ackson,
another Mason! Let it be said that, if the Masons found it hard to
keep within the Compass, they at least acted on the Square. Finally
the fury spent itself, leaving the order purged of feeble men who were
Masons only in form, and a revival of Masonry followed, slowly at
first, and then with great rapidity.

No sooner had Masonry recovered from this ordeal than the dark clouds
of Civil War covered the land like a pall--the saddest of all wars,
dividing a nation one in arts and arms and historic memories, and
leaving an entail of blood and fire and tears. Let it be forever
remembered that, while churches were severed and states were seceding,
_the Masonic order remained unbroken_ in that wild and fateful hour.
An effort was made to involve Masonry in the strife, but the wise
counsel of its leaders, North and South, prevented the mixing of
Masonry with politics; and while it could not avert the tragedy, it
did much to mitigate the woe of it--building rainbow bridges of mercy
and goodwill from army to army. Though passion may have strained, it
could not break the tie of Masonic love, which found a ministry on red
fields, among the sick, the wounded, and those in prison; and many a
man in gray planted a Sprig of Acacia on the grave of a man who wore
the blue. Some day the writer hopes to tell that story, or a part of
it, and then men will understand what Masonry is, what it means, and
what it can do to heal the hurts of humanity.[160]

Even so it has been, all through our national history, and today
Masonry is worth more for the sanctity and safety of this republic
than both its army and its navy. At every turn of events, when the
rights of man have been threatened by enemies obvious or insidious, it
has stood guard--its altar lights like signal fires along the heights
of liberty, keeping watch. Not only in our own land, but everywhere
over the broad earth, when men have thrown off the yoke of tyranny,
whether political or spiritual, and demanded the rights that belong to
manhood, they have found a friend in the Masonic order--as did Mazzini
and Garibaldi in Italy. Nor must we be less alert and vigilant today
when, free of danger of foes from without, our republic is imperiled
by the negligence of indifference, the seduction of luxury, the
machinations of politicians, and the shadow of a passion-clouded,
impatient discontent, whose end is madness and folly; lest the most
hallowed of all liberties be lost.

/P