Truth.

TRUTH .

Address of Sir William A . Davis before the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar in Georgia . BORN in the bosom of Jehovah , proclaimed by the prophets of old and confirmed by the advent of Emanuel , Truth has come on down through the centuries hoary with age , replete

with honour and crowned with glory , and to-day stands before the world as the highest exponent of the purest principle that ever evoked the benedictions of mankind . Great is the strength of wine , mighty the power of the king , blessed the influence of woman , but far beyond and above all these stands the almighty force and power of truth .

Truth is a theme glorious as the morning s smile , pure as the evening ' s tears , brilliant as the lightning ' s flash , grand as the thunder ' s march , soft as the zephyr ' s breath , majestic as the cyclone's sweep . I have no harp across whose cords I can throw a song worthv of the theme .

The monument of art and genius , the temples of ambition , pride and power ; aerial gardens , luxurious palaces and imperial cities , crumble like chaff and are swept into the great sea of the past . The proudest thrones of earth decay , and races of men come and go like the dews of morning before the rising sun , but truth survives the wrecks of matter and withstands the shocks of

time . Change is written upon everything earthly and of earthly origin . Mutation is characteristic of the world . Its physical structure is continually changing . Change omnipotent makes his impress on every object in nature ' s kingdom . Bocks , rivers ,

valleys , hills and mountains all succumb to the mighty force of his power . Even the grand old ocean , typical of eternity , must accede to his imperial command , and while encroaching upon one hand recedes upon another . No physical or material substance can withstand the mighty rush of the epochs , and even governments and kingdoms change at their bidding and

falling , perish in their tread . Our hopes , honours , ambitions , aspirations and memories , made dear by a thousand sacred associations , are blighted at one blast , and like spectres flee before the scorching breath of time ' s rushing tempest . But truth , untouched by the flying fragments of years , and unmarked by the fleeting feet of time ! lifts its consecrated head to heaven as unchangeable and eternal as the immutable throne of God .

Truth.

Like the fabled river of yore it may disappear for awhile , but it will burst forth again in a clear and living stream . Through the pages of history we gaze back upon ancient Egypt , the land of science and sacred recollections , but behold the red hand of the Goth and the vandal hath levelled it with the

dust . Through the same mighty telescope we look , though we look in vain , for the triumphal arches that knew the Caesars in the noon-day greatness of Boman splendour ; for the golden palaces of Nero and the shrine of Apollo ; for the forum that shook with the thunder of Cicero ' s eloquence , and the coliseum

that witnessed the mightiest gladiatorial combats of all the ages ; for the temple of Diana at Ephesus and the renowned oracle of Delphi . Alas ! the City of the Seven Hills is strewn with the fragments of other centuries . The temples have been dissolved in flame and the oracle has long been silent . Even Carthage ,

with her mighty legions , and beautiful Babylon with her hanging gardens , and majestic Nineveh with her monuments of commercial enterprise and prosperity , have been forever buried in the great mausoleum of the past . Such is the . unstability bf

all human grandeur and human greatness . But truth lives forever , and waves her triumphal banner over every field of conflict . Oceans of calamity may overwhelm her for awhile , mountains of prejudice may weigh her down for a season , but by her inherent force she will throw off these burdens as the

majestic lion shakes from his mane the dew-drops of the morning , and strengthened by every conquest she moves gloriously on to her appointed destiny . Though the bright buds of hope may wither in the dust and the sweet blossoms of anticipations be scattered on the ground to

die ; though care has stamped its wrinkles upon your brow , and disappointment has dimmed the lustre of your eye ; though bright forms of human beauty are presented to your view and then taken from you—leaving the thousand streams of your affections to flow back in an Alpine torrent upon your hearts- ; though of " beauty ' s bloom , " of " fancy ' s flash , " of " music ' s

breath , " you may have to exclaim : "I have no pleasure in them , " truth tells me that while such is human life , such cannot be the ultimate destiny of man . Truth tells me there is a realm beyond the sunset's radiant glow , where the beautiful beings which here pass like visions before us will there stay in our presence forever . We are told that centuries before the dawn of the Christian

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CooperativeEducationalTravel, ORGANIZED BY HENRY S . LUNN , M . D ,, Ch ., F . R . G . S . ( Fellow of the Medical Society of London ); and J . T . WOOLRYCH PEROWNE , M . A . ( Late Classical Scholar , Corpus Christi College , Cambridge ) . ASpecialMasonicCruise TO ¦ - 0 EgyptandtheHolyLand. CHAPLAIN,THEVENEBABLEARCHDEACONSTEVENS,P.G.C. The cost of the Cruise vQill be 25 guineas , including second class return ticket London-Marseilles , i ? ia Dotter and Calais , and a 25 days' cruise . Landexcursions extra . The party vttill leatfe London on 21 st January , returning on 16 th February . Other cruises leaVe London 22 nd December , 18 th February , and 12 th April . Lecturers for the season : Sir Arthur Arnold , the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University , the Head-Master of Wellington College , the Head-Master of Cheltenham College , Sir Lambert Playfair , JRei > . Canon Moore LL . D ., Dean Forrest , Canon Tristram , Professor Saj / ce , Professor Ramsay , and the Ret ? . W . K . JR . Bedford ( Chaplain of the Order of St . John of Jerusalem ) . Full particulars , vOith . a plan of the Steamer , from the Secretary , 5 Endsleigh Gardens , London , N . W .