The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-05-23

of which Tyre is known to nave q
one that was celebrated, to which such
an architect as Hiram Abliff could not
been a stranger. Ii may be that
the wisdom of Solomon modified the
teachings at his period. which was lols
Il. G. liz is well known that Numa
Pompilius. OF Rome. sent TO the Diony-
sian architects. still existing centuries
after the time of the temple, TO build.
or rather improve the city OF Rome.
They had their headquarters at Teos,
where the kings OF Pergamos had given
them privileges, about 500 b. G, and
although the Emperor IN
later ages decreed their abolition, tney
lived on in the well now collegla,
and through other links in the days OF
the crusaders and the middle ages II
may be reserved for learning and re-
search after the dominion or ASIA
Minor and Syria shall In the next CEN
fury ass out OF Ottoman controf. 10
tighten the obscure pages OF some Ma
sonic history.
But meantime, we cherish the le-
gends that make the temple and all It's
courts round about holy ground Wen
was II said: las the great object OF
Nasons is the search after truth. they
are directed to build up this temple a.
a hNIAAi6
found"
Let us add, as the stones were polish
ed by sharp and biting tools, before
being brought to their fitting. so may
we accept the strokes OF misfortune
or sorrow unto our polishing the
brighter for the eternal temple.
Grant that all we, who here today,
Rejoicing this foundation lay,
May be in very deed Thine own,
Built On the precious cornerstone.
Endue the creatures with Thy grace,
That shall adorn Thy dwelling place:
The beauty of the oak n pine,
The gold and silver make them Thine.
The hands that guide endure with skill.
The hands hat work preserve from III,
That we, who these foundations lay,
Nav raise the cap-stone in its day.
But now, and ever, Lord protect
The Temple of Thine own elect"
The existence of Masonry is a great
fact. Its growth, development and
strength would not be so marvellous IN
this era of organization, OF associated
effort among men, if it did not long
antedate not only other organizations
but even the modern spirit or assocl-
alton that brought them into being.
Its life for nearly two
since what is known as the Masonic re-
yival of III, is seen of all men.
1t is beyond that period that mist
and CLOUDS begin. But can we conceive
that the four lodges of London then
existing, to say nothing of others, had
no history, no Masonic heritage or ira
dition, no %counsels of speculative Ma
sonry transferred from the operative
bodies of which they were h last
representatives for ages.
AS we'll may one deny the existence
of the oak of many centuries because
he knows not whose hand, or when, let
fall the acorn A high thori says:
lone thing is certain, for generations
past. and yet within the records of his
tory, it has, unlike other mundane
things, presented to the world an un-
changed organization. Take, for in
stance, the theory which traces it back
to one of the most recent p~eriodS-that
which places it's founding at the build
ing of the cathedral Of Strasburg, In
the yead 1875. During the six hundred
years that have elapsed, how has Free
masonry presented itself? AS a broth
erhood, organized n controlled by q
secret discipline, engaged in important
architectural labors, and combining
with it's operative tasks, speculations
of great religious import.
eff we e any change, it is simply
this, that when the necessity no longer
existed, the operative element was laid
aside, but with a scrupulous preserva.
ton '(as if it were for OF
identification) of the technical Ian
guage, the rules and regulations, the
working tools, and discipline of the
operative art. The material only in
which they wrought, was changed.
How it becomes us to regard thai
universal brotherhood. Prof. Drum.
mond has indicated in these words:
1.-The fina test at the great aSsiZes Ii
not righteousness, but love; not what
I have done-not what / a believed
not what / a acbieveG-but how
have loved; according to the number
of cups of cold water We have giver
in the Masters name"
"Oh, may 1 join the choir invisible
OF hose immortal dead who live agar
In lives made better by their presence
Happily did Jeremy Taylor declare
"Abel'S blood had a voice and cried t
God; and humanity has a voice, ant
cries SO loud to God hat it pierces tn,
clouds"
To return to the immediate question
When we ask ourselves, what linl
naturally connects the separated
tribes and nations of the earth, AM
through what channel would the spiri
of the brotherhood of man most easil,
find its approach from heart to heal
and which Of the arts permits a com
mon intercourse, allows n even de
lands INSTRUMENTATION of ideas
and creates lasting monuments to tn
combined energies of man in body AM
mind-we are irresistibly drawn t.
architecture. Not so much that of tn,
domestic home, the round of daily life
with it's alterations of work and play
of eating and sleeping; of the earth
earthly. But / speak Of that tempora
building which is the expression Of tn,
aspiration Of man toward a higher lf
thar this, and Of worship of the un
seen architect of the universe.
For this man has sought the learnin,
OF the ages, the science of the experts
the arts Of remote regions, the mos
durable, beautiful and most preciou
materials, and has been content, (,
some noted structures to spend ever
centuries in III erection from corner
stone to capstone. Witness the grea
cathedral of Strasburg, begun i'm lois
Ito replace n destroyed by lightnin,
after five centuries OF use), and finish