Middletown transcript., 1868-08-01


the lips of him who was ready to perish
with thirst she has given the stranger a
place at her hearth; she has clothed the
naked she has ministered to the prisoner
and the captive; she has loosened the debtor,
and in carrying out the six charities emu
merated by the Saviour in poRnexion with
the "six conditions of peril and suffering
whioe He enumerates as ''the sphore and
horizon of human ills," she hears his voice
saying ''inasmuch as ye have done it to one
Of the least of these my brethren, ye have
done it to MR."
She has mourned with the afflicted at
the grave of the departed; and turning
from the cold, dark spot, in tears, she has
flung her jeweled arms of beauty and of
strength around the widow and orphan, and
made their veal and woe her own!
We love her then, because she has thus
gone forth upon her noble mission for GEN.
turies, with, as 1t were, the angel-chimes
of Bethlehem upon her lips" Glory to
God in the highest, and on earth peace,
good will toward men," We love her for
her antiquity, which her traditions handed
down from Lodge to Lodge, Cher secrets
kept in faithful breasts locates amid the
secret chambers Of King Solomon's temple,
amid the hush In which we are told it rose
In its magnifcence, SO that "there was
neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of
iron in the house while it was building,
the Royal Monarch, the Tyrian Widows
Son, and another worthy, dear to masonic
tradition, too soon called away by death,
with his unfinished designs on his trestle-
board-communed together, and there
taught that symbolic language, which read
Alright, invests silence and secrecy, with a
charm and glory, that rest not on the din
of martial drum and trump, or the gor-
geous blazonry of an army with banners.
And we love her, because, reasoning from
the past, we look upon her, as, perhaps,
the only human monument which, having
withstood "the corroding tooth of time, !"
shall only cease when time itself shall be
no more. Masonry, like Religion, has suf-
fered much at the hands of her rccreant
sons; she, too. has been wounded in the
house of her friends. There have been pro-
Tossing Masons, as well as protesting Chris
tians, whose lives would have. disgraced
the Kraal of the Hottentot. But all are
not Israel, that are of Israel. BE it our
aim, my Masonic brethren, to put to ST.
lence those who would reproach the order
by referring to the lives of bad men who
have worn, or now wear, its insignia; and
whenever the man who calls himself Ma
son ( because he has received the degree)
is found violating the moral regulations of
society, or in bringing reproach, by an i'll
spent life, upon our vcnerated and venera-
BILE Institution, cast him out, and send his
name upon the lightning wing of the tele-
graph from State to State, and from Lodge
to Lodge, that the Craft, and the world
may know that we have no desire to hold
" fellowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness" And you. my brethren, as
Masons and as men, beseech you, in the
language ofSt Peter, "abstain from fleshly
lusts which war against the soul, having
your conversation honest among those who
are without, that whereas. they speak of
you as evil doers, they may by your good
works which they shall behold" give due
honor to our noble Craft. Let it ever be
said of yon, " behold how good and pleas
ant it is for brethren to dwell together in
unity" Your work, your duty, is a no.
BILE work, noble duty. Go then upon
your mission, and even your enemies "shall
rise up and call you blessed" Go, hunt
for the pale, pining, suffering, lonely wi
dow, and dry her tears of sorrow with
brothers hand.
Go, fnd the orphans of deceased breth-
rem, and bid the bright sunshine of joy fall
pleasantly upon their pathway once more.
Go, minister to human afiiction from
whatever.spot its wall may rise. Go forth
on the high and holy errand Of mercy for
which ye are banded together, and the two
fold blessing-upon him that giveth, and
him that receiveth--shall descend like the
soft showers that descend upon the thirsty
earth, and cause the "few flowers of Eden
we still inherit, to rejoice and blossom as
the rose. Be true to your Masonic prin-
ciples, duties and obligations, and fear not !!
Malevolence may assail-ignorance may
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. may sneer, bigotry
may persecute-the order may everywhere
be spoken against; but for you there is ga
bliss beyond all that the minstrel has told; )"
a charm that the poets song, and the ora
tors period have never awakened. The
widows benison, the orphans prayer. the
poor mans blessing, shall come up around
your pathway like music on the gentle
breeze of midnight; and the tears of grati-
tude that shall flow feelingly and fast from
the eyes of those who have partakeH of your
bounties, and been blessed by your benefi-
cence, shall sparkle as diampnds in the
crown of your rejoicing. To those who have
this day honored our Craft by their presence
we would say. believe US to be the friends
of humanity; we have wronged none; our
order requires nothing of her sons contra
ry to the duty he owes himself, his neigh |
Dor, his country, or his God. Nor does
Masonry as an Institution, recognize any
man as worthy, whose life is not pure and
peaceable. As a human organization,
which she is, she is not perfect, but she Is
not bad. Like any other association Of