San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-05-22
BEAUTIFUL FUNERAL GRAFTON,
Delivered Yesterday by Grand Mas
ter McLeary Over the Grave

Delivered Yesterday by Grand Mas
ter McLeary Over the Grave
of Capt. VIM. Purkiss.
Brethren and Friends: We have as
sembled here to pay the last sad
tribute of respect to the memory of
our deceased brother, Captain VIM.
Purkiss, whose memory we revere
and whose loss we deplore.
Captain Purkiss was born in Eng
land in the year 1924, and tarried in
this vale of tears three score and six
years before he was summoned by the
mallet OF death to take his station in
that celestial temple-that house not
made with hands-eternal In the
heavens.
At the age of two years he was
brought by his father across the
broad Atlantic to grow up to man.
hood in this free and blessed land OF
ours. He grew up amidst the gran
ite hills of New England, and his
sturdy character reminds US of those
rock.ribbed mountains. He had
many of the sterling qualities for
which the old Puritan families of New
England have been famous for CEN
turtles, since the landing of the May
flower. At the age of l6 he was
appointed to the navy, and at 20
years of age became the captain of q
vessel in the merchant marine. AS q
sailor he showed that like his sturdy
ship he had q heart of oak. He
followed the sea for more
than thirty years and more
than ouce circumnavigated the globe.
Thus he acquired wide and varied
knowledge OF the world and of men
and nations in all countries. He
learned the Masonic lesson that all
men are brethren. descended from the
same stock, and destined to share the
same fate, that we, the whole human
race, are travelling upon the level of
time to that undiscovered country,
from whose bourne no traveller re-
turns.
He was not an advocate of creeds,
but ne had for his motto the golden
rule: "WhatsOever We would that men
should do to you. do We even so unto
them" This precept, announced by
the Divine teacher, was the rule and
guide Of his daily conduct in life. BY
what better rule could a man square
his conduct towards his fellow
men. This golden rule reaches
the highest form of charity, and
charity is esteemed by Masons rs the
greatest of all the virtues. 1t is
symbolized by the highest round
on that theological ladder which
Jacob in his vision saw, reaching
from earth to heaven-the three
principal rounds of which are faith,
hope and charity. For we as masons
are taught to have faith in God, hope
in immortality and charity to all man.
kind; these three, but the greatest of
these is charity. Such were the re-
ligious views Of our Brother Purkiss.
He was plain man, though
>oe could boast of honor
a BILE wearing the oldest family
name in England; his lineage could
be traced for centuries, back to the
time of William Rufus, the son OF the
conqueror.
But he did not claim title to that
nobility conferred by king and
princes; he claimed greater honor
he was one of natures nobleman. He
was not decorated by the insignia of
worldly rank, but he could claim to
worthily wear badge which Is more
ancient than the Roman eagle and
more honorable than the star and
garter, when worthily worn. That is
the white leather apron, the lamb
skin, the EN- blem of innocence and the
badge of q Mason.
Masonry is not religion, though we
claim that Masonry is the handmade
of religion. Its creed is broad
enough to unite all good
men everywhere. The four corner
stones of Masonry are a belisf in the
fatherhood of God and the brother
hood of man, In the mortality of the
body and the immortality of the soul.
On this creed all men may stand with
out regard to sects. We can include
within our fraternal circle the Chris
tian, the Jew, the Mono metan, the
Buddhist, without question as to his
views further than the four cardinal
points just referred to.
Then, brethren, let us live up to the
requirements of our order, so that
when we come to lie down in the
grave others may point to us as we
now point TO him as one of the noDlest
works of God-an honest man. Let
us emulate his virtues and
$50 live, that when ssour summons
comes to join
The innumerabIe caravan that moves
To the pale realms of shade where
each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of
death,
We go not like the quarry slave at
night
Scourged to his dungeon, but sus-
tanned and smooth
By an unfaltering trust approach the
grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of
his couch
About him, and lies down to pleas