The record-union., 1897-12-06

world that command and require his
careful attention and large portion
or his life, still the Elks believe that
lie is not all work, and that a man
may at times relax without doing in
jury to his business pursuits. When
cur duty of the day has been faithfully
performed, and when tired toll is en-
Titled to well-earned rest, we may
turn to the Lodge of Elks and in a So
clal session listen to the merry jest,
the melodious song, or the cadenced
sentences of eloquent speech. By the
law of natural selection men of kim
dred spirit are drawn together and in
every lodge of Elks will be found the
musician. the singer, the actor, the law
yer, the physician, the business and
professional men Of their respective
communities, who meet on the plane Of
charity and kindness to all the world
and good fellowship among themselves
While the ties that are formed in the
lodge of Elks are strong and enduring
through life, they last even beyond the
grave
When death has sealed the lips that
soothed and charmed, has dulled the
eye that beamed from the soul within,
and when the merry voice no longer
rings out in joyous greeting, when the
last sad rites have been pronounced,
and dust has been consigned to dust
at last. our brother who has gone is
not dead. He lives! He lives in the
regions Of heavenly JOY and rest far
beyond the shores that girt this mar
row world Of ours, where men toll and
sorrow, where they suffer the lingering
pain of disease and the burning grief
of the loss of loved ones. He lives too,
in the memory of his brothers who
gather once year, as they do to-day,
all over these United States, to offer
up a silent prayer to God, and with eyes
dinlmed with tears call back to mind
the Elks whose bodies sleep in eternal
repose but whose souls we fondly hope
will one day hold communion with ours.
Is it not a beautiful thought to re-
member the dead to reflect in our
strength that we are but mortal, and
that in but a very few years at most
We too must travel to the unknown
land? And what lessons Of kindness,
charity and brotherly love do these
thoughts teach us They teach US to
be kind, courteous and generous to our
fellow man. We are but clay and if
God has been kind to us that should not
initiate us with silly pride, but render us
all the more humble that we have been
the recipient of his bounty. They
should teach us to practice charity, to
love our neighbors as ourselves, and do
unto others as we would have others
do unto us.
Each one of US has seen much hu-
man suffering. We perhaps have known
home where the fond husband and
kind father is laid low by sickness, the
bloom gone from the cheek. the fire
vanished from the eye. The faithful
wife and loving children gather around
the bedside scarcely daring to breathe
those thoughts they dare not utter. Too
often have we seen that those who as
friends in prosperous days We're as
thick as autumn leaves have in the
hour of adversely departed like the mist
before the wind. and it seems as if the
little family were completely alone and
deserted.
Again we visit the place and we see
the scene completely changed We
know not what has brought about this
transformation until we are informed
silent messenger Of mercy has dispelled
the clouds that lowered over the home;
and when charity is thus administered
by our order everything is done to pre-
vent knowledge Of it going before the
world to humiliate those whose mis-
fortune requires its aid
Our order teaches Us to lead honest
and upright lives. to be true to our
selves, our neighbors, our country and
our God; and that in this fieeting world
we should be kind and charitable to one
another. Life is a battle, and many
time the heart becomes oppressed
with the difficulties that must be met
and overcome. But If we all practice
the virtues of justice, charity and
brotherly love, SO beautifully taught
by our order our lives will be made
easier and better.
On this, our Memorial Day, we should
have deeply engraven on our hearts
the words of Bryant. which once a
week are impressed by the ritual in
our order upon our minds:
so live, tlNt when thy summons comes to
join
The innumerable caravan. which moves
TO the mysterious realm, where each shall
His chamber in the silent halls of death.
Thou go not, like the quarry slave at
night
scourged to his dungeon. but sustained
and soothed
BY an unfaltering trust, approach thy
grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his
couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant
Dreams" F.,
While willing hands and loving hearts
draw near TO do the last sad service for