Truth.

era ,. when ; the new-made King of Argos was about to give up his young life in obedience to the order of the gods , she whom he loved , so fondly , in the wild frenzy of her grief , pleaded with him to , tell : her whether they would ever meet again . He answered : " I have asked that dreadful question of the hills That look eternal ; of the flowing streams

That lucid now forever ; of the stars Amid whose fields of azure my raised spirit Hath trod in glory ; all were dumb ; but now While I ; thus gaze upon thy living face I : feel the love , that kindles through its beauty Can never wholly perish . Yes , we shall meet again . "

Yes , Sir Knight , Truth tells me we were born for a higher destiny than that of earth , and if we but love her virtues and practice : her precepts , her divine light will illumine our path to the- superb palaces , of God ,: and' there around the snow-white throne Frater and friend shall meet again .

In this utilitarian , age , when the heart of man is fixed on gold ,, or . science , or literature , there are those who declare that "Wealth is power , " others affirm that " Knowledge is power , " but ; , above them all we assert that "Truth is power . " Wealth cannot purchase , talent cannot reflect , knowledge cannot over-. reach , i authority cannot silence her . They all , like Felix , tremble in her presence . Fling her into the most tremendous billow of

popular commotion , she mounts aloft in the ark upon the summit of the deluge ; cast her into the seven-fold heated furnace of the tyrant's wrath , she walks with the Son of God untouched through the conflagration . When wealth and talent and knowledge and authority , when earth and heaven itself shall pass away , Truth shall rise like the angel of Manoah ' s sacrifice , upon the flame of Nature ' s funeral- pyre , and ascend to her source , her heaven and her home—the bosom of God .

When we contemplate the beauties of Templarism it is natural that we should , conclude that . an institution so firmly founded upon the eternal principles of Truth is co-extensive and co-equal , in , prestige and in power , with the Church of God . Let us announce , once for all that we make no such pretensions . It is true the Templar ' s religion is the Christian religion—the

Templar ' s cause is the cause of Christ—the sign by which we shall conquer is the sign of the Cross , but the Church of God is the only religious institution at whose altar Templars worship . It alone is of heavenly origin . It had its deep foundations laid in ; " the counsels and purposes of eternity , " and the Great Master of the Universe sanctified it with His Spirit and consecrated it

with the blood of His son . In His dying agonies " Christ dropped the key-stone in the highest arch of the Temple , and placing the rejected Corner stone , stained with His own precious blood , upon the summit of the highest corner ^ " in language that shook th'e universe , and in words that flew from star to star ; from pole to pole , and from earth to heaven , He exclaimed : " It is

finished . " The Church is builded upon the mercy and goodnessbf God , Templarism upon the chivalry and devotion of its votaries . The . church is" upheld and shielded by the wisdom and power of God , Templarism is' maintained by the care and fidelity of man . Love is the fulfilling of the law which binds the whole Church of Christ into one fraternal bond ; so , too , should the

hearts of all Knights Templar be securely interlaced ' arid firmly bound by the strongest ties of love . Templarism had its origin in the protection of the poor and weary pilgrim coming from afar to offer up his devotions at the sacred shrine ; and , to-day , every true Sir Knight stands ever ready to draw his sword in defence of the holy religion of Christ . But Templarism is a part ,, not

the whole of , religion . It may exist only for a time—the church must stand for all eternity . History tells us that in the Dark Ages , the era of feudal despotism , when learning was locked up in the convent , the closet and the castle , when man was absolute master of his fellow-man , and the chains of tyranny rattled on the arms of the

slave , the light and power of knowledge and truth were made more evident by the great circle of darkness and ignorance which surrounded them . The Milford Bard graphically tells us that in those days of romance the infant was cradled amid the clash of arms and the turmoil of battle ; to him valour was virtue , and a knowledge of way was wisdom . Then came the Crusades , and

religion consisted m grappling with the Mohammedan for the sepulchre of the Saviour . As the Bard truly says , then the aspiring youth knew no piety but patriotism , no science but superstition , and his education taught him that to conquer on the , field of fight was the very essence of philosophv . About this era

came the Or . lers of Knighthood , among which the Knights Templar were peculiarly distinguished . Learning became hereditary and never- was the might of mind more terribly triumphant . With the great Charles as their patron , and headed by the venerable Valette , they shook the throne of the incensed Saladin and bade defiance to the foes of Truth .

During the long dark period of , despotism and decay the Templars became the tegis of Europe and a shield to the Christian world . When the clouds of war darkened the East and a volcano brbkefrom the mountains of Emaus ; when the Saracen crescent-

Truth.

was waved by Saladin on the walls of the Holy City , then was seen a tempest even more terrible rolling up from the West . Then the dark Iberian , the gay Gaul , the gentle German were seen battling amid the burning sands of Syria ; and the Albanian and the Arab unsheathed their glittering armour for the glorious combat . Then , too , did the victorious sword of the Templar glitter in the sunbeam , and mighty was its blow .

Sir Knights , the opportunity for the display of true heroism presents itself to-day as clearly and strongly as it did to the defenders of the sacred sepulchre . It is true opportunity does not make men , but it develops them . He that would be truly great must be equal to every emergency . Each day you and I and all of us have' new conflicts to meet , new battles to be fought , new

victories to be won , or new defeats to be sustained . The greatest enemy with which we have to contend is Self , and he who conquers Self and brings the stubborn and resistful will into subordination to the higher and purer aspirations of the soul is a greater hero than he who plants his battle-scarred banner upon the battered battlements of his country ' s foe .

" To live for a cause , to endeavour To make your deeds grace it , to try And uphold its precepts forevor , Is harder by far than to die ;

For the battle of life is unending , The enemy , Self , never tires , And'the true knight must slay That sly foe every day Ere he reaches the heights he desires . "

Truth is not only the essence of our Order , but is the fundamental principle of Christianity and a higher civilisation . Truth supports the feebleness of humanity . It is the crutch of old age and the solace of affliction . It is poverty ' s treasure and it illumines the darkness of suffering virtue . It cheers the weary hearted and the heavy laden . It brings ease to the dying sinner and saves him from eternal woe .

Its beauty is of God . It imparts sweetness to the spirit of woman and grandeur to the character of man . In the language bf another , " Character stamped with truth and fashioned in the mould of an incorruptible integrity is a leaf torn from the book of life upon which is written title deeds to immortal honours . "

Truth s brightest ' ornament is virtue . They are bride and bridegroom of all time , and as they come on down through the dark pathway of the ages-, hand in hand and heart to heart , how lovely the relation ! Beautiful as that of morning and her sunlight , of evening and her starry train .

As some writer has said of Christianity we can ' also say of Truth : If she should be compelled to flee from the mansions of the great , from the academies of the philosophers , from the halls of legislators , or the throngs of busy men , we should find her last

and purest retreat with woman at the fireside ; her last altar would be the female heart ; her last audience would be the children gathered at the mother ' s knee ; her last sacrifice would be the secret prayer ascending from silent feminine lips ; For it was

" Not she with traitorous kiss her Saviour stung ; Not she denied Him with unholy . tongue ; She , when apostles shrank , could dangers brave , Last at the cross and earliest at the grave . " The world was a wilderness and man a sighing hermit until woman smiled . He bows at the footstool of her beauty and

kneels before the unsullied slirine of her love . An eloquent tongue has truly said , that in the path of duty no sacrifice is ^ tdo high' or too dear for woman . The voice of pleasure or of power may pass by unheeded , but the voice of affliction never . The chamber of the sick , the pillow of the dying , the vigils of the dead or the altars of religion never miss her presence or ask her sympathies

. A cynic"has asked , " What is woman for ? " I know that every Knight Templar here will join in the response ; She is for soul , for truth , for thought , for love , for beauty and for man . She is for poetry and for art—for earth and for heaven . She is

for the fulfilment of the human imagination . She is for all ages and conditions—for youth , for middle age , for old age . She is for the merry-hearted and the light-footed . She is for life , for light , for glory , and for God . She is the cream of creation—the consummate masterpiece of nature .

There is Truth in the stars which " hold festivals around the midnight throne . " There is Truth in the deep blue ocean ' as it rolls on its ceaseless flow . There is truth in Spring ' s blooming flowers , in Summer ' s ripening fruit , in Autumn ' s golden sunset , in Winter ' s snowy mantle . There is Truth in the lightning as it

darts along its fiery pathway , and there is Truth in the roll of the thunder , the rush of the tempest , and the blazing sun . There is Truth in calvaries and crucifixions—in scourges and crowns of thorns . Wherever a tear drop glistens or a perishing life rides upon the ebbing tide , there is Truth .

Yes , Sir Knights , a Truth that tells us there is a God whose Throne is in the heavens , and whose foot-stool is the earth . Who counts the stars and numbers the sands of the sea . Who