Christian lands are the outcroppings of paganism; the advance guards and skirmish line of the armies of the field of Armageddon, mustering under those "spirits of devils working miracles which go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

We see, too, that all our help is in Christ, who, in quaint language of Cudworth, is appointed of God "Captain of the forces of the kingdom of light;" not that we are to do no fighting, but we must conquer in Him. Vainly may we hope that popery and Freemasonry, which are in nature one, the latter being 1 ke the "former" as the image is like the "beast," ever will purposely assist in destroying each other. True, God sometimes turns the swords of the enemies of His religion against each other, by panic, mutiny, or mistake; but though wolves and panthers and dogs may sometimes worry each other, they will all kill sheep, and these beasts are all enemies of the flock of Christ. Our help must therefore come from the Lord which made heaven and earth, and it will come if we seek it.

The practical inferences are: That Freemasonry must be destroyed if the country is saved. That fellowshipping Freemasonry is disintegrating the church. That voting for adhering Masons is voting for men who in practice deny the first principles of republican government. And, as organized aggression can only be met effectually by organized resistance; we must unite to withhold our fellowship and our votes from known adherents of the lodge, if we will be consistent Christians or consistent Americans.

CHRISTIAN CHURCH

-ΤΟ

SECRET SOCIETIES.

ADDRESS OF

PRESIDENT H. H. GEORGE,

-OF:

Geneva College, West Geneva, Ohio.

AT THE SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY

OF THE

National Christian Association,

Pittsburgh, Pa., June 8th,-10th, 187b

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS:

EZRA A. COOK, PUBLISHER.

CHRISTIAN CHURCH

то

SECRET SOCIETIES.

It is needless to say, in entering upon a discussion of this subject, that we have no personal contest with our opponents. We have no quarrel with any individuals identified with the secret orders. On the other hand, for many connected with them, we have a high personal regard.

But when men combine together in such associations as these, and lay their plans to wield an influence so far reaching, so deeply affecting the welfare of society, their institutions become a legitimate subject for investigation; and their doings, whether right or wrong, must bear the verdict of a dispassionate and scrutinizing enquiry.

The assertion so often and so positively made by the fraternities, that no one knows any thing about them except such as have been initiated, is a very feeble defense of their cause. Aye, more, it is a libel upon the intelligence and upon the facilities for intelligence in this noonday of the nineteenth century.

Such assertions once might have had some weight, but since the well attested exposure of Free Masonry by Captain Wm. Morgan, in the year 1827, his abduction and murder on account of it, since the secession of 45,000 members because of that candid and unequivocal exposure; and since scores of volumes of indisputable information have issued from the press, yes, and from the press of most reliable craftsmen, all such assertions are but the vapid boastings and hollow babblings of weak minded men, who ought to know that they will not be believed.

To say that we have no right to investigate the principles of their organization, or examine their works of secrecy; to say that we have no right to portray their true character, or decide upon

the legitimacy of their aims, is presumption of no ordinary kind; it is a challenge of the inalienable rights of free thought and free speech. And to brand with falsehood and treachery the testimony of all those who have once been initiated into their lodges, and who, from solemn convictions of duty, have come out and renounced all connection with them, is an absurdity immeasurably preposterous.

The truth is, if Masonry, (and I draw all my illustrations from Masonry, believing it to be the mother of the whole brood of secret fraternities,) be a hidden wrong, as we hold it is, the renuncia tion of it by any man, and especially by any trustworthy and reputable man, is a strong additional reason why credence should be given to every word of his testimony.

When a man takes a wrong step, the only righteous course is to retrace that step. "Break off thy sins by righteousness," says the Holy Inspiration.

If an oath that has been taken be profane and wicked, to continue under that oath is to continue in profanity and wickedness. No man is bound by a profane oath; no, not an hour after he is convinced of its profanity.

If it can be shown that the oaths, for example of Masonry, are unwarrantable, profane in their obligations and cruel in their penalties, and ought never to have been taken, the inference is inevitable that no Mason is bound by his oath. Nay, still stronger, that every Mason is as much bound to break his oath and get rid ở that species of profanity, as he is to leave off the common formulas of blasphemy and profanity that are used in the dram shop and market place.

Profanity under the solemnity of an oath is more awfully wicked and shocking to every moral sense than the common oaths by profane men.

Should we, then, summon in this discussion, for the proof of any statement, the testimony of unimpeachable men who have been under the bonds of any of the fraternities, and who, having seen the evils of the association or the oaths which bound them thereto, have come before the world and renounced all connection with them, let it be borne in mind that this evidence is not to be ruled out by the cries of falsehood and perjury, but it is to have ad.