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ADDRESS
of HON. BENJAMIN B. FRENCH,
Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia,
DELIVERED AT PORTLAND, BEFORE THE GRAND LODGE OF MAINE,
and a large collection of the fraternity there assembled,
ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST,
JUNE 26, 1849.
Published by Order of the Grand Lodge.
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CORRESPONDENCE.
Portland, Tuesday evening, June 26, 1849.
Sir and Brother:—The undersigned, appointed a committee by the Grand Lodge of Maine, present to you herewith certain resolutions of that body, passed unanimously at its session this evening, requesting a copy of the able and excellent address delivered by you this day; and in compliance with said resolutions, herewith tender to you the sum therein named, as a slight testimonial of the great obligation the masonic fraternity of our state are under to you for your invaluable services on the occasion of this day's festival. Most truly and fraternally yours,
P. Bradford,
Daniel Winslow,
C. B. Smith,
Committee.
Portland, Tuesday evening, June 26, 1849.
Brothers Freeman Bradford, Daniel Winslow and Charles B. Smith, committee of the Grand Lodge of Maine:
I have received, with feelings of the deepest emotion, the resolutions of the Grand Lodge of Maine, passed since the exercises of this day were concluded.
In reply to the first, I return you, herewith, the manuscript of the address which I had the honor to deliver, sincerely hoping that its publication may be of some benefit to my fellowmen.
In reply to the resolution making a generous appropriation to defray my expenses, permit me, while I respectfully decline receiving it, to say that this mark of the generosity of the Grand Lodge of Maine will not soon be forgotten by me, and, if they will permit it, I will respectfully suggest that they dispose of it in some particular charity where it will be in their opinion of the most service.
Present, gentlemen, to the Grand Lodge of Maine and to the fraternity throughout the state, my sincere fraternal regards, and accept for yourselves the kind wishes of my heart for your prosperity and happiness.
Most truly and fraternally yours,
B. B. FRENCH.
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ADDRESS.
It has been said, by some writer, that "the arms of friendship are long enough to reach and join hands from one end of the world to the other "— and my presence here to-day seems to be a partial illustration of this philanthropic assertion, for a compliance with an invitation, induced I know by the best feelings of the heart, has placed me in my present attitude before you.
We have assembled, my brethren, to celebrate the anniversary of one of our patron saints—one of "those ancient Christian worthies " selected by our brethren as the appropriate patron of an institution dedicated to the Most High.
The practice of selecting some one whose eminence while living canonized his memory when dead, is by no means peculiar to Freemasonry ; and the celebration of the anniversaries of saints is an annual custom among all the Christian nations of the earth. It has been tauntingly asked how we prove that the Saints John—both of whom we recognize as our patrons—were Freemasons ? We do not prove it. A tradition is preserved in the English lodges, that upon a certain occasion, when the brethren met to select a Grand Master, " they deputed seven of their most eminent members to wait upon Saint John, the Evangelist, who was at that time Bishop of Ephesus, requesting him to take the office of Grand Master. He returned, for answer, "that though being well stricken in years (being upwards of ninety), yet, having been in the early part of his life initiated into Masonry, he would take upon himself that office."
An eminent modern writer on Freemasonry has traced, with great ingenuity and plausibility, the reasons why these saints were thus selected: " The post-diluvians," (says he,) " according to the testimony of the Jewish writer,. Maimonides, the Magians of Persia, until their ritual was improved and purified by Zoroaster, and, most probably the ancient Druids, introduced into their rites a great respect for and even adoration of the sun, as the source of light and life and fruition, and the visible representative of the invisible creative and preservative principle of nature. To such sects, the periods when the sun reached his greatest northern and southern declination by entering the zodiacal signs, Cancer and Capricorn, marked, as it would be,
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by most evident effects on the seasons and on the length of the days and nights, could not have passed unobserved ; but, on the contrary, must have occupied a distinguished place in their ritual. Now these important days fell, respectively, on the twenty-first of June and twenty-second of December.
In the spurious Masonry of the ancients, these days were doubtless celebrated as returning eras in the existence of the great source of light, and the object of their worship. Our ancient brethren adopted the custom, abandoning, however, in deference to their own purer doctrines, the idolatrous principles which were connected with these dates, and confining their celebration exclusively to their astronomical importance. But time passed on. Christianity came to mingle its rays with the light of Masonry, and our Christian ancestors, finding that the church had appropriated two days near these solstitial periods, to the memory of two eminent saints, it was easy to incorporate these festivals, by the lapse of a few days, into the Masonic calendar, and to adopt these worthies as patrons of our order. To this change the earlier Christian masons were doubtless the more easily persuaded, by the peculiar character of these Saints. Saint John, the Baptist, by announcing the approach of Christ, and by the mystic ablution to which he subjected his proselytes, and which was afterwards adopted in the ceremony of initiation into Christianity, might well be considered as the Grand Hierophant of the church, while the mysterious and emblematic nature of the Apocalypse assimilated the mode of teaching adopted by Saint John, the Evangelist, to the practice of the fraternity."
Thus we have tradition and theory for the practice adopted by our brethren in times long gone by. Like many other rites and ceremonies of ancient origin, the things, being good in themselves, are practiced, while the causes, which established them are either entirely forgotten, or only exist as a tradition of the past.
And it is appropriate to add, that perhaps in the whole range of Scripture history, a more lovely human being could not have been selected as a patron, than the Evangelist. He was the disciple whom Jesus loved, and who at that solemn feast which took place immediately preceding the condemnation, sat next our Saviour and leant upon his bosom. Gentleness and tenderness breathed through his writings. And it is said, that "as the infirmities of age made him unable to address the church in a systematic discourse he always desired to be conveyed to the assembly, and as often as he came addressed them thus: ' Children, love one another.' Being asked at length why he always repeated this exhortation, with nothing new, he answered, ' because it is the precept of the Lord, and if this is fulfilled, it is enough.'"
This eminent, learned and pure-hearted being, was chosen by our ancient brethren as one of our patrons; the other, Saint John, the Baptist, whose anniversary we this day celebrate, though not less learned and eloquent, possessed a sterner and more severe nature than his cotemporary; he also
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was the friend and companion of our Saviour, and performed upon him the holy ceremony of baptism.
Such are, briefly, the reasons why we denominate these holy beings our patrons, and why we hold our festivals on their anniversaries.
My brethren, the society which we so dearly cherish, can trace its existence farther into the past than any society of human origin now in being. Masonic tradition carries it back to the time when Solomon, king of Israel, selected as the site of the first Temple, the threshing floor of Oman, the Jebusite. Masonic history professes not to give its origin, but assures us that centuries have witnessed its being, its struggles in the cause of humanity and virtue, its prosperity and its adversity—its patience and fortitude under the oppressions which have sought to overwhelm it—its triumphant acquittal by the world from every charge which hatred and malevolence have united to bring against it.
Perhaps no more appropriate occasion than the present can be chosen, in which to say something in regard to its history. In reference to it, a recent writer uses the following language: "To redress wrongs, to protect the weak, to repress tyranny, to encourage and recompense virtue, to spread abroad the principles of morality, to preserve the holy deposit of honor— such has been in all time the mission of this venerable and illustrious phalanx, which has been perpetuated from the origin of societies, to our day."
The author* of " The Mystic Tie," a recent and an excellent publication, remarking upon "The Antiquity of Freemasonry," says: "It must be remembered, that whatever be the origin of Freemasonry as a distinct organization—whether it be the production of to-day, yesterday, an hundred or a thousand years since—the date of its existence has but little to do with the true merits of the institution, although it is not denied that antiquity will give it an additional claim to our respect; while there will be strong presumption of excellence in the fact, that it has withstood the wear and tear of ages, and, to adopt the language applied by Johnson to the writings of Shakespeare, that time, while it has been washing away the dissoluble fabrics of all other societies, has passed by the adamant of Freemasonry without injury."
"The principles of Truth, and Love and Charity, which constitute the ground-work and design of Freemasonry, were, of course, coeval with the creation; and this is all that can be meant when the birth of Masonry is dated from that era."
Well read masons do not claim, even by tradition, to date the origin of Freemasonry anterior to the building of the temple of Solomon. The article from which I have just quoted, was doubtless written after great research, and contains, probably, the best brief outline of authenticated history of the ancient mysteries connected with the masonic and cotemporary orders.
----
* Albert G. Mackey.
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" Thus we learn that there existed in Asia Minor, at the time of the building of King Solomon's Temple, a society called the Dionysian Artificers, who were extensively engaged in operative Masonry ; and which society was distinguished by many peculiarities that closely assimilated it to the Speculative Freemasonry of the present day, Among these was the division into lodges, each governed by its own officers—the use of ceremonies in which symbolical instruction was communicated by means of the implements of operative masonry—the practice of an emblematic mode of initiation—the existence of an important legend, whose true meaning was known only to the perfectly initiated—and the adoption of a secret system of recognition among the brethren. Of this society, all the architects of the East were members ; and among them, it is to be presumed, were the workmen sent by Hiram, King of Tyre, to assist King Solomon in building the temple at Jerusalem. These men, under the superintendence of that 'son of a widow of the tribe of Napthali' whom Hiram also sent to Solomon as 'a curious and cunning workman,' communicated to their Jewish fellow laborers a knowledge of the advantages of their fraternity and invited them to a participation in its mysteries and privileges. From this union arose that sublime and perfect organization of the workmen at the temple, which enabled them, in the short space of seven years, to construct so magnificent an edifice."
Thus may the origin of Freemasonry be reasonably traced back to the building of the Temple; at the completion of which the workmen separated, and sought other employment. They, of course, carried with them the rites and mysteries of the order.
At an early period there were associations of traveling architects existing in all the countries of the continent, journeying from city to city, and erecting cathedrals, monasteries, and other religious edifices, under the name of " Traveling Freemasons." Until the sixteenth century, these associations increased in power, in extent, and in reputation; they then became objects of pontifical jealousy, and have so continued to this day. In consequence of this, they changed their operative and speculative character, to one purely speculative, and continue to exist at this moment under the name of the § Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Freemasons."
This is but a running outline, which, if properly filled up, would form a volume.
The Freemasons in the United States derive their Masonic origin from Great Britain, where the order has been permanently established since the year 926, when a charter was granted to the masons by King Athelstane, upon the application of his brother, Prince Edwin.
" Accordingly," says Elias Ashmole, " Prince Edwin summoned all the masons in the realm to meet in a congregation at York, who came, and composed a general lodge, of which he was Grand Master; and having brought with them all the writings and records extant, some in Greek, some in Latin,
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some in French and other languages; from the contents thereof, that assembly did frame the constitution and charges of an English Lodge."
" From this assembly the true rise of Masonry in England is generally dated; from the statutes there enacted, are derived the English Masonic Constitutions; and from the place of meeting, the ritual of the English lodges is designated as 'the Ancient York Rite'"
From that time Masonry has had a firm foothold in England. At times divisions have crept into their ranks, and there were, for a considerable length of time, two Grand Lodges. In 1813, however, under the Grand Mastership of the Duke of Sussex, they were happily united, " and discord," it is hoped, "forever banished from English Masonry."
The first lodge organized in the United States, was " instituted at Savannah, Georgia, by virtue of a warrant from Lord Weymouth, Grand Master of England;" and the first Grand Lodge was organized in Boston, on the thirtieth of July, 1733, by the name of " Saint John's Grand Lodge," under a charter granted to several brethren of that city, by Lord Viscount Montague, Grand Master of England, dated April 30, 1733, and Henry Price was therein appointed Grand Master in North America.
The first charter granted by this body was to " Saint John's Lodge in Boston," which lodge is still in existence.
Grand Lodges were afterwards established in many parts of the Union, under charters from the Grand Lodges of England or Scotland, and continued thus until the close of the revolution, after which Grand Lodges began to be organized in the states and territories of the Union, acknowledging allegiance to no higher masonic power in the world.
For many years after the permanent establishment of Freemasonry in the United States, its course was marked by prosperity, and it had spread abroad until almost every town of any considerable note contained one or more masonic lodges. Up to the time when some members of the craft, with more zeal than prudence, sought to prevent the publication of the secrets of the institution, and suffered themselves to be led into indiscretions which met the most decided disapproval of the fraternity in general, Masonry in the United States held an enviable position. The acts of the misguided brethren just referred to, were seized upon by men, who, to subserve their selfish ends, would not hesitate to perform any base action, and who, by enlisting ignorance and superstition in their ranks, made an attempt to break up the masonic institution. It withstood, however, the fiery trial, as it ever has all the persecutions that have been attempted to overthrow it, and like oppressed virtue, came forth from the ordeal unscathed.
The masonic fraternity is a law-abiding and order-loving association ; and, instead of attempting to resist the anti-masonic whirlwind which was sweeping over the land, yielded to it. They extinguished the fires of their altars, closed their lodges, and ceased their labors; following the example of the
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pilgrims of the Arabian desert, who, when they observe the approach of the dread sirocco, lie quietly down until it has passed by.
The whirlwind at length ceased—the clouds were dispelled, and again the Sun of Masonry burst forth in full meridian splendor. The craft was called again to labor, and prosperity has marked all its efforts in the cause of humanity and virtue, to this time.
When we consider the antiquity of the institution, our minds go back with satisfaction to the past—in imagination we may suppose that, like a vista to the natural eye, it is all before us—kingdoms, principalities, and powers— the immense hive of human existence move and have a being on that visionary panorama of the imagination, the human brain.
Among the various results of art are to be seen beautiful and chaste edifices, wherein the operative mason has combined beauty with utility, and gracefulness with firmness and durability. The grand cathedral—the dark and sad monastery—the solemn temple—the ball of justice—the palace and the prison—the gloomy castle and the princely mansion—together with thousands of other edifices, all of which bear evidence of the superior skill and workmanship of those ancient workmen whom we believe to have been the founders of our institution. Cities with their peopled streets—the red battle-field where warring hosts have met in the wild and deadly encounter —the rolling ocean, covered with the navies of the world—all are visible on our imaginary picture.
Amid the pestilence that walketh in darkness, and the destruction that wasteth at noon-day, what little band of men moves silently from door to door, comforting the afflicted, ministering to the wants of the poor and needy, consoling the dying, and attending to the last sad offices paid by the living to the dead ? It is a band of brothers, bound to each other and to their fellow-men by the mystic tie of Masonry.
What stays the arm of the victor just raised to strike down bis vanquished foe ? The masonic sign! Why, amid the naval conflict, goes forth that frail boat to the rescue of an individual ? The signal has been given, it has been recognized and a brother is saved from destruction !
Such has been Freemasonry during its existence through all the past; such we fondly hope it will be through all the future.
Efforts are at the present time being made in all parts of this Union to render it one of the great means of the advancement of wisdom and of learning, as well as of morality and virtue. As evidence of this, I will read an extract from the last report of the Committee of Correspondence of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia:
"The subject of education," say they, " is one which has engaged not only the attention of most of our sister Grand Lodges, and received from them favorable notice as to the utility of establishments designed for the orphan children of our departed brethren, but in two of the states—Missouri and Kentucky—colleges have been established by the fraternity, which afford
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the most ample means of instruction, in all that can render man useful to his fellow men, by enlarging the sphere of his understanding and developing talents, which, but for such aid, might have been left to wither and decay. Georgia and Florida have recommended the subject to the attention of her subordinates, the latter indulging the hope, that if a beginning be made, however little it may be, in time, with careful and patient nurture, it will grow up to an institution of importance. Ohio has appointed a committee of inquiry, and Illinois one to solicit donations. Tennessee has appropriated $1,200 to be invested in stock as a school fund. Alabama has collected about $4,500, but distributed the amount among the subordinate lodges, not being able to agree upon a plan. Indiana is in favor of the system of common schools under the direction and control of the officers and brethren of each subordinate lodge, and New York, having the system of common schools already within her limits, will, no doubt, in her great anxiety to advance this ' branch of charity, worthy and necessary to be cherished with liberality,' avail herself of the existence of that system, if she should not succeed in the 'accomplishment of the comprehensive plan' to which that Grand Lodge is said, in the last report of their Committee of Correspondence, - to have set their hands five years ago,' the nature of which is not known to your committee; Maryland has set about raising means for this purpose, and North Carolina and Iowa have made some advances for the furtherance of the cause within their limits, and Texas has appropriated ten per cent, of all her revenues to the purposes of education, requested the subordinate lodges to receive donations of lands, the annual proceeds of which are to be applied to establishing a college, and has constituted her five principal officers a standing committee on education. This Grand Lodge is so limited in its territory, and, of course, in its resources, from subordinates under its jurisdiction, that it would be idle to contemplate the establishment of any separate institution for the purposes indicated ; but it has not been dead to the influences, which, operating upon other Grand Lodges more favorably situated, have resulted in the rearing of structures, at once an honor to their benevolence and zeal, and a monument of | Masonic charity,' in a form which, furnishing all the aids to mental cultivation to the poor and destitute, attacks the citadel of vice, and lays the foundation for a harvest of virtuous fruits, the extent of which cannot be estimated."
The first great principle which Freemasonry inculcates is charity, without which that fair proportioned edifice which we term the Masonic Institution, and so proudly designate as ours, would soon crumble into dust and be no more.
How are we to exercise this blessed attribute of the heart, especially the heart of a mason, which should overflow with Charity ? Mankind are so formed and made up by the Great Ruler of all, that, as far as regards worldly things, there is a vast discrepancy among men. While one revels in luxury, another, bearing the same impress of Deity, and for aught finite
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wisdom can see, in every particular that renders man truly great and good, his equal, wanders from door to door begging a scanty pittance to enable him to exist. Such is the great world of human life—for wise purposes, doubtless, which man, with all his boasted wisdom, cannot fathom—God has so ordained it, and so it is. The property of the world is thus placed in the hands of comparatively the few, and as we have a right to presume, for the benefit of the many. The rich man, it is true, calls it his—the miser hugs his bags of gold to his bosom, and his sordid and groveling nature is only satisfied by the contemplation of the glittering dust which he possesses;— but when the great leveller, death, approaches, he strikes with the same unerring aim the poor and the rich, the high and the low, and the accumulated wealth of a long life must then be left to others; thus impressing upon those who survive, the great truth, that the good things of this world are only lent to those who hold them, for the benefit of their fellow men.
How then, I ask again, are we, as masons, to exercise this blessed attribute of the heart ? Are we to go about giving to all we meet who appear to be in distress? By no means. The wealth of the Indies would not admit of indiscriminate charity like this—indeed it would not be charity, but rather wasteful extravagance; and he who should pursue such a course, would soon place himself in the position to beg, rather than to give. We are to inquire into the reality of the sufferings of those who apply to us for relief, and if we find them borne down by misfortune, or in want, it is our sacred duty to minister to their necessities, as fully as our own circumstances will permit. That holy volume, without the presence of which no lodge of masons can be opened, contains among its treasures, this : " Pure religion and undefiled, before God, the Father, is this; to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction." This is not only pure religion, but it is also pure charity—we are not to wait for want and affliction to present themselves to us, but we are to seek them out and to minister to them in their seclusion. And while we thus give of our good things to the worthy, who are entitled to our charity, our minds ought never to lose sight of the uncertainty of all worldly things—we ought never to forget" that riches take to themselves wings and fly away," and that a single revolution of "Fortune's unbalanced wheel, may place us in the position of the mendicant, without any fault on our part, while it places him in affluence.
We ought, then, to consider ourselves almoners of the Lord, appointed to distribute among those who are suffering, and worthy of our charity, such portions of the good things of this world as can be spared without injury to us or our families, and which may be to those who receive, indeed a blessing
Even this is but a circumscribed view of the duties we owe to others in the exercise of Charity; something more than dollars and cents is to be be taken into the account—the feeling and the motive which governs the giver when he bestows his alms, are, in a moral point of view, of more importance than the gift, for
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"That is no true alms which the hand can hold;
He gives nothing but worthless gold
Who gives from a sense of duty;
But he who gives a slender mite,
And gives to that which is out of sight,
That thread of the all-sustaining Beauty
Which runs through all and doth all unite,—
The hand cannot clasp the whole of his alms,
The heart outstretches its eager palms,
For a god goes with it and makes it store
To the soul that was starving in darkness before."
He who said " whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward," illustrated both by his precepts and his example, the charity of the soul; and the same accomplished poet from whom I have just quoted, figuratively introduces into the vision of the Knight, this beautiful sentiment as the language of the Saviour:
" The Holy Supper is kept, indeed,
In what we share with another's need,—
Not that which we give, but what we share—
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who bestows himself with his alms feeds three:
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me."
The apostle, in one of the most beautiful chapters contained in the New Testament, says: " For though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity it profiteth me nothing." The charity here meant, is that broad and universal philanthrophy of the soul, which leads the good and virtuous man to denominate the world one brotherhood. Among masons it is that masonic principle, so truly and feelingly illustrated in raising a brother to the degree of a Master, and which, I fear, is not always in the mind of each one of the brethren who has received that sublime degree—it is that which teaches us to pray—
" Teach me to feel another's woe—
To hide the fault I see—
That mercy I to others show,
That mercy show to me."
It is that which prompted the reply of the Saviour of mankind to the question, " Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him ? till seven times ?"
" Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee till seven times; but until seventy times seven."
This is the charity, in the broad and comprehensive sense of that term,
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which should ever be found in the masonic bosom. This is the charity which should induce every true mason to look upon the foibles and failings of his brethren, with feelings of tenderness, and a disposition prone to forgiveness. I cannot better express the idea than Mackey, in his valuable Lexicon of Freemasonry has already expressed it. "The charity of which our order boasts," says he, " is not alone the sentiment of commiseration which leads us to assist the poor with pecuniary donations. Like the virtue described by the Apostle, its application is more noble and more extensive, ' It suffereth long, and is kind.' The true mason will be slow to anger, and easy to forgive. He will stay his falling brother by gentle admonition, and warn him, with kindness, of approaching danger. He will not open his ear to his slanderers, and will close his lips against all reproach. His faults and his follies will be locked up in his breast, and the prayer for mercy will ascend to Jehovah for his brother's sins. Nor will these sentiments of benevolence be confined to those who are bound to him by ties of kindred or worldly friendship alone; but, extending them throughout the globe, he will love and cherish all who sit beneath the broad canopy of our universal lodge. For it is the boast of our institution, that a mason, destitute and worthy, may find in every clime a brother, and in every land a home."
I have thus endeavored to illustrate briefly, one of the great principles upon which the masonic institution is based. In addition to his duties to his brethren, every Freemason is expected to perform his duties as a good citizen, faithfully. An elegant modern writer remarks, " we must enjoy the sweets of life, without vainly expecting to avoid its bitters; life is life; humanity is humanity ; to be in the world and not of the world, is systematically practicable only in the apostolic sense. Life is made up of relations, affinities, dependencies, connections, ties and obligations. To try to escape them is to try to elude a universal law, and like every such endeavor, is sure to terminate in failure, if not in punishment. The attempt is selfish, and selfishness may succeed for a while, but never eventually or entirely triumphs."
The truth of the position here assumed cannot be gainsayed, and nothing so well becomes a man as a continual effort to perform all his natural obligations to his fellow beings, and to fulfill all his duties.
Every rational being upon this earth was placed here by his Maker for some purpose. The God whom we worship, and whose holy name we hold in such reverence, decrees no act without a result; and when he breathes the breath of life into the clods of the valley, and bids them rise up and assume the human form and all the attributes of men, they are created to fill some station in the walks of human existence—to add something to human knowledge—to exert some influence in the vast and ever moving tide of humanity as it sweeps along from the cradle to the tomb. There lives no man who has not some duty to perform—some influence to exert in the great plan of creation; and while we, as men, are striving to do our duty as
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citizens, let us not forget that we are to perform other duties and exert other influences as masons. If the merest cypher, to our finite view, that goes to make up the amount of human existence, exerts a power in the scale of aggregate life, surely there is not one man who has been found worthy to enter our temple, who may not exert an influence which can be felt and appreciated.
The great aim and end of our exertions, as masons, should be, to place the masonic institution upon that moral eminence where it may be viewed with admiration by all mankind. Founded, as it was, on the best attributes of human nature—calculated, as it is, to bring into activity the most noble impulses of the human heart, we who are now responsible not only for its safety, but, if possible, for its improvement, shall have a startling account to settle with Deity hereafter, if we are false to our trust—if we suffer this sacred institution, second only to the holy religion we all profess, to become less important to humanity—less efficient in the great cause of benevolence, less respected and less revered by the great human family than it was when it came into our keeping.
Let then every individual member of our craft assume that it is his special duty to maintain the standing and honor of the institution; let him exert his individual influence to this end. Such an influence, properly exerted, in a good cause, will have an effect on others which will often astonish him who exerts it, and as it operates and he witnesses its effect he rises in his own estimation, and soon becomes a bold leader where he was once a timid follower.
I am now endeavoring to stir up those who are within the sound of my voice, if any such there be, who have imbibed the idea that they can exert no influence, and therefore make no attempt to do it. Let them turn to the history of the past and see what has been done by the influence of those whose early lives gave no indication of the immense powers and influences which they afterwards wielded. Let them observe how men have been swayed either to good or to evil by those who doubtless were, at the outset, ignorant of their own powers, and under other circumstances than those in which they were placed would have shrunk from the deeds they were forced to perform.
Ancient history, both sacred and profane, abounds with examples where men have risen from the humblest origin and the ordinary walks of life to exert influences which have shaken the world. From Absalom, who " stole the hearts of the men of Israel," down even to our days, thousands upon thousands might be named in support of the position assumed.
Themistocles, the conqueror of Xerxes, rose from the most obscure origin to the height of fame, both as a scholar and a hero.
Cromwell, the son of a brewer, became Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, exerting more power than any sovereign who could boast a descent from the proud houses of York and Lancaster.
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Napoleon Bonaparte was a remarkable illustration of the power that may be attained by individual influence and exertion.
Among the worthies of our own country, we can refer with pride and satisfaction to the names of Washington and Franklin.
Not more certain is the concussion of flint and steel to produce sparks of fire than is the contact of known science with the human mind to produce new results, undreamed of by the world ; and whenever a man comes fully to the conclusion that he can do something, and commences his operations in earnest, he seldom fails to effect results far surpassing those which, in the infancy of his ideas, he had regarded as hardly possible.
Thus individual minds act on each other—their influence extends to others, until the mass of mind becomes operated upon, and the world is enlightened and becomes wiser and better.
While we regard faithfully the ties that bind us to each other as brethren, and endeavor to maintain the principles and practices established by our order in their simplicity and purity, let us by no means forget the duties we owe to our fellow beings, whose only tie to us is that of humanity.
That silver cord, which death alone can loose, runs through all human existence, and unites mankind in one common brotherhood; and although as Freemasons we draw it more closely around our hearts, still as philanthropists, we are not to forget that it spans a world, and that we are within its circle.
The institution of Freemasonry has, from all time, assumed as its basis, universal benevolence. It tolerates no distinctions, either in religion or politics, and its true position cannot better be defined than it was in 1799, by the Hon. Charles H. Atherton, of New Hampshire, in an address delivered before the Masonic fraternity, at Concord, at the installation of Blazing Star Lodge.
" From its prime object," says our eloquent brother, "the diffusion of benevolence, and the restoration of brotherhood to man, flows also its principle to admit of 'no national, political or ecclesiastical distinction.' It is not merely that narrow benevolence confined to our kindred, our circle, or that relieves objects of immediate distress, by the contributions of charity; but it is that sublime benevolence which rises superior to national peculiarities and differences in politics and religion, breaks down these walls of partition by which man has been fancied an enemy to man, teaches him to view mankind as descendants of the same parent, subject to the same propensities, exposed to the same wants, and alike hastening ' to that bourn from whence no traveler returns.' And however diversified by education and climate, to view the tenants of all regions as entitled to the offices of kindness, and to consider 1 every man good and true,' of whatever government, country, or religion—every man into whose breast science has shed her sacred light, and in whom the latent spark of Divinity has been drawn out into the acknowledgment and practice of the religion of nature—as worthy to be called by
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the endearing appellation of brother, and to be received into the bosom of a lodge."
On a basis thus broad stands the Masonic institution; but while it thus stands, firm as the everlasting hills, it makes no pretensions to anything higher and better than it is, for the regulation and direction of the actions of men. The objection that it thus sets itself up, has been often urged against Masonry. Brother Edgar Snowdon, of Alexandria, Va., in an address delivered in 1847, on an occasion like the present, remarks : " Nothing can be more erroneous than such an idea. To the supremacy, to the all-sufficiency of Christianity, to effect its work, not only in the regeneration of our race, but in its preservation and salvation, it bows with reverence—and leaves that where it belongs. Masonry does not interfere with, jostle against, or emulate any high prerogatives. It confines itself to a lowlier and an humbler sphere. It does not presume to search the heart and try the reins, to investigate motives, to elicit faith, or to point out any way of reconciliation between the creature and the Creator. It meddles not with the consciences, or the religious belief, or the doctrines of men. Its office is limited. It is confined to the inculcation, under the sanction of Christianity , of the moral and social duties as affecting the relations of society, and viewing men as brethren of one common family. The adamantine chain which binds the human heart and soul to God, is left untouched. It dares alone, with humble confidence, to hope that it may strive to polish the golden links of fellowship and brotherly love, which, alas! are too apt to be corroded by the prejudices, the faults, and the crimes inseparable from our fallen natures. Nay, religion itself does not disdain to make use of instruments in her holy offices. She allows us to foster the charities of life, and does not avert her benignant countenance from our efforts to lighten the cares, and administer to the temporal wants of our fellows."
I have been thus particular in stating that Masonry does not claim to be a substitute for religion, but only her humble follower, for the reason that there are those whom I regard and esteem as highly as any persons on earth, and whom I believe to be as pure in heart and in purpose as any human beings can be, who have expressed to me the idea with which I commenced this branch of my subject—that Masonry is made a substitute for religion, and that masons, placing all their reliance as to the future on a mere earthly institution, forget " that anchor to the soul, both sure and stead fast," on which alone man can rely to ride out in safety the storms of the world, excited, as they are, by the evil passions incident to the imperfections of mere humanity.
I feel naturally anxious to convince those friends, with some of whom are connected the holiest recollections and associations of my childhood, that they have mistaken the aim and end of the masonic institution, and to bring them, by the broad avenue of charity, to view without prejudice our human temple in all its fair proportions, when they cannot but admit that it
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is worthy of the wisdom of him whom we traditionally recognize as our first Grand Master—Solomon, King of Israel.
Suffer me to add, in this connection, that we must all believe, if we are good masons, that the Christian religion is the only rock upon which we can erect a temple on earth which shall endure when all earthly things shall have crumbled into dust.
Freemasonry may be viewed as a coadjutor with Christianity, inasmuch as it has aided in gathering up the scattered elements of moral and intellectual cultivation which existed anterior to the Christian era, and has, by combining them with Christianity, brought about much of the true happiness and moral perfection of man, in his social and individual capacity. She has lent her aid in inculcating the moral as well as religious belief, that a virtuous and upright life on earth, founded upon the doctrines taught by the Saviour, will insure to man consolation in the gloomy hour of death, and eternal happiness in the world which is to come.
I have endeavored, in the foregoing remarks, to condense within the reasonable time that ought to be occupied on an occasion like this, as much of general interest relative to the masonic order as possible. Instead of attempting to tickle the ears of this respectable audience with an address of flowing words and well-turned periods, illustrating the orator rather than the subject, I have borrowed liberally from eminent writers on Freemasonry, and have rather illustrated by my own remarks the positions assumed by them, than those assumed by myself, by quoting them.
From what I have said—indeed from all that can be gathered up in the long vista of the past, either traditionally or historically—no one can doubt the purity of motive which induced the establishment of our order, or the philanthropic tendency of all its actions.
The prophet bath said that " the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." To change this deceitfulness to truth and to soften this wicked heart is the peculiar province of that higher institution than ours to which I have already alluded; but he who has knelt at our altar before the light of religion has beamed within his bosom, has advanced one long stride toward that still holier shrine, upon which no sacrifice is so sweet as that of a broken and contrite heart.
We ask nothing of the candidate who desires to enter our sanctuary, not entirely compatible with his religion, his honor, his duty to his God and his responsibility to his fellow beings. We not only ask, but we insist that he shall be virtuous, kind and charitable—that he shall learn to subdue his passions—that he shall not only bear the physical form and figure of a perfect man, but that he shall be one in heart, in practice, in principle and in morality.
There exists no garden, however carefully cultivated, where there may not be found, amid the brightly blooming and fragrant flowers and beautiful foliage, occasionally a noxious weed, and, notwithstanding all the care and
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caution that has marked the admission of men into our brotherhood, we find some who are unworthy—there are some noxious weeds among our flowers; they are, however, as I trust and believe, few and far between.
That purity of motive which actuated the early founders of our order, has been exemplified through century after century, in the conduct of the craft, in every portion of the globe—in all regions and in all climes—beneath the burning sun of the tropics, and amid the icebergs of the frozen oceans—in the cultivated gardens of France and Italy, and under the shade of the dark forests of the Western continent—on the boundless wastes of the Arabian deserts, and on the wide spread but blooming prairies of America—amid the fastnesses of the Alpine regions of the Old World, and the Alleghanies of the New.
There is hardly a spot of earth where the foot of civilized man has trodden, where Masonry has not been, or does not exist—and often has the weary and way-worn traveler, in seeking, as he supposed, only the dwelling of a fellow man, found himself welcomed with all the affection of a faithful heart, beneath the roof-tree, and to all the hospitalities of a brother.
How often have we all heard the idea advanced by the uninitiated, that Masonry was once a good and valuable institution, but that it had outlived its value! As if brotherly love, relief and truth, could ever become valueless—as if a society which inculcates all the virtues that become a man could ever cease to be an important adjunct to religion, legislation, or jurisprudence. No, my brethren, Masonry has not outlived its value, its goodness, or its usefulness—it has rather increased in all as it has extended its broad and supporting arms through the whole earth. Never was there a time when it could do more good than now—when empires are falling, and kingdoms are toppling down—when dynasties are broken up, and kings are driven, as exiles, from their thrones—when all the elements of European government are in confusion and seem fast approaching a state of chaos, and when distress is following in the footsteps of confusion. At such a time, and under such circumstances, a world wide institution like our own can do much to alleviate suffering—to bind up the bleeding wounds of affliction, and to minister comfort to those who are in despair.
Let those who understand not our actions or our motives, say what they may—let those suspicious beings who believe that all mystery is sin, rail against Masonry, unknowing what they attack—we will cherish our institution, for we know that it is good—we will preserve it from danger as sacredly as we would the apple of our eye—we will wind our heart strings about it—and, in the name of virtue, charity, goodness, benevolence and Mercy, we will raise our fervent prayers to Him in whose Great Name we place our trust, to sustain and bless it—to guard it from all evil—to direct it in the path of goodness, and to make it in all time to come, a blessing to the world!