The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1879-04-09
MASONIC DEPARTMENT,
Conducted BY J. [. Power. Grand Secretary
Address of Bro. Frederic Speed at
the Lodge of Sorrow held at Oko-
Iona, Mississippi.
CONCLUDED FROM LAST WEEK.

r CONCLUDED FROM LAST WEEK.
On the 10th day OF July last powerf,,
steamer stemmed the tide OF the mighty faith
er OF rivers As IL rushes forward to unite il
| waters with those OF ocean, carving a cara,
which was destined To destroy thousands =
human lives, and TO desolate many hearth
4 stones With each pulsation OF her hug
engines, death drew nearer to the doomed elite.
, OF the Mississippi Valley, until on the y,
day OF the same month. il landed before Nh,
clty OF Nlcksburg, pausing to bury some mem
oerS OF Its crew, and 10 ask aid for others dv-
ing from the effects of fever which bat1ief
the skill OF the physician and annihilated All
previously formed theories of medical science
From the City Hospital whose doors have
always opened to admit the distressed to which
the hrst victims were carried, the poisoned
germs OF disease spread in all directions. and
| scene OF utter woe and desolation began.
| which battles all description, even were il our
/ purpose to narrate its history. All who coulj
| do so, and who were not detained bv the prompt-
Inss OF duty, Immediately fled 10 places of
! supposed safety. Those who remained pre-
/ pared themselves as best they could to battle
/ braveIy Tor the lives of friends, the poor and
| helpless. At once there sprang into being an
association composed OF As gallant spirits a.
Heave in Wild wreaths the paIue surUuu
And CORY sabres rise and fall
Like sheets OF flame on midnight's pail,
or where,
d" Death, careering on the gale,
Sweeps darkly round the bellied sail
And frightened waves rush wildly back
Before the broadsides reeling rack"
All ranks and classes OF society volunteered,
and brave men WED with each other in the
work of ministering to the sick, preparing the
dead for the grave, and consoling the bereayed.
There were none to
ASK the brave soldier who fights by my
In the cause OF mankind, If our creeds
agree,
or to
"Giye up the friend have valued and
tried,
Ii he kneel not before the same altar with
me-"
Glass distinction, religious and social preju-
dices vanished in an instant, and if by mag
ic the social gulf, heretofore deemed impassa-
bic, disappeared. Many of the gallant souls
which were enrolled under the banner in
scribed with the name Of the philanthropist
" Howard" went down in the struggle that
ensued. God rest them and grant that they
may have washed themselves pure from the
concentrations and stains contracted in the
Journey of life by their last supreme act of
/ self abnegation. To die for their fellows, was
indeed a glorious death-for Greater love
hath no man than this: that he lay down his
/ life for his friends"
| Masonry never fails to inculcate the lesson,
radiated with efiulgent splendor from the
/ great light always to be found upon her affairs,
/ whether we behold it in the form of the Pen
tateuch in the Hebrew, the Koran in the Mo-
| hamedan, the Nedas in the Brahmin, the Zend
Avesta in the Parsee, or the Bible in Christian
! Lodges, everywhere ii conveys the same idea
that of the symbolism OF the Divine will re
vealed to man. But as the granite rock has
been fused and wrought together by central
fire. without which it would not have existed
at all. so also, the law of duty, in order to per
form fully its work in the world, must be
warmed at the heart by central fire of its
own; that fire is love-the gracious kindly,
generous tender emotions of the human al
fections and that central fire itself must be
kept alive by the consciousness that there has
| been in the world a love beyond all human
love, the love of God toward man. This Is
/ what St John meant when in his extreme old
age he was carried into the market place at
Ephesus, and, according to the ancient tradi-
ton repeated over and over again the words
Little children, love one another" His dis
ciples, vexed at hearing this commandment
this eleventh commandment, repeated so often
asking for something more precise, more def
mite more dogmatic, received from the aged
| Apostle, We are told but one answer This If
the sum and substance of the Gospel: If ye dc
this | have nothing else to teach you" Sc
also my brethren, Masonry says, If We do this
| have nothing else to teach you, for what
ever else it teaches is subordinate TO the Di-
vine law of love.
Thus, sir, the long sad list is completed, and
the task assigned, by your kind Partially
is finished, but oh how imperfectly has the
duty been performed Gladly would we have
dweIt at greater length upon the virtues and
| good qualities of the many dear friends OF
! bpr, We ken OF
those of whom we have been compelled e
| speak but a single sentence, in order to bring
this feeble tribute within the limit allowed Il
us-for it is very pleasant to think and speak
kind words in taking a last long farewell OF SC
many with whom it has been our privilege tC
toll in life's busy hive. All of them were
bound to us by ties which can never be broken
and some were our daily associates and Intl-
mate friends, whose memories can never fade
so long as life shall last and who will evel
continue to beckon US from the other shore O
the river, to cross over and join them in the
eternal spring time of the life beyond the
grave.
From the back Of an deliberately carved
pulpit in an old church in Belgium, there arises
a gigantic figure of death, stretching IT.
eaunt skeleton form over the head OF tht
preacher, and holding in one hand scythe
and with the other presenting scroll on whlcf
Is inscribed Hasten thou to gather in thy
rem, although no visible figure OF death may
| stretch its heshless hands over our heads, thu
grim king OF terrors is ever near, bidding u
to hasten the work of gathering in the grain
which it has pleased our Supreme Granf
Master to aIlot to US Is reapers in the grea
harvest of life. Although We may not realize
or if realizing, may neglect the portion OF TIN
harvest field in which we are to glean sheavc
to be threshed upon the threshing-hOor OF tn
great hereafter, there is, nevertheless, dut
| assigned to each of US, and the clock OF on
time strikes on, and every moment we live
leaves one less in which to perform that task
As Masons, like the parallel lines in tn
compound symbol by which the Saints job
are represented in our Lodges, our duties ar
infexfble in health or in sickness, in prosper
itv or adversely, duty is with US always;
rises with us in the morning, and watches b
our pillow at night. Ii is the moral magnet
, ism which guides the true FreemasOn's voyag
over the tumultuous sea of life. 1t IL tn
north star, fixed and steadfast, by which w
like the shipwrecked mariner, who has los
his compass, direct our course, whether
carry us to the bedside of the sick and DYING
to the howell in which poverty and want dwell
to the mansions of the rich, or into the sacre
precincts of the family circle is the powt
which holds the soldier firm in the front ranl
of battle, and prompts the good Samaritan
go forth and administer relief to the distressed
and consolation to the bereaved during gre;
epidemics such as have overwhelmed OF
a beloved Southland. 1t was this sentimer
which inspired the noble Howard to imperil an
finally offer up his life, willing sacrifice Il
those whose only claim upon him a commo
humanity, and prompted an Englishwoman
brave the horrors Of the Crimean hospital
and made Florence Nightingale therecognize
type of the good Samaritan. 1t was dui
which led the noble-hearted physicians
many cities to hasten to feyer-stricken con
Y munities of the South during her great ep
denies, and caused the Sisters of Chart
those ministering angels of the Romish Churc
: to precede them in the work of love ar