This Is Masonry.

from his inner life the Sowings of its pure and living fountains . It is no argument against Masonry that the covenant unites only those who take it . This is true of all human organizations . The bond is world-wide and its

tenure for ever , and the heart of every true Mason beats responsive to humanity ' s call , while , with the mystic trowel , his hand is ever ready to spread the cement of Friendship and Brotherly love . We have a key to the

arches of this temple that never shall be shaken by the storms and changes of time . It is charity . Deeply inlaid with jewelled tears of gratitude , and embalmed in our Masonic covenant , it sheds the lustre of its brilliance upon

the world . Speak ifc nofc to your left hand , but let the

angels tell your deeds of love , where the incense of true devotion rises for ever from the altars of our spiritual temple—where God , our Supreme Grand Master , for ever presides . Where is it seen ? Where is its earthly whisper

heard r Where is the quiet tread of its footfall ? Go , angel of inquiry , to the bedside of the sick , and place your ear upon the pillow of the dying . Go , angel , to the distressed widow and fatherless children . Go to fche grave

of the loved one and there see tbe light of this holy virtue shining from the windows of the soul . Where" there is sorrow to need sympathy , where there is need to call for

relief , where there is wrong to be made right , and where there is darkness to be made light , there let the beams of this divine sun fall from our Order for ever and for ever .

Washington Irving says that " Dionysius , the tyrant , conscious of the disaffection and enmity of bis subjects , became suspicious and distrustful even of the courtiers that surrounded him . He had a cave near his palace arranged

in the form of an ear . He then caused them to be placed therein , while he would station himself in a secret place and listen . He could hear the faintest whisper . " Love needs no such safeguards . It hears and tells only truth .

This is true Masonic greatness . Here is a secret ; tie stronger than death—a Gordian knot that no impetuous Alexander has yet been born to cut . This is the sacred

fire , like that of the temple service , that will never expire ; and this , my brethren , is a secret reason why Masonry will never die .

Masonry has no secrets that can injure the world . All its secrets as an Order tend to promote the universal good . It is said that an Emperor once built a palace of glass , that all might see him in his private life , and that he

placed it on a hill , to allay the suspicions of his subjects . We do not need these outward displays . We take the simplest of the heart ' s expressions of secret faith . This is an essential element of our strength . How quietly the

heart can trust its friends— -how strongly it can hold its forces upon the soul ! There is no miracle in the universe grander than the silent influences of the soul of man . Atoms , worlds , stars , suns , and constellations are

swunom their grand harmonious circles , and have been kept in their most sublime and orderly marches , night and day , since " the morning stars first sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy . " Faith is more subtle . It

enters the deep places of thought and searches the hidden realms of mind for the solution of eternal problems . It reaches the depths of the past and peers into the mysterious and unfathomed future for the purposes of its life . It

takes hold of the present and its wonderful hopes and relationships , and gathers the fragments of earth ' s broken urn , and lights the fires of eternal affection anew in the world of spirits far beyond the stars . Thus , my brethren ,

we are as a family in the world , looking for security of the earthly and present good of all mankind , and also waiting for the opening of the eternal doors , when the immortal Tyler shall let us enter upon a grander life .

We need frequently to look at qualities . —Forms of the ritual and the externals of the profession do not fill the requirements of Masonic life . We must look higher than all our symbols for the true import of our Masonic

obligation . W e must search the motives . They must be laid upon the conscience and be measured by the highest sense of duty . Any candidate for these honours , at these sacred altars , should first desire to be a better man ; better innately ;

better in every high and manly resolution ; better in every relationship to the brethren of the Craffc ; better in every aim as a part of the moral structure to which you belono *

and of which we form a part . Bound more intimately than any other human society , we mnsfc all be honoured in the success of one , or pained and injured by the failures of one . We are to be a building . Motives fco moral excellence shonld always be growing

This Is Masonry.

stronger . Our moral qualities are the trne centres of onr highest strength . There must be fidelity to the cause . The noblest of the Craft have been shining out this highest virtue upon the shrine of Masonry down to the

present day . The first lesson of this brotherhood gathers its force from a character illustrious by fidelity . Death for a principle . Death for the protection of truth , innocence , and lore . Here gathers the other moral

excellencies , as stars in groups . The strength of the human xoill is involved . —What words of mystic power in the " I will , " " I do , " " I am " of

Masonry . No terms of equal force aro found in all the grasp of human thought . The reason , the emotions , the conscience , have left the destiny of society afc the feet of this supreme authority , and have waited for its assent ; . In

the consciousness of an abiding conviction , we have placed ourselves upon this border-land of infinity and asserted our will of devotion and consecration to this sublime Order . The greatest care of Masons should ever be to strengthen

this , man s noblest gift . Enforced by all the faculties of the mind and body , let it carry in its divine supremacy ali power in the resistance of evil . Morally stand firm . This will is up beside the throne of Freemasonry . In fact , it

presides here over every virtue wo are called npon to defend or reveal , and ifc stands by tho eternal throne , in tho inner temple of the universe . The great object of this

institution is to make strong men . While we may help the weak , it is also intended to raise the standard ot character higher than the mere fancy of illiterate and corrupt , or dissipated and flattering society .

What grander mission than thafc of the strong arm , thinking brain , and increasing wealth , guided by a broad plan , a keen eye , and a high determination fco help the helpless and comfort the comfortless ! What better

method than organised thought and heart and will Cromwell was right , when he found the gold and silver images of saints standing in the church , to command them to be made into coins and distributed to the poor . The work of all the Craft is toward this one divine

achievement . The return of necessity is fche common expectation of all generations . The consecrations of the strong are the remedies that God has prepared for that certain day or hour . Fountains are falling from the clouds and creeping

from tbe edges of eternal snows , to pour in cataracts down to the bedsides of the suffering ; but there must be somewhere a friendly hand to give a " cup of cold water to one of these . " Times of darkness , like prowling enemies ,

sometimes come to the threshold and fling their long deep shadows across our loved ones and our homes , but the attentive ear must hear the sighs , the faithful breast must beat with sympathy , and , with fleet foot and rapid wing and angel purpose , come to smile away our gloom .

So the young , brave and strong , led the aged and trembling King Solomon up the stairs of " three , five and seven . " So in the recruiting ranks of this illustrious Grand Lodge of California . The gallery of bright and

noble faces will increase in numbers out by the stairway . New faces will be seen , and other feet will walk these sacred halls . They will move along fche great highways of

the future to bear the burdens and meet fche responsibilities of tbe Order , and to imitate the virtues of those who have gone before .

Brethren , look at the uprisings of opportunity . Every step taken in the rapid development of the State , every advance in her material resources , in her commercial relationships , in her mental and moral progress , brings

some new { possibility to the Craffc . New charters , new halls , new initiates , aud new necessities are coming rapidly up together . Lot us , then , go out from this our annual convocation with higher resolves for the work of the

coming year . With our attachments all made stronger , our hopes more firmly knit about the sublime destinies of the future , and onr memories refreshed with the treasured

glories of our illustrious departed ; let us go to the places of our labour in the temples of the Craft . —Voice of Masonry .

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