For The Living.

FOR THE LIVING .

An Address , Delivered by liev . Charles 0 . Cook , at an Annual Visitation of Anaeostia Lodge , So . :-l , by the Grand Officers , F . and A . A / ., of the District of Columbia , l !) th October 1801 . A T this epoch , marking a period in oar work , let us

XJL glanco at our companions ; let us examine the composition of this mighty army , whose standards catch every brct / . eand whesu temples aro in every land upon the civilized earth . It is taken from no ono sect , or station , or people , or tongue . We find kingly hands laying aside

kingly robes and ensigns ot royalty to clasp in brotherly love tho hands of loyal subject . Tho sons of wealth stand ns brethren side by side with those whose suilorings their charity has relieved . Ruler and subject , rich and poor , statesman and warrior , scholar and labourer , men from

every honest das ? , and of every honourable employment , stand to-day , as tbey have stood for ages , foot to foot , shoulder to shoulder , as brethren within tho same temples , around common altar .- ' , and renew their vows of mutual

fidelity and unshaken devotion to one of the grandest causes the world has ever seen . We have noble company in tho work beforo us . The heart and brain of civilization to-day throb and pulse around the altars of Masonry .

For what purpose ? In what cause ? What is this mystic tie that to-day , as for ages past , proves stronger than wealth or fashion , than tho hatred of sect , the zeal of the fanatic ; stronger than the iron arm of despotism , and binds the millions of every age and nation in bonds of

brotherly love ? To what mysterious being are erected so many altars in every clime ? What is this cause for which so many vows have been made in every civilized language of the earth—vows repeated for near six thousand years , renewed to-day around so many altars ? What are those

principles , for the triumph of which have contended with equal zeal , ancient and modern , Jew and Gentile , monarchist and republican , the prophets of Israel , the princes of Europe , and the fathers of our own republic ? These questions press themselves npon us . Let ns give them a moment's attention .

It might be a pleasant task to trace the history of Masonry and the record of its growth , but in this practical working , living age , it is more important to know what Masonry is than what it has been ; what it is doing and proposes to do for the needs of humanity , than what it has

done ; to understand and' appreciate tho beauties of the superstructure it has erected , than to know who laid the foundations of its temples . Masonry is not , professes not to be , a religious teacher . She requires , however , that the applicant for admissiou to

her temples shall possess the essential elements of all religion—an avowed belief in the existence of a Supreme Personal Being , and a state of future rewards and punishments . She strictly enjoins upon him during his

whole Masonic life that he speak reverently of the Father of all . For further religious light she points to the HOLY BIBLE , " God ' s best gift to man , " the teachings and the laws of the God of Masonry .

Masonry is not a political teacher , yet enjoins the first principles of all good government—loyalty to rulers , obedience to laws . Recognizing the existence of sect and

party in religion and government , she endeavours to throw over all the mantle of charity , enforce forbearance and toleration , and constrain them to live in harmony as brethren .

Masonry professes to be , and is , a teacher of every moral and social virtue . She deals with man as a moral

and social being , watches over his conduct as a father , or husband , or son ; as master and workman ; as mechanic and trader ; in every relation of life in which he comes in contact with his fellow-man , and regulates all by the square of virtue . Sho enjoins the cultivation and practice

of every virtue calculated to expand the heart or ennoble the life . She endeavours , as far as human institutions can , to cultivate and develop a perfect , upright manhood

to erect a temple of purity in every heart . An enemy to vice and oppression and injustice in every form , wherever found ; for truth and right , an ever ready and sturdy champion .

Industry in business , the better to enable us to support and educate those dependent upon us , and to contribute to the relief of the distressed ; fidelity to marriage vows

For The Living.

integrity in all our dealings with mankind ; temperance in tho indulgence of every appetite ; prudence , fortitude , secrecy , brotherly love , relief and truth ; justice and charity to all ; to walk uprightly before God aud man ; improvement in art and science and literature ; diligence in

acquiring useful knowledge—iu short , the full aud harmotiiou .-5 development of every moral , social and intellectual faculty that God has given us—these aro tho virtues that every Mason is enjoined to teach and practice and exemplify in his life and conduct , by word

and example . Perhaps it may be asked how Masonry works to attain these ends ; by what means she labours to achieve such grand results ? By line upon line and precept , upon precept ; by constant admonition ; by continually painting

tho graces and beauties of virtue , aud tho deformity of vice ; by keeping the mind unceasingly occupied with the contemplation of purity and detestation of iniquity ; by at all times exhibiting to our view the rewards of a wellspout life . Her ritualism and her symbolism are constant

and powerful arguments for all that is pure and good and great in humanity . Theso are to bo learned , not merely to bo fluently repeated , but that their teaching may be understood and practiced . They aro fall of significant meaning . They are channels through which are conveyed to human

hearts the most important truths and practical lessons of life . He who learns in them only what should be left in the Lodge-room ; who learns nothing to take with him to his home , into his business , to the house of his friend , to tho daily duties and occupations of life ; who has not

become a better husband , a better lather , a better man in every sphere of life ; more temporate , more industrious , more honest , for being a Mason , has not learned the first principles of his profession . To him her work and her teachings alike have been in vain .

Masonry requires of her votaries , then , that they learn her language , listen constantly to her teachings , attend upon her temples , and above all and over all , a constant and daily practice of the virtues she inculcates . She knows no magic word , the utterance of which awakens to new

life . She does not profess to transform men into angels of light by the ceremonies of initiation . " Search the Scriptures daily , " is the command of Holy Writ . No man ever became good or wise by listening to the words of wisdom and goodness once in a lifetime ; no one ever

attained an upright character by the performance of one good act . The grandest achievements of nature and of art have been of slow development . They have been the product of continual , persistent , and repeated effort . The young sapling , growing in a secluded Bpot , sheltered from

the storm , fanned only by gentle breezes , watered by rippling brooks , surrounded by fragrant flowers and sweet music of merry songsters , does not become the pride of the forest . High on the mountain ' s brow , fanned by the lightning ' s fiery breath , lashed by the storm king ' s fury ,

the monarch of the mountain gains new strength with each fierco conflict , strikes its roots deeper in the earth , bares its crest to the storm , spreads its branches to the heavens , and defies the elements . So it is by constant and prolonged

work , by repeated instructions , through resistance to temptation , and the daily practice of virtue , that Masonry expects to build that noblest of all structures—the character of true manhood .

I do not claim , no one claims , that we all attain the standard Masonry has erected for ns . Temptation ia strong , passions are urgent ; the spirit is willing , the flesh is weak . We as Masons are not alone in doing those things we would not do , and leaving undone those things we should

do . Perfection is confined to few . In struggling toward the goal , our efforts may be weak , our steps feeble , our progress slow . Death may arrest our onward march before our journey is half done , before our foes are half vanquished , but our banners wave in a nobler cause , and bear brave words . The standard above and before us is a

grand one . Every effort to reach it , every progress toward it , is a step in the right direction , deserving charity and encouragement . It brings us nearer and nearer to virtue , further and further from vice . Against , every other organization , religions or secular ,

engaged in the great work of relieving the suffering and elevating tbe morals of mankind , Masonry entertains no envy or jealousy . She extends to them fraternal greetings , and recognizes them as co-workers in a common cause . The interests of these institutions are not , they must not be antagonistic , while there is human suffering to relieve ,