An Oration.

AN ORATION .

DELIVERED AT THE DEDICATION OF THE ATHENAEUM LODGE , NO . 1491 . BY THE REV . A . F . A . WOODFORD , M . A . P . G . C . Worshipful Presiding Officer and Brethren : — I esteem it a great honour to have been asked

by the Master Designate of this new lodge , our very worthy and much respected Bro . Samuel Poynter , to deliver the customary oration , as

Consecrating Chaplain . For I think , that , all such ceremonies as we take part in to-day , are not only interesting in themselves to us all as faithful members of our ancient Order , but are

suggestive or many very useful thoughts and valuable considerations . As Freemasons we rejoice to see another promising offshoot of our old Masonic tree , and as brethren bound together by the ties of old

friendship and sympathy , as well in solemn work , as in the social hour , we must feel within us all , those associations both pleasant yet somewhat saddening , which every new dedication of every new lodge evokes from all our minds and

memories . For we are taken back even to-day from this new lodge , with all the accessories of Masonic ceremony and appointed dedication to old days , and to other meetings and to happy gatherings gone by , and ancient friends now no more .

It has been my lot as W . Presiding Officer to take part in many dedications , and to deliver more than one oration , and therefore , I cannot hope , as I do not pretend , to offer you this afternoon , anything very striking or novel . All I profess

to do to-day is , only to retrace after all a beaten track , and to draw from our old teaching , and our time-honoured landmarks , and the unchanged witness of Freemasonry , some few lessons of practical Masonic lore , which may be

improving to our younger brethren , and will not be , I would fain hope , unedifying even to the older members of our Order now present . I propose then ( leaving out all other topics and considerations , owing to the shortness of

time ) to look at Freemasonry from three main points of view . First of all , let us look at it as a centre of union and harmony for men of different views and often differing opinions . It is the special characteristic of Freemasonry ,

that , it offers , so to say , " a harbour of refuge , " a wide and a peaceful platform , where , and on awhich may gladly gather those who differ on most other subjects in the world outside the lodge . We cannot go into busy life , or irix

much with our fellows now without becoming instantly aware , that , many severances sever us , and many divisions divide us from one another daily here . What these divisions and severances may be , matters nothing to our present

consideration , whether they be reli gious , political , national , or social , but they do exist , and they affect us all in a variety of ways . Yet once within a lodge of Freemasons , they are happily practically altogether unknown . Within that peaceful

region , so far , the voice of political animosity has never been heard , the din of religious controversy is stilled . Material and social severances , the demarcations of sectarianism , the

various class antagonisms of this world ' s social organization have no existence there . We are all brothers . Once within the lod ge-room , once admitted into Freemasonry , be we who we may , and whatever our social rank or condition outside

our lodge may be , there we all meet " upon the level , and part upon the square . " Freemasonry receives all candidates within its ample fold , who are good , honest , true , moral men

whatever their denominational views may be , except , as our old formularies say , "the stupid atheist , or their irreligious libertine , " and enrols gladly under her great and tolerant banner all who believe in the common Father of the human race . Our position in this respect , has been Warned by some , and anathematized by others ,

An Oration.

who censure so wide a " formula " of religious profession and adhesion , but the experience of many years has told me ^ as I believe it tells us all , that , Freemasonry is right , in laying down this law of acceptance into her fraternal assemblies , and , that , they are gravely in error , who impugn too hastily either her precepts or ptactice in this respect .

Again Freemasonry is an institution whose foundation is the moral law of the Divine Lawgiver , and the inculcation on her members of every moral and social virtue . Freemasonry is not religion , and does not pat forth dogmas of belief . But Freemasonry is a great and

worldwide philanthropical society , and may be said to be a handmaid to religion , inasmuch as brotherly love , relief , and truth , are its unchangmg watchwords , and because , from first to last , From the hour of our initiation to our closing moments of work , it tells us in clear and touching tones

of moral duty and moral livina :. Sending us to the best of books , the Bible , always open in our lodges , it urges us thereby and therefrom , to be good husbands , good fathers , good brothers , good sons , good members of society , loyal subjects , and peaceable citizens . More than

once , in many a lecture , and many a portion of its mystic ritual , Freemasonry forcibly appeals to us , to follow all our wordly avocations , and to perform alike our public and private duties with freedom , fervency , and zeal . For let us remember how idle is our

profession of Fieemasonry if we do not make obedience to the moral law , both the proof and the end of our Masonic profession . It is indeed idle to call ourselves Freemasons , idler still to disport ourselves in lodge , in all the external decorations of our excellent fraternity , if all the

while our lives are a scandal to morality , and a discredit to our lodge , and the Craft at large . I do not wish to take a too professional view of the subject , always a difficult one to deal with , or to give even the tinge of a sermon to what I am now saying , and therefore will only

add , that , we shall never go very far wrong , if we endeavour carefully to conform ourselves in our passage through life , to those admirable exhortations to morality and sobriety , to decency and to decorum , which we hear so often in well

known words , from that" curule chair , Sir , you so well and worthily occupy to day . And so once again , Freemasonry isagreatphilanthropical institution , whose unchanging teaching finds its best and most active expression in deeds of charity and labours of love .

Now whatever else rcuy be alleged against Freemasonry , it cannot be said , that , in this respsct its profession and practice do not go hand in hand . I know of no other body , which so unnecessarily labours to carry out its own great principles into beneficial and persevering activity .

Yes , W . Sir , I make bold to say Freemasonry may fairly claim the approval of all honest men for the zeal with which it seeks , in its divine mission of charity and goodwill , and forbearance and toleration towards men , to practice its old teachings of sympathy , and succour , towards

those of its own members whom sickness or calamity have reduced to poverty or distress . For as Freemasons , we ever do assiduousl y labour , and let this be ever our unchanging aim , amid all the changes and calamities of life , to relieve distress , to support old age , to aid

infirmity , to educate the orphan , and to cause the " widow ' s heart to sing for joy . " If we wanted any defence for Freemasonry , which we do not , either as regards its utility or its mission , we surely can find it in our great charities , and our benevolent contributions . To

any one who asks us to day , what does Freemasonry do of good in the world , pointing to our charities we can say "Si quaeris circumspicc . " Why , Sir , in 1856 " , at the Anniversary Festival of the Girls , our most distinguished brother , then Lord Panmure , now the Earl of Dalnousie , lauded in glowing words the munificent

contributions to the Girls' School of £ 1500 . The whole returns for the charities that year amount to ^ 4 , 500 . This year the subscriptions and donations of our ever ready and sympathetic brotherhood exceed , £ 21 , 000 , an amount not only large in itself , but , testifying in a most striking way , to the zeal and liberality of our

An Oration.

order , which , instead of slackening or decreasing , seems only to be augmented year by year . And when , Sir , I call to mind our Grand Lodge , and Provincial Grand Lodge and private lodge grants to suffering or indigent brethren , when I number up our many local Masonic charitable efforts ,

I say , that , any one who still professes to believe thai Freemasonry is a mere idle form , a mere club of good fellows , or a selfish convivial assembly , must be insensible to any evidence you can offer to his mental capacity , must be , in truth , as big an idiot as exists on God ' s glorious earth . And so let us leave all idle cavils and frivolous ob

jections to this practical proof of reality both of profession and of work . Let us disregard all impugners and calumniators , let us quietly put by us all anathemas and interdicts , and let us go on our way , proud of our good old Craft , which has weathered so many

angry squalls , and let us gladly welcome to-day another addition to her long list of effective lodges . But before I close my oration ( if I have not wearied my brethren ) , I must add two words of caution , which seem to me very appropriately to

come in at the opening of a new lodge ; the first is , as to the admission of new members . We are suffering at this moment , in our Order , in our great material prosperity , from a " plethora " of candidates for admission . With a new lodge there comes in always a temptation to a new

Master , and its first Master , at the expiration of his year of office , to point exultingly to a long list of recently admitted members . Now I feel sure , that my worthy Bro . Samuel Poynter will pardon me for saying , that , after an experience of 32 years as a Freemason , I earnestly

recommend him to adopt for his motto , in this respect at any rate , " Festina lente . " There is a popular view , I am aware , amongst ^ us , that , as Freemasonry is a public institution we have no right to refuse any who come with fair credentials and a proof of social respectability .

Now , I venture to assert to-day , that , this , Worshipful Sir , is a great fallacy . Our lodge is a brotherhood , a family , and . ve have no right to admit into our lodges , those whom we cannot , or will not introduce to our own families , whom we do not believe to be morally " good men

and true , " whom we do not think likely to rise in the lodge , or to do credit to Freemasonry . 1 would , therefore , earnestly urge upon the members of this lodge carefully to scan the pretensions of all who seek to be enrolled amidst the honourable ranks of our ancient and useful

sodality . And one other caution . We live in an age of much restlessness externally , many questions , more doubts . Under our Most Excellent Grand Master , and under our active and efficient Masonic administration , our

great fraternity is moving on peacefully , prosperously , and well contented . But those who , like myself , see and hear a good deal of Masonic opinion , we know well , that , there is in some a hankering after novelties and changes ,

an " unsettlement , ' so to say , of ideas and aims , as regards what , at any rate since 1813 , has tended wonderfull y to preserve the peace and promote the progress of Freemasonry in this country .

Therefore I say , and especially to the officers and brethren of this new lodge , " keep by the ancient landmarks . " Let nothing tempt you , on any pretence , or in any degree , to part with them or depart from them . They were laid down by good and expert brethren inq'o ! den days ;

they have withstood the lapse of years , and the onward experience of time ; they are commended to our affectionate loyalty as Craftsmen , and let us resolve to hand them on unchanged and unaltered , to those who shall come after us , in the lodge , and in Freemasonry ,

And now , Worshipful Sir and brethren , I commend this goad work , in which we have beenengaged tc-djy , to the providential care of the Great Architect of the Universe . May all of success attend the Athenaeum Lodge , and may it

long remain a centre of li ght , and intellectual strength to this district , a source of unfailing happiness and edification to all its members , a credit to Freemasonry , an honour to God , and a benefit to mankind .