The Cairo bulletin., 1906-12-03
LARGE AUDIENCE ATTENDS
ELKS' MEMORIAL SERVICE
Everett {. Denison Well Known Attorney of Ma
rion Was Orator of the Day--BeautifuI
and Impressive Exercises

tauu puDllSueN tue DeCldl dtlOl ~ i~Ab
erty and Of Independence And %
those who wrote Il and to those who
died that it might not be erased, the
| Fourth Of July is a memorial where,
lever the flag OF our country floats.
In 1861 The whole country was
lstuaned by the news that the hand OF
rebellion the hand Of secession had
| been raised against our flag And the
Iominous booming Of the guns at Fort
iSumpter was heard in the forest
depths OF the north the Angels Of
Mercy and Peace again flew over us.
And since then on Decoration days,
North and South alike, with uncoy.
cred heads ana hearts bowed down,
we march forth as a memorial TO deco
rate with flowers the graves Of these
in their robings OF glory and those
in the gloom Of defeat
And so it is, and ever has been in
Ithe secular and social associations Of
life. | know not how 10 explain or
| interpret this universal trait of hui
man nature unless it be the uncon-
| Iscious answer of History to the cease
less yearaing OF the living TO com
Imune with spirits of the dead telling
us that it can only be through the
channel Of memory.
And SO this day has ben chosen to
honor the memory OF our fallen broth
er Elks. Our time shall have been
wholly lost if we do not take the
fright view of matters and appreciate
the rial purpose of memorial services.
All over this world of our where
lever civilized men dwell, fraternities
have been born, have grown, and have
pread until their membership, un-
limited by race or cline. have enc!r-
cled the globe. and their benedictions
have reached into nearly half the
homes of enlightened men.
The growth Of our own order has
been wonderful, and her progress dur
ing the past years ought 10 bring
cheer TO the heart of every loyal Elk.
Why was it hat In the earliest
times men entered into secret fratern-
al relations with cne another? And
why is 1t that fraternalsm has fol
lowed so closely in the path of pro-
gres3 and Of worldly prosperity?
It is because Of mans inhumanity
to man; and mans inhumanity to man
is the result Of the selGshness Of hui.
man nature You may not agree with
me. but 7 believe that the greatest
evil that ever has existed or ever viii
lexist among men. is selfshne S. Il is
1.-The ancestral evil the parent of them
all. II is the part of our nature that
proves our kinship with the lower
Ianimal life
All ihe wars whose records make
Iup the red pages OF the worlds his.
tory had their inception in human
-elfshness. all the crime of onr Grim
inal code and the wrongs of our NOR
al code have their origin ia this be
setting evil
! Wherever the path Of the cOnqueror
has led wherever freedom has been
Icrushed wherever the fires Of human
ID be.ty have been smo-hered selfish
mess has been the cause. And where.
ever crime, have been committed
| wherever he poor have starved and
class arrayed against class. where
lever the sick have been neglected
wherever cruelty has ,.igned. and
- tho secredness and chastity of the
home have been violated. there hu-
man selfshnes has had iis sway.
II g. the disease cf human nature
and have always believed that ma
ure plants the seed of a remedy
. . wherever a maladv is found 10 exist
I believe. my friends. that fraterni.
tics are but MAI res means Of over.
coming human selhshness Of stopping
mans inhumanity TO man believe
- that in the plan Of nature. human
intelligence shall expend as he years
20 hv that human lie hall grow bet
ter. that charity shall replace selfish
moss thai sin and suffering shall de
crease. and happiness and good cheer
shall increase among mon. az Tcnny
son evnresses it,
. y doubt not through al the ages
& O-e increasing purpose runs.
{ And the houehts Of men are
WidoneH
With the process Of the suns"
r And 7 believe that Fraternalism J.
] the handmade Of relie' e'0n. and the tw'
together are the means by which err
{ ing human nature shali be purified
! n this is true. my brothers, OF