A D RE D SS . COM PA N I ON S OF G RA N D COU N CI L We are permitted by the favor of a kind Providence to meet again in Annual Conclave . History is ever repeating itself We see the same sights our fathers have seen , W the t e live same lives , we drink the same s ream The song and the tear , the smile and the dirge , Still follow each other, surge upon surge . 3 115 the wink of an eye to the bier and the shroud Oh why should the spirit of mortal be proud $ “ The ancient Grecian oracle said , Honor the chiefs of the country , ” the dead who dwell beneath the earth . We miss the genial greeting and hearty hand - grasp of two loved and honored Past Grand Sovereigns — l $ of this Grand Council John Llewe lyn oung, J . Frank Knight . To think of them as dead seems like the painful recollection of a dreadful dream , from the horror of which there has been a rude awakening . And li yet we should not call them dead , for we be eve that the vital essence , th e spirit , has risen to the higher and purer life , where those who have gained immortality cannot die any more , for they are like unto the angels . I ‘ had known these Companions for many years , and it gives me great satisfaction to be able to say that the record of our friendship bears no disfigurement of a single unpleasant word or act . The presence of death in our midst must bring to the minds of all of us thoughts of the uncer - tainty of the present life . To day we may be happy in the full bloom of - health . To morrow may find us robed in the garments of the grave . Far wiser than we are , the ancients were , when , even at their feasts , they c ’ pla ed a chair where Death s grim skeleton sat mute and motionless , to r call the mind to other thoughts than those of evelry . $ I 18 2 Past Grand Sovereign John Llewellyn oung was born August 5, 3 , 18 x 8 . and died September 7 , 9 He was made a Mason in Phoeni Lodge , of t 20 18 18 l his city , September , 49 , and in 55 he became its Worshipfu Master . He was interested in the various organizations connected with ' ithfid elit the Masonic fraternity , and served the craft w y and zeal in the f l ‘ o ficia positions to which he was elevated by his brethren. He was w l his e l o honored ith the dignity of eadership , not only in Lodg , but a s n . 188 in Chapter, Council , Commandery and Co clave In 4 he was made o - r - an H norary Inspector Gene al , Thirty third Degree of the Ancient I m r 1 Accepted Scottish Rite of Free ason y . In 888 he became Grand Master of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of Pennsyl i one 1 1 vania , occupying that high stat on for the term of year . In 87 he n t was made a Knight of the Order of Red Cross of Co stan ine . He e assist d in the organization of this Grand Council , and served as Grand 18 2 18 as o 18 18 6 Senior General from 7 to 7 4 ; Grand Vicer y in 7 5 and 7 , 1 and as Grand Sovereign in 87 7 . In the Sovereign Grand Council of 18 the United States he was elected Deputy Grand Master in 7 9 , and served as such uninterruptedly until the hand of Death removed him h $ from our midst . Sir Knig t oung had real kindness of heart , and was o a faithful friend . He had faults , like the rest of us , but they were ver shadowed by strong virtues . When misunderstandings came in his way , he was always ready to throw them aside with the extended right hand of reconciliation and fraternal love . There was more true love in his f . nature than , , perhaps , most people gave him the credit o possessing l ar All of us wil miss his genial presence , kindly smile and w m welcome . Past Grand Sovereign J . Frank Knight passed to the higher life 18 0 . January 9 , 9 l 18 mu s He was born Apri 7 , 3 4, and thus Death took him fro in the full bloom of vigorous manhood . He first saw Masonic light in Keystone $ ll th . a e Lodge of this city Like Sir Knight oung, he explored fields of Masonic thought and life , and filled the highest stations in Lodge , Chapter, Council , Commandery and Conclave . I n 188 - l h - 5 he was made an Honorary Inspector Genera , T irty third R . 18 Degree , of the Ancient Accepted Scottish ite of Freemasonry In 7 5 ‘ he was admitted to the Order of Red Cross of Constantine . In this Grand Council he served as Grand Chancellor in 1882 ; as Gr and Pre late in 1883 as Grand Junior General in 1884 ; as Grand Senior General 188 i 1886 G rand ~ Soverei n 188 in 5; as Grand V ceroy in ; and as g in 7 . He was a true Freemason ; a student of the craft ; well versed in the ' history , literature and symbolism of the Mystic Art ; a thorough crafts Tlze Ke s/one h . s man , whom his brethren loved to honor y of t i city said , . n of him The loss of Bro Knight to the Fraternity is exceedi gly great . His unusual efficiency in all of the numerous Masonic stationswhich he d u had fille , and was filling , was only eq aled by his modesty. There was no worker in the Craft more intelligent or more conscientious than h ' w . t eLibr he as Everywhere he will be missed , especially on ary Com mittee . H e w a d of the Grand Lodge as a gentleman n a scholar, a lover 3 of books and many are the hours and the days he devoted to the Library c of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , in the enlargement and efficien y $ of which he took the greatest pride . ‘ A ll of the members of this G rand Council can bear testimony to his faithful and efficient performance of duty , and to the high sense of honor ‘ ri w as not which characterized his conduct . His f endship poisoned with w as . deceit ; it pure , true , honest He had great force of will , and yet he ~ mod e st en ial arrd c om n ionab le . was tender, sympathetic , ; g m He was deeply beloved by those who knew him best . He was faithful to every a h trust , industrious , painst king , always accomplis ing great results , and yet he did his work with the gentleness and quiet dignity that marks the course through the heavens of the life - giving sun whose worth we value most when it has passed beyond our sight . Something has gone from nature since he died . Nothing has occurred during the past year to disturb the peaceful relations we have hitherto held with our Sister Grand Councils . Our Subordinate Conclaves continue to maintain the state of harmony t e that has always characterized hem . P ace reigns everywhere within the limits of our j urisdiction . When I - assumed the duties of Grand Sovereign it was my purpose to n u visit all the places where Conclaves had bee established nder the , authority of this Grand Council but my plans were broken by the iron ' afiliction sufi er hand of , which led to the grave , through long months of ing , my eldest son , whom I had hoped would follow me in my love for nr him: Freemaso y ; but , instead , I shall follow I However , have been enabled to visit the following points in the Al . : o l State , where Conclaves were established , viz lent wn , Be lefonte , r di Bloomsburg, Columbia , Corry , Harrisbu g , Rea ng and Towanda . $6 $6 96 96 96 96 96 Having made some researches in relation to the history of our Order, will i $ I present certa n facts , as brie y as possible , presuming that they will not be uninteresting to you . The i e dist nguish d Sir Bernard Burke , of England , in the introduction “ ” to his Book of Orders of Knighthood and Decorations of Honour , e r marks , The desire to possess honorary distinctions has shown itself in various shapes , from very remote times , and among nations strangely dissimilar ; and to be able to wear them on the person as evidence of some articular c i p qualifi ation in the ind vidual , or acknowledgment of ‘ a has import nt service rendered by him to his country , been an obj ect of human ambition almost fromtime \ The date of the institution of the Order of Red Cross of Constantine r “ is uncertain . Sir Berna d Burke , referring to the Order , says , This to Order lays claim the earliest antiquity . Tradition asserts that it was 4 “ e C s i r s institut d under on tant ne the Great, while sober histo y a signs its 1 0 n f 1 . origin to the year 9 , givi g as its ounder , the Eastern Emperor, n o Isaac A gelus Comnenus , who lent to it the name of C nstantine , (the ' l Comnenus race professed to derive their descent from him) , and a so that “ . l of St George , its patron saint The ru es were formed after those of St .