The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-06-09
'MASONS PAY HONOR TODEAD Burial of Grand Master
 Matthews. HE SLEEPS AT 0AKW00D Great Throng of People Hear Inn
 pressive Services. Wealth of Flower. Heaped High Upon Grave which Marks Last Resting
 Place of Montgomery Citisen.

With the full honors due to his ofiic, ! the body of Henry H. Matthews, Mos l worshipful Grand Master of Masonr. of Alabama, was buried yesterday 1T | Oakwood Cemetery.
 We cherish his spirit here" said hi brother Masons in chorus, command 1t to the Spirit who gave it. and con- | sign 1t to the grave"
 | Silently and with reverent gaze, tn, | officers of the Grand Lodge of Alaba ma. and more than one hundred other
 Masons who had followed the body oi l their dead leader to its resting place walked past the grave. In the hand o l b1em of the faith and Immortality oi | the soul. Gently each dropped the lit | tie shrub upon the casket as he passed l tokens of the regard of his brothers | which will last through all time. l Today these sprigs, confined within | the sealed vault of the tomb. retain | their freshness. Tomorrow 1t will be | the same. A hundred years from now l when those who dropped them there have all departed. these little twigs of evergreen will still remain hidder l in the darkness of the grave. fresh smiling and verdant as yesterday, ever as the memory of him whose coffin | they deck will remain in the recollec' tion of his brothers in the rolls of Ma sonry.
 Flowers Heaped on Grave. Flowers, fashioned after the symbols of the order were heaped upon tht grave of the dead commander. High over the sealed top of the tomb they were placed. Then, gathering on eith- CT side, guards of Knights Templal crossed swords above the floral monu- ment, uncovered their heads, while tho acting prelate of the Grand Lodge re- cited the simple benediction of the Ma sonic dead. Reluctantly. 1t seemed, th' swords were sheathed. Following th' custom handed down from the days oi | the Crusades, the guards turned to the East and left the body of the dead alone.
 | Never perhaps. in the history of Ma sorry in Alabama, has there been a more impressive ceremony than that | which attended the funeral services oi Henry H. Matthews yesterday. A man who had done much for the spread oi | the interests of the order, loved by | thousands throughout the State who called him brother. he had been honor I ed in life as few men are honored Eighteen thousand of the flower oi manhood in Alabama, had hailed him al I their chief; more than 440 lodges in the l State pay allegiance to the Crane Lodge of which he was the head. A I his death, therefore, 1t was fitting tha | they should show their appreciation O | his life. That he died while at thu | head of the great fraternal organiza 1 ton but added to the respect whicl | they showed to his memory.
 In the library of the Masonic Temple, where the body of the Most Worshipful Grand Master had laid over night, hung ! the portraits of other Grand Masters | who had gone before. Among them were many whose names are rated high I in the history of the State. From one frame looked the face of Francis L. Pettus. once Speaker of the House of Representatives of the State of Ala bama From another was the like ness of Henry Clay Tompkins. one time Attorney General of the State.
 There were also the likenesses of Judge William P. Chiffon, of Henry H. Brown; there were H. Clay Armstrong and Dr.
 Joseph J. Johnson. Others were Judge
 James McCaleb Wiley. Sterling A.
 Wood. William c. Penick and David Clopton.
 others there were enshrined upon the wall as in the hearts of their fellow brothers. Their portraits made a com plete circle about the sides of the room. Another Portrait To Be Added. As the services of the funeral were read it seemed as though those who had preceded Henry Matthews in ofice and in death, were looking forward in well
 come to the brother who had left this earth to join their ranks Tomorrow.
 or the next day. or the day after per
 haps. another portrait will be added
 to the collection oe Past Grand Mas
 ters. The dead of yesterday will be
 numbered with the dead of former
 years. But more rapid than the hand
 of man the Hand of a Higher Power
 has acted and the Spirit of him whose
 likeness will be enshrined. has already
 mingled with the spirits of those who
 have gone before.
 Some time before the hour set for
 the funeral services, those who paid
 honor to the dead began to gather in the Masonic Temple, where the funeral services were held. Men and women who had known Henry Matthews in so- cial and official life, members of his church, intimate friends of years stand ing, these came to the coffin side to take their last look at the face of the dead, and to hear the words of conse- cration.
 In the centre of the library rested the casket. Four Knights of the Temple stood silent guard at the corners of the cofin Upon tho bier. strewn gent ly. law the insignia of Masonry. the white plumed chapeau, the white rib-
 bon of the Scottish Rites, and the green ribbon with the red cross At the foot rested a simple cluster of blue
 sweet-peas. Heaped about the casket were of- ferings from the different fraternal or ders of which the dead man was a
 member. Designs, costly and beautiful,