The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-02-12

gone on to power and to glory; they have fallen to be buried beneath the dust and ashes of ages, and upon their ruins and from them has been build ed a greater and more glorious em- pire. Tt is the repetition of present life.
 Mans Powers.
 However far back we may go, we hEi that man possessed the same powers of thought as he now pos sesses, and that savagery and bar barism were no more characteristic of human society than they are today. Even the Bible hints at this, when either recording an historical fact or a tradition, 1t states that Cain went into the land of punishment and build ed a city. And that his son, Jubal, became a musician, playing on the harp and organ, while TubaI Cain, another son, became a manufacturer of articles of brass and iron. In the complex society of the ancient world there were practically the same prob lems as now. The conflict between master and laborer is as old as the race. Labor unions were as necessary to labor. In the time of the building of the pyramids all trades and occu- pations were organized into guilds for mutual protection and advantage, as :he hieroglyphics show. And there Is no doubt but that such a guild of ma sons was employed in the construction of King Solomon's temple, with their app CAAL4CCSs pdA L4dlly pSGACCN- ed Workmen,- and masters of the trade under whom they worked, in which period 1t received its Judaistic inn press.
 Tn Ancient Guilds.
 ''In the ancient guilds we find reli- zion ineerwoven with their guild life. There were special gods "or each craft. This meeting place was not only a place where they met to dis cusS measures for the conserving of thRiF r17aTRTf91 iOfaraGTG hITF fhair pie, where they together gave utter ance to their religious aspirations in ritual aboCnding in the symbols of their special toll. Some condition of society must have been responsible for that.
 'In a work entitled, The Ancient LoNly.' the author gives us the reason slaves and descendants of slaves were not regarded by the ruling and aristo- cratic class as having souls and inn mortality. Practically all who toiled with their hands were slaves or de- scendants of slaves.
 There was no national religion which included all classes save among the Jews. The gods of the aristoc- racy were not thought of in connec- ton with the toiling multitude They asserted their own immortality, and had gods of their own, a Ieligion of their own, in which they found the satisfaction which their spiritual na- ture craved.
 
 There are three reasons which justify a belief that modern masonry is organically connected with the an- cient craft masonry: First, if masonry originated among the aristocratic and educated classes in any age, it would be inconsistent with the practical con tempt n which they held such an occupation in all early ages Second. the form of it's organization and the connS-tion of religion with masonry, too, closely answers need of the toil- ing world, whose actual conditions were not known to the modern scholar until a few years ago. Third, The atmosphere of its ritual, the per- lection of its symbolism, the natural ness of it's dramatic developments, are too perfect to have originated save practical experience; nor could 1t have been the product of an age or set of persons. It could only be the product of many minds and centuries-an evolution-the threads of whose lives link together past and present. And, l may add, the most striking proof of it's antiquity is that it is not Chris tian, but Judaistic, which would not this side of the reign of Constantine. Truly, we may well take pride in this most Ancient Order of Free and Ac- cepted Masons.
 Retains FraternaI Moral.
 Modern masonry, though it is not operative, retains the fraternal, moral and spiritual purpose of the ancient. It is no longer regarded as a substi- tute for the church. The spirit of democratcy created by the Carpenter of Nazareth has brushed from the heavens the special gods of the labor world. And today rich and poor, strong and weak look up to the one God, and, though with stammering lips, they pray, Our Father, Which art in heaven" It is by all it's tra- ditions, by all it's principles and teach ings, a religious institution, and with an avowedly religious object It Is that or its existence is blasphemy. It bases itself upon the Holy Word, de- claring 1t to be the rule of life and faith for men. It stands for the being of God, and for our relation with Him, through obedience, prayer, com munion. Nay. more-it teaches our accountability to Him for our work manShip, and the immortality of the soul through the grace of His love. That Is its spirit and spirituality.
 One Criticism.
 Great as is the good that is being accomplished now through masonry, there is one criticism which may be justly passed, not upon it as an insti- tuition, but upon us as its opponents. We do not take it seriously enough. To too many it is toy. a plaything for amusem ent; the lodgerOom but a club, and it's work and ritual but pre- served for their historic and dramatic interest. Therefore, neither is it the benefit to us that it should be. nor does masonry have that prestige that it ought to, and would have in the world.
 Tt should be understood by those who are to. be initiated into the fra ternity that the initiation is distinc- lively a religious service. and that in it he is pledged real fellowship, and aid in the attainment of those moral ideals and that spiritual life for which masonry stands. There is no legiti- mate motive for seeking admission into the order but the desire for such benefits; and it is with like motives and with a religious spirit in the sol emn ceremonies and in the hearts of those who engaged in the ritual he should be received. Insincerity in masonry is no less hypocrisy than in Christianity.
 Three Questions.
 There are three questions which we may well ask on this occasion, for it is well for us now and then to re- fresh our minds as to our masonic duties and obligations, and see anew the vision of moral and spiritual life