^^■M^r%^\'^r 
 
 778 
 C53 
 G71 
 
 ,EX. f 
 
 B 
 
 049431 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THIS BOOK IS ONE OF A 
 COLLECTION MADE BY 
 
 BENNO LOEWY 
 1854-1919 
 
 AND BEQUEATHED TO 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924030322055 
 
OBSERYAl^OE OF FEAST DATS 
 
 BY 
 
 ^.^#* 
 
 ^\^\n of ^0^, ^^ 
 
 VALLEY OF CHICAGO, ORIENT OF ILLllIS, 
 
 THURSO A r EVENIHG, APRIL 10th. 1879. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 CHICAGO LEGAL NEWS COMPANY. 
 
 1879. 
 
 J3'^ 
 
OFFICEES. 
 
 JAMES E. CHURCH, 32° M; 
 
 E. W. CHAMBERLAIN, 32°.. .M. 
 
 A. M. THO /[SON, 32° M. 
 
 W. A. STEVENS, 3.8° M. 
 
 E. B. MYERS. 33° R.' 
 
 ED. GOODALE, 32° R. 
 
 E. F. DbLUCE, 32° R.' 
 
 D. C. ROUNDY, 32° R.- 
 
 R. M. JOHNSON, 32° R. 
 
 '. W.". and P.". Master. 
 
 '. E.'. and P.'. K.". Sen.". Warden. 
 
 '. E.\ and P.". K.'. Jun.'. Warden. 
 
 ". E.*. and P.". K.\ Grand Orator. 
 
 . and P.". K,". Treasurer. 
 
 '. and P.". K.'. Secretary. 
 
 . and P.". E.'. Hospitabbr. 
 
 . and P.'. K.'. Mas.-, or Cer.*. 
 
 ■. and P.'. K.'. Capt.". of the G.'. 
 
GOUEGAS CHArrEE OF EOSE CEOIX. 7 
 
 Office of Walter A. Stevens, 33°, 
 
 Sot.". Gk.'. Insp.-. Gen.". 
 
 No. 121 Eighteenth Stbeet, 
 
 iChicago, Sept. 1st, 1879. 
 Most Wise, Officers and Knights of 
 
 Gov/rgas Chajpter of Bose-Croix, 18° 
 The committee appointed for the purpose of preparing 
 and publishing a synoptical report of the ceremonies of 
 Maunday Thursday last, occurring under the auspices of 
 this Chapter, respectfully present the following pages as 
 the result of their labors. Your committee have to regret 
 the absence from the book of the able and interesting ad- 
 dresses of the 111.". Deputy Hosmee A. Johnson, 33°, and 
 111."- Prince John D. M. Caee, 32°, which we were unable to 
 procure copies of. 
 
 The committee desire to congratulate the Most Wise and 
 his assistants, upon the success attending the entire enter- 
 tainment, as reflecting great credit upon their efforts to 
 make these occasions worthy of thte attention of the mem- 
 bers of the Eite, and we regret that we cannot pi-esent, for 
 our Fratres who were absent, illustratiohs of the beauti- 
 fully arranged rooms, elegant floral decorations, and stage 
 scenery, which so much enhanced the pleasures of the eve- 
 ning to those who were present. 
 
 The delay in publishing was caused by the desire to have 
 this appear in connection with the Triennial Eeport of 
 Oriental Consistory, but that not yet being ready, it was 
 deemed advisable to delay no longer. 
 Courteously yours, 
 
 Waltee a. Stevens, 33°, 
 Heney H. Pond, 33°, 
 Gil. W. Baenaed, 33°, 
 ConvmiUee. 
 
OPEmifG OEEEMOOTAL. 
 
 BY M.-. W.". & P.-. M.-. JAMES E. OHUECH, 32°. 
 
 To tlie glory of the Grand Architect of the Universe; 
 in the name and under the auspices of the Sup.-. Council 
 of Sov.-. Gr.-. Insp.-. Gen'ls of the 33° and last degree for the 
 North.-. Mas.-. Jur.-.' of the TJ. S. of A., and by virtue of 
 the powers in me vested, I call this Chapter from labor to 
 refreshment. 
 
 This Chapter is now called to refreshment. Before we 
 part, let us eat together the bread earned by our labors, and 
 thank our Heavenly Father for furnishing us with the means 
 for sustaining life. 
 
 Bro.-. Mas.-, of Cer.-., visit the avenues, and see if there 
 be any brother, or even any of the profane, who suffer from 
 hunger or thirst; if there be, bring him in, for whoever he 
 may be, he is our brother, and we will freely divide with 
 him our bread and wine. 
 
 [Procession formed.] 
 
 Brothers and Knights, let us assemble around the table 
 of fraternal love, joyfully strengthening the tie which binds 
 our hearts together. 
 
 [In silence and order, the Knights followed the M.\ W.'. to the table.] 
 
 (9) 
 
10 OBSEKVANCE OF FEAST DATS, BT 
 
 INVOCATION BT JAMES MACLAtrGHLAK, 32°, THE GEAND OEATOE. 
 
 Sovereign Creator of all things, and source of life and 
 light, who providest for all our necessities, bless the nour- 
 ishment for the body we are about to take, and make it to 
 give us strength to labor for thy glory and the advancement • 
 of all the great interests of humanity. Amen! 
 
 ADDEESS BT THE GEAND OEATOE. 
 
 From time immemorial, man has plighted his faith and 
 confidence in his fellow-man by drinking from the same ■ 
 cup and eating from the same loaf. 
 
 Among Eastern nations at the present day has this method 
 of solemnizing a pledge been retained. We learn from his- 
 tory, and our Fathers of the Masonic faith, that in the 
 ancient mysteries of Judea and Egypt, the newly initiated 
 were presented with bread and wine as a symbol of the new 
 life they were about entering upon, and that they were 
 henceforth to be devoted to the laws of truth, and knowl- 
 edge of their rights and duties. 
 
 This ceremony is noted as having been practiced in the 
 mysteries of India and Eleusis, in their initiation to what 
 they called the Degree of Perfection. 
 
 The Hebrews accquired the custom from the Egyptians, 
 and celebrated their feasts of the spring full moon, with 
 bread and wine. 
 
 With us it is simply a manifestation of fraternal love, 
 as inculcated by Charity and Masonic Philosophy. 
 
 The solemn feast of the Eose-Croix Knights is held this 
 day, and commemorates the feast of the Passover, observed 
 by the Jews. 
 
GOTJEGAS OHAPTBE OF EOSE OEOIX. 11 
 
 Eesp.-. and P.-. Knights, the feast of which we are about 
 to partake is thus ordered: 
 
 " On the 10th of the month of JSTisan, they shall take to 
 them every man a lamb, a lamb for a house; and if the 
 household be too little for the lamb,- let him and his neigh- 
 bors next unto his house take it, according to the number 
 of the souls. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male 
 of the first year. And ye shall keep it up until the 14th 
 day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the 
 congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening, and they 
 shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and ye 
 shall let nothing remain of it until the morning, nor break 
 any bone of it; and that which remain eth of it until the 
 morning, ye shall burn with fire. 
 
 "And thus shall ye eat it: with your loins girded, your 
 shoes upon your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye 
 shall eat in haste; it is the Lord's Passover. And this day 
 shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it as a 
 feast to the Lord throughout your generation, a feast by an 
 ordinance forever." 
 
 This feast, and the bread and wine of which we partake, 
 are to us symbols of fraternity and brotherly affection, and 
 of that perfect union that must ever subsist among Bro. 
 Knights of the Eose- Croix. 
 
 M.*. W.'. Thus, Bro. Knights, are we assembled, solemnly 
 and fraternally pledging ourselves one to another in broth- 
 erly love, in the presence of the angels and of that great 
 Intelligence that surrounds us in our every action. 
 
 We are members of a universal Brotherhood, where Truth 
 is the base and Morality the hand-maid. We are Knights 
 of Masonry, and to her service our swords are consecrated. 
 May we prove worthy soldiers in a worthy cause. 
 
12 
 
 0B8EEVAN0E OF FEAST DATS, BY 
 
 [The Resp.-. and P.\ Knights, under direetion of the Most Wise and 
 Perfect Master, then partook of the general feast of Lamb and Wine.] 
 
 After wHoli, remarks appropriate to the occasion were 
 
 made by several distinguished members of the Order, and 
 
 sentiments responded to. 
 
GOtlKGAS CHAPTEU OF EOSE OJGOIX. 13 
 
 SEIJ^TIMENTS 
 
 PEOPOSED BY M.". W/. & P.*. M.'. 
 
 1st Toast: " Symbolic Masonry." 
 
 Responded to by the M. W. G. M., of Illinois— T. T. Gurnby, 33° 
 
 Jfost Wise and Perfect Master : 
 
 I cannot express the gratification I feel in being permit- 
 ted to be present upon this interesting and significant occa- 
 sion. It is a pleasure to meet so many brethren of worth 
 and distinction, and particularly as their presence is an as- 
 surance of their deep interest in the fundamental idea that 
 this ceremonial indicates. 
 
 You have been pleased to recogniize the Most "Worship- 
 ful Grand Lodge of Illinois, and for this expression of rev- 
 erence and regard for the craft, I desire, in return, to con- 
 vey my high appreciation of the motives that prompted it. 
 Though separate and apart in its official relations from all 
 other organizations, still the personal associations of large 
 numbers of the symbolic Lodge with this Eite, will always 
 secure that respect that the source of all fraternal inspira- 
 tion is certain to inspire. It is neither the time nor the 
 place to discuss these relations, which we so well 
 understand ; but certain it is, that all branches 
 of Masonry have a common origin, and are gov- 
 erned by the same immutable principles that are the adorn- 
 ment and strength of the present body. 
 
14 OBSEEVANCE OF FEAST DATS, BY 
 
 As members of this Chapter, we have looked forward to 
 this pccasion with a large degree of interest, because of the 
 supreme thought that these ceremonials typify. We are 
 here in accordance with a custom coeval with our history, 
 that the faith which this presence is designed to impress, 
 shall be held in more fervid and enduring affection. ^We 
 are here, that the sequences of our earthly pilgrimage shall 
 reilect the power of this instrumentality in the suppression 
 of wrong, and in bringing man into closer affinities with his 
 Creator. If an occasion like the present was only to gratity 
 a ritualistic ambition, that is to come and go like some 
 ignusfatv/ios, to confound and mislead, rather than point 
 us to the eternal realities that gather around human life. 
 We could not indulge in that respect for ourselves which 
 truest manhood inspires, or entertain that regard for our 
 institution which these drafts upon our attention would in- 
 dicate. I feel, however, that I am associated with brethren 
 that regard the beautiful and impressive symbolisms spread 
 out before us as of vital moment. The solemnity which 
 overshadows this assembly is ample evidence that the 
 truths represented are asserting their sway over our hearts, 
 and for this reason I am gratified beyond measure that I 
 am permitted to unite with you in this annual observance. 
 
 I cannot close this brief response to your courtesy, M.'.W.\ 
 and P.-.M.-., without congratulating you and your official as- 
 sociates upon the success of this undertaking. It is one ot 
 the accumulating evidences of your value to this Chapter 
 and Kite, and I am justified in the belief that your zeal for 
 the body over which you have so long and intelligently 
 presided, and your example as a " Perfect Knight Mason " 
 will not be without their influences upon our present aiid 
 future welfare. 
 
G0UEGA8 OHAPTEE OF EOSE CEOIX. 15 
 
 2nd Toast : Van Rensselaer Grand Lodge of Perfection. 
 Responded to by Vincent L. Hurlbut, 33°. Active member of the 
 Supreme Council. 
 
 -Bros.: and Per.-. Knights of Rose Croix: 
 
 Let the sun shine ; there is room also for the 
 stars. There is no occasion for special humility in 
 such a circle of lofty fellowship. But we may rightly 
 stand in humility and awe before the exalted re- 
 quirements, and the sublime symbolism that confront 
 us and challenge our credentials. The highest has a charm 
 which never grows monotonous. We do not weary in 
 gazing upon the sunset splendors with which God heralds 
 the night, and also prophecies the dawn ; nor do we have a 
 thought for common scenes. Standing on this high sum- 
 mit, bathed in ineffable light, all baser charms of the valley, 
 where the path of our daily life is ordained, loose their hold 
 upon our thoughts and aims, and we are free to breathe the 
 purer air of a higher realm, and welcome the kindling glow 
 of a Diviner aspiration. 
 
 What consecrated memories throng around us here ! When 
 I think of all the steps taken from an entrance through the 
 outer veil of Free Masonry up to tliis grand height upon 
 which we stand ; of the trials of owx faith wA fidelity; of 
 the vows taken ; of the solemn pledges so often repeated 
 and renewed, before we were found worthy to pronounce 
 that ineffable name. When I think of our most wonderful 
 history, and the mighty names that adorn it ; of the gifted 
 souls that have laid upon our altars their genins and devo- 
 tion, I stand in awe l)efore such a crowd of unseen wit- 
 nesses, and seem to hear them saying : " Take the shoes 
 from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is 
 holy ground." There is nothing of possible nobleness with- 
 
16 0B8EEVANCE OF FEAST DATS, BY 
 
 in our reach to which we are not pledged. Think of the 
 grave questions we were called upon to answer with sin- 
 cerity of heart, and without mental evasion, before we were 
 permitted to enter this Holy of Holies ! Think of the 
 sacred symbolism that surrounded and invested us ; the 
 ring, the symbol of wnhrdken friendship; an unbroken 
 circle — one for time and eternity ; the bread and wine the 
 ancient symbols of brotherhood, and the pledges of undy- 
 ing constancy and devotion, reminding us of that one sacra- 
 ment, the pledge of immortal love; the sad but fitting 
 memorial of spiritual presence and discipleship, the prelude 
 of the sublimest sacrifice and the most sorrowful tragedy 
 time shall ever witness, and I am sure we shall all feel lifted 
 far above all selfish aims, and with new zeal shall here resolve 
 to consecrate every energy to the noble achievement to which 
 we are personally pledged. Around us lies this weary, 
 waiting world, cursed by selfislmess and sin, and hither we 
 must go with unwavering i^'o^i^ A, with courageous Hope, and 
 a God-like Charity, to lift the burden from its bruised and ■ 
 aching heart, and make it throb with gladness in the 
 warmth and the light of illimitable love. Brethren, I ask 
 you to form again the sacred circle, and partake with me of 
 the symbols of that holy covenant which binds us together 
 for all time, and which, reaching beyond the valley of 
 death, becomes the pledge of an immortal brotherhood. 
 
GOUKGAS CHAPTER OF EOSE CEOIX. 17 
 
 Bd Toast: " Chicago Council Pbincbs op Jerusalem. " 
 Responded to by E. W. Chambeelain, 32°. 
 
 Most Wise and Perfect Master: 
 
 Scripture and the traditions of the order furnish ns with 
 many interesting facts in relation to this degree. 
 
 This grade may justly be considered as a continuation of 
 the preceding one. 
 
 The two grades are so closely connected by coincidence 
 of design and spirit, as to be almost inseparable. 
 
 The 15th and 16th degrees have direct reference to the 
 reconstruction of the Temple by Zerubbabel : first, by per- 
 mission of Cyrus, King of Persia, as exemplified in the 15th 
 degree, and then more completely by the sanction of his 
 successor, King Darius, who made every effort to restore 
 the Temple in its beauty, and to re-furnish it with the pre- 
 cious vessels taken from the first edifice. 
 
 It seems, therefore, eminently fitting and proper that my 
 brief response should be confined to incidents connected 
 with the history of the 15th and 16th grades. 
 
 God foretold to the Jews, by Jeremiah the prophet, be- 
 fore the destruction of the city, that after they had under- 
 gone servitude seventy years, he would again restore them 
 to the land of their fathers, allow them to build their tem- 
 ple, and enjoy their ancient prosperity. 
 
 King Cyrus, upon reading the book which Isaiah left be- 
 hind him, became impressed with the idea that God had 
 appointed him king of the whole earth, and so issued his 
 proclamation throughout all Asia. 
 
 Cyrus very much admired the divine power, and had an 
 earnest desire to fulfill what was written.. So he called to- 
 gether some eminent Jews in Babylon, and gave them 
 
18 OBSEEVANCE OF FEAST DATS, BY 
 
 permission to return to their own country, and to re-build 
 their City Jerusalem and Temple of God, at the same time 
 assured them of his aid in their work — that he would write 
 to the rulers and governors in the neighborhood of their 
 country, Judea, and that they should contribute to the 
 building, and besides that, beasts for their sacrifices. 
 
 Shortly after obtaining permission of King Cyrus to re- 
 construct the edifice, and while the foundation was not yet 
 completed, Cyrus died. Great apathy and indifiference in 
 consequence existed among the brethern, more especially as 
 they were the subjects of hatred by various tribes of Sa- 
 maritans and Syrians, who constantly harrassed them, and 
 they were compelled, if they continued their w^ork at all, to 
 labor with the sword in one hand and the trowel in the 
 other. 
 
 Those seven families, who were called the seven families 
 of the Persians, appointed Darius to be their king, who in 
 the first year of his reign feasted those born in his house, 
 with the rulers of the Medes, princes of the Persians and 
 the General of the armies, but when they had eaten 
 abundantly they departed to their own home, and Darius 
 the King, went to bed but could not sleep ; so fell into con- 
 versation with the three guards of his body. He promised 
 to him who should make an oration about points, that be, 
 the King, should inquire of, such as should be most 
 ■agreeable to truth and the dictates of wisdom, a reward of 
 his victory — to drink in cups of gold, to put on a puirple 
 garment, to have a chain of gold about his neck, and to sit 
 next to himself — on account of his wisdom, and said he 
 should be called " my cousin." 
 
 He asked the first whether wine was not the strongest. 
 The second whether kings were not such. The third whether 
 
GOUEGAS CHAPTEXt OF EOSE CEOIX. 19 
 
 women were not such, or whether truth was not the strong- 
 est of all. 
 
 The first spoke in glowing terms, and claimed that wine 
 was the strongest and most insupurable of all things. The 
 second demonstrated that the king was the strongest of all, 
 and more powerful than anything else that has force and 
 wisdom. 
 
 Then the third, who was Zerubbabel — admitted the great 
 force of all that had been said, and, besides, demonstrated 
 how powerful women are. Yet claimed everything to be 
 as naught when compared with truth. 
 
 The king decided that Zerubbabel had spoken most wisely, 
 and commanded that he ask somewhat over and above what 
 he had promised. So Zerubbabel reminded the king of the 
 vow he had made — in the event of his being king — to re- 
 build Jerusalem and the Temple, and restore the vessels. 
 The king was pleased, and arose and kissed him, and wrote 
 to the governors, and required them to conduct Zerubbabel 
 and those going with him to build the Temple, 
 
20 OBSERVANCE OF FEAST DATS, BY 
 
 4ik Toast. GoTjRGAS Chapter op Rose Croix. 
 
 Responded to by J. B. Bbadwell, 82°. 
 Most Wise and Sir Knights: 
 
 I respond with pleasure to this toast, in honor of the 
 Chaptee whose good, deeds are performed sw6 7*<?scf e^ 51*5 
 Stella; which each succeeding year celebrates a double res- 
 urrection — that of Nature, and of Nature's God; at whose 
 death the " veil of the temple was'rent in twain," and who 
 said " Destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three 
 days," meaning the temple which his spirit inhabited — the 
 temple of his body — but which his hearers mistook for the 
 Temple of Solomon, and regarded him as a mocker and a 
 blasphemer. 
 
 It is pleasing to contemplate that to-night, throughout 
 the civilized world, wherever there is a Chapter of Rose 
 Croix Knights, no matter to what nation its members may 
 belong, or in what tongue they may speak, the brethren are 
 unitedly joined in the ceremonies of this holy Masonic day, 
 and are bound together by a mystic tie which reaches from 
 Chapter to Chapter, until it extends around the globe. 
 
 If a man comes to the performance of our beautiful 
 and impressive rights and ceremonies with "clean hands 
 and a pure heart " — with Faith engraved upon its tablets, 
 as well as Hope and Charity ; if he can respond with truth 
 and fervor when asked for the lost Word, " Jesus of Naz- 
 areth, the King of the Jews " — these ceremonies are full of 
 significance, and strengthen and encourage the novitiate in 
 his pursuit of hidden wisdom. How much more impres- 
 sively are the life, death and resurrection of our Savior 
 shadowed forth in our emblems and ceremonies than in the 
 austere, bare forms of the Church: the emblematic eagle, 
 calling to mind the " Sun of Righteousness ;" the pelican. 
 
GOUEGAS CHAPTEE OF EOSE CEOIS. 21 
 
 nourishing its young with its own life-blood, suggesting 
 the voluntary shedding of Christ's blood to give eternal 
 life to his erring children ; the rose, signifying the " Kose 
 of Sharon," to which Christ was likened, the perfume of 
 whose good deeds and loving sacrifice has come down to 
 the present day, and will fehed its fragrance over Christian- 
 ity and Masonry while time endures; the blazing star, 
 whicli may either signify the morning star that heralded 
 the dawn of a higher wisdom and civilization than had 
 hitherto blessed the world — the light to which the true 
 Mason was restored after wandering in darkness in search 
 of the lost Word, guided only by the three mystic words: 
 Faith, Hope and Ohaeitt, whose teachings were to lead 
 him to a knowledge of the Word which had so long been 
 lost to his craft; or we may regard it as the Star of Beth- 
 lehem, which guided the Wise Men of the East to the 
 birth-place of our Savior, and hung, a blazing, sparkling, 
 sphere of light, over the spot where the young child lay ; 
 the emblematic sacrificial lamb, of which we partake on this 
 Holy Thursday, is in commemoration of the Passover or 
 Last Supper, and is a symbolic representation of the sacri- 
 fice of the Lamb of God for the sins of the world. 
 
 If all these observances of our order are entered into in a 
 believing and reverent spirit, they are blessed to the partici- 
 pant; but if there are Knights of the Sacred Eose and Cross 
 who have entered into fellowship with us for gelfish and 
 worldly purposes; who, while professing to be governed by 
 the principles of Faith, Hope and Charity, are at heart un- 
 believers and scoffers, to them our beautiful ceremonies are 
 but as " sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal." 
 
 While our love of freedom and liberty of conscience has 
 led us to throw open our sacred portals to the Hindoo, the 
 
22 OBSEEVAJfOE OE FEAST DATS, BY 
 
 Parsee, the Jew, the Trinitarian and the Unitarian Chris- 
 tian, and the Mohammedan, if they only signify their wil- 
 lingness to be governed by the principle inculcated by our 
 motto, " Faith, Hope and Charity,"^ yet none but those who 
 can exclaim, in the language of Philip, as the life, death and 
 resurrection of Jesus of If azareth is portrayed before them, 
 " My Lord and my God," can fully appreciate the signifi- 
 cance of our ceremonies. 
 
 What other faith can be of any great significance than 
 Faith in the existence of the Savior of the world — Hope in 
 the resurrection in Christ, and the Charity — Love — which 
 He taught His Disciples to feel for their Creator and their 
 fellow creatures? 
 
 liTot merely alms-giving, but abroad, warm, all-embracing 
 love, and tender, generous forbearance toward all God's 
 creatures, which is so beautifully and tersely set forth in 
 the language of St. Paul, and which is a part of our beau- 
 tiful ceremony. 
 
 Our craftsmen of to-day are no longer engaged in con- 
 structing material temples. Our skill is expended on 
 " houses not made with hands " — spiritual edifices — in the 
 erection of which, like the Temple of Solomon, no sound of 
 hammer is heard; though each addition to these buildings 
 must still be tested by the square and the compass, and the 
 " stone which the builders rejected has become the head of 
 the corner, and their supporting pillars are inscribed with 
 the mystic words — " Faith, Hope and Chaeity." 
 
 He who shall bring to these buildings " wood, hay and 
 stubble," or who shall bring more substantial material,, yet 
 in its crude state, not having submitted it to the test of the 
 proper instruments of his craft, will call down upon him- 
 self the ridicule and contempt of his more skillful fellow- 
 
GOUEGAS CHAPTER OF EOSE OEOIX. 23 
 
 craftsmen and the condemnation of the Grand Architect 
 of the Universe. 
 
 Let us then, Brethren, beneath the blazing star that hung 
 over Bethlehem more than eighteen hundred years ago; the 
 representation of the " Dewy Eose of Sharon " — the em- 
 blem of our Savior — and in view of the Cross upon which 
 Jesus of ^Nazareth " offered up his life as a sacrifice," resolve 
 to shape our lives by our knightly vows, and so to build up 
 our spiritual natures that when this earthly tabernacle is 
 destroyed, we shall inherit " houses not made with hands, 
 eternal in the heavens." 
 
24: OBSEEVANCE OF FEAST DAYS, BT 
 
 5th Toast: Omental Consistory. 
 Responded to by J. D. M. Cabr, 32°. 
 
 6th Toast: The Supreme Council N. M. J. U. S. A. 
 Responded to by H. A. Johnson, 33°, Deputy for Illinoia 
 
 [Ees.'- and P.'. Knights, under orders from the Mr. Wr. and P.*. 
 M.\, re-formed lines and repaired to the Egyptian Hall, which was ap- 
 propriately draped in black, the furniture consisting of the seven-branch 
 candlestick in the East; Columns of Faith, Hope and Chariti/ displayed 
 in the South, West and East, with triangular transparencies of the sacred 
 Word, suitably placed at their respective stations.] 
 
 All being in readiness, tlie Knights were favored by the 
 following beautiful and impressive discourse, by John 
 Sheville, 33°, active member of the Supreme Council: 
 
 M.: W.: <& P.: M.:, 
 
 lies.-. c& P.'. Knights: 
 
 Wlien I made a trip to Palestine some years ago, I felt 
 as a Christian that I wanted to visit all those places con- 
 nected with the life and labors of our Emmanuel — to press 
 with my feet the soil where he walked, labored, wept and 
 died. But, as a Knight Mason I especially and more 
 particularly desired to visit those places that are dear 
 to every true Knighfs heart — those places more closely 
 identified with the closing events of his life — his death, 
 his resurrection and ascension. I wanted to stand in 
 Bethany where the woman poured ointment upon his body; 
 and as he himself said " for his burial;" I wished to stand 
 on Zion where He ate the passover with His disciples; in 
 
G0UEGA8 CHAPTER OF KOBE OEOIX. 26 
 
 Gethsemane, where He sweat, as it were, great drops of 
 blood, and where He was betrayed; on Calvary, where He 
 died; in the sepulchre, where He was laid, and on the 
 mount from which he ascended. In accordance with this 
 desire of my heart, on the morning after reaching Jerusa- 
 lem, I made a trip to Bethany. I could almost imagine I 
 saw the Master and His disciples assembled in the house of 
 Simon the Leper; that I saw the woman pouring the very 
 precious ointment on His head as He sat at meat; that I 
 heard His disciples saying unto Him: " Master, where wilt 
 Thou that we prepare for Thee to eat the passover ?" and 
 He replying: " Go into the city to such a man, and say 
 unto him, The Master sayeth my time is at hand; I will 
 keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. And he 
 win shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared ; 
 there make ready for us." Then turning my face toward 
 Jerusalem, I traveled over the ground, no doubt, trod by 
 the Master on that eventful occasion, until I reached Mount 
 Zion, and there entered an upper room now called the Can- 
 aculum, or dining room, so called because it is said to be 
 the place where Jesus ate with His disciples the passover, 
 and where he instituted the memorial feast in remembrance 
 of his broken body and shed blood. I cannot tell you all 
 the solemn thoughts that impressed me as I entered that 
 large " upper room," and was shown a large oblong stone, 
 said to be the table at which Christ and his disciples sat 
 and ate. I felt that it became me to put off the shoes from 
 off my feet, for the place whereon I stood was indeed Holy 
 Ground. Leaving the Canaculum, I crossed the brook 
 Kedron and entered the Garden of Gethsemane; a place (as 
 Mr. risk says) of loneliness and seclusion, just such a spot 
 as a soul desiring to be alone with God would choose, when 
 
26 OBSERVANCE OF FEAST DATS, BT 
 
 the shaaes of evening were gathering over it. Sitting down 
 under an old olive tree I read the whole account of our 
 Lord's agony and betrayal, my soul heaving with intense 
 emotion. From the garden 1 wended my way to Calvary, 
 the place of crucifixion, and in the agony of my soul I 
 exclaimed: 
 
 "Alas! and did my Saviour bleed? 
 
 And did my Sovereign die? 
 Would he devote that sacred head 
 
 For such a worm as I? 
 
 " Was it for crimes that I had done 
 
 He groaned upon the tree? 
 Amazing pity! Grace unknown! 
 
 And love beyond degree." 
 
 Then with deep solemnity and reverence I entered the 
 sepulchre where Christ was laid; and as I stood there with 
 my head bowed, my heart heaving and my tears flowing, 
 that sonl-reviving, soul-cheering, soul-stirring language 
 of the angel to the heart-stricken women, came with power 
 and consolation to my heart: "He is not here; for he is 
 risen, as he said." Leaving the sepulchre, I again visited the 
 Mount of Olives, and stretching my eyes toward Bethany, 
 tried to imagine I saw the Master leading his disciples out 
 — ^blessing them, being parted from them, and carried up 
 into heaven. 
 
 And now, M.-. "W.-. and P.-. M.-., Res.-, and P.*. Knights, 
 in the solemn ceremonies of this evening the several events 
 to which I have alluded will all be represented. "We have 
 already assembled in an " upper room " and have " kept 
 the passover." The other ceremonies will now follow. Let 
 us see to it, Sir Knights, that those ceremonies have their 
 due effect upon our minds and hearts, so as to make us bet- 
 
GOUEGAS CHAirTER OV EOSE CEOIX. 
 
 27 
 
 ter men, better Masons, better Knights; and I pray God, 
 that at last, when onr work is finished, and we are done with 
 these ceremonies here below, we may each of us see our King 
 in His heauty, and he like Hi/m, seemg Him as He is. 
 
 [Music] 
 
GOUEGAS CHAPTEE OF EOSE OEOIX. 29 
 
 OEREMOS"IAL. 
 
 M.". of C.'., [^Advanced to the lighted triangle in the East, and said]: 
 "He came to regenerate humanity, but they knew him 
 
 not and put him to death." 
 
 [He then put out the lowest light on the left, and returned to his station.] 
 
 Tbbasueek \_Advanced and said] : 
 
 "He willed that all men should be brethren, but they 
 knew him not and put him to death." 
 [He then put out the lowest light on the right, and returned to his station.] 
 
 Secretary [Advanced and said] : 
 
 " His sublime doctrine was intended for the happiness of 
 mankind, but they knew him not and put him to death." 
 
 [He then put out the next light on the left, and returned to his station.] 
 
 Orator [Advanced and said] : 
 
 " His object was to substitute Teuth for Ereoe ; Love 
 for Hateed ; but they knew him not and put him to death." 
 
 [He then put out the next light on the right, and returned to his station.] 
 
 JuN.'. W.'. [Advanced and said] : 
 
 " He proclaimed that men should do unto their brethren 
 as they would be done by, but they understood him not 
 and put him to death." 
 
 [He then put out the next light on the left, and returned to his station.] 
 
30 OBSEETANOE OF FEAST DAYS, BT 
 
 Sen.', Wab.'. [Advanced and said] : 
 
 "He attempted to deliver his brethren from the yoke of 
 tyranny; to protect the weak, and to recall to their duty 
 the oppressors of humanity; but they listened not unto 
 him and nailed him on a cross." 
 
 [He then put out the next light on the right, and returned to his station."] 
 
 Most Wise [Said]: 
 
 " Yes, my brethren, the Apostle of Liberty, Equality and 
 Fraternity, has fallen a victim to religious and political 
 despotism ! Fanaticism, with the aid of ignorance and 
 superstition, has nailed him to an ignominous cross; has 
 inflicted the punishment of slaves upon the great sublime 
 Emancipator of mankind ; the Friend of the poor and des- 
 titute; the Comforter, who, covering with the mantle of his 
 word the nakedness of the lowest among the low, had intro- 
 duced them into the banquet-room of immortality, there to 
 enjoy the seat which has been from all eternity prepared 
 for them by the Father ! Guests of one day, and disin- 
 herited the next! The friend is dead, the benefactor is no 
 more! Woe unto us! woe unto us! woe unto us! Error 
 triumphs, truth has disappeared, ignorance has extinguished 
 the light of philosophy." 
 
 [He then burnt the triangular paper, put out the light and said] : 
 "My brethren, we have this day met for the purpose of 
 commemorating the martyrdom of the great apostle of 
 human emancipation. "With no other weapon but an im- 
 mense love for his brethren, he hesitated not to assail des. 
 potism and hypocrisy. First of all, he proclaimed thai 
 mankind was one and the same family, whose Father was 
 God, and whose heritage was an everlasting happiness. 
 Cast your eyes, my brethren, cast the eyes of your mind 
 and heart back through the intervening ages to Calvary 
 
GOUKGAS CHAPTEE OF EOSE OEOIX. 31 
 
 and contemplate the scene transpiring there; see that noble 
 and sweet countenance streaming with tears ! behold that 
 crown of thorns bruising the sublime. forehead of Him who 
 sent forth these regenerating words, " Love ye each other." 
 Oh! how intense his agony! for he was not only falling a 
 victim to despots and hypocrites, who, after his death, di- 
 vided mankind among themselves as a vile herd of slaves; 
 but he was forsaken and betrayed by the very ones whom 
 he had loved most, and whom he had selected to be the 
 heralds of his doctrine. 
 
 " Oh, Father! pour into our hearts a ray of Thy heavenly 
 meekness, guide us in the arduous path of life, so that when 
 the last hour shall have come, we may rise to the bosom of 
 our only friend, contemplate his beaming countenance, and 
 enjoy forever the sublime lessons which he no doubt de- 
 livers to the pure beings who surround hira. 
 
 Music: 
 Smg. ....." Thebe is no Death." 
 
 M.". OF C". [Advanced and said'\ : 
 
 " The doctrine of him who died for the regeneration of 
 humanity, has become the living Son of Truth." 
 
 [He then lighted the lowest candle on the left, and returned to his sta- 
 tion.] 
 
 Tkeasueer [Advanced and said] : 
 
 " The doctrine of him who lost his life for having pro- 
 claimed that men being the children of the same father 
 were brethren, shines in the awful night of the past." 
 
 [He then lighted the lowest candle on the right, and returned to his sta- 
 tion,] 
 
32 OBSEEVANCE OF FEAST DAYS, BY 
 
 Secketart [^Advanced and said] : 
 
 "The doctrine of him whose attempts for the happiness 
 of mankind were punished with death, rises now trium- 
 phantly from darkness." 
 
 [He then lighted the next candle on the left, and returned to his station.] 
 
 Oratob [Advanced and said] : 
 
 " The doctrine of him who suffered an ignominious death 
 
 for having attempted to substitute truth for error, love for 
 
 hatred, has overwhelmed ignorance and superstition." 
 
 [He then lighted the next candle on the right, and returned to his sta- 
 tion.] 
 
 JuN.'. War.". [Advanced and said]: 
 
 "The doctrine of him who recommended to man * to do 
 unto others as he would be done by,' is now the life and 
 light of all intelligent minds," 
 [He then lighted the next candle on the left, and returned to his station.] 
 
 Sen. ■ . War. ". [A dvanced and said] : 
 
 " The doctrine of him who gave his precious blood to in- 
 sure for ever the liberty of the oppressed, the rights of the 
 weak and the cessation of tyranny, is now the standard rule 
 of regenerated humanity." 
 
 [He then lighted the next candle on the right, and returned to his sta- 
 tion.] 
 
 Most Wise [Said] : 
 
 " Yes, my brethren, political and religious despotism is 
 forever defeated! Liberty, eq^uality and fraternity, the be- 
 loved daughters of Him who is risen, have inherited the 
 treasures of his love. Ignorance, superstition and fanati- 
 cism are retiring from a world which they can hold no 
 
GOUEGAS CHAPTER OF EOSE OEOIX. 33 
 
 longer. The ignoble cross, on which was nailed the sub- 
 lime emancipator of mankind, the friend of the wretched 
 and destitute, shall henceforth be for us as the symbol of 
 the victory which was promised unto us, the sign by virtue 
 of which we will crush usurpation. 
 
 Immortal guests, no power can henceforth deprive us of 
 our inheritance! Glory unto our Father! Glory unto our 
 Father! Glory unto our Father! Love and liberty give 
 life and light to philosophy. Truth reappears. The Word 
 of life, of regeneration is recovered. 
 
 [He re-lights the candle.] 
 
 The soul of every true Knight yearns for heaven ; it can- 
 not, will not, be content with less, and disclaims that there 
 is death, but only life eternal for which it longs in a higher, 
 holier, spiritual sense. 
 
 The cubic stone is changed to the Mystic Rose that sends 
 forth its perfume to heaven, and the world is restored to man. 
 
 Finally, my brethren, have in holy remembrance the one 
 only God, the only principle, the light of heaven; the father 
 of all, who is, and was, and shall be. 
 
 [Music] 
 
GOUKGAS OHAPTEE OF BOSE CEOIX. 35 
 
 CLOSING ADDEESS 
 
 BY 
 
 J. Adams Allen, 32°. 
 
 Alfaeabi, the eminent Adept (Eosifirucian) of the tenth 
 century, is said to have abruptly and without ceremony, 
 entered the Court, where the Sultan of Syria was sitting, 
 with his ministers and learned men. Indignant at his 
 boldness, the Sultan ordered his forcible ejectment. But 
 Alfarabi said to him: " King, he who acts hastily is sure 
 to repent." 
 
 I have found myself, since consenting to speak upon this 
 occasion without due reflection, a striking illustration of 
 the truth of this sentiment. 
 
 After the wonderful elucidations of both the hi^ory 
 and philosophy of these degrees, which the Nestor of Mason- 
 ry, — Albert Pike, in the best sense, the Albertus Magnus 
 of our day — ^has spread before the Ancient Order, he who 
 dares come after must feel like one who lights a pitiful 
 candle from that great torch. 
 
 When the more than kingly Masonic Magician of the 
 South has cast down his marvelous wand, what worth is it 
 for me to follow with my feeble rod? 
 
36 OBSEEVANCE OF FEAST DATS, BY 
 
 But the request of the " Most Wise " shapes itself to me 
 as imposing a Masonic obligation, and you will pardon me 
 if I find it necessary to repeat, in different language, some of 
 the thoughts which the symbolic representations of the eve- 
 ning inevitably suggest. 
 
 A writer of the last century puts down: " It has been of , 
 old, and will forever remain, the first requirement of a Free- 
 mason, to possess a pair of clearly-seeing eyes." 
 
 !N"ot merely those whi3h need no spectacles, telescopes or 
 microscopes, but those which are literally "windows of the 
 soul " — through which it can receive the light of Teuth- 
 not as it appears, but as it is. 
 
 For there is no greater source of deception than the senses. 
 The senses would make us believe the earth flat and motion- 
 less ; this " brave o'erhanging firmament, fretted with golden 
 fires " — a solid concave vault, blue at mid-day, black at mid- 
 night, within which sun, moon and stars revolve, as satel- 
 lites around our central world." 
 
 And even when a higher education has dissipated errors 
 like these, there remain differences in the report of the eyes, 
 from the fact that we each of us look at TRUTH itself 
 from different points of view. 
 
 You look into the kaleidoscope, and the different colored 
 pebbles and bits of glass arrange themselves on the mir- 
 rored surfaces in exact geometrical figures; you pass the 
 instrument to me, and the lightest tremor of a muscle 
 causes me to see an entirely different set of forms. 
 
 Place yourself at a particular point in the famous "whis- 
 pering gallery " at St. Paul's, in London, and you can hear 
 the slightest articulation from a wonderful distance; and I, 
 standing only a few feet awav, am oppressed by absolute 
 silence. 
 
GOUEGAS CHAFTEE OF EOSE CEOIX. 37 
 
 The old prophet saw the mountains filled with armed an- 
 gels and horses and chariots of fire, protecting him, but his 
 servant saw nothing until his eyes were divinely opened. 
 
 There was once an artist who painted a picture so curi- 
 ously, that from every position but one, it presented only a 
 confused and shapeless assemblage of colors and shadows; 
 but the proper point being taken, these were quickly re- 
 solved into the constituent parts of a most exquisite land- 
 scape. 
 
 An excellent gentleman, now deceased, then the leading 
 editor of a great daily newspaper in this city, was standing 
 by my side, about twenty years ago, as a Masonic proces- 
 sion was passing. He said to me: "This looks childish — 
 "or, at best, an idle mummery, behind the age. Cannot 
 "vou Masons carry out the real objects of your association 
 "without your aprons and swords and feathers and secret 
 meetings?" 
 
 And a few weeks since, one of my friends, who has taken 
 most of the degrees of Masonry, said to me: " It is a good, 
 " social institution — used to be better when there were not 
 " so many members, and we all knew each other — but I 
 " really do not know of what use it is to me — I never expect 
 " to need or receive any of its charities — it costs a good deal 
 "of money, and takes considerable time, and don't help my 
 " business in any way." 
 
 And I, looking at this thing of Masonry, from my stand- 
 point — which was neither that of my friend, the Anti- 
 Mason, nor that of my friend, the Mason, possibly present 
 here this evening — saw a meaning in it all which convinced 
 me that the eyes with which I looked upon it, though sim- 
 ilar in anatomical structure, sS,w something which neither 
 of my friends saw. 
 
38 OBSERVANCE OF FEAST DATS, BY 
 
 One of the most magnificent orators now on the lecture 
 rostrum, I read in the newspapers, was recently seen in an 
 auction shop in New York, purchasing the little bronze, 
 stone and wooden images, some collector had brought Irom 
 heathen hands, to illustrate his portrayals of human super- 
 stition, and help him ridicule human weakness. , 
 
 More than a third of a century since, I saw a similar col- 
 lection in tlie cabinet of an Eastern College, raj Alma 
 Mater, and to the latest hour of existence shall never for- 
 get the emotions they raised in my mind. 
 
 Heads, arms and limbs of men and animals collocated as 
 confusedly as the figments of a dream, or what we might 
 conceive a madman's reveries — gaunt, grim, ghastly and 
 grotesque, and yet I could not smile, and all sense of the 
 ridiculous and absurd was lost in another emotion. 
 
 I have seen the baby in its mother's arms, reaching out 
 its tiny hands not only for the objects near it, but even for 
 the far away moon and stars, — and recognized in this little 
 movement that aspiration characteristic of man alone, 
 which ultimately ennobles and brings him up to his appro- 
 priate place, " a little lower than the angels." 
 
 " The mind grows, and in the whole world there is no 
 " analogue of this growth. It adds idea to idea from 
 " the localities of the nursery, to the far off heavens, and 
 "before the body is three feet high, there is not space 
 " enough beneath the stars to contain its spirit." 
 
 And so, to my eyes, those rudely carved images assumed 
 an impressiveness, and awakened a depth and tenderness of 
 emotion, unspeakable. 
 
 They are the evidences of the often unspoken but every- 
 where felt want of the power and protection of the All 
 Father, whose Being perhaps no argument can demon- 
 
GOTJEGAS CHAPTER OF EOSE CEOIX. 39 
 
 strate — but whose Not-Being, no subtilty of logic, splendor 
 of rhetoric, keenness of ridicule, or virulence of invective, 
 can convince the thinking mind. 
 
 For this intnA will still recognize, in its inmost self, a 
 flame of existence it received when God breathed into his 
 nostrils the breath of life, and man becajne a living soul. 
 
 The little hands reaching after the moon are those which, 
 by-and-by, shall belong to the grand astronomer studying 
 the stars in their courses, and pointing out the majestic 
 orbit, not only of that moon around the earth, the earth 
 around the sun, but of that vaster revolution of the entire 
 solar system around the Pleiades, from which we have 
 already swung so far that for ages the world's wise men have 
 spoken of the lost Pleiad. 
 
 And so to me, coming in through these eyes of mine, 
 which I humbly believe are of the kind our brother wrote 
 of a hundred years ago — the ceremonial observances of this 
 evening — the wanderings in the forests and mountains; the 
 search for the lost "Woed, even within the portals of Hades 
 itself —the crucifixion, the death, the descent into the abyss, 
 the resurrection, the ascension — each and all bring thoughts 
 and emotions which are entirely independent of the repre- 
 sentations themselves. 
 
 The pictured Hell of Dante and Milton, with their weird 
 and repulsive shapes — the scenic exhibition of the death and 
 resurrection of the Savioe, pass before me as fleeting light 
 and shade. Not so the impression on the mind — the ideas 
 carve their memento on the soul, never to pass into ob- 
 livion. 
 
 The real life and power of Masonry do not depend on the 
 historical truth or falsity of even its most venerated tradi- 
 tions. 
 
4:0 OBSERVANCE OF FEAST DAYS, BY 
 
 The brother of the Blue Lodge shouM know, if he does 
 not, that whether such a king as Solomon ever existed, or 
 such a structure as the Temple was ever erected, or whether 
 such a society as the Masons had at that time been organ- 
 ized, are not matters upon which it is necessary to form an 
 opinion for or agaipst. 
 
 And in these emblematic devices which have claimed our 
 attention this evening, the questions which mere sectarians, 
 sceptics and philosophers might raise, have no place. 
 
 The essential relation of Christ to the God-head, the fu- 
 ture state as to the particular character of its rewards or 
 punishments, are not for us of the Eose Croix, as such, to 
 decide, or even debate. 
 
 It is the lesson conveyed which we are to ponder. 
 
 In Oriental tale there was once a city, which falling un- 
 der the wrath of a mighty naagician, had in an instant of 
 time, every living thing within its walls changed to stone. 
 The warrior about to mount his horse, the artisan at his 
 task, the orator with his arm outstretched, the mother bend- 
 ing over her babe — stood still in the latest attitude of 
 breathing life. And there they stood for centuries, until a 
 mightier magician came, whose power broke the spell, and 
 the current of happy life came back — living souls looked 
 out from the long darkened stony eyeballs, and all the sweet 
 associations of humanity awoke to joy again. 
 
 The selfish life is hard, sombre and cold. A community 
 of selfish men are like the denizens of that storied city 
 under the baneful enchantment of petrifaction. 
 
 The dramas of Masonry, to them, bring no thrill of feel- 
 ing. Our actors might as well be doomed to personate 
 their parts before an audience of statues. 
 
GOtTEGAS OH AFTER OF EOSE OEOIX. 41 
 
 Let no one mistake. Masonry is not a church, nor a 
 substitute for a churcli. True, it pre-supposes in its mem- 
 bers obedience to the moral law, but it demands more than 
 this. The young man who had kept all the commandments 
 from his youth up, was informed that more was necessary 
 before he could be received as a diseipl^ of Our Lord — and 
 Masonry would have told him that more was necessary be- 
 fore he could become a worthy Mason. 
 
 The Masonic law was simply the Moral Code, to which 
 the teachers added Faith in God, to the exclusion of Moloch, 
 Baal and the other heathen deities, and Hope in the future 
 grandeur of the Hebrew race through a coming Messiah. 
 
 The Masons of the Eose Croix turn to the generally ac- 
 credited Christian Disj)en8ation, as sublimely exemplify- 
 ing and bringing more prominently into the foreground, 
 the highest grace — Chaeitt. 
 
 It does not meddle with the mystic relations of the indi- 
 vidual soul with its Creator, nor attempt to explore the 
 mysterious abyss of future existence. I£ is for this life — 
 the Church for this life and the next. 
 
 Nor is it an Insurance Society against accidents, poverty, 
 or death. Those who enter its ranks on the level of health 
 and social standing, usually early in life, have least in their 
 thoughts that the apartments of the craft are to be substi- 
 tutes for the almshouse or hospital. 
 
 Neither is it for the aggrandizement of individuals. He 
 who seeks its portals hoping or expecting after admission 
 to be voted for, or traded with, or socially advanced, has 
 mistaken the purport and object of the association — which 
 is to discourage selfishness, not to build it up. He will find 
 the bonds of Masonry too weak to help him in these direc- 
 tions. 
 
42 OBSEETANCE OF FEAST DAYS, BY 
 
 Although degrees and orders are piled heaven high upon 
 him, he is no Mason, and when he complains of his disap- 
 pointment in failing to advance his selfish designs, he is 
 hut an emhodied folly. 
 
 There are avenues to success for enterprise in trade, or 
 worthy ambition in politics, or honorable aspiration for im- 
 proved social position, but not through the assistance of 
 our rites. 
 
 I have no fault to find with Ambition, Enterprise or 
 Emulation, appropriately manifested — but they are not 
 exclusively Masonic virtues. 
 
 There is a legend that the well of St. John, in county 
 Meath, Ireland, lias a subterranean communication with 
 the river Jordan. And so in the south of India, many hun- 
 dred miles away, there is a river whose waters are said to 
 have a similar relation to the Ganges — the holy river of the 
 Orient. Miraculous influences are attributed to each of 
 these, and long pilgrimages are made for the privilege of 
 bathing in their lioly waters. 
 
 I have heard many people ridicule this as superstition, 
 but as " there is a soul of goodness in things evil," so in all 
 human customs, however strange and absurd they may ap- 
 pear to us, there is now, or once was, a deep significance. 
 
 We, of the Hose Croix, have dipped our hands into the 
 water of the brazen laver, not as an idle form, but in con- 
 formity to a custom old as history, whether recorded on 
 papyrus or stone — a custom based upon a symbolism ema- 
 nating from the loftiest thought of which the human mind 
 has been capable. 
 
 According to the traditions of all races of mankind, as 
 well as the Mosaic account, water preceded all other forms 
 of matter, whether living or lifeless. Before light came or 
 
GOTJEGAS CHAPTER OF EOSE CEOIX. 43 
 
 life was, water rolled its heavy waves over the dark surface 
 of the deep. And the Spirit of Ood moved ufon the face 
 of the waters. It existed before Life, and without it life 
 could not exist 
 
 The exactness of modern science has shown that without 
 water there could be no change, even in the solid strata of 
 the earth's crust, and organic life,, whether animal or vege- 
 table would be impossible. 
 
 Even in Chemistry the axiom holds good — Corpora non 
 agunt r>,isi soluti. 
 
 All the ancient philosophers speak of water as the first 
 and oldest of all things, and it was to them the apt symbol 
 of Creative Energy. 
 
 In the parched wastes of the Oriental cradle of the race, 
 the beneficent influence of " the mists going up from the 
 earth and watering its surfaces." were peculiarly evident — 
 men seemed to see the marvelous efiects. So in Egypt, the 
 long unknown sources of the Nile sent out into a rainless 
 land the water whose overflowing not only created the del- 
 ta of Lower Egypt, but made it the most fertile of all 
 lands upon which the sun shone. 
 
 In districts where there was rainfall, Phcebus was termed 
 the god from whose mouth a river flowed — because the Sun 
 by his heat drew up the vapors, which, stretching out into 
 clouds, descending bring to life the dormant seeds, and de- 
 velop into all forms of use and beauty, the grasses and 
 flowers, the trees and foodful grains. 
 
 The well of St. John and the river Jordan; the Tircangy 
 and the Ganges, are connected as one; and so are all the 
 waters which descend as rains from heaven, as rivers from 
 the mountains to the sea, or ocean rolling around the globe. 
 
44 OBSEEV^NOE OF FEAST DATS, BY 
 
 "Water is also an emblem of Purity and Purification, be- 
 cause without it not only would foreign matters adhere to 
 our bodies and render them unclean, but the products of in- 
 ternal changes, necessarily incident to the manifestations of 
 life, could not be removed, and our system would be clogged 
 and suffocated by its own debris. The application of water, 
 therefore, has been for ages significant of the putting away 
 of all defilement, whether physical or moral. 
 
 Thousands of years before "John came baptizing in the 
 wilderness," this custom had prevailed in all inhabited 
 parts of the earth of which there remains any record. It 
 was significant of repentance over violation of the moral 
 law, and of purpose hereafter to remain pure. 
 
 But there is yet a higher symbolism in the application of 
 water. 
 
 "When the rising of the Blasvng Star, Anubis, an- 
 nounced to the Egyptians the welcome coming of the annual 
 inundation of the Nile, their hearts were filled with grate- 
 ful rejoicing, because they recognized in this Beneficence, 
 and not merely an orderly,, motiveless phenomenon of Na- 
 ture. "Where every natural event was looked upon as the 
 result of some especially acting divinity, we can easily ap- 
 prehend that He who sent the welcome rain, or inundation, 
 should be looked upon as a lover of the people benefited, 
 and endowed with all kindly and beneficent attributes. 
 
 Hence, to the vivid Oriental imagination, "Water became 
 the emblem both of Abundance and Charity. 
 
 As Water goes upward before it can come downward, so 
 Charity springs from the aspiration of the Human toward 
 the Divine, before it can drop " like the gentle rain from 
 Jleaven upon the place beneath, blessing him that gives 
 and him that takes." 
 
GOUEGAS CHAPTEE OF EOSE OEOIX. 45 
 
 Abundance without Charity, is like the Nile in Ethiopia, 
 where it flows through arid wastes, and sandy deserts be- 
 tween its high banks confining its flood, while ail the region 
 around is parched and dry— like Tantalus perishing with 
 thirst, " chin deep in water." 
 
 "Water again is an emblem of Perpetuity— a,& the foun- 
 tains flow ever to the river, the river to the sea, and so to 
 utmost ocean. I have seen in old deeds conveying lands, 
 instead of the word "Forever," "so long as grass grows 
 find water runs." 
 
 It is also an emblem of Firmness, commingled, as it 
 always should be, with Mndliness, for whilst it is stubbornly 
 incompressible, " it placidly avoids force, bending every way 
 with ready fluency." 
 
 It is an emblem of that feeling of brotherhood which 
 tends to bring all men in one sense upon the level, for it is 
 gradually bringing the mountains into the valleys, and thus 
 removing the inequalities from the surface of the earth. 
 
 In the Hindoo mythology, Sivha is both Destroyer and 
 Creator, and so water symbolizes, at times, not only the 
 creative but the destructive energy. 
 
 The interdiction of water is perhaps the most terrible 
 punishment to which man can be subjected — and he to 
 whom all men refuse charity, or who is himself devoid of 
 that quality, is of all men the most miserable. 
 
 The gi'eat Lord Bacon in his old age, banished by his 
 king, and neglected by those who in his days of power 
 fawned upon him, prayed more fervently than for any other 
 blessing, the " charitable memories " of mankind. 
 
 Under the city of Eome is a series of vast excavations in 
 the volcanic rock, extending in a bewildering maze a score 
 
46 OBSEEVANCE OF FEAST DATS, BY 
 
 of miles — a labyrinth which is a world's wonder. Multi- 
 tudes of persons have lost their lives, incautiously attempt- 
 ing its exploration, 
 
 A few years ago an artist provided with a torch and 
 clue-line, visited it for the purpose of copying some of its 
 ancient inscriptions, for it had been used as a repository of 
 the dead for thousands of years. Interested in deciphering 
 the antique epitaphs, he failed to note the lapse of time, and 
 the wasting of his torch, until its sudden extinguish- 
 ment awoke him to his situation. He had dropped his clue- 
 line, and insensibly wandered away from it, whilst using his 
 pencil. 
 
 Above him was the ancient city, its streets still thronged 
 with the living he could never more hope to mingle with; 
 around him the more numerously populated city of the 
 dead, where millions had been laid to rest by the kindly 
 hands of loving friends; and the passages and rocky aisles of 
 that silent city were strewn with the bones of those who, like 
 him, had been " Lost in the Catacombs." 
 
 To die upon the battle-field, myriads have joyfully dared 
 — to die at home, surrounded by the prayers and affection 
 of those who love us, is but to submit to an inevitable lot, 
 and even to the happiest, deprives death of much of its 
 dread. 
 
 But in the full vigor of youthful manhood, whilst the 
 blood is still rioting in its healthful course, and those high 
 faculties that can grasp the Universe in their range are in 
 their highest glory of action — to die alone in the dense 
 darkness, whilst gaunt hunger torments and thirst maddens 
 — this, this is terrible! 
 
 How sweet life looks in moments like these to the veriest 
 misanthrope, who, under the blessed light of noonday, talks 
 calmly of death but as a sinking to an eternal sleep. 
 
GOUEGAS CHAFTEE OF EOSE OEOIX. 47 
 
 Tlie young artist, at last, after wanderiDpj desperately 
 through hours upon hours of which he could make no note, 
 threw himself upon the rocky floor, worn out and craving 
 death as a relief from the agony of his sufierings, and won- 
 der of wonders! millions to one against it! — he grasped the 
 clue. He is saved! 
 
 And thus, my Brothers of the Kose Oroix, we are thread- 
 ing the labyrinth of life — around us the inscriptions of the 
 past, for the living are but a trifling minority of those who 
 have lived. Too often we are content to be gnided on our 
 way by the torch which we call Reason. 
 
 We seek to add to our possessions either wealth of money, 
 or knowledge or power-^or even of ignoble, because selfish 
 pleasures; and in our carelessness or greed, we drop the 
 precious clue which is to connect us with that higher, 
 brighter, nobler realm, where the the love of self is merged 
 in that grander, sublimer, more godlike sentiment — the love 
 of our fellowmen. Happy for us, if our wakening better 
 nature can grasp that silken and golden clue. 
 
 The clue is Ohaeity — not that impulse which leads some 
 people to give money lightly valued to those, who need. 
 Not even that sentiment which is willing to practice self- 
 denial to discharge a moral duty. The prompt discharge 
 of moral duties is often characteristic of those whose hearts 
 are hard as adamant. 
 
 ]S"ot at the call of what men of cool blood call principles. 
 There have been thousands of men who have submitted to 
 tortures, flames and death for their principles, who, had they 
 been in the majority, would just as gladly have consigned 
 the other party to the rack, the gallows or the faggot for 
 their principles. 
 
48 OBSEEVANCE OF FEAST DATS, BY 
 
 There is a nobler ideal of manhood than the ascetic, the 
 martyr, the confessor of the faith, or even the " man of 
 principle." 
 
 It is that Charity which does not permit the accidents of 
 birth, education, opinion, creed, or even action, to conceal 
 from us that all men are brothers. 
 
 That Fraternity is more priceless than icy moralities. 
 That true kindness of heart and Charity in the sense the 
 Apostle Paul so grandly describes it, is something infinitely 
 more worthy of men and Masons than the most immaculate 
 observance of the Decalogue. 
 
 "We read in the Book of Books, that when a party of 
 Israelites were burying a dead man, they were so alarmed 
 by the appearance of a troop of Moabites, that they hastily 
 threw the body into :the grave of the prophet Elisha and 
 fled. But when the yoimg man was let down and touched 
 the hones of Elisha, he revived and stood wpon his feet. 
 
 Tliese old allegories, which some would have us discardj 
 have a quality of life in them, germinant and upspringing, 
 to him who cares to understand. 
 
 There come times to each of us, when looking over the 
 world and seeing apparently the worst qualities of the race 
 in the ascendant — ^wars and dissensions, strifes and fierce 
 debates — when the more trivial the cause of difference the 
 greater the hatreds engendered — we are almost , forced to 
 believe that . Charily has clean gone out of the world, and 
 we are tempted to lay its very name away among the dead 
 things. But be not disheartened; although we think it 
 buried out of sight, the time will come when some Chicago 
 conflagration, some wasting pestilence, some great public 
 misfortune, or even some private sorrow — like the body of 
 the dead man touching the bones of the Prophet — shall 
 
GOUEGAS OHAPTEE OF KOSE OKOIX. 49 
 
 canse the supposed lifeless to spriug to its feet, erect, ma- 
 jestic, full of vitality and power. 
 
 St. Paul said, '■^Charity covereth a multitude of sins;" 
 and in the Yeda, written ages before his time, I find this 
 enlogy of a good man: " Charity is always pure, and he is 
 charity." 
 
 In this "jurisdiction," 1 am informed that Jews, or those 
 who do not admit the Divine Nature of Christ, are not ad- 
 mitted to affiliation. In the southern jurisdiction they are. 
 
 Both are wrong and both are right. It is in one sense, 
 reverently be it spoken, no more an essential of our high 
 degree, that the New Testament record of the life and suf- 
 ferings of Christ be actual facts of history, or tliat Christ 
 himself was an incarnation of, or from, the Triune God, 
 than to Blue Lodge Masonry that there ever was a Solomon, 
 a temple, or Masonry then existent. 
 
 To us who acknowledge the Christian Dispensation, HE 
 is the Logos, the Woed, Creative, Beneficent — the incarna- 
 tion of CHAErrr. 
 
 The Mosaic Dispensation was one of obedience to the 
 moral law, rising to Faith and Hope, as heretofore stated. 
 
 Let the Jew add to these Chaeity, in the broad sense I 
 have given it — receiving into his inmost soul its Divine 
 power — and I welcome him, with all my heart, to the Rose 
 Croix. 
 
 Let a man call himself a Christian, and have «o^ this 
 soul-felt ideal within him — this faculty that " thinketh no 
 evil ; " and, though he were spotless as to the Decalogue, 
 and orthodox as St. Paul, I would no sooner admit him to 
 these sacred apartments than I would seek to warm myselt 
 by the glittering radiations of an Alpine glacier. 
 
 Our ceremonies and representations, including the wan- 
 
50 0B8EEVANCE OF FEAST DATS. 
 
 deriijge in the mountains and forests, descent in to the poeti- 
 cal ideal of the Hades of antiquity, and so on, are not to 
 impress upon the neophyte a belief in the actual existence 
 of flames, demons and infernal abysses, but to infix the pro- 
 found teaching, that all of human effort and toil, sacrifice 
 and endurance, should be called into action to lift the glori- 
 ous Human Spirit up from its gross surroundings, into the 
 pure atmosphere, which the Supreme designed for that 
 Human Spirit — not alone when the body is dead, but while 
 it yet lives. 
 
 "Work to be done while life's dcnj lasts— ^/b/" the night 
 Cometh, in which no man can work. 
 
 These three — 
 
 ^a«#A— Hope— CHAKITY; and the greatest of these is 
 CHAEITY. 
 
Cornell University Library 
 HS778.C53 G71 
 
 Observance of feast days bv Gouraas Cliap 
 
 3 1924 030 322 055 
 olln,anx