Natchitoches spectator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1867-18??, 1867-12-31

l
the Here and the Hereafter is the sur
mount of all wisdom. There is not a
breath that we draw that is not a warn
! idg; there is not a throb of the heart
that is not a monitor.
There are certain great, sell-eyistent
principles, that we hourly discover,
which are so intimately interviewer
with the very texture OF our Beings,
which are so unmistakabie and unchang
able, that they almost seem as clements
| in the order of our Nature. Do.as we
may, they are ever. about us, before us,
Raround us, beneath us, above Us, and
Within. us; we ever see them and feel
them and know them, but from which,
we often turn away as If to hide our
guilty faces fsom the light that is within
Lus. We struggle to close our ears that
we may not hear, and to hoo'lwink our
t'eyes that we may not see; but never
vet has man cheated himself-there
| is no escape from Truth, and no safety
beyond the pale of Virtue. There are
the great principles and objects of life.
Are they not2 Does not our every
| experience prove to us that these are
the supreme excellencies, which must
ever be respected and never violated!
! Yea, full many a closing day has sadly
revealed to us these mighty secrets of
our Being, when Conscience, that faith
| full Book-keeper of our thoughts aud
actions, would drive off the Angel of
Sleep from our eyes, until she had placed
! to our debit, tile last farthing that had
fallen short of the dues of Justice.
Thrice happy is the man who is at peace
With himself and who stands ever ready
to Square his account with God and his
fellow man! An outward enemy may be
Ireconciled or overcome, but he who
does violence to his own soul, has within
him an enemy, that neither forgets nor
| forgives. These principles proclaim to
us that the fruits of sin, viii crumble in
our grasp; that wrong is but another
name for destruction; that virtue is her
own reward, and that happiness is but
the sure result of goodness. They de-
clare to us, that there is but one road to
| the true goal of all our hopes and that
/ is tie path Of duly; but one true incen-
tive to prompt our actions, and that is
Truth; but one safe anchor to stay and
steady the wayering. soul amid the toss
ings to and fro of this world, and that is
Virtue. OF these shining qualities, the
life of st. John was. beautiful illustra
ton and happy commentary. SINGER
! ity of intention, | holiness of aim, and
! fortitude of purpose, characterized him
in, the fulfilment of his great missions.
| His career indicates, that as a wise man
he scanned we'll the objects of human
existence and fixed his eyes on the
prize of Virtue as the only true goal OF
Earthly ambition, marking well, the
course he had to run and counting the
costs of his. undertaking, he moved Tor
ward with spirit that brooked neither
danger nor delay to the accomplishment
of his aim and to the achievement of his
destiny. His soul was i'll his work and
there was no temptation that could allure
/ him, no danger that could deter him,
and no power that could prevent him,
4 from asserting the truth and Vlndlcatlng
the right. Freedom, Fervency and
Zeal, were the elements of his soul;
Faith, Hope and Charity, the glorIes OF
Ibis life.i He loved Virtue for its own
| sake, and asked no other reward but the
consciousness of duty performed. with
him, to see was to believe, and to be
Iieve was to act. Thus armed aud am
mated, alike amid friends or enemies,
! he exalted the name OF the Babe OF
bethlehem as the Son of the living God,
and proclaimed the everlasting Gospel
as a new covenant unto man. Thus
armed and animated at an hour when
our Honorable and-Ancieut Order was
little more than q mouruiul relic OF the
, mast: when the lights OF Masonry were
|, Int tiimIy fiickeriug in the world, with
J a Lions grip, he raised again, the tot
ltering pillars of the Temple and breath
}, ed a new life and energy into our vain
ing organization.
4 Masonry may well cherish his memory
, as patron aud examylar, for there
lnever lived man, whose life was more
r eventful, more virtuous or consistent
. Of an humble origin, and a fisherman
/, lbv occupation, he was called from th'
} shores of Liberals to become 1.-The tishe
. lof men," needing this as 1.-THE voice o
3 one sent from Cod and knowing III
Y other law but the viii of his Divin
+ Master, he enlisted under the Banner O
+ the Cross and. straightway proclaime'
! to the jew and the Gentle. "Tlis
: the Lamb that taketh away the SINS q
7 the worldi' In the discharge of tn
t duties of this mission, so powerful wer
e his zeal and his eloquence that he wa
4 known as ''the Son of Thunder" an
4 there can be no doubt, but that in bi
t Masonic life, the same energies of min
o and heart were brought to bear, in tn
e Iadvancement of our ancient Order. a
e Jerusalem and Ephesus, on the highes
- hills and in the lowest wales of Lowell
e palast,na he declared the truth unit