The Anti-Masonic Vicar.

THE ANTI-MASONIC VICAR .

FROM THE " SQUARE . " " T HAVE sent tor you , although I know my summons must bo A inconvenient , because I choose you to be present at an interview which has been forced on me by a deputation from the Freemasons : they aim at persuading me to allow them to assemble iu my church . A likely matter , indeed ! a very likely matter !" So spake , with flushed cheek and quivering lip , my

well-intentioued , but nervous incumbent , one memorable Saturday in tho month of August . " Very well , sir , " was my reply ; " you may depend on my heeding and recollecting the sentiments of each party . " " Would to Heaven !"—this was an aside— "that these Mason people had chosen some other day than Saturday for their conference !

Neither sermon written ! The Lending Library accounts all in confusion ; Mrs . Watkinson ' s sick baby to baptize ; and two funerals in tho afternoon to a certainty !" " They must be cut short—yes ! very , very short ! " ejaculated the vicar , decisively and emphatically . " What , the sermons ? " cried I , reverting at onco to the topic

uppermost in my own mind . " Oh , vory well ; your views , sir , aro mine . They shall be shortened to a certainty . " "You are dreaming , " remarked my superior , pettishly . "I allude to tho speeches , the oratorical displays , the verbiage of these mystics . "

" Ah , precisely so , " was my dutiful reply . " You , sir , and no other , hold tho check-string : the length of tho interview must depend on your pleasure . Masons ! " this was another aside— " I wish they were all walled up in the Pyramids . Six : and no tidings . It will be midnight before I shall havo completed my preparations for tomorrow . "

"I am not narrow-minded , resumed Mr . Gresham , fidgeting fretfully in his chair ; " far from it , my views are liberal and enlarged ; I never by any chance indulge in a harsh surmiso touching any one of my fellow-creatures . But these Mason people alarm me . They have a secret ; there is somo extraordinary bond , stringent and well understood , by which they support each other . I look upon

them as little better than conspirators . " Then , after a brief pause , " In fact , they aro conspirators . " " You really think so ? " said I , for tho first time feeling an interest in the subject . " I do—seriously and solemnly , " said tho vicar , with an air of the most earnest and portentous gravity . " Rat-tat-tat ! Rap , rap !"

" The Deputation , sir , " said tho butler , bowing fivo middle-aged gentlemen into tho study . For a set of " conspirators " they wero tho oddest-looking people imaginable . There they stood , a knot of portly , frank-fcaturcd , cheerful men , upon whom tho cares of life sat lightly ; who greeted their pastor with a smile , and seemed in high good humour with themselves and all around them .

The spokesman of tho party began his story . Ho said , iu substance , that a new Lodge being about to bo opened within a mile and a-half of Fairstream , it was tho wish of the brethren ( tho more firmly to engraft on tho noblo trco of this now Masonic scion ) to go iu procession to Church , aud there listen to a sermon from a clerical brother . In this arrangement he , in the name of tho Lodge ,

represented by tho parties then in his presence , most respectfully requested the vicar ' s concurrence . That reverend personage , with a most distant aud forbidding air , replied , that he could sanction no such proceedings . Perplexed by this response , which was equally unpalatable and unexpected , the deputation , with deference , demanded my incumbent ' s

reasons for refusal . " Thoy aro many and various , " replied he ; "but resolve themselves mainly into theso four . First : There is nothing Church about you !" The deputation stared . "I repeat , that of Freemasons as a body the Church knows nothing . You admit into your fellowship men of all creeds . Your principles

aud intentions may be pure and praiseworthy ; aud such I trust they are . But the Church is not privy to them . The Church is in ignorance respecting them . The Church docs not recognise them , and therefore , as a ministering servant of the Church , I must decline affording you any countenance or support . " The banker here submitted to tho vicar , that iu works of

charityin supporting an infirmary , a dispensary , a clothing club , a stranger ' s friend society—identity of creed was not essential . Men of different shades of religious belief could harmoniously and advantageously combine in carrying out a benevolent project . And one of the leading principles of Freemasonry was active , and untiring , and widely spread benevolence . Could success crown any charitable

project , any scheme of philanthropy , any plan for succouring the suffering and the necessitous if no assistance was accepted save from those who held one aud tho same religious creed ? " Charity , " he contended , "knew no creed . No shackles , forged by human opinions , could or ought to trammel her . Ho was no friend to his species who would seek to impose them . "

The vicar shook his head repeatedly , in token of vehement dissent from these observations , and proceeded . " Next I object to you because you aro friendly to processions ; and , I am given to understand , purpose advancing to church in long and elaborate array . All processions , all emblems , all symboid , I abominate . Such accessories are , iu the sanctuary , absolutely indecent ;

I will not call thorn unholy ; I term tliom downright profane . What has a thinkiug being—particularly when proceeding , for the purpose of worship , to the temple of his Creator—what has he to do with processious ? They are , ouo and all , abominations . " The little placeman hero briskly stepped forward and said , that " in that Book , with which . he was suro the vicar was better acquainted than any one of them , processions were repeatedly men-

The Anti-Masonic Vicar.

tioned , and never condemned . They occur in all parts of the sacred volume , and in a very early portion of it . A procession of no ordinary description followed Jacob ' s remains when , with filial love , Joseph brought them out of Egypt into Canaau . A procession , long and elaborately arranged , attended tho removal of tho Ark from its temporary sojourn iu the house of Obed Edom . A procession ,

glorious and imposing , preceded the dedicatiouof Solomon ' s Temple . A procession—" " Pi-ay , " said tho vicar , sharply , "do you mean to contend that any one of these processions was at all the counterpart of a Masonic precession ?" " I do not , I disclaim all such irrevoront intention , " returned the

other gravely , " my object was simply to show that , by tho very highest authority which man can prodnco , processions aro not forbiddon . Usage sanctions their adoption among ourselves . They form a part of our most august ceremonies . When tho peers present an address to tho sovereign on his escape from tho hands of an assassin , on tho birth of an heir to the throne , on the marriage of ono of the

royal family , they repair to the royal presence in procession . At tho coronation of the sovereign one of the most important features in tho pageant is a gorgeous and lengthened procession . That procession , let me remind you , Sir , wends its way to tho house of God , and for tho purpose of worship . It enters the Abbey . There divine service is performed ; in tho course of which tho sovereign receives

the crown and takes an oath to the people . These points are pressed on you as pertinent to tho subject . Surely , after considering them , you will hold us blameless , if , as Masons , wo wish to ' go up to the house of God in company' —in other words , * iu procession ?'" " Plausible , but hollow ! " was tho vicar ' s comment ; then , after a pause , " you havo failed to convince me . I object to you , strongly ,

on tho score of your processions , and I object to you still more decidedly . on the score of your—secret . You aro a secret society ; are held together by a stringent oath ; now I hold that , wherever there is mystery thero is iniquity !" " A harsh conclusion , indeed ! " exclaimed Mr . Walford , the mer . chant , who now took part in the discussion ; " you cannot be serious

in maintaining it ? When you assert secrecy to be criminal , you havo forgotten its universal agency . It has escaped you how largely it pervades both public and private life . In every department its operation is traceable . The naval commander sails from his country ' s shores under sealed orders . He has private papers which contain his instructions . These he is to open in a certain latitude and

longitude . Meanwhile their import is ' secret to him , and to those who serve under him . But he accepts his trust unhesitatingly . The ' secrecy' in which his orders are veiled does not indispose him towards their fulfilment , make him suspicious of their origin , doubtful of their necessity , or render thoir faithful performance ono whit loss obligatory upon his part . His duty is to obey . Take another

instance : Tho cabinet council which deliberates on tho interests of this great country , and advises tho sovereign in matters of policy , is sworn to secrecy . No member of it is allowed , without distinct permission from tho reigning prince , to divulge ono syllablo of what passes at its sittings . It is a secret conclave . But no one questions , on that account , tho legality or propriety of its decisions . In privato

life secrecy obtains . In a commercial partnership there aro secretsthe secrets of the firm . To them each co-partner is privy ; but is solemnly bound not to disclose them . Iu a family there are secrets . In most households there aro facts which the heads of that household do not divulge to their servants , children , and dependents . Prudouco enjoins secrecy . So that , in public and in privato life , in affairs of

state , and affairs of commerce , secrecy , more or less , prevails ; why , then , should it be objected to tho Freemason , that iuhis Order there is a secret which is essential to the existence of tho fraternity , and which he is bound to hold sacred ?" " Ha ! ha ! ha ! An adroit evasion of a very awkward accusation !" cried the vicar , with an enjoyable chuckle : " who is the General of

your Order ? There must bo Jesuits amongst yo No argument from Stoneyhnrst could be moro jesuitically pointed !! " And again the vicar laughed heartily . The deputation did not join him . Thoy looked on in silence . Perhaps they thought the refusal of tho Church a sufficient annoyance , without tho addition of tho vicar ' s bantering . His pleasantry was

not infections . Perchance they held with tho delinquent negro , iu QUQ of our West India colonies , who was first severely reprimanded , and then soundly thrashed by his owner : li Massa , inassa ; no preachee too and floggee too !" At length one of them , with great gravity , inquired whether Mr . Gresham had any further objections to urge ?

" Oh , dear , yes ! I am hostile to you because you combine . " The banker now fired his broadside . " We do . Wo aro as a city at unity in itself . We form a band of united brethren , bound by one solemn obligation , stringent upon all , from tho highest to the lowest ; and the object of out- combination , boundless charity and untiring benevolence . We must bo charitablo and kindly affectioned to all ; but moro especially to our brethren .

With them we are ever to sympathise readily , and their necessities to succour cheerfully . Respect are we to have none , neither as to colour , creed , or country . And yet it is our charity , to be neither indiscriminate , wasteful , nor heedless . Wo are to prefer tho worthy brother , aud to reject tho worthless . And our warrant for so doing is His command who has said , ' Thou shalt open thine hand wide to thy Brother , and to thy poor , and to thy needy iu thy land . '"

" The latter remark none can gainsay , said tho vicar , coluly ; " aud thus , I believe , our interview terminates . " Tho deputation relived desperately chagrined . The Church was closed against them . Tho now Lodge was opened , but there was no public procession , and no sermon . To uic , lightly and carelessly as i thou thought of tho Fraternity , there soctued much that was inexplicable iu tho rebuff which it sustained .