The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1906-08-04

there it found a congenial habitat in
the hearts of the Puritan and in the
hearts of the Cavalier. Both Puritan
and Cavalier with earnest unanimity
declared that "all men are created
equal" The Revolution was the re-
suit of such a declaration, and the
elimination OF the declaration was
The greatest and freest government
that has ever appeared IN the COM
bined plans of genius and construc-
tive craftsmanship. 1t is a historical
fact, my countrymen, that most of
the really great men who participated
in this wonderful drama, were Mas
ons. We can say, on the best or
authority, that every American gen
eral OF the Revolution, except Bene-
dict Arnold, was a Mason. George
( Washington was the first Master of
Alexander Lodge, No. p General
Warren was the first Grand Master
OF Massachusetts, and Paul Riviere
succeeded him as Grand Master. Gen
eral Putnam was the first Grand Mas
/ ter OF Ohio WASHINGTON acted as
/ Master when General Lafayette re-
ceived the degrees. Possibly at this
distant day. we cannot realize the ef-
/ fect the result of the Revolution had
( on the history Of the world When
/ peace was assured, the question then
! with which the Colonies were CON
/ lroutcd was what shall we do with
/ our victory Washington was the
/ then victorious leader of an organic
ed victorious army He was FIRST in
war and first in the hearts OF his
cOuutrymcn,' and it remained to be
/ seen whether or not he would be
FIRST i'm peace. No matter what his
ambition may have been. he was con
/ fronted by the lesson he had heard
time and time again in his Masonic
! Lodge. He believed in the Father
/ hood Of God and the brotherhood Of
man He knew if all men were his
/ brethren, he, the stronger, must be
come the servant Of the weak. and
thus. by following his Masonic train
ing, Washington became first III
/ peace. He is indeed, and in truth,
"the Father Of his country and un-
til love Of home and country shall be
lost, he will remain the personihed
ideal of Amerian patriotism. From
! the date Of the Inauguration of this
worthy Mason as the first President
Of this great Republic. to this
good day. this Fatherland Of
ours, through sunshine and shadow,
amid the clash and carnage of inter
{ w
not discuss, has continued in its on
ward course.
The practical question we Will now
consider Is, have we lost the truth,
and do we reed ii uow ? And in re
. sponse to this inquiry, I want to as
jsert with all the earnestness OF abso-
lutte conviction, that if this govern
nent is ever destroyed, it will be by
a foreign enemy. There is no nation
on earth strong enough, ard close
enough to our shores to give Us
trouble. The destruction of our Re
public, If 1t ever comes, and God
grant that this may never be, must
come from enemies within, and not
from enemies from without These
enemies from within who would
cause the destruction OF this govern
ment of the people, for the people
and by the people, which is so dear
to every patriotic American citizen,
are of two distinctive classes, both
reaching after the same result, but
reasoning and acting differently. The
first. are those who deny the maj jor
premise OF this argument they do
not believe in the Fatherhood of God
they do not admit that all men are
their brethren. These are the soulless
humanity must make place for greed
and avarice in the name of material
development. and in the interest of
the system, they attempt to debauch
the electorate, and to corrupt the
| 1aw-maker. They even sometime )
contaminate the sacred precincts of
the judiciary Men and women, with
them. are but instruments of theiI
greed Government is but weapon
used for the consumation of their
avaricious designs. The power and
disastrous influence of this class, con-
strained the distinguished Senator
from Texas, a native of this beauti-
full county, in an irnpassioned preora-
ton to a great speech recently de-
livered irr the United States Senate,
to say Il would look for a new day
of justice instead of hate an era
when men ought to be judged by how
they act and what they think, rather
than by what they have when in
tellect and not fortune, should be
the measure of our estimate, and
when an honest fame should be the
goal towards which our ambitious
youth are taught to toll and hope.
Of course, am not SO simple mind
ed as to dream that the old days OF
small fortunes and great contentment
will ever come again to bless the
land
! The other class is the demagogue
| He admits the premises, and he does
not deny the conclusion of the argu-
ment but he uses the truth for his
own personal agrandizement and his
individual gain. He tunes his harp
to suit the ear of any one and of
every one whom he can make ser
want TO his filthy designs. He is the
Judas Iscariot of American politics.
He occupies the same relative posi-
ton to the first class, that the sneak
thief does to the bold highwayman.
He seeks fortune and position by de-
hauching the electorate, and by be-
traying his trust. Against either OF
which classes, there seems to be no
law except the righteous indignation
of an educated public conscience
therefore, if we love our Fatherland,
if we desire to reserve our institu-
tions, we must take up the old truth,
the foundation stone of Free Mason
i Continued on fourth page.)