Random Notes And Reflections.

RANDOM NOTES AND REFLECTIONS .

WE aro not iu the habit of denouncing every other reli gions creed except that which has commanded our assent . We helieve in the fullest toleration for the human conscience which can be tested by any standard of faith and morals . We are , therefore , not in accord with the Romish Church which claims to be infallible ,

and to sit in judgment and punish all who dare to differ from , her teachings . The rulers of this church , in 1738 , consigned Freemasons to the inquisition , and in consequence to a horrible and ignominious death , their houses were ordered to be destroyed , and all who harboured the

brethren were exposed to fine and imprisonment . This Bull is still in force , if not with all the legal power it once possessed , at least with that bitterness of spirit which characterises the priests of Rome . We have been classed

with Fenians , atheists and outcasts of society , and denounced with all the hatred of ignorant and brutal fanaticism , and yet the Craft flourishes , and does not seem to be a bit the worse for this terrible curse .

It is somewhat new to find a Protestant clergyman following the evil example of Cardinal Cullen and other bigots . A Rev . Mr . Cotter has thought proper to denounce Freemasonry in language coarse and harsh . In turn he was attacked in the Limerick Chronicle . Like

the Romish priest , he preferred the monopoly of abuse , and felt so stung that he commenced an action against the offending journal . Unfortunately for the proprietor , he went beyond what the law allowed . What is permitted to be said against a body must not be uttered against an

individual . Mr . Cotter may indulge in any langnage in regard to Freemasonry , bat he must not apply ib personally ; the editor of the Limerick Chronicle may denounce slanderers generally in the choicest possible Billingsgate , but he must be careful of the reputations of individuals .

For the offence upon Mr . Cotter the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff , with one farthing damages . The law has been vindicated whatever may be said of the plaintiff . The brethren who now enjoy the pleasures of association without let or hindrance were not always so favoured . There was a time when the Craft was viewed with

suspicion , and when it was not altogether prudent to proclaim membership .. Particularly was this the case in America , where the anti-Masonic feeling was carried to the point of persecution . The notorious Morgan , on whose disappearance a serious charge was preferred against Freemasons ,

and a person named Miller , got up an agitation against the Craft in 1826 . It was begun in Batavia , a small town in the western portion of the State of New York , and was

developed with great fury and rapidity . Bro . J . ' N . Edmonston , in a "Sketch of Anti-Masonry , " delivered before Social Harmony Lodge , in Wareham , Mass ., in ApriUast ,

says;'In the autnmn of that year ( 1826 ) the excitement became widespread in New York , and in tho western part of the state the man who hail tho courage to declare himself a Mason , did it at at the peril of his life . Upon the arrival of a stranger in town , the first demand waa whether he was a Mason ? The business of the State

and community was interrupted ; churches were broken np , and Masons denied communion with them ; fnmilies were divided , father against son , and mother against daughter , and it is said that the women in the western part of tho state held a convention at one time , and voted that their daughters shonld never marry a Mason .

Random Notes And Reflections.

The ornsade spread so rapidly over the State that in 1827 the Anti-Masonio vote aggregated 33 , 000 , in 1829 it reached to 70 . 000 . and in 1830 tbe State of New York polled an Anti-Masonio voto of 128 , 000 .

Nor was tbe hostility to the Craft confined to the State of Now York ; it swept over Ohio , Michigan , the Middle States , and New England . " Although the bitterness of 182 G and a few succeeding years has vanished , opposition is still offered , and by none was it more constantly fostered than by the late Thurlow

Weed . So strong was the feeling exhibited by him that it induced Bro . Dr . Rob Morris to alter his determination and publish the facts he had at great pains collected relative to the Morgan affair . He has lately issued a I work on the subject , and , strange to relate , one whose name

he frequently mentions in connection with the sufferings of that time is still alive in the person of Col . Edward Sawyer . This venerable Masonic patriarch is aged ninetyfive , and has been a member of the Craft for seventy-four years ! He was one of the " Morgan" martyrs , was

ruined for the faith that was in him , and remains constant to his obligations even to this day . What a noble old hero he is . We hope bis last clays have been as happy as his earlier ones were painful , and that his home at Grand Blanc , Michigan , affords him all the rest and comfort his old bones and loyal heart demand .

Symbolism.

SYMBOLISM .

SO much has already been said and written in favour and against Masonic symbols that it will hardly be possible to bring any new feature to bear testimony either way on this parb of our ritual teaching . One thing , however , is certain : symbols are an inexhaustible fountain of

truth , and form a never-failing source of meditation to the true and thoughtful Mason . Consequently we cannot too often point out to the minds of the Brotherhood their importance to Masonry in general .

Commencing with the announcement of tho candidate seeking admittance into the Temple to the closing of the chain whereby he is for ever bound to our union , the symbol occupies such a predominating position in the working of the Lodge , that perhaps many an one , whose

imagination is captured to a great extent by these very symbols , has seen in them the true nature of Freemasonry . Another , again , donbtingly denies their material importance ; believes their time to have passed , and denies them the right of existence , as not being in accordance with the

progressive spirit of the age . However , both are wrong in their surmise , for neither does the outer rite—although venerable by age and tradition , and of profound meaning—make what we call

Freemasonry ; no more than tbe holy rite of the church is religion itself ; nor is the symbol in Freemasonry without a foundation in fact , for its relation to the latter is not an optional or accidental one .

It may , therefore , not be considered superfluous to cast a look upon the teachings of Symbolism , thereby considering the general conception and value of the same . The historic investigations of modern times have made

it evident that the Order of Freemasonry emanated from the Corporations of the Steiumetzen , and for this reason it is not to be wondered at also that the greater part of Masonic symbolism is an inheritance of the medi ' 03-