# Oration Delivered on the Centennial Day of Washington's Initiation into Masonry

Oration,
Delivered on the Centennial Day
of
Washington’s
Initiation into
Masonry,
Before the
Lodges of the Seventh District,
of
Free and Accepted Ancient Masons
of Missouri,
by
Leander Kerr, Chaplain U. S. A.
in the
Presbyterian Church.
Weston, Mo., Nov. 4, A. D. 1852;
A. L. 5852.
Finch & Smith--Reporter Office.
MDCCCLII.
Washington,
Centennary Celebration.
Agreeable to previous notice of the Committee of Arrangements, for the District Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of George Washington’s Initiation into the mysteries of Free Masonry, the Brethren of the 7th Masonic District, of Mo., assembled at the Methodist Church, in the City of Weston, Thursday, November 4, 1852, where the Procession formed—the City Brass Band in attendance—and marched to the Presbyterian Church, D. P. Wallingford, Esq., R. W. D. D. G. M., presiding, (no Lodge appearing as such, owing to the long continued rains and extremely bad roads,) where B. W. Grover, Esq., M. W. G., Master of Masons, for the State of Missouri, was received in form, and presided during the ceremonies and dinner.
The ceremonies commenced with—
1st — Prayer, by Bro. Rev. J. B. Wright, Chaplain.
2nd — Music, by the Weston City Brass Band.
3rd — 148th Psalm, sung by the Church Choir, led by the Pastor, Rev. F. Starr—Bro. Harriett: presiding at the Melodian.
4th — Oration, by Bro. Leander Kerr; Chaplain U. S. A.
We have not assembled here, to-day, to commemorate some mighty event, that stands out prominent and illustrious in the annals of time—that constitutes a new era or epoch in itself, and which has imparted another and a better character to the world, another and a better spirit to men and nations; developing itself in manners more simple, in morals more pure, in laws more just and wise, and in government more permanent.
We have not met to celebrate the rise of an empire; or to mourn over its untimely fall, or to refresh, by the demonstration of a public memorial, the time-honored laurels of a hero and a conqueror and snatch them from the dark waters of oblivion.
But we have come hither as brothers bound together by ties as sacred as truth, and as honored as they are ancient. We have ​come as patriots, having a common heritage, a common birthright, and a common country, to commemorate a simple and humble transaction, which, one hundred years ago, identified the greatest and the best of men—the first of Generals and the purest of patriots, with the ancient and honorable order of Masons.
It is this simple transaction which, after the lapse of a hundred years, is commemorated by the Fraternity, for the first time that has collected this audience here, which I have the honor to address. For this are these banners, symbols, badges and regalia displayed; for this have the Sons of Masonry, mustering in their might, and numbers come up to this sanctuary, with pride in the thought, and gratitude in the recollection, that He, whose deeds and fame fill the world, and swells and spreads with the tide of time, became, on this day, one of themselves. And last, but first in importance, for this too, has beauty come forth; and by its every grace and charm, by the softening and subduing influence of its hallowed power, consecrates the memory, and bows before the shrine of Washington.
That name, that is greater than all earthly names; that name at which despotism trembles, and fallen Liberty revives; that name which childhood, manhood and old age regards as almost divine, has called us together this day. And, in the spirit of peace, love and good will, we have come hither, leaving behind and banishing far hence, the harrassing toils and perplexing cares of the world, the scheming and calculating of the field, the counting-room and the shop; the rivalry, jealousy and strife of political and ecclesiastical conventions; let us sit down as under the eye and in the hands of Him with whom the universe is a point, and time and eternity a unit, and dwell upon the Past, the Present and the Future. And let our spirits commune, the while, together, upon this subject: let us ascertain from what and by whom, the past acquired its glory and its greatness; the present, its highest excellence and moral worth; and how and by what means the glory and greatness of the past, the moral excellence and worth of the present may be transmitted, untarnished and unimpaired, to the future.
I know not, my brethren and friends, a more appropriate and interesting subject on which to address you as Masons, as fellow-citizens, than this. And, in reference to the past, I carry you back but a hundred years.
A hundred years! As an ideal abstraction, how unimportant, and how transient! but in eventual realities how momentous, vast and grand! A hundred times, only, in that period, has this globe made its circuit round the sun; what tongue can tell or pen portray the weight of woes and sorrows, wrongs and suffering it has carried in unresisting silence; or, who can measure the tears, with which, during that period, it has been bedewed, and the blood with which it has been drenched.
​A hundred years—how long! how short! how great! how little! a drop in the ocean of eternity, into which centuries, like rivers, fall and disappear. But, as a single drop of water may contain, within itself, all the elements and materials, out of which Omnipotence can create and replenish a world, so a single century may give birth to men and events, that will change the political and moral character of the world; which, giving life and being to a train of principles, whose operations and extension will tell, loudly and deeply, upon each succeeding generation; and whose consummated work of grandeur, wisdom and goodness will be read, only in the last, the brightest and the best pages of time’s recorded history.
A hundred years! how has the world been changed in that period. What solemn and rigid demonstrations have been given of the uncertainty and mutability of all human wisdom and power, and what convincing proof has been furnished, that over all the commotions of this world, produced by the evil passions of men, and ambition and wickedness of Kings and rulers, there rules a divine and omnipotent power, of wisdom, and goodness, that can bring good out of evil, order out of confusion, and make the folly and madness of men effect his purposes of mercy and benevolence to suffering humanity.
A hundred years ago, the two greatest powers of Europe—and, we might add, the most bloody—athough, self-styled, the most-christian, then and since—battled long and fiercely for the dominion of this Continent, which God designed for neither, but for a people then unknown, without a history and without a name, and which He accomplished in his own time, and chiefly by the agency of him who holds the first place in the hearts of free-men; the brightest name in the page of history; and worthy the highest place in the love, admiration and praise of Masons.
It is not often that a really great man appears in the world. It is only when a great man is neeeded to redeem the world, or a part of it, out of the difficulties and miseries into which, wicked and imbecile rulers have plunged it. And when Divine wisdom designs to achieve some important purpose, in the progress of time, by which to advance the interest and welfare of humanity, He prepares the human agents, by whom to effect the same. The hour comes, and the men are present, and ready to do all that the hour and the occasion require.
But how unknown to man are the purposes and decrees of Divine wisdom, until those, purposes and decrees unfold themselves to the world, in the progress of time, and on the page of history. When the Subject of this day’s celebration was initiated into the Order of Masonry, who, of all those, then present, entertained a thought of his future career of greatness? Who, that assisted in that ceremony, could have fancied, that in a few years, he would ​be the Subject of another and different ceremony when clothed, with the official powers of a nation, his sword had redeemed from the dominion of the greatest power upon earth? Who that saw him the first time marching with the simple emblems of the Order, could have conceived the thought, that, in after years, he would, with other emblems, lead his countrymen to battle, and from battle to victory, and from victory to freedom, honor and happiness? The wildest vagaries of the most romantic minds, in that day, never took such a range, or assumed such a complexion; but truth transcends fiction, and the veritable scenes of reality surpass the imagination.
We would not presume to pronounce a eulogy on Washington. That is a task for time, and which time will leave unfinished, when his recording pen drops from his palsied hand.
Washington’s fame and glory will increase and extend as truth, knowledge, virtue and liberty advance among the nations of the earth. His fame is like the light of a new-born star, of transcendant splendor, which, if it require ages to reach this world, will continue to shine on, with undiminished brilliancy, for ages after its orb has expired on the distant fields of immensity.
We will now proceed, my Brethren, to the task we have imposed upon ourselves, in an address to you, on this interesting occasion, feeling assured that we cannot offer to you, as Masons and American citizens, anything better than the consideration of what has given true glory and greatness to the past, moral excellence and worth to the present; and how the same may be transmitted to the future; all of which resolves itself into this simple proposition—what is it that gives the highest worth and the truest excellence to man. And in this way we feel no less assured, that we can best defend the character and the cause of our ancient Order. And, although we do not affirm, that to Masonry alone, is man indebted for all the moral worth and excellence, in the past or the present either; but we do contend that Masonry is, and ever has been, on the side of man’s interest and welfare.
We do not claim for our Order, all the good that is in the world; but we do contend, that all she does claim and possess, is good. Nor do we affirm that all Masons are good men, honest and true; but we do contend, that Masonry docs not make them bad men, dishonest and false, in their obligations to God, to society and to men. No wise man believes, that all who have taken upon them, the name of Christian, are Saints; but no intelligent and honest man, Will affirm that Christianity has ever made men sinners.
And now to our task: what has given true glory and greatness to the past? To this important question, we answer in one word, Truth. But, by this single and hackneyed word, much used, much abused, and much misunderstood, we are not to be understood as using it in any of its many limited applications, either ​political or religious: although there may be but few, if any such acceptations, in which truth, more or less, is not found, but often “cribbed, coffined and confined,” with her light obscured, her power restrained, her energies repressed, her glory dimed, and her office changed, so that instead of being free to direct and lead men and nations, along the ascending path of life, and infinite progression, she is placed under guardians and restrictions, directed whether to go and where to stop, and what to do and how much. We use the term in its most comprehensive sense, comprehensive as the being of God and of nature, comprehensive as the nature and wants of man, and comprehensive as the powers and progress of the immortal mind. And all that meets the necessities, and supplies the wants of man; all that removes the evils, incident to his fallen nature, in his organic condition, as a physical, intellectual and moral agent; and in his accidental conditions, as child, son or daughter, husband, wife or parent, subject, magistrate or state, to promote and secure his highest welfare in time, and his hopes in eternity, is truth. Man the subject, truth the means and the highest state of happiness, in all these several conditions, the end. And all this truth, God has consigned to man, freely and fully; and man’s duty is, to search for it; his privilege is, to use it, and his right is, to enjoy the fruits of his labor and this privilege. And he, who neglects this duty, this right and this privilege, is recreant and false to his God and himself; and, for this recreancy, the loss of honor, peace and happiness is the sure and inevitable penalty. This truth is diffused throughout all nature; but its best, and most transcendent forms are contained in the Bible, the platform and directory of Masons and of Masonry. And the most essential and important feature and principle of truth, is liberty—liberty of mind, of thought, to search after this truth; for, without this, truth is valueless, inoperative and dead, like the gold and other precious metals deposited in the earth, which are of no value, until discovered and put to use. And it is upon this first and most essential feature, and principle of truth—this heavenly grant to man—his divine right, that the whole burden of man’s obligation, duties, and the responsibilities, is founded. The liberty to know himself, whence he came, and his ultimate destiny, and the means, by which the honor and happiness of that destiny can best be secured—that means is truth. But man has ever failed to exercise this principle of heaven-born liberty—this divine right of man—failed to meet the high and solemn duties, and responsibilities, that rest upon it, and are, inseparably, connected with it: and neglected to value his rights, and his privileges; and hence the cause and source of all his wrongs and wretchedness. And this has been done in three ways. In the first place—which is, perhaps, the most general way—this first and greatest of all duties is neglected; man shrinks from the toils and labors, and the ​difficulties that meet him, at every step in the search of truth.—And from these he turns into what appears the flowery, and more easy paths of error and falsehood, allured and deceived by their more attractive forms. Or, in the second place, he delegates his liberty to others, and along with that liberty, all the duties, responsibilities, and rights, which it involves, to receive, in return, whatever his delegates may see fit to give him, which he discovers too late to remedy, are dungeons, and chains, vassalage, and its consequnt degradation.
Or, in the third place, mistaking, through ignorance, error for truth, folly for wisdom, evil for good, and the vain speculations of his pride for the dictates of reason; under the combined influence of all these, he pursues phantoms and shadows, that in their mazy and erratic dance, lead him on farther from God, truth and light, and into deeper darkness, greater folly, and wider and wilder wastes of ruin; each successive stage of his downward progress becoming more hopeless, because more helpless.
And, in such aspects, humiliating and sad, has the condition of this world ever appeared; and, in such aspects does it, to a great extent, still exist. And, disasterous and humiliating as the results are, which we have briefly traced from their causes, and laid before you; and wide, deep and incurable, as appear the evils that rest upon it; in tracing them back to their cause, they will carry us to these very causes we have already assigned—man’s failure to exercise the liberty, his God bestowed upon him, and his failure to meet these duties, and responsibilities, which that liberty involves and imposes upon all its subjects. And, as certainly as truth is rejected, in any, and all its varied departments, just so certainly, will ruin and degradation follow; and man, in his descending progress, will dig for himself, a fouler and a lower deep in the sink of moral and intellectual degradation, to which he voluntarily consigns himself, when he abandons truth, and casts it away from him, with all its duties, responsibilities and claims.
And such has been, and to a great extent, such still is the conduct, and history of man. And the result of all this has been, just what are declared by the pen of inspiration—“that darkness has covered the earth, and gross darkness the people”—and the corners of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty; but truth still existed—but existed like heat and electricity, in a latent and inactive state, under this superincumbent mass of clouds, and thick darkness, thrown overs the world, as a universal funeral pall, by error and ignorance, falsehood and superstition; a darkness so thick, that it could be felt, yea, and was, and is more terrible felt still, on many an ill-fated land, than that tangible darkness that once brooded over the land of Egypt. Were it not, that truth is of God, and partakes of his essential nature and being, it must have perished long ere now, assailed as it was, by all the powers of ​darkness and hell; and assailed too by deluded man, who has too often engaged in this unholy and unnatural warfare, against the promoter, defender, and preserver of his best, his highest, and his noblest interests, welfare and happiness. But truth is eternal, omnipotent, and last and best of all—being identified with the cause of God, which is also the cause of man—“it must and will prevail.”
Truth may be crushed, and by bleeding the while, under the heel of lawless and despotic power; it may be compelled for a season to fly to the deserts, and hide itself, in the dens and caves of the earth; it may have to wander in sheep-skins and goat-skins, and make its abode in the habitations of poverty and obscurity, as its great author and embodiment done, when he visited our world; it may, indeed, for a while, like him, disappear from the earth and Satan and all the foes of truth and liberty, rejoice together, and congratulate themselves, that from one provence, at least, of God’s empire, truth has been driven and liberty is fled. But, in the midst of their rejoicings and their fancied security, how often has truth in some of its many forms thrown them into consternation and alarm, as the shade of Samuel startled the rebellious king of Israel; and like the handwriting on the walls of the impious and licentious court of Belshaszar, frighten its enemies, in the plentitude of their power and pride, by the mystery of its unknown communications. Ever and anon, from out of the midst of that gross darkness, which envelopes the world, has broke, a lone, but brilliant and beaming star, whose twinkling light shone for a moment over the dark and dreary wastes below, revealing the horrors, which that darkness concealed, and then retired to its place among its sister stars. Ever and anon, has some ray of light, though few and far between, from the fountain of truth, swept across the great valley of the shadow of death, but soon retired, as if overwhelmed at the awful and hopeless scene, revealed to its light.
As amidst the gloom and desolation of winter, when snows and ice wrap and bind the earth, and dark clouds are driven by storms across the sky, there suddenly flashes, far and wide, over the wintry wastes, a stream of golden sunlight, shedding its mellow splendor, on hill and plain, mountain and valley, but revealing to the eye scenes and objects, cold and silent, ghastly and dead; forms, indeed, are there, grand, magnificent and beautiful, but it is grandeur in chains, magnificence, bereft of motion and power, and beauty, without life and grace.
In that most pleasing, exciting, and graphic, of all our modern fictions—“The Wandering Jew”—in that romantic and universal vagabond—the hero of the story—we have a true and faithful type of truth, under opposition, persecution and oppression. In that ubiquitous and unvulnerable individual, who is here and ​there, and everywhere,—who, expelled from one country, would suddenly, and without any intimidation, appear in another, to experience similar treatment, whom fires could not burn nor oceans drown, whom torrid suns could not consume, nor polar snows and frosts congeal, whom the sword could not slay, nor chains bind; and even time, that impairs and wastes all things, even the great globe itself, had no power over the nerves, the bones, and sinews of this pet and hero of Eugene Sue: the lightnings could not blast, nor the pestilence smite, nor earthquakes engulph; but over all, through all, and in all, he stalked on untouched and unharmed; urged onward by that mysterious voice, inaudible to all, but to his own ever watchful and waiting ears, pronouncing the one word “March, march.” In this ideal creation, we say of Eugene Sue, we have a type of truth. Such in our world has been its reception; such its treatment, and such its vitality and power.—Crushed in one age, it appears in the next; banished from one country, it rises up in another; confined in dungeons and loaded with chains, burnt at the stake and beheaded on the scaffold, and when its destruction has been proclaimed, and its enemies exulting in the conviction, that truth will trouble them no more, of a sudden it appears in their midst, shaking its gory locks, the axe, the chains and the faggot, at its destroyers and its foes.
Such have been the struggles and trials of truth in the world; such her efforts to establish her dominion over it, and to make men and nations the recipients of her benefits and blessings: to make them that for which they were designed and created, and what, without truth, they never can become.
And now from these general remarks, respecting the nature of truth and its objects, it must be apparent to all, that the only real benefactors of our rage, the only genuine philanthropists of our world, are the heroes and champions of truth; these elevated spirts, who, in advance of their age, and country, and influence only by love and good will to man, have done all things, suffered all things, for the cause of truth—men, who, superior to the prejudices of their times, and the ignorance of their age, lived and died for the advancement of but two objects alone, which are inseparably connected together—God’s glory and man’s good. But, as these can only be promoted by truth alone—this truth constitued the single object of their desires, pursuits and labors; and for this they have gone to the dungeon, the stake and the scaffold. But, from their blood, truth like a phenix in fairer and mightier forms has arisen; and from its ashes, where “lives its wonted fires,” its voice has gone forth over a slumbering world, to awaken its children to a sense of their duties, their interests and happiness. And thus, time after time, and age after age, has she appeared in many an undying name, whose deeds live, and whose memories still shed a hallowed light on the past, and tend to radiate the present; ​and whose names the distant future will emblazon with the effulgence of truth.
But to throw light upon our subject—the subject of truth, the glory of God and the glory of man—we remark here, that while truth is one, a vast and infinite unity, its departments are many, a multiplicity of branches, each bearing fruits of life, but all from the same root and stem, each branch adapted to some specific and peculiar condition, circumstance want and interest of man; to meet those conditions, supply those wants, and secure those interests, and all resulting in the full and perfect happiness of man. Is man a physical being? surrounded and oppressed with a thousand physical wants and evils; there is a department of truth that has a remedy for all these evils, and a supply for all these wants. Is man an intellectual being? suffering a thousand intellectual wants and disabilities, and with aspirations wide as the infinite? there is a department of truth, as infinite as his desires and aspirations—a department, where science and philosophy sit on their gorgeous thrones, and whose invitation to all is, “come eat of our food and drink of our cup and be filled to overflowing—your every want will be supplied, and your every intellectual infirmity cured and disability removed.” Is man a moral being, surrounded by a thousand moral evils, and suffering a thousand moral wants? there is a department of truth for such, in which there is a remedy and a supply for each and all of these. And is man an immortal being—with immortal necessities pressing upon him? immortal evils, to be banished away from the endless path of his immortal career, and with ten thousand immortal interests to be secured? there is just such a department of truth for this condition and circumstance of his nature, whence he may draw a supply for all his necessities—have every impediment removed, and his every interest secured. And hence it is every man’s right, his liberty, his duty, and his interest to visit and explore, and make himself master of each and all these departments of truth, to gather the flowers, eat the fruits, and drink the waters, that blossom, ripen and flow in these many gardens of God. There are no dragons here to guard these more than Hisperian fruits—no guards with flaming swords to bar the entrance to any inquirers after truth, except those which man, by neglecting his own duty and privilege; permits his fellow mortal to station there. And he who forbids what God has created for all, and bestowed upon all—he who shuts up any of these avenues to truth, and thereby starves the immortal mind, and deprives man of some or of all the benefits, which these several departments of truth would confer upon him, on his head will fall the hotest and fiercest of Jehovah’s thunderbolts; his shame and confusion of face hereafter will be the greatest; and his punisment the heaviest, and next to his will be the shame and loss of those who have bowed to such prohibitions, and submitted to such ​deprivation of their rights and liberty—the right of honoring truth and claiming its blessings.
And yet, strange to tell, and sad as strange, every department of truth has either been shut up, or placed under heavy restrictions and embarrassments, while every species of truth had had its martyrs, And yet, in this sacred charter of all our rights and privileges—this source of light and life divine—this guide and warrant of eternal life—the precept is, “Prove all things, and hold fast what is good.” In this single precept is contained a grant wide as the empire of truth, and free as truth, to range through, and explore her every department, and dig for her every treasure, to try her, to prove her, to embrace her; and when we find her, under whatever form, or whatever of her many departments, hold her fast, for she is good and will prove the highest and most lasting good.
And among all the illustrious names, that so brightly shine on the page of history, in this holy warfare for the cause of truth, that of our own immortal Washington stands the highest and the brightest. He, more than all that preceded him in this noblest of causes, extended the empire of truth, by removing the obstacles, the barriers, and the chains, with which error, falsehood, and illegitimate power had confined and enslaved her. His right arm, and his good sword struck a fatal blow at the combined enemies of truth and humanity, which they shall ever feel, and gave an extended freedom to the spirit of all liberty, both in power and space, such as time had never witnessed before. And (to go back no farther in the past) what the superhuman mind of Algernon Sidney—the greatest of England’s noble list of martyrs—sublimely conceived in thought, what the philosophy of Locke foresaw and predicted afar-off—what Milton’s spirit, almost inspired, grasped and boldly proclaimed, in the foulest period of England’s history, and what flashed from the sword of Cromwell and of his stern Independents—our Washington has completed and fulfilled, giving to it all a local habitation and a name, to perish no more—to be trodden down no more, but to continue and triumph, while the sun and the moon shall endure.
And, now, my brethren and fellow-citizens, to sum up what we have laid before you, it is this truth, which we have endeavored to unfold, in its amplitude and extent, that has given to the past whatever glory and greatness the past unfolds to our view: all else is but darkness, delusion and vanity; all else, save this truth, and its few and simple records, is but the history of a mighty and insane warfare against God and man, against the benevolence of the former and the welfare of the latter.
And now, my brethren and fellow-citizens, this truth—this same truth, of which we are the honored recipients—this truth ​in all its varied departments, ramifications and details, is, what alone, gives to the present, all its moral worth and excellence: all else is but empty sound and fleeting shadow, insubstantial as the morning clouds, and baseless as the rainbow—that fair but fading child of the sun and the storm.
And that which has imparted to the past all its real worth and greatness, and which gives to the present all its excellence, must transmit the same to the remotest future. The pursuit of truth is the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. And in this pursuit all are interested, and all, however humble, can take a part and each, in his own station, however low, may become a hero.
“Know thyself,” was the trite, but pompous saying of one of the Grecian sages; and it has been a pass word, in every land and age, to which Grecian literature has extended. But such knowledge, from the nature of the subject, can afford as little pleasure as profit; and these will be in an inverse ratio to the amount of the knowledge acquired. But a knowledge of truth, in all its departments, and submission to it will ever be attended by both pleasure and profit, and these will ever be in direct proportion to the extent of the knowledge of truth, increasing as men approximate towards its central and culminating point.
And here, we would beg leave to remark, that what Washington won, by his sword, and established politically for truth, Masonry, in all ages, has claimed, as a moral right; freedom of inquiry, freedom of speech, and freedom of action in the cause of truth, the limits of which are to be the only limits of thought, of speech, and of action. Man’s divine tight and duty it is, to exercise this liberty, until no more truth remains to be discovered, and until its last blessing is secured.
But to possess a right is one thing, and to exercise that right, wisely and faithfully, is another: to understand a duty is one thing, and to perform that, truly and faithfully, is another: to enjoy the privilege of entering into every department of truth, visit its gardens and fields, and father, without prohibition and hindrance, its flowers and its fruits, and to exercise that privilege is another. And, in this particular, I must say to you, my brethren and friends, we are all guilty, less or more, in neglecting this great and unspeakably valuable privilege. Man is a creature of many wants, many infirmities, and many intrusts—which wants must be supplied—which infirmities must be removed, and his interests all secured, before he can realize the full measure of the peace and the happiness which, is the end of his creation and being—and by truth alone can all this be done—nor is it within the power of one department, or provence of truth alone, to effect this: all must contribute their share to achieve man’s full and perfect redemption. So far only as truth frees us, are we free. And, therefore, to neglect any department or branch or truth, is ​to neglect our interests. And to pursue and embrace one branch of truth, or only some of them, is a line of conduct that it suicidal to our interests and welfare, identified in that path which is neclected. And, yet, this is the line of conduct pursued, by too many of the friends and advocates of truth. They take a part for the whole; they pursue the truth in one department, to the exclusion of all the rest; they gather the fruits and the flowers in in one or a few of its gardens, and drink of its waters, and thereby secure a part of their interests; but while the rest is neglected, many interests lie in ruins, and much happiness is lost. And thus, they miss the full benefit and blessings, that the whole truth can bestow.—By taking a part, only, they are, only partially benefitted: and that truth, which, by neglect, benefits them not, they despise and deny. The loss and the disadvantages, resulting from such a policy, in reference to truth, are incalculably great; while a contrary line of policy, would secure all of man’s highest interests in time and in eternity. We will mention a few of the advantages that result from one policy, and, also, some of the evils and disadvantages that result from the other policy.
The mind that is open to the reception of all truth, or truth from all its departments, assumes a higher moral tone, as well as a loftier elevation, and from that very position, has a far more extended range of observation, than the mind that limits itself to one or a few, only, of truth’s many departments. The former view truth as a grand and mighty unity, though composed of a great variety of parts: he sees, also, that in, this unity of truth, there is unity of design—unity of purpose, and unity of end—which unity of ultimate ends can only be effected by all the parts of truth, diversified as they are, co-operating together and uniting each, its respective end, in the one grand and ultimate object.—The former is also safe against the intrusion of error; for every faculty of his mind is fully exercised in search of truth: and equally safe is he from every species of fanaticism, bigotry and exclusive selfishness: he sees a brothter, where another would see a stranger; he sees a friend where another would see an enemy: and the tender sympathies of his heart, the fellowship of his spirit, and the communion of his mind, have an exercise and extent as far and wide as the range of his moral vision, illumed by the light of truth, extends: he feels for all, and desires that all may participate in the benefits and blessings of universal truth. While the latter enjoys none of these advantages—taking a part of truth for the whole—all is error which he rejects. And he soon becomes the slave of bigotry, fanaticism and blending prejudice. He sees no truth but in the single department, in which he moves and lives; and he has no sympathy of heart, no communion of mind, no fellowship of soul with any, save those, only, who live and move with himself. And thus he creates discord where peace would ​reign—creates division where unity would dwell, and as a final result sets man against man, and nation against nation, to propagate his epitome of truth by the sword, and consume by fire, all that he calls error, though it may be all truth.
And it will be, my brethren and friends, by the universal diffusion of all truth, that the universal reign of peace will be established. In the light of truth, nations, as well as men, well see what their true interests are; and in what consists their true greatness, their glory and their happiness: and under the influence and guidance of truth, will they secure the same.
Under the power and influence of truth, thy people will be restored to their rights and liberties; when their long lost sovereignty will return to them again, and, enlightened and guided by truth, they will exercise that sovereignty wisely and righteously—in government and laws, just, equitable and good to all; then will they see and know, that the interest of each is the interest of all—and that the interest of all, is to do justly and act righteously towards one another, and live in fellowship, peace and love—a unity of interests, creating and consolidating a unity of nations, which will be the last grand earthly act of truth.
And now my brethren, in a work so great and good, we should be first and foremost. Let us be up and doing, and engaged in every good word and work. Let our watchword be the cause of truth—the glory of God and the good of man. And, in the first place like Washington, let our country ever be to us the dearest of all earthly considerations. Let her honor and glory, her safety and happiness, be to us dear as our lives, our fortunes and our honors.
And, looking at the Constitution of our country as the platform of truth and liberty, and entrenching ourselves deeply and firmly in its principles, let us take our station there, and with the eyes of jealous vigilance fixed upon it, live or die, stand or fall, there with it! Better, far better, to die in its ruins and be buried there, than Marius-like, amidst the ruins of fallen Carthage—live in disgrace; to weep the tears of sorrow and shame, over the fragments of our broken Constitution. Let us, my Brethren, regard our country as we regard truth—embracing the whole and not a part—acting the part of moral Mathematicians, regarding the whole as equal to all its parts, and all the parts equal to the whole, and each part, however small, necessary to it. Let us make the interests of each section of our country, diversified as they be, our interests, which, like truth, with its multiplicity of parts, constitutes a mighty unity; and that unity, like truth again becoming stronger, and yet stronger, by every addition of individual aggregations.
And, here, let us remark—that, that unity of Masonry, which has withstood all the shocks and revolutions of time, and outlived ​many a mighty empire; that unity of peace, love and good will, which constitutes its only deference and power; composed, as it is, of an almost infinitude of parts and people—of Chapters and Lodges, in nearly every section of the globe—of men as different among themselves as diversity, of laws and government, religion and language, customs and manners, can make them: that unity, which is our pride and our boast, and which has no parallel on earth, or in the annals of its history: that unity is a living and a universal type of the truth we have been this day considering; and a type, also, of what all nations may and will become, under the full development and universal reign of truth.
We are not the propagandists of Masonry, we compare neither sea nor land, to make a proselyte; but we are the propagandists of all truth. We boast not of our Institution, of its high antiquity, or of its spirit and deeds of benevolence, or of its illustrious names, whose deeds and fame is the patrimony of her sons; we call upon the world, and its enemies, to look at this unity and harmony, in all ill parts, and among all her sons; this unity in diversity, and harmony in variety. We call upon them all to look at this unity and peace and harmony of Masonry, and among Masons, as a type of that unity and harmony, love and good will, which all good men desire to see, and all good men labor to establish throughout the earth, among all its nations, creating among all a unity of hearts and minds; a unity of interests and happiness, which Masonry has anticipated from the beginning, and which she, by silent labor, and by unobtrusive efforts, has sought to achieve.
Much yet remains in connection with our subject, which we would desire to say, but time fails us. We could much sooner exhaust your patience, than exhaust our subject. But before we close our labors here, we must pay a passing tribute of honor and respect to the fairer and better portion of our audience.
Ladies, our subject, to-day, has been truth—that truth, which has given to the past all its real glory, to the present all its worth and excellence, and which can transmit to the future the same.—And that which is the glory, honor and dignity of man, is no less the honor, glory and dignity of your sex. And in this truth, and in all its multiplied and diversified blessings, you have as deep an interest as ourselves.
And to you ladies, would we declare the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, as we would to others. Not by flattery, would we address you; you receive more of that than is for your good: not by pouring sweet, but fatal falsehoods into your ears, as the Devil did into our mother Eve—and which his imps have done in all ages since, into the ears of her daughters; nor are we going to address you as angels, and all that, for you are not such yet, though we hope you will be. In none of that ​silly and sentimental trash, which romantic fools—with empty heads and trifling hearts, call sentiment, poetry, and truth, but which the sensible of your sex treats with the contempt it deserves. But, as beings like ourselves, exposed to the same combination of evils, suffering the same wants, and requiring the same aid and deliverance; as our companions—the best and dearest; as sisters and helpers in all great and good and noble enterprises, we address you; and as heaven’s last and fairest work, and last and best gift to man, we regard you; a gift, however, that requires, and is susceptible of great and varied improvement. And by truth, as defined and explained to you, to-day, can this improvement be made: and then by co-operating with man in the cause of truth, can you cancel the debt and discharge the obligations. But to aid in this work, mistake not your position and the theatre of your duties and responsibilities: this ruins every thing and defeats the best of purposes.
The very first departure from truth, and the first error that we commit, is a departure from the position in which God has placed us, and a neglect of those duties and responsibilities he has assigned us. Your station is the private walks of life—but not the less important is that station, not the less great, solemn and important, the duties and responsibilities connected with that station—nor less the consequences resulting from their discharge or neglect. In the wise arrangements of heaven, the family institution is the parent of all institutions—the first in order and the first in point of importance—and from the homes of men, as from the fountain head, flow all the moral influences of good or of evil, to bless or curse the world; and as the character of the home is, will be the character of all the influences that emanate from it. And over this institution—the family and the home—the first in importance, whose character gives character to all the rest—God has given to you the honor to preside. That is the seat of your power and influence and there your power and influence are felt and seen. And that is the source of all power and influence for good and for evil. You first create and first set in motion all the influence that is at work in the world. Your influence there extends into society. Your influence there extends into every department of the State; and your influence from hence reaches down to the remotest period of time. But abandon your station, desert your appropriate institution—the family and the home—their duties and responsibilities, under the delusion, that you can do more for yourselves, for society and the world, in another; then all your power and influence are lost, and you would soon become a thing of pity, contempt and scorn.
In no other position can woman exercise so much power and influence for good, as in the one her Creator has placed her; and in no other station can she so well fulfill her mission in the world, ​by being a helpmate to man, as in the private circle of her home and her family.
We do not deny to you capacities and talents to fill other stations, besides your own; but we do deny the fitness of those stations and these duties for your sex. You would be as much out of place in them, as we would be were we in yours—making caps, fitting dresses, nursing babies, baking pies and pastries, and attending to the thousand-and-one of the nameless minutiæ, that make up a great part of a lady’s employment, which, while graceful and becoming in her, would be childish and ridiculous in us. We question not your ability to hold the plow, drive a team, wield the axe, the saw, the hammer and the plane; but we more than doubt the suitableness of such occupation, and the fitness of such implements for your hands. We deny not your intellectual capacity, for exercising wisely and justly, the privileges and rights of the ballot box; but we do very much question that those scenes around the ballot box is a proper place for ladies to appear. And we deny not your ability to harangue at a mass meeting, in the midst of its fiery and stormy elements, or in the forum or the legislative halls, with a voice as loud, shrill and piercing as a full blown north-wester; but we greatly doubt the fitness and moral propriety of such feminine exhibitions and displays: we do most surely believe and solemnly affirm, that all such exhibitions as these, would tend to diminish your power, lessen your influence, and destroy the charm and grace of your sex, which is the secret of your and influence. We fully coincide in opinion with the greatest of uninspired poets on this subject, that “a voice soft and low, is an excellent thing in woman.”
Had the mother of our Washington been an Abby Folsam, or one of that sisterhood of insane and preposterous fools; had she instead of training up her son in the ways of truth, wisdom and virtue, spent her time as do those modern female Peter Hermits, in traversing the country, preaching a crusade against woman’s wrongs, and prating wisely as owls, about woman’s rights; holding conventions to remodle society, and turn the world upside, by overthrowing all the institutions of God and man, our country might still be without a Washington to venerate; and we might be less pleasantly employed this day, than celebrating his deeds and commemorating his fame.
And to every American lady, who loves her country, who loves liberty, and desires the preservation of both, we would recommend to them as examples, all worthy of their study and imitation, the mother and the wife of Washington; and the mothers and wives of our revolutionary sires, as model mothers, model wives, and model ladies. Their glory and imitation were to discharge the duties in the private circle of their families and their homes.
Tardy and impartial history has not yet done justice to those ​noble women, to whom truth and liberty are no less indebted than to their husbands, sons and brothers; though beyond the precincts of their domestic circle,
“Their sober wishes never learn to stray; Along the cool, sequestered vale of life, They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.”
And to those “silly women”—wandering stars, that shed a false and baleful light, we would recommend to them to commence their meetings by reading the last chapter of the book of Proverbs, and close each meeting, by reading the 13th verse, of V. Chap. of Paul’s first Epistle to Timothy, and the 3rd, 4th and 5th verses, of the II. Chapter of Titus.
And, now, brethren and friends, thanking you for the honor your consideration has conferred upon us, in soliciting us for your speaker, and for the patient attention you’ have given us, we bring this address to a close. And in doing so, we cannot suppress nor restrain the solemn thoughts that arise in our minds, that as this is the first Centennial Celebration of the kind in which we have participated, so, also, is it the last of the kind we shall ever witness. A hundred years hence, the places that know us now, shall most probably, not behold one that has borne a part in the celebration of this day, throughout our country. A hundred years hence, and others will occupy our places in society and the world, engaged in its pursuits, its struggles and its cares. A hundred years hence, what changes may take place it is vain to conjecture and idle to speculate. But one question forces itself upon the mind. Will the name of Washington then be as dear, and his memory then be as sacred, to the citizens of this now? Will liberty herself, then dwell in our vallies, repose on our mountains, and smile on our plains? And, will her Stars and her Stripes, which the morning sun hastens to greet, and his evening rays linger to behold—shall they, undimmed by corruption, untorn by discord, then shine as bright and float as proudly as now?
These questions the future alone can answer. But the key to their solution is the subject of this day’s address; and upon its continued preservation and cultivation, or its abandonment, depends an affirmative or negative answer to these questions. But truth will never forsake the world, though it may forsake this land and will, if her children forsake her.
The revolutions of truth—never move backward—and what she acquires in one age and country—if expelled therefrom—she conveys to another.
And though despotism and darkness have settled down upon Europe, deeper and denser than ever, after a brief and spasmodic effort, to shake them off—a brighter day will yet dawn upon Europe; and the triumphs of truth shall be proclaimed, and the festivals of liberty be celebrated there, as they are now here.
​The efforts recently made there for liberty failed, as they ought to have failed, and as such should ever fail, for they were not of truth but of error, folly and madness. Europe shall be free only when truth makes her free. Truth and liberty are benevolent, their possession inspires the heart, with none but sentiments and principles of the purest benevolence—and this is an evidence that they are of God. And hence it is, that we cannot but sympathise with the down trodden, and the oppressed of other lands, and desire to see them free.
Nor can we, nor should we be idle, in this warfare of truth and liberty, against error and oppression. We should be actively engaged in that warfare; using only the weapons of truth; for in this warfare none other can succeed. And though it is right, and a sacred duty, to defend truth and liberty by the sword; it is never right, and never a duty, to propagate them by the sword.
The weapons of this warfare are not carnal or material, but spiritual and moral, yet mighty to the pulling down of the strong holds of error and ignorance, prejudice and oppression. And though these strong-holds are, indeed, strong, and many, and diversified; but in the magazine of truth there are arms and material sufficient to destroy them all. And in this contest, which has been carried on for thousands of years, truth will, eventually prevail, though it may continue for thousands of years to come.
And when her final battle is fought, and her last victory is won: when all her enemies are put under her feet: when the star of her celestial glory, in its full orbed splendor, shall shine in the East and illumine the West, glow in the South and warm in the North: when her sons and her daughters shall sing her praise to the ends of the earth, and the nations rejoice in their deliverance, then, greater than all, and by its superior glory and power, out-shining all—may this, our country, still appear; while high over all, may still float the Stars and the Stripes of that land, which Washington, by his sword, his wisdom, and his virtue, redeemed.
5th. — Music by the Band.
6th. — The following Ode, written expressly for the occasion, by Bro. Doct. A. Featherman, of Weston Lodge 53, and sung by the Choir, with thrilling effect:
I.
Sons of Light, you here are kneeling, Bowing to Jehovah’s name, Mystic lore to you revealing; Love and Truth as law proclaim: Hail! the glorious, hail! the glorious, Chieftain of immortal fame.
II.
Walk the Square by Wisdom guided, By the Plumb-line act complete, And, like brothers, undivided Ever on the Level meet. We Washington, we Washington, Father of our Country greet.
III.
By the Compass circumscribing, Passion’s wild unruly sway; From the Book of books imbibing, Knowledge of Eternal day; Where victorious, where victorious, Our great Captain led the way.
IV.
In the Temple of our Master, Let us all unite in praise: Time is running fast and faster, Few are but the days of grace. Sing with shouting, sing with shouting, To our brother anthems raise.
V.
When the Craftsmen shall assemble, And the Judge pronounce “well done!” While the worthless shake and tremble, Fearful from their shadows run; Freedom’s champion, Freedom’s champion, Crowned with Glory Washington.
VI.
On the Pillars of Creation, Wisdom, Beauly, Strength, was reared The vast temple of our nation, When its Noblest Son appeared, Hail Columbia! Hail Columbia! To thy children’s love endeared.
7th. — Benediction by the Chaplain.
The Brethren then marched to the Apollo Saloon, and with a number of Ladies, partook of a sumptuous dinner, prepared by Bro. Martin Hefferlin.
​After the removal of the cloth, the following thirteen regular toasts, with several volunteers, were Masonically drank to, and appropriate responses made to them, with music from the Band.
Masonry—The mystic daughter of Philosophy, the handmaid of Religion. She conceals—to do in secret good, she reveals—that others may see her light and imitate her glorious works.
The Day We Celbrate.—A hundred years have passed since the Chief Architect of Freedom’s Temple, the Master-Builder of a nation’s throne, lifted the veil of darkness, and beheld pure Masonic light, whose luminous rays are lengthened out beyond the pall of Time; the World his lodge, Mankind his brothers, and Liberty the fundamental Truth of his Order.
Washington.—The Entered Apprentice of the Revolution, the Fellow Craft of his patriotic countrymen, and the Master spirit of a free people.
The Grand Master of Masons of the State of Missouri.—One of the three Masonic lights, illuminated by charity and surrounded by a halo of brotherly love, pointing to the Bible as our code of morality, to the Square and Compass as our rule of action. He is the great Providence that watches over Masonry, dispensing sympathy to the orphan and consolation to the widow, and offering the Masonic mite of relief upon the alter of indigence and wretchedness.
The President of the United States—FILLs the highest honor a free nation can bestow, MORE glorious than the diadem of Kings or an Emperor’s throne.
The Union.—The luxuriant South, the grain supplying North, the prairie-teeming West, and the shuttle-plying East, are but parts of one great chain, whose links are States, joined by the patriot and the sage in perpetual Union’s bonds, never to be severed as long as reason reigns supreme, and civilization advances with the step of time.
The Army and Navy.—The right arm of the Government. The bulwark against the encroachment of despotism. The defenders of our national honor. The soldiers of freedom. The protectors of commerce.
When this toast was drunk with great cordiality by the company, the Rev. Leander Kerr, Chaplain in the army, arose and replied as follows:
Most W. Master, and Ladies and Gentlemen, I feel called upon to respond to that toast, which has been so cordially received, as the only representative of our army present. I like that toast, Worshipful Master, not merely, because it is given to the army, with which I have the honor to be connected, but I like it because it is given by freemen, who have created our army, and who support it: and I like it especially, because it is an evidence of the good will, which is enteretained towards the army, by those who ​sustain and uphold it. You, the people, created our army, you support it as an institution, which receives your commendation and praise, and whatever honor, fame and renown, our little army has acquired, are justly shared by the people, who have made it what it is.
In all despotic countries, and all countries, but our own, are despotic, less or more, armies are maitained not to uphold truth but error, not to defend liberty but to support oppression, not to guard the rights and protect the interests of the people, but to hold them in bondage, and deprive them of their rights.
But our army is for a far different purpose and to secure far different objects. It is to defend truth, to preserve liberty, to protect the rights, the interests, and the homes and altars of the citizens. And, as we observed, to-day, in our address to you, though it is never right to propagate truth and liberty by the sword, yet it is always right, and a most sacred obligation to defend those by the sword. And I believe that our swords have never been drawn but for the latter cause.
But were it otherwise; should our army, our officers and our soldiers, violate their solemn and sacred vows, and draw their swords against the liberty and rights of the citizens, what cause have you to fear from our little army, scarcely sufficient to form a body-guard for a European Field Marshall, and scattered as it is, from Maine to Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific—against millions of brave, intelligent freemen, with arms in their hands, and who know how to use them! how absurd the thought! how childish and silly the idea!
And though our small army would not, of itself, be sufficient to defend our country, and protect the homes of her citizens, were she invaded by a large force, yet, we must always be the first in the field to meet the foe; and then the military science, skill and experience, concentrated in our army—unsurpassed by any in the world—would create a nucleus and furnish leaders, around which freemen, the citizen soldiers could rally that would lead them on to victory and to triumph, as we have ever done. Let us then, ever be united as brethren, having the same glorious cause to defend and the same great and noble ends and objects to promote and secure.
And, in conclusion, let me give a sentiment.
Our hands, our hearts, and our country, to the friends and exiles of Liberty—and our swords for its foes.
The Patriot Fathers of the Revolution.—The High Priests of Republicanism. The Apostles of self-government.—The sainted Fathers of American Independence. The eloquent Preachers for the transformation of the political principles of the world.
Lafayette.—“He is bound to us by stronger ties.” The friend and brother of Washington.—Freedom’s glorious defender, whose eventful career unites the Old World with the New.
​Robert Burns.— Scotia’s noblest son. The Poet of the people, and for the people. The man whose wealth was his heart, whose charity was a tear for the failings of his fellow-man. The Mason whose brotherly Jove was sincere. The friend of the poor and the admirer of the ladies.
Missouri.—Young Miss, sprightly, virtuous, wealthy and beautiful as an houri (ouri,) the central Rose in the garland of States, may she ever be the pride and envy of her sisters.
The Ladies.—They are Masons by nature.—Love is the Instrument they work with; and charity is the keystone of the arch of their life.
The Orator of the Day.—Distinguished for his talents, the example of Christain virtue, a beacon light of Masonic knowledge, a teacher of moderation, may he live a long and prosperous life and remain the ornament of his age.
After which Weston Lodge 53, held a called meeting in their Hall, the M. W. G. M. presiding, when it was, on motion, resolved, unanimously: That a Committee of three be appointed to request our Bro. Rev. L. Kerr, to furnish a copy of his excellent and most admirable Oration, this day, so eloquently delivered, and Bro’s. James Millar, L. D. Bird and G. W. Belt, were appointed said Committee. It was, also,
Resolved, That the thanks of this Lodge be presented to the Rev. Fredrick Starr and Bro. Harriett, and through them, to the members of the Choir, for the excellent manner, the original Ode, written expressly for the occasion, by Bro. A. Featherman, was sung by them.
At a subsequent meeting of Weston Lodge, 53, the before named Committee reported, having personally waited upon Bro. Rev. L. Kerr, who courteously surrendered them a copy for publication. Whereupon it was
Resolved, That the said Committee have one thousand copies printed in pamphlet form, including also the original Ode, by Bro. A. Featherman, the regular toasts, and a brief statement of the proceedings of the day.
| Com. of Arrangements. | Benjamin Wood, |
| Com. of Arrangements. | James Millar, |
| Com. of Arrangements. | W. S. Murphy, |
| Com. of Arrangements. | L. D. Bird, |
| Com. of Arrangements. | J. B. Wright. |
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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