Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-06-30
CONGRESSMAN Hooe's

Followig is tn address of Hon, Her.
chel NJ Hogg at the San Juan Masonic
Association meeting at Mancos Friday
night OF last week. 1t will be found
very interesting by all our readers,
especially the members OF the order:
Usually men are proud of their an
cestry, and It's well. Not that ances-
Try is all, it is something. There Is a
strain in blood that tells, yet that
strain may fail Many a man belongs
TO great family. and many one
without great family name accom-
plishes things To have done some
thing is a great thing. but 1t is better
to be doing things now, and it is also
a matter OF concern thai we give prom
lse of accomplishing in the future.
It is related of Dr. Samuel Johnson
that when he proposed to the widow
she was reluctant to accept for the
reason that some of her people had
been hung. Never mind, said the
doctor, many of mine ought to be-
And SO We find it when we trace
back the family tree We may find n
great name or we may find a criminal.
II is the good and the bad that make
ND the sum of living We are apt TO
find the same thing ia ourselves. In
fact, we are all but sure to do so. We
take lne and people and things as we
find them, and make much or little Of
them as it may happen or we intend.
There is gradual changing. develop
ing, becoming, 1t IL almost insenslble.
We watch with pleasure the unfold
ing flower We see the swelling bud
and the full-blown flower We cannot
see the change, but 1t Is done. We are
full of buoyancy we are young. We
note no change till at last we lag
we have become old--and then, we
have come to shore We slip out
of the past, the sun Is on our backs
and our shadows are in front Of us.
We project ourselves into the future.
Governments and institutions run
much the same course We were a
people few in number. but with large
opportunity and high purpose. The
time came, A nation was born. From
that day to this. change has come In
every way; then few volunteer sol
diers-now paid army; then we hoy
cred near the seashore-now we
stretch to the other side, and over the
seas a mighty people. And at the next
awakening who can say hut that the
man on horseback and the armed force
VIII not be here?
And so OF Masonry. 1t Is more than
an organization. 1t is an institution. 1t
mas its ancestry. Just how far back this
that 1t is very essential how far back
ii goes Sometimes age is a hindrance
We all know, or soon will know, how
true this is. But to be Old is some
times to be venerable. 1t depends on
what has been done and lived and
suffered. II along the line there has
been helpfulness and hope and en-
couragement to others. then 1t is well.
II. on the other hand. there has been
coldness, selfshness and greed, then
IL is ILL., | will not say much OF the
great age of Masonry. Whether ii
had much or anything to do with the
great Temple. We will leave 10 the
more curious. Much time and re.
search has been made to establish this
claim. but think with Indifferent re.
suits. We do know 1t has been for
several centuries We do know that
its mysteries have been the study OF
the great and good for many genera
tions.
Not long since ! sat in the chair
once occupied by Washington as the
master of his lodge. And | felt the
honor of the moment-the pride of an
cestry and great name. The lmple-
ments of that great craftsman were
there. and thought of his work and
his way of the nation he had found
cd, and the pleased heritage that ~
ours through him and through others;
of the world-names so closely related
to the Revolution, and with our insu.
tuition; of La Fayette and Franklin and
other mighty men; and then in the
great Civil War most of the leaders
ON both sides were patrons Of our art
1t may seem strange that such should
be the case, yet when we consider that
there were honest patriotic men on
both sides In that great struggle, that
Zach were willing to sacrifice their lives
for what they thought 10 be right;
hat it was brave. open. manly battle,
We can easily imagine that such a con
lition was wholly reconcllable with
he principles of the order, But 1t
= not so much who have belonged TO
he order is 1t is what the order has
that should engage our
attention. AS | have said, II is an in
iitution father than an order. II is
mong men as part of society-not
of society, but existing
n II.
That II has existed for so long Is
roof that IL meets requirement In |
fe. Governments have come and
one since II was founded, IL remains /
and immovable. Religions
ave changed since Masonry began
ew thought has revolutionized the
orId, still 1t remains. That this Is so
because at the basis of all govern
ent. of all true religion. we hnd the
,horhood of God and the brotherhood