The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-01-02
lrsom me Now York Sun, pocosaees ss'"
hunafMrs SORROW LODaE'

xAsoSs MOURNING THEIR DisriS"o''n
pEAp-A COFFIN, A AuFPLED BELL, sofi
MUSIC, AND WEIRD PRocEssroS--iS'hNsS'' INV
AND IMPOSING MASONIC CEREMONIES
snhl;me Lodge Of Sorrow was ceie-
broted Inst night Isl. Johns Day., in Irving
Hall nndcr the auspices OF the Ancient anu
Accented Rite of Masonry Of New olk anu
Rrooklyn. The ceremonies are pecuiaI anu
Interesting. and have rarely been performed
nm this continent. There are TO DE seen !.
coffin and other accessories OF funeral, anu
the essrnce of the proceedings is sorro" ior
denarted brothers, eXtollation OF the'r VII
tues, and holding them up as bright eHa'ii-
pies for those who remain.
THE DECORATIONS.
The hall was handsomely decorated.
AGAINST the walls on each side were Sss-
pended scarlet silk guidons, emoazoheG Ill ~
gold with the symbols OF masonry; M
gallery facade was draped in black, looleu
into festoons edged with White fringe, anu d
ribbon of evergreens was hung III scoiicl,s
below the black. The platforms, on Wliich
were seats for the officers, was decorated ~ ~
the same manner. In the centre OF tie nas'
was the catafalque.
-Four daises. one OH the top of another,
and diminishing in size upward, supported
rosewood coffin, elegantly mounted, ana on
;ts lid rested evergreen wreaths. The cata-
falnI1e was decorated.in q similar manner to
the galleries. and from its four corners truln-
nets poin1ed, and candeIebra stood support
ing red, white, or blue candles. Otl.tE SYM
bols OF the Order were near.
OPENING THE LODGE.
AIS O'Clock the orchestra played n over
ture, the doors swung back, and in marched
Grand Master of Ceremonies j. II. Corrln,
thirty-second degree, hearing sword, and
escorting Thrice Potent Grand Master G. L.
McClenachan, and other high officials, who
took seats on the platform, while the master
of ceremonies seated himself at tie head of
the coffin. After various interesting ccrc-
monies the grand master OF ceremonies
sheated his sword and moved upon the -s@Gc.
Then the grand master said that four ycars
ago, in the same hal, their last Sor ON Lodge
was held. Since then death hat. been very
busy, and so they had come together again,
and it had pleased the brother 10 AK the
illlstriolls John W. Simon to adde's them.
MIR. sIMoN's Address.
Mr.. Simon said that it was especially ar-
propriate that on occasions of this KIND,
when they were invited to assemble in honor
of an institution OF which they knew nothing,
that the ceremonies should be understood III
order that they might see that what was
done in public was an eXcmplflcatlon OF
what was done ut other times. lhcy were
assembled, said the orator, in their capacity
as members of the ancient and accepted rite
to pay honor to those who had preceded Us
across the shining river to the land OF hope.
They were moi there to bury their departed
brothers, but to pray for them; not as
mournerS around All open grave, but rather,
having buried our brothers, we come TO-
pether to recolect their virtues and all the
kindly acts in which they participated OH
earth not to bury them, not stand around
their graves, but to call to mind their good
ness, tell it, profit by it.
ANTIQUITY or THE RITE.
II was not Il new form, said the speaker,
from the earliest ages of the world men had
been given to do this. Looking buck through
the earliest recollections of the world, to
Egypt, we see the Pyramids. 10 commcm-
crate the virtues OF their brothers, other ma.
tons, the Greeks and the Phanicians, did the
same, and Others had tried to commemorate
the dead and their virtues in endearing form.
We would do the same. Do we not look
with love and affection upon any rcmem-
blance of our departed relatives?
Stone and brass, said the orator, will melt,
and thus we feel as did some OF the ancient
nations, that in the urcana of nature we
should find the restorative. They Strewed
flowers on the graves of the departed. Th1s.
who looked upon the pyramids were aston
ished at their magniticence, but when child
was followed to its grave and flowers were
strewn upon it, the heart was touched. See,
now. continued the speaker, why we here
present around the emDlematic body OF our
brother, surround it with
EVERGREEN WHICH NEVER DIES,
and we hope the influence of the good may
rise and bloom as everlasting as that. Those
present were asked to come that they might
unite in mourning for the brothers who had
gone. They may not have known them, but
their living brothers did, and they were good
men, with warm hearts and open purses.
The ceremony was but formality. There
was in those who had gone before II part
that does not die, which is always with lis,
joining our sorrows and our joys, asleep or
awake. At home or abroad the spirit OF
some Of those who had gone before sur
rounded and watched over Us.
The speaker continued:
When ut last we shall have finished here,
when the wells Of the Temple are rent, and
we pass to the Great Architects home to
hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant"
we shall find our brothers. BE prepared for
the messenger.
INTERESTING CEREMONIES.
Brother W. II. Davis sang bass solo,
"Trrth dawns upon the human soul"
Four brothers advanced bearing flowers.
From stations ut the corners OF the catatulque
they stepped to the coffin and Strewed f1ow-
ers upon it, Then marching TO the head of
the coffin they stood side by side, sauted in
the oriental fashion the coffin, and then
marched out, the music still continuing.
The sound of a distant bell was heard, and
ut the same instant the lights in the hall went
almost out, and the cataialque in the centre
was but dimly visible. Another sound from
Il mutlled bell, u drge from the orchestra,
and then from one corner of the hall light
aDDeareu. IL Was from torches horne bv