Masonry's Antiquity And Significance.

As Kentucky was the daughter of the Mother of States , so did its Grand Lodge spring from the Grand Lodge of Virginia . And can wo speak that name without tho tribute

of affection , of reverence , and of tears ? " Ilrnve old State ! Proud yon well may be When you retrace the glorious dynasty I ) f intellectual giants , which were known

As much the Nation ' s children as your own . " The Grand Lodgo of Virginia chartered Lexington Lodge , No . 25 , at Lexington , Kentucky ; Paris , No . 35 , at Paris , and Georgetown aud Hiram Lodges , Nos . 46 and

57 , Virginia enumeration . These formed the Grand Lodge of Kentucky , which in 1801 chartered Harmony Lodge , No . 1 , at Natchez . The Mississippi Lodges thus named , together with the Past Masters of Lodges , constituted the Grand Lodge of Mississippi .

Brethren , tho parchment authority which your Worshipful Masters hold in their hand ? , comes almost consecrated with the memories and tho impress of ages . Though no mould covers its fair surface , ifc yefc is vital with the Masonic authority thafc older states than .

Mississipp i derived from England , and from Scotland , and from Ireland ; which came to them from York ; which was preserved by the travelling Masons of tho early centuries of the Christian era ; which came down from tho operative Masonic Colleges of Rome ; which originally sprang from

the architects of Greece ; who were lineal descendants from those faithful Giblemites who wrought at the first Temple , and were present at its completion and dedication ; who owned the privilege of their glorious labour to the noble Hiram of Tyre , who sent his skilful workmen to the

aid of King Solomon in the completion . of his divinely commanded enterprise . The leaders of those workmen were versed in the Ancient Mysteries , whoso esoteric doctrines , explanations and symbols , and grand philosophy and ethics , havs thus come down to us ; often corrupted ,

still more often concealed ; covered up with the rubbish of ages , and buried by design , until future and worthier generations should find out the great secrets thafc were said to have been entrusted to patriarchs and to sages ; so that the Name and attributes of the Deity , and the grand fonndation principles of pure religion should not be lost

among men . So much for the history of Freemasonry . The instructed craftsman can speak hours upon the subject without exhausting it . Masonry , however , teaches not the multitude ; it instructs the Craffc ; and hence , my brethren , the

greater censure should be applied to those who do nofc mark , learn and inwardly digest what history teaches , philosophy recommends , and humanity approves . " But , what is Masonry after all ? " tho outside world still asks . They grant its antiquity ; they seo it trickling

from some little fountain-head in the dim pasfc ; fchey trace it again where ifc has become a stream across which a boy can step and scarce wet his foot ; they see ifc swollen into a river fed by many tributaries , ancl sending its current , sometimes clear and sometimes turbid , towards the great

ocean of human endeavour aud happiness . Bufc still , What is it ? they ask . Nor is ifc perhaps proper to reply , as we mighfc do to thoso who can receive light , and more light , and further light still : " Ask , and ye shall receive :

seek , and ye shall find ; knock , and the door shall be opened unto you . " It is certainly more courteous to define Masonry , which I do in this language : ifc is a speculative and moral science , illustrated by an operative art .

To work is the Mason ' s allotted duty . The idea of fche Masonic legend , has been well said to be "as simple and as true as it is sublime . From firsfc to last Masonry is work . " Labour is the pathway , ascending which fche Mason keeps clearly in view a great light : and though far

separated from ifcs attainment , he feels fchat , treading thafc path , he is still constantly though slowly approaching it . The candidate in Masonry is ever advancing . From a state of darkness he is brought to a hghfc imperfect , and seen through a glass darkly . Stationed

as an upright man half-way between the place of darkness and that of light , his work then commences ; and from that moment , unless he is untrue to duty , he is never stationary . Every step he takes , he advances toward the

same object—li ght ! more light , and further and brighter light ; ever striving to go on , in the hope that he may yet be surrounded by the effulgent clouds which at present conceal the glory of Perfection ' s rays . We became Master Masons that we mighfc work Our published monitors , our unwritten rituals , aro fall of the

same idea . Tho Deity is the Architect of the Universe : the heavens , as the Psalmist says , are the works of His fingers ; the firmament showeth forth his handiwork . Ho is no epicurean deity , who , having once pnt in operation a vast machine , sits in silent , placid engagement , breathing

in and out self-admiration at seeing the machine run on in harmony . He is an active , directing Providence ; present everywhere , seeing all things and governing all things by His power . Our legends refer to the building of a temple . One of the three Grand Masters was an artisan of Tyre ,

who by his skill beautified and adorned it . Onr implements are all those used by labonr ' s brawny arm . We call fchem working tools and jewels—the guage and the gavel , the square , the level and the plumb . We speak of the

ashlars and the trestleboard , the compasses and the trowel , the spade and fche setting maul—but they are all emblems taken from operative labour , and referring to thafc intellectual , moral and spiritual labour , which ia comprised under the term " Speculative Masonry . "

Have we as Masons laboured ? Have we done all we could to relieve the distressed , help the widow , educate the orphan , ? Are there no distresses to soften , no tears to comfort , no children of Masons to educate ? If we idly spend our time , are we labouring for Masonry ?

And if not , tho dollar we thus waste in the wronging of a brother . My brethren , hug no delusive hopes that the solemn obligations we have assumed can be trifled with . We assumed them with a free will . We

profess to be bound by them while memory lasts and life animates . Do we lovo one another ? Do we make no harsh judgments ? Do we comfort error with mildness , and throw the mantle of charity over a brother ' s faults ? Do we improve ourselves in Masonry ? Is it wrong , my

brethren , to press such questions on this day of Masonic remembrance ? Is ifc not wise , rather , to recall the duties of each hour ? Why is Masonry so often spoken so slightly of , so often censured , even in the presence of its members ? We make no defence for it , for sometimes we are afraid of

the contest , knowing that the world outside can too often call for its witnesses the examples of our members , their neglect of professed duties , their violation of tenets they publish to the world as a portion of Masonic faith . Ah , my brethren , the cup of memory is for all of us too full of Time misspent , and talents gone ,

And fair occasions passed tor ever by . Can we nofc , on this New Year ' s day of Masonry , when we have met to celebrate its half century of existence in Mississippi , and to draw inspiration from fche noble lives of the illustrious men who composed the firsfc Grand Lodge

which assembled in this cifcy , one and all , renew our common obligations ? Cannot we , on fche coming June anniversary of him who preached in fche wilderness , urging the duty of repentance , and crying , " Prepare ye the way of the Lord , and make His path straight ! " repeat those same

lessons of instruction and resolve ? Shall we nofc , as the year draws to its close , on the festival day of him who saw , in a dream , fche vials of wreath opened and the seals of the

books removed ; who saw the grand dominion of truth and justice realised—faith made real ; hope made exultant ; charity made God-like—draw close to the altar and renew our solemn covenant ?

Your Officers can only direct the work , superintend labour in the hours of refreshment ; pay Craftsmen their allotted wages ; give out work to do for the Master ' s honour and the benefit of the brethren ; bnt if this is all , it is as Paul said of the charity of some , " a sounding brass

and a tinkling cymbal . " The work is with you . As well expect the apex of the pyramid to glisten in the sunli ght , when that apex is unsupported by any sustaining fabric , as to suppose that the work of Lodge or Chapter will go on without the aid of Craftsmen . Masons must nofc merely

be familiar wifch the lectures of Masonry ; that is but the drapery wifch which it is adorned ; ifc is the oil by which fche machine moves . They must do the work of Masonrycultivate the knowledge and meaning of its symbols—adorn themselves in their daily walk through life , with its

garments of praise ; make every lesson an active influence ; work by it under every circumstance ; and so , traversinofche time of the Masonic year from its birth in December to its crowning glory in June , they can look forward with

hope , and with bashful but complete confidence , to those future days of glory , " Where the anthems oE prai se unceasingly roll , And the smile of ' the Logd p the feast of the soul . " .. . i , ^ -a / _yfat 0 j Maionry ,