The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-01-19
Iadies. FelIowcltizons.

Ladies. FeiloWcltiz'h1.
MANY wears ago. an eminent STAT
man. standing on the portIco Oh o1t
imposing state Capitol. uSed '
fcIicitous thought and III "
ginning his great Grafton -
a long cherished desire 81 iMf
! heart is this day accomplished We
are in the completed Tempo "t',"
we dedicate to Masonry. to virtue -
Universal B~eneVo3enee.
ann commissioned 10y your ac'I'"-
tied committees who have rpuIH
his enterprise to it's completion, -
present this magnificent structure ~
the Grand Lodge OF North tdf'4l'"
1t IS Impressed with those SacIg4
trusts heretofore imposed upon H. tH1
discharge of its debt, and the dtNotI'L
Of its net revenues to the b~eneVoIfA'
work of u Institution. NJ! BfeIhI'"
Behold your Temple
The building of this Temple mao iS
genesis in a modest resolution o. f"7l
Grand Master w. r. Cox, moved, am"
carried unanimously in the cloSih7
day of Grand Master B.. ;. ItoySLtI >
most progressive administrator. mat
resolution at our annual communlca-
ton in 1902 was the germ of thlS
structure, an ornament to our capltal
city: the perfection Of the builder :
art: a credit to our Institution.
1t would be OF interest to trace each
step in the planning, and constructing
this work. Time Will not permit me 70
do 50. Temples are not built IN al
DAY. My brethren, in all the dellcal'
and complex and VeNing work OF inns
enterprise your committee has never
faltered. 1t has known that what IL
cid would be approved by you 70
them. this Grand Lodge and Fraterhi-
" owe a large debt. Their labofs
| have been most valuable. They nave
been without financial reward. IhcN
have been freely given.
We are told in the sacred narrative
that IN the fourth year was the foun-
dation Of the house of the Lord lana
IN the month of Zif: and in n
eleventh year, in the month OF Bul'
which is the eighth month. was the
house finished in all of the parts there
of, and according to all the fashion
of it. So he was seven years IN
building it." | would not. OF course,
our modest work with that
~stupendous structure. but 1t IS q
pleasant coincidence that dating from
| the time the Grand Lodge entered
upon this enterprise to the hour when
we present it in its completeness, seven
years have passed. So We were seven
| years in building it.
Brethren. might content myself
Win JIllS u lIIt IL ''N
cannot forbear to stress some Of the
thoughts this incident crowds upon
our minds. one hundred and thirty
eight years have passed since the m
dependent lodges in North Carolina pe-
came subordinate to one Grand JuriS-
diction. I risk nothing in saying n a
Masonry has changed but little i'm that
long period. It's foundation still re-
mains unaltcred. 1t may have broad
,,.1 l., oil nfbl1s JnCltnntC what
changes times has brought, In every
relation Of life what change man has
undergone, His home, then the abode
of hardship and dangers, is now the
scene of comfort and security. His
| church,. then the altar OF WreStiln@
| prayer and unQueSitOned faith, is now
too often the pulpit of sensations and
numbcrless tongues and many ques-
tionable methods, but still the worlds
spiritual harbor. His school, then bat
Il log hut, with its hard and fast
rules, and its frequent ferule, is now
| suDplanted by every method that may
guide youth to heights Of useful
knowledge. His farm, then the scene
of unintelIectuaI effort and unskilled
labor, is now the busy ana profitable
field of trained HAND and head, re
sultfng in scientific cultivation. His
mode of conveyance. then 4 vehicle
drawn by the stolid OK NC almost
impossible roads, has yielded to the
automobile on macadam roads, to the
elegant Pullman, to the a~eroplane.
His means of communication with his
neighbOr. no more than fifty miles
distant, was tOilSOme and infreQucnt;
now he rings up his friends in Chicago
and Marconi stands upon the sea girt
shore of our State and whispers across
the Atlantic and ~cOnVerSeS with the
jewellers on the isles of the sea. His
newspaper, then seldom appearing,
with scholarly dissertations on philo-
s0Dhy and che form of government,
now appears every half hour and is
delivered at the most remote rural
point. giving the worlds news, from
the doings in the ancient Capital Of
Bagdad, to a narrative in detail Of the
billing of the widest and most feroci-
Gus lions by our retired President in
Uganda wilds. His light. then but q
tallow dip wound round an empty
bottle, or more frequently a pine knot
whose mellow radiance lit men to
fame. las surrendered to the arc light
and i~ncandescent burner whose bril-
liant rays light the darkness Of the
midnight seas enabling a ships cap
tain to discern an iceberg miles away
and to carry his human freight safer
than one can walk along the streets
of a crowded city.
In all things else change, but here
there is no change. The bedrock
principles of Free Masonry are the
same today as they We're when Grand
Mister
Which was the honder of the world
architecture. inc with the coming
ages man will continue to change. in
his home, in his church, in his school,
in his farm, in his mode of locomotion
and communication, in his light. As
his changes in the past have drawn
the world closer to our teachings. so
we believe that his future changes
Will tend 10 place him in all things
upon the eternal foundation stone Of
our institution, the very bed rock of
humanity-'To do good, to somebody
somewhere"
Masonry has been declared to he .
union of all unions; an association Of
men bound together in thu struuole
10 ATTAIN all that is noble: who desire
only what IS true and beautiful who
love and practice virtue. for its ov,,
sake. Ihis is Free MasOnrv-thr most
comprehensive of all ~confederacias In
all ages, n all eras, in all periods +bie
ASSOCIATION has tended t. break dow
lhe barriers of social a|ntipathz. tand-
co TO q sense of unity amons ,nnn
an" paved the way for a fust annrn-
CldtlDn of an .nl;,I,- f