The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-03-08
SPEECHES AT THE BANQUET.

SPEECHES AT THE BANQUET.
joined by seven others. They then added
to the VOWS which they had already
taken another which was to protect TIL
holy sepulchre. They were also bound b
oaths to defend, at the peril OF their lives;
| the mysteries of the Christian faith ant
never to fly before three infidels. ever
when alone. I'm those rude ages the stee
blade was oftener the srbiter of justice thar
the judgments of judicial tribunals or thu
DEGREES of magistrates They were distin
their charity and their hospitality. The
fact that poverty is rich enough to bestov
charity was never more strongly illustrated
| than by the early Templars. Their saluta
| tion was always Pilgrim / greet thee
silver and gold have none, but such as
have, give unto thee; walk into my tent
sit down, rest and refresh thysef, eat o.
harken to lesson to cheer thee on thy
way and assure thee of success" Herr
| always followed the reading OF some
scripture lesson which taught charity an6
hospitality. The early Templars were not
however destined to always remain poor.
They grew in numbers and increased In
wealth until they attracted the attention
| OF kings and rulers whose covetuousnesi
| and greed could not be restrained. until
under the pretext of their disloyalty, thu
Knight Templars of England and Francs
were in 1907 simultaneously arrested
thrown into prison, their property conhscat
ed. and many of them tortured to death, bul
we will not pursue this history. Suffice
1t to say that on the 18th of March, 1914.
De Molay and other dignitaries Of the order
were burned at the stake. Tine order
ceased at once throughout Chris tendon,
except in Portugal, where they assumed
the name of Knights of Christ, which
order still exists.
With the lapse of time the prejudice
against them gradually decreased, The
order was revived, and they united " ltt
the fraternity of Free and Accept4,6
Masons and returned to their primitiv
simplicity of manners and rough habit,
coarse diet and severe duty was all that
was offered to their votaries. But the
causes which first called our order into
existance have long since passed away.
We are not called upon to defend the
Holy Sepuicher against in6dels or to pro-
tect weary Pilgrims travelling from afaE;
yet the same principles of charity
and benevolence. the same vows to
be faithful to the trusts imposed
that characterized them should charac-
terize u.s.. and we are under
the same obligation to wage war against
the enemies Of innocence, to feed the
hungry, clothe the naked and bind up the
wounds of the afflicted that they were,
for there is still in this refined age limo
cence to be guarded, orphans to be pro-
tected, the needy to be succored, and to be
true and courteous is not limited to any
age or cline
During the present century the order
has had marvellous growth throughout
the civilized world; in all countries it has
the honor of numbering among its mem
bers kings, princes and potentates, presi-
dents and prelates, priests and peasants;
both the high and the low who are found
worthy to be admitted to an order formed
on the Christian religion, and the practice
of the Christian virtues.
In America where the greatest freedom
and enlightenment exists, Templar Mason
cry fourishes to an extent not met with
elsewhere. The highest templar author
ority is vested in the grand encamp-
ment, which holds is meetings
grand Communicates derive their author
ity and the subordinate communicates
from the grand Communicates Thus
does Mt Olivet cOmmandery derive its au-
thority from the high tribunal; and. al
though chartered little more than a dozen
years ago and, since which time it has had
its territory cut down and many Of its
members taken from it by death and the
forming of three new communicates, it
still has a membership of $50. among
whom may be found many of our best
citizens. 1t is one of the fixed institutions,
the pride of its members and q credit to
our city.
Notwithstands the laps of time, the
prosecutions and martyrdoms of its mem
bers the order has come down through the
centuries and today we can trace the line
from Mt. Olivet commandery back to
those two "valient knights whose well
earned fame has spread both far and wide
for deeds of charity and pure benef1cenee."
While the success of Mt. Olivet Com
mandry has not been due to the efforts of
any one of its members, but to that noble
condition or rather emulation OF who best
can work and who best argree, yet much
might be said in praise of individuals. 1t,
however, is not my purpus to extole any
one, yet there is one feature about Mt.
Olivet Commandry which deserves more
than passing notice and which has con
tributed largely to its success and of
which every individual member is proud.
! refer to our drill corps. Early In the
history of our commandry we saw the
of precision in our floor work as
well as an acurate knowledge of the
ritual. We set about trying to make our
selves proficient in both, how well we
have succeeded can be judged by those
who have witnessed the work of the COM
mandry and the evolutions of our drill
corps. AND now Slr AulgntS let US re-
that like our ancient
brethren we have vowed to
stand forth in the defence of
the Christian religion, let us be loyal,
brave and true, and as the cross is the en-
sign of our order. know of no better way
of closing than to quote the lines from
Rev. Sir John T. Peters:
This sign IS ours. To conquest, then.
Not by the helplessness OF men:
BY the strength which God supplies
A nd sends in mercy from the skies
This shall suffice for every strife
Which enters Into mortal life;
And when tile mortal strife is Ger
And we approach the unknown SHORE
When in the valley and the shade
The hopes and cares OF life are laid,
Then shall this sign our souls inspire
A md kndle their immortal fire,
Which through eternity shall burn
Though dust 70 dust and earth TO earth return"