Слике страница
PDF
ePub

"It is in the Bible alone that the Mason is fully instructed in all the great duties which he owes to his brethren and to his fellow-man, as well as in those duties which he owes to himself and to his Maker, the Great Architect of the Universe, and the Grand Master of that Celestial Lodge above, in which every true Mason hopes, at a future day, to hold an unquestioned seat. The Bible instructs us in that grand civilization which consists in subduing and controlling the passions, in cultivating the social virtues, and in regarding the rights of others as commensurate with our own. Nowhere else do we find that great precept of true charity and benevolence, to do unto others as we would that they should do unto us in like circumstances, urged upon our attention as an absolute and binding duty.

66

By a careful and diligent study of the Scriptures, the statesiman, the scholar and the Mason, as well as the Christian, will .find himself a much wiser, if not a better man. I hope and ¡trust, therefore, that this great light of Masonry, which exceeds all other books in the weight of its authority, and in the extent of its usefulness, which has successfully withstood the gross sarcasms of a Paine, and the more refined wit of a Voltaire, as well as the separate and combined attacks of a host of others, many of whom probably have but seldom examined its inspired pages, will not only be found in every Lodge, where its presence is always indispensable, but that it will also be found and studied at the social .fireside of every member of the Fraternity, and that each and every one of us, and every true Mason, may thereby, with the assistance of Divine grace, be made wise unto salvation."

ADDRESS TO MASONS OF FRANCE AND GERMANY.

BY THE GRAND LODGE OF BELGIUM.

FRANCE when Lamartine thus spoke in thy name to the na'tions of the earth, who would have thought that the glory of the first Empire, for which thou had'st suffered so much, would, after thirty years of peace, lead thee to desire its repetition, and place thyself where it might again overpower thee, and not only paralyze liberty, but endanger thy fatherland?

But thou shall yet recover from the misfortunes into which the new Caesar has thrown three,and thine honor shall be again confided to thine own keeping.

ADDRESS TO THE MASONS OF FRANCE AND GERMANY.

ΙΟΙ

Had peace continued, thou would'st have acquired thy rights, one by one One month of war has given them to thee, but an immense sacrifice. But, however great the price, thou canst not too dearly purchase the end of a system of government which had its origin in an 18th Brumaine, or a 2d of December, and whose end is marked by a Waterloo, or a Sedan. That thou hast cut thyself loose from the past is thy great victory, thy greatest victory, far preferable to any conquest won upon the field of battle. Thou art not conquered, but thy defeat has set thee free, and the fact of freedom far outweighs the fact of defeat. It is now the right of the people of 1789, 1830 and 1848, to contemplate, in the clear light of truth, their future responsibilities, and dissolve all connection with that form of government which against their will and regardless of their interests, has made the military profession everything, and the acts of peace nothing. They cannot too solemnly adjure this lust of warlike glory, which is death to liberty.

But it is thy duty, for the sake of Europe, thy mother, and Germany thy sister, to take upon thyself the responsibility of errors committed in thy name. Το pay the penalty of such errors is called, in the language of duty, to give satisfaction. To free a land from both despotism and invasion, men are not unwilling to sacrifice all else, if only their honor remains unsullied.

Peace, therefore! Peace! and thou canst not purchase peace too dearly, if peace signifies the actual banishment of military genius.

Peace! Peace! and if peace is dependent upon the destruction of a few fortresses, take thy ax in thine own hand, and lay waste the works of thine oppressor. Thy true defences must be found in an enlightened and free people.

Peace! and if the fortunes of war make yet heavier demands upon thee, may liberty give thee strength for more noble undertakings. Their own earnest longing furnishes thee an example; disclaim the territory given thee by the force of a plebiscitum, whose sacrifice thou hast been for eighteen years.

Disarm conquest, by restoring to Garibaldi his country, and become truly great by retiring within those boundaries which satisfied the France of 1830 and 1848. The peace which Europe and the world requires,which triumphant Germany and freed France needs,is a frank unarmed peace, a peace which is something more than an adjournment. of retaliation; a peace without humiliation and without hatred.

Noble sisters! call to mind the motto of 1848: "Union at any price between Germany and France." You can then set your sign. and seal to the first compact of eternal peace.

BROTHERS OF EUROPE,-Thus we have felt it to be our duty to speak to two nations who are summoned to vie with each other, not upon the field of blood, but in the province of art and literature. We stand, so to speak, at the door of this merciless war; we have been the first to look with our own eyes upon its horrors, and we deem it our duty as philanthropists, to expose the magnitude of its crime and sorrow. Our temples are converted into hospitals, our social and religious festivals are burdened with calls for charity; our wives and daughters are employed in making lint, and multitudes of our fellow-citizens hasten to the battle-field, to assist in caring for the wounded.

We have still another duty to perform.

Brethren all over the world; whether you are Masons or strangers to our Order; you who love your own country but at the same time feel yourselves to be members of the human family; you must feel the anguish which one of your members is suffering.

In the pressure of this enormous sorrow,devastation and ruin, it is our duty to unite our voices, and to cry in the ears of our fellowmen, War does not civilize! Conquest is objectionable and

ruinous !

There is no reason for a prolongation of this struggle. It is time that all who are blessed with intelligence, should raise the white flag, and cry to the hosts and to the people,

PEACE! DUTY! LIBERTY!

We will do it in the interests of the victor, who will find safety only by retiring within the limits of justice; in the interests of the vanquished, who by defeat regains his liberty.

We will do it in the interest of all nations, for all are menaced by general ruin, and are anxiously asking themselves, what new acts of violence are to follow upon the abuse of the last victory.

It is time for all nations to turn their talents for heroism and conquest into a new channel, and struggle for supremacy in the domains of the arts and sciences.

We invite you all to make the most strenuous efforts in favor of universal peace.

It is possible for public opinion to secure this result, and calling upon Europe to give evidence that her civilization is marshalled for the solution of this problem, we will not forget that nothing is accomplished so long as anything remains to be done for justice.

In the name of the righteous and perfect Lodge of Philanthropy in the Grand Orient of Brussels.

THE LAST LODGE.

[The following is a translation of the national Masonic Hymn, of Saxony, and invariably sung at the close of every Lodge ceremony, with Masonic ceremonies :]

When the last of the stars, dimly flashing,

See old Time to its end hasten on,

When planets to ruin are dashing,

And the sun's light is pallid and wan;
Through the halls where the Masons are founding
Their Temple, majestic and grand,

Shall be heard that last cry, loudly sounding:
Hasten, brother! the morn is at hand!

East and West, North and South, through all nations,
The work at that call will have ceased,
And the brethren, observing their stations,
Shall look in calm faith to the East:
Joining hands over valleys and highlands,

Where each stands, in the land of his birth,
Shall be seen, o'er all continents and islands,
But ONE LODGE on the face of the earth.

To the Master's stern voice loudly crying:

Have the Masons obeyed My commands?
Comes the voice of the Craftsmen, replying;

Look with grace on the work of our hands!
In our feeble and poor earthly fashion,

We have sought to hew out the rough stone;
Let the depth of eternal compassion

For the faults of our labor atone!

What's the hour? cries the voice of the Master;
They answer: Low Twelve, but behold,
The rays of Thy morning come faster,
To our eyes all its glories unfold!
At His nod see all the veils rent asunder,
And, while earth sinks to chaos and night,
'Mid loud peals of the echoing thunder,

Shall the brethren be brought to pure light!

THE Evansville Courier says: "We have seen a copy of the late Robert Barnes' will. It is a most extraordinary document. His entire estate is left, without the reservation of a cent for the purpose of providing for and educating the destitute orphans of the State of Indiana. It is the most princely legacy ever bequeathed by any one to charity in this State." The estate of Mr. Barnes is variously estimated at from $400,000 to $600,000.

TRUE WEALTH.

BY S. C. COFFINBERRY.

CHAPTER XX.

"NOT one word in relation to Charles Preston!" said Eda Wilson, as she folded the letter of her father that she had just read, and placed it in her pocket.

"Not one word. Perhaps it is well. To read that he is shortly to be united to the beautiful Countess Mont Martre would give me more pain, perhaps, than to be kept in entire ignorance of him. I feel like Latona expelled from heaven into space, without the privilege of even the dull earth as a resting place; but no bright Delos arises in the sea of darkness around me to offer an asylum for the exile. It is hard to bear this gnawing anguish all alone. Sympathy might soften the sting, but my secret must remain my own."

Eda sat upon the apex of the pile of rugged rocks that reared their irregular outline in front of the dwelling of Mrs. Ramsdale. This immense pile of rock appeared to have fallen from a high cliff, a half a mile from the open plain in the mountains where it now lay, at some early period. The top of the rocks stood some fifty feet above the bit of level land that surrounded its base. The mass was crowned with birch and laurel that fringed its verge, interspersed with trailing vines that hung gracefully from its brow and waved to and fro in the zephyrs of the summer evening. On the summit of this rock stood several large trees. One of these, a spreading linden, sprung from a detached portion of the rock which lay like a massive boulder on the little moss colored table which constituted the summit of the whole pile. This boulder was covered with a carpet of green velvety moss, while the twisted roots of the linden wound around its base and penetrated its crevices and fissures, as if to anchor it in position. It stood four or five feet above the mossy summit upon which it lay. This beautiful and quiet retreat was approached by a gradual ascent or slope from the one side, while the other side was precipitous and inaccessable from below.

From this rock was presented a view of remarkable grandeur, stretching off to through the valleys and gorges, the slopes and cliffs of the mountains as far as the vision could trace objects. The rivers and mountain streains lay like threads of silver in the blue and dim distance. Villages, with their tall spires, could be traced and noted

« ПретходнаНастави »