The Washington weekly post., 1899-12-19
Address Of the Grand Master.
Grand Master Duke said i'm part;

Address OF the Grand Master.
| Grand Master Duke said in part:
| My Brethren: The divisions OF time
are Dut tire mile stones men erect on the
| highway leading to eternity. In His sight
10 whom a thousand years are but as
yesterday when it is past and as a watch
IN the night. the centuries are but as the
seconds which are gone ere We can
reckon them
| But one earthly thing is permanent.
one thing alike defiss time and endures
| throughout eternity-goodness-f good
ness is born of God and exists with God
Greatness in man dies with man, but
goodness In man is as eternal as his ard
| its CRator
ana We who here to-day. gathering
IN the light of a majestic memory, COM
memorate the Tooth anniversary OF the
death OF a great man-bear testimony
| that the good man never dies.
This is the only answer We can make
TO the question: Why these ceremonies?
IL lo years ago the real George Wash
| inston died, then these ceremonies are
but vain and idle and mocking num-
| meries, serving to recall an event whose
memory brings with it only a sense of
| the emptiness of human glory and the
end Of human greatness.
Lives i'm Records of Fame.
But Washington lives to-day. not only
| in the minds of men-in the records of
fame-not only in the pages of history-~
out lives in that serene light which en-
anates from the presence Of God-lives a
sentlent. glorious. and glorifed being, and
We assemble here to-day to thank God
| that he lived, to thank God that he lives,
| and to commemorate the l6oth annivers-
airy of the dawn Of a greater life unto
the greatest life that was ever lived by
| mere mortal.
we may not withhold the highest need
| of praise from the great minds who con-
| ceived and framed the Constitution. Every
wind that blows from the Virginia hills;
every wave that laps her shores and the
| shores of the great thirteen States would
| rebuke the voice that dare belittle the
work of Madison and Hamilton, Frank
lin and Morris. But these men were the
sculptors, the designers. who with inf.
| mite toll and patience and genius ana skill
made the clay model. Washington was the
workman that cast the figure in the en-
curing bronze that now for over a CEN
] fury has stood the rain and the hail and
| the mist of doubt and distrust, the storm
| OF war, the deadly canker of corruption,
4
''Alas. the BuiIder.''
mo wonder that when he died men felt
as though the keystone of the arch had
| fallen and the beautiful structure was
doomed, and from every heart there went
up the mourntul cry another time and age
| once heard: Alas! the builder
No wonder that party spirit died and
| factions ceased to war for at least while.
And to whom could l speak with great
er confidence than to you. my brethren
brethren in the sacred tie which realizes
| as well as humanity can realize the SEN
| timent which maketh of one blood all ma
| tiOns of men, And where could | speak
with deeper feeling than here in the home
| of our great brotker-our brother who was
not too great TO be good. not too grand to
mingle upon the level with his brethren
Of the mystic tie. and to serve the craft.
when called upon for service. even as he
was ready to serve his country up to his
dying hour
1T has been with some feeling of
amused contempt that ] have seen il
stated and insisted that Washington was
never Mason, or if ever one, ceased TO
recognize his membership or obligations
Washington never failed to recognize any
obligation from the greatest to the small
est. This was one of the characteristics
OF the man, one OF the characteristics of
every truly great man. one Of the charac-
teristtcs that man derives from God to
whom there is nothing great or small in
whose august vision the fall of the spar
row is observed as well as the wreck of
a world: That Washington was made a
Mason in Fredericksburg Lodge. No. T.
August 4. 175S. no man can deny; /. my
self, have seen the record
First WorshipfuI Master.
"That he was a charter member of
Alexandria Lodge tnow Alexandria-w Wash
ington), No. %, and it's first worshipful
master can be proven by as indsputable
evidence as that he was our first Pres
ident That Lafayette was made Ma
son in his presence is beyond dispute, and
to-day we have here the Masonic regalia
worked by Nine Lafayette, presented 10
Washington by Lafayette himself and ac-
cepted by him as a Mason. And to-day
we have borne the Bible, the jewels. and
the three lights borne by the lodge at his
funeral as a Mason, one hundred years
ago, and I hold in my hand as / speak
the gayel he used when clothed as a
Mason and acting as grand master OF
MasOns he laid the cornerstone of the
Capitol. What he thought of Masonry
can be easily found if any one desires 10
find ii. in his answers to the addresses
OI MdSOnlC lOuBeS IN INlS IDlOH. 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 Massachusetts, TO
their Illustrious Brother George Wash
ington on the 9th day of December, 1897,
the great object OF Masonry is 10 pro-
mote the happiness OF the human race
when he wrote these words there
were not over eight thousand Masons i'm
the United States. To-day there are near
ly eight hundred thousand in this nation
alone, and the ancient boast Of the instf-
tuition is to-day an absolute verify, In
every CLINE Mason may be found
Awaken Sentiment of Nation.
America as yet has built no shrine.
The years have been too few with her 10
enshroud any OF her temples With that
golden mist which glorifes turret and
tower into something sublime. And yet
here Is a place-a grave-where all party
spirit-all sectional jealousy-alI that
should create dissension and distrust ana
contention between the people OF these
States-is awed and abashed into silence,
and at this shrine every American citizen
IS the brother Of every citizen OF America
Oh. that the celebration Of thE anniver-
sary may awaken the sentiment which
sons should feel Al the grave Of a beloved
father. and the children of Washington's
country strive 10 bring back the spirit Of
WashingtOn's day. when Lexington and
Concord. Trenton and Yorktown. saw 10
divided ranks and knew no divided glory. |
1t Is no mistake 10 fittIngly observe at
this place, this day-the day when the |
simple Virginia farmer died with no one !
near but friends and those dearer. when |
EmperOrs die. ministers wait az the door |
Way 10 speed TO the expectant heir. the /
welcome news. Ceremonies. formal cold |
- La. III IL