Morris Memorial Monument.

MORRIS MEMORIAL MONUMENT .

Address by Hon . FAisha S . Fitch , Past Grand Master , on the Occasion of the Dedication and Unveiling of the Monument erected by the Craft of the United States to the Memory of Bro . Bob Morris , LL . D .

Past Grand Master of Masons in Kentucky and Port Laureate of Freemasonry , at La Grange , Kentucky , 29 th May 1891 . A S KENTUCKIANS we have to-day relinquished our

XJL various pursuits , and assembled with one accord to demonstrate and emphasize our veneration and esteem for a late distinguished fellow citizen of our commonwealth . And as Freo and Accepted Masons we have to-day emerged from onr quiet retreats , nnder the influence of one

harmonious and universal impulse , to signalize an irreparable loss to the Masonio community ; to memorialize our appreciation of an earnest , devoted , well spent Masonic life ; to make a votive offering at tbe shrine of true Masonio worth * , to contemplate with fraternal pride that

instructive trestleboard upon which had been traced out for our imitation and guidance the life inspiring designs of a Wise Master Builder ; to symbolize and thus perpetuate in some befitting and enduring form our grateful remembrance of an illustrious brother of the Mystic Tie ;

" to bedew with tears and embalm with sighs , " and thus freshen up and hallow that evergreen chaplet which was placed npon the honoured brow of our deceased Poet Laureate while , in the zenith of his glory , by the loving

hands and loyal hearts of the universal brotherhood , for which he seems to live only to love , to exemplify and to adorn \ Verily , such an occasion is replete with interest , and notes a memorable epoch in the history of Kentucky Freemasonry .

This vast concourse of citizens , representing as it does every station and pursuit in life , all classes in society , all parties in politics , and all sects in religion ; embracing the exalted in rank , the venerable in age , and the dignified in intellect ; enlivened as it is by the presence of youth , the

fascination of beauty , and the inspiration of Music ; and animated as it is by a generous and all-pervading enthusiasm , " to render honour to whom honour is due " —this spontaneous rally of craftsmen from all points of the compass and every Conclave of the Order , actuated as it is

by unanimity of purpose to consecrate tho shrine of their wisest ritualist , their noblest champion , and their brightest exemplar—this memorial monument before us , with all its

clustering associations , just dedicated by our Grand Master to the learned and laureated poet of Freemasonry , and henceforth sacred to the memory of the loved and lamented Morris—the awakened reminiscences which that cherished

name inspires , and which now throng and thrill the Masonic heart , indissolubly linked as they are ' with undying sympathies which have stirred our emotional nature to its profoundest depths—all , all , have invested tbe occasion with an extraordinary significance and a moral sublimity which even the most gifted and eloquent

would fail to heighten . All that could captivate the

feeh ' ngs , all that could enliven while it hallows the occasion , we behold around ns , and nothing that could add to its sublimity is absent ! Standing in such a presence , and amid such surroundings , it occurs to us that the most inspired of human tongues , though all aglow with

fervid enthusiasm and capable of flashing forth the

brightest gems of thought , would become spellbound and paralyzed , leaving " expressive silence to muse his praise , " and his life-long labours alone to voice the enrapturing theme . Happily for your humble speaker , the day itself has thus

become its own best orator , and attests , far more eloquently than any spoken words could do , the worth and achievements of this patron saint of Masonry , thereby removing the necessity on our part of supplementing the imposing ceremonies of the hour with any elaborate biography or

fulsome eulogy of the dead . It is a notable feature of this dedication of our Morris Memorial that the programme of exercises , so appropriate and touching , derives its chief merit and all its zest and pathos from the inspirations of

hia own gifted pen , and that in celebrating these posthumous honours to his memory his Masonic brethren could conceive of nothing so befitting as an embalmment of that memory in the immortal vestments of his own

genius ; feeling well assured that thus embalmed the

Morris Memorial Monument.

sacred treasure would be safely consigned to posterity and ever secure the jealous " watch and ward " of the universal Craft . In forecasting this public demonstration it was indeed a wise and happy thought that the once familiar voice—now hushed in death—which for so many years

directed and delighted , cheeied and solaced us in our Masonic pilgrimage , should be again beard in sweet reverberating echoes aa they emanate to-day from this symbolio shaft erected by his brethren to grace and guard his sleeping dust .

While in a most endearing and emphatic sense he was our ovm Bob Morris , it is no less true that he was eminently cosmopolitan in his fame and achievements , and had become " a living epistle known and read of all men , "

and while as Kentuckiaus , and especially as Kentucky Masons , we may justly claim that his adopted State should become tbe honoured custodian of his " mouldering urn , " and faithfully guard bis remains as a sacred deposit beneath her soil—it would be no less ridiculous than

supremely selfish on tho part of any locality to seek to monopolize or appropriate as an exclusive heritage the wide-spread influence and enviable distinction of this great apostle of Masonio Light ! Although a native of Massachusetts—horn near the city

of Boston , on the 31 st day of August 1818—our distinguisbed brother commenced bis Masonic career in the State of Mississippi , on the Sth day of March 1846 . In pursuance of the favourable reception of his petition he travelled on horseback on the evening of that day a

distance of twelve miles over a muddy road , and through a drenching rain , to the then village of Oxford , Mississippi to take his first degree , iu Gatbrigbt Lodge , No . 33 . He made the trip , received the degree of an Entered Apprentice , repeated tbe twelve miles travel and reached

his home again before the dawn of the ensuing day ! How very significant this first adventure for Masonio light of that earnestness of purpose and persistence of pursuit , under all surrounding circumstances , which ever characterized this enthusiastic votary of Masonry , even to tbe very

close of life ! The petition itself , upon whioh he was received into that Lodge , waa also a very characteristic one . Before subscribing his name to the prescribed form he

made the following interpolation : " I esteem the Masonic Craft , as in time the oldest ; in honours the most eminent ; in membership , the most numerous ; in scope , the broadest of earth-born societies . " It is said that " Nature

to each allots his proper sphere , " and in harmony with this view it wonld seem that our brother was prepared to sound the keynote of his Masonic mission simultaneously with his first dedication at the Masonic altar ; for as the tiny acorn enfolds in embryo the future majestic oak of the forest , so

this brief impromptu inspiration seems to have held in solution the life-time development of his laborious study and research . In this concise yet comprehensive appendix

to his petition , we find the germinal thoughts which were amplified and elaborated through many volumes of his Masonic works , and discover the early bend of his inquisitive mind toward the esoteric mysteries of the Royal Art .

The extraordinary ardour which distinguished hia initiation into the Order never abated , but was rather stimulated and intensified by each succeeding . degree . We find , however , no impatient haste for advancement , but , instead of this , a deliberate purpose to master thoroughly the

teachings of each degree and every department of tbe Institution , that he might better comprehend the whole . Hence the three degrees of the Blue Lodge , received in 1846 , ^ rere not followed by the Capitular degrees until 1848 ; these by the Templar Orders , in 1850 ; these by the

Scottish Rite as far as the 32 ° , inclusive , in 1854 ; these by the Cryptic Rite from 1850 to 1864 . Thns within a score of years our brother completed the curriculum of the esoteric degrees embraced by both the Ancient and Accepted Rites : besides becoming thoroughly instructed in all the

more modern organizations of the Fraternity . In his own language we have a characteristic summary of his progress . Said he , in 1850 : " I have been around , under , and through the temple of Masonry , searching out its foundations , its builders and its trestleboard . With its

builders , I have handled in turn each of its implements ; with the Entered Apprentice trimming the rough ashlar on the checkered pavement ; with the Fellow Craft moralizing on the pillars of the porch , and the fifteen grades of the winding stairs ; with the Master Mason smoothing the indissoluble cement with silent awe ; with