Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-14

| has never been anywhere in the world the
| peculiar property of any set of men, and
the sooner we recognize this the better for
US all.
| Sad and bitter is the thought that often
| 1t is only death that does justice. even as
| the old superstition that a dead hand S
! touch could remove blots from the skin.
Alas! and alas! for the men who live
amidst the gray mists of popular distrust
and disfavor, misjudged, maligned, often
! cursed, above whose graves flowers bloom
| in the moisture of regretful tears, and
paeanS of praise ring unheard and uncared
| for by the clay to whom addressed.
1T is not for me here to speak or for you
to listen to aught that savOrs of politics. I
do not speak to you as members of one
great party or another. / speak to you as
| MaSons, protesting to work for the benefit
/ of man-of whom Washington himself has
! said that your great object is to promote
the happiness of the human race / speak
| to you as men-I speak to you as Ameri-
| cans-whose every pulse beat should throb
for your Country'S welfare. and to whom
| the honor and integrity and happiness of
! your country should be the first thought.
Washington a Man.
1T has been with some feeling of amused
contempt that I have seen It stated and in
sisted upon that Washington was never a
Mason. or, if ever one ceased to recognize
| his membership obligations. Washing
| ton never failed to recognize any obligation
I
| one of the characteristics of the man. one
/ Of the characteristics of every truly great
man. one of the characteristics that man
! derives from God to whom there is nothing
{ great or small. in whose august vision the
| fall of the sparrow is observed as well as
| the wreck of a world. That Washington
vas made a Mason in Fredericksburg
| Lodge No. /. August I, 1853, no man can
! deny. l myself have seen the record. That
! ne was charter member of Alexandria
| Lodge (now Alexandria Washingtom No
| ar lie fret IL
proved by as indisputable evidence as that
! he was our first President. That Lafayette
was made a Mason in his presence is be-
yohd dispute, and today we have here the
Masonic regalia worked by Madame Lafay-
cite, presented to Washington by LAFAYETTE
himself and accepted by him as a Mason
And today we have borne the Bible the
Jewels and the three lights borne bV the
lodge at his funeral as a Mason. one hun
dred years ago; and l hold in my hand as
speak the SaVel he used when clothed as a
| Mason and acting as grand master of Ma
sons. he laid the corner stone of the capital
What he thought of Masonry can be easily
| found if one desires to find it in his answers
to the addresses of Masonic lodges in this
Ihion- Printed in his writings. they are of
easy access to every man. and he it was
who summed up the conclusion of the
whole matter when he said in answer to
the address of the Grand Lodge of Massa-
chusetts to their illustriOus brother
George Washington on the 27th day of
December 1897. the great object of Ma
sorry is to promote the happiness of the
| human race
not over eight thousand Masons in the
United States. Today there are nearly eight
| hundred thousand in this nation alone. and
the ancient boast Of the institution is to-
day an absolute verify. In every cline a
Mason may be found
'liere today all voices are hushed saw,
those which speak to the higher impulses
Of the immortal soul. Here We gather ahoi1t
inc ttSH with -p-ifE
W hat have tears and regrets to do with
the Death of the just man?
know "i no shrine to which men can
come with holier, purc", more peaceful
thoughts than q grave. Glory is the pos-
session of the frw-,lcath is the propertv
of all: And the grave is the gate opening
into the tenlercSt, sweetest purest Thoughts
OF the human soul. As has been well said.
of all the pulpits from which human voice
Is ever sent forth there is none from which
II reaches 50 far as from the grave
Masonry Never Forgets
And here al this shrine We have come.
my brethren, to show that Masonry can
never forget her iIlustrious dead Can never
forget that death is but the birth of i'm
mortality, and that nothing that is good in
man or worthy OF love and admiration can
ever die. To speak to us today We have
hidden one who like Washington disdains
not the humble badge of labor, the Ma
sons apron, who fills today the chair once
hIled ny Washington. and for whose sue
cess in government for whose health, pros
perity and peace every true citizen offers
his sine crest prayers.
How shall / introduce him? l might
pa you hail him as the head of the united
commonwealth, the chief of the nation
your chosen ruler l might speak of him
as the gallant soldier, gallant upon the field
ana Drawer yet in honoring the bravery of
his former foemen. -
But | will not do SO. Other times and
other places might suit such an introduc-
uon Today l shall bid you listen B the
voice of Virginia-made Mason-the son Of
the great commonwealth of Ohio, once
part of Nirginia-whom Virginia MASONRY
claims here, yet gives him as Virginia hath
ever given alike her lands and her children
to her country, the American Mason onr
brother, William Mckinley '"-