The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1895-06-07


tues, so that when we,too, shall have pass
ed from life unto death, our memories may
be held in like esteem, and our example
like beacon light cen though it family
burn, serve to inspire hope, or kindle a
desire in some weary pilgrims breast
And yet is not this touching ceremonial
also the tribute of Masonry as typitied
by the simple sprig of acacia, ever bloom
ing at the head of the grave, testimonial
of our hope and faith, that having passed
from the portals of time our breth ren have
but entered upon the Threshold of a glor-
ious immortality, have penetrated the pro
found and unfathomable mysteries of 4
higher and nobler degree; that their spirit
ual eyes have been opened by the com
mand of the Grand Master of the Universe
to behold the mansions of the skies; that
the celestial lights of eternal glory have
bnrst upon their enraptured gaze; and that
they have been welcomed forever among
the Angelic Hosts who gather about the
Great Creators Throne:
Standing then in this solemn presence
behind us the dead past, gone forever, fas
vanishing as a dream, its steps nevermort
to be retraced; around and about us the
Lring present, with its opportunities fol
good drill, still ours to improve or neglect
enriched perhaps, and made more fruitful
by life's gleanings, before us the never
ending future of time and eternIy bearing
down upon us, at an ever increasing speed
as the years roll on, like great cloud that
shall soon envelop us in its majestic folds
May we not as men and masons, pause
for a moment and consider this great mys
terry, this deep, dark secret, of human life
and DEATH and which so forcibly presses
upon us at this hour.
May we not well review some of the
sublime lessons of life, which masonry
teaches, and reflect upon those great truths
which are so strikingly impressed upon us
from the moment of our entrance within
the portals of the Lodge, and which are so
beautifully typitied and symbolized all
along the pathway of our masonic journey
1t is true that masonry works in secret
and in silence and tradition informs us that
our ancient brethren held these to be not
only commendable virtues but the most
fruitful sources of moral and intellectual
improvement, or as expressed by an emf
nent writer our, "Thoughts will not work
except in silence; neither will virtue work
except in secrecy. Like other plants vir-
| Lr 4
den, buried from the light of the sun. Let
the sun shine on it, nay do but look at it
privily thyself, the root withers, and no
flowers will glad thee" Masonry also
works behind veil of mystery. So ever
works and moves the Supreme Architect
of the Universe.
| God, moves in mysterious way
His wonders to perform"
Behold the beauties of nature, spread out
in lavish profusion before the gaze of man
now clad in its garb of green, anon in the
varied autumnal tints, or wrapped in its
mantle of snow.
In secrecy and silence are these great
changes wrought out, which delight and
entrance the mortal eye
Behold the Physical World with its
mi ighty forces, hidden in the bosom of ma
ture, at once the wonder and amazement
of man. How secretly and silently the elec-
trio flash performs its wondrous fight.
Behold the starry universe, which greets
the wondering sight as each successive day
its course has run. In secrecy and silence
behind a veil of mystery, have these un-
numbered worlds performed their mighty
revolutions throughout the ages of the Past
and as the student of nature, from the al
chemist of old, to the most learned savant
of our Universities; from the humble Chal-
dean shepherd, who from the plains OF
Shinar looked With wonder and awe upon
the waxing and waning of the moon, to the
foremost astronomer of our own time, has
ever found his chief source of delight and
instruction in searching out these profound
secrets of nature, and in penetrating fur
ther and further into her deepest and dark
est recesses so we as free and accepted ma
sons, in our endeavor to work out and un-
derstand the great mysteries of man spr-
itual and moral nature, the great secret
springs of human action, the great myS-
terry of life, death and Immortality have
chosen to work and move in harmony with
the methods of nature and natures God.
But the true test of the greatness and
grandeur of the Institution of Free Mason
| L., 81
struction, it is not the means by which it
awakens within the hearts of men the de
sire for knowledge, but in its results, in its
fruits, in its contributions to'the welfare
in fitting men for usefulness in this life
but in pointing them to that higher life, in
the celestial Lodge above.
The teachings of masonry the vital and
essential truths, it would impress upon the
hearts and minds of men, the creed of our
order are no secrets. They are as free and
open as the creed of any church or sect, or
the platform of any party, and they have
endured the test of ages: time has not weak
ened their force, or dimmed their lustre,
nor has the moth and rust of this world
corrupted them.
Turn back, if you will, the scroll of time
Roll back the centuries which have been
lost in the oblivion of the Past, back until
you are lost in the NEUROLOGICAL ages, be-
fore the foundations were laid for the Pvra-
mids of Egypt, while yet the cedars were
| tla nt,,i Of | IL,
and there were no floats as yet to convey
them thence by sea to .Ioppa, while yet the
rocks lay undisturhed in the quarries of
Zerodotha, and you will find that the grand
tenets of our Order were taught and prac-
ticed among the brethren: and upon every
page of mans history. in every step of his
rise and progress from barbarity to civil
Zation from the rude to the lettered, YOU