The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1879-02-12
MASONIC DEPARTMENT,
GEN. G. Y FREEMAN'S ADDRESS,
Delivered Before the Grand Lodge Of
Sorrow, at OkOlOna, Mississippi, Janua.
Is, 1879.

Most worshipful Grand Master and Brothers
On behalf OF Grenada Lodge No. 81 /
becomes my mournful duty to recount tn
loss OF very many of Our beloved brother
but to be able, as | am, to testify To theil
sterling worth and many virtues, IS to INT
4 source OF greatest pride and pleasure.
| have no words apIly To portray the true
characters, the pleasing attributes and thu
genuine merit of our noble dead. Now
that they have gone from us forever, car
say. ii YOU could have known them ju-t As
they lived among us, from the hearts Of ali
here would come "a tribute to their memo
ries, more beautiful than any minstrel 5 lay
or speakers tongue could offer.
The silent "heart worship" of brother foI
his brother Who has gone TO "tnat bourne
from whence no traveller returns gone in
honor and in duty, would rear To them d
/ monument mot made with hands, no pile
of marble bearing mere empty epitaphs and
formal phrases OF praise, but monument
| whose base is love, whose shaft is respect
whose only Inscription is "our loss is their
eternal gain
The occasion affords me no opportunity
to even epitomiZe the lives or Masonic his
| tory OF the many deceased brethreA OF
whom l would speak. But | would ask
you to 10 back TO the time, less than a year
| ago, when this Grand Body held its regular
stated Grand Communication in the little
city Of Grenada, upon the invitation OF
Grenada Lodge.
Many now here, there received the fra
/ ternal greetings of the members of that
Lodge, and mingled with them in the So
cial circles. The mystic links of Masonic
! fellowship, which had united these breth-
ren, thus thrown together, were warmed
/ by contact and welded into stronger bonds
/ of union. When your labors were ended
( and your faces turned homeward, no thought
/ of the dire future. no glimpse OF the dread
/ iu death angel maTred the fresh memories
/ OF our recent pleasant intercourse, but we
| separated with renewed and Frightened
4 hopes for the future advancement OF our
order, and the welfare Of all our brethen.
! Grenada Lodge gathered new strength and
/ A fresh impetus from its contact with this
Grand Body. 1t began the new Masonic
year with every prospect OF success and
/ in a few short months, what trighttul
! change! What a calamitous result
/ There came a dreadful pestience, a
pitiIess destroyer, whose mission was a
mysterious as bis mode of deadly warfare.
No place was secure from his approach !;
/ the palace OF the rich and the howell OF the
+ poor were both the scenes of his fatal work.
/ he strong and the weak, the scotfer and
devotee, the christian and the uugCdly,
/ alike SAN down before him in his
+ march OF death. The sacred temple OF
/ Masonry was no asylum, exempted from
/ this awful death levy" but from our Lodge
were taken the truest aud the best-the
/ eight" from the east" the strength
from the ''west" and the beauty from the
/ south" When this unequal contest be-
gan between a mysterious and malignant
enemy of unknown power aud untold
strength on the one side; and humanity,
weak and helpless on the other, there were
two of our brothers who were very pTom-
nent members of the noble profession of
medicine, brothers Edward w. Hughes and
William w. Hall. In the faithful discharge
OF their duties they mautully battled with
all their skill and energy for the relief OF
the suffering people around them. When
the hour of that fearful pestilence grew
darkest; when death seemed poised on
every breath; when human skill and all
III ans efforts 10 relieve his fellows appeared
but the vainest mOckeries, and people
were fleeing for their lives in terror
these brothers quailed not, but bravely
struggled with the deadly foe, when it
seemed that no man could face him and
live.
When the city OF Pompeii was disinterred
from the silent tomb, where for 100 years
it lay buried. it is said at its gates ard at the
post of duty appeared the forms of the Ro-
man sentry. In that awful day, when the
raging volcano belched forth, iii appalling
grandeur, a flaming winding sheet for the
doomed city; when the very air was filled
with liquid fire, and the streets and gates
thronged with terrified inhabitants seeking
safety in flight, these guards heroically
stood at their pos and bTavely met their
certain death, because in that hour OF agony
and peril, no relief came, no permission to
escape. But were these diScI pllned subjects
of Imperial Rome, who persisted in the per-
Torrance of their duty as understood by
them. any more heroes than those whose
names have mentioned, who fell martyrs
to their duty when death seemed newt
able?
Farewell, brave brothers! We can bu:
believe that you who lived so well and died
so nobly have been ''called off to fill places
of higher trust.
Among the fallen is Bro. Avery p. San
ders, one of the most enlightened and zeal
Gus Masons | ever met. In his daily pur-
suits, in social and mental habits, he was a
plain, blunt notwithstanding and unos-
tentations; but his intellect seemed shaped
for Masonic investigation, and he roam ed
in the expansive fields of Masonic lore with
all the ease and certainty Of an accomplished
scholar. His thorough familiarity with the
laws, rules and regulations of the Grand
and subordinate Lodges was truly wonder
full; his perfect knowledge of the secret
work of the order and bis aptneSs in con
ferring degrees were equally remarkable.
None ever approached the altar of Masonry
with assistance from that old man, who did
not, as if by magic, catch from his every
utte-ance some of his own enthusiasm and
zeal. His unpretendIng avocation an Gun
dertaker'' in the town, made his position
one of peculiar peril and portance during
this dreadful visitation, but he filled it like
a hero, and his courage strengthened as the
We're
many of our brothers buried, and who
knows but during his sad and lonely mis-
sion to the burial ground, in the heart OF
that devoted old Mason and Past Master
were softly murmured over the bodies of
his deceased brothers, the funeral services
of the order, which to him were SO familiar.
Who can tell but in the city of the dead.
with its many new made graves, and the air
around laden with the poison of death, these
mourniul words were spoken at each Ma
sons open grave when the clods fell upon
the coffin lid "Earth To earth ashes 10
ashes. dust to dust, and the spirit to the God
who gave it,"
1t happens so that on members four or
der fell the duty Of burylng all who died,
for besides Brother Sanders there was an
other whose calling was the same, Brother
Robert A. Collins, worthy AMI upright
Mason. who also fell a martyr to the fear-
less diccharge of his duty.
The roll of Grenada Lodge shows that in
this carnival of death the following worthy
members were also swept away; Brothers
Ralph COffman, Charles NJ. CohmaD, Will
liam NJ Hawkins, Robert A. Irwin, James
NJ. Knox, John l.. Milton, William b.
May, Joha 7. Moore. Thomas E. Peacock,
Jacob Poitevent. Henry Rafalskv. Obe-
diah B. Rollins, Myer Vile and William
Willis.
The other masons and non-affiliates who
were scaled OFF, in the great pestilence
from Grenada. were brothers Saxon
ADReNiHFs w iilidIH OOley william =.
Eskridge, Peter +. Fitzgerald, John Nor
row, Hiram NJ. Jones, William A. McMil-
Ian. John 5. Payne and Thomas Powell.
Were L to attemp TO enumerate the virtues
of these brethren, l would bat detail for
those who knew them not, a part only OF
what is recorded in the hearts of all who
knew them well. In the life and death of
each, / find ample ground for such an Gu
logy as it would be my mournful pleasure
TO pronounce. did time and occasion allow.
They fell victims to the call of duty and
humanity. BY the bedsides of their kindre
their brethren ard their friends, they
breathed the deadly poison, and in their
efforts to wrest these from the clutch OF
death, they we're slain By that enemy whose