The weekly clarion., 1871-11-23
Invoca.ron mt wa.hIuSaon..
Tomb.

THE following impromptu invocation
was delivered by Sir Chas. ID. Freeman,
Senior Warden of Mary Commandery,
No. SO, X. T., of Pennsylvania, on the
occasion eff the Pilgrimage of the Com
mandery to the grave of Washington,
September 22d, accompanied by the ladies
of the Sir knights. We find the invo-
cation reported in the keystone, from
which we copy.
Sir Freeman being called from his post
by the Eminent Commander, said:
&" LADIES, SIR KNIGHTS, AND GEN
rLEMEN Far from the city's depress-
ing atmosphere, from life's tumults, vani-
ties, and strifes, from loving friends and
generous hosts of fair women and brave
men, over long and weary miles of space,
we come--to this silent solitude-this
mecca of the patriot heart-and stand,
with bowed, uncovered heads and quick
throbbing pulse, by yon darkened shrine,
the last resting place of one whose life
gave a nation birth-whOse virtues are
that nations glory, and whose memory is
a nations trust.
90 Standing thus, on hallowed ground,
within the shadow of his earthly home,
and by the broad winding river that he
loved SO well, with prayer ascending from
each reverent human heart as perfume
to annoint the feet Of the ever living God,
YOU Sir, Eminent Commander, with
scarce a moments warning, call on me;
and though shrink before the task, and
feel that speech of silence would best
unveil our souls, respect and Templar
duty demand that / obey.
"Would that the enthusiastic spirit
would break forth and make thought;
but the gloom of midnight nestles on my
brain, and / loase the choice of words in
vain effort to picture the imperishable
glory and good deeds Of that beloved
dead who hath to an angel grown. Poets
pen and painters pencil have been worn
in like vain effort.
"ShalI speech succeed where these
powers failed? OF the very many ways
God allows for soul to communicate with
soul, there are none so eloquent as Jan
guage; but even should my too willing
tongue dress its words in bOr-
rowed robes of beauty, though gifted with
a magic power, they flowed without pause
or end, as softly as the eolian sighs to
the night winds, as musical as the carol
of birds in the joyous summer time, and
as pure as the sweet waters, that, glisten-
ing in sunlight, kiss the gold sprinkled
shores of our own Southern lands; had l
the glorious dover of genius, the power
of Science, and the wealth of learning, /
could not add single halo TO the glory
of his name. The memory of our words
will pass away, as the breath stain from
the shining surface of a mirror, but the
appreciation of goodness that dwells
within our souls, will retain in grateful,
thought unspoken remembrance, those
glorious elements of unselfshness, which
betokened treasure of virtue, perfected
almost before it reached heaven.
.'Dust of the departed dead, thou hast
filed thy appointed destiny; thy cold
form cannot again return to light and life;
he who has tasted eternity cannot become
clay. Thy soul, inundated with happi-
ness, radiant, absolute, eternal dwells
with the great am, by whose directing
hand the fight was fought, the victory
won. .asaa ~isn7lt
Esprit of the immortal dead-it from
thy home of eternal glory, far beyond
the starry worlds that crown the midnight,
Nv B permAE1eu tnee emrhnWmhu to turn tuy
eyes, look through yon arch ofhving blue,
beneath which we stand; see in our hearts
that gratitude our, words cannot speak,
and which We would should ever be cher
ished for thee N the chosen insfrument
bywhUm tine. millions of freemen of our
lsnd, from the ice bonnd hills ofthe North
| 70 the perpetual summer Of the South,
obtain all the glorious privileges al q free
and independent people. = .t ~