flourished, notwithstanding 
 some difficulties had arisen between the ancient 
 York masons and those of other parts of England. 
 The Lodges in Scotland were involved in the dis- 
 putes which reached this country, and for a while 
 threatened to retard the progress of the craft here. 
 These difficulties were by the prudence of the early 
 friends to masonry overcome, and it was in a very 
 flourishining condition when the revolutionary war 
 commenced. During the war, Lodges were held at 
 every convenient place by the officers of the Amer- 
 ican as also by the British army, and in one instance 
 when the regalia of an American Lodge fell into the 
 hands of the enemy, it was restored as soon as pos- 
 sible. After the peace of 1783, masonry again re- 
 vived, and the craft seemed deeply engaged in ex- 
 D2
 
 42 
 
 tending its blessings as rapidly as the people of hoa- 
 est intentions and good hearts became convinced of 
 its utility, and were desirous of belonging to the 
 fraternity. Such has been the progress of the sci- 
 ence of masonry, that we have now more than dou- 
 ble the number of Lodges, including Chapters and 
 Encampments, &.c. in this country, than there are 
 in Great-Britain, including Scotland and Ireland. 
 Masonry travelled with those who emigrated to the 
 west, and grew up with them, and kept pace with 
 the march of population and intelligence in that 
 quarter. There cannot be less than eight hundred 
 well conducted and regular working Lodges, inclu- 
 ding Chapters, Encampments, &c. now in the Uni- 
 ted States, whose members are amongst the most 
 active, intelligent, honest and productive part of the 
 population of the country. There are nominally a 
 greater number. Wherever these Lodges have 
 grown up and flourished, the village, town or city 
 has flourished also ; and in general, in proportion 
 to their numbers, has been the harmony and good 
 affections of the people. 
 
 We will leave the history of the progress of ma- 
 sonry for some time, and proceed to consider some 
 of the objections to masonry which are now urged 
 with that vehemence that seems to require us to re- 
 pel them, not by vindictive retorts, but by fair and 
 manly arguments. The opposers of masonry in the
 
 48 
 
 first place object to all secret societies ; because, 
 say they, plots, treasons, &.c. may grow up in them. 
 This objection is not a new one, it was made ages 
 ago by those tyrants who were in perpetual dread 
 of losing their power ; and it is now repeated by 
 those who have nothing to fear from this source, and 
 merely repeated from habit, without thoroughly 
 weighing the objection. The true meaning of a se- 
 cret society is, when the existence of the society is 
 kept secret, as well as their deeds ; not when the 
 existence of it is avowed, and only the forms of pro- 
 ceedings are not divulged. If the forms of masonry 
 are secret, the society is not, but is accessible to all 
 who have the qualifications of honesty and intelli- 
 gence who wish to gain them. How then can that 
 body be dangerous whose doors are always ready 
 to be opened when worth and wisdom approach and 
 demand admittance ? 
 
 Another objection to us is that we have sounding 
 names that can have no meaning in them, but arc 
 used with the intention of imposing on the credu- 
 lous. The answer to and refutation of this objection 
 are ready at hand. The original names, Master 
 and Wardens, are simple enough for any one mas- 
 ter being used in so general a manner in domestic 
 and covnmon life as to reach the humblest person in 
 the community, if he has the government or instruc- 
 tion of a single child, or an apprentice ; and war-
 
 44 
 
 dens is a good, familiar old English word to express 
 a guardian care of persons or property in ecclesias- 
 tical or domestic relations. The appellation Wor- 
 shipful was very common in olden time, and used 
 to express a respect for those who had power or in- 
 fluence, without hereditary or official titles. There 
 was no assumption or arrogance in these appella- 
 tions, for it must be remembered they were give* 
 in humility to many who had titles^ wealth andy*ame, 
 without these. When the other degrees were giv- 
 en, they hardly kept pace with the titles then givea 
 to the priesthood, and other orders. They repre- 
 sented in their offices distinguished personages ; 
 and many of them were titled magnates of the land j 
 and of course, their appellatives were in some de- 
 gree in conformity to those personages. It must 
 be remembered also, that in the countries that gave 
 birth to these terms, there are many titles in use : 
 His Holiness ; Hit Majesty ; His Grace ; My Lord ; 
 Reverend, and Right Revwend Fathers in God ; and 
 Honorables, and Right Honorables, all abound ; and 
 shall we be censured for having Worshipfuls, and 
 Right Worshipfuls, Grand, and Eminent, and Most 
 Eminent, particularly as most of them in those days 
 who bore these titles had won them by virtue and 
 valor. There is not one of these titles made by us, 
 and shall we venture to change them ? Ko ; surely 
 Bot ; so long as our republican people continue m
 
 45 
 
 political, civil, and ecclesiastical bodies their un- 
 meaning titles of His Excellency, His Honor, or 
 any such relics of regal and aristocratic ages. We 
 us masons use these terms only while the insignia 
 of office are on us ; others are often used long after 
 the cause for using them has ceased. 
 
 Our regalia and dress are sometimes called " gor- 
 geous trappmgs," and said to be ill-suited to the 
 simplicity of our other institutions. These too, w 
 did not design ; they came down to us, and if cor- 
 rectly read, are full of beauty and meaning. Ar- 
 morial bearings are as old as the history of civilized 
 man. The exploits of individuals national deeds 
 and mental and martial achievements, have been bla- 
 zoned on shields, painted on walls, and written in his- 
 tory. Heraldry, from which our emblazonings came, 
 is a beautiful science, and abused only by those who 
 do not understand it. Every thing in it has a mean- 
 ing : It is the condensed and powerful language of 
 emblems, speaking to the eye volumes of honor, for 
 deeds of merit. Some authors have called the lan- 
 guage of masonry a hieroglyphic language ; but 
 this is not precisely correct. It is not alone a lan- 
 guage of signs ; but these emblems are heraldric as 
 well as hieroglyphic ; they not only convey thoughts 
 upon ethics but are historical, as medals, and es- 
 cutcheons. These rightly read are full of beautiful 
 truths, not only of the heart, but are memorials of
 
 46 
 
 acts, and impressive signatures of duty, and teach 
 also many lessons to all degrees and classes of men. 
 The volume is large, and hardly any thing mor 
 than the title page is generally read. So much for 
 our language as it strikes the eye ; the ear by the 
 assistance of memory has also a spoken language, 
 which when united with that of the former, contains 
 secrets worth knowing, not only for every day use, 
 but for the purest codes of honor and principle. 
 
 These very regalia and dresses, so offensive to 
 many persons of the present day, contain not a sin- 
 gle article that is not of great antiquity. The Medea 
 wore the tiara, as well as the priests of Israel. Th 
 whole furniture and arrangements of a Lodge room 
 are from antiquity, and so is that of a modern Chris- 
 tian church. The first Christian church that was 
 erected, was built in Tvre, on the ruins of an an- 
 cient temple. The ceremonies of the dedication of 
 this church have been the model for all dedications 
 since. The form of the altar in our Lodges, 
 as well as the altars in the Christian churches 
 are modeled from ancient tombs. The skull and 
 cross bones were in former days laid on the masonic 
 altar, as well as on that of the anchoret. The cer- 
 emonies of the synagogue, the masonic lodge room, 
 and the mosque, originated in the schools of tlit 
 east, and a champion of the Christian religion has 
 said that " Christianity, iu fact, is at one and the
 
 47 
 
 Same time a kind of philosophic sect, and an aa- 
 tique system of legislation. Hence the abstinen- 
 ces, the fasts, the vigils, of which we find traces in 
 the ancient republics, and which were practiced by 
 the learned schools of India, Egypt and Greece. 
 The more clearly we scrutinize this question, the 
 more we are convinced that the greater part of the 
 insults aimed at the Christian worship, will recoil 
 upon antiquity." This was said in defence of the 
 church, and we have a right to it most certainly, in 
 upport of our own ceremonies. 
 
 A moralist has said that human life it a web ef 
 mingled yarn ; and it may with equal propriety be 
 *aid that there are threads of every hue and mate- 
 rial in the warp and woof of masonry, from every 
 web that ingenuity or accident has interwoven in the 
 destinies of man, which may be easily traced on the 
 cloth-ground ; but it requires caution and patience 
 <o draw them out for examination. 
 
 At the time of the revival of masonry in the reign 
 of Queen Ann, when so many men of letters joined 
 the order, the craft had not much to do with building, 
 but revived the speculative and ethical part of the 
 science, and perhaps, added to it new beauties by 
 extending their lectures farther than when the ope- 
 rative part was connected with it. Still the brethren 
 never forght that they were once operative as well 
 as_ speculative, masons, but laid, in all due ceremo-
 
 48 
 
 aies the corner stones of almost every puplic edifice 
 which was erected in that day ; which practice has 
 continued until this time. Many of the Lodges at 
 this time had lecturers who were very learned men, 
 and gave exhibitions of skill in the arts and sciences 
 for the benefit of the brethren, and every day added 
 some new fact or principle to the general stock of 
 knowledge. It has been said, that if masonry has 
 been of use in rude ages before the light of Christ- 
 ianity beamed upon us, it is now of no advantage to 
 mankind, when the sciences are taught in every 
 school and college, and morality and divinity from 
 every pulpit. When all mankind are Christians, and 
 all agree in one creed, and practice the same vir- 
 tues without quarrelling with one another, it will be 
 time, then, I grant, to think that masonry is super- 
 seded by it, and that then Lodges will be no longer 
 necessary. The philanthropist, who early seized 
 upon masonry, as breathing the most perfect spirit 
 of toleration, and well adapted to carry it into effect, 
 the language being general, neither interfering 
 with any religious form of worship, or form of gov- 
 ernment, may then think, he shall require its aid 
 no longer ; but until that time comes, he will not 
 relinquish his hold on this great engine of that tol- 
 eration which brings to bear, charity, duty, and 
 conventional obligations on the intercourse and wel- 
 fare of men. The angry feelings of men grow raotp
 
 turbulent from not understanding one another cof- 
 rectl/. This has often been exemplified in tjie warft 
 of different nations. Masons of every country can 
 easily make themselves known to their brethren of 
 the most distant nation, or the most dissimilar in lan- 
 guage and inhabits. To this spirit of toleration we 
 are indebted for the progress in the arts and scien- 
 ces, and the decay ofthose prejudices that have sd 
 often made the world a battle field and drove deso- 
 lation over the fairest countries on the globe. It 
 has not only diffused liberality, but it has given fa- 
 cilities to commerce, which has ever been the gold- 
 en chain which binds nations together. 
 
 Masonry is likewise beneficial in our Republican 
 institutions. To make a man a good citizen with 
 us, he should be acquainted with all our modes of 
 doing business. The first lesson that we should be 
 taught after that of duly estimating our liberties, is a 
 knowledge of the forms to reach the essence of that 
 freedom we possess. A well constituted Lodge is 
 careful to preserve the rights of every brother, to 
 give a fair opportunity to every one for expressing 
 his sentiments with all freedom and openness. This 
 he has an opportunity of doing every day ; and at 
 the same time it learns him that decorum and obe- 
 dience which is at once the life, and the charm of 
 all deliberative bodies. I have attended schools of 
 elocution, and societies for learning the art of de 1 - 
 E
 
 50 
 
 bating a question ; but I have never found one so 
 well adapted to teach the young mind the art of 
 spreading his views of a subject before an assembly 
 of men, as a well regulated Lodge. The authority 
 vested in the master by ancient usage is ample for 
 the purpose of keeping order, and the rights of ev- 
 ery brother are too well denned to prevent any pow- 
 er from encroaching upon them. The doctrine that 
 no personal reflections, or cutting suggestions, or 
 improper allusions should ever be suffered by the 
 presiding officer, makes a lodge room at once the 
 most chaste and correct arena for debate, ever yet 
 invented. Here the speaker is bound to respect 
 his brethren bound to dispense with all irritating 
 observations, and to confine himself rigidly to his 
 subject. Warmth, zeal, and passion may sometimes 
 be seen in the discussions of a Lodge, but the mas- 
 ter's mallet has more power than the speaker's mace, 
 or the sheriff's wand in keeping order. Some ofthe 
 most gentlemanly debaters in our Halls of legisla- 
 tion received their first lessons in a masonic Lodge. 
 From the Lodges of Masons have been borrowed 
 almost all the leading rules and orders which are 
 considered as Parlimentary at the present day ; and 
 this will not be a matter of surprise when we con- 
 sider how many eminent men have acted as Grand 
 Masters in former ages, while these rules and orders 
 grew up.
 
 51 
 
 Another advantage to be derived from Masonry 
 is, that a close attention to the subject strengthens 
 the memory. A bright mason must be a man of 
 fresh and vivid recollections ; he must treasure up 
 so much in his memory of the abstract, so much that 
 strikes the eye, and the ear, that he becomes a full 
 and ready man by this science alone. These treas- 
 ures are of every day use teo ; for there' is 
 hardly a line of masonry that has not a bearing ou 
 some act of life, or could be made to bear upon it. 
 It is difficult for men to trace the origin of a par- 
 ticular thought, nor are they always desirous of go- 
 ing up to the springs of knowledge, but the mason 
 knows that many a good thought and expression 
 have been taken from our code by those who were 
 not aware of their esoteric meaning ; but this is not 
 sufficiently known for us to have the credit of it - 
 " the light shinetli in darkness, but the darkness com- 
 prchcndelh it nof." 
 
 Masonry is one of the best restrainers of vice 
 that can be found in the community ; for the penal 
 codes of nations contain no other preventives of 
 vice than what arise from the penalties threatened 
 for every offence. These penalties operate but fee- 
 bly on ardent temperaments ; in the fury of the pas- 
 sions these penalties are forgotton, or disregarded j 
 but masonry has in her code the severe penalties of 
 contempt, neglect, and expulsion. The law, how-
 
 ijver sanguinary, cannot punish an intention t com- 
 mit a crime, unless an act follows ; but masonry at 
 the first symptoms frequently checks the progiess of 
 crime, when the law could do nothing ; and we go 
 further, and punish crimes and offences after they 
 are committed which the laws cannot reach ; such 
 as oppression, ingratitude, uncourteousness, and 
 want of philanthropy. It frequ cntly enters the doors 
 of domestic life, and reconciles parties who had out- 
 raged no law of the land ; but still were pursuing a 
 course to make much misery to themselves and 
 thefs. Et reclaims in many instances bad hab- 
 its before they have become fixed and stubborn. 
 It often happens that gentle means are the best even 
 in the worst of cases ; simple remedies are some- 
 times effective when compounds and powerful ones 
 fail. Masonry often destroys feuds in their incipi- 
 ent stages, in the secrecy of the Lodge. 
 
 Besides the perennial effects of masonic charities 
 which flow in silent, secret streams to the widow's 
 humble dwelling to cheer her and her orphan child- 
 ren, there are on record, and in the memories of 
 many yet living, signal instances of masonic gener- 
 osity and chivalrous conduct. The history of our 
 wars, if they were minutely written out, would fur- 
 nish many instances of this character. In the mas- 
 sacre that followed the surrender of Fort William 
 Henry in 1757, those who were saved, except th<"
 
 53 
 
 lew who defended themselves by rushing on the CH- 
 emy and getting their arms in the energy of despair, 
 were saved by the masons among the French offi- 
 cers. This was a current report at that time, and 
 has been confirmed by the solemn declarations of 
 many of those heroes since in the hearing of the 
 writer. In the war of the revolution the diffusion 
 of masonry among the American officers was the 
 mean of reconciling the jarring interests and soft- 
 ening the sectional feelings of those otherwise dis- 
 cordant materials. Duels were prevented in many 
 cases of quarrels by brother masons forming a court 
 of honor, and by taking upon themselves to control 
 those over whom they had a certain conventional 
 eontrol. This was not all, it was acknowledged that 
 masonry did much in softening the hard lot of the 
 prisoners on both sides. The departed patriot he- 
 roes of the revolution were witnesses of this fact. 
 Some few are left to tell the tale again . They were 
 patrons of the institution when peace was restored 
 and independence secured. Knox, Brooks, Jack- 
 son, and many others within my knowledge, took a 
 deep interest in masonry and were active members 
 of lodges until death or old age deprived the frater- 
 nity of their services. I have seen Governor Brooks 
 in the last years of his life join in a dedication and 
 installation of a lodge in his neighborhood, and take 
 a part in the ceremonies with the enthusiasm of ear-
 
 54 
 
 Her days, mingled with the solemn glow of political 
 virtue, and the Christian hopes, as from age, and 
 oorporeal infirmities he was reminded that a change 
 of worlds was nigh. Could he have believed that 
 masons were wicked above other men ? Could such 
 a. patriot have thought that such frightful political, 
 moral and religious evils were wrapt up in ma- 
 sonry ? 
 
 Many of the enemies of masonry, who think that 
 it may not be wicked, say that it is in their opinion 
 a trifling, silly institution, unworthy the dignity of 
 thinking, elevated men, who wish to be philoso- 
 phers and Christians. I would ask them, if they be- 
 Heve that such a man as Benjamin Franklin, wh 
 was constantly looking for what was mental, useful, 
 practical and charitable, would have spent his time 
 which he considered so valuable, in following up a 
 useless institution for so many years of his life, and 
 have uniformly expressed his attachment for a tri- 
 fling, silly society ? And I would ask those who say 
 that masonry is unprincipled and wicked, how such a 
 man as the late Bishop Bass, a learned, pious and 
 amiable divine in this country, could have been 
 seen at masonic festivals, addressing the fraternity 
 on the principles of their order ? Could patriots, 
 philosophers and holy men have gone on through 
 Jife, supporting, honoring, and blessing a body of 
 men without principle, utility or virtue ? No, the
 
 55 
 
 inference must fairly be that they were hypocrite* 
 or that masonry contains something valuable. 
 
 Of the uses of masonry in the war of 1812, I can 
 speak distinctly. Thousands of dollars were ex- 
 pended to assist the poor prisoners who were on 
 board of our prison ships from Louisiana to Maine, 
 and I am equally certain that many of our country- 
 men who had the misfortune to be made prisoners 
 were benefited by masons, and some of the unfor- 
 tunate who received this benefit had no connexion 
 with the order, but the brethren among the enemy 
 hearing what had been done in this country, were 
 emulous not to be surpassed in their deeds of kind- 
 ness as masons, and therefore extended their assist- 
 ance to others who were not masons. Are such 
 things nothing ? Shall generosity, benevolence, 
 kindness, and all the virtues of the heart be praised 
 only in the abstract, and no honor awarded to good 
 deeds ? Reverence is due to faith, but as men, we 
 must accord our love and admiration to works ; 
 both are commended by our Father in Heaven. 
 
 The military officers who have fought on our 
 frontiers, and others have spoken freely and openly 
 of the beneficial effects of masonry on the charac- 
 ter and habits of our frontier Indians. Several in- 
 stances of masons having been rescued from the 
 tomahawk and the faggot have been mentioned, and 
 of the correctness of which there can be no doubt.
 
 56 
 
 How strong must be that principle that can overcome 
 the spirit of revenge in a savage breast ? From the 
 numerous instances current among us of the strong 
 influence of masonry in healing moral breaches and 
 softening asperities, we might fill a large volume, 
 but permit me to relate one of these instances illus- 
 trative of the preceding remarks and only one ; ma- 
 ny are within the knowledge of my hearers which 
 they will readily bring to their recollections when 
 this is mentioned. A gentleman of high distinction 
 in the litterary and scientific, as well as political 
 world, and on whose accents senates have hung 
 with delight, and to whose deep stores of knowledge, 
 not only the sages of the law in this country, but 
 distant Monarchs are much indebted for liberal and 
 expanded views, and excellent schemes for restrain- 
 ing vice, and tempering justice with mercy was 
 not long since master of a common lodge amongst 
 our southern brethren. Towards the close of an 
 evening's labor, when the charge was to be given 
 to one who had that night been initiated into the 
 mysteries of the craft, and he had come up to the chair 
 to receive it, the quick eye of the master saw sit- 
 ting at a distance, the brother of him who had ap- 
 proached to receive a lesson of duty, moody, dark 
 and silent. Between the brothers there had been 
 the most deadly feud one that had eaten like a 
 cancer upon their vitals, and had spread a leprosy
 
 57 
 
 over their lives, tainting all around them, or connec- 
 ted with them : The one about to receive the charge 
 had been, it was said, the most obdurate. The 
 charge was begun : The text the master took a 
 the initiate advanced, was from the language of him 
 
 who spake as never man spake " Therefore, if 
 
 thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest 
 that thy brother hath aught against thee ; leave there 
 thy gift before the altar, and go thy way : first be rec- 
 onciled to thy brother, and t/ien eome and offer thy 
 gfi//." The miseries of contention and discord were 
 strongly depicted by the speaker : he dwelt upo 
 the deadliness of the moral poison of family conten- 
 tions a poison that earth could not suck up, or 
 time destroy ; a poison that springs afresh from 
 the grave, of those who had concocted it, to curse 
 their descendants to the remotest ages. The lis- 
 tener trembled at the appalling truths his soul was 
 a witness to them to its fullness j now looking wist- 
 fully and wildly around the room, fearing, yet wish- 
 ing to catch the eye of his brother the master saw 
 and changed his tone, and portrayed the kindly in- 
 fluences of brotherly love how far it softened the 
 calamities of life, and took the sting from death. 
 He dwelt upon the new obligations the initiate had 
 assumed, and reminded him that the place in which 
 he then was, should be considered sacred to fraternal 
 sympathies, and was consecrated to affection a
 
 58 
 
 place in which every pledge was given to cultivate 
 every fond, every generous emotion ; and that " if 
 there be a Paradise on earth, this is it 'tis this" to 
 quench at once in the overflowings of affection and 
 forgiveness the heart burnings of enmity, and to wash 
 away the long scores of rancour and bitterness 
 that had withered the soul. The brother who had 
 sat retired, as he heard sentence after sentence of 
 the charge, had moved by a timid step, nearer to the 
 altar, and watched in agony the influence these 
 truths had on his brother's mind ; their eyes met 
 volumes were spoken at a glance. Oh! what a mo- 
 ment, for two that had drank the stream of life from 
 one maternal bosom ; they looked once more, and 
 rushed into each other's arms : brother forgive me 
 broke from the hearts of both, in half suffocated 
 and inarticulate words. What a wreath for elo* 
 quence ! What a triumph for Masonry ! 
 
 Any bond of union, if at first arbitrary, and con- 
 ventional when founded on correct principles, soon 
 becomes familiar, easy, pleasant, and perhaps in the 
 end fascinating. Association and proximity produce 
 a sympathy which expanded over the whole surface 
 of our affections is the source of much of our hap- 
 piness. The masonic bonds of union are conven- 
 tional, not arbitrary, but at once seize our hearts, 
 and when properly treated, produce many excellent 
 fruits in our lives. Masonry has been a nursery
 
 59 
 
 from which many excellent plants have been taken 
 in every age and climate. The loveliest principle 
 in the science of Heraldry a science abounding 
 in most admirable precepts, and most beautiful al- 
 legory, was taken,, in a good measure, from mason- 
 ry, when Heraldry was forming its elements into a 
 science ; the principle is this ; that whenever two 
 r more meanings can be given to any emblems, or 
 any motto, the best possible reading is to be used ; 
 for instance, if a fox is introduced, you are to cn- 
 sider the sagacity of the animal, without any other 
 quality of his nature ; if a dog, his faithfulness, and 
 his affection, without thinking of his fawning ; if a 
 lion couchant, of his repose and magnanimity, with- 
 out inferring that he could spring upon his prey 
 from his attitude ; if the king of beasts is represent- 
 ed rampant, it is not to express a savage rage, but 
 a majesty in avenging his wrongs. These very 
 doctrines, however, for we are far removed from the 
 ages in which they sprang up, are still virtually in 
 use in the masonic code. 
 
 Charity is taught in our order as a principle, and 
 practised upon as an example, for all in and out of 
 the craft. Almsgiving is considered by masons as 
 being only one branch, and but a small one, of be- 
 nevolence, in its true signification and extent, for 
 there is a charity that suffers long, and that speak- 
 eth kindly, and seajcheth diligently for the beat
 
 60 
 
 construction to be put upon the deeds of our friendc 
 and brethren ; and this is often the means of doing 
 more good than many other forms it can take. 
 
 A well regulated lodge is a healthy place for a 
 sound mind ; for the atmosphere of benevolence is 
 balmy to generous souls, and often medicinal to 
 those sick with penurious and avaricious feelings. 
 In such a society a member cannot proceed a sin- 
 gte step without being reminded of some du- 
 ty, of without finding some salutary precept to 
 direct him in the discharge of it. Many good deeds 
 would have been done, if the mind of those who felt 
 a disposition to do well had been enlightened inth 
 course to pursue. We have aphorisms and rules at 
 haud for adl these cases if we have properly read 
 our profession ; these axioms are as readily found 
 in the masonic code, as those for the protection of 
 property and in favor of life are in the common law. 
 In other branches of knowledge one person is com- 
 monly set apart to inform, and catechise the rest ; in 
 a well ordered Lodge, though one presides with am- 
 ple powers to restrain and direct, yet all and each 
 have an opportunity to enforce their opinions at al) 
 times without fear of exposure or an insnlt from the 
 auditory, the restraining power in the master which 
 we have mentioned, being- sufficient to keep perfect 
 order within a Lodge. There numerous opporiunir 
 ties occur of displaying the most impressive elo-
 
 61 
 
 queuce ; 'when the orphan sues, and age and de- 
 crepitude faintly intimate their wants and sufferings, 
 the heart wakes to benevolence and the tongue be- 
 comes as it were a flame of fire. 
 
 "Yes ; to thy tongue shall seraph words be given 
 And powV on earth to plead the cause of Heaven ; 
 The proud, the cold untroubled heart of stone, 
 That never mused on sorrow but its own, 
 Unlocks a generous store at thy command, 
 Like Horeb's rocks beneath the prophet's hand. 
 The living lumber of his kindred earth, 
 Charm'd into soul, receives a second b'rth ; 
 Feels thy dread power another heart afford, 
 Whose passion-touch'd harmonious strings accord 
 True as the circling spheres to Nature's plan ; 
 And man, the brother, lives the friend of man." 
 
 We do not as a body, pretend to put Masonry on 
 a level with Christianity, but it was once the harbin- 
 ger, and is now the handmaid of religion. We do 
 not pretend to say that it furnished the decalogue, 
 but only that a wise God permitted those who had 
 read his character in the volume of nature, before 
 this period in which the revelation was made, to 
 quarry the stone and smooth the surface of the tab- 
 let on which the~divine precepts of the moral law 
 were written by the finger of Omnipotence. We do 
 not pretend that our precepts in the mouths of hea- 
 then philosophers were as sweet, and breathed so 
 purely the air of heavenly love as those which are 
 contained in the sermon on the mount, but this we 
 can say, that the precepts there found were adooted 
 F
 
 62 
 
 as soon as known, as matters of morals, before the 
 question of faith was agitated. Seneca felt the in- 
 fluence of this inspiration, but he had drank of the 
 spring without knowing from whence it had flowed. 
 As a pure stream by gentle distillations gives ver- 
 dure tq the banks it does not overflow, so Christianity 
 lefreshed and purified the minds of those whose 
 stains were not washed out by its living waters. 
 
 Some of our fraternity have unfortunately in their 
 zeal represented masonry as Christianity itself, and 
 others who have not gone quite so far, have likened 
 it to Christianity ; thus taking connexion for identi- 
 ty. The Christian religion can be identified with 
 nothing : It is of itself itself alone. Masonry, in 
 the wisdom of ancient days, speculated, reflected, 
 desired, prayed, and darkling found the way to a 
 God. The Christian religion unveiled a God at once 
 in all his glories. The Deity of human wisdom was 
 created after the imaginations of men, with the pas- 
 sions of our natures and subject to changes in the 
 fluctuations of time ; but the Most High of the holy 
 scriptures inhabits eternity, and is the same yester- 
 day, to-day and for ever, in holiness and godhead. 
 The partial revelations of the majesty, and power, 
 and goodness of the same great Being, by ephod, 
 by oracle, or sage and seer, fell far short of the gos- 
 pel dispensation. The simplicity of Christianity ; 
 its depths of moral feeling ; its prostration of the
 
 63 
 
 natural maa ; its directness, without a particle of 
 worldly subterfuge, and above all, its rising above 
 the maxims of human wisdom in the commandment 
 to love our enemies, and to do good to those who do 
 evil to us, stamps it at once with a divine seal. If 
 the perfect sway of Christianity had now come, then 
 might we say to all moral codes, to all human learn- 
 ing, and laws, we have no further need of your aid; 
 but it has not fully come, nor can it come, in its 
 fulness, while man is constituted as he now is. It 
 is only a foretaste that we now have. When the 
 sway is perfect, wars and strifes shall be at an end. 
 The pure atmosphere of love shall then surround 
 mankind ; ambition will then be dead, avarice ex- 
 tinct, and perfect equality be every where found. 
 As yet, Christianity has only a limited reign and its 
 influence only partially felt. All the bad passions 
 of man are still alive, and in action, only partially 
 restrained by the developments of the pure princi- 
 ples of Christianity. The world, in the best estate 
 it has ever been known, requires rewards and pun- 
 ishments to make men do good and shun evil. The. 
 light of human learning is required to illume it, and 
 the proper use of all the stores of experience are 
 still needed to guide it ; as yet, but a small part of 
 our actions are governed by the true spirit of Chris- 
 tianity. We could no more practice the christ- 
 ian virtues in their real purity in all cases than a
 
 64 
 
 man could live by inhaling the etheriel portion of 
 the atmospheric air which science separates from 
 the grosser parts for a trial of its effects by inbreath- 
 ing. The body can support it but for a moment, 
 and the mind instantly loses its sanity, in convulsive 
 extacies under its influence. It is too pure for us, 
 and we turn at once to the impure element in which 
 we were plunged at our birth, to acquire a tone to 
 fit us for the duties of life. It is a pleasant belief 
 that our natures are to be prepared for purer things 
 hereafter, to receive, the divine influences of Chris- 
 tianity as natural elements and to partake of that 
 happiness which the eye hath not seen, or ear heard, 
 r the heart of man concieved, as an inheritance from 
 infinite Goodness. 
 
 I have said that Christianity was like nothing else j 
 it is not to be likened to any thing. Human learn- 
 ing in all the stages of its progress was connected 
 with the pride of human intellect ; and man contem- 
 plated in self-satisfaction the Babylon he was build- 
 ing at every step in the advancement ofhis labors. It 
 was not so with Christianity. Its author was born 
 in a manger ; yet angels sung hymns of praise at 
 his birth : He was the child of humble parents, yet 
 t he wise men of the east did reverence to the infant 
 Jesus. He drank at no hu man fountains for his wis- 
 dom, yet knowledge, power, mercy and truth the 
 attributes of Deity were- with him ; suffering, ap-
 
 65 
 
 ony and death were with him also. He erected no 
 temple for his fame or worship ; wrote no line to 
 teach the world his wisdom ; he left it in the hearts 
 and memory of his followers. He bent to the storm 
 of human passions, was condemned by the acclama- 
 tions of a frenzied mob, was ignominiously scourg- 
 ed by cruel men, and died the death of a malefactor, 
 whispering to degraded man the hopes of paradise, 
 and breathing a sigh of compassion on his murder- 
 ers ; and making by his sacrifice the very blood 
 from his wounds that stained their hands, the instru- 
 ment of washing the stains of guilt from their souls. 
 To say that masonry is the Christian religion is false; 
 to say that it is opposed to it is equally false. Ma- 
 sonry has in common with Christianity a thousand 
 admirable maxims to teach us how to live, and some- 
 thing of the hopes of a future life ; but Christianity 
 alone can teach us how to die and fit us for the life 
 to come. It is not necessary in defending ourselves 
 from the slanders of the defamer and the doubts of 
 the honest inquirer that we should put in our claims 
 for even so much as we are entitled to ; for our case 
 can be made out without it, and it is a part of our 
 creed that our charities and virtues should rather 
 be seen by him who searcheth the hearts of men, 
 than by men themselves. One reason why masonry 
 has by some zealous brethren been considered the 
 same as Christianity, is that masonry has in some 
 F2
 
 66 
 
 degree incorporated among its mysteries that of a 
 belief in the trinity, but this belief did not come 
 from Christianity, but was prior to it. It burst in a 
 manner most miraculous, in various forms, and iR 
 different ages, from the heathen writers, as believed 
 by some of the most learned Christians now living, as 
 veil as by many of their predecessors. 
 
 It is said that the primitive mathematicians found 
 an irrestable argument for the trinity in the proper- 
 ties of the triangle ; faith sees many things beyond 
 the comprehension of the natural understanding, and 
 this may be one of them. There can be no doubt, 
 however, that the all-seeing eye .was placed within 
 the lines of the triangle in the early ages of knowl- 
 edge ; but what that proves must be decided by 
 those wiser than I am, or ever expect to be. It may 
 come from the same pious enthusiasm that now reads 
 in the incarnations of the Hindoo Deity the type of 
 the Messiah and compares the nine appearances 
 of the former 'with an equal number of revelations 
 in the scriptures ; such as the talking of God with 
 Adam ; his appearance to Abraham ; his communi- 
 cations to Moses in the burning bush ; his writing 
 the decalogue ; the cloud by day, and the pillar of 
 fire by night ; the filling of the temple with his glo- 
 J-y ; the voice of the prophets Isaiah and of others ; 
 the rebuilding of the temple ; and the birth of our 
 $aviour ; and the tenth incarnation of the Hindoo
 
 67 
 
 Deity, which is hourly expected by the Bramins, is 
 said also to shadow forth the second coming of our 
 Lord, which is an article of the Christian faith, tak> 
 en from its author's own declarations. The tenth 
 appearance of Brama is a splendid religious fiction 
 to be found in the most sacred of the Hindoo writ- 
 ings, and is brought to our knowledge by Jones' 
 prose and Campbell's verse, two glorious vehiclee 
 of light. It is a much condensed and impressive 
 account of the faith of countless millions in the east'. 
 "Nine limes have Brama's wheels of lightning 1 hurl'd 
 His awful presence o'er the alarmed world ; 
 Nine times hath Guilt, through all Iiis giant frame, 
 Convulsive trembled, as the Mighty came; 
 Nine times hath suffering Mercy spared in vain 
 Bui Heaven shall burst her starry gates again ! 
 He comes ! dread Brama shakes the sunless sky 
 With murmuring wrath, and thunders from on high. 
 Heaven's fiery horse, beneath his warrior form, 
 Paws the light clouds, and gallops on the storm ! 
 Wide waves his flickering sword ; his bright arms glow 
 Liike summer suns, and light the world below ! 
 Earth, and her trembling isles in Ocean's bed, 
 Are shook ; and Nature rocks beneath his tread !" 
 
 With all its imagry, concentration, and splendor 
 of genius that surrounds it, how far short it falls of 
 that power of Godhead contained in the few words 
 of our Saviour : 
 
 "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be 
 darkened,, and the moon shall not give her light ; And the stars 
 of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be 
 shaken. And 'hen shall they see the Son of man coming in 
 the clouds, with gaeat power and glory. And then shall be 
 send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the
 
 68 
 
 four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the utter- 
 most part of heaven." 
 
 Chateaubriand says that the trinity was known to 
 many nations of the world before the Christian era, 
 and adduces his proofs. (5) To say the least of 
 them, there is something miraculous about them, 
 and worthy the attention of the divine who has learn- 
 ing and talents to comprehend the depths of ancient 
 mysteries. But I have brought up these matters 
 scattered through a wide extent of curious learning, 
 not as a thing of parade, but to show the reader 
 that, in my opinion, those who have identified ma- 
 sonry with the Christian religion were men of re- 
 search and honesty, and sincere in their belief, that, 
 the doctrines of the trinity were found in the science 
 of masonry ; how it came there, perhaps, they had 
 not thought much about ; but surely, their the- 
 ory was more plausible and better grounded than 
 many now prevalent among us. My own opinion 
 is, however, that we had better not defend masonry 
 upon the ground that it may, or does contain, this 
 deep mystery, for it is always dangerous to push an 
 argument to the extreme ; and although I would not 
 break a lance with the credulous for believing more 
 than I can, yet, I do not feol myself bound to de- 
 fend a brother where belief ^ s iar ! eyond my own, 
 any further than to bear testimony to his honesty, 
 when I know it. In fine, I think this subject too
 
 69 
 
 high and too holy for a discussion for any pages, 
 but those devoted entirely to the mysteries of God- 
 liness, which transcend all other mysteries. I should 
 not have touched upon this subject, if it had not 
 lately been pressed with great force into the ques- 
 tion of masonry, by many of our zealous friends, 
 I know the things of time are intimately blended 
 with those of eternity, and that the whole life of man 
 should be a preparation for death, yet still I cannot 
 help thinking that these great things which seem to 
 approach the throne of God so nearly should be set 
 apart from all others, and approached with rever- 
 ence and awe ; we should come near the burning 
 bush with bare feet and naked hearts, and enter the 
 sanctuary with uncovered heads and humble feel- 
 ings. There is a disposition to make these things 
 too common, and I hope I shall remain one of those 
 who turn without a word from an argument in a stage 
 coach or a drawing room on tho precise nature of 
 the Author of the Christian religion. In these places 
 the subject is as often introduced as that of the news 
 of the day. I do not think that there is the power 
 in the human mind to fix upon the precise extent of 
 its own belief, any more than the eye can tell 
 the exact distances of the objects it perceives. It 
 is sufficient for all the ordinary purposes of life to 
 know that the sun shines by day and the moon and 
 stars follow by night, without the exactness of sci-
 
 70 
 
 ence, or the conjectures of the imagination, on ev- 
 ery ray of these mighty mysteries of the heavens. 
 Who knows enough of the councils of God to say 
 that there have not been flashes of revelation on the 
 minds of the seekers of truth, in former ages of the 
 world, of which the effects and not the modes of the 
 communication have reached us ?
 
 XXX. 
 
 " Let us 
 
 Act with cool prudence, and with manly temper, 
 As well as manly firmness. 
 'Tis godlike magnanimity to keep, 
 When most provok'd, our reason calm and clear, 
 And execute her will, from a strong sense 
 Of what is right, without the vulgar aid 
 Of heat and passion, which, though honest, bear us 
 Often too far." 
 
 When we are assailed, my brethren, it is proper 
 to number and examine our enemies, and see in 
 what manner we can answer them. Perhaps we 
 can convince some that we are pursuing a proper 
 course as patriots and Christians ; and we may on 
 this examination find that the enmity of some class- 
 es is not worth the trouble of attempting a refuta- 
 tion of their errors. Those who are hostile to us 
 are generally of the following classes: The bigot, 
 the tyrant, the superstitious, and'the bad, are the nat- 
 ural enemies of mosonry. The bigot is opposed 
 to masonry, for it teaches liberal doctrines ; it teach- 
 es the right to discuss principles, and to examine 
 dogmas ; to search into divine as well as human 
 things, and to look after truth in earth and heaven 
 with a reverence for religion, and in a hope of futu-
 
 72 
 
 rity. To reason with him were in vain, for he shuts 
 his eyes to the light, and what can we do ? 
 
 The tyrant is opposed to masonry because it holds 
 as a first principle that all men are equal in the sight 
 of God : that the divine right of kings are only con- 
 ventional rights, which most certainly should be re- 
 garded ; but according to the principles of the com- 
 pact. It is hard for the proud man swelling in the 
 consequence of his power to allow that virtue and 
 intelligence are the standard of true greatness, and 
 the real one by which his God will measure him. 
 The sagacious tyrant has sometimes tolerated ma- 
 sonry because he found the followers of it peaceful 
 subjects, who had good sense enough to bear known 
 evils, rather than to plunge into anarchy and blood 
 without a hope of redress. They obeyed the rules 
 of their order to conquer by reason, in patience and 
 hope ; and the still small voice of reason has often 
 succeeded, when the whirlwind and the fire storm 
 had failed. Wisdom in every age has been justified of 
 all her children. Masonry by following these rules 
 has existed under every form of government, and 
 has flourished under most ; and perhaps has done 
 the most good when the greatest evils existed. 
 
 The superstitious are apposed to masonry, for free 
 enquiry and ratiocination is death to the long train 
 of spectres in their service ; they revel with the de- 
 mons of their own creating, and enjoy their own
 
 75 
 
 fearful spells. The superstitious hate that light of 
 the soul that reasoning brings to oian ; it is painful 
 to their half-closed eyes that love the darkness. 
 The rising sun of knowledge dethrones the reigning 
 spirits amongst these children of the mists, and they 
 turn from the beams of the luminary with deep and 
 terrible imprecations. The superstitious mind is 
 full of dread ; the reasoning one is filled with rev- 
 erence ; the first worship God in frenzy ; the second 
 brings him the offerings of severe contemplations, 
 and the outpourings of contrite hearts. To break 
 in upon superstition, to restrain frenzy to pull 
 down the altars of Baal, and erect those of the true 
 God have been the labors of the children of reason. 
 On their altars, the prophets have called down the 
 holy fire from heaven, while the sons of superstition 
 have cried to their idols in vain, for their Gods could 
 not hear them. The bad are opposed to masonry, 
 because masonry adds new restraints upon those in- 
 elined to wander from the paths of rectitude, and the 
 wicked heart endeavours to free itself from all obliga- 
 tions, human or divine ; and they are against Chris- 
 tianity as well as masonry, and therefore their en- 
 mity is an honor rather than a stain. 
 
 The bigot, the tyrant, the superstitious, and even 
 the bad, are not half so much t be feared by mason- 
 ry as another class we have not yet mentiond the 
 misinformed and deluded, who often honestly oppose 
 G 

 
 74 
 
 MS from the apprehension of danger, not from any 
 improper motive. This class, from their honesty 
 and weight of character, often bring the doubtful 
 and wavering into their ranks ; and the bigoted, the 
 superstitious, and the bad watch such opportunities 
 to set their machinations to work in conjunction to 
 injure us. Those who often wish to reason are 
 hurried on to erroneous conclusions by the passion 
 and falsehood of others, who may have an object in 
 their proceedings. The Abbe Barruel was one of 
 these deluded men who reasoned from his fears and 
 endeavoured to infuse them into his writings to 
 alarm the world. He is to be pitied and forgiven. 
 He confounded the most diabolical clubs in France 
 which were made up of desperadoes and murderers 
 with the Lodges of masons, merely because these 
 assassins stole some signs, names, or usages of the 
 craft. These vile clubs assumed the character of 
 illuminati a name which had been given to the 
 philosophers of that and a preceeding age, who were 
 labouring for reform, but who did not dream of an- 
 archy, nor such associates. The illuminati in their 
 prime estate were not as such connected with ma- 
 sonry, and still less were these pseudo-illuminees. 
 Masonry dated its origin far, very far beyond that of 
 the illuminati. The Abbe wrote in the appalling 
 confusion of falling thrones, of profanations of al- 
 tars, and within sight of the blood shed in torrents
 
 75 
 
 by the guillotine. His own order had fallen in 
 myriads, and his heart was siek, and broken and 
 desolate, by the miseries he saw around him. la 
 such a moment he wrote ; who could not pity and for- 
 give him for not seeing that he wrote of false ma- 
 sons : still he ought to have known that falsehood 
 was, and had been, current in the world before ; 
 and that Satan in deceiving this world had often as- 
 sumed the character of an angel of light, and under 
 the pretence of banishing vice, had assailed virtue. 
 The Abbe's dread of the destruction of altars and 
 their priests reached across the Atlantic, and a Doc- 
 tor of Divinity, of great industry and of considera- 
 ble learning, took the alarm, and without much in- 
 quiry, followed up the attack upon Masonry in this 
 country. The friends of the Doctor who were, and 
 those who were not masons, soon convinced him 
 that he was fighting a windmill, and scaring himself 
 for nothing , when convinced of his error, with the 
 magnanimity of a gentleman, he plead a retraxit, 
 and the contest which once foreboded many evils 
 ended all quietly, much to the Doctor's honor, for 
 he early began to suspect that these masons that he 
 was writing about, were only impostors. From this 
 time to within two years past, all our affairs have 
 been quiet, pleasant, and prosperous. Since that 
 period a strong excitement against masonry has 
 teeen got up, and to those who were at first opposers
 
 76 
 
 of masonry, many were soon added, who were ready 
 to catch at any thing that might be turned to their 
 advantage, or serve to bring themselves into public 
 notice. Falsehood after falsehood was invented 
 and promulgated, against the fraternity, and error 
 with her hundred tongues went babbling through 
 the land. The credulous, whose ears are always 
 open, caught the sound, and every repetition gave 
 the stories invented new features ; but whoever will 
 set down and calmly examine the charges made 
 against us, and will take pains to strip the allega- 
 tions spread upon the record in so many forms for 
 the same thing, of all the statements and inuendoes 
 that arc not supported by facts, and of all the rav- 
 ings and inflammatory denunciations accompanying 
 the charges, will find nothing to make against the 
 principles or practices of masonry, or nothing in 
 them militating with moral duties, or civil rights ; 
 nor can any thing improper be charged to any ma- 
 sonic body in the country ; nor can a single shadow 
 of proof be adduced to support any rumors of im- 
 proper conduct on the part of any lodge, chapter, 
 or encampment, in this country. It is wonderful 
 when we think how many of these bodies there are 
 in existence, that even provoked jealousy can find 
 nothing against us but a few faint and ridiculous 
 surmises, of what has been, or may be found in ma- 
 sonry. Some who say that we are not weak ov
 
 wicked, yet still say that we are deceived, grossly 
 deceived. 
 
 [ would ask you my auditors, for I address those 
 capable of judging, whether it is not in your opin- 
 ion mere probable that these enemies of masonry, 
 who are now so furious, in this moment of excite- 
 ment, are wrong, absolutely wrong, in their conjec- 
 tures, suspicions and denunciations, than that so 
 many great men, so many good men, patriots, chris- 
 tians, philosophers, statesmen and scholars, should 
 have attempted to deceive the world through so ma- 
 ny ages and nations, and that too, without any pos- 
 sible object ? Could saints, and cardinals, kings, 
 bishops, philosophers, republicans, philanthropists, 
 and men of good, strong common sense in every 
 walk of life, from the humblest to the most elevated, 
 be wrong, be wicked, traitorous, and murderous, 
 and the sagacious never yet have found it out, until 
 within two years past ? And then the discovery be 
 made by those who were never known for having 
 discovered any thing else. The enemies of mason- 
 ry when driven to a corner upon this point defend 
 themselves by this flimsy argument " these great 
 men were deceived too." It would gratify us to 
 know who were wise enough to mislead these intel- 
 ligent and virtuous men, that have in every age be- 
 longed to the masonic family. I have not heard 
 that it is pretended that masonry has degenerated 
 G2
 
 78 
 
 since it has been in this country. It is said that 
 every thing else has improved ; man as an animal ; 
 man as an intelligent being ; and certainly as a so- 
 cial and political one, he has thought to have im- 
 proved much, and most unquestionably as shrewd 
 discoverers, the enemies of masonry would put in 
 their own claims for distinction. How then do our 
 enemies get on against us ? We will leave it for 
 them to answer. 
 
 AH our enemies, wherever they may be found, 
 we are ready to meet most fearlessly and directly j 
 " we 0,ve. not inferior to them ; the things they know we 
 know also ;" and with proper repentance they may 
 come to know what is now hidden from them : From 
 these remarks, which may seem to partake a little 
 of the spirit of defiance, we will except one class of 
 the community I mean that portion of honest and 
 scrupulous women of our country who have taken a 
 prejudice against our ordsr. I know the number is 
 small and every day diminishing ; but with these I 
 could wish for a moment to reason in a different 
 manner, because I know that they are sincere ; their 
 Apposition is accidental and momentary ; it must, it 
 must be removed, for it is too painful for us to see 
 them misled ; we feel in this case as lovers do 
 where there has been some trifling interference 
 with their affections. Hear me ye fair ; the meth- 
 ods the enemies of masonry have taken to obtain
 
 79 
 
 and secure your hostility to the craft have been full 
 of baseness and design. They tell you, to wound 
 your feelings, that masons in their piide and haugh- 
 tiness have debarred you from participating in the 
 secrets of their order, from want of respect to your 
 virtues and talents. On some minds this, perhaps, 
 may have had an effect. They go on to alarm you 
 for the safety of your husbands, sons, brothers, and 
 friends ; aye, and all your kindred are brought in, 
 as in jeopardy. It is perhaps natural for all persons 
 to suspect what they are not permitted to under- 
 stand. But I intreat you, if there are any who have 
 imbibed these wrong impressions, to listen to me for 
 a moment, while I make a few disinterested remarks 
 upon this subject. If one would attend a moment 
 to the history of masonry from the time it took its 
 present name to this day, she would clearly see why 
 women were not admitted to share in the labors of 
 masonry with men. In the first place, in the coun- 
 try from which we came, masonry was an ancient or- 
 der, uniting science with art, and known to be a 
 body of architects ; these were as distinct an order 
 as that of the Priesthood, or the military orders ; 
 their vow was to build all public edifices for the fur- 
 therance of devotion and charity. In these edifices, 
 convents, churches, monasteries and colleges and 
 other orders were established for piety, learning and 
 charity. Females formed various orders within the
 
 walls of theae convents, such as they chose, and no 
 man interfered, farther than he was required to act 
 by those who wished for his aid. It was thought 
 then that the great purposes of life and the worship 
 of God would be best carried on by a division of or- 
 ders. In belonging to the order devoted to the sci- 
 ence of architecture and the art of building, what 
 possible pleasure could women have found ? They 
 were not desirous of this distinction at that time, 
 nor have they been since. They knew that these 
 divisions were the best means of producing the de- 
 sired results. Females did not wish to build houses, 
 bridges, or halls of legislation, any more than they 
 wished to become members of the wittena-gemot or 
 parliament of the land. The progress of civiliza- 
 tian has always been favourable to the rank and 
 Condition of women. A shrewd observer could make 
 more accurate calculations of the state of refinement 
 of a nation by examining the nursery, and watching 
 what was taught there, than he could by going into 
 the great councils of the people and listening ever 
 so long to their grave discussions ; and I would go 
 further, and say, that he could form a better conjec- 
 ture upon the true state of the piety of the people 
 by examining the worship at the shrine of the house- 
 hold gods, than he could in the solemn temple* 
 where perhaps much he might hear in one place 
 would be in opposition to that which he might hear 
 in another.
 
 81 
 
 I contend that there has never been a class of 
 men since man became a civilized being, that have 
 been more the friends of women than the masons. 
 It is agreed on all hands, as we have stated in a for- 
 mer Legture, for a different purpose, that out of 
 their order grew up the Christian knights, warriors, 
 and all men of chivalry whose glories for a while 
 blazed from the east to the west, and attracted the 
 gaze of remote nations. With the science and val- 
 or of the age they united the two strongest passions 
 that ever held possession of the human heart Love 
 and Devotion. Masonry at this very moment held 
 the legislative power of these orders, for the knights 
 never assumed the prerogative of giving laws to 
 masons, and in their lofty code of honor were incor- 
 porated some of the purest and most valuable prin- 
 ciples for the protection and elevation of the female 
 character. Their person, their property, and their 
 reputations were secured by every enlargement of 
 the statute book of chivalry. To this code, in those 
 days of sentiment and splendor, all the nations of 
 Europe subscribed. The fierce Dane the faithful 
 German the stout-hearted Englishman the warm 
 hearted Irishman the lofty Spaniard the gal- 
 lant Frenchman the sprightly and polished Italian 
 all readily subscribed. No man was armed for 
 battle nntil he had made his devotions to some saint, 
 and received the token of some " /</;/ /air.'"
 
 82 
 
 " It was Dunois the youug and brave, was bound for Pales- 
 tine, 
 
 But first he made his orisons before saint Mary's shrine ; 
 
 " And grant immortal queen of heaven," was still the soldier's 
 prayer, 
 
 " That I may prove the bravest Knight and love the fairest 
 fair." 
 
 His oath of honor on the shrine, he grav'd it with his swopd, 
 
 And followed to the holy land the banner of his lord ; 
 
 When faithful to his noble vow, his war-cry fill'd the air, 
 
 Be honor'd aye the bravest Knight, belov'd the fairest fair. 
 They owe the conquest to his arm, and then his liege lord 
 said, 
 
 " The heart that has for honor beat, by bliss must be re- 
 paid ; 
 
 My daughter Isabel and thou shall be a wedded pair, 
 
 For thou art bravest of the brave, she fairest of the fair." 
 And then they bound the holy knot before saint Mary's 
 shrine, 
 
 Which makes a paradise on earth, when hearts and hands 
 combine ; 
 
 And every lord and lady bright that was in chapel there 
 
 Cried, " honor'd be the bravest Knight, belov'd the fairest 
 fair." 
 
 This enthusiasm was wisely seized by those not 
 quite so romantic and made to bear upon the rights 
 of women, which came nearer to the common busi- 
 ness of life ; and the despotism of man was broken 
 in the spell of his enthusiasm. Love unlocked th 
 iron grasp of rude power, and wisdom prevented 
 the hand from shutting again with so close a clench 
 as before. Woman was soon the arbiter elegantia- 
 mm,'a.nd presided at all the feats of prowess and 
 displays of splendor. From such enchantments it 
 would have been dull and tasteless for her to bare
 
 83 
 
 gone into a masonic hall where all was solemn, eth- 
 ical, and business-like, nor did she ask for admit- 
 tance. The rights of woman were then permanent- 
 ly secured. Some uncouth and savage doctrines 
 are still left to disfigure the books of our common 
 law ; but the rude spirit of them is broken by the 
 remnant of that age of gallantry which has never 
 deserted the heart of man, but governed by philoso- 
 phy, is now transfused into every code of morals and 
 of rights that is known amongst us. 
 
 It may be asked by the kind soul who trembles at 
 every blast and by those of the firmest and purest 
 natures,(6) cannot you give up Masonry ? how good it 
 is to prevent so much evil as is threatened at this 
 present moment. We answer that it is feebleness 
 that yields to error from an apprehension of conse- 
 quences. No ; this is the time for the masonic fam- 
 ily to redouble their diligence to make themselves 
 acquainted with the learning and principles of their 
 order, to live down the slanders that are abroad, to 
 shew their firmness, their stability, with their true 
 character. The rains may come, and the winds 
 may blow and beat upon the house wisdom has 
 built upon her seven pillars, but it will stand firm as 
 the everlasting hills, and proud in defiance like truth 
 will grow brighter by passing ages. 
 
 It cannot be denied but that masonry, like relig- 
 ion, learning and liberty, has been abused, but cer-
 
 54 
 
 tainly not haf so often as either of these other bless- 
 ings. The causes of this abuse are manifold. The 
 first is in admitting ignorant men within the pale of 
 our order ; men who are not sufficiently enlightened 
 to discriminate between the shadow and the sub- 
 stance ; between the type and the thing typified. 
 They are admitted and see nothing in masonry, but 
 its forms. They leave the society, perhaps, after a 
 short time, and then say they are masons, and pre- 
 tend to speak of its secrets as nothing ; and indeed 
 they are nothing to them. A native of an island in 
 the Pacific ocean, in his primitive ignorance, might 
 as well pretend to judge of our laws and usages in 
 civil life, from looking into a court of justice while 
 in session, or in walking through the streets of a 
 city, as these men, to judge of masonry in its nature 
 and character. It has happened, but that evil ex- 
 ists no longer, that members of lodges have thought 
 more of their refreshments than of their labors and 
 more of parade than of their charities. These abu- 
 ses, however, are exaggerated by a carping world, 
 and sometimes are thought to exist where they do 
 not. Those too, who have nothing else by which 
 they may be distinguished, have often boasted of 
 their masonic lore, and looked wisely, while they 
 threw out hints of their deep knowledge and skill 
 in the mysteries of the craft. Their compeers in 
 other things, were perhaps humble and limited in
 
 85 
 
 their talents or acquirements, could not have much 
 respect for the wisdom of that order in which such 
 empty-headed, vain hoasters, were members and in 
 full communion, and talked of numerous degrees of 
 a great science as in their possession. It should be 
 known that if such are sometimes tolerated, they are 
 not respected and are only suffered for peace sake 
 to remain in the outer courts of the temple, treated 
 with that kindness which they hardly deserve. An- 
 other abuse arises from a disposition to have a full 
 lodge, that more funds may be obtained to be ex- 
 pended in the cause of benevolence. Even charity 
 has sometimes a pride to do too much. This is a 
 great weakness, however amiable it may be. The 
 members should be selected with care and caution. 
 No one should be admitted until his reputation for a 
 virtuous life and as a good member of society, in 
 active duties, had been established. A lodge had 
 better wait for years in gaining strength than to 
 make members without proper examination, in a 
 true spirit of solicitude for the good of the order. 
 Those very agitations which seemed for a while to 
 have shaken masonry from its deepest foundations, 
 will, I trust to heaven, be made an instrument to pu- 
 rify and elevate it. Masonry in many parts of our 
 country has been pretty thoroughly expurgated and 
 exhibits a most scrupulous regard to every decency 
 of appearance and demeanor, as well as to the more 
 H
 
 important virtues they profess. The largest exhibi- 
 tion of masons ever made in this country, was on 
 the 17th of June, 1826, at Boston and Charlestown, 
 at the laying of the corner stone of the Bunker hill 
 monument ; their procession was most splendid, and 
 by holding the masters and wardens of every lodge 
 responsible for the conduct of every one under his 
 banner, those straggling, broken down brothers, 
 whom the fraternity are willing to support, but 
 ashamed to acknowledge, were entirely excluded. 
 Let such examples be strictly followed and we should 
 not have so often to blush for public processions. 
 
 It must be confessed that there is often seen in 
 young lodges a disposition to make a display on ev- 
 ery occasion. This should be avoided as much as 
 possible, and on such occasions as make it indispen- 
 sably necessary to assemble and form processions, 
 then every thing should be done with great gravity 
 and exactness, in order to preserve discipline and 
 to make a proper impression upon the minds of 
 young masons and upon the spectators. To honor 
 the dead and to teach the living the uncertainty of 
 human life, every nation in every age, has practiced 
 funeral ceremonies. They all mean the same thing 1 , 
 from the piercing howl of the savage at the grave of 
 his child, to the solemn pomp of royalty stretched 
 on a death-bed of state. Civil life, war, religion, 
 all have taxed their ingenuity to make these burial
 
 87 
 
 services impressive ; but there is no one of them 
 made so impressive as the masonic burial service ; 
 it has the parade of the martial procession, the so- 
 lemnity of the religious, and the affection of the 
 civil, and with the emblems of dissolution and the 
 terrors of the tomb, it unites those of hope, faith and 
 eternal happiness. If these ceremonies are careless- 
 ly and frequently got up they lose all their effect and 
 become as familiar as coffins which in some of our 
 cities are exhibited by way of sample at shop win- 
 dows. Do not misunderstand me, my brethren. * 
 Your attention and kindness in making the inquiry 
 of the relatives of a deceased brother, concerning 
 their ability to give his remains a decent burial, is 
 among your brightest charities. I would not say a 
 word against it on any consideration. To bury 
 those who have died in poverty, with decency and 
 propriety, is a duty of the most sacred character, 
 and one that is repaid by the gratitude of the be- 
 reaved and the prayers of the distressed. It is 
 prompted by the voice of nature and commanded by 
 God, and the command is accompanied by his prom- 
 ise, that can never fail : " Thus saith the Lord, 
 wheresoever thou fuidest the dead, lake them and bury 
 tiiem, and I will give thee the first place in my resur- 
 rection." It ik the frequent parade of burying those 
 who are rich, that have brought censure upon us ; 
 fear not of doing too much for the poor ; the ashes
 
 88 
 
 of all meu are equal ; death is a leveller indeed. 
 It is truly astonishing, when we consider how ea- 
 sily the doors, that opened upon our tabernacles, 
 have moved on their hinges, in times past, that there 
 have been so few abuses, and instances of degrada- 
 tion among masons. We have seen those in our 
 country who were worthless, as to all the uses of 
 life ; but it is rare, indeed, to find one dragged into 
 our courts of criminal jurisdiction or tarnished with 
 crimes. (7) You may find those lost to society from 
 many causes, but who are restrained from commit- 
 ting offences to make them ignominious. There 
 are still left the strong cords of habit that bind 
 them to the moral code, or its most prominent fea- 
 tures, when the great springs of action have lost 
 their elasticity. Most of those who have disgraced 
 our order were men who, after passing through the 
 forms of initiation, had entirely neglected to attend 
 the lodge to be catechised or indoctrinated ; and 
 when it will answer their purposes they sneer at 
 what they do not understand, and denounce what 
 they never practiced ; and these are the men who 
 succeed in alarming the conscientious and fearful 
 and who see a wizard's spell ia every harmless 
 ceremony, and imagine that as soon as a door is 
 shut that all abominations are practiced in secret. 
 Knaves could do but little harm if there were no 
 fools to join them.
 
 89 
 
 There are many degrees which fancy and taste 
 have from age to age added to ancient masonry 
 which serve as ornaments to the original edifice and 
 pleasant enough to understand, but which have no 
 direct connexion with it. Amongst others, that of 
 the brothers of the Rosy Cross, or Rosy-crusiens. 
 This order once made a great noise in the world : 
 It was first known in Germany in the fourteenth cen- 
 tury, but according to most historians it was lost in 
 the mists that overhang that age of literature in Ger- 
 many, until the beginning of the seventeenth century, 
 when it was revived with great enthusiasm, and with 
 a thousand pretensions to wonderful secrets. They 
 professed to have within their knowledge the ele- 
 ments of all arts and sciences that were then in the 
 world, and many that were in opposition to the laws 
 of nature. They assumed the name of the invisible 
 brothers, and appended to the name of each, these 
 letters F. R. C fratres roris cocti the brothers oj 
 exalted or concocted dew. They pretended that they 
 were in possession of the philosopher's stone ; and 
 this power of changing metals into gold, was only 
 by the operation of dew on other less valuable met- 
 als. This order were unquestionably the parents 
 of modern chemistry, and did much for astronomy 
 through their pretensions to astrology. At the be- 
 ginning of the 17th century some books pertaining 
 fco this order were discovered, and some persons 
 112
 
 90 
 
 played a high farce with them. These books wer 
 probably Arabic manuscripts. These were not the 
 true Brothers. They assumed the F. R. C. but 
 like those who think they have reached the arcana 
 of masonry by an accidental book on the subject, 
 they soon exposed their ignorance, and were put 
 down by those who were truly learned. This order 
 in its primitive state in Germany was descended 
 from the Lodge of Cairo, and was one of the true 
 stock of the House of Wisdom. Rosencrux was 
 said to have been the founder ; but in all probabili- 
 ty he only gave the order a name. The House of 
 Wisdom was in a dilapidated state when the order 
 made its appearance in Germany, and the fragments 
 of the ancient temple were put together with more 
 imagination than taste by the architects of the mid- 
 dle ages. 
 
 The illuminati also, were first known in German- 
 ny this is a beautiful name given to scholars and 
 philanthropists. They formed a republic of letters, 
 and had no other ambition than that of illuminina- 
 ting the world by the rays of reason, and the light 
 of knowledge. Free enquiry was the means they 
 took to come at their ends, and they were the fathers 
 of that general diffusion of information now so con- 
 spicuous in Germany. They broke the fetters of the 
 Aristotelian philosophy then taught every where in 
 the scientific world, and promulgated the doctrine
 
 91 
 
 of thinking for ourselves. They re-dug the mines 
 of knowledge, re-melted all the ores, and re-cast 
 them into new forms, aud if not into such beautiful 
 ones as they had formerly assumed, certainly into 
 more natural and durable shapes. To these men 
 we are indebted for the spirit of philosophical in- 
 vestigation of the present age. A branch of the il- 
 luminati is now found in this country under the name 
 of the Phi Beta Kappa. This society exists only 
 as connected with seminaries of learning in 
 the United States. It was in the possession of Mr. 
 Jefferson, probably given to him by Mr. Mazzei, a 
 name well known in this country, but more from his 
 politics than his science, which was conceded, by 
 those who knew him, to be very extensive. These 
 scholars procured a charter, or made one, for 
 William and Mary College ; from this institution 
 one was obtained for Cambridge University about 
 1783, and by these two Colleges it was extended to 
 Yale by these three to Dartmouth. William and 
 Mary had lost their charter, and from the Alphas, 
 as these Lodges are called, then existing, Union 
 College obtained a charter, and all united in ex- 
 tending the benefit to Bodoin college in the State 
 of Maine. In whatever form it existed in Germany, 
 in this country it is only the simple bond for a lite- 
 rary society that might keep alive old friendships 
 Had make new ones. It has but one degree with
 
 92 
 
 us, but 1 have good reason to believe that the order 
 was formerly in Germany divided into three or more 
 degrees. In that country it was unquestionably in- 
 stituted for freedom of philosophical enquiry, and 
 liberal criticism upon all works, which spirit then 
 was not much encouraged by Church or Slate. We 
 do not want such a society for this purpose in this 
 country, as we had ever exercised that privilege ; 
 but we received it as a stimulous to youths in Col- 
 lege,, and by confining it to a minority of every elass 
 an election to this order was a matter of distinction 
 in college, and of course no small exertions were 
 made to deserve this honor. This society has with- 
 in a few years past grown rapidly into notice. The 
 anniversaries of it have been celebrated by the sev- 
 eral Alphas with no small parade. They have 
 signs and words by which they are known to one 
 another ; but the society have no secrets at the 
 present time except enough to save them from im- 
 position. They are extremely careful in their se- 
 lections, and are doing much for the cultivation of 
 letters, and more in giving the people a taste for the 
 refinements of knowledge. Jfo religious creeds, 
 are taught by this society. Each has a right to 
 think for himself. There are not more than two 
 thousand members of this society in the United 
 States, and the number will only increase in nearly 
 a graduated ratio of one third with those who re*-
 
 93 
 
 eeive the honors* of the colleges to which those in- 
 stitutions are attached, with a few other additions of 
 men eminent for learning, who were not educated at 
 college or who had not an opportunity of becoming 
 members in the course of their college life. The 
 anniversary publications of these Alphas have, many 
 of them, been of a high order of classical taste and 
 acquirement. As yet this society have not publish- 
 ed any work of magnitude ; something, however, 
 will hereafter we hope be done by them in the way 
 of raising our literary reputation. 
 
 There are several other secret societies amongst 
 us ; whose objects as far as I have been instructed 
 are philanthropic and harmless, and like all those* 
 whose basis is charity and brotherly love, may do a. 
 great deal of good, and which I have described ; 
 but on mature consideration have thought it best 
 not to insert the account of them in this work. At 
 some other time this account shall be given to the 
 public. 
 
 These associations are so many Inns on the high- 
 way of life where the initiated stop and repose in 
 the heat and burden of the dav, and where they of- 
 ten find a shelter from the sudden storm and the ad- 
 verse wind ; places where the traveller may find 
 friends to assist him to beguile an hour amidst kind- 
 ness and converse, and from whence he starts afresh 
 on his journey with less of that solitariness which
 
 94 
 
 too often strikes to the heart of the weary and de- 
 sponding and sinks him to the grave without any 
 one to close his eyes, or to receive his farewell for 
 those he loved. Even the happiness of such a place 
 is diffused, and enters into the common atmosphere 
 around, and where even the wretched learn to hope. 
 I envy not that man who says, that he has no need 
 of friendly intercourse on his journey, nor wishes 
 for friends or country at any time ; such an one was 
 not made for society, nor can he be of any benefit 
 to it. There are we hope but few such. As the 
 body of man requires constant nutriment to keep it 
 in health, so does the mind demand frequent re- 
 freshments and judicious stimulants to preserve every 
 faculty and every principle in vigor. No man ever 
 lived and thought much or acted well, who did not 
 sometimes feel the tedium vitae, which is softened, 
 diminished, and sometimes cured by this medicine 
 of the wise a perpetual draught of intelligence and 
 a, frequent association with kindred souls. The gaiety 
 and bustle of the public streets where one may read 
 a volume of nature and of man as he passes along ; 
 the quiet of the closet, the secresy of the lodge 
 room ; the solemn publicity of the temple of God j 
 all, all are so many places where the exhausted 
 spirits of man may be restored to elasticity and tone. 
 The secrets of the lodge we have mentioned ; we 
 do not pretend that we ara fed with ambrosia there.,
 
 95 
 
 or does honey drop to refresh as from every bougu, 
 or is manna gathered as for a peculiar and a favor- 
 ed people. No ; we make no such pretensions ; 
 but we say that our lodges are schools of discipline 
 for our passions, as well as for the improvement of 
 our intellects ; also, places for an altar, on which 
 we are bound to sacrifice our prejudices as far as we 
 oan, and offer up our prayers that w may be assist- 
 ed in our efforts. Who can blame us for express- 
 ing an unwillingness to have our inmost recesses 
 profaned, or our altars thrown down. We will tile 
 our lodge to keep " squint-eyed suspicion" from look- 
 ing into our inmost chambers, and without alarm or 
 trepidation we will send out our champion reason, 
 who is always in complete armour, to combat hon- 
 est doubt and flexible credulity, and to wage war 
 with sturdy prejudice, while we set down with char- 
 ity, and fortitude, and hope, and pass the hours in 
 devising matters for the general good until our sen- 
 eschal shall return victorious over all his foes. 
 
 In fine, we say to the world, and repeat it again 
 and again, that masonry has for its ends the happi- 
 ness of man, and uses as its means the pursuit of 
 knowledge and the practice of virtue ; it confesses 
 the equality of men in the sight of God ; it teaches 
 us to treat all men as brothers ; to learn instruction 
 from those who have gone before us, and to leave 
 lessons for those who shall come after us. It qua*-
 
 rels with no principalities or powers, nor yields to 
 any arbitrary sway : it raises no spectres to frighten 
 the world, nor fears any that others may call up. It 
 teaches us to practice charity, to protect chastity, 
 to respect the ties of blood and friendship, and to 
 adopt the principles and to reverence the sacra- 
 ments of religion. Its commands are, in the still 
 small voice of reason, fearlessly go, face the proud 
 in defence of the humble ; kindly assist the feeble ; 
 guide the blind ; feed the hungry ; clothe the na- 
 ked ; raise up the trodden down, be a father to the 
 orphan ; guard the altar ; protect the govern- 
 ment ; encourage wisdom ; love man ; adore God; 
 implore his mercy and hope for happiness and im- 
 mortality. These are the commandments of ma- 
 sonry. Thus far can we speak ; but for those who 
 are not yet satisfied and wish to know more without 
 passing through the guarded gates of knowledge, 
 our address to them must be the same that was 
 made of old to the prophet Esdras " Number me 
 Ihe things that are not yet come ; gather me to- 
 gether the drops that are scattered abroad ; make 
 me the flowers green again that are withered ; open 
 me the places that are closed, and bring me forth 
 the w'irtds, that in them are shut up ; show me the im- 
 age of a voice, and then I will declare the thing 
 thou labourest to know. "(8)
 
 NOTES. 
 
 NOTE (1) page 15. See Chateaubriand on the nature of 
 mysteries, in which he prove- s that mystery pervades every 
 thing from the mote in the sun-beam to God himself and 
 that the moral world is as full of this mystery as the natural, 
 and tljut not only faith, but that reason also is clothed with it. 
 
 NOTE (2) page 15. The means of tracing out the obscuri- 
 ties of antiquity and of developing the principles that govern- 
 ed the nations of old have for half a century pastjbeen increas- 
 ing- ; but they :nvc- been very extensive of late years. The 
 English settlements in India and the French campaigns in 
 Egypt opened a way for our travellers and missionaries that 
 have made the last few years prolific in the knowledge of those 
 interesting countries. The labors of the missionaries have made 
 us acquainted with more than sixty languages of rich and co- 
 pious vocabularies in which much knowledge is preserved ; the 
 passion for antiquarian research and our love for the wonderful, 
 and that region is full of wonders, have induced our consuls in 
 the east to collect rare manuscripts, and other curiosities for 
 our market. Among other things several mummies have been 
 taken from the catacombs of ancient Thebes, in their sarco- 
 phagi, and sent to this country : some of them arrived in a 
 good state of preservation. At first it was supposed by many 
 that these were not genuine Egyptian mummies, but got up to 
 deceive us ; but when they were critically examined by the 
 learned all doubts were removed ; proofs of their genu- 
 inem ss pressed themselves irresistibly on all who saw them. 
 Over a mummy sent to this country by Mr. Forrester, one of 
 our consuls, to Mr. Charles Brown, of Boston, were two sarco- 
 phagi which 1 had the pleasure of examining at my leisure. 
 The inner ones when opened were found to contain under 
 and over the body, characters written, in perpendicular lines 
 from the head to the foot, of which there can be no doubt were 
 I 

 
 98 
 
 phonetic, for they were as regular as the Hebrew or any 
 oriental character, but no one around us could read them. 
 The wood was sycamore, and the letters were as bright as in 
 the day in which they were written. On the outei coffin 
 were numerous hieroglyphics in a perfect state of" preservation 
 and painted in great regularity. The first on the inner was 
 probably the common language of the country. This com- 
 memorated the deeds and virtues of the deceased : The hie- 
 roglyphics on the outer serve probably as esoteric writings 
 in which their religious faith was to be found. -In about half 
 way from the head to the foot was seen a bed, curtained and 
 canopied after the manner of what is called a French field- 
 bed at the present day ; weeping friends were around it. At 
 a little distance from the bed was seen a boat passing a 
 lake with the shade of the deceased in it. Then it was seen 
 again on the opposite shore crouching under the uplifted 
 scourge of some severe, but minor divinity of Egyptian fancy ; 
 it passed from him to another of more amiable aspect and was 
 now attended by a guide dressed in white, probably one made 
 perfect, by trials and purification, from whom the shade seem- 
 ed to take comfort and admonition for the future encounter ; 
 it then passed to another Divinity of more exalted character, 
 attended by more spiritual guides ; at every stage its form 
 grew more erect, and increased in altitude and brilliancy of 
 clothing, as it passed from cherubim to seraphim, until at last, it 
 reached their Supreme Being, enshrined in glory, and was 
 then lost in the bright clouds and saphire blaze of Paradise. 
 The meaning, if not the precise and full meaning, was easily 
 read. It was a creed antecedent to that of the Greeks and 
 Romans, and quite as etheriel and beautiful as those found in 
 Homer or Virgil ; in fact, these masters of learning and taste 
 had degraded their Gods, from the Egyptian character, or who- 
 ever made them, probably the Egyptians received them from 
 the Abyssinian, or more eastern countries. 
 
 Accompanying the mummies and their sarcophagi were 
 several large bricks in the shape of our common grave stones, 
 from a foot, to two feet and a half high ; the top line being 
 circular and at first sight would remind one of the grave stones 
 of the old burying grounds of our country ; but on an exami- 
 nation it is evident that they are nearly of the same materials 
 of the Babylonish bricks. They are carved on one side with
 
 99 
 
 distinct descriptions whose precise purport was unknown, 
 but the impression on the mind was instantaneous, that they 
 had once conveyed a very distinct and significant meaning. 
 These bricks had been taken from the catacombs and had 
 in most cases probably survived the mummies they had refer- 
 ence to. In the sarcophagi we have described were several of 
 these entablatures, most beautiful specimens of the kind. 
 The imprint is as perfect as at the day it was made. 
 
 Several learned men, among whom were Judge Davis and 
 Dr. Warren, gentleman remarkable for their exactness and 
 scrupulosity, as well as for sagacity and acquirements, ex- 
 amined this importation, for there were with the human bod- 
 ies several embalmed quadrupeds, and unhesitatingly expres- 
 sed their thorough conviction of the genuineness and remote 
 antiquity of these preservations. 
 
 While we were intent in spelling out these symbols, it was 
 announced that modern sagacity had given them a tongue 
 or rather waked one to life that had been embalmed in silence 
 for countless ages. One of the literati of France, Champol- 
 lion the younger, by an enthusiastic devotion to oriental lit- 
 erature, at length found a clue to these mazes of Egyptian 
 wisdom. The Marquis ofSpineto, an Italian, is now giving 
 lectures in England upon the same subject to persons of all 
 ages, from tender years to old age, and it is said that all ages 
 take a deep interest in his researches. He, as well as Dr. 
 Young, an Englishman, have made great proficiency in de- 
 ciphering the inscriptions on these epitaphal bricks and 
 then- youthful pupils are following them up with eagerness : 
 Has not the day begun to dawn when the prophesy shall be 
 fulfilled, " Jlnd the child shall die an hundred years old ?" 
 
 These distinguished men who have embarked with so much 
 of that zeal which, is necessary for the accomplishment of any 
 great object, will, we trust, be pi rnrv.tted in the fulness of 
 time, to entirely draw the ve.il of Isis which has covered her 
 mysteries so long that the world began to despair of ever see- 
 ing the glork-s it concealed. Tin thousand visions have 
 already been unfolded tii.it go to show that man thought bet- 
 ter and reasoned higher than we have supposed him to have 
 done in that early age of tiie world. Many of those things 
 that we had set down as the wildest dreams of the imagina- 
 tion of uneducated man, are in truth, when rightly under-
 
 100 
 
 stood, well digested trains of thought, with regular connex- 
 ions and dependences, calculated to enlarge and ennoble the 
 mind that contemplated them. Behind this veil of Isis I have 
 long thought was concealed our masonic birth. I now fully 
 believe it. There was the cradle of masonry ; no matter by 
 what name it was called ; no matter by whom it was enjoyed. 
 There was a compact to embody knowledge, and to make it 
 the preserver and : ncourager of the moral virtues, of which 
 brotherly love is the chief corner stone. In addition to the 
 discoveries by the Vlissionaries and travellers in the east, we 
 are daily gaining by the researches of the scholars of Eu- 
 rope France contends with England in this noble strife, to 
 outstrip eaoh other in the cause of letters and science ; and 
 Germany is not behind either in the race. The literati of 
 the latter have and are ransacking the libraries of the east, 
 and transfusing into their own and other European languages 
 the treasures of the Arabic, Chaldaic, and the Hebrew, and 
 other oriental tongues. The English history is every hour 
 receiving new lights by the labors of her profound professors 
 of learning. The deeds of the Alfreds and Hardicanutes are 
 becoming as familiar as those of her Henries and Georges ; 
 and our own history, so long neglected, and overlooked in 
 the bustle of business or the agitations of politics, is rising 
 slowly, but surely, to notice and admiration, for in it are to be 
 found the seeds of true national glory. Still it will require 
 time to refine the taste and give a healthy appetite to a whole 
 people who have so long fed on foreign confectionary ; and 
 it will be no easy task to make the patrons of the mounte- 
 banks and raree-show men who swarm upon us, become the 
 patrons of letters and science. 
 
 NOTE (3) page 20. The learning Solomon had acquired 
 was not common among the Jews, as will be seen by his ad- 
 dress to King Hiram, in which the former says : "For thou 
 knowest thai there is not among its any that can skill to hew tim- 
 ber like unto the Sidonians." This hewing of timber was in- 
 tended to embrace the whole principle of building ; a part 
 was put for the whole ; a common figure of speech in orien- 
 tal writings. Solomon was unquestionably his own draftsman 
 and g-ave the plan of his house to the servants of Hiram and
 
 191 
 
 his own workmen. His knowledge must have been vast in 
 amount, extending 1 over every field of learning 1 then known. 
 It is beautifully described by the historian of the Kings : 
 
 "And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the 
 children of the eastcountrv, and all the wisdom of Egypt. 
 
 For he was wiser than all men ; than Ethan the Ezrahite, 
 and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahal ; and 
 his fame was in all nations rouiffl about. 
 
 And he spake three thousand proverbs : and his songs 
 were a thousand and five. 
 
 And he spake of trees, from the cedar-tree that is in Leba- 
 non, even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall : he 
 spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping thing's, and 
 of fishes. And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of 
 Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his 
 wisdom." 
 
 These sons of Mahal were the astronomers, the poets, and 
 historians of his court, who were learned in the mysteries of 
 the knowledge of the east countriei, and of Egypt, which was 
 not communicated to all, but to a chosen few who kept them- 
 selves separated from the mass of the people. The science 
 of architecture was, unquestionably, one of the mysteries of 
 that age ; and in truth, it is a mystery now I mean that sci- 
 ence which constructed the temple of God on Mount Mo- 
 riah, which probably is not to be found among the living ar- 
 tists of the world. The wisdom of the east country a country 
 extending through all that immense region east of Palestine, 
 of which we are now beginning to know something ; as well 
 as of the urisdom of Egypt, is always mentioned as a species of 
 learning communicated only to a chosen few of the first 
 grade ; no matter what that learning was, there cannot be a 
 shadow of doubt, but that it was communicated under the 
 sanctions of secresy then, as some portions of it are at the 
 present day. 
 
 NOTE (4) page 31. In tracing this portion of history to il- 
 lustrate my views and to prove my assertions, I had the good 
 fortune of commanding the assistance of a splendid oriental 
 scholar and distinguished traveller, who in traversing those 
 eastern countries, had become acquainted, in a kgitimale way, 
 12
 
 102 
 
 with the secret societies abounding- there. He was a master 
 of several of their languages, and could not be deceived ; and 
 from frequent communications with him on this subject, I 
 cannot entertain a single doubt, but that masonry, under oth- 
 er names, is now common among tire learned of the east, and 
 makes up a considerable portion of their literature and sci- 
 ence ; and is at the same time the bond of hospitality be- 
 tween them, and individuals "fef other nations ; and in fine, 
 furnishes the best medium of intercourse, and the surest 
 pledge of safety that is known among these nations. I am 
 still further confirmed in this belief from information derived 
 from several of our enlightened Missionaries who were initia- 
 ted in masonry before they left this country for India. They 
 have borne ample testimony to the favors they have received 
 from the native fraternity in India, in situations of a perilous 
 nature, when neither powerful, but distant friends, nor their 
 own peaceful demeanor, or holy errand, were sufficient to 
 protect them from multiplied evils and imminent dangers. 
 
 NOTE (5) page 68. " The Trinity opens an immense field 
 for philosophic studies, whether we consider it in the attri- 
 butes of God, or collect the vestiges of this dogma diffused 
 throughout the ancient east : for so far from being the inven- 
 tion of a modern age, it bears that antique stamp which impart* 
 exquisite beauty to every thing upon which it is impressed. 
 It is a pitiful mode of reasoning to reject whatever we cannot 
 comprehend. Were we to begin with the most simple things 
 in life, it would be easy to prove that we know absolutely no- 
 thing; and shall we tlten pretend to penetrate into the depths 
 f Divine Wisdom ? 
 
 The Trinity was known to the Egyptians : the Greek inscrip- 
 tion on the great obelisk in the Circus Major at Rome was to 
 this effect : 
 
 Ttie Mighty God ; Begotten of God , and the All-respkndent 
 (Apollo, the Spirit.) 
 
 Heraclides of Pontus and Porphyry record a celebrated ora- 
 cle of Serapis : 
 
 " In ike beginning was God, then the Word and the Spirit ; aR 
 three were produced together, and unite in one,"
 
 103 
 
 The Magi had the Trinity in Oromasis, Metris, and Arami- 
 nis or Oramases, Mitra, and Arimane. 
 
 Plato seems to allude to this incomprehensible dogma in se- 
 veral of his works. " Chut, on the Trinity. 
 
 NOTE (6) page 83. "And by those of the firmest and pure- 
 est natures." There was a person once, who lias just ceased 
 to fill the list of living 1 men, one whose memory will ever be 
 dear to me, and ever cherished by all who knew him ; who 
 labored hard with many .arguments and kindly entreaties to 
 induce me to relinquish my connexion with masonry. If any 
 man could have prevailed with me, it would have' been this 
 friend, lie often asked what worldly advantage 1 had ever 
 received from masonry ? My answer was none: If I had not 
 spent much time in the cause ? Yes ; if I was a better Chris- 
 tian, or a wiser man for this devotion to the order ? 1 was 
 silent as to myself; but to all this I replied, 1 believe the 
 world is better for masonry, and that is enough for me. 
 
 We mourn the loss of our dearest friends, whenever the re- 
 membrance of them comes over us, wherever we may be, and 
 we write their epitaphs on every wall we lean against, and 
 carve their names on every tree we seek for shelter, or for 
 shade. It does not require the solemnities of the church or 
 the damp, gloomy air of the tomb to give us the heart-ache on 
 bringing them up to us ; oh ! no ; their images are mingled 
 with our moments of joy and sunshine, and hover about us in 
 our pathway, to prepare us also fora departure. Their whis- 
 pers are as constant in our ears as their forms are in our visions. 
 There is a mysterious communion between the living and 
 the dead. Let not philosophy attempt to explain it ; her lim- 
 ited powers would sink under it ; and let criticism forbear to 
 say, here or there is the proper place to mourn : every where is 
 the proper place to contemplate the virtues of the dead, and 
 to think upon \vhat an attenuated thread hang the ties of this 
 life. 
 
 This good man we mourn, was the Rev. Dr. Taylor. In his 
 death the world has lost one of its bright- st ornaments, in or 
 out of the pulpit. He was among the most kerned of the present 
 generation of distinguished men. He was a profound mathe-
 
 104 
 
 matician and an admirable linguist ; deeply read in his profes- 
 sion, and master of the accomplishments of a gentleman and 
 gifted with the graces of a Christian. In the odour of sanctity 
 he practiced all the courtesies of society, nor die] he, like some 
 narrow-minded ecclesiastics, fear to bring the charmsjof class'- 
 cal learning into the persuasions of the sanctuary: He de- 
 fended his iaith with the wamthof an upostle and a martyr, and 
 at the same time seized the dark and thick envelopments of big- 
 otry with the strong hand of a reformer. Kis eloquence, if 
 not faultless, was most attractive ; it was rich with the spoils 
 of time, and full of the unction of truth. To make his calling 
 effectual to his flock, he whispered the promises of hope to 
 the unhappy, and brought the consolations of the gospel to the 
 wounded in spirit ; he gave instruction with words of comfort, 
 and accompanied his reproofs with needful precepts ; but 
 amiable as he was, the denunciations of the Messiah to the op- 
 pressor and the hypocrite were breathed in terrors from his 
 lips. His pen was as fluent as his tongue, and he drew copi- 
 ously from the sweetest fountains of knowledge the master- 
 spirits of the classic ages and from the scriptures, the deep 
 wells of eternal life. He wrote on all subjects with the ease 
 of high acquirements and commanding talents ; he passed 
 from eloquence to poetry, not as a business, but as an elegant 
 amusement, which if it does not consecrate an hour, throws 
 the perfume of taste and genius over the moments of leisure, 
 and invigorates the mind for weightier duties. 
 
 All his holy functions were divinely administered ; he stood 
 by the bed where parting life was laid, to charm away the fiend* 
 of conscience by the power of that repentance which he 
 taught, and by the gospel promises he had in store ; and wait- 
 ed in earnest prayer, for he believed this world more intimate- 
 ly connected with another than most men to deliver over to 
 whispering angels, and sister spirits, the humble, the contrite, tht 
 believing, "trusting soul. Like all men of refined minds and 
 studious habits, he was sometimes overtaken by the clouds of 
 a gloomy hour ; but he brushed away the tear that unpleasant 
 recollections or sad forebodings had wrung from his heart, 
 and he came out, and joined the social circle, when his duties 
 would permit, with alacrity and interest ; and by his presence 
 impressed upon the votaries of fashion, this great truth; that 
 elegance, refinement and intelligence, require the purity of
 
 105 
 
 devotion, and the gentleness of sanctity to give a perfect and 
 an exquisite finish to the manners of a gentleman. He was 
 held in reverence by his countrymen the warm-hearted Irish 
 and beloved by the people whose country he had for a while 
 adopted, and at one time expected to make his own for life ; 
 but divine wisdom had otherwise decreed, for while his nu- 
 merous friends were indulging tiie fond hope of his speedy 
 return to this country with fiesh honors, and enlarged pavers 
 of usefulness, the waves of the atlantic were bearing to our 
 shores the melancholly tidings of his premature am' 
 death ; but in their deep grief at his loss, his friends haw this 
 consolation left that he died in the midst of his religious du- 
 ties. He burst a blood-vessel in the pulpit. If to pour out 
 one's blood in the cause of our country be an imperishable 
 honor, what measure of praise is his who exhausts the foun- 
 tains of life in tiie cause of his God ? Farexve!, sainted shade ; 
 the sufferings of thy dtl.cate spirit, which was " itiucfi'dbut 
 to fine, issue*," are over ; the veil of futurity is lifted up for 
 thee ; and the visions of beatitude are thine. 
 
 NOTE (7) page 88. The author of these Lectures was for 
 more than fifteen years a counsellor at law in Massachusetts, 
 and was constantly, during that period, at the bar of her 
 Courts, and for ten years of the time he practiced in the Mu- 
 nicipal Court of Boston, a Court of criminal jurisdiction ; and 
 he affirms, that among the very considerable number of per- 
 sons he was employed to defend, that he never was mortified 
 but once in the whole course of his practice by a masonic 
 claim for professional assistance, from a culprit, and that once 
 was from a foreigner who had escaped a deserved punishment 
 for crime in his own land. If any of these culprits were ma- 
 sons, they did not dare avow themselves as such, or hope for 
 assistance, from the fraternity, while the charge of crime was 
 upon them. But if a few could be pointed out who had 
 been on the criminal calendar, we might say, that every pro- 
 fession have their " damned spots" also. The counting-house, 
 the healing art, tiie bar, the pulpit, and the bench, have h:id 
 cause in their several orders, to in;>urn the weakness of hu- 
 man resolutions and the corruptibility of human virtues.
 
 106 
 
 NOTE (8) page 96. Although no one has ventured to ar- 
 raign my motives in coming forward at this moment, in favor 
 of our order, yet it has not escaped me that some of our 
 brethren question the policy of touching the subject of ma- 
 sonry on any consideration whatever. For myself, I can only 
 say, that in my opinion, it is folly to pursue that which can- 
 not be justified, and infamous to espouse that which we have 
 not courage to defend. I have taken my course and shall 
 throw the responsibility of it on no one : I alone am amena- 
 ble to the public. If the fraternity approve of my course, I 
 shall be happy ; if they do not, but censure and condemn it ; 
 pardon the vanity of the allusion they shall never find the 
 defender of Rome among the Volciaiis. It may be, that the 
 fraternity may show me that I have been wrong, and misled 
 by the false lights of history and learning, and when I come 
 to my senses, that I shall find that 1 have been like the anti- 
 quarian, who in'contemplating a mummy fell into a fit of en- 
 thusiasm, and running back to the days of old, saw Egypt's 
 Queen, in all her loveliness, dissolve the pearl to drink ; 
 heard her enchanting voice, " gan murmur love, "and like 
 her mighty lords the masters of the world he was at once 
 enslaved by her charms ; and following on in her destinies, 
 saw her also when she took the asps to her bosom and court- 
 ted death through the gates of painless slumber ; then, the 
 spirit of gallantry moved within him, and he started to dash 
 the poisonous " worms of the Nile" away ; but waking from 
 the trance, found that he was embracing amarrowless, blood- 
 less, brainless mass of deformity that had been grinning defi- 
 ance to decay and dissolution for thirty centuries. But as 
 yet, I believe that I have not been in a reverie ; but have 
 judged the matter of masonry with the sana ntensin sano car- 
 pore. Tlie same decree that decides that I am wrong, will 
 contain a negative pregnant that our enemies are right and if 
 they be right, then stratagem, villuny, murder and treason 
 never had a holiday until now. If he who speaks in favor of 
 masonry is to be proscribed with those who speak against it, 
 the sooner we make a funeral pyre of our charters the better. 
 Neither the cutting taunts of friends " that one book against 
 masonry would sell better than twenty in favor of it ,-" nor the 
 fears of a few, or the apathy of the many, will satisfy me that 
 1 have done wrong in making 1 this little book j the verdict
 
 107 
 
 against it must be full, and clear, and pronounced most audi- 
 bly, before I shall be satisfied with the trial not upon the 
 merits of what I have said ; but of the crime of saying any 
 thing-.
 
 I.
 
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