The San Francisco call., 1896-03-16

the sparkling drops of rain, with which
the noble animal had just been baptized !;
over all, presenting marked contrast to
the gloomy sky, the brilliant colors Of Old
Glory flew out in the fresh breeze as the
hundreds of voices assembled yet higher to
the throne of the Great Exalted Ruler of
the Universe, and on all sides were the
white tombstones marking the last resting
places of thousands who have gone before.
Brother Thomas J. Clunie of Sacramento
Lodge No. 1923 delivered the oration. be
said:
If had my way we would have no silent
cities; the good would live forever, and the
bad would never be born. But the supreme
exalted ruler OF the universe has decreed that
ell must die, and from his DEGREES there is no
appeal; hence, the exercises OF to-day.
The embarrassment that feel in attempting
to speak to you is more than compensated by
the pleasure that we shall have in listening to
the eloquent remarks OF Brother Frederick
Warde, upon whose shoulders the mantle OF
Booth has surely fallen. Busy with the ardu-
Gus duties of his noble profession and his we'll
known efforts in behalf OF "sweet charity"
with not an idle moment on his hands, yet, at
the call of his brother Elks, Frederick Warde,
whose ability is recognized wherever civ1liZa-
ton exists, and whose burning eloquence has
excited the admiration of the world, threw
aside the cares Of life, and comes here to DO his
duty as an Elk.
The founders of our beloved order belonged
to profession that for more than two thou
sand years has entertained, educated and up
lifted humanity. In its early struggles for ex-
istence its enemies jeered at 1t, because the
little band that composed its membership
wished rather to worship at the shrine OF ge-
MUS than at the altar OF the god of Mammon.
Unjust and ungenerous imputations were cast
upon our order, but am happy to say to-day
that we have outlived their reproaches, and
have grown. believe, Brother Warde, from
little lodgeroom ten feet square, in the city of
New York, until the home of the Elks can be
found in every city of the United States.
Our ceremonies and our principles have
common origin with those of other kindred
societies. We have the same grand natural
truths with them, the same splendid resOlu-
tons. 1t is entirely natural that this should
be so, because we have slipped words OF wisdom
from the same WELL and we regard history,
with its magnificent examples, its glorious
illustrations, as the common property of all.
We are friends of religion, but we do not be-
lieve that all goodness is confined to the sa-
cred precincts OF the churches, and, while we
accord to them great credit for the good that
they have done and are doing tor the world,
we claim for our order its full share in insur-
ing the welfare of humanity and ameliorating
the human sorrows that mankind is heir to.
The Bible is our sheet-anchor, the welfare of
that come the works of the immortal Shakes
peare, the great educator of modern times, the
man whose golden sentences are engraven
upon mankind
And what shall say of this band of brothers
comprising the membership of oakland Lodge,
who have paid this beautiful tribute to the
memory of their departed brothers? We all
share in the feelings that have given birth to
this magnificent monument-not cumbrous
curiously cut stone. that time shall shatter and
future ages be unable TO decipher; not cold,
forbidding mausoleum, indicative of death and
decay-but that beautiful elk, emblematic of
our order.
What could be more beautiful? Majestic in
carriage, swift of foot, with an eye as soft and
beautiful as the morning, timid and shy as
maiden, incapable of doing harm, yet firm in
the maintenance of its rights. The entabla-
parted brothers are not forgotten by the men,
hsSs Of the lodge. We hope that the sunshine