The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-05-19
THE KNIGHTS GATHERING.
Continued from Page Five.

Continued from Page Five.
Il their interests Based upon valuable
q consideration, it passes away when the
"a Foundation is removed In the language
= of the street fakir: Now you see 1t, now
= you don'tp
& Let me change this picture. Let me
point you to another friendshIp-a friend
j ship not built upon the low, wet marshes
Il of personal interest, nor upon "tbe base
i less fabric" of an imaginary affinity; nor
vet upon the strong ties Of personal mag
nesisu1, but friendship built out high
i and dry upon the table-land of duty, in
obedience to law of the soul, upon the
4 granite foundation prepared by the Mas
i ter: ''Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
d myself a friendship whose rewards are
the JOY that arises from the knowledge OF
duty conscientiously performed and vfsils
4 sacredly kept. But as we never discern
/ the merit of thing bv its name, but by
j its evidences. let me inquire, what are the
manifestations of Pythiar friendship:
which / here define to be that truthful
and tender interchange of soul with soul
n that is loyal even unto death.
b First I assert that it is loyal. no
b shadow of doubt steals across it truthful
8 ness It never betrays the trust reposed
nor the cause espoused. 1t is, therefore,
necessarily watchful, and speaks to us
across the raging seas OF danger with the
4 trumpet blast of a timely warning. 1t Is
not subject TO fogs and storms of adver-
sity, nor affected by the sunshine ana
4 calm of prosperity; but It's beacon nguI
shines steadily at all times upon the Ioss-
ing barks of men.
It is likewise sympathetic. 1t pleads for
4 the brotherhood Of man and the units
that compose il. Freed from the dross OF
selfishness, it does not inquire: Am my
brothers keeper?' In its tenderness IL is
the practical embodiment of the scnti-
B ment:
.oh. friends, I pray tonight
n Keep not your Kisses FOR my dead, cod brow;
E The way Is lonely-let me feel them now
NJ fal.srine s feet t are pierced VIII many thorn
q Forgive. OH hearts estranged forgive. plead;
Whom dreanlless rest Is uilne L shall not need ,
The tenderness Tor which long tonight"
1t is, therefore, friendship Of helpful
a ness. For was an hungered and ye gave
me meat; was thirsty and ye gave me
drink: l WAS stranger and We took me IN;
naked. any We clothed me;
was sick and ye visited me; was in prison
and We came unto me" II is the
shadow of a great rock IN weary land.
/ turning tears of grief into dewdrops OF
gladness. 1t is the good Samaritan that
! went down into JeTico and bound up the
wounds of his fellow man. Its truthful
| ness stands for its loyalty; its tenderness
4 for its sympathy. Pythian friendship,
therefore, expands the soul and makes US
/ better men and citizens; leads US up to
/ greater heights Of usefulness. so that we
| are DO longer q mate for frogs and worms,
/ but dost soar and burn with the Gods OF
the Empyrean" 1t is the white bar of
cloud interlaced with gold that f1ecks the
! horizon of the soul 1t is the myrtle sprig
| that blossoms with the fragrance of char
| ity and benevolence to all mankind; with
charity that is all encompassing, with a
| benevolence that is all comforting: char
| ity, love that is of God because God Is
ha Ia{r,. 1r-t he
recognized by its manifestations as the di-
vine spark, the omnipotent breath: char
| ity that "thinketh no evil" and therefore
1 stronger than the king can tie up the gall
in the slanderous tongue" and get a limit
to 'back-wounding calumny;" charity
that ''seeketh not its own;" a
/ charity, therefore whose mission it is in
this life to weld the links into the great
chain of common brotherhood, looking
forward to that golden day Of perfect com
! munion when the nations shall beat
their swords into plOwshares and their
spears into pruning hooks; nation shall
not lift up the sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more" a
charity that seeketh not its own, and is,
therefore, ready at all times to answer the
cry of the man in the vision: Come over
into Macedonia and help us. Seeking
not its own, it is the great arch-euemy OF
| selfishpess-of that selfishness which slew
acceptable; that betrayed its Master for ID
| few pieces of silver; that fills it's Golfers
with gold and silver wet with the tears of
humanity; that caused the poet to sing
MANS inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn"
n selfishness that would teach us that $50
ciety is a joint stock company where each
of its members is in conspiracy against
the manhood of the whole" selfishness
that screens itself behind a cold-blooded,
sanctimonious cant; behind the broadened
philacterics and flaming furbelows of a
merciless seif-righteousness; selfishness
which arraign tonight as the cause of
nine-tenths of the misery and woe IN this
life, and of which IsraePS poet
and warrior king must surely
have been thinking when he said:
when | consider Thy heavens. the work
of Thy fingers the moon and stars Thou
hast ordained, what is man that Thou art
mindful of him, and the son OF man that
Thou visitest him?"
Yes, Pythianism teaches charity that
''seeketh not its OWL" the charity, the
love, which is necessarily fruitful of
benevolence; of benevolence that drop
peth as the gentle rain from heaven upon
the place beneath;" benevolence which
is to the parched lips of humanity, verita-
bic Siloa's brook that flowed fast by the
oracle of God" q benevolence which is as
the vision of the open sky. the light of
coming morn to the wearily-tossed sick; a
beneyolence which is to humanity what
Elisha was to the widows cruise of oil and
barrel of meal; beneyolence that teaches,
iaasauch as We have done il unto one of
these, the least of my brethren, We have
done it unto me-" benevolence which is
as a ladder set up with base on earth and
topmost round i'll heaven, and upon which
the angels of God ascend and descend with
acts of kindness-with acts of kindness
that leap like heavenly messengers from
the temple of our hearts benevolence that
annually eXpends upon the bereaved
of the membership OF this order
alone over million dollars
benevolence that teaches
1--WE live in deeds. not years in thoughts not
In feelings, not in figures on dial
We should count time by heart throos: he most
Who thinks most feels the noblest, acts the
best
And now tonight | would say: Oh
charityl oh, benevolence sweetest song
sters of the human heart, angel whisper
lnps. monoliths of the soul, the apex of
! whose humanity reaches to heaven, first
born OF God, breathe once again upon
these Pythian knights that they may be so
filled with Thy spirit that the world shall
), say:
But were the whole frame here,
Il Is OF such q spacious LOFTY pitch,
Your roof were net sufficient TO contain IT,"
Phythianism teaches another important
lesson-the lesson of moral heroism. sea-
soned with caution. In our castle halls
we are taught that we now journey as
through a wilderness, having here no
abiding place. but that ''we look for a CITY
which hath foundation whose builder and
maker is Cod that in iourneyipc
Through this wilderness we meet with OBJ
stacles of every character; that our path
way is beset by the deadly adders of dam