These titles, however, do not give an adequate idea of the grandeur to which “sublime” Masonry ascends.  They have their Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master, their Right Worshipful Grand Treasurer [sic], Most Worshipful Grand Master, Most Eminent Grand Commander, Thrice Illustrious Grand Puissant, Most Excellent Grand High Priest, etc.  (Constitution [sic] of Grand Lodge of Ohio, Art. 5., Webb’s Monitor, pp. 187, 219, 284.) Other associations employ similar titles; indeed, Masonry, as the oldest association, seems to have been copied after by the rest.  The Odd-fellows have almost the same parades, shows, and titles as the Masons.  They have their aprons, ribbons, rosettes, and drawn swords; and they endeavor, by these and other clap-trap means, to recommend their association as a grand affair.  They, too, have their Right Worthy Grand Lodge, Most Worthy Grand Master, Right Worthy Grand Secretary, Right Worthy Grand Treasurer, Right Worthy Grand Chaplain, etc.

We think it strange that men of sense should employ such titles.  They would be ridiculous even applied to the greatest and best man that ever lived.  They are more ridiculous than the bombastic titles given to civil officers in barbarous countries.  The Sublime Porte of Turkey is outdone in this respect by secret associations in the United States.

6.  The absurdity of these high-sounding titles and other puerilities is further seen from the character of those who compose the associations which employ them.  They boast that they receive as members almost all sorts of men except atheists; that men of every religious sect and every nation meet in their lodges as loving brethren, and on a perfect equality; that they welcome the Jew, the Arab, the Chinaman, the American savage, the infidel, and the Christian, provided they be sound in body and be able to support themselves; yet the officers elected by the lodges or squads of such persons, Jews, Arabs, Chinamen, savages, infidels and Christians, become Most Eminent Grand Commanders, Thrice Illustrious Puissants, etc.  Yea, since brotherhood and equality characterize these associations, the Jew, the Arab, the Chinaman, and the infidel are eligible to any office, and may become Most Worshipful Grand Commanders and Most Excellent Grand High Priests.

All this is calculated to produce laughter and contempt; but such is not the design.  The design of those who make use of these grand titles and other clap-trap things is to recommend their associations as an excellent and grand affair.  The design itself, and the means employed for its accomplishment, must, certainly, be condemned by every unprejudiced Christian [sic] mind.

CONCLUSION.