The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-12-04

tality We do not murmur; for why
should tears be shed for their beati-
tude? Rather let US rejoice that their
eyes may behold the broader land
scape of supreme knowledge that 10
denied to our feeble ken. Though the
separation must wiring from us tears
of regret; though we sigh
For the touch of a vanished hand
And the sound of voice that is SUN,
yet the heart must throb and thrill
with ecstasy when we but contemplate
the reunion that must come with those
in whose companionship we toiled and
sorrowed and loved and laughed, the
comradeship which shall be renewed
in that day when
Only the Master shall praise US,
And only the Master shall blame.
And no one shall work for money.
And no one shall work for fame;
But each tor the joy of the working,
And each, in his separate star,
Shall paint the thing as he sees it
For the God of things as they are
Therefore we dedicate this day, the
eleventh hour upon the dial of the
year, and these services, the flowers
of our affection, to those who sleep
upon the silent hillsides, lulled by the
requiem that nature sings above them
the signing trees-those who
Lie in state while angels wait
With stars for taperS tall.
1t is well thus to do them honor, but
let us also dedicate ourselves this day
and all days to the work which they
began. Let us decorate our lives with
| the recollection of their good deeds;
hang their love-limned portraits in the
chambers of memory; help the fallen
they have helped comfort those whom
! they would cheer, and cultivate the
generous impulses that would thrill
their hearts; then shall these words
that we have read to-day from our
ritual become living messengers OF
eternal truth; then shall these melting
strains of music that we have here
heard rise to endless beauty like the
song of the Angel ISRAELI, whose heart
strings are a Lutte; and then shall we
erect to them a monument of human
hearts, prouder than any mausoleum
that ever held the moldering remnants
of a King.
We dismiss them not to the cham
bers of forgetfulness and DEATH" but
bid them live forever in our love. We
care not whether their stations were
lowly or exalted. We know that they
We're true Elks and that their motives
were pure. That is enough, for
TITS the motive enhances,
Not the beggariy prize;
The spirit that lives,
The base guerdOn that dies.
| IT'S the infinite thought,
Not the perishing fact;
The heart that conceives,
Not the outgoing act.
IT'S why and not what
Lighters hiStory'S gloom;
Devoneh, not victory,
HalloWS the tomb.
We know that they have stood With
US at the mystic hour of eleven in the
observance of that beautiful custom
peculiar to the Elks; we know that
with reverent hearts and trimming
eyes, they have quaffed the health of
absent brothers." while memory flew
like a swift bird to some loved COM
rade upon bed of pain or tossing upon
the turbulent sea or barring valiant
breast to the storm of flying shot and
hurting shells in distant lands. We
know that they have KENT at the same
altar with us; have clasped our hands
! in the warmth of fellowship; have
learned with US the great lessons of
our order; have joined US in the jocund
song; and have chorused with US the
merry laughter of comrades. And
shall we say that they have gone? All,
no; we wave the wand of fancy and
evoke those dear remembered days
when they were by our sides. Again
We hear those words vibrant with love.
Upon our ravished ears once more
floats the music of manly voices at
tuned in song, swelling to grandest dia-
pason in that psalm Of fellowship,
"Auld Lang Syne.''
Again we pledge the I'll o'clock
/ toast; but there are no absent broth
ers." for the gaps are all filed and
Those angel faces smile
/ Which we have loved long since and lost
awhile.
We seem to stand an unbroken
| throng at that altar where shines the
patriots perpetual prayer, the flag Of
our nation-emblem of united land
where there is no north, no south, no
east, no west; the flag that floats Ger
/ fair Hawaii and where those farther
Pacific isles,
Lift
! Their fronded palms in air.
cheers the gallant legions of our coun-
/ trymen on to victory. 1t is our flag
the banner of our fair land and the
banner of our order, for upon it's sa-
cred, starry folds doth every Elk pledge
his faith and honor to our fraternity.
These our comrades were soldiers, too,
serving under the flag which stands for
liberty and Observation-Disclosures all in
the Grand Army of Humanity. No
matter where they fell, they deserve
soldiers honors OF each one of them
it may be said, in the words of a SOL
dier-poet:
Nor did he wait till freedom had become
The popular shibboleth for courtiers
lips;
He smote for her when God Himself
And all His arching skies were in
eclipse.
I He was a-weary. but he fought his fight.
and stood for simple manhood; and was
TO see the august broadening of the light,
And new. earths heaving heavenward
He loved his fellows, and their love was
sweet
Plant daisies at his head and at his
feet.
And so let us leave our comrades. Let
us raise the bugle of honor to our lips
and sound taps"
The muffled drums long-roll has beat
The soldiers last tattoo;
No more on lifes parade. will meet
That brave and fallen few.
On flames eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And glory guards with solemn round
The biyouao>of the dead.
20, Rest In the Lord" a bass solo
by c. M. Phinney, was the next number
on the program, and it was followed