Arkansas democratic banner., 1851-07-01

t,I,s. and hand 1t to you, wishing only that 1t was more worthy of the Order and the aecasion
 FraterRally. yours,
 ALBERT, PIKE Messrs. T. D. Merrick J. c. Mills, F. & Garritt,
 Con. Y. Star Lodge, No. ?.
 ORATIoN.
 CoMpAxoSs AND BRormKs-Let us rejoice that we have once more assembled together to comme- norate tais day Let us rejoice, that while the surges of Time beat necessarily against the bat dement's of Life and the roar of its great Waves. breaking on the shores of Eternity sounds at noon ani midnight, evening and morning in our ears, we have not yet been swept away by it's irresisti- ble tide Let us rejoice, that while the breath of the Great Pesnlenoe has gone and IS going through the land. like mysterious and Incolnpre- hensible Fate. and the fiery arrows of the sure Archer have fallen thickly around us, we have so long escaped the inexorable destroyefS and been spared to see once more the light of this aaspi- cious dayl Let us rejoice that we have met once more to commune together, to take counsel with one another for our mutual and common good, for the good of those who are living around us, and of those who are to come after us and for the perpetuity and advancement of our Order: to exchange our congratulations upon it's prospe- rous fortunes, and to devise means to incnase its usefulness, and commend it to the favorable con- sideration of all mankind
 Let us gratefully rejoice that we can shll per- form our appointed duties, that we can still do our accustomed work. and enjoy our wonted plea sures tha: we still walk in the pleasant paths of life, and have not yet freated the grim shadows of the dark valley of death and that we miss from our expanding circle so few familiar faces, dear to us as those of Masons and Brothers
 It is good for us to rejoice. But let us not for get those who have gone away from us into that unknown but not remote land, to which we are all steadily travelling, every moment of our lives. No more shall they enjoy, as we still enjoy, this cheerful sunlight these pleasant breezes, the beauty of the leaves and flowers, the song of birds, the life, the animation, the exceeding loveliness of Nature. There, where we have buried them, they he. senseless and cold, their eyes closed and then cars ealed,--there, to sleep soundly, until the trumpet of the Archangel shall sound on the morning of the Resurrection. But they are not forgotten. Their faces are ever present to us, as while they lived, and the recollection of their many virtues with a mute but impressive elo- qaence teaches us faithfully to practice the duties incuica,ed by our rituai, lest we be found unpre- pared, when the arm of the grim Tyrant strikes its blow at us.
 wish. my Brothers, :hat I could fatter myself with the hope of saying any thing to interest you, n the remarks winch, m obedience to your will, l shaii attempt to make. IL would have been far betier II the duty had been imposed on some more eSp@uenced Brother. 1 do not feel myself competent to the task. reluct at the difficulty or the undertaking. l can say nothing that has not been sad, and far better said, many times be- fore, | mug eonfne myself to the neghborhood oi he SloFe. and hover roand in sight of land. dale not adyeature tdrth upon the great waters. 10 ao aes competent to speak of the history oi Masonry, either writtea or traditional, or to uaoe her onward progress from the distant and oo- selie dAIAaess oi the mysterious Past, b the o.5ai, bugat sunshine ol the Present. l regret ta's,-ior l am not one Of those who fond li Iaat wAch Is new as to have no reverence for 'Ae old. tove every thlng that reaches back lnto the hoaEy realms of Antiquity. 1 would al al times fam stand upon the old ways, and thence AAAe progress. IL seems b me peculiarly wise to do S1, la thAs Iuevereni age, when every thing taa tends to give stability to faith or social orier seems destined 10 destruction, and strange mon- sefS aiest the earth in the shape of Fild theories aai chimeraS pregnant with disaster and plesag- ias Iuun when nothing is longer held as sacred, nothing regarded as permanent.
 "haI propose to say, IS lar more humble in H' pre;easions, and will undoubtedly be far less 'a'1fesilrs. propose to speak brlehy of the teachings of the Order, and of d few out of the may important and imperative duties of its mem '7i oi the vices 1t foseds, and the virtues 1t in- eAcaies of those things which constitute the hv- 1s soai ot Inc Order, of which its foIns and eer. e'noaes are bat the material body No man can take even the first step in a Ma 0ae Lodge, without being impressed with the PuHH and subinmty of the pEecepts winch are 'H'fe ihculcaied, and no Mason is worthy the A4'Ne' nor indeed, Mason in any thing bat the "a'e' who, as he advances, does not find himse If ~sef ana. better man. Constantly reminded of his 'ay to hHself his family, hts Lodge, his country, Noa iAe human race, If no improvement is pro- Saoed m hun, he IS bu, diseased limb, deserving ~ ae amPaiated and cast entirely away, as spec uiY as possible,
 ia al ages of the world and in every country, 4Aaklaa has felt the same great necessity ot mu- '~A a'd and sympathy, and has resorted, by an "'esisuoie instinct, to association Men tend ,o ''lee' together and aggregate themselves round eOIna0n centre, by a law of attraction and cohe-