Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1897-09-30
MINERAL POINT WISCONSIN, THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER

its judges, its senators, its churches
its Masonic history and the high char.
acter of its citizens. We are engaged
to-day in an act that will become illus
trious IN its history yet unwritten.
speculative and operative Masonry
combine in the ceremonies of this hour
We unite to-day the building of stone
with the building of character. We
meet to-day to lay foundations. We
meet to day to build on foundations al
ready laid. We meet to replace what
has been destroyed by fire. The out
ward material editice of Mineral Point
Lodge No. has been burned. The old
building has perished. This new tenn
pie in the process of erection may per-
ish. 1t may be burned by fire. it may
be blown to pieces by cyclone, it may
crumble and decay by the lapse of time;
but the invisible foundations on which
| 1T rests are imperishable. They will
last forever. They will be intact when
| this city Is no more and the rock bills
on which it rests have ceased to be.
They are invisible, immovable, and as
imperishable as God and man. They
are fire proof. They cannot be des-
troyed by cyclones, nor do they waste
10y any slow process of decay.
"Slnce we are here tC day to lay found
ations, let us go in our thinking little
| beneath the outward forms and cere-
monies of this hour in search of their
deeper aud larger meanings.
First, on what unseen realities does
this corner stone rest ? We appear to
lay it on a foundation of earth, but it
rests on foundation more immovable.
1t rests on the fatherhood of God and
the brotherhood of man Masonry is
opposed to materialism. 1t believes in
the supremacy of spirit 1t believes
that matter is but one of the manifest
ations of spirit. 1t teaches the unity,
personality and fatherhood of God
1t teaches that every man owes person
al obedience and allegiance to God.
Masonry rests on the vital relations
that exist between God and man, and
between man and his fellow-man. 1t
has been pushed up by human need
and is AN expression of human need.
The institutions that endure, and grow,
and bless mankind do not rest on texts
or arguments, or arbitrary commands,
but on human need Whatever helps
man, whatever harmonizes and de.
velops man. is a divine ordinance
From this standpoint, Masonry is a dis
vine institution It's divinity consist
not in its age, its secrets or its myS-
teries, but in the service it has rendered
| to the race and to civilization. We
| thus lay this stone on the foundation
| of a noble Masonic history. This stone
| is mortared and buttressed by the lives
| of noble men: men who believed in
| God and served their day and genera
| ton as valiant soldiers of righteous
ness.
Second, what do we place this stone
here for Why invite people to coma
here to take part in this ceremony :?
Why not let the builders go on with
| their work without this gathering :?
There are many reasons. Masonry is
true to the best interests of society. 1t
stands for the betterment of man in all
his relations 1t seeks to develop man
in his social, intellectual, moral and
spiritual relations One of the greatest
needs of this time and of all time is
better men. Masonry tries to meet
that need 10y seeking to develop better
men, 1t is important that the people
should know that this is the work of
Masonry. You build on this stone a
temple that is to be dedicated to the
development of mans social nature
"Masonry recognizes that man is So
cial being and has social needs. This
temple is TO be used as one means of
meeting those needs in this community
and should stand here as a monument
of sociablity.
Masonry seeks to develop mans in
tellectual nature. 1t symbolically
teaches him to make his ascent into a
higher and better manhood by way of
the sciences. 1t seeks to develop the
reason and make him accurate in his
thinking. 1t shows man that he should
enter into the mysteries of numbers
and into the mysteries of qualitative
and quantitative relations. 1t teaches
that 10y the aid of the sciences man
should seek to read the wonders and
mysteries OF the universe. Masonry
| has no war with science, but teaches
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