USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Lodge no. 61, F. and A. M., Wilkesbarr?, Pa. with a collection of masonic addresses > Part 47
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* See pages 74-81, ante.
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if just, ought to banish them from the country or send them to the Penitentiary.
The resolution, "That we cannot give our support to Free Masons for political stations in the councils and government of our common country," appears to follow as a consequence of the ill-character given to them in the preceding quotation. Masons are denounced as hold- ing principles violating all social and civil order. They shall be henceforth and forever excluded from the service of the country, and no longer share in the duties, the honors, and the emoluments of office ; they shall be effectually disfranchised and dishonored, as un- worthy of trust, confidence, and faith ! This is certainly a heavy punishment. If ratified by society at large we will venture to affirm that it is the most cruel, sweeping edict of disfranchisement that was ever heard of in a government professing to be guided by justice and mercy. And without trial ! When and where have we had an oppor- tunity to be heard ? What is our offence ? What law have we vio- lated? Whom have we injured? What widow mourns ? What orphans cry ? What poor man complains of the Masons of Chester county ? * * *
I put the question to any impartial man, woman, or child who is capable of forming an opinion upon this matter, and is unprejudiced, if such a sentence of exclusion and dishonor would not be thought cruel and unjust, even in a despotic government? I cannot think that in this enlightened day and age it will be ratified by the free, liberal, and just people of Chester county.
If this sentence of sweeping denunciation and indiscriminate con- demnation be just, it must have an adequate cause, and that cause must be the infamy of character and conduct of those citizens of Chester county who are Masons. Is this the case? Tell them over one by one, two by two, and do they deserve it at your hands ? If they do, carry the principle out. Will you refuse to associate with a Mason ? Why not, if he be so infamous ? Will you refuse him your daughter in marriage? Why not, if he be so infamous ? Will you authorize your Assemblymen to vote for a law taking away from the Free Mason the right of being elected to office-to disfranchise him ? Why not, if it be right that he should be so disfranchised ? Look at your public men, those who have served you as faithful, honest ser- vants. Let me speak of JAMES KELTON. He is a Mason. Did he ever swerve, when in office, from the line of impartial duty ? Have you ever had reason to be dissatisfied with the manner in which he has performed the various and honorable trusts to which your generous confidence has raised him ? It so happens that two of the Judges of
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your Court are Masons. If Masons may not be elected to office, it must of course be because they are not worthy to hold office ; and it would follow that all Masons holding commissions should be expelled from the posts which they now occupy. Do those who take the lead in exciting and directing the anti-Masonic spirit mean to take meas- ures to withdraw from the Court the public confidence, and to compel them to resign ? It would seem to follow as a natural consequence from the denunciations against Masons and Masonry. But General JACKSON is a Mason. Is an opposition to him on that ground to be raised ?
Knowing the general correctness, good principles, and good feel- ings of the anti-Masonic leaders, who have rendered themselves con- spicuous in Chester county, I am persuaded they mean to produce no such results, and that they look to no such ends. The spirit to con- demn without trial, to visit the sins of the guilty upon the heads of the innocent, to disfranchise and render infamous and contemptible any portion of their fellow-citizens who have walked faithfully as public and private members of society, and who have done them no injury, must be foreign from their hearts.
If this goes on, it is clear as day that ambitious men here, eager for office, will make anti-Masonry, and the excitement growing out of it, a stepping-stone to preferment-the means of gratifying their am- bition. To prevent this we propose to the people who, we presume, will take no part on either side, to watch the course of events, and to see that no ambitious man makes anti-Masonry a hobby-horse to gratify his own ambition and thirst for power. And we put it to the anti-Masonic leaders, that they enforce among themselves the senti- ments they avow-that they have no political purposes to subserve ; and that no man who renders himself conspicuous at their meetings be set up as a candidate for office, lest the people should think-as there would be just grounds for thinking-that such were the objects they had in view, in getting up resolutions to exclude a portion of their fellow-citizens.
In conclusion, then, I would say to the people : See that no injustice in this hour of excitement, be done ! If in your deliberate judgment, Free Mason Lodges should cease, express your opinion to that effect, and vent your displeasure against those who shall, after your will is fully declared, endeavor to counteract it. But if men have innocently, and without any evil motive or conduct, and without the slightest ex- pression of your disapprobation, become Masons, do not the injustice, in this Republic, of punishing them by sentence of disfranchisement, for that which was not censurable when it was done.
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Address delivered by Brother the Hon. ANDREW BEAU- MONT, June 24th, 1846. (See page 108, ante.)
Brethren and Fellow-Citizens : Since the committee, appointed by the Lodge for the purpose of making arrangements for celebrating this day, notified me of their wish that I should perform this duty, I have felt a deep and painful solicitude lest I should fall greatly short of your expectations, and do injustice to the subject upon which I have been invited to speak. Yet the very respectable quarter whence the invitation comes, the warm charity which inspires the heart of every true Mason, together with that generous liberality of sentiment which characterizes the intelligent citizens of this community-so ready to forgive the errors of the head, yet prompt to appreciate merit -has encouraged me to attempt the task which, perhaps, stern Pru- dence would have forbidden, and admonished me to yield the position to some one more able and better qualified to occupy it.
The Masonic Fraternity is a social, moral, charitable, scientific, and religious Institution. Its origin is hidden in the mists of antiquity. Its traditions, however, date from the days of the illustrious Solomon, King of Jerusalem. The well informed Mason, however, who has made it the subject of his investigation and reflection, will find many persuasive reasons for connecting the Institution of Masonry with the time-defying monuments, the mysterious customs, and magnificent ruins of ancient Egypt. The prodigious achievements-the astonish- ing evidences of the power, grandeur, advancement in the arts of civilization and refinement of that ancient and mysterious people- have attracted the curiosity and excited the wonder of the civilized world for more than twenty centuries. As Masonry is based on Geometry, is it overstepping the bounds of fair inference to connect its existence with the obelisks, the temples, and the pyramids which have survived the history of the people who reared them ?
But whatever and wherever may have been its origin, it is ad- mirably suited to our condition here. Man is constituted a social being. His necessities, his weaknesses, his sympathies, nay, all his affections demand society. Without it he is but a wretched barbarian ; with it, in a well regulated state, he finds his happiness and the just development of his character. It prompts his ambition-it calls forth and sharpens his faculties-it refines his sentiments-it polishes his manners and impels to the noblest actions. Masonry when correctly taught and properly understood is calculated to produce these results in an eminent degree. It is calculated to unfold and call into action the best traits of the human character-kindness, courtesy, truth,
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charity, fidelity, love, and honor-and in short, to illustrate the true dignity of man. But these duties and graces are not always fully understood and practiced by every individual who gains admission to the lodge, and bears the name of a Mason. Imperfection is stamped upon everything human, and Masonry is not exempt from the com- * * mon doom. *
That Masonry is a moral institution is made evident by all its exer- cises and the lessons it teaches. It constantly inculcates the observ- ance and practice of every moral duty, and enforces its precepts by the happiest emblems and illustrations. Our duty to God, our neighbor, and ourselves, is the constant injunction from those whose province it is to preside over the Lodge and direct its exercises and deliberations. That it is a charitable institution is manifest from the records of its transactions throughout its whole history. In fact, morality and char- ity are twin virtues, and cannot be separated. * *
Proofs or arguments are scarcely necessary to show that the Institu- tion of Free Masonry has for one of its principle objects the cultivation and advancement of the arts and sciences. As high as we can trace its history it has been the patron of letters, the protector of innocence, and the defender of freedom ; and men of the highest dignity of sta- tion and greatest attainments in literature have embraced its privileges, sanctioned its principles, and proudly borne its honors. From time immemorial the dedication of religious, charitable, and literary insti- tutions has been confided to our Fraternity.
* In respect to religion, Masonry in its associate character embraces and inculcates those great and essential principles in which all agree, and scrupu- lously avoids such disquisitions and questions as would inevitably create contention and strife, and thus defeat the chief objects we have in view, which are unity and harmony among the Brethren, and good will among men. * * *
Such an Institution with so many claims, as we humbly believe, on the liberal sentiments of mankind, deserves not persecution, but support. Yet the insane spirit of faction has attempted to render its name a reproach, and unmitigated hostility to it the only road to dis- tinction and preferment ! But we fondly trust that that spirit is pass- ing away, and that it will hereafter only be remembered by the wise and good to be regretted.
The emblems, jewels and implements of the Order may be regard- ed by some as arbitrary trifles or unmeaning baubles. But by the well-informed Brother they are regarded in a far different light. Every jewel, every implement, and every emblem sanctioned by the Fra- ternity and used in its exercises, points to some beautiful moral or
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admonishes of some important obligation or solemn truth. They are striking mementoes, to the Mason, of his duties in all the various rela- tions of life ; and as the stars and constellations guide the mariner by night through the trackless Ocean, and direct him to the wished-for haven, so the jewels and emblems of Masonry cast a light upon the path of the faithful Mason through life, admonish him of his duties to his God, his neighbor, and himself, and point to that peaceful harbor, when his journey shall be completed, "where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary shall find rest."
Address, delivered by Brother ANDREW BEAUMONT, Past Master of LODGE No. 61, before the members of Honesdale Lodge No. 218, F. and A. M., and the public, at Honesdale, Penn'a, on the occasion of the dedication of the Masonic Hall in that place-June 26th, 1849.
Friends, Brethren, and Fellow Citizens : It is with unaffected em- barrassment that I rise here, before this highly respectable and intelli- gent assemblage, to address you on this occasion. My embarrass- ment arises from the respect I entertain for you, from the dignity of the subject I am called upon to discuss, and the thorough conscious- ness of my inability to do that subject justice. A feeble advocacy of the best cause may impair its claim for a favorable consideration, and darken and obscure its real merits. * * *
The subject is a grave and fruitful one, embracing the fundamental elements of human society, the charities, graces and duties which legitimately appertain to us as members thereof-in short, the essen- tial duties which man owes to his God, his neighbor, and to himself. Such a theme might well employ the purest heart and the most gifted intellect. With what awe, then, should one whose gifts from Nature have been so small, whose opportunities so scanty and so little im- proved, approach so great an undertaking? Yet vanity, more kind to the feeble than the strong, often comes to our aid and fills the place where force and prudence are most wanting. * *
The origin of Masonry, like that of many of the most valuable institutions of man, lies so remote in the dim mists of Time, and so blended with other orders of a kindred character, as not to be accur- ately defined. It can only be approximated by analogy, and by a comparison of its mystic rites with existing monuments which have
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outlived the history of the people who reared them. The sources of the Nile have never yet been reached perhaps by civilized man- neither has the quadrature of the circle been accurately fixed by the wonder working power of mathematics; yet both have been ap- proached so near, and reduced within so narrow limits, as to answer nearly all the purposes of truth.
The features, then, of Free Masonry, bear the impress of high antiquity. Its traditionary history refers back to the illustrious reign of King Solomon, and the building of the celebrated Temple of Jerusalem. But like many other institutions of that peculiar people, of which they claimed the authorship, it may have been but the rude copy of a more ancient and more perfect original. It is but too com- mon a fraud, where it can be practiced with impunity, for each nation and each generation to claim the paternity of all the useful arts and praiseworthy institutions existing among them, though borrowed from a more ancient source. * * * Many of the rites, ceremonies and sacrifices observed by the Hebrews, and which they claimed as being specially derived to them from God, were evidently copied from the Egyptians by whom they had been held in captivity ; and it is appre- hended that many opinions, embraced by a large portion of the human race to-day (claimed as the result of the accelerated march of the human intellect), under various modifications, introduced through the lapse of three thousand years, were alike embraced by that mys- terious, wondrous, and now extinct people. True, there are men who yet inhabit that marvellous and interesting country ; but they are a degenerate race, and no more represent the mighty people who reared Memphis, and Thebes with its hundred gates, and piled up the stu- pendous pyramids, than the pusillanimous pirates that now inhabit the "Isles of Greece" can be compared with the Grecians in the days of Homer, Pericles, and Alexander-and who know less of the history of the monuments and awful ruins amidst which they live in squalid poverty, than we who dwell at almost one-third of the Earth's circum- ference from the scene of the miraculous achievements of a people whose history can only be gathered from mystic characters engraven upon crumbling monuments. * * *
Thus much for the probable origin of Masonry. Its objects have been to cultivate and preserve the arts and sciences ; to advance the cause of social order and civilization-thereby to increase the comfort and happiness of the human family. It was instituted at a time when science was monopolized and locked up from the masses, by the policy of rulers. The art of printing was unknown, and writing was a rare accomplishment, taught only to the priests and privileged orders.
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Hence the necessity of secret associations to acquire and preserve that knowledge necessary to all, and to defend its possessors from oppres- sion or persecution. *
* * But although the origin and early progress of the Masonic Institution may be involved in doubt and ob- scurity, and the channels through which it has reached the present age may have been obliterated by the collision of nations, and by the silent lapse of rolling years, yet its history for the last several hundred years is pretty familiar to all well-informed Masons. It has been recognized by almost every civilized community as a religious, social and charitable institution. It has not, however, wholly escaped perse- cution-the lot of everything calculated to promote the dignity and happiness of the human family. Bigotry has assailed it, and political profligacy has endeavored to profit by its injury, and to use it as an element of its unhallowed progress, and thus to degrade and mar its proportions. But it still survives the rude storms that have beset it, and we hope and trust will continue while the rivers flow into the sea, or the laurel adorns their banks. * * *
Man never was intended to be perfect, but always to aim at per- fection without the possibility of reaching it. Hence his weakness and frailty constitute his chief claim on the charities of his fellow-beings.
The consciousness of common virtues and common weaknesses unite us together by common sympathies and common necessities. In short, the very imperfections and weaknesses of our nature, paradoxi- cal as it may seem, may be regarded as the foundation of social order and harmony among mankind. The infant is regarded with com- passion and sympathy by all human kind, for its innocent helpless- ness. Hence man, influenced by these reflections, seeks to provide for his own safety and happiness in winning the respect and affections of his fellow-beings. And hence the emulation he manifests in the practice of all the cardinal virtues-honor, truth, fidelity, charity, piety, purity and honesty-that give grace and dignity to humanity. * *
* These are among the duties taught by our Masonic exer- cises ; and the influence of the Fraternity has been eminently salutary in removing the barriers of prejudice, and modifying the intercourse between nations. It has robbed war of many of its horrors, and taught mankind that, as the creatures of one Almighty Power, and inhabi- tants of the same planet, they should aid, protect and support, and not scourge, each other.
It has been objected to the Institution that some of its exercises are conducted in secret, and sustained by signs only recognizable to the Brotherhood. True, but there is no intrinsic force in the objection, as any candid man will admit, when it is fairly weighed. The secret
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tokens and exercises of the Fraternity are only useful to the Brethren. They are nothing more than necessary safeguards against imposition and disorder. Like the key to a library, always ready to unlock the door of the treasury of useful knowledge to all who duly and truly seek after it ; and which is only shut to the spoiler, or such as would derive no benefit from such a privilege. The secrets are only useful to the real Brother, and could be of no proper earthly benefit to the illegal possessor. The implements and emblems of Masonry have not escaped the prejudices of the uninformed. They have also been aspersed and sneered at by the better informed, from a less worthy motive. The jewels and ornaments, the exercises and rites of the Masonic Brotherhood, have been regarded as trifling baubles and senseless mummery. To which we say, in the language of the illus- trious Grecian, "Strike, but hear !" To a well-informed and reflective Mason, these jewels and rights are fraught with delightful and profit- able instruction. They refer, like an index, to moral duties that every good Mason feels bound to perform. ₭
Address delivered by Brother the Hon. JOHN N. CONYNG- HAM, Past Master of LODGE 61, at the celebration of St. John's Lodge No. 233, F. and A. M., Pittston, Penn'a, June 24th, 1851 .*
My Friends and Brethren : I have been requested by the Lodge of Ancient York Masons located at this place to address, on this Masonic festival, the audience here assembled; and in such address to explain to them some of the principles of the ancient and honorable Institution to which we profess to belong. Decked and adorned with the insignia of our Order, and coming from the privacy of our Lodge- room, we tender to all the hand of charity and friendship, and ap- proach you with respect and regard.
In our connexion with you, as citizens of our common country, we claim no exclusive rights-we demand no peculiar liberties or immuni- ties. Deferring in all cases to the obligations which rest upon us under the laws of the land, the highest honor a Mason can ask, the brightest jewel in the decorations of his Order, is the mark of the honest and the upright man-the peaceful, the quiet, and the orderly citizen. We live among you, as neighbors and friends, following with yourselves the same objects of daily pursuit, struggling together with you in the
* See page 468, ante.
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amicable contest of life, and engaged in the various employments about us, amidst the encouragements and trials of the world. We seek further, by the bonds of a moral institution, better to support our- selves in the callings of our duty by incentives to a virtuous life ; bet- ter to encourage him who is striving against the power of strong temptation ; and by comfort and consolation to assuage the sorrows of those upon whom the world may be hardly pressing with its heavy hand. We, who appear before you marked with our badges, are pro- fessed Brethren ; but by this term, implying affection and regard among ourselves, we mean no adverse feeling toward you. As mem- bers of the great human family, more particularly as residents in a common community, we esteem it a high privilege to call you also friends and brethren.
It is not our intention upon this occasion to trace the origin of Free Masonry, either as to time, or place, or nation. We have no doubt that in attempting so to do we might interest and instruct you, but we cannot at present occupy the time. The oldest and most universal human Institution-established for moral purposes-successive ages through a long period have known its existence ; records and tradition have handed down its time, its phases, and its objects, and it is found among us at this day hoar and white with its age, yet firm and steady in its step, and bright and green in the enduring charities of its pres- ent life. Looking back into the distant ages of antiquity the beams of the 'sun of Masonry, shining through that long period, are still clear and brilliant. Looking forward to the future the same sun is still shining with apparent brightness, pointing us onward through the pathways of virtue and of truth to seek the universal good of all.
We delay not by referring to its origin ; it is enough for us to en- quire what it is, or what its principles require it to be. What it ought now to be is what it ought ever to have been, and what it ever has been-save only when the passions and evil dispositions of men have abused and dishonored the true principles of the Order. Time has no doubt been when vice has found its way within the veil of the Lodge, and when the ambition and evil doings of unworthy members have prostituted the Order to the unhallowed objects of their own pur- suits ; yet this was merely the offence of individuals, and should not be permitted to effect the permanent character of the Order. What institution, however virtuous in its origin, when left to the manage- ment and guidance of man, and subject to the weakness and frailty of his nature, has not often been made subservient to evil ? The evil, however, being produced by the neglect or perversion of the princi- ples of the Society, and not from the proper pursuit of its legitimate
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objects. The name of religion has been taken to disguise a bitter persecution ; the appearance of patriotism has been assumed to cover the dark designs of falsehood and of treason ; the livery of virtue has been put on the better to serve the purposes of sin, and gain the ends of vice.
Our Society has known its traitors and its enemies. From within its own borders and without its limits it has been at times attacked ; ridicule and slander, fanaticism and falsehood have assailed it; the pure-minded, laboring under darkening prejudices-fostered too often by the behavior of ill-judging and ill-acting Brethren following their own evil imaginations-have together striven among its enemies. It has suffered and endured great and powerful opposition, yet it still remains, and will remain-so long as its true tenets, in their power, shall control it-a lasting monument of Truth, Faith, Hope and Char- ity. * *
The language of Masonry, written upon the hearts of the initiated, whether in our own land, or in the far distant regions of another hemi- sphere, can always be read by the true Brother. Many dialects of the globe may be brought together, and the understanding, in its ig- norance of each other's speech, may be confused and at fault, but the Mason knows his fellow. The tongue may be silent, or not under- stood, but the heart speaketh, and the common language of Masonry will interpret its wants. There can be no true and worthy Mason who will not delight to exercise himself in relieving others. To the Brother or his family, the widow or the orphan, to the poor, the distressed, and the afflicted, wherever found, Masonry will be ready to lend its helping hand. Not only should members be relieved and succored, and protected from the assaults of malice and abuse, but the action of universal benevolence to all who are in want will ever be the glad exercise of the kind feelings of our nature. Large as is our Society, ex- tended as are its branches and its influence throughout the world, there is nothing in its profession or its instructions to confine or bind the broadest limits of charity and kindness.
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