Arizona republican., 1907-10-23
TWO NOTABLE
 ADDRESSES
Delivered In Prescott Last
 Saturday
Speeches of E. w. Wells and Leroy Anderson at Laying of Corner Stone.

ner stone of the Masonic temple at Prescott Saturday. october 1s, was published in these columns and men, tion was made of the addresses deliv- cred by Hon F.. w. Wells and Hon. Lero Anderson of Prescott. The Re- publican is now privileged to present herewith the two addresses in full. Judge Wells said:
 Most Worshipful Grand Master Sir Knights and Brethren of the Mystic Tie:
 The charm which encireles the An cient Order of Free and Accepted Ma sons, is not alone in teaching and practicing benevolence, charity, faith and hope in the great future which with its changes continually advances upon us, but because its principle was a leading factor in the early brother hood of man and its roots so deeply imbedded in the purity of his fraternal association and fellowship that its ten ants are come down through the ages unsullied, unadulterated and undefiled.
 Beyond question, Masonry is the most remarkable social association or organization in the world. Its origin is enveloped in mystery. The antiquity of the venerable order whose records were and had been musty with age even before the Pyramids Were built is well and authentically established.
 It is believed by learned and accom- plished Masons, well versed inMasonic history, that Masonry existed and flourished before the flood and that af- ter the waters had subsided it was re- established and remodeled by Noah. Shem. Ham and Jeptha; that rooms were set apart in the very Tower of Babel for fraternal purposes and the performance of Masonic rites. and that upon the destruction of that edifice the dispersed people carried those rites into the various sections of the world
 From emblems and characters dis cerned in the recesses of the Pyramids, it is quite evident that Masonic rites were celebrated there
 Among Masonic writers a consider able difference of opinion exists as to the possible origin of Masonry in the remote ages of the past.
 Some assert that the history of the race was the story of Masonry, be- ginning with the migration from the Garden of Eden; others that it sprang from the patriarchial period that the society was the successor of the an cient mysteries of the orient: that the Crusaders and Knights Templars car ried it forward from their times; that artificers and builders of the middle ages handed down the craft to poster ity; that the temple of Solomon was the cradle; that it has had a being ever since symmetry began, and har- har oh each tracing some feature, symbol or legend into his theory of Masonic an- tiquity.
 In the mysterious and imposing cer- emonies of the Order of Isis-its prin- cipal seat being at Memphis in the valley of the Nile and in the shadow of the great Cheops-trhough which only the most zealous and ardent can didates could pass, the tenets, cere- monies and symbolic teaching of the speculative Masonry of today is rec ognized. The tragedy of the death of Osiris was impressively dramatized and represented-his death, the long research for his body. its discovery and the resurrection. The tragedy of Osiris is the tragedy of every master mason.
 The historian Heroditus informs us that these wonderful mysteries and imposing ceremonies of Isis made their appearance simultaneously with the organization of Egyptian society and early Egyptian civilization.
 This was at a time far in the early past. Measuring back from the Chris tian era, Egypt had twice been in bar barism, and at the commencement of Bible history was then in state of semi -barbarism
 Egypt has always been considered the birthplace of the mysteries It was there where the ceremonies of initia- ton was first installed. There Is where truth yelled in allegory. and the dogmas of religion were first imparted under symbolic forms. From there the science of symbolism was dissemnat- ed into Europe and Asia and thence to the other parts of the world. Egypt is the mother of civilization and was the home of wisdom and art when Greece. Rome and other mighty na- tions were unsung. unheard of.
 To Egypt therefore Masons look with singular interest as the cradle of the mysterious system of symbolism whose peculiar mode of teaching they alone of all the modern organizations pre- serve to the present day.
 Leading down through by-gone ages the trail of the mystic tie is blazed with convincing clearness.
 Late excavations under the modern Jerusalem disclose monuments of the old city in Nthe various periods of it's history. Portions of the massive ma sorry were uncovered. Above these were found fragments of the work of Zerubabel. On high historic stratum were specimens of the work of the age of Hefod the Great, while above all these and beneath the present city are remains of the constructive toll order ed by Justinian.
 Among the ruins of Solomon's tenn ple. built 1912 years before the Chris tian era- were uncovered discoveries highly interesting to the Masonic fra ternity. On the stone work of the structure were plainly visible a great number of marks thought to be the initials of marks of the craftsmen, and were supposed to have been put upon each block by the workman at the quarry, for no sound of hammer or gavel or tool of iron was heard in the building of the temple. Other letter