GMEndicott

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HENRY ENDICOTT 1824-1913

HenryEndicott1891.jpg

Senior Grand Warden, 1873
Grand Master, 1887-1889


TERM

1887 1888 1889

MEMORIAL

From Proceedings, Page 1913-281:

M.W. HENRY ENDICOTT, who for two years past had been the senior permanent member of the Grand Lodge and its senior surviving Past Grand Master, died at his home in Cambridge Nov. 8, 1913. He was born in Canton, Nov. 14, 1824, and thus in less than a week would have reached the age of eighty-nine years. He belonged to that branch of the Endicott family which originally settled in Wells, Me., but had been domiciled in Canton for more than a hundred and fifty years. One of his brothers, Charles Endicott, was State Treasurer of Massachusetts for the five years from 1876 to 1881, having previously been State Auditor from 1870 to 1876, and another brother, Augustus B. Endicott, was for thirteen years sheriff of Norfolk County.

Henry Endicott never aspired to political preferment. He was educated in the public schools of Canton, and was married at Fitchburg in 1851 to Abigail Hastings Browning of Petersham. Soon after his marriage he established himself as a manufacturer of engines and boilers in Boston, and removed his works to Cambridge in 1858, from which time, while refusing public office, he became a prominent factor in the business and financial life of that city, although he retired from manufacturing in 1874. He held office in the Harvard Trust Company and the Cambridge Gas Light Company and was president of the Cambridgeport Savings Bank. In all these and other financial associations he was known and revered for his sterling integrity and business capacity, while his genial temperament made him the friend of those with whom he had dealings and the kindness he showed to others reacted in respect and. affection for him. No truer word Was ever spoken than by the paper which chronicled his death when it named him the grand old man of Cambridge and everybody's friend. Especially appropriate is this description as it relates to his connection of more than fifty years with the Masonic institution. He received the Degrees of Masonry in Amicable Lodge in 1860, and became a member of that Lodge in 1861. In 1864, 1865, and 1866 he was its Worshipful Master. In 1867 he was Master of Mizpah Lodge under Dispensation, retaining the position for two years after the Lodge received its Charter. Our law did not then allow dual membership, but Amicable Lodge in 1868 made him an Honorary Member.

In 1872 he was elected Senior Grand Warden for 1873, after having been for two years District Deputy Grand Master of the Fourth Masonic District and a member of the Board of Directors from the beginning of 1871. The latter office he held until his election as Grand Master, and upon the close of his term of office he was immediately returned to the Board and continued upon it until the end of the year 1902, making his service upon the Board continuous for a period of thirty-three years.

In December, 1886, he was elected Grand Master by a unanimous vote. His three years' term as Grand Master was a period of Masonic activity. He constituted Converse Lodge of Malden, Winthrop Lodge of Winthrop, Golden Rule Lodge of Wakefield, and Thomas Talbot Lodge of Billerica. He laid the corner'stone of the Town Halls at Southbridge and Winchester, of the United States Post Office at Springfield, of the City Hall in his own City of Cambridge, and of the extension o{ the. State House on Beacon Hill. He dedicated Masonic halls at Malden, Georgetown, Yarmouth, and Somerville, and the monument in honor of our first Grand Master, Henry Price at Townsend, and the Pilgrim Monument at Plymouth. At the latter place the rain descended and a flood came; and his exposure to the elements was such that he was obliged to delegate the laying of the corner-stone of the Courthouse at Fall River, a week later, to M.W. Brother Nickerson. At each of the ceremonials in which he participated he delivered an address and these addresses, terse and vigorous, differing each from the other, are stamped with the originality of the man who prepared them and bear the impress as well of scholarly taste and elegance of diction. His administration was a successful one, not alone in its immediate results but in its effect upon the future of the Grand Lodge.

His Masonic record was in other tespects long and interesting. He was exalted in Saint Paul's Chapter April 1, 1861, was its Scribe in 1863, its King in 1864, and was at the head of the Chapter in 1865 and 1866. He was High Priest of Cambridge Chapter while it was under dispensation in 1864 and was elected Grand King of the Grand Chapter Sept. 11, 1866. He received the degrees in Boston Council of Royal and Select Masters in 1868, and became a Life Member but never accepted office. He was Knighted in Boston Commandery in 1861. After holding minor positions he was its Captain-General in 1869, its Generalissimo in 1870 and 1871, and Commander in 1872 and 1873, immediately preceding Samuel C. Lawrence in that office, and he was for many years the Senior past Commander. In the Scottish Rite he received the degrees in 1864, and was crowned as Sovereign Grand Inspector-General ten years later.

Brother Endieott was a sufferer from rheumatism during the last years of his life, which prevented his participation in our meetings. His last attendance upon the Grand Lodge was in June, 1906, but in the following year he accompanied the Grand Master at the funeral of Rev. Bro. Charles A. Skinner, our Grand Chaplain, and he was a spectator at the laying of the corner-stone of the Masonic Temple in Cambridge in 1910, but did not leave his carriage. He was at this time unable to attend Divine worship, but was deeply interested, in the First Parish Chureh of Cambridge. A member of his family writes: "As a young man, he was influenced by Theodore Parker, and I think his feeling for him never changed. I believe he could repeat by heart the whole of Parker's famous sermon on immortality, and the worn copy of it (preached in 1846), is on his desk still. He had no use for arbitrary dogma or creed, but he was essentially reverent by nature and conviction, and although he never had much to say on religious matters, "he believed greatly in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man."

His movements for several years being circumscribed by his inability to leave his chair, he was comforted and cheered by the companionship of the wife with whom he passed more than sixty-two years of wedded life, and the attendance of his daughter, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He delighted in the visits of those with whom he had been associated and all who came to pay their tribute of friendship or respect were welcome. All men delighted to do him honor.

At the wish of his family his funeral services were held at his own house and were simple in character, but no more representative body of friends, business associates, and Brethren of the mystic tie ever assembled than gathered around the casket of Henry Endicott. Upon his grave we have left the wreath of ivy, for his memory will ever be green, but that wreath has borne upon the one side the ear of wheat, the emblem of a life rounded out to completeness, and upon the other the spray of acacia, by which, our emblem of immortality, we can best express our hope and belief that beyond the gate of suffering and death we may be greeted by him again.

Respectfully submitted,
John Albert Blake,
John Hamilton,
George H. Payne,
Committee.

SPEECHES

AT HALL DEDICATION, FEBRUARY 1887

From Proceedings, Page 1887-3, at the dedication of Malden Masonic Apartments, on Washington's Birthday:

WORSHIPFUL MASTER AND BRETHREN : — It is a most pleasant duty that calls us together to-day, and surely no more auspicious day for such a ceremony could have presented itself. The influence of an institution reveals itself most clearly in the lives of the men who have honored its principles and cherished its observances. It is to this test indeed that all institutions are fiually brought for the verdict of humanity. Masonry has never been left without its witnesses, and on its rolls are the names of many men known far beyond its own ranks, for their high and enduring services to their fellow-men. Among them all no name stands higher than that of the Brother whose birthday we observe with grateful affection. Not only great in those qualities which distinguished him as soldier and statesman, but equally faithful in the duties of domestic life and as a private citizen of the republic, he is to us a noble example of those virtues which Masonry seeks to inculcate. Too generous for bigotry in any form, too modest for self-seeking, too great for rivalry, he entered the Lodge-room, a Fellow-Craftsman and a Brother, desiring only to advance the interests of the beloved Institution, and to manifest in his daily life the value of its lifeguiding principles. To you, who are accustomed each year to remember this day, it is not for me to speak of the inspiration which comes from the study of a life at once so majestic and so simple. "Men learn to honor first, then love, and then revere." Let the memory of Washington be to us, as a Fraternity, the same inspiration it has been to the nation he labored to establish,— a help towards carrying out, now and ever, those principles which he held dear.

Worshipful Master and Brethren of Mount Vernon Lodge: It is a great pleasure to the representatives of the Grand Lodge to he here to-day. No duty of the year is more inspiring than that which calls us to say a word of good cheer and encouragement to a Lodge which has proved, in so conclusive a way as the building of a new Temple, that its interest in onr common purposes is one not of the lips merely, but of the heart. I am glad to congratulate you on the completion of your Masonic home. Let it be something more to you than a fitting and convenient place for the performance of those Masonic duties to which it will be primarily devoted, important as these will ever remain. Let it be also a constant and strong inspiration to the fulfilment of every duty of life. As you assemble month after month in these rooms, may our beautiful ritual never fall on careless or inattentive ears. May its principles so animate your hearts that, every time you leave this Hall, it shall be with a firmer determination to illustrate in your lives the truths which it is our aim to perpetuate. Let it be understood that to say of a man, "He belongs to Mount Vernon Lodge" is equivalent to saying of him, "He is a good man; one who would rather suffer wrong than commit it; who would endure injustice rather than he unjust; he is a good citizen, a faithful friend, an honest man." Remember that upon each one of you rests the responsibility of thus upholding the honor of this Lodge.

Again, the Grand Lodge is glad to represent to-day the interest which every Lodge feels in the welfare of every other Lodge. Each one is a bright gem in the circlet included under our jurisdiction; and if a single one of these is dimmed in its lustre it is felt by the others, just as an injury to any part of the body is known throughout the entire system. So, too, the prosperity of one conduces to the stronger life of all.

Fraternity is one of the mighty watchwords of our Order. In this Temple we meet on a common footing. Forgotten are the differences of sect, of class, of political partj*. On this fraternal feeling much of the prosperity of a Lodge depends. That you already know the truth of this is shown by the united effort which has enabled you to build this new home.

My brethren, beautiful and fitting as is this Temple which we dedicate to-day, let it not be forgotten that it is a means to an end. Let it be all the service to you which you hope, (and I can assure you it will be even more), yet it is a symbol of something greater still, — a symbol of that structure which each one of us must try, often with trouble and discouragement, to raise out of the chance and change of eveiy day, — a symmetrical, unstained temple of character.

"Our to-days and yesterdays
Are the blocks with which we build."

Each opportunity that comes tous is a rough, unpolished stone, out of which we may carve a fitting ornament for that temple. The instruments lie all around us, but only by faithful effort do we learn to use them aright. Let the secret nature of our organization remind us that we must build as did the workmen of old in the great Temple of Solomon,—just as faithfully in those parts which may never be uncovered to the gaze of men, as on the outer walls. May the lessons of love and wisdom learned here help 3*011 iu each clay's building!

Once more let me express to you the interest which the Grand Lodge has always taken, and will continue to take, in your prosperity. We are all heirs of a glorious history. Let us remember it as an incentive to press on faithfully to the things which lie before, resolving to preserve this common heritage for those who are to come after us, its beauty not diminished, but shining more radiant, because it has been entrusted to our keeping, and relying on the continued guidance of the Grand Architect of the Universe.

AT CORNERSTONE LAYING, JUNE 1887

From Proceedings, Page 1887-82, at a cornerstone laying in Winchester:

MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN : — In glad obedience to the summons from those who have planned and undertaken this ceremony, the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts have come to do their part in hallowing this public service. The sympathy of Masonry in all that belongs to the public good, in all that helps to make better men and better citizens, in all that affords a chance for different classes to meet on common ground and with common interests, in all that pertains to the higher life of the individual or of the community, justifies our participation and our joy.

The public ceremonies which attend the laying of the corner-stone of a new building have come down to us hallowed by tradition and by custom. Probably at first only temples, vowed to the service of the gods, were thus consecrated by the oil and the taper, by ritual and prayer; but the world has come to believe that every building may serve the purposes of God, by serving the needs of his creatures, and should, in thought, if not by public service, be nobly begun.

It is eminently fitting that we come together to-day under the blue arch of heaven, and surrounded by the beauty of a June day, to lay with appropriate services the corner-stone of a building which shall stand through the years, to advance the good of this community, and promote the moral and material interests of the people. It is to hold its own place in the growing life of this town, and to increase the opportunities which lead to purer individual and municipal life.

May it lend itself to many a noble undertaking for the common good! May the work of erection go on without interruption and in harmony! May the completed building long stand as a centre for much that is best in the intercourse of man with man, and may the blessing of the Supreme Architect rest on to-day's work and crown it with completion!

AT HALL DEDICATION, DECEMBER 1887

From Proceedings, Page 1887-175, at the dedication of the Georgetown Masonic Hall:

WORSHIPFUL MASTER AND BRETHREN OF CHARLES C. DAME LODGE: — We have met to-day to dedicate these new and convenient apartments, and it is with cordial heart-greeting that I accept the privilege of congratulating you on this evidence of prosperity. We have come to share in your pleasure at the completion of your new Masonic home, and with you to devote it, reverently and earnestly, to the interests of Freemasonry. That these interests lie very near your hearts has been proved by the effort and brotherly cooperation that have made the celebration possible, and I am sure that you do not need my words as an incentive of devotion to Masonic principles.

Let me remind you that you cannot be loyal to the interests of our Order without cherishing, at the same time, the still greater thought of subserving the advancement of humanity itself. It needs the pen of the historian to recount adequately the service which Freemasonry in the past has rendered to the world, and the relation it has held to the progress of that freedom of thought and action which is becoming our natural heritage. It is not easy to estimate the silent, but powerful, influence which proceeded from the Lodge-room in those days when it was the.only place where different classes of men could meet on a common footing, and where the motto of "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity" received practical exemplification.

Not only could the rich and the poor, the wise and the unlearned, the high and the low, meet here on the ground of their common humanity, but men who were widely separated by religious differences, learned at the altar of Masonry lessons of tolerance, and mutual forbearance. The liberty of the soul always brings men together, so that neither space nor time can separate them. It brings us in accord with the great who have lived in ages past, and we feel that

"All of good the past hath had
Remains to make our own time glad."

All the Homers and Platos, the Pauls and Johns, the knights and the saints, are our Ownj because, in the realm of brotherhood towards which the world is moving, "The possible is daily becoming actual, and we have all great things in common." This is what the Freemasonry of the past has helped to bring about, and the world recognizes to-day that truth and light can never be held as the property of the few, or of any class.

Therefore, Brethren, it is for us of to-day to remember that these larger claims still rest upon us; and the part which Freemasonry has to do in freeing and rightly moulding human thought, in accordance with the loftiest ideas of truth and right, must be still acknowledged. Freedom is not a result, nor an achievement, it is only a condition; but it is the condition which makes great results and great achievements possible.

Thus we have a double responsibility resting on us; first, because of our freedom, and then by the noble teaching which we are bound in honor to faithfully observe. If Freemasonry existed for itself alone, and the claims on the individual ceased as soon as he left the Lodge-room, it would have but small excuse to seek to perpetuate itself; but it demands far more, and one cannot be a good Mason without at the same time being a good man, honoring the claims of the family, the State and humanity.

May you so value the help that Freemasonry will be to you in all this, that'every time you enter these Halls it shall be with a fresh sense of the worth and dignity of the Institution you honor; and every time you leave them may it be with a renewed determination to make your own life a witness to its truth and beauty.

We have found it a great pleasure to come here to-day and bear testimony to your fidelity and earnestness in the past. Let me leave with you the assurance of our continued interest in the work you are doing here, and our faith that the future, which lies open before you, shall more than make good the noble promise of the present.

AT THE CONSTITUTION OF CONVERSE LODGE, JANUARY 1888

From Proceedings, Page 1888-4, Charge to the Brethren:

With earnestness and harmony a new Lodge has been here established, and we meet to-night to bid it a hearty God-speed on what we believe will be a long career of usefulness and enjoyment. We are glad to express the fraternal interest of other Lodges which cluster around this youngest of our Masonic family.

Perhaps among all human institutions Masonry was the first to recognize the great law of the interdependence of man, and to feel the necessity of having some one place where men could meet as brothers, separated neither by intellectual beliefs nor by social station. To-day, science, as well as religion, draws no arbitrary line, but says that the right to grow belongs equally to every child of man. Let this Lodge-room, then, be a help to you in cultivating a feeling of universal brotherhood. Reverence the highest things in human nature, and try to elevate the lowest.

If you desire to have your Lodge an influence for good in the community, you must exercise close scrutiny over the character of those who wish to enter it. Let no desire for a large popular membership lead you to admit new members without due discrimination. Far better is it to be small in numbers, but strong in spirit, than to have a long membership roll, and fail in earnestness and devotion. Let every one who enters here add something to the general excellence, and then will Converse Lodge become known among men as a fortress of truth and purity.

Let this Lodge be to you a refuge where you can find rest from care, sympathy in affliction and strength for trial. At these doors let the tumult of the world cease. Here let the distractions of business, the rival interests of society, the dissensions of politics, fade away, and only the harmony of brotherhood prevail. The calm of Masonry holds its place and influence in our lives somewhat as the quiet of night is needed in the order of the universe.

I feel sure, my Brethren, that you have not undertaken this new responsibility without considering the duties which it demands. No Lodge can prosper without careful financial management, and for. this reason the annual dues of members should be fully equal to its running expenses. On the basis of sound financial integrity let this Lodge rest; then first can you include in your workings those plans for the wider influence to which we hope you may attain.

Let the words of our ritual as you listen to them in this room be the fruitful seed, which shall blossom in your lives - as deeds of tenderness and brotherhood towards all men. If I were to compress into a single sentence the charge which I would like you all to remember,, it would be this: — "Keep your ideal high." Nothing so elevates the character of a man, or an institution, as the unwearied striving after an ideal perfection. Lowell has nobly said, "Not failure but low aim is crime." Let us believe that low aim is failure.

Keep, then, your hopes bright, your plans noble, your sense of individual responsibility strong, your reverence true and your love warm. Then will this day be indeed blessed. to many, and you will remember it as the fair promise of a still fairer fulfilment.

AT THE CONSTITUTION OF WINTHROP LODGE, APRIL 1888

From Proceedings, Page 1888-52, Charge to the Brethren:

Worshipful Master and Brethren of Winthrop. Lodge: — Believing as I do that to constitute a Lodge is to add one more to the centres of good influence which helps strengthen the better life of individuals and of communities, it is with pleasure that I have come here this evening.

You have met to take upon yourselves new responsibilities and to assume new duties. The importance of these duties I would not underestimate: for only a faithful continuance in the path you have marked out for yourselves can win the success we trust is to be yours.

Every Lodge must rest first on the basis of careful financial management. The annual dues of members ought to fully cover all expenses, and the troubles which attend inadequate support, orureglect of obligations, should be scrupulously avoided.

Hardly less in importance is the necessity that you look carefully to the character of the men whom you admit to your membership. If a sound financial policy is the basis of the structure which we hope you will raise, the character of your members must be its walls, secure against any suspicion of weakness. Strength does not consist in numbers but in united force, and no desire for a large following should lead you to overlook the importance of character in any acceptance of a candidate for Masonic degrees.

When a Lodge is thus properly constituted, it offers much to him who comes to it with open mind, seeking good for himself and for his Brethren. It affords him social companionship with those who are bound by the same ties of brotherhood; it encourages the fulfilment of all duties, domestic, social, or patriotic;- it gives him a lofty ideal of manly character, demanding recognition of the claims all humanity may have on him.

Ideal Masonry says that it is not enough for a man to be simply good, in the sense of not being bad; he must be good for something. He must do his part towards making the world better than he found it; for in these days of action no man, nor institution, has a right to hold back expecting others to do the work of the world. His Masonic principles must be shown by quick sympathies, thoughtful words and generous deeds.

These are the requirements of every day; and then, if trying times come, as come they may, the virtues of bravery, patience and endurance will be found no less than in the days of our fathers.

There is one feeling from which proceed every good impulse and noble deed, and this is above all others the key-note of Masonry, as of religion. This feeling is love; but it is more than a feeling, it is a vital principle of life; it is the mainspring of action in the human heart; it reveals itself as heroism, self-sacrifice, or devotion, according to varying conditions; it grows into a love of right; with it all things will become possible; without it man would return to the condition of the savage.

Let my word to you be this. Live in harmony, cultivate the unselfish spirit of brotherhood, and that spirit will teach you then the wide duties which, though beginning here, may extend far beyond any limits you can now understand.

"He prayeth well who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.

"He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us
He made and loveth all."

AT THE DEDICATION OF THE HENRY PRICE MONUMENT, JUNE 1888

In June 1888 a ceremony was held in Townsend, Massachusetts to dedicate a monument to Henry Price, the first Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts.

BRETHREN, — We have come here to-day to bring our tribute of affectionate respect to a man born in a distant country nearly two centuries ago, and a stranger would hardly understand the deep significance of our loving remembrance of one who was neither statesman nor soldier. Henry Price must be considered as the type of the men who do bravely and simply their nearest duty, and who do it dreaming of no other reward than the pleasure of contributing to the welfare of others and the approval of a good conscience.

Yet it is eminently fitting that the Freemasons of this Commonwealth should erect a lasting memorial to him whose untiring devotion brought the Order of Freemasonry in the Colonies from comparative insignificance into a position of honor and usefulness; and the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts honored itself when it voted to place this monument here in memory of its first Grand Master.

Around the name of Henry Price is entwined much of what is most interesting in our Masonic history, and we recognize in him the worthy predecessor. of such men as Joseph Warren, Paul Revere and others who have rendered still more illustrious the position he filled.

In this quiet retreat, undisturbed by the bustle of business or the whirl of pleasure, we dedicate the hour to thoughts of his simple manliness. The life of the summer season is around us, renewed year by year with unfailing bounty. We feel a thrill of gratitude for the goodness which blesses our days with the summer sunshine and the summer rain; and we recognize that it is the same goodness which sends refreshment to our hearts and minds through the influence of a good man. Let this hour strengthen us in all good works, and let us resolve to hold sacred and pure the principles handed down to us through him and others like him. Thus following them do we most truly honor them and thus transmit to those who come after us the message' of loyalty to the ideal brotherhood of man.

An extensive biography of Henry Price was provided by Past Grand Master Nickerson.

AT CORNERSTONE LAYING, JULY 1888

Cornerstone laying of Town Hall and High School in Southbridge; from Proceedings, Page 1888-206:

MR. CHAIRMAN AND CITIZENS OF SOUTHBRIDGE : —In response to your cordial invitation, and in accordance with a timehonored custom, the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts has shared to-day in the ceremonies attendant upon the laying of this Corner-stone. I hardly need say how deep-rooted is the sympathy which the Masonic Order, has.with the purposes for which this building is to stand. Close as are the ties between education and good government, they are no more close than are the bonds between Masonry and good citizenship, between Masonry and that instinct for growth which is nourished by our public schools. To express our interest in such a ceremony as this, and to add to its significance, so far as may be, by our presence, is a sacred charge which we gladly recognize whenever opportunity offers.

In behalf of the principles which this building is to represent, Masonry, in past times, has fought and endured much of which we in our easier lives know little, and it is right that we perpetuate the customs which have descended to us from those who helped to buy our freedom at such cost.

The square, the level, and the plumb have each tested the laying of this Corner-stone. In far finer ways, of which these are but symbols, by the square of virtue, by the level of equal rights for all, by the plumb of uprightness, will the real value of this building be tested in the days to come. It will stand year after year in this community to advance the public interests of its citizens, and to train its young men and women for their work in life.

May all blessings rest upon the edifice. May the corn, and the wine, and the oil which have been used in these ceremonies, symbolize the fulness of bounty and goodness which shall hallow the completed work. May the fair structure rise to its completion, with neither delay nor accident, until it shall stand a centre of influence in this place, devoted to noble ends and made blessed by the sanctity of daily usefulness.

AT HALL DEDICATION, OCTOBER 1888

From Proceedings, Page 1888-239, Charge to the Brethren:

It is a great pleasure to the representatives of the Grand Lodge to come here to-day, and to congratulate you, not only on the completion of the beautiful building which is henceforth to be your Masonic home, but also on the activity and harmony which have made this building possible. You have well deserved the good wishes for your prosperity which you have heard to-day on every side, and we feel sure they will be an encouragement to you to go on, earnestly and intelligently, to ever higher degrees of Masonic excellence.

To us, as Masons, such events as the dedication of a Temple have great significance, because we accustom ourselves to see in them not only the outward evidence of progress, but also the inner meaning, which is the sign of truth no less real.

Masonry itself is a Temple, and we are all workmen, each doing his part to render the completed work fair and acceptable. As this building required the thought of the architect, the patience of the laborer, the skill of the mechanic, even more does this unseen spiritual Temple ask of every man his best work. Deep down in the unknown past rest the foundation stones, laid so firmly that the storms of changing empires have swept by them and left them in their place. It is based on the universal needs of man. The top is ever open, to the sky, allowing the pure sunlight of truth to irradiate every part; and each worker, if he will but open his eyes, may behold the glory that is about him.

The heart is thrilled with a new sense of the possibilities of Masonry, as one thinks of this mighty influence, and remembers how it encircles the globe; how in all lands it holds before the eyes of men the ideal of a perfect life, and strives to create in them desires for such things as are noble, brotherly and true.

It is, indeed, well to make this day, which marks a new era in your Masonic life, a day of renewed consecration to the highest ideal of Masonry which your minds can picture. We dedicate this building to Virtue not to a passive goodness that is content with keeping itself pure, but to that active uprightness which can bear the battle and heat of the day, if that be necessary; to the Virtue that recognizes good wherever it may be found, and counts no trouble vain that adds to the sum of human happiness. We dedicate this building to Fraternity; and not only to the Fraternity which embraces those who will meet from time to time in these rooms, but to the wider fellowship of our whole Order; even more, we dedicate it to that Fraternity which acknowledges the bonds of brotherhood, binding, in a common humanity, all the children of men.

May the lessons learned here, and the teachings of that ritual, which can never grow old or wearisome, help each one of you in solving the problems of daily life, and thus forward the better adjustment of our relations with Our fellow men in this busy, toiling world. To all that makes for freedom and for justice we dedicate this Temple, and we trust it, and the Lodges which it shall henceforth shelter, to the care of that unseen Reality, by whose laws, working in secret, the universe is sustained, and we all live, and move, and have our being.

AT HALL DEDICATION, NOVEMBER 1888

From Proceedings, Page 1888-244:

WORSHIPFUL MASTER AND BRETHREN OF HOWARD LODGE: — Most heartily do the representatives of the Grand Lodge congratulate you to-day on the beautiful and fitting home which is henceforth to be your own, and wish you all success in the new era of Masonic life upon which you are entering. May long years of harmony and usefulness bless your efforts, and may this building, which we have dedicated to all things good, be indeed blessed to many.

It is good to stop, now and then, and turn from the cares which often hedge in our lives to the change and inspiration of a day like this. It is well for us to remember that life does not consist only in things material, but that it must be stirred by noble thoughts, quickened by high ideals, if it is to yield us that blessing which we are all trying in different ways to wrest from it.

The Institution of Masonry is an evidence of, and a tribute to, that higher side of man's nature, which refuses to be satisfied with material comforts. All life, all history teaches us the immense power of an idea, when it once takes possession of the soul of man. Easy enough it is to see this when we think of the past and remember, for instance, how the Jewish nation have kept themselves a separate people for centuries, though a people without even a country; or, how the crusaders went out from their homes to go through hardships and privations to almost certain death; or, how modern civilization was born when the idea of freedom dawned on the human mind. But in our actual present, pressed on every side by daily necessities, we may forget it, and so I say again that it is well that such days as this rouse us to deeper thoughts.

Now, the idea which seems struggling up through the complexities of modern life is the idea of brotherhood. Everywhere, people are beginning to feel that humanity is not to. be divided by arbitrary lines, but that the problems of one class are the problems of all classes, and that one set of men can rise to higher planes only by taking along with them the weaker brother, who, in the ages behind us, would never have entered their thoughts. What else do the present tumults and upheavals of society mean, if not that this thought, consciously or unconsciously, is beginning to shape the deeds of men.

If, then, the idea of brotherhood is taking possession of the world, what men should more quickly recognize their obligation than those bound together by Masonic vows and customs?

In Masonry we are dominated by that thought, we are mindful of its importance, we are pledged to interweave it into our lives. Let us do that in very truth, let us feel that the mission of Masonry is not ended; that never more than to-day is true chivalry needed; that there is a place for knights who need not ride afar to prove their loyalty, but who can find the elements of knighthood right about them in the most prosaic surroundings. Masonry says to men no less clearly than in the olden times, "Be brave, be pure, be brotherly."

Other institutions may necessarily divide us into parties or sects — Masonry unites us. It does not demand that we sacrifice the beautiful things in life; it does demand that we use them in a way to help us fulfil the words of our ritual,, and that we chisel each rough stone of opportunity into added strength and beauty for the temple of character, more real than any temple made by hands, and which shall endure eternal in the heavens.

AT THE CONSTITUTION OF GOLDEN RULE LODGE, JANUARY 1889

From Proceedings, Page 1888-361, Address to the Brethren:

Of the various ceremonies connected with Freemasonry hardly one is more significant than the Constitution of a new Lodge. The Order has demonstrated its value to individuals and to the world in so many ways, that the advent of a new centre of Masonic influence is rightly considered important, not only to the men who unite in establishing it, but to the community in which it is placed, and to the Order at large. It is an especial pleasure to the representatives of the Grand Lodge to thus give the right hand of fellowship to their Brethren in Golden Rule Lodge, and to look forward with them to years of harmonious fraternal service in the pursuit of common aims.

The world still needs Freemasonry. If we did hot believe this, there would be small excuse for thus perpetuating and extending it. It needs these lessons of justice, uprightness and love; and you, my Brethren, by thus uniting, virtually confess your belief in this need, and pledge yourselves to meet it so far as possible.

To do this requires not only the warm enthusiasm of the beginning, but the steady purpose that would not waver even in the face of discouragement. Do not feel that the summit of Masonic excellence can be reached by any one effort, however strong it may be, nor however much it may advance you on the way. In this, as in all other triumphs of life, we must build the ladder by which we rise, and secure whatever position we desire by dint of hard climbing alone. The opportunities for faithful work are the rounds of. this ladder, and they will present themselves to you one by one. It is this patient, continuous work that tells, and not the sudden impulse.

Come to the study of our ritual with hearts alive to its truth, and it will repay you by opening new visions of the beauty of goodness and helpfulness. Apply the universal principles which it teaches to the performance of your daily tasks, and let its words be remembered not only in the calm of the Lodge room, but in the hours of business, in forming your judgments of your fellow-men, in the courtesies of home, yes, in every relation of life. What does it profit a man to repeat here the words justice, fraternity, virtue, and yet forget that to be a good Mason his heart must echo them in sincerity and truth? Let the Constitution of this new Lodge be a blessing to the homes from which you come and to the community in which you live.

You are bound together by strong ties, and you must feel that these same ties hold you to all that is good and noble. No Lodge, however large its membership or extended its workings, can be truly successful unless it does just this for its members by increasing their sense of personal responsibility.

With this thought of the high place which a Lodge ought to hold in your lives, you will not forget the conditions of its outward prosperity, which, briefly stated, are sound financial management, care in the admission of new members, and the maintenance of harmony and true.brotherhood.

I am glad to assure you of the warm interest which the Grand Lodge takes in your complete success, and of its confidence that by the constitution of Golden Rule Lodge it has found another helper in the work we are trying to accomplish, and which becomes dearer to us year by year.

AT CORNERSTONE LAYING, FEBRUARY 1889

Cornerstone laying of Post Office in Springfield; from Proceedings, Page 1888-367:

Centuries ago, when this country of ours was a pathless wilderness trodden only by the foot of the savage, and when the name of America had never yet been pronounced, representatives of Freemasonry came together, as we have come to-day, to lay the Cornerstones of structures that still endure. Centuries before that, when Christianity was not yet born and Jerusalem held her head high among cities, Masons gathered, with earnestness in their hearts and solemn words on their lips, to lay, with lofty ceremonial, the Corner-stones of their temples. Centuries before that, when the arts of civilization clustered around Babylon and Nineveh, and the Assyrian days of splendor had not yet become a tradition, we find the same thing true. Relics have been found which testify that the ceremonies then were not unlike those which have stirred our hearts to-day. In short, our historians tell us that for thirtysix hundred years we can trace back these DEDICATORY RITES.

However deeply we may be impressed by the antiquity of this custom, it is not on this account alone that we as Masonic Brethren have come to participate in the laying of. the Cornerstone of this building. We have come chiefly because of our close interest as a Fraternity in the active, growing life of to-day. This building is to forward the well-being of the city; it is to serve the needs of her citizens; it is to strengthen the bonds which bind Springfield to all parts of the civilized world; and it will stand through the generations an emblem of that usefulness which alone deserves existence.

The centuries come and go, dominions rise and fall, customs change or take on new significance, but the inner feelings of man are ever new, and demand expression. To each new generation it is as if the world were made afresh for them. The desire for more light, the ceaseless longing of the soul for perfection, these are the eternal things, and it is in response to these desires of the heart that Masonic, symbols hold their real meanings, as new and strong as ever.

It seems especially appropriate that these ceremonies should take place on the day when all through these United States the name of our first President is honored. We remember that nearly one hundred years ago Washington himself, standing as the chief representative of Masonry in the country, laid, with similar words and the same symbols, the Corner-stone of the National Capitol. We remember that the Federal Government has always, been quick to recognize the interest of Masonry in everything that can serve the country or promote patriotism ; and we are glad to add our tribute to-day to the revered memory of him who was not only preeminent as a statesman and a President, but also patient as a soldier, loyal as a citizen, earnest as a Mason, and true as a man.

The organization which I have the honor to represent congratulates you, the guardians of the city, and you, her citizens, on the noble undertaking which is to-day so auspiciously begun. May the work which is to bring this building to completion go on without interruption and without accident. May it stand through long years to. minister to the common life, and the united interest of this people. May the corn and the wine and the oil prove fit symbols of the prosperity and peace which shall bless this fair city; and may the principles which have been here expressed find their echoes in the hearts of the people, that the foundation-stones of life, the Corner-stones of character, be indeed laid according to the square of virtue, the level of brotherhood, and the plumb of upright, manly living.

AT CAMBRIDGE CITY HALL DEDICATION, MAY 1889

From Proceedings, Page 1889-43:

The fact that Masonry is founded on truths that are universal, and not on the special needs of any one country, of any one race, or of any one religion, is shown by the facility with which it adapts itself to conditions that at first thought seem almost opposed to each other. Substantially the same ceremony that consecrated the corner-stones of those cathedrals that are the glory of Europe and the priceless inheritance from the middle ages, the same ceremony that symbolized truth to the early Christians, the same ceremony that inspired by its mystic rites the awe of the Assyrians and Egyptians, lends itself to us to-day as a fitting expression of those feelings with which we would have this building begun.

The very antiquity of the custom endears it to us. It shows us that we are one with the people of all the centuries that have gone before; that the feelings in our hearts to-day are much the same in essence as those of generations past, and we learn the old, yet ever new, lesson, that God hath made of one blood all the nations of the earth.

A custom that has endured for thirty-six hundred years must strike its roots deep into the universal soul of human nature, and is perpetuated by no useless regard for custom. The ancient Egyptians believed that when man had done his share of the work, then the hand of God seized the hammer, and by giving the final blow laid the stone true. To-day, with widely different conceptions, do we none the less truly recognize the divine power, that speaks through the growing thoughts and deeds of man. We know to-day that every building serves the divine purpose which answers to the needs of civilization, and may help advance the welfare of humanity. That the building which is to stand in this place, will clo, this, we firmly believe, and thus, with earnestness and reverence, have we laid its corner-stone.

A few days ago we celebrated the centennial of our government. We looked back through the years in the century past. Memories of the early struggles of our fathers, memories of the war which devastated many homes and brought many anxious hours, mingled with thoughts of the future to which our country is destined. We can see clearly from this vantage-ground of one hundred years, how, ever in spite of danger and discouragement, a high ideal has stood before the people, leading them on. Our problems are far from being settled. We cannot yet fold our hands and believe that right will prosper without the help of honest-hearted men. We need less zeal for party, and more for our country; we need less luxury and more intelligence, less form and more substance; and yet, in spite of every discouraging fact, we can see. that this ideal has never vanished. Perhaps we might say that it has never even lost ground.

We dream of that republic, "where from sea to sea, the people shall be wise and good and free," and we take fresh courage to work towards the realization of that ideal. Now this building is to help us in that direction.

Cambridge stands in the foremost line of progress. Its honored names are heard wherever the English language is spoken, and not in one language alone are resung the songs of its poets. Harvard University sends its sons into every part of the world, and influences life in places whose very name's are unknown to us to-day.

We have been endowed with noble gifts by the munificence of a single citizen. Let this building, which is to be raised through his generosity, be devoted to the highest uses. As the corner-stone has been laid square, let justice approve the administration of affairs in this place; as it has been laid level, let the thought of the brotherhood of man be ever present here, and let every citizen of Cambridge appreciate his own share of responsibility for the right government of our city; as it has been laid plumb, let absolute honesty and uprightness be the aim of all whose footsteps turn this way, and distinguish all public measures. May this building stand through years of peace and plenty, not only adding new dignity to our fair city, but as the fitting emblem of a free government of a free people.

AT DEDICATION OF THE PILGRIM MONUMENT, AUGUST 1889

From Proceedings, Page 1889-85:

We have met here on an occasion that enlists our deepest interest.

For nearly fifteen years, the people of the United States have been celebrating at intervals the centennial days of American independence. In April, 1875, was "commemorated, at Concord, the firing of the "shot heard round the world," and last April the list seemed completed by the universal remembrance of the one hundredth anniversary of Washington's inauguration as President of the United States. Let such days as these stand as a pledge that we are not forgetful of the efforts our fathers made to establish homes, nor indifferent to the privileges they won for us.

To-day our thoughts go back for two centuries and a half, and dwell upon the time when a little band of men and women landed on this shore, and knew not that they were bringing with them the destinies of a great nation. In all history, where can one look for such another picture as this, — of the little vessel ploughing its way across unknown seas, freighted with the hopes and fears of men to whom principle was dearer than life itself, and landing, them at last on a bleak coast in cold and storm?

They came impelled by the same spirit that ever through the history of the world has made for righteousness and freedom. Touched with the strength of a common purpose, they braved danger and scorned hardship. The endurance in those brave hearts has stirred endurance in many who came after them, for never was privation nobly borne or difficulty surmounted, .that it did not leave added strength for future trial.

Thirty years ago was laid, with appropriate ceremonial, the Corner-stone of this Monument. It might have been an unwelcome word to the enthusiasm of that day, if one had said that the call for its dedication would not go forth for thirty years; but most fitting it is that this Monument to the memory of men who lived and died for freedom should now be dedicated in a free country. Men who have themselves known the struggle that gave the gift of freedom, which was their own birthright, to a captive race, may, indeed, bless the completion of a Monument like this.

Thirty years ago men were alarmed, distracted with the shadows of approaching conflict. Two or three years later, Massachusetts was making history, not commemorating it; but to-day, in a united land, we may well gather to repeat the story of its founders.

It is not necessary that I should dwell here on the interest of Freemasonry in all that concerns the life of the community or the welfare of humanity. The principles that animated the Pilgrims are, indeed, the guiding stars of our Order, and it was with, joyful readiness that we accepted the honor of sharing in a service that crowns the completed work.

It has been sometimes fancied that Masonry was perhaps too ready to remember the past alone, and to defend the right of existence on the ground of its antiquity. We have far deeper reasons than that for our participation in this ceremony to day. If Masonry were content to rest on the past alone, its days would, indeed, be quickly numbered. It fails not in interest for the active, earnest life of to-day. It turns with grateful affection, indeed, to the noble men and noble deeds of generations past, but would win from them new inspiration to act bravely in the life of to-day, and to press on hopefully to all that lies before. Thus it is our hope that this Monument may serve a double purpose.

First, let it keep alive in the hearts of later generations the memory of all that our present prosperity has cost; that our ease has been bought with the struggles and privations of many, and that faith and undaunted heroism have entered into the very foundation of our institutions. Let it stand to teach that reverence for the. past which is a part of every true nature. Only by building on the past can we lift ourselves to higher levels.

Let this Monument stand, also, as a promise for the future. Let it teach young men that to rightfully reverence the past, they must live for the future as did these men whose memory we honor to-day. Prosperity has its perils no less than adversity. It is sometimes easier to be brave in the face of hardship than to be true in the midst of luxury. How many a man has kept himself honest and hard-working in comparative poverty, who has proved himself unequal to the temptations of sudden wealth! Let this Monument say to him who would honor the Pilgrim, that he can rightfully do so only by practising the Pilgrim's virtues.

If such a retrospect as this clay affords us signifies any deep truth, it means that the ideal is more than the actual. The ideal of right that was in the hearts of the Pilgrims was stronger than the actual privations that surrounded them. The power of an idea drew them from comfort, taught them to endure with fortitude and to work with will. This thought of right, this ideal in their hearts, sustained them as comrade buried comrade in the little burying-ground yonder, and it continued with them as they turned back to their hard toil .and their frequent encounters with the Indian.

What convincing testimony to the value of ah idea does such a Monument as this present! May it stand through the years to recall the early days of our country to the minds of all who behold it, and to bear witness to that surpassing power in the human heart which reckons pain and suffering of little account, when it is pressing forward to the accomplishment of divine ends

AT CORNERSTONE LAYING, DECEMBER 1889

In Boston, at the laying of the cornerstone of the extension of the State House; from Proceedings, Page 1889-203:

Nearly a century has passed away since the first Corner-stone of this State House was laid, and the years between have been filled with eventful history. We look back to those first days of the republic, when this government was considered, even by many friendly to it, more like a curious experiment than as the promise of a mighty nation. In those days this State House was consecrated to the principles of justice and freedom by two men whose names will be forever associated with that struggle which gave us our independence. Let history answer the question, how far this building has stood for those principles.

We are not here to eulogize the past, but to look forward into the future. The old building receives to-day a new consecration, and we lay this Corner-stone, as was laid that other one almost a hundred years ago, moved by feelings of patriotism and loyalty; loyalty not merely. to the ideal of a single State, but to the interests of the entire nation. Here may a building be raised which shall nobly serve the interests of all our citizens. May it stand for the defence of principles dear to the hearts of the people, and expressed in the constitution and laws of the State. Here may councils be held, which shall keep Massachusetts in her place as one of the leaders in whatever tends to the improvement of civil conditions. May it help us to honor our past history, by feeling truer reverence for the duties of the present. May the men who shall in future days enter these halls be only such as are devoted to the public good and forgetful of private ends. Then will it, indeed, bless many future generations, and do its part toward bringing the day of that ideal commonwealth of which men dream.

AS JUNIOR PAST GRAND MASTER, DECEMBER 1889

From Proceedings, Page 1889-250, at the Feast of St. John:

THE GRAND MASTER. — I have been much indebted to my illustrious predecessor for advice in regard to the duties and responsibilities of the office of Grand Master, and he has given only one piece of advice which I am unable to concur in, — he advised me not to call on him to say anything this evening. I cannot follow that advice, and I know you would not forgive me if I did. Brethren, the health and prosperity of R.W. Henry Endicott, Junior Past Grand Master.

MOST WORSHIPFUL GRAND MASTER, — I thank you for the kind manner in which you have introduced me, and I thank you also, Brethren, for your friendly reception. I think I have talked so much for the last three years that I may be permitted to remain rather silent for a time, and listen to others. I do not intend to underestimate the privileges of the last three years, however, either in speaking or anything else, for they were very pleasant ones. My labors have been neither difficult nor perplexing, compared with those of some of my predecessors.

I think I may say that I have tried to do my best and have given both time and thought to the duties of the office I have held. It has been very pleasant to visit the Lodges with the Grand Officers, for our Brethren all over the State have been so uniformly courteous and cordial in their reception, of us, that each visitation proved an occasion not to be forgotten. It has been a welcome duty, too, to preside at these annual Feasts and to call up one Brother after another to delight you with his wit or instruct you with his wisdom. At the same time, Brethren, I cannot leave this office with regret, when I see it pass into the keeping of one so fully competent to maintain its traditions as our Most Worshipful Bro. Wells.

I look forward to the next three years, (I trust I may say three years), with perfect confidence in the man we have chosen to guide us through them. I know that he will receive the same cordial support and brotherly good-will that I have experienced and that have filled the duties of the office with inspiration.

Brethren, I congratulate him for the honor you have conferred on him; and in the same breath I congratulate you on having secured a man so well fitted to hold this position, and one under whose leadership we shall go on towards a future of ever-increasing honor and usefulness.

FEAST OF ST. JOHN, DECEMBER 1893

From Proceedings, Page 1893-204; remarks on the late Grand Master Briggs, who died in office the previous summer:

MOST WORSHIPFUL: I thank you very sincerely for the kind preface you have given to the few words that I may say this evening. After the vacation from speechmaking which I have enjoyed for the past few years, no one will expect me to say much, for you know how soon one gets out, of practice in that sort of thing. I am glad to stand here once more, however, and express my sense of the real privilege and pleasure that it is to meet you here once a year in this way. We realize that privilege, especially when we allow our thoughts to slip back to other years, and recall how these annual meetings have been golden mile-stones in our lives.

At no other time do the faces of those who have been accustomed to meet with us, but who have left us for the unknown world beyond, appear before us so vividly as here, where we have listened to their voices and felt our hearts warm to them in friendship. It is a privilege to say a few words in memory of him who, one year ago to-day, was installed as Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts. He has gone from us, apparently in the full vigor of manhood touched by none of the weaknesses that usually accompany advancing years, but able to enjoy the work, the friendships, and the pleasures of a rich, full life. It is given to, few men to see their life's efforts crowned with a fuller measure of success than was the case with our friend and Brother.

The business career of no man in the city of Boston was ever more sincere in its aims, more generous and just in its methods, more honorable in its standards, more fortunate in its reputation. We, who have known him closely for so many years, and who have enjoyed his kind hospitality and been delighted by his own unfailing cheerfulness, know that his place among us can never be filled.

To-night we greet as our Grand Master one upon whom the mantle of authority sits well. We gladly hail him as worthy of the high honor to which his Brethren have elected him. Let us bring to him our congratulations, and assure him of our hearty and loyal support.

CHARTERS GRANTED


RULINGS

None.


Grand Masters