New Britain herald., 1915-12-06
huaI Memorial Exercises
 Vew Britain Lodge of Elks
Essive Services Carried Out in Lodge Roonl-Prin- cipal Speaker Is Attorney Edward B.
 x1@ O'Brien of Lynn Mass.

know that the sins which are forgot
 ten here are forgiven over there.
 Life is infinite. Governments, in- l stitutions and fraternities are finite.
 The great nations of Europe are in
 state of disorder and decay. Millions
 of human beings are being offered up
 in sacrifice on the altar of greed and
 selfshness. Peace is reigning in our
 country and our flag is a beacon light , of hope and comfort to the poor and 1 oppressed of every race.
 ! How soon your work will be com
 p1eted, how soon your order will have
 given to future generations a motto
 which time can never efface. With
 every final roll call tablet is added
 to the monument of upright manhood
 and the sand is scattered at it's base.
 As this monument rears itself on high 1 so does it raise the standard of 1 human life.
 1 To-day tn bright genius of Elkdom
 clad in habiliments of sorrow stands
 like Niobe, all in tears, voiceless in
 her woe, over the loss of her chil-
 dren
 , From the tragic day that our parent pair bent in bitter anguish l over the lifeless form of their beloved ! second born, and realizing then and there for the first time that death by
 transgression was abroad in the in
 fant world, there has been in all sub
 sequent ages, and among all races of 1 men, an lnstinctive reverence for the i dead; and this hallowed custom of our noble order of fixing an annual day for paying loving tributes to the 1 memory of our loved ones who have | gone from us, meets with the ap-
 proval of our consciousness, and in- { spires better resolves in the hearts ! of those of us who remain
 Every instinct of our nature per- l sistently protests against the thought of passing the memory of our fellow mortals and being consigned to dumb forgetfulness; hence the monumental shaft, the storied urn, the stately mausoleum. While these in some degree, with cold formality perpetu- ate the emOries of those of whom we have been bereft, how much 1, sweeter the thought of being em- balmed in the tears of affection, and l having our abode in that incompar- 1 able sanctuary, the living heart of a l 1 loving friendship.
 Tt is in harmony with this senti- l 1 ment that we are here to give espe- 1 | cial thought to our beloved ones, 1 who have gone to their eternal re- ; ward, and let the mind reverent in 1 mood, wander back to the recent or remote past, and with the eye and
 ear of memory, hear the tender voices
 and see once again the loved forms
 of those, dear to us in life and dearer
 still in death, recall the happy hours
 spent with them, their loyalty to
 friendship, their noble impulses, their
 smiles, their deeds of good and req lize as a truth that
 When a good man dies,
 For years beyond our ken The light he leaves behind him Rest upon the path of men.
 '"They are dead and yet they live. 1 Over the bridge which spans the
 abyss between time and eternity, and
 which rest upon the magic chain of
 memory they come back to us, not
 in grave clothes or mantles marred
 with blemish. Purged of imperfec-
 tions, they return to us in all the
 grandeur of perfected manhood. All
 that was noble, all that was beautiful,
 and all that was inspiring in their
 lives, comes with them to exert an uplifting influence and point up to i higher ideals of life and living. They have come to await our coming; We do not believe them dead And the answer to all our summing , Is, they're just gone on ahead. They fought a good fight; they kept the faith; they ran the course, . and my unalterable conviction is that , , when the sun of this existence set for them forever, their eyes were 5 gladdened by The golden dawning of the grander day.
 , We are told to be meek; to carry L our cross without murmur, witho out . complaint, when the loved ones leave z us Btu oh, how the heart cries out, . for in all our language the most tear :. ing, rendering words are: Earth to Earth-AsheS to Ashes-Dust to z Dust; but the praises of those who . sleep in earth, the pleasant memory t of their worth, the hope to meet when = life is past, shall heal the tortured , mind at last
 -r Believing that our loved ones are s safe with Him who does all thing: well, I am moved to ask How fares ', it with you, my brothers living?' ' "A brilliant philosophic writes ha. o truly said: No lips touched witl - the fire of genius can so solemnize u 0 to sense of duty so plead for th' a right, so admonish us of the vanity O P human existence, as the duHp cof' . | lips of the dead
 ts "Therefore aside from the poeti s- sentimental beauty of this memoria ", custom of ours, there should of neces
 sity arise from it's observance prac SIS tical benefit to those of us who stil a remain, for in an hour like this, whel ve the heart is stirred by sympatheti IT emotions, and tender thoughts occup w our minds when eIevating ennoblin re sentiments are spoken and beaut1fu