that it was
precisely for this sin that the Divine displeasure was visited upon
king Herod. On a certain occasion having put on his royal apparel, he
sat on his throne and made a public oration. The people who heard him
shouted and said, "_It is the voice of a God and not of a man; and
immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God
the glory; and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost_." (Acts
xii: 23.) It was for the same spirit of self-glorification that the
king of Babylon was punished with madness and disgrace. Nebuchadnezzar
walked in his palace, and said: "Is not this great Babylon, which I
have built for the house of my kingdom by the might of my power, and
for the honor of my majesty?" The same hour he was driven from men,
and did eat grass as oxen; and his body was wet with the dew of
heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails
like birds' claws. (Dan. iv: 30-33.)

2 [sic]. Another objectionable feature of many secret societies is,
that they profane the _worship_ of God. They claim (at least those
which seem to embrace the most numerous membership) to be, in some
sense, religious associations. They maintain forms of worship; their
rituals contain prayers to be used at initiations, installations,
funerals, consecrations, etc. They receive into membership, as we
shall afterward see, almost all sorts of men except atheists. Being
composed of Jews, Turks, Mohammedans, Mormons, and infidels, as well
as of believers in Christianity, they endeavor to establish such forms
as will be acceptable to their mongrel and motley membership. Hence
their prayers and other forms of worship are such as may be
consistently used by the irreligious and by infidels, and only by
them. We do not say that no Christian prayers are offered up in
Masonic lodges. No doubt some godly men, as chaplains, offer up
extempore prayers in the name of Christ; but such prayers are not
Masonic. They are not authorized by the Masonic ritual; they are
contrary to the spirit if not to the express regulations of Masonry.
Any member would have a right to object to them, and his objections
would have to be sustained. The only prayers which Masonry does
authorize, and can consistently authorize, are Christless--infidel
prayers and services. The proof of this declaration can be found in
every Masonic manual. (See Webb's Monitor, pp. 36, 80, 189, and
Carson's Monitor, of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, pp.