The Masonic Student.

sophy ; its benevolent principles ; its universal brotherhood ; its means of national and individual usefulness ; its morality ; and its spread over the earth ; until , from its extent and moral influence , there shall emanate from its operative Avorkings

the proclamation of the prophetical announcements : " Glory to God in the hi ghest ; on earth , peace , good will to men . "

Masonic Inscriptions Upon Public Buildings.

MASONIC INSCRIPTIONS UPON PUBLIC BUILDINGS .

From the Voice of Masonry . To the Editor : Will you alloAV me a word upon the subject ? A petition , draAvn up by one of our most influential and public spirited citizens , is now being

circulated , praying the constitutional convention in session at Springfield to insert a provision in the fundamental law of the State , forbidding any sectarian denominations , or any associations , from advertising themselves by inscriptions on

cornerstones of public buildings , which practice is offensive to a large number of the people and in conflict with the National and State Constitutions . The

occasion of this movement was the inscription upon the corner-stone of our neAV State House of the cabalistic insignia of Masonry—its date , " A . L . 5868 . " A similar petition Avas presented to the last legislature , which members , apparently

fearing to discuss the matter , first received with a laugh ; then moved to refer it to the committee on Swamp Lands , ancl then recovered its selfrespect by referring it to the Building Committee where it slumbers . This is a matter of conscience

and settled principle , not only with many religious people , but Avith many other public-spirited citizens and it cannot be put doAvn with a laugh or a trick . What right has that one association among all the rest to come forward and arrogantly put its

inscription upon our public buildings , built by a tax upon the mass of the people ? Suppose my OAVU denomination , the Congregational , should come forward ancl assume the right to inscribe upon public buildings "A . P . R . 219 , " the year of

Plymouth rock , the year Avhen the Pilgrims set up the first Congregational church in this land , what would all other denominations , all citizens , say ? Suppose the Mormons , or the Baptists , or Catholics , should secure an invitation to put their peculiar emblems upon the edifices which are the common

Masonic Inscriptions Upon Public Buildings.

1 property of the people ? You know thai there would be such an outcry as would soon displace the offensive inscriptions . Nor does the use of a mimic trowel and compass and square give the Masons any peculiar right , or their ceremony any

peculiar fitness , to such occasions . It is a mere form . Nor has the assumed date of Masonry any appropriateness in this land or any other . No public or private document would have any validity dated according to that chronology . The era o £

our Lord ' s birth is the date of Christendom ; and no other is legitimate in civil affairs . Besides theassumption in thrusting aside this era of the-Christian nations , it is , as already suggested ,, offensive to the conscience and the religious

convictions of very many who have a right to be heard in a matter of such common concernment . Another thing of the same kind is just noAV brought to our notice by the canvasser for the Plymouth monument fund .

That corner-stone was laid by the Masons of Massachusetts , a State which , forty years ago , was moving to annul the lodges , as inconsistent Avith republican institutions . At the time of that ceremony in Plymouth , in 1859 , aged citizens ,

clergymen , ladies , and all were thrust out from the aAvning , to make room for the Order , which was displaying itself , much to the annoyance and indignation of the old Puritans present . Upon the inscribed plate deposited Avithin that

cornerstone Avas engraved the insignia of Masonry . Whac right had that single association thus tothrust itself into such an isolated position , and so to perpetuate Avhat many citizens believe to be a misrepresentation and a slander , viz ., that the

Pilgrims had any open or secret affiliation Avith a system , Avhose mystery and ostentation are so repugnant to the very idea of Puritanism ? PHILO CARPENTER .. January 1 , 1870 .

REPLY . To the Editor of the Chicago Tribune i " I notice in your paper of to-day a letter upou the above subject from Philo Carpenter Esq ., of

this city , a gentleman Avhom all that knoAV him esteem very highly for his excellency of character and high moral reputation ; but , like many other good men , he has his crotchets , one of whichpossibly the last — is to run a tilt against Masonry . " It is a sad perversion of time and money to he