OBSERVATIONS ON FREE MASONRY.
AS you are no stranger, Madam, to my enthusiastic opinion, that Morpheus is frequently accompanied by some supernatural companion, in his midnight wanderings, I flatter myself that you will indulge me with the perusal of one of my moon light excursions. The masonic figures can be explained by your respectable companion, who, from principles of benevolence, will not refuse to gratify you; and perhaps, Madam, it may occasion your becoming a convert to a good opinion of the sublime art.
The dreary season, ill health, and a depression of spirits which unfits me for sociciety, [Page 4] occasion my devoting a part of my time to dreaming. And what is life, but a dream? Half the world appears to most advantage when asleep; and I am one of that number.
The Right Worshipful Master, after perusing the enclosed, (should he confer upon me that honor) will, with his usual pleasantry, I expect, ask when I was initiated. I answer—At my birth. Faith, Hope and Charity presided: Wisdom, Strength and Beauty refused to attend. And, with unusual care and attention, my three godmothers, ere the dawn of reason expanded my ideas, laid the foundation of a masonic structure, Benevolence and Philanthropy, in my breast. Are there not Miltons at the plough, and Statesmen in the field? And why not Masonesses at the toilet? If secrecy in charity, and dispositions to oblige a neighbor or a friend, are pillars of the Craft, our sex may vie with a Solomon, a Hiram, or the best ancient or modern master builders, in raising them.
The sublime institution of Masonry, I fancy, was ordained by the wise Architect of [Page 5] the universal Lodge, to level the masculine character of the other sex with the feminine softness of ours; by tempering Courage, Fortitude and Gravity, with Candor, Benevolence and Charity, and cementing them with Friendship, Sensibility and Affection. Were our sex admitted into the society, it would counteract the grand design, as we have generally too great a proportion of those delicate feelings, in our composition, for our own happiness. The science of Masonry, I view as a refined study of nature, entirely divested of those insidious arts, that (from their secrecy, order, and signs, by which the Brethren discover themselves to each other) many judicious persons, of both sexes, have been led to believe they practise. It is a science, that is both useful and instructive. It refines the understanding, softens the manners, blends together every virtue of the human heart, and teaches us to distinguish between the favors of fortune, and real merit. Masonry has been stiled the "Daughter of Heaven, Patroness of the liberal arts, that polish and adorn the mind," &c.
[Page 6]As we naturally esteem our companions, in proportion as they excel us in knowledge, Is it not happy for us, that Masonry is confined to man? Happy, thrice happy, would it have been for her descendants, if Madam Eve, instead of tasting the apple, had politely presented it to her spouse. This mistake was never rectified, till the eastern Monarch was inspired with the ideas of building a temple, founding a Lodge, and consecrating it as sacred forever from the old lady's female descendants. But we enjoy this pleasing consolation, that it has a tendency to attach them to our sex—"Next to the Deity," says a Right Worshipful Master, at the close of a charge to his Lodge, "whom can I so properly address myself to, as to the most beautiful part of the creation. The sanction of the fair is our highest ambition; to preserve it will be our greatest care." And although flattery may be termed a foible, (if the Honorable Fraternity will pardon the expression) in some instances, in this in particular, it appears a virtue. "Honey," says the proverb, "has caught more flies than [Page 7] vinegar;" and who is proof against the charm of adulation, when the alluring bait is so delicately gilt.
To be serious. A good Mason may be compared to a respectable Divine. The lectures of the former, and the precepts of the latter, are equally interesting. One instructs us in the principles of morality; the other explains the mysteries of divinity: Both point to the same grand view—the temple of Virtue. The three steps of this noble edifice, Justice, Love and Mercy, it is in our power to ascend; and were we clothed with Wisdom, Strength and Beauty, and adorned with Faith and Charity, reclining on Hope, we might extend our prospect, and, with the aid of three times three, be introduced into the Royal Arch of Safety, which would preserve us from the dangerous shoals and quicksands of folly and dissipation, upon which so many of the vain and thoughtless, of both sexes, suffer shipwreck.
A good Mason must be a good man; and a good man is a Mason. Upon the pillars of Justice, Benevolence, and Humility, he [Page 8] raises an edifice, which will remain firm as the adamantine rock. Slander may attack [...]s walls, Malice assault its battlements, and Calumny batter its spacious roof, but all in vain. I [...] will remain impregnable, when the pillars of the universe are shaken, "and the great globe itself, like the baseless fabric of a vision," vanishes at the command of the Almighty Architect. Borne up on those pillars, amidst a chaos of nature, he will arrive at the summit of happiness, in the celestial mansions of peace and harmony, and gain admission into the "Universal Lodge," founded at the creation; whose Grand Master sits enthroned in light and glory, and surveys the hearts of all at one view; whose Lodge is stiled the Holy of Holies; where all distinctions are annihilated— the Knight Templar levelled with the Entered Apprentice, the Royal Arch with the Fellow Craft, and the widow's son rank no higher than her daughters, provided th [...] latter are clothed in their necessary [...]wels, Innocence and Virtue. Those brilliant ornaments will entitle them to the p [...]u [...]it of [Page 9] "Well done"—the "heavenly pass word" to the realms of bliss.
A MASONIC VISION.
IN consequence of an invitation from one of the members of the Honorable Fraternity, the other evening, to visit a Lodge, my thoughts were engaged with the subject of such a visit, and I fell into a most profound reverie. By the assistance of Morpheus, I was conveyed, in a moment, to the Morning Star;* the Lodge was tyled; the S— S—m, or court cabinet, was unlocked, and the emblems of the Royal Art properly arranged and displayed; the murdered Knight rose from the awful silence of the tomb, and seated himself upon the left hand of his Royal Master, while his name [Page 10] sake, to complete the order, sat upon his right; the Senior and Junior Grand Wardens, agreeably to their ancient custom, were placed in the East and West; the tapers were eclipsed amidst a blaze of jewels, which were excelled only by the bright luminary of heaven in meridian splendor. No eloquence can convey an idea of the beauty, order, and harmony, which reigned. Like the glory of the apostle's third heaven, it could not be revealed. They were such, indeed, as the eye of the uninitiated hath not seen, nor hath it entered into the heart of a cowan to conceive. But my impatience for information exceeded all bounds. I asked for the signs of the different orders of entered, passed, raised and arched. But I asked in vain.—No voice was heard.—A universal silence reigned.—I then began to fancy myself with the disciples of Pythagoras, or that the grand secret of Masonry was to become speechless.
After admiring their prudence in excluding females, (for it would be scarcely possible for the different sexes to assemble and keep silence, even in heaven, for half an hour,) I [Page 11] acknowledge I began to fancy a silent heaven no heaven for me; and meditated an escape: When, lo!—
In a moment, as if by enchantment, appeared a beautiful fabric, whose base was Benevolence, and whose strength was Peace and Harmony. The Plumbline, Square and Compasses, were placed upon the Tressel Board, as emblems of the proportion of the design. On a beautiful column sat Faith, Hope and Charity, viewing Misfortune. On another reclined Wisdom, Strength and Beauty, casting a benignant smile upon those benefactors of mankind. Here, regardless of the awful silence that reigned, I exclaimed with the Oratorio,
[Page 12]I was proceeding in this rapturous strain, when Phoebus, who had just mounted his golden car, displayed his splendid rays upon my pillow, and I awoke, as much confused in my ideas, perhaps, as an entered Apprentice, when just introduced from darkness into light; but with the pleasing consolation, that I was not intrusted with those profound secrets, so essential to preserve the art.