The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1823-10-10
MASONRY.

.3noiher ertlTfcf jrUsp me uddress Of Jpmes
Z. hroods, Esq. Of PoughheePSie, .Neio
lork
Lei il not be said that our boast in the anti
quity oarordrris a,ain X empty conceit.
L ere is nobeuess IL thai Nifty yet much
abused pride of ancestry, which builds its
fabric on 'he hallowrd grave OF yalo,r and
virtue, and sheds II melancholy grandeur
on the decendcuts OF illustriuus men.---
What can be- mere grateful to the aspiring
mud of man, what better safeguard can
that mind possess against dishonou,able
aud Degrading actions, than the conscious
ness That his iorciathcrs were noble in their
day : With what a swelling bosom does
he look over a lvng line of distinguished
names, and feel that from them he sprung,
a. that the lamp of glory sill burns in
the s.puichr" ofthrir rtpose With what
sublime feelings did the son Of Mo9en
.rard by the graves of his fathers, and be-
hold their spirits bending from the mist.
ard towering in the wind How high
beat the heart Of the ancient scandinavian,
when he saw the forms of his warrior sires
riding IN the storm Of nigh when he heard
THEN voices nlugllug with its murmtr, and
deemed thai they had left for while the
| feast of their Valialla to revisit the lakes
where they once nnfnrlcd the white sail,
and the mountains which once re.cchoed
the blast uf their batllc-iorn
Aud thus should il be with the memory
of HE gallant, tie gifted, and The brave,
aud thus should We feel when that memory
IS awakened in our hcaT7-when we have
! poured our last how dirgc over the bier of
worth, when the fair brow aud white bo-
| som Of beautiful love and cold in the urn,
! Their images should be cherished ever green
| IN our affections. WOrthlessindeedw would
he our destiny, we're our actions To sleep
with tire clay Were The fame Of man
limited 10 his wild and tuinutuous career.
were his name topass away with the sound
Of the heavy clod that raitics on his coffin,
were his memory 10 euu with the shrill and
J broi.en-hearted wall thHt sorrow ufters
ever his new madr grave, where then
would be the laurel of honor and the bay
of genius Where then would be that
proud spirit which now springs triumphant
over adversely; which iramplcs on this
iron arrows of danger, and embraces with
enthusiasm the dark and awful form of
Death himself? Earth wonld be lstless
hermitage, and life a vaueless toy. This
veneration for the glory of the past is the
great incentive to our aspirations for the
Future they depend upon each other, and
cannot exist separately. Before we look
forward throuh the eternity of years TO
decide what zoe shalt be, we survey the past
10 see what others haze been. BY this
means alone can our emulation be excited,
| and our spirits confirmed in
-" that strong divinity Of soul
Which conqners chance and fate
II these reasons be not enough to Justify
the pride of antiquity, let your Own expert
cnce in objects that are before you, be
convincing proof Is there not spirit OF
mosrnfn grandeur that inhabits pile once
mighty and now desolate-is there not an
affecting snbIimity in the gray hairs and
fnrowed brow of majestic man and is
decay ever more interesting than when We
behold his shadowy form bending over the
| runs OF ancient pnlpirpe