The Planters' banner. [volume] (Franklin, Attakapas Co., Lou.) 1849-1872, 1851-07-19

tlnue to flourish. The massive temple
whose splendid proportions but family
mlrrored the fullness of the great mint
OF its kingly architect, was razed to tht
PLAIN. and its brotherhood of builder
led IN chains unto strange lands, bu
they forgot not their " first love" though
iae night of bondage was long anl
weary, and so soon as the morning o.
oellverance came, they returned tc
build anew its fallen glories. Time
and again, in the convulsions of politi-
cal and religious excitement, the insti-
tuition has been threatened, but these
ssormS swept harmlessly on they who
rode upon the whirlwinds and directed
their fury have perished from remem-
brance, or leftbut doubtful fame-but
Masonry still exists She exists! not
as an antlque-not as dark memorial
or ignoble relic of a barbarous period.
in painful contrast with the brilliance
of the times in which we are living
not as the plaything of the vulgar, and
the bye-word of the unrefned, but full
OF rosy life, the pride of the learned,
and the solace of every class and con-
dition. Her works are seen in the ex-
tremes of every good. In the gentle
charities which fall among the sons
and daughters OF men, like dew upon
the dropping flowers, infusing life and
vigor; and in the colleges which her
munificence has reared for the progress
of letters and the arts. Her exponents
have filled the gaze of nations. They
have been seen in the executive chair,
in the halls of Legislation, in the pulpit,
at the press, upon the bench, at the bar,
among the people, on both hemispheres,
in every country, and in the islands
which dot and gem the remotest seas.
Surely "the earth itself must be with
cred as SCROLL" before an institution
so deeply rooted and widely spread can
be numbered "among the things that
were!p
1t may be compared TO a stream
whose rise is far back amid the dusky
shadows of antiquity, with eternity for
its source. 1t left the west to travel to
the east. From the mountain of its
birth its course has been right onward
to meet the sun in his coming, broaden
ing and deepening as the light kissed
Its ripping waters. Along its borders
thousands of every kindred
and nation and tongue have sat down
to work out their mission, linked in one
common brotherhood by the electrical
affinity of sympathy. Upon its clear
bosom, as upon mirror which has
Known no sullying stain, the flowers of
he earth and the lights of heaven are
reflected. Sometimes its wa
ers have been parted by bars which
we're thrown up in relieving itself from
Impurities occasioned by the ingress of
oul tributaries which met, but not min
He'd. with its waves, but ever parted
With affinity to embrace and mingle
Fhen the shoals should be passed.
ind thus it still sweeps on, a noble
tream, the sun yet careering high in
be heavens. And when that lumi-
ary shall for the last time stand poised
n his western limit, to mark the de-
ouchement of the broad river into the q
mitless ocean, his face shall wax pale
nd dim before the coming of that :
greater light" which is to be unto
nat river through eternity what the
an was in time-its source of light
nd heat and beauty. Companions and
rethren, see that ye be not left among
lie shoals!
] thank you sincerely, ladies and !
entlemen, for the attention you have
iven me. From a knowledge of my a
wn incompetency, and a belief in a
our general intelligence, l have at :
'mpted TO entertain rather than in |
ruct; if I have succeeded in this, my a
lission is accomplished, nor has your d
me been wasted. =
USE OF MUsoUIToEs.- In. Colton's