The Duties Of Freemasons.

Aubin ' s Lodge ( No . 1260 ) , my congratulations on the facilities which have been afforded to us in many ways , not only by some among ourselves , but also by those belonging to other lodges , who have generously tendered their contributions to our as yet limited furniture , as well as their moral support , thus evincing an interest in our undertaking . Especially is our

gratitude due to the R . W . the Prov . G . M . of Jersey , for several distinct acts of kindness ; to his daughter , Miss Hammond , for a valuable present , one quite in keeping with her well-known regard for sacred things , no less an addition to our lodge , than the volume of the sacred lawthe first and most important of our

, emblematical lights , that which is to be at once the basis and the guide of all our proceedings , which will , if studied in conformity with our authoritative Masonic precepts , direct our steps in the paths of happiness , and teach us the whole duty of man . To the Cesaree Lodge ( No . 860 ) , do we owe thanks , for the

cheerfulness and promjititude with which our request for a recommendation , as required by the Book of Constitutions , was complied with ; to Bros . James and Charles Johnson , Past Masters , and Bro . Rogers , who have kindly presented portions of our apparatus . In every instance a personal appeal to any one of our own number has been met by a read liance .

y comp These I need not particularise . Let it be our endeavour to show that these benefits have not been misplaced , by ourselves acting iu close conformity with the constitutions of the fraternity ; by making ourselves practical illustrations of the beauties of Freemasonry ; by refraining to admit any to a

participation in our privileges , secrets , and mysteries , unless we have strong ground to believe that they will reflect honour on our choice ; by making the sacred volume our study and rule of conduct ; by being good citizens , good members of families in domestic life ; and by imprinting indelibly on our minds the sacred dictates of truth , of honour , and of virtue .

The Teachings Of Freemasonry.

THE TEACHINGS OF FREEMASONRY .

The following Oration was delivered at the consecration of St . Aubin's Lodge ( No . 1260 ) , Jersey , by Bro . Dr . Hopkins , W . M ., P . M . 51 , & c . Right Worshipful Sir , your Excellency , Provincial Grand Officers , and Brethren , —Itis customary for an oration on some leading feature of our institution to

be delivered at the close of the ceremony of consecration . I have been selected , probably as a ruler in the Craft of some standing , and as this day again entering on active duty , to meet the requirement , though with an injunction to be brief . Being unwilling to depart from the general rule , I comply with the desire , from

which , however , I should have been glad to be exempt , because I had already prepared an inaugural address , not suited to this occasion , but which will find an appropriate place at a later stage of our proceedings . Bear with me then for a few minutes only , that the custom may be honoured , for I conceive that order ,

as "Heaven's first law , " is one of the primary features of Freemasonry , and that the tendency of the whole system is to foster and illustrate it . " Hence it is that we have certain landmarks from which no departure is allowed , serving as means for the perpetuation of our peculiarities and mysteries , as beacons to point out our path , as warnings to prevent our going astray , as safeguards against unauthorised intrusion , as

tending to promote united and undeviating action , and thereby to increase our power for good ; little can be accomplished by desultory efforts , but when they are combined with energy , with perseverence , with a determination to concentrate them on one point , experience shows that no result is so great as to be unattainable ; this is especiallthe case with our

y science , which , while it produces an effect on the lives and actions of all its votaries in their individual capacity , maintains a general harmony in the whole body , however extensively spread , the varied results of which often excite the wonder and the- admiration of the external world , who yet lack the courage to join our

ranks . And what are the results of which Freemasonry is capable , and which maybe reasonaby expected from it ? They are so numerous , that the bare catalogue of them would exceed our present limits . Let us mention a few only ; the inculcation of a perfect system of morality ; he breaking down of many of

those barriers which set nation against nation , sect against sect ; the elevation of the soul to God and a nearer approach to his perfections ; the preparation for a future immortal state of existence ; instruction in our duties towards our fellow-men ; the leading of the mind in the paths of virtue and science ;

the practice of universal beneficence and charity , in act as well as in word , in its broadest and most comprehensive sense , of which the relief of distress is the most common , but by no means the most important form ; the expansion of our intellectual faculties ; the power of using the good things of this world and not abusing them , and making them subservient to the

highest objects . By what means are the teachings of Masonry carried on ? In great measure by symbolism and allegory that form which in the earliest ages was best adapted to the state of the human intellect , and the then condition of mankind . It is alleged , however , by our

opponents , that with the extension of knowledge , and in an advanced state of society such a mode of instruction is no longer applicable , and that we need no figures of imagery in order to impress our minds with all that is good and noble , to give us an idea of the power , the glory , the majesty of the Divine

essence , and to bring our hearts into communion with . God . This cannot be the case , we cannot dispense with such a mode of teaching , so long as the sacred volume exists , and is made our study and our guide , for in the course of that study we cannot fail to catch some of the inspiration of the men of olden times ; we

must receive a portion of their poetic fire ; we must become impressed with that bold and glowing imagery which pervades all their writings , a portion of which , it transferred to Freemasonry , and indeed constitutes its very foundation . To such as tell us that we have little to do with these things , and that Christianity

has superseded the old economy , we would reply that we are authoritatively told to " search the scriptures " which pertain to the dealings of God with his creatures in the early stages of the world , and that the very last book of the New Testament forbids us , by its style and character , to dispense with that peculiar mode of operating on the heart and the intellect .

My own experience tells me that whereas , on initiation into our mysteries , all appeared strange , dark , and incomprehensible—whereas the symbolical teachings , when not yet understood , seemed of but little