Stewards For Our Charities.

fluence is , it is difficult to decide , but we think it is a question which might receive the attention of those brethren who are ever ready to advance the interests of our Charities .

Masonry A Universal Religion.

MASONRY A UNIVERSAL RELIGION .

AN ORATION DELIVERED BEFORE THE GRAND LODGE OF TOWA OF A . F , AND A . M ., CEDAR RAPIDS , 6 Tn JUNE 1878 . BY L . D . LEWELLING .

MY GOOD FRIENDS AND BRETHREN , —There have been a eoorl many mistakes made in this world . There are a good many lawyers who ought to have been cobblers . There aro some cobblers who might havo been doctors ; and some doctors who onght to have been crravcdigsrers for the rest of the profession . There aro some men who are " jack of all trades , " and some jacks who have no trade at nil ; nnd still it is trno that every jack and every giant is striving ,

each in his own way , and by the easiest stepping stones , to better his condition . In religion , as in secnlar pursuits , there ever remains an ideal . A spirit goes out from man like the twining tendril from the vin" , reachiug to take hold upon something better and higher . It is an instinct that cannot be extinguished ; it is the yearning of the race

for a better way . There is a happy condition jnst beyond , and to attain it onr lives are fashioned to correspond with this ideal , which becomes onr pattern , onr example of hnman life and conduct , held above and beyond , bnt ever before UP , like the pillar of fire . This ideal , this imaginary or real person or thing , or god , or demi-god , is to individuals and to nations the standard of hnman actions—the

measure of right and wrong . However obscure it may have become —however mneh enshrouded in mysticism—it still remains the test of life , to which all men bring their bnndles of deeds and thoughts and aspirations , to determine whether they bo holy or unholy . The ideal of the Christian world is the perfect man , Christ Jesus . The ideal of Judaism is the Saviour to comp , but he is to appear with

more regal attributes than those possessed by Him of Nazareth . Th « ideal of the Arab is Mohammed , thf > wandering prophet of the desert . The ideal of the Cliinnman is Confncina , tho moral philosopher . The ideal of the Hindoo is Bramuh , the creator , succeeded and overshadowed by Buddha , or Gantama , "the enlightened . " In all . thppe ideals , in all the moral philosophies of the world , there are

real affinities , and the end of each is to attain human happiness . Men seek the samo city by different roads , as all the religions of the world aro stretching toward some spiritual aim . One road may be devious and winding , another more direct ; hero they diverge , and ihero converge . Ono seeks salvation throncrh the ritual of tbe church ; another translates only tlv language of nature into the voice of God :

and thus all cannot bow to the same sht-ino . No one religion enn satisfy the wants of all in man ' s present state , and henco the necessity for the toleration of all . This principle of toleration is the Masouic religion ; it is the grand principle of human kinship . Men differ in views , in opinions , and in judgment . The affections

of men are not the same ; the test cf conscience is not the same with all men . The food delicacies of ono ago or place are loathed in another . I used to hear of people eatinsr frogs and turtles , bnt . I had no appetite for such delicacies . The thonght of eating a clammy fro < r , or n wris-fflinsr , crawling turtle , made the cold chills come spinning up my back in the middle of July . But since I havo grown

older , and seen swine fattened in the filth of tho sty for man ' s food , and since , like the rest of erring mortals , I have eaten of frog and hog and tnrtle , I confers I cannot , find it in my heart to condemn a Fi enehman for eating horse , or a Fcjee ' s relish for baked Englishman . I suppose there is no disputing about tastes . The illnUrious Fremont dined with the Indians on roasted puppy , and the Esqnimaux break .

fasts on a pint o' oil . Adroit stealing was an honour to a Spartan youth , while larceny in any form is crime in ours . The gods of ono nation are the devils of their neighbours , and the religion of one sect is the blasphemy of another . E > ich with zealous bigotry contends that he alone is right , and , thns contending , the stronger race , or nation , or party , or sect ,

h ; is each in turn borne all before it like an avalanche , and , like a ship tacking before the gale , men have rushed to each extreme , and made slow progress . The mnchinery of social life , of religion , of politics , has been cumbersome and erroneous , bnt , as a forked stick was once called a plow , and was tetter than no plow , and as a goat-skin bag was called a

churn or a water pitcher , and was better than no pitcher , so the religions of early times were better than no reliirion . Men used to go to a dead stick , a stone , a cow , or a crocodile , and in the intensity of their snperstif ' on imagine that it was a god , and fall down and worship it . Men used to take a great ugly crocodile into their best room , on a rich carpet , and feed and pet it like a child , and then

crouch before it in the humble attitude of prayer . Men used to fall on their knees before a good-natured family cow , and pray into her great vacant eyes , while she quietly chewed her end , for health , and wealth , and happiness , and the destruction of their enemies . Now all this seems very ridicnlons , and it was ; but , after all . it was better than no religion , and the qualities or attribntes with which tbe cow

and the crocodile were endowed , were doubtless superior to those really possessed by man in his then primitive state . Worship is better than no worship , aud a fetish is better than no God , because men become like what they worship , in character and conduct ; veneration in man has been the salt of his race , because it has ever kept before him some worshipfnl creature , endowed with real or imagined attributes better than his own . Whatever man may

Masonry A Universal Religion.

have worshipped in the infanoy of his race , however cumbersome hia religious machinery , it was relatively progressive , and each succeeding religion was better than its predecessor . But men had no idea of toleration then , and as ono displaced another , strife was inevitable . Eaoh patriarchal family , each clan , each church , was encased like a great egg , in a thick crust of bigotry . The world was full of great

eggs and there was room for each and for its growth and natural decay ; but each chicken claimed the exclusive right to pip . Then came strife . It took a long while for the chickens in each egg to l « arn that their neighbours had rights and privileges . The Roman hierarchy denies it still , but Mnaons have an opinion , in which others , also , are agreed , that the Koman hierarchy is a bad e ^ .

It took a long time * for the race to learn that men have different temperaments , that they aro influenced in religion , as in politics , by education and surroundings . The old-time vendor of religious isms measured his creed and his convert by the same iron bedstead ; great souls were compressed to the measure of a meaner life , until , like the Hellespont , they burst their unnatural fetters in obedience to a

uatural law . Then men ' s creeds began to widen like circling wave . Iet 3 ; they aro widening still , and , to-day , I pray that nothing may stay their course , until they have burst to atoms the shell of every intolerant egg . When I was a boy I thought I should like to be a minister 5 my relatives thought I ought to be a minister , and it may be I had a

ministerial air or dignity . It was pretty nearly settled that I should enter upon that responsible labour ; but somehow I began to feel myself trammelled by the religious machinery of that day . My people were Friends , and the Friends had their notions about theology , and the Baptists had theirs , and the Methodists and Presbyterians , and all ; and tbe Catholics had theirs . Then I began to read the

history of these different religions , and when I read of the strife and the discord among the churches and these men who worshipped the same God , I wondered if thesi all could be religions of the Prince of Peace . I read of a million of poor Waldenese who perished in France for religion ' s sake—I read that the Duke of Alva put to death , in the Netherlands , nine hundred thousand men , women , and children

in less than thirty years—I read that the body of a venerable minister of Christ's gospol , after it had rested in peace for more than fo > ty years , was torn from the grave and burned for heresy—I read that in our own country , the boasted land of liberty , innocent Quaker women were thrust from their families , and hurried away to loathsome prisons , the gallows , and the stocks . I saw , also , individual

church differences at home—and when I read and saw all these thines , I sat down and wondered , if in all the wealth and culture and intellect of this goodly world , there was not some knowledge of a divine spirit which should unite all nations , tongues , and people in a common brotherhood . In the bonds of Masonio charity I havo found what I sought ; and

now I say to you , that if all the bungling machinery of the fraternity shall be destroyed , if the secret words and signs shall be brought to the light of the world , I believe tho divine principles of Masonic fraternity will still live in the broad light and charity of a better era , as the immortal spirit of man , freed from the chrysalis of earth , shall

become more heavenly . We are told that Masonry is no religion . I deny it . We have too long taught that Masonry is no religion . No wonder we have some , times failed to keep the Craft in due bounds , when they are told that the sublimest principles of Masonry are but the doctrines of an

insurance company . Whether there is religion in Masonry , let our illustrious brother * answer , who , years ago , put on record his experience and his noble testimony by saying , " I am not ashamed , my companions , here to confess , that I seek daily to live the life becoming a follower of Him who , while on earth , went about doing good ; and I glory tbat this

heavenly lig ht was first revealed to my darkened vision through the solemn and sublime mysteries of our beloved Order . " But tho religion of Masonry is not sectarian—the religion of Masonry is not an exclusivo religion . Masonry says to men : we are all members of the human family—we are full of faults ; therefore , let us be full of charity—let us be brethren still . Upon this tenet

I stand to-day and say to every man , you are my brother . There is a great spirit who is our common Father . This , then , should be my creed—let me write it before you , brethren , here : " TnE BROTHER , HOOD OF MAN . " Under this formula , subaltern creeds might exist , contrary opinions might arise , individual differences might array themselves against

each other ; but over all , as the clear sky bends over the restless billows , unaltered and unshaken , would remain the proclamation of our brotherhood—a universal brotherhood , a universal religion ; a great church of charity , which admits tbe test of conscience , and in . terferes with no man ' s religions duty or convictions . " What is truth ? " asked a great philosopher , centuries ago , and

every man proposes his own ideal as an answer . Three boys had been to the show and seen the elephant . Johu said it was white as snow and crooked like a scythe , but William contended it was the colour of dirt and rolled up like a window curtain , while Samuel emphasised his contempt for both , and declared that it looked more like a black snake or a Bologna sausage ; when it

transpired that thoy were talking , respectively , of the tnsk , the trunk , and the tail . A great castlo once stood in the midst of a wilderness , alone . In the remembrance of the race no man had trodden its portals ; but tradition , somehow , no man could tell how , whispeied of its existence . People are curious mortals , and three great kings each sent a va sal

to inspect the castle and return . One went by night , ivheD there was no moon ; the castle loomed up like a great black monster against the sky ; the owl screeched , and the whipporwill sang , and the man trembled and returned . One went and came by a circuitous route , and from a distant eminence saw only the bleak walls , tho high turrets , and stern embrasures . The third was admitted to the court ,