Oration On Freemasonry, Its Mystery And History, What It Is And What It Is Not.

nations , to aid in his perfectibility by genuine knowledge and sincere charity—by eternal truth ancl inherent right . Leaving what it is not for what it is , we may say that " Freemasonry is a peculiar system of morality , veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols . " Its fundamental principles are a practical belief in the fatherhood of God ancl the brotherhood of man —• that God is our father and we are His offspring . No man can be made a Mason unless he is a believer in the Great Architect of heaven and earth .

No one , moreover , can fail to remember that much of the true wisdom of all ages has been veiled in allegory , and communicated in parable , not only by the sages of every clime , but by Him , the divinest of teachers , who " spake as never man spake . " Its symbolism is in great part derived from the implements of architecture—the noblest of the arts—than which none can more fittingly set forth the duties ancl labours of lifeand whose allegorical symbolism is the burden of all true revelationfrom that

, , sacred edifice wherein was the Shekioah , to that glorious temple not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . Its allegorisin is still further drawn from all the liberal arts and sciences which have ever been esteemed the summum bonum of human acquisitions , aud it includes instruction in everything pertaining to man from the cradle to the grave , ancl to the mansions beyond .

Freemasonry is an outcome and outgrowth of the ages—a . cosmopolitan institution adapted to all peoples and all times . It is a universal language , in which brethren of all tongues may bold converse with each other . Its jurisprudence is comprehensive , and its form of government is such that its rulers , guided by its customs and constitutions , exercise authority with prudence and justice , and its officers , supreme and subordinate , in their respective stations , are obeyed

with ah humility , reverence , love , and alacrity . In short , such is its benign and loyal character that it enjoys under British law the proud distinction of being the onl y Order which in its sacred temples and secret conclaves pursues its peaceful ancl charitable avocations wholly exempt from all and every surveillance of the State or of the powers that be . Nor need I now longer pursue the almost endless theme . Subjectin a measure

, , Freemasonry indeed is , to the imperfections of ail things human . Unworthy members it indeed has , but who , not devoid of reason , condemns the Noacbidao , because , in the family of the patriarch , there was a son who dishonoured his father ? and who condemns the sublime system of Christianit y because , among the immediate followers of the Son of Man , there was one who sold and betrayed his Master ?

Let us , then , eschewing the evil , admire the good , ancl what is more worthy of our admiration than the sublime spectacle of brethren of all nations , religions , kindreds , ancl tongues , —high and low , rich and poor , learned and unlearned : the king laying aside , for a time , the sceptre for the gavel and the lowliest of his worthy subjects—the statesman laying briefly aside the cares of the government of a mi ghty empire for the trowel—the wisest sage and the humblest disci ple—the most learned divine aud the sincere seeker after

truth jiifct emerging from darkness into light—the brightest and most skilful craftsman ancl the newly received novitiate , —all , all these meeting together on the level , on the ground floor , in the middle chamber , and in the sanctum sanctorum of their Masonic temple of labour and of worshi p—alike inspired by faith , hope , ancl charity—alike seeking the hidden mysteries of nature , science , and morality—alike being taught to practise prudence , fortitude , temperance , and justice—alike enjoined to exemplify in their daillives be t rinci

y ( greap ples of loyalty , brotherly love , relief , and truth , to adore and serve Him who is the beginning , the middle , ancl the end of all things ? Could the most sanguine have dreamed that this mystery of Freemasonry—inviting no adheience , and doing no proselyting—in less than two hundred years in its present form , and in this last quarter of the nineteenth century , should number its temples by the tens upon tens of thousands , ancl should number its sons of li ght by hundreds upon hundreds of thousands—ancl that thus , in our clay , we should see the realization , in great part , of the vision of the sages and seers of the olden time who beheld afar off the benign reign of universal Brotherhood ?