, 1864-01-09

a rude hearth or chimney by placing one
stone above another he is necessarily an op-
erative mason and should be so recognized.
Believe me when tell you that Free Ma
sonry apart from the Holy Bible has not and
cannot have an existence. We claim that
the Bible is the direct gift of God to man
that it was intended by him as the great
source of all law; that where it is unknown
barbarism, ignorance aud superstition pre-
vail, while among nations who receive It
civilization, enlightenment and prosperity
exist, and that it is to masonry not only the
cornerstone, but bears to it the same rela-
tionship that the soul of man does to the
body or physical organization.
Let us imagine man as first created in the
Garden of Eden. Behold him The trunk,
the limbs, the features and lneaments are
all there, moulded by the hand of Omnipo-
tence-the crowning glory of Divine genius
and workmanship. Symmetrical proportion
is exquisitely delineated, every limb swell
ing into beautifully moulded and harmoni-
Gus proportions; the majestic form, intellec-
tIal brow and classic features challenging
the admiration of the Creator himself Yet
the chest betrays no heaving, the limbs are
stark and rigid, the body firm and motion
less no ray of intelligent expression beams
from the closed eyes, no smile wreathes the
finely chiseled lips, no blush mantles the
pallid cheeks but the calm serenity of the
features and the whole object are like the
chiseled statue of an Angelo, Praxiteles, or
the workmanship of our own great sculptor
brother, Powers. Who will say that this
magnificent statue is a man that it is aught
more than the perfection of inanimate life
But, let us take a step further Jehovah,
the Divine Architect sees that something is
wanting to complete his great design The
Omnscient Soul ptor breathes into his stat
ue the breath of life; the chest expands,
the heart begins to throb, the blood is slowly
forced through the veins, the eye dilates,
the cheeks glow with health the lips are
wreathed with smiles, the countenance
beams with intelligence, the limbs move,
and at the Divine command he stands up
right, no longer u mere statue in the studio
of the Deity, but living, moving, breath
ing, thinking MAN; the great embodiment
and acme of the Eternal genius, endowed
with life and crowned with glorious immor-
tality.
Thus it is with Masonry. The Bible in
fuses into it that soul or spirit which alone
makes it living, self-suppOrting, and [
might, by analogy, say, immortal organiza-
tion for, so long as this book is recognized
and acknowledged as its vital and essential
part, so long will masonry continue to -four
ish, the benefactor and the admiration of
mankind. Upon our masonic charts may be
seen a certain emblem representing the theo-
logic ladder which Jacob saw in his dream,
ascending from earth to heaven, the three
principal rounds of which are denominated
Faith Hope and Charity, which admonish
us to have Faith in God, Hope in immortal
ity and charity toward all mankind. AS
charity is the greater of these duties and is
regarded as the pole-star of our order, | may
be pardoned for attempting to portray some
thing of what should constitute the masOns
charity. BY the exercise of charity would
giving; not merely relieving the Immediate
pecuniary necessities of suffering humanity;
not alone donating large sums to build up
colleges and institutions of learning not
by endowing hospitals and asyums for the
distressed and oppressed; not by munifcent
dc lations to missionary funds for the con-
version of the heathen-though all of these
are mertorous,-but By breathing around
US that spirit of charity which binds up the
broken heart, alleviates the sorrows of the
distressed, compassOnates their miseres,
condoles with them in their misfortunes,
pours the balm of consolation and hope into
the weary and fainting soul, infusing into it
the germs of relief and repose, gently buoy
ing them up from the depths Of despair,
strengthening and supporting them in good
resolutions, restoring peace to their troubled
minds and an incentive to lofty aims, pure
desires and noble purposes.
1t is said that charity begins at home,
but it does not necessarily follow that it ends
there. Give me that practical charity that
causes us to realize and acknowledge that
all worthy men are brothers in the human
and humane sense of the word, that sends
us on errands of love and relief to the dis
tressed brother, the weeping widow and
lonely orphan, and sees that nothing is left
undone for their comfort and protection. |
tell you, brethren and friends, the Mason's
charity should be wide as the east from the
west, deep as the unfathomable ocean, and
nlgn as Jne clOuuy canopy OF SJaf-decheu
armament which forms his covering. And
especially is the practical demonstration of
brotherly love and masonic charity needed
at the present time. Here, thank God,
though we hear the dread tocsin of civil
war which is devastating our beloved coun-
try, we do not feel its direful effects so keen
ly as those who from inclination or necessity
are participating in the deadly struggle. A
common country rent assunder by civil
commissions, the legions of contending ar
mics urging The red tide of death and de-
struetion upon battle fields Of a common
heritage, an heirloom handed down in peace
from a common ancestry, whose blood ce-
mented the Union and whose heart-strings
were the cords that bound them together
a heritage, the fairest and pFoudest ever be-
queathed to mortal man; and all these con
ficting legions gathered from a common
brotherhood hitherto prosperous and happy
united by the closest ties of consanguin-
ity and interest where generations have
been born and reared under common laws
and common bonds of loyal obligations.
Alas they are now arrayed in the deadly