Masonry's Goodness Perennial.

into the history of Masonry , to explain the necessities of the secrecy which it still retains , in its initiatory work . But the objects and purposes of Masonry are not secret . They are public in their character , aud are publicly and

freely avowed . Its purpose is to benefit the race , to elevate and purify humanity . Masonry , by its rituals , its lectures , its symbolic figures , teaches obedience to law , respect for authority , love of liberty and country . Its first great work

was to organize , elevate and dignify labour . From the ago in which ifc had its origin down to the present time the efforts of the few , the rich , the powerful , have been to degrade labour . Kings aud aristocracies

have grown fat on the plundered toil of the masses . Governments have legislated against the labourers , have heaped indignities upon them , have even enslaved them . The rights of the toiler have not been granted him by the

benevolence and munificence of his rulers ; they haveJaeeu wrested by years of toil and struggle from unwilling hands . To-day tbe industrial question is the foremost question of the ago . It demands solution . The very foundation

stones of kingdoms and empires are tottering now under the strong shoulders of the masses demanding their rights and pressing forward to their attainment . Men begin to realise at last the Divine truths which Masonry has ever 1

taught . The first Lodge was thefirst republic . The inception of Masonry was the beginning of Democracy . Deriving its lessons of the equality of man from the Word of God , it was the first civil society outside of the church

which placed the king and peasant side by side as peers and equals , on the level . Within its walls the prince and commoner , the scholar and workman , the high and low , the rich and poor , were made to lay asido the trappings of

their dignities , and learned the great and essential lesson that to the workman alone belonged hia toil , that only he who earns should have , that wages were due only to those who laboured .

It is a proud and happy thought that Masons can indulge , that in this great struggle of the people for their rights , they have ever taught tho truths which shall surely triumph at the last ; that throughout the ages they have

sent from out their halls teachers and preachers of the great lessons which wero learned * therein , and that from tho earliest times workers and helpers of the great cause have been recruited and educated * by them for the work .

And now , when the Bkies are brightening all around the horizon , when the glad dawn of a better and brighter day for the lowly and oppressed of the world is breaking , the Mason can truly say : " I have this from the first , I have

laboured for this from tho beginning . " And as the multitudes of the toilers of the earth come up out of the darkness of oppression into the gladsome li ght of liberty , with

songs of rejoicing and shouts of triumph , Masonry can take them by the hand , place them by her side , and truly say : " These are my children . "

Masonry has for its object elevation of character . Masons believe that the good and true in man should be nurtured , encouraged , cared for , strengthened . Masonry is not a religion , but no man can be a Mason until he

believes in God . Tbe Bible ia its fundamental law . From it are drawn the lessons for the upbuilding of human character , for its standards of morality and virtue . By the

side of the church it has stood through the ages , saying to men : " The Bible is the only true rule of faith and practice . Follow its teachings , obey its behests , and you will bo better here and hereafter . "

Masonry is not a usurper of the privileges of the church . ¦ " does not offer itself as a substitute of that divinely ordained institution . But it is a great mistake to — »¦_ wv V \ S WUl / UVUlj

suppose « , _—w--g-w » w ___ .. _ , __ , v " an enemy of the church . It offers itself aa an adjunct , as an ally , as a helper in the great work of the regeneration of the race , of the uplifting of man .

Wo are all prone to think that that which concerns urn-s olves and our interests is of chicfesb importance ; and Perhaps Masons are apt to claim more for their Order than l ey arc entitled to . But surely this they may rightly claim : A place and a purpose in the work of doinogood . r n

Nofc onl y the Fatherhood of God , but also the Brotheroo ( i of Man—this they have taught from the beginning , i » o benevolence and charities of the Order are known the Cvnfl ° VGr' In cvery cJime > among every people , the a 't is the helper of man . She cares for the sick , dAJ o _ the afflicted « comforts tho d ying , buries the ornh _ r the hnsband of the widow > the fatlier of ^ e puan . Her temples of learning , her schools , her libraries

Masonry's Goodness Perennial.

are found in every nation , aud her literature m every tougue . It is a subject of jnst pride of Iowa Masons that in our own beautiful State , the most enlightened in the

world , under tho fostering care of the Grand Lodge , whose honoured representatives arc with us here to-day , has been gathered the largest and most complete library of Masonic literature in all the world .

It has been , and is a source of wonder to many , how this Order has kept its place through all these centuries . Having its origin in the remotest ages of antiquity , it has come down to the present day , with a constant , steady growth , to-day stronger , more secure , more honoured than

ever before . To an honest unprejudiced mind , let me pnfc this inquiry : Do you believe an organisation can be useless or evil , that , having began its work with the earliest dawnings of civilisation , has kept by her side steadily through the centuries , growing with her growth ,

strengthening with her strength ; that has been the defender and upholder of Christianity ; that has ever taught morality and duty aa her fundamental law ; that has taught the equality and brotherhood of man ; that has opposed wars and bloodshed and evil and crime ; that has ever in love

and charity worked for and comforted the downcast , tbe needy , the afflicted , the oppressed ? Do you think such an orginization , with such a history , has no claim on tho honour , the respect , the consideration of mankind ? There cau be but one answer to that inquiry . We are sure we

have done some good in all these years . We know that our efforts must have contributed to the attainment of tho age . We have a right to rejoice in the triumph of the present . We have a right to share in the glories of this

victory . We know the exalted joy of fighting for the right . We know the certainty of success that waits the cause that allies itself with God . We know that no act of good , however small and humble it may be , but shall bear its glorious fruitage in the harvest of the years .

Science has shown us that matter is indestructible ; that not one particle of this material universe can bo , or over has beeu destroyed , aud that not a breath of air , not a drop of water , not a single grain of sand can bo annihilated . We may change its form , we may destroy its identity , but

we cannot deprive it of existence . The city bums , " and only heaps of ashes and smouldering ruius remain ; yet in those heaps , in the smoke , in tho heat , apparently lost , though only transformed , that city still exists , and somewhere in the universe its walls and towers , its spires and palaces still live . There is no death .

Nay , more : so closely do tho eternal laws preserve and keep , that not a single uttered word is lost . Modern science has shown that they too are eternal , and produce an imbiding impression on tho globe wo inhabit . Tho pulsations of tho air , ooco set in motion , never cease ; its

waves , raised by each sound , travel the entire round of earth ' s and ocean ' s surface , taking counsel of the stars and keeping company with tho hoursi The air itself is ono vast library , on whose pages are written in imperishnblo characters , all that man has spoken , or oven whispered .

Not a word that goes from human lips can evor die , uutil tho atmosphere which wraps our huge globe in its embrace has passed away for ever . There , till tbe heavens are rolled

together as a scroll , will still live the jests of the profane , the curses of the ungodly , the scoffs of the atheist , as well as the word of cheer , the song of praise , the hallowed prayer of love .

If , then , not even the dust at our feet is allowed to bo lost , if not even the whispered word breathed in to the silent night can die , how much more sure is our hope , how much more certain our belief , that no good deed can ever be lost : that not even the fleeting impulse , born of good , bnfc bears

its fruit of good ; that not a throb of sympathy and of lovo is born but thrills along the eternal years ; that no kind act , or deed , however humble , thrown out upon the winds of time , bat finds lodgement , and shelter , and warmth , somewhere , sometime , and blossoms at the last , immortal ,

imperishable , filling even heaven itself with its beauty and its fragrance . Let this , then , bo our hope , and this our sure rewardthat no good dies , that honest effort for tbe right never fails , that the Eternal One will not suffer loss to those who work in His cause , for His children .

There is a legend that during the Crusades a knight , defending a pilgrim on his journey to the Saviour ' s tomb , was killed and was buried where he died . Aud a green branch , lying on his breast was buried with him . Hundreds of years passed , and the knj g ht ' jj grave was