The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1875-01-08
object Of Free MASONRY.
5 rH AECE OF AN ADDRESS DELIVERED
III E1fBER 10Th, 1874, IN THE COURT
3oUsE, oPELoUsAs, AT THE IN
sTALLATION OF THE OFF
GERS OF THE VARIOUS
MASONIC BODIES.

ttef4l9ty:
I've been called upon to givea brie
es 3ssupon the objects of Free Masonry
81 as CHS installation of your new
III rs, with the ceremonies appropri
such an occasion, has brought
a@ " number of us together to mingI
Ell id the Altor OF our beloved order
While we offer the homage of faith
#baarfs at It's shrine, we testify on
etlon to its sacred principles. w,
reason to congratulate each othe.
4 hearts of thankfullness, that upor
H festiEe-day, we have been permit
I'll 10 assemble under circumstances
llarly favorable, and under auspi
2 which denote a more lively interesr
10 progress of Free Masonry.
ie occasion, which calls us here to.
Is no ordinary one. We have as.
oled to celebraten no success of politi.
'plnlons; no discoveries of science
Fonders OF Art, no extension of com.
&c, no advancement of Trade, and
triumph of Arms or successful gen.
ship; with these our Fraternity have
hing to do.
Fe have forgotten for awhile the
aclples which make party strife; the
'aghts and discoveries ofIearnedm linen
genius which makes the marble and
AyaSs glow with life; the freight OF
faed Arg0Sles, or the wants and
attn OF distant lands, the rise and fall
the var1ons commodities which
sNd our marts, and the waving plume.
neighing steed, and the tramp OF
us men rushing Oh to victorious
tile. All these making as they do.
at and parcel of the business of our
les, by no mean constitute the chief
rpOse OF our being.
Were we so formed and fashioned
tile Great God of the Universe, that
various pursuits which occupy orr
nc and attention, by which we live.
atty our ambition, satiate eur desire
f knowledge, please the taste, and fiji
7f Golfers, il these were all for which
we're created, how supremely wretch
would be u existence here, how
tfS, how gloomy our life beyond the
ave.
But these are not the chief objects of
II creation, or the ends Of our being.
They are of a higher, a more sublime
lture. Else, why the generous inn
Use, the tender sympathy, the warm
lection, which move our hearts and
row their sunlight DER our pathway
our Heavenly Fathers home.
Our nature has nobler attributes. and
q souls are influenced by purer inn
Uses.
Wearied with the toll o flife. the heart
eks communion with its kindred heart:
g satIated with a qualification of it's
fish desires, the soul seeks to nnbur-
EN- itself, and indulge in sweeter
mpathies.
The statesman, care-Worn and anxious
8fli regard OF his own notions of policy,
the responsibility of government,
rms with eager wish from the halls
mere ~entranced senates hang with
sptuTe on his lips, OF from the cabinet
mere he has toiled for fame or the
s0ry OF his country, to the less harras-
and more pleasing scenes, where
nth, Hope and Charity exert their
lid and gentle influence. The lawyer,
mechanic, the merchant, and the
ianter feel more that they are men,
hen engaged in doing those acts of
and benevolence, which their
afd-earned wealth enables them to
erform. And the stern featured war
or feels a far deeper, q more heartfelt
II, than 0Verthe alaum of war or the
Disc of battle aroused within him, in
the distress his victory may
ave OccasiOned.
Ne are here, then, brothers, forget
ng the selfish and sordid feelings which
nature, the toll which often
makes life weary to indulge In
q those enrolling feelings of our ma
tre-those high impulses, those gem
.OHs emotions, those loves, those hopes,
lat faith, which prove that God, when
! drove cur first parents from the gar
gn of Eden, left some good in our poor
Hen nature.
We are to-day, to thank God, and who
ade ms love our neighbOr as ourselves,
I'D whose AU-seeing-eye penetrates our
Iysteries and reads the secrets of our
arts, for his past kindness to us,
20 ask for q continuance of His kind
"a fostering care over MS, and our time
snoTed Fraternity.
1T is not my intention on this occa-
on to attempt any labored defence of
q great institution of Free Masonry.
1T NEEDS nome Founded uron the
rest principles0f beneVolenoe, aud the
and diffusion of the nOblest
OF our nature, having humanity
its great object, n acts speak for
emselves.
1t ms been blessed of Heaven, it has
ZEN sanctified by time. Ages have
lssed since it was formed, and for ages |
come will exist. No institution of
imam creation can boast an origin of
great an antiquity. Ii counts its age
it BIZ years, but by centuries. tens and
ores Of centuries, and these are but
lks II the chain of its existence.
by the lamp of history, we per-
e buck the links of that chain I'll
airs billing on years, and age succeed
e age are piled behind us in awful
.and4ur. And when tho light of his
NJ slows dim We take up tradition
ii travel along down the distant past
here tradition itself dies out, and the
quiTeris lost amid tho mazes of spec
conjecture. The Papacy boasts
its antiquity, but Masonry existed III
anly maturity wlFEn it is claimed the
mantle fell from st. Peter
his successor. And now, when
& napacy has grown old, Masonry, is
It alive There Is no human institu-
Jn III whose birth it was not q living
Since Masonry began her
march, since her sublime edihce
st dipped It's Ep1re III tile clouds and
ea us briliianee on the world, nations
re srisen, flourisled and fallen; the
of war have passed over it,
IA s0IIverted the spot where Eden
o0red, into d wild and solitary wastes
d H4tnaments of ancient glory have
1mRieta into dEst; the scepbre has
llt pbm the m0narch's palsied hand ;
ne and princes have been hurled
9Fts Elieir exalted thrones, and en-
IL Ne passed away like d dream.
AMI E5ill, Masonry exists, unsh0pn of
i sine glory, with all the freshness
YesIil. the vigor Of manhood, and
NC aale majesty of old age, leaving
pt0m of decay, no sign of APP
paCl: ag dissolution.
Assi;; The melancholy ruins Of time,
y raised her standard. and proc
43oe her triumphs. The bigots and
ea r. az every age have sought her