Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-08-25
TO FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS.
Robert Morris-A Tribute by One of
the Craft.

Robert Morris-A Tribute by One o
the Craft.
EDITORS HERALD - But Jew shor
years ago and the man who was elected
to fill the first station in the gift of a fre'
people, fell by the bullet OF cowardly
perhaps crazed, assassin. The victim
fingered for months on the verge of the
sent out telling of his condition, of how
the chances alternated between life anC
death; telling how the struggle went or
the hearts of the people whose Chiel
Magistrate he was, were alternately
raised by hope or depressed by gloom,
until at length, the death angel with
broad wings claimed him as his own,
and nation mourned.
But few years thereafter and an
other struggle took place between the
grim tyrant, whose summons all men
must obey, and one of the mighty OF
earth. He, too, had occupied the high
est place which a grateful people could
bestow; he stood at the head of armies
which became a vast machine in his
hands; his will was law; at his bidding
men rushed to death as to festival (;
at his order the hail of bullets swept
men down as the tornado sweeps the
grain before it; at his voice armed
legions of iron-clad soldiers moved as
one man, and the thunder of their mar
shal tread shook a continent. His
power was absolute, his will supreme.
But he, too, had to bow to the newt
able. Azrael but touched him with his
sceptre, and the iron heart of the great
warrior was forever stilled. Again a
nation mourned and the emblems of
grief were spread on every hand.
Yet perhaps in this, as in the former
case as we'll, all did not mourn. The
statesman had his senemies in those whom
he distanced in the race for the great office
he won. Partisan rancor cannot alto
gether be forgotten even in the gloom of
"the valley and shadow of DEATH" Politi-
cal enmity will not always down, even in
the solemn stiffness of the cemetery !;
and, therefore, it can hardly be said that
all mourned.
So with the warrior whose voice was SO
potent, whose will was so mighty. Many
home had been made desolate many
widow mourned husband; many an
orphan had been thrown on the cold
charity OF an unfeeling world, caused by
him in the stern discharge of his duty.
War is not merciful. Tosucceed therein,
''mercy and peace may not meet and kiss
each other" nor compassion stay the
hand that wields sword. Cruelty and
destruction must keep hand in hand
with an army; hand in hand
and with the same inexorable step
as that of the pestilence (which
walketh in darkness and wasteth at
midday" War is merciless; war is
cruel. 1t must stop at nothing short of
success. The stately palace of the rich
and the humble cottage of the poor, the
smiling field and the populous city must
fare all alike, and in the march OF vic
torious host become, the one a desoate
waste and the other heap OF smoking
ruins.
Upon the leader OF the host too often,
sometimes too justly, is poured the curses
of the vanquished; and many time
with the sob of the widow and the tear
of the orphan is mingled the prayer for
vengeance, or breathed an undying hate,
none the less bitter because it is so i'm
potent. Time may in some measure as
suage the bitterness; the lapse of years
in some measure blunt the keen edge of
the thirst for vengeance; but who can
say they die completely away and are
forgotten? and until forgotten are they
or can they be forgiven?
Can it then be said that all mourned
the death of.the mighty warrior?
Let us turn from these two pictures
and contemplate briefly the life and char
acter of one who, prompted by no ambi-
tion, sought not to scale the heights OF
philosophy. to shine in the councils of
the nation, and still less to wave the
banner victoriously on the field of battle.
He made desolate no home; he chilled
no freside; he made no widow; he
caused no orphan. No tear ever fell at
his act no heart was ever wrung by his
word; no sorrow ever caused by his
deed. His mission on earth was one of
love and mercy. He dried the tear of
the widow and caused the heart of the
orphan to leap for joy, for to many
fatherless one he granted the boon of ed
ucation and opportunity. His paths
were paths OF peace; his coming was
hailed as blessing, and his smile was
benediction.
Early uniting himself with the great
and time-honored fraternity Of Free and
Accepted Masons-that fraternity which
is known and honored in every cline and
among every people-that brotherhood
which has in all ages numbered among
its members the wisest and greatest Of
mankind-he devoted a long life to the
study Of it's history and its traditions.
Not only at home, but in foreign lands,
in the land of its birth, were his studies
prosecuted, and to his labors is Masonry
Indebted for clearing away the mists of
ages which clouded the brightness OF its
origin. His research knew no stay; his
perseverance no rest; his zeal no bounds
until at last he became an authority
whose supremacy was acknowledged and
from whose decision there was no appeal.
But not here alone did his labors for
the fraternity cease. He sang the songs
of the order, and they became household
words, and the lofty strains which he
voiced were heard among the high and
the low, the rich and the poor, until
their melody was known and loved
wherever the compass and the square
shope in their resplendent luster. He
sang the songs of the order, and purer OF
nobler strains never flowed from mortal
pan. He sang the songs Of the order
and their music was caught up by thous-
ands and echoed and re-echoed, until
they compassed the broad earth in their
melody. They were sung in the palace
and in the lovely cottage; they cheered
the laborer at his toll, and soothed the