THE MASONIC J 0 U H N A L experience equal delight and satisfaction. | Brethren of old, and all is bright ami To exhaust the various subjects of which [ clear, if we do but follow the teachings of it teaches would be to transcend the pow- i our “Great light,” the “inestimable gift e.'-s of the brightest genius, and any at- i of God to man, which is the rule and lempt to do so by me, would fall far | guide of our faith,” In the ceremonies sliort of the mark. At many points, the i of this degree we are required to complete initiated find its truths vailed in mystery, ' our duty to God, oiir neighbor, and our- but we are taught that perseverance and ' selves, step '-y step, mounting from the application remove each difficulty as it | lowest toihe highest, our duties are occurs. At every step instruciion of the ; marked ont, and made so plain that, llie noblest kind opens to the view, and new j wayfaring man may not err therein, pleasures are presented in a new light to | Although my remarks have become the enquiring mind.. In the search after ' some what extendeii. the myths and le.-, Light and irulli, the intellectual tac- : gends of Free Masonry claim some atten- iilties are employed in promoting the|tioii, I will remark that the history of spiiitual forces, of which all the combats, an- tagonism.s ami disorders of tlie outward, visi ble world, were only for distant eclioe.o, or fee ble reverberations. 'i'YiuioN—eril, for a peri od appeared to triiiKipb. Willi Ilia wlies and arts, lieoveicame Osrnjs—Tnithf dismcmixir- ed ids body, and concealed the fiagiuc.uts in the ser eini quarters of llie eartli. Then llie whole unheise was siiroudcd in.gloom, and reso> ndi d with laiuentation and inouniing and your charities, to enable its historian to fill up the brightest page, in the histo ry of the Fraternity in our State. And now, a few words to the ladies and I am done. From the seclusion of home and the press of domestic care.s, you have come here to do honor to this ' occasion. It is one ot our peculiarities over the fall of Ihc beauliful ami goed. I«I,S , ^'^^il ted within the set furili on litT wot'ul pilgrimage to tiiid llie | If is one of the beloved O.sfKIS. Afler many disappointments lituumarks of the order, has always ex isted, and will probably always exi.-it. o,f glory ol God, and the universal good mankind. But I digress, fl.ue Lodge Ma.sorary is composed of three degrees—Knfered the human race proves that the mind of man in all ages, h-is liati a yearning after the acquirement of divinity. Our mother Eve, in the garden of Eden, was the first j •Apprentice, Fellow Craft ard Master | fooverstep the bounds | Mason. The symboli.sm of this branch of i prudence to grasp the Infinite. Adam ! the order is eraiiientlv calculated to en- ! Promptly followed his sjiouse, and entail- force the duties of rnoralitv, and imprint on the memory the noblest principles | wliicli can adorn the human miridi. The | entered apiprentic-e- syraboli'cally repre- i sen 1s the entrance of a man into the world, in which he is afterwanl's to becomes living and (iimking- a-ctor. Coming from, an outer world ai “a poor blind caiid'i date, who has groped' in ignorance and darknes.s. his first craving is for light— which light is symbolically represented bv wbat Masons term the “Ti ree Great i L gilts," which properly understood, are | but that moral and' intellectual light, ; wliich emanates from, the throne of the | Supreme Grami .Architect of the I'r.i ' verse. The profane hero represents one 1 who is seeking,for alight whieh is to-; guide his footsteps in the pathway which ! leads to duty, and to Him who g-ives to , duty its reward. The points of the Cbm- i pass are still in darkness, but in the symbolism of the great Ligiits, lie is urg- ' ed onward in search of other Masonic-1 truths, which as a fehow cr-a.ft with the ; points of the Compasses properly arrang- j f d, he is intended to typify rhe-struggles j ed uotokl evils upon their progeny.— Throughout all nature there is no law without a penally, but at the same time there is no transgression, which does not have its corresponding pardon and abso lution—ivhether it be inherent in the law orreslsiti the hands of the chief execu five. In the case to which we refer, the remedy rested alone in the hands of the great Creator who sent us redemption from the penalties of the law, ir. the per son of our Savior, so that man may ever feel grateful to our first parents, for the good received'more than counterbalances the evil ; but we must pass on. The mythology of Free Masonry is one ©fits most valuable attributes, because, in a certain sense it fills a void which has always existed in the breast of the fallen, blit redeemed man, which we suppose was implanted in the hiiman breast for some W’i.se purpose, ilasonic myi.hs are figu rative represent-ations of events or ideas in the garb of history ; they' develop themselves spontaneously and unarlifi- cially in the consciousness of the human mind, instead of being arti.stic products ami trials, litr elforts wore crowned with suc cess. Tlie great da.v of triunipli eamo. Ty- THON—eril, was (lesti-oyed by lloni’s; the tomb of Osiius opened, and IlK— Order, Trvlh Justice—came forth, victorious in tlie posses sion ot iiuinortal life, amt Imi-mony, peace and joy prevailed tliroiiglioiit the uiiive.se.” Here the Ty.-ian artist is the symbol of Beauty and Older, Goodness and Truth, wliieli embellishes and beautifies life, idealizes all nature, transforming dull and prosy reality into a sunny flowery dream, •‘Cloth,iug- llie palpable and llie familiar, 'Villi g-oldc'i exhalation.s of llie dawn.” This beautiful myth is perpetually re peated, says the same wi'iter in the histo ry of human affairs. Orpheus was iiiur- dereil, ami his body was thrown into the Hebros, Socrates was made to drink the hemlock, and in all ages we have- seen Evil temporarily triumphant, and viitr.e and truth calumniated, uersecuted, cru cified and slain. But eternal justice marches su.ely and swiftly through the world; the Typhoss, the children of darkness, the plotters of crime, are swept into oblivion, and Truth and Virtue—for a time overpowered—come forth, clothed with divine majesty, and crowned with everlasting glory. ‘•Truth, ei-iislied to earth, will rise again; The etonial years of God are hers’ While error wounded, writhes in pain, And dies amid tier w orsiiippm-s ” I have thus far alluded to only two of the mylhical legends of Free Masonry— As we teach speculative Masonry at this day and time you cannot be admitted in to our order. There are many reasons 'vhy this is so. We have no power to out loose from a principle, which is as old as the Craft itself. Such an innovation would beget others, and after a few years we would lose all but the skeleton, and in a short time even that would be bur ied, Thr.s much I may be allowed to say: Your admission in the Order could do you no goo •, and would do the order rncalculable harm. You carry the key to iinloc'k the- hi'd'den mysteries of man's nature, and you have it in your power to make his life nobler, better, purer. Do this and he will become an ornament to the Craft, a'lida- useful member of the great family of men. 'You were not in tended by the Creator to become a drone' in the hive of human industry, but a pow erful factor; and.- co worker, iu (he ac tivities which-biiiild'irp the vvorM's best estate. 1 ou 'have a work to do' Your brain, and your eiiergien must be drawn ■ ont and*d'l'Scipi 111 ed,. and become some thing more than a- mere- honey-combed receptacle, fit sn-ly to drink of the nectar, which is distilled in the alembics of the flowers of life. You have it in your pow er to inspirit the baser se.x by precepl. and example; by truthfulness and virtue and 1 may be allowed to pause and say that the latter is alway.s safe among Master our ritual and our teachings are full of dry up the tear of sorrow, give of the ardent mind for the attainment of i '“vention, and they symbol Truth, that “Divine attribute-" the com prehension of which surpa.ssetli human j understanding, and to wliich, standing m the middle chamber, after his ascent of! the wiinling stairs, he can only approxi mate, by the reception of an iiniie-rfect i and yet s lorious reward, in the revela tion of that “hieroglyphic light which . none but craftsmen ever saw.” In the Ma.ster's degree the symbolism is further exemplified. Here we have the tyiie of j a man, complete in moral and intellectii- ize the forces and operations of nature, under whose infl'uence they are formed, and have an essentially religious charac ter. In the second degree we have the beau- tiful rnvth, or legend tf the winding s-tairs, which are passed by the candidate in gaining admission into the middle chamber, which is symbolic of tlii.slife, and where only the symbol of the word can be given — where o,-iIy the truth can be reached by approxrmal ion, and yet where we are to lea-rn that Truth, which ill culture—no longer left to acquire , 1 11 ,'-,1,3-1 II ! consists in a more extended knowledceof knowleiige, except in the traailional loss ! . . . . . . " of an important tribute—which will be ■iiiderstood by every M-dster .Mason pres- , eiit—but prepared to use the knowledge he lia.s obtained. L’nioiqof the most un selfish nature, has always characterized ' our fraternity. -‘Vmhition, desire for ' firae, everv passion wiiich appeals to the .self love of man, have been merged in i the perfect union‘engendered by an ad- berence to the tenets of our order, to such a degree, that with a very tew ex ceptions, the names even of our gi eat! architects have not come down tn us, ■ though their work stili stands, to attest j their excelleiica. ,-\ll was the work of Brethren, and each was allowed his share of the glory. In this degree we have a type of the communion of man with God. Fong be fore the incarnation of that great Being, in the person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whom I do not hesitate to sav was a Mason—was the hoj-e enter tained of seeing Him with mortai eyes, and no exertio:.s were deemed too great the Grand ' Architect of the Universe This is- the re'.vard of the inquiring Mason, and is the wages of a Fellow Craft. He is drrected.'to the South, but he must trav el further and a.scend still higher to attain it. It is-as a symbol—myth—and sym bol onl',', that we must study this beauti ful legend of the winding stairs. We e-annot adopt it as a histor'cal fact, or wise men will wonder at our credulity—a.s a svmbol, or as -an allegory, it is fertile with instruction. In the tragic legend of the third degree, which exemplifies the virtues and'the fi delity of the Tyrian artists,, we have a ravth which is (inqiiestionabij the- most important, impressive, and imstruesive portion of the ritual of Ancient Free Ma- sonrv. It has been well sai.i that “it transcends all others in its profound phi- losophy, in the wide range of ideasit aims to elucidate, ami the dramatic interest wiih which it is invested,” But it is a myth. A learned writer says it is thor oughly Egyptian, and thus explains it : ‘•CsrRi.s, Tsis. ami Tyrnox, are the tliree principal cliiiracters. Tviuion—m'/, made to insure that consummation. With us, these ideas are but a type ; for '.ve have ypo,, Osiris -Beauty. Guixhiesr, Truth. that realization so longed for by the A fierc.' conflict long raged between these them, each shining out with no borrowed biilliancy, but with its own. iiat.unal j brightness in tiie grand panoiama which the tenets of our order preseiith-to the world. I cannot conclude witlionfe some nefer- ' ence to that grand raonn merit to Ma.son- j ic cliai'hty. the ©ixfordi Orphan, and its - si.ster Asylum at Asdieville. Here breth ren weare emphatically, clothing the nak ed and feeding tlie liiitigry,,aye—we are doing more, we are storing the minds of the litl le children, who have been gathered into these sclioois wiih usefsil knowledee, in order that they may become- useful members of society. Brethren, there are in Oxford two of the grand children of one of the governors of North Carolina. During hi.s Lfe he had wealth and honors, but his fortune was swefit away, and his honors lasled only during his life. The Masonic fraternity gathers up his grand children and feeds, clothes and educates them—‘'inasmuch as ye did it unto the least of these ye have done it unto me." Brethren, these A.sylums are something to be proud of—they a. e mon uments to the charity of North Carolina Masons, which will last until time shall be no more. But they still need your aii1 and your charity. Open your heart and your purse strings, and contribute something to enable North Carolina Ma sons to carry out the work so. auspieious- liy begun. ‘'He-who giveth ta the poor Inndelh to the Lord,” and how much mere oomm-endable is it in us to contrib ute to the relief of those little ones who : cannot help tbemselvvs ^ God has placed \ them here as our wards, and we must cherish, protect and nourish them. In ■ this great. Masonic oharit}' we can prove to the world, that we can practice as well fi-eligion the light of a life illustration, far Transcending all the power of its apolo gists ; make }’our beauteous presence a shrine at which wearied and tempted men may delight to bow, ami become the guardian of those sibylline leaves on which the world shall read the prophe sies of “a good time coming.” A golden age of finer aspect than that sung 1 y the classic harp ; a millennium who.se dstwn, •shall bring back the lost Eden, -R’-ftf. all its blossoms and bowers, with not a single tree who-se friivt shall be “foii^bidden to taste,'" and in which ‘•‘the tree c'f kno-wl- 'edge'”' of God', anti his works shall be the central objects, and and its apples bliisho 'ing on llie boughs of all the regained Paradise. With such a mission, why .seek graver obligations? My task is done. My effort has been vain and useless, if it fails to excite our serious reflection, and strengthen onr resolutions of ameii'dment, aud improvement in the duties of Free Masonry. Let us all re solve to maintiin with sincerity, the dicr- nified character of our profession, May our faith be evinced in a correct moral walk and deportment ; may our hope be bright as the glorious mysteries, that will he revealed hereafter, and our charity as boundless as the wants of our fellow crea tures. And having failhfnlly discharged the great duties we owe to God, oar neigh bor, and ourselves, may the tresi/e Board of our lives, at last pass an inspection wliich will entitle us to the -weleome plau dit of “well done thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thv Lord ” Pride may sometimes be a useful springboard to the aspiring soul, but it as preach. It is already iu successful ! is much more frequently a destructive operation, and needs only your favors • stumbling block. - J; 1 -‘D S Hjlf'

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