"ALAS MY BROTHER" This evergreen is an emblem of an enduring faith in the immortality, of the soul. By it we are reminded that we have a life within us that shall survive the grave, and which can never die. By it we are admonished that we also. like our brother whose remains lie here before us, shall soon be clothed in the habiliments of death. Through our belief in the mercy of God we may confidently hope that our souls will bloom in eternal spring. This, too, I deposit with our deceased brother. BRETHREN: We mourn today the loss of a brother whose spirit has been summoned to the land where our fathers have gone before us. Again we behold the narrow house appointed for all the living, and our thoughts turn to the silent realm, where, in that peace which the world can neither give nor take away, lie the unnumbered dead. The sunshine and the storm pass over them and they are not disturbed. Stones and lettered monuments symbolize the love of surviving friends and convey the silent admonition, “Seek ye the narrow path and the straight gate that lead unto eternal life.” Again we are called upon to consider the uncertainty of human life, the absolute certainty of death, and the vanity of earthly ambition. Change and decay are written upon every living thing The cradle and the coffin stand side by side, and it is a melancholy truth that as soon as live begin to live that moment also we begin to die. How often the reminders of mortality cross our path. The funeral bell tolls in our ears, and the mourners go about the streets; yet how seldom do we seriously consider our approaching end. We go on from design to design, add hope to hope, and layout plans for the employment of many years. The messenger of death comes when least expected, and at a moment which to us seems the meridian of our existence. What are all the externals of human dignity, the power of wealth, or the charms of beauty when nature has paid her just debt? View life stripped of its ornaments, and exposed in its natural weakness, and we see the vanity of all earthly things save those which go to the growth and perfection of individual character. In the grave all fallacies are detected, all ranks are leveled, all distinctions are done away. Here the scepter of the prince and the of the beggar lie side by side. Happy, indeed, it for us—and blessed the agencies which have made it possible—that while our eyes may be dim with tears as we think of our departed brother, we may in the sincerity of our hearts, accord to his memory the commendation of having lived a useful and exemplary life and as a just and upright Mason. And now, my brethren, let us see to it, and so regulate our lives by the plumbline of justice, ever squaring our actions by the square of virtue, that when the Grand Warden of Heaven shall call for us we may be found ready. Let us cultivate assiduously the noble tenets of our profession—Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. From the square learn morality; from the level, equality; and from the plumb, rectitude of life. With the trowel spread liberally the cement of brotherly love; circumscribed by the compasses, let us ponder well our words and actions, and let all the energies of our minds and the affections of our souls be employed in the attainment of our Supreme Grand Master’s approbation. Then, when our dissolution draws nigh, and the cold winds of death come sighing around us—and his chill dews already glisten upon our foreheads—with joy shall we obey the summons of the Grand Warden of Heaven, and go from our labors on earth to eternal refreshment in the paradise of God, where, by the benefit of the pass of a pure and blameless life, and an unshaken confidence in the merits of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, shall we gain ready admission into the celestial lodge where the Supreme Architect of the Universe presides. There, placed at His right hand, He will be pleased to pronounce us just and upright Masons.