Address Of P.G.M. Bro. Honrichard Vaux, At Centennial Of American Union Lodge.

the revelation of omnipotence , this attribute 0 f God , declaring a covenant with man , sealed with the "Yea and Amen for ever , " the promise and its receiving affirmance , were manifested under a sign . " I do set my bow in the cloud and it shall be for between and

a token of a covenant me the earth . " " And God said unto Noah , this is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth . " And now in this joyous summer solsticewhen natureclothed

, , in n-ladness , has come up out of the tomb of winter , a resurrection which teaches by its symbolism that death is but a final preparation for another life , on this bright and "lowing , beautiful and happy summer morninga cloudperchanceno longer than a

, , , man ' s hand is seen iu the horizon gathering darkness , to end in storm . But as the clouds go , as the wind goes , we know not whither or from whence , and the sun reasserting its dominion over the day , lights up on the lagging cloud that bow of promise ,

that sign to us , as to Noah , of the eternal covenant made with all mankind , the truth is taught , that all who see may understand .

In that epoch of doubt and despair when the " chosen people" were in sore distress , when faith was well nigh lost , and hope was fading as the davJifi-ht mingles in the darkness of the coming night , the Red Sea before them and Pharaoh's hosts behind them , the hearts of the Israelites were covered as with a cloud . Their emotions

and their thoughts were dead within them , and their minds had become barren except in the growth of a rebellious spirit . On them reason then had no influence . The exhortations of their leader fell on ears that would not hear . Distrust and despondency were overwhelming them as the great ground

swell of the ocean submerges the last remaining peninsular of its shoal bound shore . And so it was from Succoth to Ethan . Surely , then , to have taught a truth to this fleeing , doubting , desponding people , by the process of didactic teaching would

have been utterly in vain . Ears they had , but they would not have listened . Yet the tauth was—and it must be known . And so it came to pass that under a sign it was communicated , subjective truth objectively imparted—for we read , "And the Lord went before them by clay , in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way and by night in

a pillar of fire to give them light , to go by day and by night . " Even now as one seeks to penetrate the thick darkness of the limitless past , when even the sig ht of the seer is powerless to discern objects which are yet in the confines of the latter dayshid from human ken in

, the mists which gather by some unseen attraction into the shades which constitute the atmosphere in which past ages live in a solemn silence , that pillar of fire yet stands as it did between the camp of the Egyptians and the Children of Israelto teach by its

, symbolism , glowing now in the darkness , like a lig ht in the remoteness of a vast cavern , that eternal truth , which has its abiding place in the mind of God . As the " province of faith is not to be invaded by reason " and as Truth is eternal

and to be known of all men , the process by which it is imparted depends on the perceptive process of those to whom it is presented . Divine wisdom has consecrated the sign , or symbolic teaching , as the earliest method established for human

instruction . Written history , as well as that equally authoritative teacher , tradition , enables us to comprehend the vast stores of knowledge and wisdom which were gathered and garnered by the philosophers of the prechristian era . It is now the subject of our

wonder how the few , the very few , attained this learning , while the masses of the peoples neither appreciated its possession , nor stimulated its acquirement by any earnest demonstration of their approval . It was the love of wisdom , the desire for knowledge , or light , that animated those who devoted their lives to the hi ghest intellectual culture . We are forced to

consider only as representatives of schools , Moses , Solomon , Zadok , Hillel , Shammai , Antigonus of Socho , Hyreanus , Plato , Socrates , Proclus , Origen , Pythagoras , and Aristotle , men who taught the chosen people , or to a select few , who as disciples , sought wisdom or light , from oral communications .

It is not possible to ao more now than glance at the pre-christian teachings , or these memorable men who inspired by divine authority , interpreted , or from the hmale love of knowledge and wisdom were recognized instructors . But a « our line of thought requires , reference must be made to the Pharisees ,