Masonry V. Agnosticism*

MASONRY V . AGNOSTICISM *

BY BRO . THE EEV . HENRY G . PERRY , M . A ., 32 ° , K . T . ( Concluded from page 14 ) . THE celebrated Ruskin may not be a Mason , but admitted to and advocate of our exalted "Royal Art , " as I am , I read with zest that the arch

critic avers : — " All great art is the expression of man ' s delight in the work of God . " This is direct testimony . Under no assumed pretence of present or prospective good of all , indiscriminately , can what God has given us be overridden or contemned even in the name and practice , however novel or seductiveof a so-called godless " philanthropy" that would deify man and

, deride Deity . The result , in time , however successful , proves bad , as it is at the expense , especially , of that which He came , as the Light of the World , to shine into the heart of mere " natural man , " to bring him from darkness to lig htnearer the Lord his God , and the shrine of the soul's true worship . To this , we say , Masonry contributes , and elevates , dignifies and enlightens the candidate far more than even its " mysteries " claimmorally or otherwiseto

, , confer . And this , too , the world ' s history , in the oncourse of ages , discloses to the fair-minded student . What have not godliness and the principles of'the Order clone for mankind ? And what would we in the world be , this moment , but for Heaven ' s revealed word ; the higher life and combined effort for good in carrying out the principles of the divine Master to make men holy , happy and harmonious ?

Man makes mistakes , God never ! After great exposure , suffering , error , and trial , men may reach the haven of safety , through God ' s mercy and guidance , where their mistakes have made them but misery by the way . But the success is of Him with whom nothing is impossible . God overrules for good , while man merits , if anything , from his clue obedience in God ' s service .

Noi' can I omit the occasion , at this near date of its baleful consequence and exhibit , to animadvert upon what is of the malignant , hydra-headed , Briarean agnostic brood ; the genus , that is " Agnosticism , " and the species legion ; as , for instance , from ordinary scepticism and materialism , on through more offensive agrarianism , communism , and socialism , aggressively , Nihilism , or whatever such , anywhere , may choose to call themselves , et hoc genus omne , - — allso to speakfor self-aggrandizing pessimism ; the disturbance of established

, , usage and existing government ; to defeat the Divine , however impossible ; to impugn law and order , and all things sacred ; pander to the improvident ; paralyse industry ; terrify , deinonise , unsettle and peril all idea of security , so that in the end , life , legal liberty , and property rights were at " mob ' s " brutal whim and disposal—the prey of the brand , the bullet , and the blade ! A fine promising picture is this for the commonwealth ' s freedom to contemplate , if

threatening the Republic i Let us not shrink from it ! The Czar ' s assassination was that of an old man , not long to live , but who interests all as a citizen of the world and legitimate ruler , the liberator of millions , patron of arts and sciences , improver of the immense territory over which he was set , and respected accordingly , it cannot be denied . And his death was terribly to " baptize in blood " really the Agnostic in its sweeping , extremedenunciatory

, , most lawless and unprincipled reach , —of anarchy and confusion the very incarnate . Theirs is the doctrine of desperadoes ! as a journal of the day , after all , says of them : " Political and moral nondescripts ; no word will describe them , even vaguely , except the name of Socialists , or its substantial equivalents ,