The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1913-10-09
GRAND MASTER
HONORS LODGE
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they so unjustly condemned. Men who
counted not their lives dear unto them
selves but the humanity might receive
the benefits and helpfu1ness of the
greatest moral institution outside of
the church known to the world. Time
has more than fulfilled their dreams;
the facts and growth Of Masonry have
outrun their faith
Could those good Masonic fathers
who have passed from this scene of &C
tlon now see this night the growth of
the infant institution into which they
breathed life, what picture of hap
p1ness, beauty and satisfaction would
greet them. Their greatest happiness
would consist in seeing their good in
fluences widening out from year to
year, as rivulets widen into rivers, and
shaping the current of history as our
influences for veal or woe shape the
times to come.
Ministry to Highest Life.
One of the most impressive and
touching things in human history is
that certain ideal interests have been
set apart as especially venerated
among all peoples. He who would
reckon the spiritual possibilities of. our
race must take account of the genius
of Masonry and it's ministry to the
highest life of man. The very exist
ence of such a great historic fellow
ship is fact eloquent beyond all
words
More than an institution, more than
tradition, more than a society, Ma
sonry is one of the forms of the di-
vine life upon earth.
On the threshold of the Masonic
lodge every man, whether. prince or
peasant, rich or poor, high or low, is
asked to confess his faith in God the
Father Almighty, the Architect and
Masterbuilder of the world. That is
not mere form of words. To be in
different to God is to be Indifferent to
the greatest of all realities. No hui
man brotherhood that has not it's
foundation in the divine Fatherhood
of God and Brotherhood of Man can
long endure. ..s
Stands For Freedom.
If the Magma Charta demanded
rights which government can grant
Masonry from the first asserted
those inalienable rights of man de-
rived from God the Father of man. And
Masonry will never swerve from its
ancient and eloquent demand for free
dom and equal rights till all men, ev-
erywhere, are free in body, mind and
soul.
And this great principle Of the
equality of all men before the law re-
eeived inspiration in the songs of that
Master Mason, Robert Burns, which
music was heard long before in every
Masonic lodge took new root in the
Declaration of Independence and the
constitution Of this Republic over
whose birth Masonry presided and
with whose growth it has today so
much to do
Planned Tea Party
1t was not an accident that the BOs-
ton Tea Party with it's protest against
taxation without representation was
planned in he Masonic lodge and ex-
ecuted by it's members. Nor should
we forget that the convention which
framed our constitution, with four men
absent, could have been opened in
form as Masonic lodge.
The fathers of this nation inspired
by Masonry dared to assert the divine
right Of man to life, liberty, and the
pursuit Of happiness, to secure which
governments are instituted among
men deriving their just powers from
the consent of the governed"
Ninety years have fled since your
fathers set up their altar of Masonry
in Richmond, kindled its light and fell
asleep, but the principle and purpose
of this ancient order remains.
Obligations Greater.
The forms of beauty into which the
earth is rushing today are not the
forms which greeted their eyes in
1882. Time has swept us onward in
the wave of advance into a new world
with wider horizon. mightier aspira
tions, and greater obligations.
Today 1t is not a question of what
Masonry was centuries ago but the
question is what Is Masonry today?
This world is progressing. All socie-
ties and all institutions must progress
or decline. There is no such thing as
standing still
What Masons Do.
In the individual life we measure
man himself as he is. We should not
ask man who his father was in or
der to know who he Is. The question
is, who is he? Neither can we meas
ure Masonry by the number of ad-
herents but rather measure it by the
quality of its membership. Because
we have $4,000 lodges and million
and quarter Masons in this great
country of ours does not of itself
prove the great good and efficiency
of the order. The question is what
is Masonry doing for mankind? Is the
world growing better by reason of the
existence Of our order? Every true
Mason is a friend to man. He recog
nizes the Fatherhood of God and the
Brotherhood of man. Masonry estab
fishes a bond of social union between