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GEORGE M. RANDALL

Deputy Grand Master, 1849-1851
Grand Master, 1852-1854.

TERM

1852 1853 1854

MEMORIAL

December 30, 1873 (1873-163). Memorial

The committee appointed to prepare resolutions on the death of Past Grand Master, R.W. George M. Randall, would respectfully submit the following report: —

As the public journals, the ecclesiastical and Masonic publications, have paid their deserved tribute to his great worth, and our Grand Master has added, with great feeling, his appreciation of the eminent ability of our departed Brother, it only remains to the committee to propose suitable resolutions indicative of the love and respect entertained by this Grand Lodge, and their deep-felt regret at the departure of their Past Grand Master and loved Brother, the Rt. Rev. George M. Randall, D.D., Bishop of Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming; one who, having attained his high hierarchical dignity, still kept warm his attachment and devotion to our Institution; whose worth was appreciated by the Grand Lodge of Colorado, who tenderly watched his remains, and publicly expressed their sentiments of love and respect. We shall never forget his noble address, at the banquet of 1871, on the "immortality of Fremasonry."

Resolved, That the close of such a life is most deeply felt and deplored, particularly in this jurisdiction over which he had presided with such efficiency; yet, in our grief, there comes to our hearts a solemn joy that such an end has rounded and made perfect the story of such a life.

Resolved, That we bear our testimony to his faithfulness and great executive ability as our Grand Master, to his high characteristics as a man, a Brother, a Christian; and that there is nothing to mar the estimate or dim the lustre of his character.

Resolved, That he has left to us his bright name and fame to add to the galaxy of those stars which have irradiated our Masonic firmament.

Resolved, That we tender to the family our warmest, deepest sympathies in this bereavement. May they be sustained by the influences of the teachings of the departed, and by the assurance that a lasting reunion awaits them hereafter.

NOTES

GEORGE M. RANDALL'S SPEECH

Given at the Feast of St. John, December 27, 1871; Page 1871-463ff.

I am truly obliged to you, Sir, for the sentiment which you have offered, and to the Brethren, for the manner in which they have received it. This is the first time, for many years, that I have enjoyed the pleasure of meeting with the Grand Lodge at their Annual Communication. "The years of our age" are rapidly passing away, and with them many of our Brethren, beloved, and "the places which once knew them know them no more." I was not a little surprised to hear my name called on the evening of the annual election, first on the list of permanent members of the Grand Lodge, as the oldest Past Grand Master living. I could hardly persuade myself, that one who felt himself to be yet young should sustain this relative position in this venerable Body. But so it is. These annual gatherings, while they exhibit the rapid growth of the Brotherhood, remind us of the Fathers who have gone before; and while we rejoice in the progressive activities which indicate increasing prosperity, we dwell with saddened love upon the memory of those who "rest from their labors."

We have been reminded that this Festival commemorates the fortieth year since the famous Declaration was signed and published by the Freemasons of Boston, and its vicinity, in vindication of the Institution against the assaults which the frenzied spirit of anti-Masonry made upon it in 1831. I was a boy in those dark days, but I remember them well. My father was a Mason, firm and unflinching. I was early interested in an Institution, of which I knew nothing except what I saw reflected in the life and character of those whom I revered. But I was old enough to know something of this senseless crusade, and to appreciate the motives of many who were engaged in it, in my native State. I saw its political workings, and in them read the heartless hypocrisy of those who were leaders of the movement.

So dismal was the day, that many true Masons verily thought that the end had come. I remember to have heard a very intelligent gentleman, a member of the Fraternity, remark that this Institution had probably accomplished its mission, and there was no more work for it to do, and so, like other associations, it would now pass away. That person did not understand the philosophy of Freemasonry; he did not fully comprehend the nature of its constitution, nor the character of its great office in the world.

This Fraternity was primarily organized for the mutual improvement and protection of its members in the building of King Solomon's Temple. But when that structure was completed this Society did not cease to exist because it had answered the end of its organization. There was for it other work to do. Other generations were to be benefited. And so it continued and reappeared in Christendom. The monuments of its skill and labor are now seen throughout Europe. When the great cathedrals were completed, and the Pope of Rome had availed himself of the skill and labors of Freemasons to make these grand contributions to the church, and he had no further use for their services in the work of promoting the aggrandizement of the Papal hierarchy, he ceased to be a liberal patron and became a violent persecutor.

In 1717, the operative labor of this society ceased altogether, but yet their work was not finished. The world had need of just such an Institution for the amelioration of some of the ills of mankind, and for the improvement of the mind and morals of men, and so the light of Masonry followed the Star of Empire, when "westward it took its course," and early shone upon this continent. We have to-night listened to the just and eloquent eulogy of its First Grand Master in this Western hemisphere. Masonry found its proper place and office in the war of the Revolution, and thenceforth multiplying its members and its charities, it contributed to the welfare of the world. It was in the midst of its work when in 1831 that tornado burst upon it, whose maddened violence threatened its destruction. Then it was that the more timid ventured the prediction, that good as it was and ever had been, it had-outlived its usefulness, and must now be numbered among the institutions which have been.

Out of this fiery furnace Freemasonry came forth purified of much of its dross, demonstrating to the world that its work was not yet finished; it yet had a mission among men, and so long as there was a work for it to do, no power of its enemies could destroy its existence or hinder its ultimate progress.

This terrible trial proved that there is in the constitution of this Ancient Fraternity a vitality which renders impotent the assaults of its enemies. The intelligent man knows that this indestructible life springs out of the fact that this Society, in distinction from all other human institutions, requires faith in God as a prerequisite of admission to its pale, — makes His Holy Word its own Great Light, without which it cannot work, — teaches a morality drawn from that Word, and enjoins that charity which comes of the Divine Law of love. These constitute the immortality of Freemasonry. No wonder, then, that it still lives; that the fires of anti-Masonry did not consume it, and the follies of its members have not rent it in sunder. Based on such principles, and designed for such purposes, it has not outlived its usefulness, and is not likely to for many generations to come.

Never in its history has this Brotherhood of olden time had before it a nobler work than it has to-day. The tendencies of the age, the signs of the times, the condition of society, all indicate its work. Who that has an observing eye does not see that irreverence is becoming more and more an evident feature of the common mind, as manifested towards God and man? Now a Society that recognizes the existence of God, and makes His Word the rule of life, and teaches the great doctrines of the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body, may do much in arresting this increasing tendency, and saving society from the infinite mischiefs which are sure to swarm from this popular evil.

Skepticism and a miscalled liberalism, which is only another term for an ill-disguised infidelity, are doing much to lessen the sanctity of the Bible in the eyes of the people. Contests are now going on, as reported in the public prints, involving the question of casting the Holy Writings out of the public schools. This is a dark omen. On the mid-tide of such influences stands this Fraternity, which claims Solomon as its first Grand Master, which keeps this Inspired Book open on its altars, a part of its constitution, and so necessary to its very existence that a Lodge cannot be held without it. Who will say what shall be the measure of the influence of Freemasonry in resisting these tendencies, and in promoting that profound reverence from man to the revelation of his Creator ? Then, who that reads the newspaper does not see what is the political drift of the world on both sides of the great water; that the tendencies are everywhere, at home and abroad, towards, that extreme of liberty which runs into licentiousness, to the utter destruction of all regard for lawful authority or rightful possessions? The spirit of agrarianism is abroad, and doing fearful harm in the excitement of the worst passions, creating false expectations, which, rising into demands, prompt to violence and blood, thereby sapping the foundations on which rest the fabric of well-ordered society, and all true liberty. Growing disrespect for all authority, disregard of ancient usage, contempt of forms, are some of the minor manifestations of this tendency to a levelling individualism, which is showing itself in old lands and in new. Will any man pretend to say, that a Society, which has come down from a remote antiquity, far away beyond the record of any other human institution, which symbolizes the authority of government in its order, to a degree that a single blow of the Master's gavel instantly brings order out of confusion ; where SUBORDINATION is not only symbolized, but taught and rigidly practised, as of the very essence of its first principles; where liberty, equality and fraternity are not only recognized, but illustrated and realized; where loyalty to the country and obedience to its rightful government are duties enjoined, — that such a Fraternity, in such an age as this, has not a mission among men?

The star of Freemasonry rose in the East; its course has always been towards the West. It is so to-day. Civilization is making its way across this great continent. Its swiftly flowing tides are bearing forward multitudes, who are to people plains which have been known only as the great American desert. Freemasonry has followed the adventuring emigrant, going from his eastern home. In this new condition of things, this ancient Institution finds a fresh field for the exercise of its moral teachings and its active charities. You can scarcely conceive of the vast extent of this newer portion of our country. I have lately come from the frontier, and expect soon to return to it. It is a long distance there, and it is a long distance after you get there. My residence is in Colorado. This one territory is sixteen thousand square miles larger than all England, Scotland and Wales. Its population is rapidly increasing, and its prospects are brightening in every quarter. Large numbers of enterprising young men are drawn thither from their distant homes, in search of employment. Many of them are thus suddenly thrown into the whirlpool of frontier life, not only thousands of miles from home, but without a single relative or friend in the land, exposed to dangers and temptations and misfortunes. He can claim neither the protection nor the counsel nor the aid of any man among the multitudes wrhom he meets in the crowded thoroughfares of his new home, and is constantly exposed to cruel imposition. Now, in the absence of those who are to him of blood-akin, it is surety a very great thing to have a Brotherhood which will receive him into its pale, warn him of danger, befriend him in trouble, keep him from the society of the evil, supply his wants when he is destitute, visit him when he is sick, and should he die, will bury his body and send his dying message to bereaved friends far away. This is the mission of this Fraternity, along the frontier of our country. But it does something more than this. Its Lodge-room becomes an asylum, a retreat in the hours of leisure and darkness, where the stranger may find trustworthy companions, and listen to moral teachings, and so cultivate a taste for what is elevating, while he is, in a measure at least, saved from the snares of the destroyer, who walks in darkness, and through the fascination of companionship effects the ruin of the unwary. There are many Lodges scattered through that country. Their influence will have much to do with the character of the civilization that is to shape the destiny of great States which are now in embryo; a character which is to be potential for good or for evil in the future of this mighty Republic.

I am glad to know that the Lodges, some of them at least, are careful in the admission of candidates. I was informed that one Lodge in that region rejected nearly one-half of the applications for the degrees ; and this, not because the community were very immoral, but because the Fraternity were very particular. I beg you to remember that the men whom you here make Masons go there, and so give color and character to the Institution there, and they directly contribute to the woe or the welfare of a coming people. Remember, then, when you are casting the ball that makes a Mason in Massachusetts, you may be doing that which when done will be irreparable in effecting a civilization in an infant empire, whose giant powers in the prime of its manhood may elevate or depress the civilization of the world.

Christianity is yet to make these almost boundless "deserts rejoice and blossom as the rose." Human societies can do much in removing the obstacles to the advance of the Redeemer's kingdom. Their contribution in this direction is a noble one. May this Fraternity never fail to fulfil its mission here and everywhere.

Allow me, Most Worshipful, to propose a sentiment: The unbroken succession of Grand Masters; may every future link in this chain be as pure and as bright as that which has been made to-night.

CHARTERS GRANTED

• 03/10/1852 Ashler, Rockport
• 06/12/1852 Franklin, Grafton
• 03/09/1853 Baalbec, East Boston
• 06/08/1853 Ancient York, Lowell
• 12/13/1854 Germania, Boston
• 12/13/1854 Bethesda, Valparaiso, Chile

CHARTERS RESTORED

• 09/14/1853 Rural, Quincy
• 12/13/1854 Norfolk Union, Randolph
• 12/13/1854 Bristol, Attleboro
• 12/14/1853 St. John's, Newburyport

RULINGS

• 1854

LINKS

Grand Masters

Sermon on the Diaconate, 1860