The Relation of 
 THE LIBERAL CHURCHES 
 
 AND THE 
 
 - FRATERNAL ORDERS 
 
 BY 
 
 ELIJAH ALFRED COIL 
 
 PUBLISHED FOR FRP:E DISTRIBUTION 
 
 AMERICAN UNITARIAN ASSOCIATION 
 
 25 BEACON STREET, BOSTON, MASS. 
 
T he American Unitarian Association is the working 
 missionary organization of the Unitarian churches of 
 America. It seeks to promote sympathy and united action 
 among Liberal Christians, and to spread the principles 
 which are believed by Unitarians to be essential to civil 
 and religious liberty and progress and to the attainments 
 of the spiritual life. To this end it supports missionaries, 
 establishes and maintains churches, holds conventions, aids 
 in building meeting-houses, publishes, sells and gives away 
 books, sermons, tracts, hymn-books, and devotional works. 
 
 A list of free tracts will be sent on application. A full 
 descriptive catalogue of the publications of the Association, 
 including doctrinal, devotional and practical works, will 
 be sent to all who apply. 
 
 The Association is supported by the voluntary contribu¬ 
 tions of churches and individuals. 
 
 There are two forms of membership in this Association 
 provided for those who desire to cooperate in the spread 
 of liberal religious thought and influence: 
 
 I. Life Membership. Any individual may, by the 
 payment of $50, become n. Life Member of the American 
 Unitarian Association. Such a person is entitled to vote 
 at all business meetings, to receive the Year Book and 
 Annual Report, and, by means of frequent communications, 
 is kept in touch with the various enterprises promoted by 
 the Association. 
 
 II. Associate Membership. Other individuals desiring 
 to affiliate with the Association may become Associate 
 Members by signing an application card (sent upon request) 
 and the payment of $1.00. As such they will receive a 
 certificate of Associate Membership, also Unitarian Woi'd 
 and Work (the monthly magazine reporting denomina¬ 
 tional news), each new pamphlet as it is issued, and 
 occasional other communications from Headquarters. 
 
 Address communications and contributions to the 
 
 American Unitarian Association 
 
 25 BEACON STREET BOSTON, MASS. 
 
THE RELATION of the LIBERAL CHURCHES 
 and the FRATERNAL ORDERS 
 
 Text: — One Grod and Father of all ^ who is above all^ 
 and through all and in you all: Eph. 4, 6. 
 
 “ In the name of God, Amen.” 
 
 Since weighing anchor, and setting sail for the new 
 world, where Brewster and his devoted band hoped 
 to' enjoy the liberty to worship God according to the 
 dictates of their own consciences, sixty-three days 
 had elapsed. The travel worn Pilgrims, gathered in 
 the cabin of the Mayflower, formulated and signed 
 that historic compact which Goldwin Smith says 
 marks the passage “ PTom the feudal age of privilege 
 and force to the age of due submission and obedience 
 to just and equal offices and laws, for our better 
 ordering and preservation.” 
 
 The unsettled conditions amid which the weary 
 Pilgrims of 1620 were struggling to erect new 
 standards and formulate new policies were, in a way, 
 typical of those that exist now. A new compact is 
 needed, and I do not believe a better introduction to 
 it than that adopted by the formulators of tlie May¬ 
 flower compact can be found. It is in perfect keeping 
 with the practices of many people of our day, consti¬ 
 tutes a common ground on which to perform the act 
 of individual and collective consecration, and yet does 
 
 3 
 
4 
 
 not savor in the least of those controversies concern- 
 uig dogmas and ceremonials that have created so 
 much havoc among men. 
 
 Speaking of the theory of selection, the Rt. Hon. 
 A. J. Balfour says “It leaves untouched all that can 
 be inferred from the existence of the conditions which 
 make organic evolution possible; matter which lives, 
 multiplies, and varies; an environment which possesses 
 the marvelously complex constitution required to 
 make these processes possible. Selection may modify 
 these conditions, but it cannot start them. It may 
 modify the manner in which multiplication is secured; 
 it may modify the lines which variations follow; it 
 may enable organic species to adapt their powers to 
 their environment, and within narrow limits, their 
 environment to their powers. But it can not pro¬ 
 duce either the original environment or the original 
 living matter.” At that point we are, so it seems to 
 me, brought face to face with God, the “ Directing 
 mind” of the universe and Father of all mankind. 
 
 “ In the name of God, Amen.” Since all men have 
 to grant a source from which all things proceed, and 
 can account for law only as they grant a will to 
 establish it, here is a declaration to which all can 
 subscribe. It is when discussions about trinities and 
 unities, and attributes, and the manner of revealing 
 or manifesting are started that differences of opinion 
 begin to appear, and divisions take place. We can 
 be absolutely sure that there is a source from which 
 finite self-consciousness proceeds; but as to the 
 attributes of that source, and the manner of revealing 
 
or manifesting itself to the finite, there is, as many 
 sad events show, room for wide differences of opinion, 
 and the possibility of much bitterness and persecution. 
 This being true it seems clearly to be a departure 
 from the path of wisdom to erect any set of opinions 
 as to the attributes of the Infinite, and the methods 
 whereby revelations or manifestations are made to 
 the finite, into tests or conditions of fellowship, thus 
 setting, as such a course invariably does, large bodies 
 of earnest, conscientious people over against each 
 other, sometimes in bitterness and strife. Thinking 
 people will, of course, have their theories about the 
 attributes of the Infinite, and as to the manner of 
 making revelations to the finite, and relations there¬ 
 with, but that those theories need be erected into 
 tests or conditions of fellowship in order to enable 
 men to stand together and work for both material and 
 spiritual wellbeing has been so thoroughly disproved 
 that a wayfaring man, though possessing but one eye, 
 cannot well help seeing that such a course is not 
 necessary. 
 
 Preceding and following tlie reformation of the six¬ 
 teenth century two currents of thought and infiuence 
 tliat have had much to do with the shaping of the life 
 and forms of Protestant Christendom can be plainly 
 discerned. One of them ran by way of the ninety- 
 five theses nailed to the door of the church in Witten¬ 
 berg, the Augsburg and Westminister confessions, 
 the Thirty-nine Articles, and many denominational 
 creeds that have drawn their chief substance from 
 them. That current, dogmatic and formal, found 
 
6 
 
 embodiment and expression in the orthodox Protest¬ 
 ant denominations of Europe and America. The 
 other ran by way of Hungary, and St. Sebald’s school 
 in Nuremberg where Hans Denck was school master, 
 and flowing on, touched the homes of Joliann Bun- 
 derlin, Christian Entfelder, Jacob Boehme, John 
 Everard, Sir Harry Vane and other continental and 
 English leaders who put the emphasis on the spirit 
 and life rather than on dogma and ceremonial. This 
 current, ethical and spiritual, found embodiment and 
 expression in the churches called liberal, and the 
 great secret fraternal orders that have come to be 
 such an important factor in modern life. Hans Denck 
 declared himself as positively against the idea of im¬ 
 puted righteousness, insisting that no one can justly 
 be classed and rewarded as righteous unless he 
 actually is righteous. He would not allow that any 
 mpral or spiritual qualities could be imputed to a 
 man unless they really entered into and constituted 
 a part of his character. Christian Entf elder ex¬ 
 pressed a deep seated conviction, shared by the lead¬ 
 ers of a great spiritual reformation, when he said; 
 “ In every age and in every land, the inner word of 
 God, the voice of the spirit speaking within, clarify¬ 
 ing the mind and training the spiritual perceptions 
 by a progressive experience, has made for itself a 
 chosen people.” Sebastian Franck declared: “Nobody 
 is the master of my faith, and I desire to be the master 
 of the faith of no one. I love any man whom I can 
 help, and I call him brother whether he be Jew or 
 Samaritan.” In those utterances there is clearly fore- 
 
7 
 
 shadowed the great doctrine of the universal father¬ 
 hood of God and brotherhood of Man. Entfelder 
 and Franck sensed that vitalizing truth which Samuel 
 Longfellow embodied in his inspiring hymn entitled 
 “Tlie Churcli Universal,” one stanza of which runs as 
 follows: 
 
 “ Her priests are all God’s faithful sons, 
 
 To serve the world raised up; 
 
 The pure in heart her baptized ones; 
 
 Love her communion cup. ’ 
 
 Early in the eighteenth century, a few earnest men 
 interpreting religion in ethical and spiritual terms, 
 and anxious to escape the disrupting controversies 
 and prejudicies incident to insistance upon a dog¬ 
 matic or ceremonial test of fellowship, chose James 
 Anderson, minister of the Scottish Presbyterian 
 church in Piccadilly, London, and John Theophilus 
 Desaguliers, son of a Frencli Protestant clergyman, 
 with other men of recognized ability, to cdnstruct, 
 out of ancient Masonic principles and practices a 
 constitution for the Grand Lodge of England. They 
 recommended “ A universal creed, on the plan of the 
 fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of Mankind”, 
 one that would include good men of all forms of 
 religion, all nationalities, and all stations in life. 
 The new constitution, which they formulated and 
 recommended, was adopted in 1723, and on that basis 
 an institution almost as extensive as humanity, and 
 noted for its effective work in many spheres of life, 
 has been built up. 
 
 Because it exalted character above creed and rank. 
 
V 
 
 8 
 
 speculative Freemasonry aroused the opposition of 
 both the supporters of dogmatic and ceremonial forms 
 of religion, and the beneficiaries of royalty. The 
 priestly class soon saw that to allow real* liberty of 
 thought and conscience in things dogmatic and cere¬ 
 monial, and the conditioning of fellowship upon 
 character alone, would undermine and utterly destroy 
 their authority, and they, therefore, set themselves 
 resolutely against the institution. Then there was 
 so much democracy in the institution as it appeared 
 in its new form and dress that crowned heads and 
 the nobility quickly discerned that it was inimical to 
 their selfish interests, and it was vigorously opposed 
 by them. Figuratively speaking, a comely child had 
 been born into the world, but there was no room 
 found for it in the ecclesiastical and royal inn. 
 Having been rejected by ecclesiasticism and royalty, 
 the new born child turned to the common people, was 
 gladly received, and now, grown into a giant of 
 mighty proportions, is the source of many blessings 
 to mankind. 
 
 We now have many other secret fraternal organiz¬ 
 ations ; but most of them have also embodied the 
 principle of the fatherhood of God and the brother¬ 
 hood of Man in their constitutions, and other pro¬ 
 nouncements. As an instance, I cite the monument 
 erected in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1865 and dedicated 
 to the memory of Thomas Wildey by the Grand 
 Lodge of Odd Fellows. On the north side of the 
 base of that monument there are inscribed these 
 Avords: “ He who realizes that the true mission of 
 
9 
 
 man on earth is to rise above the level of individual 
 influence, and to recognize the fatherhood of God 
 over all, and the brotherhood of Man, is nature’s true 
 nobleman”. To this principle, embodied in the con¬ 
 stitutions and literature of our great secret orders, 
 there are pledged hundreds of thousands of men, 
 representing many forms of religion; but working 
 together in peace and harmony. These organizations 
 cultivate reverence for the Infinite, most of them 
 opening and closing their meetings with prayer. 
 They raise and insist upon high moral standards, 
 promote large philanthropies, and establish true and 
 helpful friendsliips among many who might otherwise 
 have remained perpetually separated and prejudiced 
 against each other. In fact they are bringing to¬ 
 gether, and uniting in tlie bonds of a real and practi¬ 
 cal friendship, many whom the churches have 
 separated. Although bitterly opposed for a long 
 time by many of the churches, these institutions have 
 grown so strong, and have so commended themselves 
 to thoughtful people, that opposition to them has 
 greatly weakened and is rapidly disappearing. 
 
 It is becoming more and more clear to me, as the 
 facts relating to the subject are brought out, that the 
 fraternities, and the churches called liberal, have been 
 working along parallel lines for years ; but, because 
 the one put the chief emphasis upon the fatlierhood 
 of God and therefore empliasized theology, wliile the 
 other put the chief emphasis upon the brotherhood of 
 Man and therefore emphasized sociology, they have 
 not realized that they were occupying practically the 
 
10 
 
 same ground. They have not therefore always sup¬ 
 plemented each other’s work as they should have 
 done. Evidences of a better understanding are now 
 appearing, and there is promise that real cooperation 
 will ensue. 
 
 The more I learn of the origin, history and litur¬ 
 gies of the great fraternities of today, the more 
 amazed I become that the kinship between them and 
 the liberal churches was not clearly discerned a half 
 century ago. Also, the more I learn of the funda¬ 
 mental principles of the great fraternities, the more 
 interested do I become in the fact that many people 
 who denounce the churches called liberal enthusiast¬ 
 ically endorse, as fraternity men, the very principles 
 for which those churches stand. I have often 
 thought, in recent years, that I should like to organize 
 a Sunday school class, and use as a text book the 
 monitors of our leading fraternal orders, and show 
 the members of those organizations the logic of the 
 principles to which they, in their lodges, are pledged. 
 Nearly all of tliose monitors have, as their very heart, 
 the fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of Man, im¬ 
 mortality, and salvation by character, principles very 
 familiar to every Unitarian Sunday school scholar 
 wlio has been properly tauglit the fundamentals of 
 our faith. 
 
 That the fundamental difference in the principles 
 embodied in the historic creeds of Christendom and 
 those of our modern secret orders has not been 
 clearly thought out is indicated by the fact that 
 many pledge themselves to both. There are lodge 
 
11 
 
 men who, in the churches, subscribe to the doctrine 
 that “We are accounted righteous before God only 
 for the merit of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, 
 by faith and not for our own works or deservings,” 
 and enthusiastically join in the singing of hymns in 
 which that idea is embodied. Then in their lodge 
 meetings they just as enthusiastically assent to the 
 following declaration : “Although our thoughts, words 
 and actions may be hidden from the eyes of men, yet 
 that All-Seeing Eye whom the sun, moon and stars 
 obey, and under wliose watchful care even comets 
 perform their stupendous revolutions, pervades the 
 inmost recesses of the human lieart, and will reward 
 us according to our merits.” A little child, once its 
 attention is called to the matter, ought to be able to 
 see that it is impossible to harmonize the creed state¬ 
 ment here quoted, with the declaration taken from 
 the monitor of one of our greatest and most effective 
 secret orders, and found, in substance, in the liturgies 
 of nearly all the others. If “We are accounted right¬ 
 eous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and 
 Saviour, Jesus Christ by faith and not for our own 
 works or deservings,” tlien it cannot possibly be true 
 that the All-Seeing Eye “ Pervades the inmost re¬ 
 cesses of the human heart, and will reward us accord¬ 
 ing to our merits.” One of these declarations 
 excludes the other. Men cannot consistently sub¬ 
 scribe to both. They do, however, subscribe to botli, 
 and are thereby led into inconsistencies which they 
 do not discern. Altliough the Rev. W. A. Sunday 
 denounces tlie principle of salvation by character. 
 
12 
 
 and declares: “The fatherhood of God and the 
 brotherhood of Man are the worst rot ever dug out 
 of hell,” it nevertheless often happens that the lodges, 
 pledged to the very things he thus characterizes and 
 condemns, go in bodies to hear him and seem to ap¬ 
 prove his utterances. The fact that they do this does 
 not indicate that they are deliberately inconsistent but 
 rather that they subordinate reason to sentiment and 
 emotion on such occasions. That confusion and 
 weakness are resulting from the course many are now 
 pursuing in thus pledging themselves to one set of 
 principles in their churches, and to another set in 
 their lodges, is so apparent that all who see condi¬ 
 tions as they really are should count it a privilege to 
 help clear the atmosphere and bring about a more 
 consistent course. 
 
 If ever there was an age in which clear thinking 
 and conscientious action were needed it is the one 
 in which we live. The inadequacy of the dogmatic 
 and ceremonial forms of religion is being more clearly 
 shown every day. That is why I say a new compact 
 is needed, and it should be so formulated that the 
 good people of all lands, races and forms of religion 
 can unite upon it. As conditions now are, earnest 
 men are anxiously inquiring: “What must the 
 church do to be saved ? ” Addressing the one 
 thousand five hundred delegates attending, in Balti¬ 
 more, Maryland, a convention called in the interest 
 of missionary work, Fred B. Smith of New York 
 was reported as saying, refering to the most frightful, 
 destructive and unchristian war the world has ever 
 
13 
 
 seen: “The war has set tlie kingdom of God back one 
 hundred years. Civilization stands condemned. The 
 kingdom of Christ will never be brought about by seg¬ 
 regated sectarianism.” I believe that is true ; but we 
 are sure to have segregated sectarianism just so long 
 as there is insistence upon dogmas and ceremonials 
 as tests of fellowship and conditions of salvation. 
 Tut the awful war to which Mr. Smith refers, and in 
 the thought of which we are so dazed that it is im¬ 
 possible to find words that will express our feelings, 
 is not the only blot on the civilization of today. 
 There is bitter and wide-spread strife in the indus¬ 
 trial world; drunkenness and its appalling conse- 
 ({uences; commercialized vice with its attendant 
 disease and degredation, and many other things, that 
 might be enumerated, which go to show the inade¬ 
 quacy of the prevailing forme of religious thought 
 and practice to meet the needs of this age. The time 
 has come when men should be taught, in no uncertain 
 terms, that they cannot bring on wars with their 
 awful consecpiences; promote drunkenness, trai’lic in 
 vice and do tlie liundred other tliiim's beingr done 
 which degrade humanity and intensify suffering, and 
 tlien be saved through the merits of anotlier and not 
 for their own works or deservings. It should be 
 made clear to them that we are all children of one 
 Father, and tliat, as members of a common household, 
 we cannot escape sharing in the conditions wliich we 
 help to create in this world, and tliat our harvest 
 “Over tliere” will be determined by just wliat we sow 
 here. This is what the liberal clinrcli and most of 
 
 V 
 
14 
 
 our fraternities are trying to impress upon the 
 world. 
 
 Seeing the conditions that now obtain after some 
 hundreds of years, during which the dogmatic and 
 ceremonial form of religion has been in the 
 ascendency, it would seem that those who question 
 the adequacy of that form, and are trying earnestly 
 to put an ethical and spiritual form of religion in its 
 place, would receive more consideration than they do 
 at the hands of those who are trying to revive the old 
 system, and bring the people back to the churches by 
 way of the tabernacle. If the medical profession 
 found their remedies as unavailing as war and other 
 attendant evils show the dogmatic and ritualistic 
 form of religion to be, and some one proposed a new 
 remedy that had proven as effective in the physical 
 sphere as our ethical and spiritual form of religion 
 has proven itself, I believe the representatives of 
 that profession would gladly try tlie remedy, and 
 thank those proffering it for their interest and desire 
 to help. 
 
 Looking at the world as it is today begets the con¬ 
 viction that there must be a better way than the one 
 which the majority has been following. That better 
 way, 1 am sure, has been clearly indicated. It con¬ 
 sists in the reverent practical recognition of the 
 Infinite from whom we all proceed as universal 
 father, and that necessary corollary, the universal 
 brotherhood of Man, and then in building upon that 
 foundation a super-structure of reverence, temperance, 
 prudence, fortitude, and justice which will insure a 
 
15 
 
 nobler type of inanliood and a better society. To 
 tliese things the liberal churches are pledged, and these 
 are the very principles most of our great secret orders 
 are striving to uphold and promote. Our spiritual 
 and etliical relations are very close even though we 
 may not hitherto have recognized that fact. Seeing 
 the relationship we should act upon it and so supple¬ 
 ment each other’s work as to make it more effective 
 for good. Fraternity men, interested in the welfare 
 of their children, should be informed that in the 
 liberal churches their children will be trained in prin¬ 
 ciples which they will not practically have to deny 
 should they become members of the lodge. This is 
 something of far greater importance than it may at 
 first seem. 
 
 To develop the noblest type of manhood and 
 womanhood, and insure the best possible societ}*, a 
 beginning must be made at the cradle. That is why 
 tlie home and Sunday school and church have it in 
 their power to do a most important work in the devel¬ 
 opment of the right kind of character. They can 
 take and mold the child as no other institution can. 
 The fraternities, constituted as they are, cannot do it. 
 Experience shows that to be indifferent to the moral 
 and spiritual wellbeing of the cliildren, at the same 
 time cherishing the hope tliat some institution can 
 take the full grown men or women, early training 
 having been neglected, and s]iaj)e them into a noble 
 and satisfactory society is to heap up bitter disap¬ 
 pointment, the hurt of which cannot be evaded. It 
 is time for a general awakening to this fact, and with 
 
16 
 
 that awakening there needs to come a general realiza¬ 
 tion that the people and organizations pledged to the 
 same principles should understand each other better 
 and try to supplement each other’s endeavors in such 
 a manner as to insure the very best and largest pos¬ 
 sible results. I have already shown that, as it is 
 now, many people are, unthinkingly and unconsciously, 
 in most cases, I think, pledging themselves to prin¬ 
 ciples as irreconcilable as fire and water. The result 
 is loss of interest and strength on the part of many 
 without their being able to explain why. As an 
 illustration of what I mean, here is an actual expe¬ 
 rience which, in one form or another, is duplicated 
 many times a year. A member of an “Orthodox” 
 church said to me: “Although I go to church reg¬ 
 ularly, I can not enthuse over church work as I once 
 did, and I regret the fact very much.” Noting that 
 he wore the emblem of a great fraternity, I asked: 
 “ Do you attend lodge regularly? ” Upon his answer¬ 
 ing in the affirmative, I said; “ Let me diagnose 
 
 your case.” He assented and 1 proceeded thus: 
 “ You go to lodge where you are taught the father¬ 
 hood of God, the brotherhood of Man, and salvation 
 by character, and it all seems so reasonable to you 
 that you heartily approve the teaching. You then 
 go to church on Sunday where you are taught that 
 we are not the children of God, except as we become 
 such through the process of adoption; that only those 
 men who have had a kindred religious experience and 
 subscribe to specified dogmas and conform to certain 
 ritualistic requirements are brothers in the religious 
 
17 
 
 sense; that salvation is not by character, but through 
 ‘ The merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by 
 faith and not for our own works or deservings,’ and 
 that teaching does not satisfy your sense of reason 
 and justice, therefore, deep down in your heart you 
 do not believe it, hence your waning interest in 
 church work.” lie looked at me steadily for a moment, 
 and then said: ‘T did not realize my difficulty, but I 
 think you have diagnosed my case exactly.” Thou¬ 
 sands of men are as that man is, and when they 
 come to realize their condition, and get their thoughts 
 clearly defined, and properly related in their own 
 minds, they will come to be more enthusiastically 
 religious than ever they were before. They will lie 
 less dogmatic, but have more reverence for God, less 
 sectarian, but more brotherly and helpful; less con¬ 
 cerned about their personal salvation, but more 
 earnest in their endeavors to uplift and transform the 
 world by overcoming evil with good. 
 
 Now I am ready to make my appeal to you. I 
 want you to realize that to neglect the moral and 
 spiritual training of the young, or to teach them 
 principles so out of harmony with the general trend 
 of thought that they are almost sure to be held in¬ 
 differently or given up entirely in later life, is to 
 invite moral and religious calamity. Study those 
 ages in which long established forms of religious 
 faith have broken down and you will get the force of 
 what I am now saying. I have been devoting much 
 time to an investigation of the subject, and I say, 
 without fear of successful contradiction, that the liberal 
 
18 
 
 churches, from their beginning, have been developing 
 in thought and sentiment, along the same lines as those 
 followed by most of our great modern fraternities. 
 They 1 lave championed and advocated the fatherhood 
 of God, the brotherhood of ]Man, immortality, and sal¬ 
 vation by character, and these are the very principles 
 for which nearly all the great fraternities stand. 
 Taught these principles in childhood, as they should 
 be taught them in the Sunday schools and churches, 
 people wul] not have to unlearn or deny them should 
 they choose to identify themsehms with almost any 
 one of our present day fraternities, as those brought 
 up in “Orthodox” Sunday schools and churches have 
 to unlearn, deny or ignore much tliat has been taught 
 them if they become members of a lodge. And it is 
 most important that they be taught to the children in 
 the Sunday schools. It is, as a rule, in childhood that 
 life characters are formed. Feeling the tremendous 
 importance of this phase of the subject, I appeal to 
 you brethren, in the name of God, Father of us all, 
 to wake up and realize your great responsibilities and 
 your glorious opportunities. If we really believe in 
 the fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of Man, im¬ 
 mortality and salvation by character, then we should 
 do something more in our church than fill a pew 
 occasionally and make our annual contribution to its 
 financial support. We should come fully to realize 
 the great need of a complete understanding and 
 harmonious endeavor on the part of all institutions 
 that are striving to work out, along the same lines, a 
 nobler destiny for mankind. The liberal churches and 
 
19 
 
 iiiiiiiy of our great fraternities have, as I have shown 
 you, a conmion basis. We should fully realize the great 
 importance of seeing to it tliat the children of all 
 who approve that basis, and want to see it strength¬ 
 ened and perpetuated, are taught principles that are 
 in complete harmony with it. We should count it a 
 great privilege to help bring about a consummation 
 so important and so devoutly to be wished. We 
 sliould lose no opportunity to let those fraternity 
 people, whose faitii in the dogmatic and ceremonial 
 form of religion is Ijreaking down, know that there is 
 a church in which they can find a home, and in whose 
 Sunday schools their children can be taught principles 
 which they, as fraternity people, have already enthu¬ 
 siastically approved. 
 
 As the children of Clod, we are all members of tlie 
 same household, and must therefore share in tlie 
 family conditions we help to create. We should 
 realize this and cultivate the spirit manifested by 
 Abraham when his lierdmen and those of Lot entered 
 into strife over the pasture lands which they desired 
 for the lierds of their respective masters. Knowing 
 that there was enougli for all, and to spare, Abraham 
 appealed thus to Lot: “ l^et there be no strife, I pray 
 thee, between me and thee, and between my lierdmen 
 and tliy lierdmen ; for we be brethren.” That should 
 be our cry to the world. We are all brethren, and 
 our Father has provided abundantly for the whole 
 household. Once we recognize his goodness, and 
 our relationship, in such a practical way as the prin¬ 
 ciple of salvation by character implies, the implica- 
 
20 
 
 tion of wliicli is the reproduction, in all lives, of 
 the reverence, love and service that so wondrously 
 characterized the life of Jesus of Nazareth, mutual 
 respect and helpfulness will become universal, and 
 we can then truthfully and triumphantly sing: 
 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, 
 good will toward men.”