The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1896-02-07

| WliIiuS W Out NhO AoSN ASLAuluS
nevertheless, that we owe to them ou
knowledge of the True, the Beautifu
and the Good, and this must need.
have been so, when we consider the
fact that they have always souyh
peace, and are from remotest times
sprung from peacefully inclined ances
tors. There was light on Jewisl
Mountains thatuever shone, on Mount
Olympus. The streams of Parnassus
to them were not so clear and full al
Siloa's Brook that flowed fast by thu
Oracle of God. Far up the ages, before
Cecrops founded Athens, it gushed
forth and flowed in its appointed place
at the command of God. On the plains
of the East under the spreading Tere.
binth, sits Abraham in his tent, calm
sequestered, reverent. Far hence be
the scenes of desolation. We hear a
hero sing, and the martial music tina,
announces his coming is drowned in
the shrieks of, orphans. 1.-The laurel
wreath of which he. boasts was nour-
ished in enpurpled plains of carnage,
or snatched from the field of the dead. y
"But the father of the Faithful, taught
by the God of Nature and Revelation.
surrounded himself with far different
scenes" "We listen to the music of
the grove; we trace the windings of the
rivulet, we read the name of God in
the starry heavens, and we follow the
old hero through checkered life to a
City that hath habitations. The hill
of Zion where God dwelt was the type
Of the 10y of the whole world, while
Athens, to the rest of the world, was
the symbol of tyranny. And Masonry,
built upon the teachings of Gods cho-
sen people, has blessed and ennobled
its millions without one single act of
injustice or oppression. There have
been many religions and many BROTH
erhoods. From the earliest dawn Of
history men have banded themselves
together for mutual protection and ben
eft; and have committed crimes in
behalf of their respective creeds from
the contemplation of which, even cru
city itself would almost turn away with
shuddering and horror. The ancient
Greek, with all his refinement and cul-
ture, and with all his avowed horror
of slavery for himself, sold his captives.
The Egyptian sacrificed his first born
upon the walls of the city when be-
sieged by his enemies. The Assyrian
made his children pass through the fire
to Moloch. The Mohammedan spreads
his faith with fire and sword, and with
fiendish debauchery worse than death
itself. The Roman Catholic burns the
Protestant and the Protestant robs and
beheads the Romanist. The Calvan-
ist murders the Armenian and the Ar
menian fiays the Calvinist alive, and
all this and more in the Service OF God
and in behalf Of mankind.
But Masonry has written the pu-
rest, fairest page in all human history.
But wronged no man-it has detrauded
no man. 1t has not even given rail-
ing for railing. 1t has inculcated an
earnest belief in God; it has taught
that all men are brothers; it has stood
for human liberty of conscience and of
action in obedience to law. 1t has
protected the purity of women and the
sauctity of home 1t believes in the
duty of hospitality, and liz the duty OF
all men, and more especially members
of the Craft, to raise the fallen and to
extend helping hand to the weak. 1t
preserved the purity of a belief in God
the Father when the fires of the inquis-
ition were burning day and night.
In the silent watches of the night,
ION high hills and in low dales," Ma
sonry has ever offered prayer and
praise, and not one prayer for ven-
yeauce upon its "enen.ies, prosecutors
and slanderers.''
once heard distinguished brother
say that were it not for our work in
connection with the Oxford Orphan
Asylum, he would take his dimit i'm
mediateiy. If Masonry had only its
forms aud ceremonies, its meetings
and lectures, and its ritual, it would
be as silly as the antics Of babboon
and as tiresome as the iteration of a
spoiled child. But the ceremonial law
is merely the garment that clothes a
form as we'll rounded as the Venus De
Medici, living. active principle that
when men first ceased to be savages,
locked hands with Monotheistic civili-
zation and marched with earnest tread
down the track of ages. On that great
dav when Charles Martel turned back
the tide of Turkish dominion, and saved
the Anglo Saxon, Teutonic and Gallo
races from Turkish lust, it was by his
side. 1t tramped with Napoleon's suf-
fering legions OF the terrible death
march from Moscow, sharing its last
crumb with the sufferers. In the days
of the Southern Confederacy it was at
Andersonville and Johnson's Island.
At Salisbury and Point Lookout push
ing its way where even Miss Barton g
noble band could scarcely gain admit
tance, doing all in its power to ale
viate the suff'erings of brotherhood pris-
oner to brother.
The work at Oxford is one in which
l honestly believe-and l speak with
reverence-the very angels of God
would rejoice to participates; but as
grand, and as holy, and as beneficenl
as it is, Masonry has done greater
things for the good of humanity than
this. The claim has been made thai
the happy issue of the English Revo'
olution of 1893, which deprived the
| worst tyrant of modern times Of hi'
throne. and gave civil and religion:
liberty 10 the English-speaking world
was due in no small measure to the
well-matured and carefully concealed
plans of the Masons Of Holland. In
the person of General Washington il
fought the battles of the American
Revolution, and helped to establish
in this country an asylum for the des'
olate and oppressed of every CLINE
( In our own time. under the name o
the Carbonari or Charcoal-burners. il
assisted Garibaidi in depriving the Pope
Of his temporal power, and in placing
| Victor Emmanuel upon the throne o
Italy. Always and everywhere it ha:
stood for liberty of conscience and Sc