The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-05-01
BLESSINGS OF MASONRY.
w, f. MUMFORD's ADDRESS
AT MASONIC TEMPLE.

,..aIism of beauty and Glory Into
~. Renlism of Everyday Life-It
o;ouifies Labor, UpIifts the Nor
IL of Men and Is Divine-Mr.
,,ford,s Reference TO the GeOr-
ia Industrial Home.
r. ". e. Mumford, chairman of the
onit;ee on memorials of the Masonic
odge of Georgia, addressed a rep
.,tative audience of The Masons and the
Al. Of Savannah at Masonic Temple
tarlav afternoon. His subject was THE
sssings of Masonry and for an hour
aud,ence listened to an apprec.atiVe
course by one who holds the theme
,ss IN his heart, upon the good that has
me from tnis grand Old pioneer of all the
cret and fraternad orders.
The exercises began with the singing
an code to Masonry" composed by Mr..
#s,mford. especially for the occasion and
~, n the tune OF America" AT the
.u-l,,e,on of The ode the orator was intro
,,,ed nv Mr.. Davis Freeman, in few
.sf sentences descriptive of the man and
b, work that he was doing for the cause
4 Masonry and humanity in the state and
h. South. Mr.. Mumford said in part;
VI bring no flowers of rhetoric, no ele-
-,roo of diction, nor order of logic to por-
r.. the blessings of Masonry Golden
osscb words fifty spoken, always deal
4 tb the practical and the broadcast cul-
ara hath knowledge of the common strug-
Ia of life. We meet as speculative Mas
T. ,ds true. but our ideal Masonry came
Eorth from operative Masonry and has for
H. bojv object the injection of the IDEAL
sm of beauty and glory into the realism
H. everyday life, and so all efforts of
sentimental artihciality that fail to i'm
Enrove the ordinary life of the individual
|nan are as so much useless rubbish, en-
numbering and retarding the progress OF
civilization. No system of education, no
EnDovation of ideas, no organization of
Kindred spirits can lay claim 10 Divinity
That does not with wide open eye recog-
HE the needs of humanity. Let the
measure of that which is divine in all
Etbings being done in this world be taken
Iby the interest manifested in caring for
Irhe helplessness of the race. Judged by
|,ais standard, Masonry must ever be di-
|yine.
Mans idea of God must everywhere
Nominate the style of his character build
Eng Man in every estate of being has
Ehe God-idea and as he conceives God, so
lis his own character developed. The god
H. Masonry. therefore, determines the
[Vorth of the character of Masonry to
Emankind, and one of the browning bless
linz Of our order is the idea of God
(which is here given. No atheist dare
H. enter even the outer court of the Ma
/ sonic temple The all-seeing eye guards
Ehe gateway. The order was brought I'M
|dar the guidance of that eye. Masonry
\ came of people who worshipped the
|tue and the living God, and the Masonic
Thought of a God makes of Him the God
|of the Universe, the God of humanity, the
Father of man-interested in the affairs
Of our life. By Him are all things, and
without Him nothing could have had ex-
stence Masoi ry views Him as the one
supreme first cause, and the world as an
expression Of his architectural thought"
Masonry confers the blessing of the
dignity of labor. Her God is a busy God
The Masonic idea of labor is that ii is
the hope of the world and the Savior of
man. Honest toll is the safest cure for
human ILL., The creative genius of labor
mis- man into kinship with God and
paints in Him the Divine Image. The
subiimity of our noble order found artful
expression and birth in the midst of work
rng men. The very genuinal qualities of
all tina, has come to man worth while
nave been generated in the brains and
1ne hearts of the busy folks Genius is
Out another name for the Precipitation of
increasing toll Edison says, "It is 8 per
cent rest and 90 per cent. sweat" The
aust OF the building temple is upon the
uttered apprentice, the fellow crafts and
me Master Mason. We stand for the roy
atty Of human labor, whether n he men
'al or physical. We stand for its priceless
'dIue' We would call the attention of the
"orld 10 the fact that there is no better
way TO rob life of it's miseries than TO
lionor Inc man who tolls. Within our sa
49,, - walks there is not the breath of a
iieJuu'ce against a man by reason of his
honorable calling in life
Masonry is peculiarly blessed as lab
u ior the moral upiiftment of man. she
. ulSuhctlVe as to the sex and age of her
lneiil peFshlp. She closes her doors in the
laee OF women and little children. while
sle "ithdraws from the "madding crowds
l-ooe strife ito forge gems for
.le' For this the order has been roundlv
FUSED by those who are not thoughtful
su 10 see the truth, or who are so
oT 7' ,g as TO oppose the casting out of
o vac ueVlIs that they are not helping to
49, out The world believes in solitude
.., p 'lfement, its value is ever apparent.
,t H@' which is seen is temporal. that
ha .'0n Is unseen is eternal" Every life
l'as us holy Of holes, and each sex rs
eauctum sanetorum."
11usonry confers the blessing of a high.
nv noble regard for woman. Masons hold
fns e thought that in womanhood man
- - "ls truest helpmeet in the perfection
- ms character, and our teachings fit us
',In, uecome strong in the defense Of female
NJ M ana honor. The ideal woman with
g., @'oNry Is the woman unsulhed by impur-
mr. animated by vice, and the high
I,,1a pose OF the order is to protect the
rorn} sex from the low standard of
HIS ,,irao oil the stronger. To true Mason,
Of 'l ~ under the spell of the holy influence
serYtl i 'ehets, every woman is a lady de-
MAJ ing me care and gentlest ministries of
t.f,,l. NE lord of creation. Well and beau
10y uid the poet Of sentiment write:
' woman, dear woman, whose form
and whose soul
we hsht and the life of each spell we
pursue:
'', u. summed in the tropics or chilled
:, at the pole;
- woman no thera .i,o,1 l. ,,