THE GRAND ORIENT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 185, 7 August 1890, Page 2

THE GRAND ORIENT.

The Grand Orient is not Atheistic;' Neither are our Statb Schools.

The Orient, the Orient—What has the Orient done ? What are its deeds—recorded deeds— beneath • the central sun? :Who are they, in every clime, who've heard " the brothers " groan ? Who are they who stand to«day true guardians of Hia ihrone ?

O, they are men in distant lands, who've pulled oppressors down. Who've oared not for the Power of Wealth, nor feared the tyrant's frown; In many a field of blood they've raised the Banner of the Freo Above the ranks of crouching slaves, 'mid cannon's opening glee.

In Siberian mines to-day they rot. the convict's fate is theirs; Their backs aro scored with tyrants' whips, who've climbed the winding stairs, Whilst those who've pledged their souls to freo a brotner in distress Are found witli .hearts as hard as stone beneath their tinsel droas.

Ij. "Fraternity's tho Orient,"— they've built it up a ) ! | throne— §jj It yet will ctear the world of war, will hush the ijiS brother's moan ; ■§ 'Twill etay tho sob of anguish, the millions' hi I throbbing sigh, ijlj Will calm tho widow's quivering wail, will dry jlp! the orphan's eye.

! The Orion t, th o Orient denkth not His namo, t But toils to rear through Comradeship au altar J to His fame— \ It will break the Power of Despots in every land j on eurth, j And stretch the bond of Fellowship to every f .''" .dweiiose hetE.li.

jl .The Name itself's too sacred to be carved in ■ " Itonian nines, I To be gemmed in gold and diamonds, to be sung to lilting tunes, But in the Mystic Brotherhood, as in the ark, of old, ] The Spirit of His Teachings is in symbol there i unrolled. :

Too long, too long we've fougJit o'er names while men are tra.inplrd down. j! , Too long we've bowed our souls in thought be(i fore each sceptred clown ; '■ Too long. O, Mighty Brotherhood, ye've rested on your oars, While those who've killed the Master are gazing on His sores.

Ay, despots hate "tho Orient." and those who rob the poor Have crashed it, oft by falsehood and oft on 'fields of gore : , if But its.spirit's marching onwards, resistless and !f sub.ime, A- Building up "the Temple" in every land and i| clixue.

"vThere'er a tyrant rears his head, where'er a wrong is done— Where'er a Irrotiier clanks his chains or grasps a rebel gun, O, there " the Orient's " power is fe't, and Hiram squaresastono j To rf-vr the Stately Structure —to guard the M ister's throne. !' . , Spirit Level.