The record-union., 1892-01-09

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one hand, no attention was paid to those
moral principles which constitute moral
government, and on the other, to
those civil ones that form the basis
OF all civil rule. Under his influence,
and that of the society he estab-
llshed, sobriety, temperance, justice and
virtue soon took their places. The
members of this society were bound TO
each other and TO Pythagoras by solemn
VOWS. In morality this society was long
In advance of the times. That was an
age OF gluttony, drunkenness and most
notorious Righteousness; but Pythagoras
taught the SevereSt abstinence and life
of the most exemplary purity. He for
; babe men to pray for anything in par
ticular, because they do not know what
is good for them. / have often been inn
pressed with this one thing in his teach
ing as being many thousands of years in
advance of his time. To-day men are not
willing to trust God with knowledge of
their needs, but persist in informing him
IN their prayers They have faith to be-
lieve God viii supply their needs if he
only knew what those needs We're.
Pythagoras'faith was leavened by wisdom
Gratitude to the gods was shown by sing
ing hymns. Nothing was to be said or
done in anger. How grand such rule
for human conduct. il is the things we
do in anger and the words we use when
in ill-temper that burn ever after deep in
the soul, break friendship aud destroy
happiness. The Knights of Pythias have
the same instruction, that is not to speak
or act in anger.
Among the best ascertained features OF
the Pythagorean brotherhood was their
devoted attachment to each other. 1t
was maxim of Pythagoras that the two
most excellent things for man were to
speak the truth and to render benefits to
each other. In a wonderful degree the
H. 4
into the very life of his followers.
And it was no dull, formal
thought to them, but living, con-
trolling principle. And we might do
well To pause here and ask if there could
be anything more ennobling than this.
When in chains and hostage Pythias
had the promise from Damon that he
would return, and even though return,
meant death to Damon, Pythias had that
absolute confidence in his integrity that
always brings comfort and contentment
in the hour of trouble. When accused OF
opposition TO the tyran5s viii, although
to confess it he knew would mean death
to him, he boldly stood forth in the SEN
ate and proclaimed it. That which has
formed such matchless characters as
Damon and Pythias, that which has
made men forget for a time the selfish
me" and live and die if need be for each
other, cannot help but be something
noble. This friendship was all the more
noticeable and more remarkable because
at war with the spirit Of the age. 1t is
safe to say that in all his ramblings over
the earth, his association with the priests
OF Egypt in their mysteries, the wise men
OF different nations, and in the mystic
circle OF the secret orders into which he
had been initiated, Pythagoras keenIy
felt the lack of affection among members,
and with prophetic eye saw the beauty
OF universal brotherhood ofman, Great
ing friendship which would mean more
than mere idle words. 1t must be borne in
mind that his was an age whose vocabu-
larry knew no such word as humanity,
whose utmost ideas were bounded by self
an age that was unkind in the extreme,
ferociously cruel-just emerging from the
twilight of barbarism into the light OF
civilization. Out Of such an age came the
Pythagorean Society, and out of this So
clety Damon and Pythias.
Some of the grandest ideas, those which
mas influenced human progress the most,
may be traced to biTth among the mys-
tic symbols of secret societies, TWO
which, Fraternity and Friendship, we are
dealing with tonight
After the experience of eighteen hun
dred years, under new conditions and the
development of other truths as it's basis,
civilization still finds the need of secret
orders, truly fraternal in their nature
And while nearly all, and especially the
Pythian order, forbid any and all dis
cussion of religious questions, many of
the highest and hottest principles of true
religion lind development, and a more
perfect eGemplifcagion within such fra
ternal orders as ours than elsewhere. 1t
IS claimed that the great idea of the
brotherhood of man is to-day being more
perfectly developed within the Order of
knights of PythiaS and kindred orders
than within the church; and this may be
said to be the cause, in part, of our won
derful growth IN these twenty EIGHT years
as we have lived as an order. But
Fraternity is the watchword of the age
Millions of earth's truest and best men,
It's kings and rulers, its sages and states
men, and teachers Of holy religion of all
denominations, gather, in all parts of the
world, about the affairs of the various fra
ternal orders, and listen obediently to the
sound OF the gdVel and the lessons there
taught, as does the humbIest citizen-all
on one common level.
Having now given brief account, as
| understand it, Of the origin of the
true fraternity and the society which
evolved the great principle, friend
ship, let us turn to our own
Pythian order. which has for its corner
stones, fraternity and friendship as ex-
emplitied by Damon and Pythias We
do not as an order bear the insignia of an
tiquity, neither can we boast OF a cen
tury's growth in this great republic; but
we can truthfully say that we are a prod
| uct OF free America, and that our path
way is marked only by good deeds; and
that for quarter ola century and more,
our line of march has been made re-
splendent by the living, active energy
of those who have met with us around
our Pythian altar, pledging their most
sacred honor to work for the advance
ment of mankind and the amelioration of
suffering humanity.
The origin and aims of the Knights of
Pythias cannot be set forth in more beau
tiful and concise language than that used
by the Supreme Lodge of the World,
August 13, 1877, when that body declared
as follows:
"Our order was founded February 10.
1864, at Washington, d. c., by Justice III /.
Rathbone. AT the time when war was
IN the heart of man, and sorrow in his
nome; when from ocean to ocean, and
from lakes to gulf, our glorious land was
engaged in scenes of carnage and death.
brother Rathbone saw in Grecian history
the germ OF an order that should prove a
power in dispelling the wrath of sec
tional strife and restoring the hearts of
men to basis of universal Brotherhood
The reign of Dionysius, the elder
marked an era of selfishness in the
worlds history. Following the example
of the tyrant, his adherents in the Isle of
Sicily We'd in celebrating from the tablets
of their memory every vestige of that
noblest principle Of manhood which
recognizes mans fealty to his fell
| low. Damon, Senator, at Syracuse, by his
opposition to Dionysius, in his attempted
usurpation of power, was placed under
sentence of immediate death, Pythias, a
soldier and the time-tried friend of
Damon, besought the tyrant to grant him
a respite that he might bid last farewell
to those he loved. The denial of this re-
quest was followed by the most striking