Part II.

FREEMASONRY, THE KEYSTONE : OF THE ARCH.
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FINNEY
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CHARL
There are three fundamental institutions given of God for the use and behoof of mankind: the Family, the Church and the State. All these fundamental di- vine arrangements are spoiled, or damaged, or set at naught, by the lodge: the family by excluding woman, the church by excluding Christ, and the state by ex- cluding justice and substituting despotism in its place.
We read in the Apocalypse that Satan and his angels have been defeated in other worlds and fields of con- flict and cast out into the earth, and Christ himself. speaks of Satan as the prince and god of this world. We should hence expect that Satan’s religious system would be limited and bounded by this world, and this we find to be the fact. He is worshipped as the Archi- tect of the Universe. The religion of the Mysteries from the pyramids to those of the lodges began with the worship of the sun and the heavenly bodies and descended to “four-footed beasts and creeping things,” always keeping within the realm of the “god of this world.” It is all “earthly, sensual, devilish,” and the heathen nations are dwarfed in their intelligence be- cause first cheated out of “life and immortality brought to light” by Christ, and imposed on by an immortality taught by a sprig of evergreen and wine drunk from a human skull.—President Jonathan Blanchard.
He that hath the Son hath iife; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life—I John s.
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GEA TE RES
It is always an occasion of suspicion when a man travels under different names at different times and places. An old law-breaker is known in part by his aliases. One has a feeling of the same sort when taking up the study of Free- masonry, the model and mother of MopERN SECRET SOCIETIES. One man declares it to be an insurance company. Another affirms that it is a social organization. A third says that it is a re- ligion and is good enough for him. While a fourth insists that it is a benevolent organization. In this Babel of voices, let us turn to the institu- tion itself, to its rulers and commentators and seek to determine for ourselves what it actually is.
One beginning this examination is at once struck by the fact that in every Masonic lodge there is an altar. Now, an altar is a religious instrument. It is a means of offering sacrifice or thanksgiving, and the thought at once occurs: Why has Masonry an altar if it is not a religious institution? Neither a social organization, an in-
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surance company, nor a business house has any need of an altar.
Advancing we learn that Freemasonry has a creed and this is not in a loose colloquial sense, but in an exact religious one. Mackey says (Lexicon, p. 100): “The creed of a Mason is brief * * * Itis a creed which demands and receives the universal consent of allmen * * * It is belief in God, the supreme architect of heaven and earth.” * * * Thus we learn that Free- masonry has altars and a creed.
Still further, Freemasonry has a religious ritual. It prints prayers for use in its meetings. It pre- pares religious lectures for use in conferring de- grees. It baptizes infants and buries the dead. Business houses do not do such acts. Social or- ganizations do not. Mere relief associations do not. Why should Freemasonry have an altar, a creed and a ritual unless it is a religious institu- tion?
This impression is deepened when we ‘find what effect the order produces on simple-minded, honest men. It is well known that most Masons do not profess to be Christians and all revivalists who have dealt with them know that these men frequently say that they have all the religion they need in the lodge. Masonry is good enough religion for me, is a common saying among them.
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Ministers of the gospel are at times led to deny the religious character of the lodge in order to save themselves from the charge of treason to the church, but the common sense of ordinary men interprets the lodge ritual as a religious ceremony and believes that one who lives up to Masonry goes to heaven when he dies. :
The language of the rulers of the order confirms the impression produced by its secret and public work. Mackey, in his Ritualist, p. 22, speaking of a candidate for Masonry, says: “There he stands on the threshold of his new Masonic life, in darkness, helplessness and ignorance. Having been wandering amid the errors and covered with the pollutions of the outer or profane world, he comes inquiringly to our doors seeking the new birth and the removal of the veil which hides divine truth from his uninitiated sight.”
In his Lexicon, defining the word Acacian, he Says that the word signifies “a Mason who by living in strict accord with his obligations, is free from sin.” (Mackey’s Lexicon, p. 16.) Oliver says on the same word: “When the Master Mason exclaims, ‘My name is Cassia,’ it is equivalent to saying, ‘I have been in the grave, I have triumphed over it by rising from the dead, and being regenerated in the process I have a claim to life everlasting.’”’ (Cyclopedia of Free-
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masonry, p. 48.) To the same effect Morris says on the third degree: “We thus find man complete in morality and intelligence, with the stay of religion added to insure him the protec- tion of deity and guard him against ever going astray, nor is it possible to conceive of anything more which the soul of man requires.” It re- quires no argument to show that Masons who believe these statements and love Masonry will care nothing about the Christian chruch.
But the fact that Freemasonry is a religious or- ganization is not of chief importance. Religions are very many, while Christianity is but one. Re- ligiously, Christianity stands against the world. It is an exclusive faith; it claims to be true and that rival religions are false and ruinous to men. “I am the way,” “the door,” says Jesus, “no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” “He that hath the Son,” says the Holy Spirit, “hath life ;’ “and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” The question then arises: What kind of a re- ligion is Freemasonry ?
Robert Morris, in the synopsis of Masonic law which he prepared for the edition of Webb’s Free- mason’s Monitor, published by J. C. W. Bailey of Chicago, uses the following language under the title “Religion”: ‘So broad is’ the religion of
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Masonry and so carefully are all sectarian tenets excluded, that the Christian, the Jew, and the Mohammedan may and do harmoniously unite in its moral and intellectual work with the Buddhist, the Parsee, and the worshiper of deity under every form.” Mackey, in his Lexicon, under the same title says: “The religion of Masonry is pure Theism.” Chase, in-his Digest of Masonic Law, gives a large number of Grand Lodge decisions, the general purport of which is that Masons are required to believe in God, but are not asked to ac- cept the Bible as God’s word or Jesus as the Son of God.
In pursuance of this theory we have the prac- tice of the lodge, which is to carefully exclude the name of Jesus from the creed and ritual of the order. The creed is strictly deistic, the candi- date must avow his belief in God. The prayers are deistic, the name of Jesus is sedulously ex- cluded from them. The Bible readings are de- istic. Passages which do not contain the name of Christ are usually selected, and when portions, like 1 Pet., 2:5, and 2 Thess., 3 :6-16, are used, the name of the Savior of the world is stricken out.
But more than this is true. Mentioning the name of Jesus is not pleasing to God if we dis- regard his example and trample his law under foot. The Knights Templar do name the Savior,
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but they are perhaps the most desperately un- Christian and Godless of secret orders. Other lodges also name him, which are evidently anti- Christian. Jesus himself said to men: “Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” In the first chapter of Isaiah aiso the Holy Spirit explains how God loathes the forms of even the true faith when the Spirit has departed. Away, he says, with your prayers and sacrifices. “I am weary to bear them.” It is not the one who says only, but who says Lord, and obeys, who is pleasing to God.
Now Jesus gave commands and set example which Freemasonry deliberately tramples under foot. He said: “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven,’ and speaking of His own life He said: “I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the syna- gogue and in the temple, whither the Jews al- ways resort; and in secret have I said nothing.” It is obvious that no lodgeman can follow this example so long as he is in his order, and it is equally plain that if the secret work is good and helpful to men, he cannot obey the command. If lodgism put the name of Jesus everywhere, in oath and prayer and reading and lecture, still so long as it was secret it would be a high-handed re-
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bellion against the Savior of the world. An order that pretends to do good by swearing men to secrecy is an enemy of Jesus Christ.
Still further the hostility of Freemasonry to Christianity is shown by the neglect of the divine methods. Jesus, wishing to cure men of sin and fit them for heaven, requires them first of all to deal with sin. “Repent,” is the great word ut- tered by John, by Jesus, by the apostles, by every faithful minister of Christ from the beginning until now. And after repentance, confession and restitution, and not a ray of light on the path of any sinner who will not repent, confess, and put away his sin. And then an equally clear ac- ceptance of Jesus as his great sin offering, as the One who has put away his sins by the sacri- fice of Himself.
Now, as Freemasonry contemptuously sets aside Jesus Christ, so it ignores the great and terrible fact of sin, which made His death need- ful. Masons are never required’to confess their sins or to agree to cease from them, or to trust in the pardoning love of Jesus. They are asked to apply for admission, to pay their fees, to sub- mit to the ceremonies of initiation, to swear the lodge oaths, to pay dues, but they are never asked to acknowledge themselves sinners before God. Sin is occasionally alluded to, vices and
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superfluities are mentioned, but never in personal confession and never in connection with the sac- rifice of Jesus.
Another particular in which the anti-Christian character of Masonry is revealed is in its contra- diction of the moral system taught in the Word of God. That system, as all Christians know, is a universal one. Men are required to do right to all, to sin against no one, while Masonic morals are partial and undertake to secure the rights of none except those who are in some way connected with the order. The Mason is sworn to befriend Masons and their relatives, not to steal from Masons or a lodge, not to speak evil of a Master Mason before his face or behind his back, not to strike him in anger so as to draw blood, not to commit adultery with his female relatives. Such a system of morals is as far from the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount as heaven is from hell. The devil, if embodied, could observe a code of that sort and be a devil still. These are not all the particulars in which Masonry shows itself to be hostile to the religion of Jesus Christ, but they are sufficient for any man who has felt the guilt of sin and the pardoning blood of Jesus.
Idolatry is nowhere more plain or damning than in the Masonic lodge. Its creed is deism; its prayers are Christless ; its morals are satanic; yet
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it professes to teach men how to live well and to. die in peace. Together with other lodges in- vented and ruled by Masons, it is the great rival of the Christian church in Christian lands. As pagan religions are the hindrance to Christianity in heathen lands, so the heathen religions of the lodge are the great hindrance to the Christian church in our land..As Dr.-Dorner of Berlin said: “The church in America must stand as one man against Freemasonry or it will be destroyed.”
E. B. STEWART
President, National Christian Association; Pastor (3rd) United Presbyterian Church, Chicago
Sie rE Re LT.
THE CEREMONIES OF THE LODGE, ur HOW IS A MAN MADE A MASON?
What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.—/ Cor., 6:19, 20.
~The Stewards then proceed to prepare him for in- itiation by taking off everything but his shirt, and if this does not open in front it is turned around front side back and the buttons and studs removed. He is provided with a pair of drawers—he cannot keep his own—and the left leg of these is rolled up above the knee. The left arm is slipped out of the sleeve and the left side of his shirt is tucked in, so that the left leg, left foot, left arm and left breast are bare. A slipper is put on his right foot, a hoodwink over his eyes, and a small rope, called a cable-tow, is put once around his neck—Free Masonry Illustrated.
In this way Free Masonry treats the temple of the Holy Ghost. For degree after degree these shameful denudings are continued until the spirit of the man is completely subdued. All men who are regularly made Masons pass through this ceremony.—The Author.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.—Gen. I.
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GliACr DT HOR) i.
Freemasonry will soon be two hundred years - old. It is heathen religion grafted onto the stump of a mechanic’s guild. | During the middle ages, when the vast cathedrals which are now the wonder and admiration of the world were being constructed, bands of stone masons lived in huts or cabins or lodges alongside the beautiful buildings they were erecting. There were among them apprentices, journeymen and masters. They were highly esteemed for their work’s sake and have left enduring monuments of their patience, ‘strength and skill.
As medieval passed into modern times the char- acter of buildings and the organization of industry changed, the result being that these groups of honest working men became less closely united and their meetings were less frequent and in- teresting. At this time, the early part of the eighteenth century, a few men conceived the idea of building a secret order on the ruins of the mason’s lodge. They did so. A ritual was de- vised, adapted to humiliate the candidate and
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furnish sport to those initiating him. The fee which he paid was sufficient to pay for liquor, and after putting the candidate through the cere- monies which they had arranged, they had a good time drinking and singing songs, after which they went home.
At first there was but one degree, but it soon occurred to the managers that they could get more money, drink more liquor and have more fun if they had each candidate three times, and so they divided the ceremony into three parts and initiated those whom they could secure for the purpose as Entered Apprentices, Fellow Craft and Master Masons. The new expedient working well, other degrees were made up; rites were established and shortly over a thousand so-called Masonic degrees were being sold to those who would buy. At present most of those rites and degrees are dead and forgotten but over ninety degrees in three rites are still conferred. Of all these degrees, the three which were first practiced in the Apple Tree Tavern in London in 1717 are the foundation. They are called universal Ma- sonry to distinguish them from other degrees which were invented later and which did not be- come so popular. It is of the ceremonies of these three degrees which are conferred in what are called Blue Lodges that I, in this chapter, speak.
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The man who receives them must first in some way present a petition to a lodge and pay the re- quired fee, which differs in different lodges, in poor lodges being small, in lodges composed of more wealthy men being large. The lodge, on re- ceiving the request, votes whether to grant it or not. If there is no objection to his reception, the man is notified to be present at a certain time for initiation. He comes to the lodge hall at the proper time and is taken into what is called the Preparation Room, which is adjacent to the mdin lodge room. Here he is required to say that he comes to join the lodge from no mer- cenary motive and that he will cheerfully submit to whatever may be required of him. He is then stripped of his clothing from head to foot, until _he has on nothing but a shirt and a pair of draw- ers. The left leg of the drawers is rolled above his knee, a slipper is on his right foot, his left foot is bare. The shirt is so arranged that his left breast is naked. A hoodwink is put over his eyes and a small rope called a cable-tow is put | about his neck, and in this condition he is led to the door of the lodge, where he gives, or his conductor for him gives three distinct knocks.
The door being partially opened, a brief col- loquy ensues, after which he is admitted and blindfolded is led into the room. As he enters, an
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officer of the lodge presses some sharp instrument against his naked left breast and asks him if he feels anything. Replying that he does, he is asked what it is. He is taught to reply, “A torture,” and thus saying he is told that as this is a tor- ture to his flesh, so the recollection of it should ever be to his mind and conscience if he unlaw- fully reveals the secrets of the lodge.
He is then, still blindfolded, caused to kneel for the benefit of a prayer. This being said over him, at times by a godless and profane man, he is asked in whom he puts his trust. If he replies, in Jesus, he is corrected. If he hesitates he is told to say, “In God,” and repeating the words, he is told that since his trust is in God he need fear no danger, to rise and follow his leader.
He is then, in hoodwink, cable-tow, shirt, draw~ ers and one slipper, led about the lodge. He is halted by the Master, by the Junior and Senioi Wardens and in each case a little dialogue ensues, after which he is led to the middle of the room and caused to kneel upon his naked left knee be- fore the altar. His left hand is put under the open Bible, which lies on the altar, his right is put on the square and compass, which are placed upon the Bible, and in this condition, blind, half- naked, not knowing who is about him, he is given the first cath in Masonry. The oath taken, he is
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for the first time permitted to see in whose hands he has been and what is going on around him.
He receives a lecture about the great light and the lesser lights in Masonry and is instructed in the signs, grips and pass-words of that degree. His clothing is yet in the Preparation xoom. His
shirt and drawers have no metal about them and he is then asked for abit of metal, a small coin or anything of the sort, to deposit in the archives of the lodge as a reminder of the fact that he was there made a Mason. Being unable to do as requested, he is taught that this is an important lesson ir charity and that as he is embarrassed because he cannot make the small contribution asked tur, so he should be prompt to relieve the heedy.
He is then sent back to the Preparation Room to put on his clothes, and this being done, he is brought back into the lodge room for further in- struction. He is caused to stand in the northeast corner of the room and while there receives a lecture on the antiquity and excellence of Masonry and the great honor which has been conferred upon him by his initiation into it.
In the second degree the candidate is again stripped, hoodwinked and led by the cable-tow into the lodgeroom. He is led twice around the lodgeroom instead of once. He is halted and.
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questioned and lectured and sworn, and again permitted to get his clothes and go home. The third degree is like the first two, but is more of- fensive. The candidate has both legs bare to the knees and no slipper on. Both his breasts are exposed instead of one, as in each of the first two degrees. His eyes are bandaged and the cable is three times around his body instead of once around his neck or twice around his arm. He is led, barefooted and blindfolded, three times about the lodgeroom and at last kneels before the altar on two naked knees instead of the left or right as before. His oath is longer and worse than in the Entered Apprentice and Fellow Craft degrees and is enforced as in each of those cases by a death penalty.
He is after a time clad, brought back into the lodgeroom and made the subject of a mock kill- ing and resurrection. Hears more lectures ex- tolling Masonry and exhorting to morality and is then permitted to go home.
The amount of indignity to which the candidate is subjected varies with the lodge and the char- acter of the one initiated. A lodge composed of gentlemen softens the absurd and indecent fea- tures of the ceremony, while a lodge of coarse, ignorant men accentuates them and frequently adds disgraceful scenes not called for by the
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ritual. Then, too, a poor, unknown man is not treated as one who has high social or official po- sitions or great wealth is. Cases are on record where men are taken into lodges in violation of the express teachings of the order because their influence is desired to bring others in. In short, they are brought to be used as stool pigeons. Min- isters who become Masons are, regularly used in this manner. pte AOS
It follows that one can never know exactly the way a particular individual is taken into the lodge unless present at the initiation. The ritual is known, but the ceremony may include more or less. In most cases it is probably worse than the ordained order of proceeding because the better class of Masons seldom attend the lodge, thus leaving the initiation to the more base and ignorant who delight in the sight of blindfolded, half-naked men led about as a spectacle.
As Masonry is the mother of Modern Secret Orders we shall expect to find the same insult and outrage heaped upon the bodies of men in the chil- dren as in the mother order. In this we shall not be disappointed. Men are made members of other secret societies as they are made Masons, ‘by stripping, hoodwinking and scaring in one way or another. It is in these fool initiations that so many men are now being injured or killed. If the
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question be asked: “Why are such low and dan- gerous amusements provided,” the answer is two- fold: the men make them because they are of the spiritual and intellectual character which find pleasure in such amusements; Satan inspires them because, as my honored father said, he hates the bodies of men which are intended for temples of the Holy Ghost and delights to deface and de- file them as savages destroy objects which are beautiful and sublime.
RetekeP ST HR: VIII,
MASONIC OBLIGATIONS, OR MASONRY AND CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
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Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends-of the earth: for I am God and there is none else. I have
sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.—/sa., 45:22, 23.
And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory — Jer, 4:2.
Thou shalt not take the name ot the Lord, thy God, in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.—E-., 20:7.
We take God’s name in vain when we use it care- lessly, about trifling matters or to bind ourselves to what is evil. All lodge swearing is profanity—The Author.
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Rie a BR ITT,
In the preceding chapter we have repeatedly mentioned the obligations assumed by those be- coming Masons. We desire to take them up for study in a chapter by themselves in order to avoid confusion, and to give them that attention which their importance demands. God has established three institutions for the race, the family, the church and the state. These three institutions Satan, who is the god of the secret orders, de- sires to destroy. In all times false religions have been the enemies of a pure home, a Christian church and a free state.. Some idolatrous re- ligions strike more directly at one and some at another, but wherever paganism prevails the three are destroyed.
In the Masonic obligations two things are per- petually insisted upon, viz., secrecy and obedience. The Mason must keep secret the proceedings of the lodge and the confidential communications of brother Masons. He must obey the rules and regulations of the order and the edicts of the lodge. He is repeatedly assured that these rules,
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regulations and edicts will not conflict with the duties he owes to his family, his country, or his God, but a study of these laws of the lodge clearly shows that this assurance thrice repeated is a thrice repeated falsehood.
What right has a Christian or a good citizen to promise to conceal the secret workings of a lodge, made up of men, a great majority of whom are unknown to him? There is no sin against God or crime against the state to which he might not thus become a party. This danger is em- phasized by the language of one obligation in the oath of the third degree. In it the Mason swears to keep secret the confidential communications of his brother Masons, murder and treason ex- cepted, and they left to his own election, i. e., he swears not to reveal any crimes of which he ob- tains knowledge from his brethren except those of murder and treason, and he will keep those secret if he chooses. It is at once seen what a cover is here provided for lawlessness. Theft, arson, adultery, perjury, blackmailing and frauds of every sort are covered by the Master Mason’s oath, while murder and treason may find shelter under it.
It is affirmed, however, that crimes are not to be hidden by Masons for Masons, and those who say this loudly declare that they would not for a
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moment consent to conceal the crimes of a brother. The answer is obvious. If Masonry does not intend to aid Masonic criminals, why does she administer an obligation which clearly teaches that to be a duty of a Mason? There is no dispute as to the language. All honest Ma- sons admit that the oath is to “keep inviolate all a Master Mason’s secrets committed to me as such, murder and: treason excepted,” etc., etc. If this means what it says, a Master Mason’s oath is an oath to conceal crimes.
As to whether any individual Mason will keep that oath or not, the only way to find out is to try him and see. That some would not keep it we may well believe; that many would we know; there is reason to fear that many who loudly declare that they would not so observe it would do so if tested. But, however that may be, the lan+ guage of the oath is perfectly plain and binds every man who takes it to aid brother Masons in danger because of crimes committed, if they request it.
Another provision in this oath is to the same effect. The Mason in the Master’s oath is caused to swear that should he see or hear the grand hailing sign of distress given by a worthy brother in distress, he will fly to his relief, etc. The ques- tion at once arises in the interpretation of this
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obligation as to the meaning of the phrase “worthy brother.” It evidently means worthy Masonically, since that is the only sort of worthi- ness upon which Masonry insists. | Honesty, charity, and virtue according to Masonry are to be required within the bounds of the order. The Mason swears not to rob, strike or slander a Mason; not to commit adultery with the Master Mason’s wife, mother, sister, or daughter. worthy brother is one who pays his dues and keeps his oaths.
Suppose now a Mason to be in danger of arrest’
for crimes committed or to be on trial for them after being apprehended. Suppose again that he gives to Masonic officers or witnesses the grand hailing sign of distress. | What is the duty of those seeing or hearing the sign? It is undoubt- edly to fly to the relief of the one who gives it. A judge in Jowa recently stated that a very large proportion of testimony given in courts of justice was perjury. Why should it not be so when hundreds of thousands of men are sworn in secret lodges to conceal the crimes of their breth- ren and to fly to their relief in case they give a signal of distress?
Masonic criminals are often permitted to escape the penalty of the law by the false testimony of witnesses, by the perjury of jurymen, sheriffs
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or judges. Tens of thousands of dollars are spent to catch and try them and then some secret brother delivers them and the people are robbed and deluded. Some lodge preacher will rise after such transactions and advise men to join Free- masonry because it is so moral and excellent an institution, ;
If men deny these statements one has only to read the records of the Ellen Slade case at Belvi- dere, that of McGarigle ‘and McDonald in Chi- cago, or of Dr. Jackson in Hartford, to know what the facts are. But why deal at retail when we may as well do a wholesale business? Ameri- cans who yet live saw the most causeless c- ! colossal rebellion that was ever waged, subdued. It cost billions of money and hundreds of thou- sands of lives. Towns and cities were burned and all the horrors of civil war were visited upon whole states. The war closed and not one of all the men who planned and carried it out was pun- ished. Even the arch conspirator who was ar- rested was not punished. After being fed at pub- lic expense for a time he was set free to live under the protection of the country he had sought to de- stroy. At the present time men are permitted to carry the flags of the rebellion in public streets, to erect monuments to traitors, and to boast of their loyalty to disloyalty in public addresses
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Some declare that this awful conspiracy was planned in Royal Arch Chapters of the Masonic orders. We will not affirm this; some might deny it, but no man will deny that there were Masons in the armies of the rebellion. No man will deny that the leaders of the rebellion were Masons. Is this a reason why not one of them all suffered for his crimes? Why, judging from his- tory, treason is no crime in the United States? Masonry teaches treason when she swears men to obey rules and regulations of lodges and to re- spond to signs and summonses given, handed, sent or thrown by a lodge or a Mason. When our court houses are filled with men who have sworn the cut-throat oaths of Masonry, it is not strange that treason is exalted into a virtue and that patriotism is a disadvantage if not a crime.
We hear much in these days of anarchy. What is anarchy? It is lawlessness. Is lawlessness confined to ignorant, beer-sodden foreigners, the oppressed and wretched victims of priestly and civic despotism? Unfortunately, no. It walks the streets of all our cities. It sits often in our churches. It selects certain laws to be obeyed and others to be trodden under foot. When asked to obey the law it talks of cranks, fanatics and bigots. But when some poor, ignorant soul, far less responsible than others, strikes down the
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life of a ruler, these anarchists howl for rage until their brother anarchist is killed by the law. Men who deliberately murder should be executed. Men who commit treason should be punished, and men who teach treason in secret lodges should be dealt with by the law.
I have spoken thus far of the obligations of the first three degrees. As one goes on in this secret order the deep wickedness of it becomes more apparent. In the seventh degree, for ex- ample, the candidate is sworn to keep a com- panion’s secrets, murder and treason not excepted, or to keep all his secrets without exception. It is alleged that it was in the meetings of Royal Arch Masons that the rebellion was planned, for the reason that even if some present should be union men they would be bound to conceal the discus- sions of their traitor brethren. Whether this statement be true or false it is plain that such an oath as the Mason in the seventh degree takes would be an excellent defense for men who wished to plot treason and to introduce all the horrors of civil war.
Little need be said respecting the penalties of Masonic oaths, but that topic must not pass en- tirely without remark. These penalties are such as to have the throat cut across and the tongue torn out; to have heart and vitals torn out and
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made food for beasts and birds ; to have the body cut in two and the bowels burned to ashes; to have the top of the skull smitten off and the brain exposed to the scorching rays of the noonday sun; to have the head smitten off or to undergo greater tortures than damned souls in hell ex- perience.
These penalties repeated week after week in thousands of lodges are a training school for mur- der. If men who listen to them do not kill those who break their oaths, it will not be be- cause they do not think it right to do so, but be- cause they are restrained by prudential consid- erations. No man can believe that Masonry is right without believing that it is right to kill men who for any reason reveal it. Such killing under the laws of God and man is murder, and men who approve of it are murderers at heart.
It is said, however, that these penalties signify nothing, that they are never enforced, and that it is foolish to object to Masonry because of them. The answer is two-fold. If they are fooling, they are a poor sort of fooling for honest men to be engaged in; if they mean anything they mean murder. If it be said they are not enforced, we reply, Who knows that they are not enforced? If a society is secret, why is it so, unless to pro- vide for just such transactions as these penalties
Modern Secret Societies. — ‘103
call for? Surely no sane man believes secrecy needful to any honest occupation or organization. We have records to show the murder of Wm. Morgan, who revealed Masonry about 1826 and sealed his testimony with his blood. That almost public murder cost Masonry twenty years of si- lence and the “damned spots”_‘on the hands of the lodge are clear and red after all these years. The lodge is not likely to repeat that blunder, but that scores of men who are not weil known have been secretly murdered for breach of some lodge oaths is perfectly possible and is by many well informed and thoughtful men firmly believed. .
Some persons tell us that Masons occasionally are bad men, but that the institution is good and helpful. No intelligent and truthful man can affirm it. The oaths show the spirit of the order. These bind the candidate to a partial honesty, a partial purity, and a partial benevolence. They swear him to conceal the crimes of brother Ma- sons and encourage him to commit crime by the knowledge that others are under obligation to con- ceal his evil deeds in turn. Even murder and treason are protected by the lodge and one of the greatest dangers of our time arises from the fact that the wholesale murders and robberies of re- bellion have been almost officially declared to be no offense in our country. All these oaths which
104. Modern Secret Societies.
tend to produce and protect criminals are enforced by blasphemous appeals to God and by penalties which call for murder. How can Christians, pa- triots or even gentlemen tolerate such a system as this?
Ca PT ER’ EY.
FREEMASONRY AND WOMAN, OR THE LODGE AND THE HOME,
105
And the Lorp God said, /t is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helpmeet for him. —Gen., 2:18.
And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.— Luke, 1:30-33.
And the women, also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and pre- pared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day, according to the commandment.—Luke, 23:55, 56.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.—Gal., 3:28.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.—Eph. 5.
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ral ae Re TV:
Freemasons have many of them felt that the exclusion of woman from the lodge required ex- planation and apology. We accordingly find in addresses and books some defense attempted of the practice of the order in this respect. The pro- vision for the exclusion of wives, sisters and mothers from Blue Lodge Masonry, runs thus:
“Furthermore (I swear) that I will not be present at the initiation, passing or raising of a woman, an old man in dotage, a young man in nonage, an atheist, a madman or a fool.”
It is not strange that gentlemen who have been inveigled into Masonry dislike to see this oath which they have taken revealed to their wives and daughters. To class women with atheis‘s and idiots would seem to repel men who have a chivalrous regard for those who make their homes bright and beautiful.
Passing this, however, as an incident, we come to the more serious fact that the women in Ma- sons’ homes are never to have the Masonic con- fidences of their male relatives who belong to the
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108 Modern Secret Societies.
order. The Mason may speak freely of the or ler and the transactions of the lodge with Masons no matter how base and worthless or criminal they may be. But to his mother, his wife, his sister, or his daughter he may not thus speak. If a Master Mason should sit down and tell his home circle how he was dressed when made a Mason or what oath he took in the third degree it would be proper according to Masonic law, to cut across his throat, tear out his tongue, tear out his heart and vitals, cut his body in two and burn his bowels to ashes in the center.
It would seem that simple shame might be re- lied upon to keep his lips sealed, but those who made the order thought differently and added these barbarous penalties as a security against their folly and sin becoming known. Let them judge what means are needful to keep men who have been initiated from revealing the lodge se- crets: let us inquire as to the effect of such an arrangement on woman and the home.
The basis of the marriage contract is confi- dence. Husband and wife in the language of scripture are not two but one. They have not separate and different, but identical interests. What elevates and honors one rejoices and glori- fies the other so long as the contract is honestly observed by both parties. But as soon as one
Modern Secret Societies. 109
has something to conceal from the other the har- mony of the wedded state is broken and divorce of heart has begun.
It is true that some women are willing to be shut out of their husband’s confidence for the sake of the social, political, or financial advan- tages which may result. It is none the less true that the oath which separates them is an im- morality ; those whom God has united, men have no right to put.asunder. It is also true that few women take kindly to an arrangement which makes their husbands more frank and open- hearted with the various men who get into the lodge than they are with themselves. Most women like to feel assured of the entire confi- dence of their husbands as few husbands care to have their wives conducting secret corres- pondence with women or men.
But the lodge strikes a harder blow at the home than this. Lodge meetings are usually held at night and are often long. This is al- most invariably the case if there are candidates with whom the members wish to have sport. . Men as a rule are in occupations which keep them from their homes during the day so that the wife and children see little or nothing of them unless they have their evenings ‘‘at home.” It is well known that men who belong to one
THOM Modern Secret Societies.
lodge often belong to others, some to five or ten of them. In such cases what does the home life become? It is destroyed. A conscientious man who had united with a secret order, said that he had never a thought that secretism was wrong until he found that his love for his home was weakening and that this put him to study the order and brought him out of it. It would be better for the world if thousands had been as Christian as he. ;
But there is still another consideration not less weighty than either of the preceding: it is this. Lodge meetings occurring at night, and holding until late, when lodge men leave their halls most or all places of legitimate and health- ful assembly are closed. Three dark and deadly gateways to the pit are open, the liquor-shop, the gambling den and the brothel. Into these paths to perdition many a man has walked who would have lived a clean and wholesome life had he spent his evenings with his family. We live in a time when emphasis is justly laid on the ne- cessity that young people be at home during hours of darkness. None too much has been said or is likely to be said on that subject. It is well however that we remember that young people are not the only ones who may be injured or ruined by evil associates. Men are all crea-
Modern Secret Societies. Ill
tures of habit and are influenced by companions. One leper in a lodge may ruin a dozen men in a single winter. My friend, George Woodford, who was a drunken Knight Templar for years and who became a sober Christian gentlemen, told me that he had seen good, clean, young men who joined the lodge ruined time and again by the society of some base man who led them, after lodge, to drink-shop, gambling den and brothel. It is a heart-breaking story, the re- lation of the lodge and the home.
There is another important consideration which should be mentioned in this connection. I refer to the money cost of the secret society. This, as all students of the subject know, varies greatly. From the country lodge with few and simple ceremonies to the wealthy city lodges where costly banquets and dances are given, is a far cry. But all lodges cost and all lodge men pay. We do not mean that there are no dead- heads; we state the general fact.
Now the average man when he has cared for his family as he ought, feeding and clothing them, furnishing them books, music and educa- tion; when he has taken his place in the church, sharing as any honest man wishes to do in main- taining that great civilizing agency, and when he has met his obligations as a citizen; the aver-
112 Modern Secret Societies.
age man, I say, who has done these three things has nothing left for a lodge. But the lodge is made up of average men. The poor and wretched are not wanted, the strong and suc- cessful do not generally care for secret societies. Their tastes do not run in that way. It follows that what these average men give to the lodge they take from the portion justly belonging to family, church or society.
It is probably quite within the truth to say that ninety per cent of lodge men rob the church of her just dues to meet lodge obligations. Most of them do not go to the Christian church or pay to it at all; most of those who do pay insig- nificant sums, pay less than is right. Beyond this in multitudes of instances wives and chil- dren also suffer financially as well as otherwise because of their husbands’ and their fathers’ re- lations to secretism. Unfortunately there are not wanting cases where creditors or great so- cial enterprises also suffer loss.
It is not needful here to enlarge on the value of the Christian home. It is the only institution which antedates the fall of man. It determines the character of church, school and _ state. Where homes are pure and sweet, schools are easily managed, churches are prosperous, the state is the abode of peace and plenty. The
Modern Secret Socicties. 1a
hoodlums and ruffians who terrify society are the product of homes in which there is some radical defect. It is the master stroke of Satan to de- stroy the home. In any way or every way Ppossi- ble he seeks to rutin it. The lodge system of our day trains hundreds of thousands of Americans to neglect their homes. In all-icases there is loss; in many cases, ruin. As Mohammedan- ism, Mormonism, and Paganism ruin the home by degrading woman and robbing her of her rights, so Freemasonry classes her with atheists, idiots and madmen, and swears’ her husband un- der penalty of having his throat cut, to conceal lodge matters from her. It keeps the man out of his home through the long evening hours and turns him out into the silent streets, in many in- stances to have the evii work of evil men per- fected by the centers of vice which flourish while honest men are at home and legitimate enter- prises are closed. If there were no evil wrought by Freemasonry except the wreck it has made of homes, that alone would be ample reason for condemning it and saying to all men: “Come out or her my people that ye be not partakers of her plagues.”
A. J. GORDON, Late Pastor of Clarendon Street Bap- tist Church, Boston.
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived —JI Tim., 3:13.
Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in high places—Eph., Ger, TP:
Among your brethren beware of jealousy and strife. Be charitable in your conduct toward them. Forgive their errors and pardon their iniquities. If they wrong you, intercede kindly with them, remembering that to err is human, to forgive divine. And, finally, keep aloof from uniting yourselves with any sectional, politi- cal, or sectarian religious organization whose principles can in any way bias your mind or judgment, or in the slightest degree trammel with obligations the vows you have just made. Remember that now and henceforth you are champions of justice and human rights. Your battlefield is the world at large—ZJnitiation, Grand Elect Knight Kadosh.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseyer- ance and supplication for all saints—Eph. 6.
116
Caw PLE RY,
As has been remarked, when men of a certain type found that money could be made by making and selling lodge degrees, Freemasonry had such an astonishing increase that soon more than one thousand different degrees in many rites were being conferred. That was a time when Ma- sonic bodies flourished just as insurance lodges are multiplying now. Most of these rites and degrees are now extinct just as the insurance lodges die to be succeeded by others. A few rites have survived, under which the Masonic work of our country is now cohducted, chief among which are the Scottish Rite, the Ameri- can, and, furnishing a foundation for them, the York Rite, the Blue Lodge, or Universal Ma- sonry as it is called. It is claimed by Masons that there are one million, four hundred thou- sand Master Masons in the world. Of these only one hundred twenty-five thousand have re- ceived the Scottish Rite and one hundred, eighteen thousand, the so-called American Rite. The Master Masons are the overwhelming ma-
II7
118 Modern Secret Societies.
jority of the order and the degrees which are conferred in Chapter, Commandery, Lodge of Perfection, etc., are called higher degrees.
It is a peculiarity of evil and good alike that they intensify as they proceed. In morals there is always progress. Evil men and seducers wax worse and worse while the righteous holds on his way and the one who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger. If Masonry were a good institution it would evidence it by becoming more pure and gentle and holy as it went on, from degree to degree; being evil, it progresses in the other direction, growing worse and worse as it goes forward. To examine a few of these higher degrees is the purpose of this chapter.
We have already mentioned the fact that while the Master Mason is sworn to conceal all the crimes of a brother Mason except murder and treason, the Royal Arch Mason is obligated to conceal all the crimes of a companion Royal Arch Mason without exception. It was while receiving this degree that Rev. Nathaniel Col- ver, D. D., who was afterward a professor of Theology in the old Chicago University, refused to take the oath and at the peril of his life left the Chapter room. ~He was coaxed and threatened but stood fast and shortly afterward revealed
Modern Secret Societies. 119
the secrets of Masonry to a crowd that filled the court house yard in the city where he lived.
In the Commandery of Knights Templar is one of the most horrible ceremonies found in the order. When taking the fifth libation as it is called, the Knight is handed a bowl made by sawing off the top of a human skull. This con- stitutes a cup from which he drinks pure wine and prays God doubly to damn his soul if he does not prove faithful to the order. As most lodges exclude Jesus and Knight Templarism professes faith in Him while at the same time one of the most wicked of secret orders, it will be helpful to spend a few moments on this apparent contradiction.
The Bible teaches that no man can accepta- bly worship God except he come in the name of Jesus Christ. The York Rite or Blue Lodge Masonry is justly criticised because it carefully excluded all mention of the Savior from its scripture readings, lectures and prayers. In,no way could the deep hatred of the Savior be more clearly manifested than it is in striking the name of our Lord out of the very book which he has given to teach men the way of salvation. In 1 Peter, 2:5 and in 2 Thess. 3:6-12, the name of the World’s Redeemer is fully written and in each case the Masonic religion strikes it out. If
120 Modern Secret Societies.
Masonry should become universal, the name of Jesus could not be found in the whole earth.
But in the degrees of Knighthood the name of Jesus constantly occurs. In lectures, songs and prayers the holy name is used. This Pact has confused the minds of some persons and as said above we spend a few moments in a study of this apparent contradiction.
What does it mean to ask or come in the “name” of Jesus? We reply that it does not mean that God cares simply to hear men repeat the words “Jesus Christ.” If a man shall use that name without repentance, confession, res- titution and holy living, it is simply insult and blasphemy.
That the name of Jesus is thus used by Knights Templar and other lodges is evident to all who have thought only a little on the sub- ject. Members of these orders are frequently . profane, drunken, impure men. They are so when they join and continue so afterward. The Knights Templar, on the occasions of their Con- claves, have car-loads of drink and the places of infamous resort in the cities which they in- fest are crowded with men who have the cross emblazoned on their clothes and the name of the Savior on their tongues. The name of Jesus without a humble Christian heart is simply sac-
Modern Sccret Socictics. 121
rilege and blasphemy. The devil might use his name in the same way for a like purpose.
In the Royal Master's degree, the words Alpha and Omega which are used in holy scripture as designations for the Savior, are mouthed by god- less men as part of an initiation. The candidate is told that “the real word of a Royal Master is Alpha and Omega,” and that given as it is in the “sanctuary” it refers to a certain text, Rev. 22:12-14, which is then read. Knight Templar- ism uses as a grand hailing sign a representa- tion of the way Jesus hung on the cross, and as passwords: “Golgotha” and “Immanuel.” In the degree Knights of Malta, the scene between our Lord and Thomas is’ repeated, the Eminent Commander telling the candidate to put his fin-’ gers into the print of the nails in his (the Com- mander’s) hands and to thrust his hand into his side, and this blasphemous ‘representation of that sacred incident furnishes the sign and grip for that degree.
These two facts determine the attitude of Knight Templarism and all similar lodges to the Savior of the world. His name is used, but not in reverence, penitence and faith. It is em- ployed just as the Bible is, in that and lower de- grees, as a part of the lodge furniture, as a means of making money and of deceiving thoughtless
122 Modern Secret Societies.
persons. Still further this holy name is used in this unholy and blasphemous way by men who out of the lodge, as well as in it, are wicked and godless. Men who practice all the vices and do not even pretend to obey the Word of God are eligible to all the honors and offices of these as well as other degrees.
All lodgism is anti-Christian. The very foun- dation principles are anti-Christian. Find what Jesus required of his followers, take the exact opposite and that is what lodgism teaches. Lodgism is secret; Christianity is open. Lodg- ism is for the few; Christianity is for all. Lodg- ism is sold; Christianity is given. Lodgism is full of bloody oaths; Christianity says, - swear “not at all. Lodgism requires money and initia- tion; Christianity requires penitence and faith: but of all the anti-Christian, blasphemous and sacrilegious work of lodgism, nothing is more ghastly and horrible than the so-called Christian degrees,
Another marked characteristic of the higher degrees is the discipline or education for mur- der. It is well known that in the first three de- grees and others the penalty of the oath calls for murder. This is true of the very first de- gree: “binding myself under no less a penalty than having my throat cut across, my tongue
Modern Sccret Socicties. 122
torn out and buried in the rough sands of the
sea,” says the “Entered Apprentice.” But when Masons are reminded of these pen- alties and that the executing of them would be
) murder, they say: “Well, who is to do the kill-
‘ing. Penalties don’t execute themselves. These are intended to scare a little but are quite harmless.” Of course, if this were true it would be impossible to justify them. Human life is a sacred thing and no secret society has a right to
talk about cutting men’s throats, tearing out
their hearts, cutting their bodies in two, smit-
ing off the tops of their skulls, cutting off their
4
_ heads or crucifying them. These are serious
_ words and should not be used in a trifling way.
4 a]
i :
But all along the early history of Masonry
men were murdered by the order in one way and
_ another and the constant iteration of the penal-
i
ties is of course a school for crime. In. the
Scottish Rite, however, there is a degree called the “Master Elect of Nine,’ which is a school
of assassination. The apron of the degree is white, spotted with blood and lined and bordered with black. On the flap is a bloody hand hold- ing a dagger, on the apron a bloody arm holding a bloody head by the hair.
The play of the initiation is that one of the murderers of Hiram Abiff was found concealed
i
124 Modern Secret Societies.
in a cave near Joppa. Nine men are to be se- lected to go and take vengeance on him and the candidate is one of the number. In the colloquy which takes place before the nine set out to find the murderer in the cave, the presiding officer says to the candidate: “We * * “make trial' of your conduct and courage and’ your compliance with the obligations you have con- tracted in the different degrees you have re- ceived.” * * °* -"“there have been peqmirese vile as to violate those sacred ties and expose themselves to all the tortures which Bo had de- nounced against themselves.”
The presiding officer goes on to tell the candi- date of this man who has been found in the cave and asks him if he is disposed “to vindicate the Royal Art and sacrifice the traitor in honor of Masonry.” The candidate replies that he is. The officer reminds him that the traitor may be an acquaintance or friend, even a most inti- mate one and asks again if he is willing to take vengeance on him, and the candidate again re- plies that he is. The officer then says that he shall be one of the nine, cries, vengeance, and all the lodge men echo, vengeance.
The candidate is then led away to another part of the lodge and is instructed to cut off the head of a man whom he sees lying near him and take
Modern Secret Socicties. 125
it to King Solomon. He stabs the effigy, pre- tends to cut off the head and carries this head in his hand to present it to the King. As he hands the.head to Solomon he strikes it again with his poniard and cries, Revenge. j
The King pretends to be very angry because the candidate has killed the assassin instead of bringing him alive for punishmunt. At last, however, he is pacified, and rewards him for his zeal by conferring upon him the degree “Master Elect of Nine.”
In the obligation of the degree, aside from the oaths to secrecy and obedience which are end- lessly repeated, there is this paragraph which deserves special attention:
“T likewise promise to revenge Masonry in general and particularly the most horrid mur- der that was ever committed.”
The last clause of course, amounts to noth- ing, but the former is significant. The candidate will revenge Masonry in general. He is taught that in doing this he may be required to kill an acquaintance, or even a near friend. He is in- “structed to stab and kill what seems to be a man lying asleep in a cave. The whole murderous scene is repeated in the lecture and the apron which he wears has clots of blood, a bloody hand holding a poniard, a bloody arm holding a
]
126 Modern Sccrcet Societies.
bloody head, to remind him of his initiation and his oath.
It is, like the repetition of the penalties in other degrees, a drill for murder. The number of Masons actually slaughtered in lodges will not be known until the grave gives up her dead, but that Masonry has reduced assassination to a system and attempted to sanctify it by oaths and prayers, cannot be truthfully denied.
That these horrid ceremonies are practiced in the higher degrees, in so-called “lodges of per- fection,’ “sanctuaries” and “asylums” simply shows that Masonry as a whole is in the list of evil organizations which grow more openly base as they advance. Masonic authorities tell us that about forty per cent of the yearly initiated leave the order. What would be the case if in the first degree the candidate were required to pretend to kill a sleeping man and carry his bloody head as a present to a pretended king?
: DEGREES, CONTINUED.
For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. ‘And when a convenient day was come, that Herod, on his birthday, made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee. And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. And she came in straight- way with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. And the king was exceed- ing sorry; yet for his oath’s sake, and for their sakes that sat with him, he would not reject her. And im- mediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought; and he went and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother. And when his disciples heard of tt, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.—Mark, 6:20-29.
128
Creare T ER VV 1.
Freemasonry is a pagan religion. By this ex- pression we mean that it is a system of faith and Practice intended to bring man into right rela- tions to God and maintain him there with no reference to the person or work of Jesus Christ. All religions are intended to train men for a righteous present and a happy future. False re- ligions seek to do this ignoring Christ—the true teaches that only by faith in Him can the work be done.
From the beginning this subtle hostility to the cross of Jesus is manifested in Freemasonry. The name of the Savior is treated like a thing accursed, And this is not by accident but is done with eyes wide open. Again and again we have explained to us the reason why Christ and Christianityare to be excluded. “The religion of Masonry is pure theism,” says Mackey, “on which members may engraft their peculiar opia- ions, but they may not connect the truth or fal- sity of these opinions with the truth or falsity of Masonry.”
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130 Modern Sceret Societies.
“In one immortal throng we view, Christian and pagan, Greek and Jew. But all their doubt and darkness o’er, One only God they now adore.”
sings the old Masonic song, and the whole body of Masonic law and usage confirms the doggerel.
But while thus branding Christianity as “sec- tarian” and antagonizing it with the “universal religion,” “in which all men agree,’’ Masonry, like other counterfeiters, pretends to be in har- mony with Christian faith. Repeutedly the can- didate is assured that obligations proposed are not to interfere in any way with his religion and men who are simple minded believe these asser- tions and are quite surprised when the infidel, deistic character of the lodge is set before them.
As in the case of the education for murder, however, the farther one goes in lodgism the more plainly is the deadly hostility of the order to our Lord Jesus Christ manifested. As in the case of Knight Templarism so in the Scot- tish Rite the most sacred words and things are used for the basest purposes. Phrases are used, scriptures are read, prayers are offered and hymns are sung that are fitting only to Chris- tians. Yet those who participate in these exer- cises are never required to forsake sin and cleave to Jesus as a Savior from its power. They blas-
‘
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pheme and mock and live in violation of all the commands God has given to regulate the conduct of man, and yet repeat the most sacred words and phrases.
This system of sacrilege comes to a partial revelation of itself in the thirtieth degree of the Scottish Rite. This is called “The Grand Elect Knight Kadosh,” or “Knight of the White and Black Eagle.” As the ninth degree is the one which directly trains Masons to murder, so the thirtieth is an education for deism, which has always been found practical atheism.
In the opening ceremonies it is said that “the religious and political rulers of the world will not render that justice which they are sworn to” and that their encroachments cannot be any longer endured. It is significant that in the same paragraph the battle cry of the French Revolu- tion, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, is re- peated, and it is declared that the Masonic chiefs are engaged in seeking to secure these to men.
Passing on to the initiation, the first apart- ment represents a tomb. The light is dim anil in the middle is a coffin in which lies a Knight wrapped in a white shroud, his face being veiled. On the platform near the coffin are three skulls, the middle one wreathed with flowers, the one on the left surmounted by a pope’s tiara, the one
1g 2h Modern Secret Societies.
on the right by a regal crown. ‘The candidate is brought in before the coffin and skulls and asked to reflect on the scene before him. At this time various devices to frighten the initiate are tried and he is asked whether he will repu- diate all prejudices and obey without reserve all that’ he shall be commanded to do. Answering that he will, he is then required to bend before the coffin and the skulls and swear his first oath as a “Knight of the White and Black Eagle.’’’
Having sworn to secrecy and obedience again, he is caused to rise and the presiding officer says to him, “Imitate me.” At the same time he stabs the skull crowned with a tiara and says: “Down with imposture and crime.” The candi- date does the same. After a moment he is taught to stab the skull on which is a regal crown and to say: “Down with tyranny. Down with crime.” The ritual continues all the time teaching that prejudices are to be laid aside, re- ligious and civil despotisms are to be overthrown, and in accomplishing this work the candidate must be ready to kill.
Proceeding, the Grand Pontiff says to the can- didate that the object of Scotch Masonry is to overthrow all kinds of superstition and that by admitting on terms of strictest equality mem- bers of all creeds, of ail religions, she is to re-
.
f
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store to the common father of the human race, those who are lost in the maze of impostures invented for the sole purpose of enslaving them. To render still more clear what is intended, the Grand Pontiff goes on tc say that the Knights Kadosh recognize no particular religion, that they ask of men nothing more than that they worship God, and that they do not even require men to relinquish the religious forms imposed upon them when they were unable to discern truth from falsehood. But remember, they say, that “you will never be a true Mason unless you repudiate ‘forever all superstitions * and preju- dices.”
It is clear that the faith of our childhood in Jesus Christ, the repetition of the prayers of early days and the whole body of Christian be- lief is what is aimed at. The candidate burns incense on the Masonic altar and swears to prac- tice toleration toward men of all religious and political faiths, to seek the overthrow of all su- perstition, fanaticism, imposture and intolerance. Not less than five or six times in the dreary mo- notony of this degree is the candidate given to understand that Christianity is a narrow, fanat- ical, intolerant system, while Masonry is a broad, comprehensive, generous one, and that if he is to be a good Mason he must not be a Chris- tian,
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Repeatedly the candidate is taught that the faith of his childhood is to be renounced. He is required to stab skulls and stamp on crowns, and renounce all imposture, fanaticism and intoler- ance, while all the while it is Christianity that is thus defamed and destroyed. At last he is told “to keep aloof from sectional, political or sectarian religious organizations,’ which might bias his mind or interfere with his Masonic obli- gations, i. e., he is plainly urged to have nothing to do with Christian churches.
The reader will please remember that these teachings are found in the thirtieth degree of the Scottish Rite. From the very beginning the Mason is separated from his home and _ the church. He is led to believe that Masonry is quite sufficient to teach one how to live and die. The Mason is to be saved by his own exer- tions and not through the blood of Jesus. He is to climb into heaven by his own efforts; not to enter it by faith in Christ. The common gavel is “to cleanse his mind and heart from all the vices and superfluities of life and prepare him for a living stone in that temple not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
Masons hear these teachings and believe them and consequently care little or nothing for the churches. It follows that as the lodge in any
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community increases in numbers and power, the church correspondingly weakens. Most lodge- men do not belong to the church; those who do are almost never “spiritually minded men.”
But at the same time the early degrees avoid directly antagonizing the Christian religion. Mea are assured that the two are quite consistent. In this thirtieth degree the well-worn mask is thrown off. The candidate is told that he must destroy fanaticism and intolerance. He is sworn to war against them. He is taught that killing to get rid of them would be all right. He drinks from a human skull, the “cup of equality,” to forward the work of “downing tyranny and im- posture,” and at last he is told that Masonry is the universal religion which is to supplant and destroy all the foolish prejudices which he formed in childhood.
If anyone doubts that Satan is the author of Freemasonry, let him read this thirtieth degree and he will understand that such a mass of blas- phemy, atheism and murder could have origi- nated nowhere else than in the pit of hell, in the mind of the arch enemy of mankind.
We will not detain the reader by a detailed examination of other degrees. They resemble in all essentials those which have been described. The Bible is at times read and at other times
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set aside as sectarian. Christian virtues are lauded and Christianity denounced in thinly veiled phraseology. Justice and benevolence are com- mended, while coffins, skeletons, swords, daggers and imprecations are sown everywhere like drag- ons’ teeth, to bear their fruit in the characters of men.
The thirty-first degree is a self-constituted su- preme court erected to try all offences against Masonic law and usage. The initiation contains wearisome dissertations on the nature of ab- stract and practical justice, saying among other things that, “Our ideal of justice is more lofty than the actualities of God.”
In another portion we are told that necessity rules in the affairs of men and that the interests of some must be sacrificed to those of others. Much that is said in this connection is obviously true, but before the topic is concluded it seems as if the doctrine is taught that the Masonic system of degrees, each sworn to secrecy from all below, and the lower exploited by the higher for their own glory and advantage, is to be ap- proved and justified; many may properly suffer or labor for the gratification of the few.
One who studies these higher degrees learns the depths to which men descend when they cut loose from God and yield themselves unreservedly
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to the guidance and control of the devil. Drink- ing wine out of human skulls, playing with mur- der, using skeletons and coffins to scare, causing a man who is playing dead to sit up in his coffin and talk to a frightened candidate, oaths upon oaths, penalties after penalties, and then prayers and lectures and the awful hypocrisy of pagan- ism, which in a Christian land pretends to be Christian while it steadily seeks the destruction of Christianity,
JOHN MILTON HITCHCOCK, Klder in Chicago Avenue (Moody) Church.
You have already been informed that among the Knights Kadosh truth and reality take the place of symbols, and even now your sagacity will partly raise the curtain which cannot be entirely removed until you have sustained new trials. In all the preceding degrees you must have observed that the purpose of Scotch Masonry is to overthrow all kinds of super- stition, and that by admitting in her bosom on the terms of the strictest equality the members of all re- ligions, of all creeds and of all countries, without any distinction whatever, she has, and indeed can have, but one single object, and that is to restore to the Grand Architect of the Universe; to the common father of the human race, those who are lost in the maze of imposture invented for the sole purpose of enslaving them. The Knights Kadosh recognize no particular re- ligion, and for that reason we demand of you nothing more than to worship God. And whatever may be the religious forms imposed upon you by superstition, at a period of your life when you were incapable of dis- cerning truth from falsehood, we do not even require you to relinquish them. * * * But you will never be a true Mason unless you repudiate all sunerstition and prejudices.—Jnitiation, Grand Elect Knight Ka- dosh.
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.—Gal. 1.
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Part second is devoted to F reemasonry, which is the most ancient and powerful of Modern Secret Societies except the society of Jesus. Or- ganized by adventurers in London nearly two hundred years ago, it is a hodge-podge of opera- tive Masonry, Judaism and pagan mysteries. The old societies of workmen furnished the technical phrases, the Bible furnishes the incidents which, falsified and distorted, make up the initiations, and Baalism is actually reproduced in the relig- ious ceremonies.
This society is the keystone of the secret so- ciety arch. Freemasons have invented most of modern secret societies and rule them. They take advantage of every puff of wind to help their ship along. They use every shift and device to stave off the suspicion and hostility which secret- ism has engendered. They manage the Temper- ance lodges so that temperance may aid secretism. They manage the. Grand Army of the Republic so that patriotism may aid secretism. They run insurance lodges so that love of family may aid
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secretism. They made up the Knights of the Golden Circle and the Ku Klux Klan so that the hatred of the black man might aid secretism. They take in hand college boys so that their love of sport and companionship may aid secretism. Examine any lodge except the Romish orders and you will find at its head and center a band of Freemasons, cool, calculating, desperate, con- ducting a war of extermination against the Chris- tian faith and legitimate government. Yet this campaign is so silently and secretly conducted that multitudes march and fight in it without even knowing who are their commanders or what they do.
Freemasonry is modern idolatry, i. e., it is an attempt to bring men to God without repentance and faith in the Savior. This hostility to Jesus is manifested in two ways: First, he is ignored, as in the Blue Lodge, when scriptures, prayers, creed and lectures carefully exclude all mention of the world’s Redeemer. Second, lodge hatred of our Lord is evidenced by naming him in a profane and blasphemous manner, by naming him and at the same time trampling his command- ments and his example under foot. They swear allegiance to Jesus and drink the cup of devils. They put the cross on their clothes and patronize all the infamous resorts of the cities where they
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meet and march. There is no heathen religion in Asia or Africa more completely heathen than that which is practiced in the lodges of the United States.
The ceremonies of the lodge have two general purposes, to degrade and humiliate the candidate © and at the same time to terrify. Hence the cus- tom of stripping men nearly to nakedness, of blinding them, of tying them, of making them pretend that they are dead, of making them be- lieve that they are about to be killed, of making them pretend to murder and causing them to drink wine from human skulls.
In all these ways the desire of the lodgemen for- amusement or excitement is gratified, the candidate is closely bound to the order and the devil, who hates man because he is made in the image of God and redeemed by the blood of Jesus, is satisfied. Along with these devilish and ridiculous ceremonies are given solemn lec- tures, so that unconverted men think themselves in a Christian meeting while they are worship- ping demons.
The lodge is not only an idolatry, it is also a treason. Each member swears allegiance to the order and fidelity to its members irrespective of his civil duties. William H. Seward, John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Chief Justice
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Marshall, Wendell Phillips and many other men of like character have uttered warnings against the anti-social and traitorous organization of Ma- sonry.
While this is manifested in many ways, it comes perhaps most clearly to view in the penal- ties of the oaths, many of which call for murder in case the oath is violated. It is true that Ma- sons laugh when these penalties are mentioned, but the men whom they kill do not laugh.
It was an oft-repeated saying of the author's honored father, that this country could no more endure with two oaths in its courthouses than it could live half slave and half free. Each day the truth of this opinion becomes more clear. - A judge in Iowa this year has declared that a large proportion of the testimony given in our courts of justice is perjury, and while there are dissen- tients, the general feeling among our people seems to be that there is much of truth in what he said.
How can it be otherwise when in hamlet, vil- lage and city, from ocean to ocean, men, having no authority to administer oaths of any sort, are mouthing to men such imprecations as are the common stock of lodgism. It is a tribute to the religious faith of our fathers that any oath tan be deemed sacred in a country where such
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a volume of blasphemous swearing goes up to heaven as rises each week from the lodges of our land.
Putting entirely aside the religious character of lodgism, every patriot should abhor it, as it tends directly to destroy all government and reduce men to the condition of beasts and barbarians where the strongest rule; where “bloody beak and claw” are the insignia of power.
The relation of lodgism to woman is another proof of its anti-Christian character. Christian- ity is the only system which has honored woman. Paganism makes her a beast of burden or a toy; she lives in a harem or toils in a field in all unchristian countries. Freemasonry begins by shutting her out: “Any person desiring to be made a Mason must be a good and true man.” It classes her with “old men’ in dotage, young men in nonage, irreligious libertines, atheists, idiots, madmen and fools.”
It proceeds to add insult to injury by creating certain so-called “female degrees” which are not Masonic and by admitting all Masons good and bad to these woman lodges, while shutting them, the women, out of the Masonic lodge. Tf the lodge is unfit for the woman it is unfit for the man. No self-respecting man goes, except from
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necessity, into company from which his wife and mother are excluded.
This wrong to woman is complex. It shuts her out from her husband’s confidence. It brings him into confidential relations with evil men. Evil men associate with evil women; the lodge that begins by swearing the husband to conceal the lodge business from his wife, often ends by furnishing him with a lewd woman instead of his wife. It robs the family treasury just as it does that of the church. I knew a man to sell a cow and deprive four children of milk in order to pay his admission fee to the lodge. Like all false religions the secret order strikes at the home.
Like all evils, lodgism grows worse as it goes on. Murder is implied from the beginning, but it is openly taught and men are sworn to commit it in the degree “Master Elect of Nine.” Blas- phemy is everywhere, but when one gets to the Knights Templar degree he drinks from a human skull and invokes double damnation if he prove false to the order. One who believes the teach- ings of the first’three degrees would never be a Christian, but in the thirtieth degree of the Scot- tish Rite men are directly instructed to keep out of the church of Christ.
It seems incredible that bodies of men should_
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dare such high-handed treason to earth and heaven as is found in Freemasonry. That they should assume such grandiloquent titles, dress themselves in such gaudy tinsel, subject candi- dates to such humiliating and dangerous cere- monies, propose to them such shocking oaths, enforced by such (varbarous penalties, and make such a sacrilegious use of holy things would be actually unbelievable did we not know it to be true.
Unfortunately the evidence is overwhelming. No thoughtful man who knows Freemasonry can become or remain a Mason if he but allow the Holy Spirit to control him. Its silly titles, its shameful rites, its bloody oaths, its unchristian companionships, all will be loathsome to him. Hundreds and thousands have already abandoned it. Other thousands are still nominally connected because they fear the consequences should they break their chains. It is the duty of all saved men and women to preach deliverance to the captives, the opening of prison doors to those who are bound.