Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1865-1872, 1868-01-24
nifty, which has ever floarished in times of

nifty, which hasiever hourished In times OF
peace. 1el
Brotherly love, relief, and truth, are
three grand elements Of true Mason.
lie regards the human race as one family;
the high, the low, the rich, the poor, are
children Of one common Parent, aud, as
inhabitants Of the same planet, are TO sup
port and protect each other. On this or.
ganic law, men Of every country. sect aud
opinion are united in one bond OF friend
ship. To relieve the distressed, though
duty epjoined by common humanity.
Masonry especially eDjoins II aims to
soothe the unhappy, to sympathize with
their misfortunes, TO compassionate their
miseries and 10 give peace TO the troubled
heart. II inculcates aud illustrates. in a
manner peculiar TO itself. the cardinal vir-
tues of Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence
and Justice. Temperance Is first named
among the virtues, and is made the first
point Of entrance on whieh.a candidate is
received within cur doors. Notwithstand-
ing its impressive sanction aud command,
we are often panied to acknowledge il as
an evil which. perhaps, more than any
other, has inflicted the most deSoating
scourge upon our Order. 1t is parent
vice; its progeny is legion.
We are taught by the precepts Of Ma
sonry that is is not the external, bat the
internal qualifications, that make the man.
In the exercise Of this beautiful sentiment
with the principle Of universal benevo-
lence, which is its erowuing glory, it ever
seeks for the good aud the true, as well
amid the rubbish as on the high places Of
its growing temple. Ii recognizes the in.
tcrnal man wherever he may be. whatever
be the garb with which he is clothed, or
tho occupation in which fortune may have
concealed him. 1t believes, with Burns.
one Of its brilliant sous, in the philosophy
Of his poetry aud in his views of life.
though, alasl intemperance dimmed the
lusue OF his genius aud his fame:
"Tke rank Is but the guinea's stamp;
mans man for a that"
Brolherly Love is the bond Of union
and the cement which unites Masons in
one common fraternity. Ii there be u
melancholy fact announced in the couplet
of ScotlaDJ's bard, that
"Man's inhumahity % man
Makes countless thousands mourn"
there is a lso cheerful truth 10 the strains
Of Israe's sou OF song, 'Behold how good
aud how pleasant it is for brethren TO
dwell together iu unity" The obligation
of iraternal regard arises from the fact ol
"a common parentage. The beggar, IN his
rags, can boast Of an ancestry as noble as
any crowned head upon the globe. BY
natural descent, men ia oil the wandering
aud passing generations Of our race are
brethren, aud Masons are such by special
ties. There is also among Us an existing
equality in point Of ply steal structure, as
to the number of bodily members and the
active play of limbs. " Mhethcr the human
form be clad in furs, rudely covered with
the skins of beasts, or decked in the
splendid robes OF royalty. il is the same,
aud all the external trappings of gaudy
cquipoge are but the badges vi our irailly
and OF our pride.
We are nearly on level as to intellect.
ual power. Education may have gradua-
ted the scale of Improvement by thou
sand different shades, yet We all have "a
common patIimony IN consciousness, per
ceptiOn, Imagination, memory, judgment,
aud in moral feeling. There are lat
ent intellectual powers in the minds Of
many sons of toll, who are doomed to
wiring from the earth a scanty subsistence,
which would, if they we're evoked by odu.
cation, shake Seuates by the thunder OF
their cloquenee, or walk with Newton 5
genius amid the grandeur of the starry
heavens.
Again, we are on q level az to our fallen
nature. Whatever may be the opinions OF
men as TO the sources of moral evil. the
fact is obvious 10 oil, that moral disease
has spread through the whole Framework
Of human society. Not one human being
has ever been found free from It's faint or
wasting power. From our common mis-
fortunes aud woes u strong incentive
springs 10 the exercise of fraternal love,
under the prompting of which; bcuevoleu;
action will be put forth for the relief OF
the dependent aud the sorrowfu
We are all equal as 10 our common
mortality. We meet at last in the grave.
The ashes Of the mighty dead may be
urned in sculptured marble; their tombs
may be adorned with lofty columns, aud
nat,ering Inscriptions may be carved upon
the silent tablet; yet the mouldering ruins
of departed beauty aud manly strength
lie sumbcrng beneath the vanished
Mausoleum. The eyes of tho great aud Of
the opulent are as dim in death US are
those of the poor and unknown TO fame;
their ears are alike inscnsible to the mag.
10 voice Of earthly music These facts
present the broadest ground for fraterual
love among all men. There is n striking
analogy between love In the moral world
aud the principles Of attraction 10 the nat.
ural world Love gives birth to all the
moral phenomena, and attraction gives
birth to oil the physical wonders OF the
universe. BY the force of attraction, the
inhabitants Of the earth, their dwellings
and their treasures, are kept from flying
of into the immensity of space. by the
same wonderful power, towering moun-
tains, The mighty Alps, the rugged Andes
cloud covered, looking forth upon the
waves OF the Pacific, rest firmly upon their
base of ever enduring rock by this force
rivers How. aud oceans arc kept within
their bounds. This principle binds to.
Rether tho indniiy Of atoms which form
tho globe--a tremendous power peryadine
every particle Of matter that composcs all
worlds and systems Of worlds that journey
continually around the throne of tho Om