Oration By Bro. Dr. Macrae.

ORATION BY BRO . DR . MACRAE .

We take trie folloxving ; admirable oration from the St . John Weekly Telegraph , ol July r , th , 1 SS 4 : " Most VVorshipful and Brethren of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity , A . F . and A . M . —To the addresses and responses of ivelcome and congratulation to xvhich I have had the pleasure already of listening-, no xvords need be added . Equally needless , or even impossible , it xvould

be to expound the details of the xvell-nigh exhaustive sketch o' our century ' s history in this province , given xvith wonted felicity of diction , permit me to say , by yourself . A different task , as I understand the matter , has been assigned to me , for the honour of being selected to undertake xvhich I beg most humbly to thank the brethren ; xvhile , considering its importance , in viexv especially of the occasion , my hearty xvish is that it had dex'olved upon one more competent to do

it the justice it merits . Not that , under one aspect , it is a task of difficulty . The materials , so far from being scanty , oppress by their superabundance . You have summoned me to discharge a congenial duty , to sound the praises of Masonry , to set forth the grounds xvhy it is this day honoured among us ; to vindicate it from the charges by xvhich our most noble Order is often Ignorantly aspersed ; in a xx-ord , to exhibit the Temple of Masonry , so far as my

poxvers may avail , in all its beauty and grandeur of symmetrical proportion . To such questions as the folloxving it xvill be becoming to essay brief ansxvers at an occasion so auspicious in the history of our Order . What is the spirit and ' creed , if so it is becoming to express myself , of Freemasonry ? What are our aims ? What principles govern us ? By xvhat tenets are xve held together , and xvhat virtues •—xvhat cardinal virtues , if any—do xve profess to abide by

and uphold ? It is almost a duty to ask , it is a privilege of the most honourable character to be favoured xvith an opportunity so distinguished of ansxvering , these and the like questions , in viexv , partly , of the sceptical tendencies of our age , partly of the attacks—the able , but u * terly unxvarrantable and even grotesquely absurd attacks—to xvhich xve have recently , in very high quarters indeed , been subjected . Most Worshipful and Brethren : Masonry , 1 begin by

saying , has performed a feat xvhich has hitherto transcended the efforts of any or all of the religious denominations of earth to accomplish . And hence , perhaps , the vituperation xvith xvhich it has been assailed . It has built a platform so easy of access , and yet so firm in structure , that upon it can and do stand side by side , co-operating in the spirit of loyal friendship , peace and harmony , Jexv and Gentile , Christian and Brahmin . To have done this

xvithout insisting upon the conversion of one to the viexvs and beliefs entertained by the others , to be able to secure the most sincere and hearty co-operation in kindly deeds of men of all races , all ranks , all callings , all denominations , governed by a spirit ot mutual sympathy , to be the object of attachment , and the bond of union to rich and poor , to learned and comparatively unlearned , to effect in happiest combination the blending of equality xvith order , the

the equality consisting in community of privilege xvith the order xvhich demands and justifies gradation only in official rank ; to do this xvithout kindling jealousy—nay , to thc consuming of ex'ery feeling of that baser sort in the lire of a noble , a limitless , albeit a secretly manifested charitythis is an achievement xvhich may fitly command more than a passing notice from the philosopher , the statesman , and from members of the profession to xvhich it is my chief

honour to belong . It is coming to this , in fact , in the history of the xvorld , that he xvho can successfully place his hand on the leverage afforded by Masonry possesses a floxver—thank God , a poxver for good—to xvhich the only imits are the limits of time , and of the . universe of our race . 'Thank God , 'did I say ? 'A poxx'er for good ' did I speak of ? What right , some one present may be thinking in his heart , in remembrance of recent utterances

delivered from one of the very chiefest places of authority on earth , and by a man , on many accounts deservedly , held in high esteem and respect by those xvho differ most xvidely from his viexvs and aims—xvhat right have I , as a Mason , to take the name of God into my lips , or to speak of doing good ? Are not Free Masons pronounced by an infallible authority to be atheists in creed ? Are they not guilty , according

to the same authority , of treating the relations betxveen the sexes in a fashion and spirit the most laxvless and light ? Do they not seek to separate education alike from religion and morals ? Is not their secrecy a mask beneath xvhich they seek to disseminate vice and make vicious principles rampant ; to corrupt the morals of youth ; to overthroiv goverment , order , religion ; to promulgate the tenets of sedition , revolution , socialism , communism ? In

a xvord , are not Masons patrons and promoters of the Gospel of dynamite , foes of the family , foes of the churches , foes of society , foes of the State , friends only of social disorders and bedlamite misrule ? And I speak of God , and as a Mason I use the phrase , 'Thank God ? ' Yes , most Worshipful , as a Mason I use the phrase , * Thank God . ' I should be false , need it be said that you one and all knoxv , false to my most solemn Masonic duty , did 1 not habitually

and expressly , as a member of your Order , practise that exercise of devotion of xvhich giving thanks to God is one part . When first xve read that famous allocution signalising the close of ourcentury ' s history , in xvhich our Order is thus depicted—an allocution , it must be remembered , issued and proclaimed in the languages spoken by more than 200 millions of people , read and commented upon from pulpits or altars among xvell-nigh every nation under Heaven ,

proceeding , too , from one for xvhom , personally , it is impossible not to cherish feelings of very great respect , alike on account of his character and his ability ; xvhen xve found ourselves depicted as atheists , socialists , promoters of vice and misrule—xve of xvhose every movement order , harmony , peace , the devout recognition of God , are the very fundamental conditions—xve xvcre as men that dreamed . We read the fulmination xvith an air of bewildered amazement .

We read again , to pity the ignorance that can co-exist , contradictory though it may sound , xvith infallibility . It is not north xvhile to expend indignation on ignorance . Need it be said , let me noxv only observe , in the presence of this august assembly , that no atheist can , xvithout perjury , enter a lodge of our Order ? Need the co-relative

statement be made that , did a brother become an atheist , he xvould there and then , by the very tefrible fact , cease to be , and on avoxving his atheism xvould be disoxvned by every true brother xvith pity and sorroxv , as no longer connected xvith xvhat xve regard as Freemasonry . Most true it is that xve do not term or consider our Order a religion in the current ecclesiastical sense—in the sense of

Oration By Bro. Dr. Macrae.

being a denominational organisation . Masonry has been happily defined to be morality , veiled in allegory , expressed in a beautiful series of symbols . But though not reli gionour first , our fundamentally indispensable principle—is our belief in God , in God , too , as Creator , the Architect of the Universe , in the God of Providence , in that God xvhose name is Lox-e . We believe , too , let me add , in prayer . Our system is permeated and throbs through and through

xvith the spirit of religion . Open any of our authorised manuals . You xvill lind enough to assure you that no ivellconducted lodge begins or closes its proceedings xvithout the offering of prayer . Does this look or sound like atheism ? Of the charge that xve make light of marriage and kindred relations , xvhat shall I say ? What proportion of our Brotherhood are in the Benedict ranks of the married 1 do not know . But let our enemies compaie the homes ivho = e

heads belong to our Order—from that of his Royal Highness our Most Illustrious Grand Master in England , to that of the loxvliest Craftsman xvho acts as Tyler , or in other capacity , in our obscurest country lodge—let our enemies , I say , compare such homes xvith those xvhose members repudiate Masonry . We do not dread the results of that comparison . The daughters , sweethearts , xvives , to xvhose deft labours the Order is indebted for the products arranged in

the sumptuous fare xvhich occupies our temple to-day , do evidently not stand greatly in need of the evil effects of Masonic principles upon matrimonial prospects or relations . As to education , some day , not noxv—it xvould occupy too much time—I may tell hexv it fell to my lot to deliver a lecture on the relations of Masonry to education and order , in connection xvith an effort , happily most successful and permanent , to promote the cause of education ,

in the interests of Masonry , in a neighbouring colony . Close against the grotesquely preposterous charge that one of our aims is to corrupt the morals of youth , let me set those tenets of brotherly love , relief , truth , to xvhich xve are pledged , and xyhich all true Masons practise and uphold j and over against the accusations of sedition , revolution , and the like , let me set our cardinal virtues of temperance , fortitude , prudence , justice . Or shall I lead you in thought

to the tomb , and shoxv hoxv there , xvhile xve remember the dictates of charity in regard to a brother's faults , xve are bidden also to remember the fact of that judgment to come , to our certainty of xvhich xve are pledged by our clearly , constantly avoxved faith in the grand , heart - axveing truth of man's immortality ? ' But yours is a secret organization , ' it is said . ' Why secret , if you have not something in reserve , a body of

esoteric doctrines , of xvhich you are ashamed ? ' No , brethren , I am not ashamed of our secrecy . Let me once for all avow my glorying in it , while , at the same moment , I proclaim xvhat the spirit and purpose of that gracious secrecy is . Here it , ye xvho revile us ! It is the secrecy inculcated in the xvords : ' Let not your left hand knoxv xvhat your right hand doeth . ' It is the mantle xvhich cloaks our beneficence , xvhich forbids our ever recording our good

deeds , leaving them to be judged by the One All-Seeing Eye . It is that robe of need on the one hand , xvhen need arises ; of charity on the other , xvhen brotherly charity is solicited , xvearing xvhich , txvo of our Order can confer xvith each other , as in a twilight amid xvhich the blush of shame on the broxv of the one , the Hush of poxvder to relieve on the broxv of the other , is invisible . That is our secret , that is our secrecy . For Masonry , xvhile not like its siveet

sister Odd Felloxvship an avoxvedly a beneficiary institution is yet most avoxvedly and absolutely a benevolent and a beneficent society . Here surely , first in its proclamation of faith in God and next in its noble tenet of brotherhood and brotherly love , is the strength of our Order . When these aspects of life are set in the forefront of the churches , then , not until then , do I expect that this and kindred orders xvill be superseded . And surely it is

something that by such means , b y especially the character of Masonry , these profound ethical aspects of life and duty are lifted up into the light . The century , of xvhich our services of today mark the close , is memorable on many accounts . But in none , I venture to say , more than this , that in a societ ); bound together by no selfish gain , and not avoxvedly religious , the great fundamental truths of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man , together

xvith his immortality , arebroughtso distinctively into the very forefront of human action , and that to the ranks of such a society the accessions to xvhich should be so numerous . What a distance , xvell-nigh infinite , by pathxvays too long and devious to be noxv traced , has our race travelled , from the time of that primeval anarchy xvhen one could say of another murdered by his fell-hand , ' Am I my brother ' s keeper ?'—through slavery , through caste , through

despotism—to a time xvhen a society , numbering its lodges by thousands , and its members b y millions , has placed on its banner , as its grand distinctive principles , the tenets of brotherly love , belief , truth . Masonry , Most Worshipful , has many other aspects . I have said nothing of its claim to antiquity and to universality . And , indeed , for my pur . pose , these matter nothing . We might be ancient and vile . We might be universal and worthless , or even to be

reprobated . Hoxv far xve are from being either—hoxv far , that is , xve are otherxvise—I have briefly endeavoured to unveil . Let me conclude b y a glance at our present position , at xvhat should be our aim as it is our desire . Every one of us , I assume , covets the poxver to make the influence for the good of our Order a living fact , and longs for the day xvhen , by the blessing of Heaven , xve shall be enabled to assert our energies for

usefulness in forms more or less akin to the noble , charitable and educational institutions of England , xvhich shall prove tbat our claims to respect in relation to benevolence , education and order are not unfounded . During the century noxv ended xve have been patiently rooting our Order in the land . Our groxvth has , perhaps , been comparatively sloxv . For the climate has , in some respects , been ungenial , so to speak ; the soil difficult to cultivate , and

there have occurred or existed not a fexv unpropitious circumstances . But better days draw nigh . Our principal difficulties are things of the past . The very aspersions xvhich are being heaped upon us are proofs that the position of Masonry is assured . The principles of our Order must spread . The )* are of the very essence of that Bible without the possession of xvhich , open for use , no

lodge in these lands xvould be completely furnished . The benefits of our Order are being , and must be , groxvingly appreciated . The beautiful symbols of our Order arc being universally displayed , and their meaning is being increasingly understood . From the rough ashlar to the evergreen all nature is seen to be tremulous xvith spiritual meaning , and that meaning is God o ' er head and brotherly

Oration By Bro. Dr. Macrae.

love around and xvithin . Not one of us expects to see another centennial . But from the Lodge on High into xvhich , through the mercy of our God , xve hope to enter , xve may be spectators of the steady , xve trust the rapid , diffusion of all in our principles that is in accordance xvith Truth . One day our sccresy shall at once be common property and yet still secresy ,

For man to man the xvorld o ' er , _ , . Shall bathers be , and a' that : So sings one of our immortal brethren , Burns . 'Tis coming up the steep of lime , And this old xvorld is groxving brighter ; We may not see its daxvn sublime ,

\ et high hopes make the heart throb lighter . We may be sleeping in the ground , When it xvak-es the xvorld with xvonder ; But xve have felt it gathering round , And heard its voice of living thunder , 'lis coming , yes , 'tis coming !

Grand Council Allied Degrees.

GRAND COUNCIL ALLIED DEGREES .

A meeting of the Grand Council of the Allied Degrees xvas held at the Masonic Hall , Sa , Red Lionsquare , on Saturday , the gth inst . Among those present xvere Bros . C . F . Matier , D . G . M .,- Alfred Williams , P . G . S . W . ; J . D . Murray , G . S . B . ; Charles H . Roberts , George Mickley , Andrexv McDowall , Charles II . Driver ,

Wm . Nicholl , and Charles Belton . The Grand Council xvas opened in due form by the D . G . M ., who apologised for the absence of M . VV . Bro . the Rev . Canon Portal , G . M ., and informed the brethren that the G . M . had been pleased to appoint Bro . Alfred Williams , P . G . S . W ., as D . G . M . Bro . Williams xvas accordingly conducted to the East and duly invested and installed by Bro . Matier . The

folloxving brethren xvere then appointed and invested as Grand Ofiicers for the year , namely : — Bro . C . H . Driver ... ... ... G . S . W . „ VV . Nicholl ... ... ... G . J . W . „ C . F . Matier , P . D . G . M . ... ... G . Sec . „ James Moon ( elected ) ... ... G . Treas . „ W . li . Williamson , Mayor of Worcester G . S . D . „ Rev . C . H . Roberts ... ... G . C .

„ W . Wainman Cotton ... ... G . J . D . „ Robert Berridge ... ... ... G . D . of C . „ Charles S . Lane ... ... ... G . S . B . „ Andrew McDowall ... ... G . Std . Br . „ Dr . G . Mickley ... ... ... G . I . G . . ,, W . Brackenbury ... ... " X „ George Cooper ... ... ... S-G . Stxvds . „ F . J . Tyler ... j

,, E . J . Mills ... ... ... G . O . G . The minutes of the last annual meeting having been read , verified , and confirmed , a report on the state of the Allied Degrees xvas read , from which it appears that though warrants for two new councils have lately been granted , the progress of the order has been sloxv during thc past year . Particulars as to thc financial position of the Grand Council xvere furnished , and it was

unanimously agreed , on the motion of Bro . C . H . Driver , G . S . W ., seconded by Bro . W . Nicholls , G . S . W ., to present a testimonial to Bro . Matier , in recognition ol his services as D . G . M . since the formation of the G . Council . The G . C . having been opened as a Tabernacle of the High Priesthood , and that degree having been exemplified in full xvith Comp . Chas . Belton as candidate , thc proceedings xvere closed xvith solemn prayer .

New Brunswick.

New Brunswick .

THE MASONIC CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION . The Centennial Celebration of Masonry in Nexv Brunsxvick came off on Dominion Day in that city . The event xvas looked forxvard to with much interest , and extensive preparations made to ensure its success . ThelGrand Lodge assembled at the Temple , Grand Master Ellis presiding . Grand Master Laurie and other officers of the Grand

Lodge of Nova Scotia were announced and received xvith grand honours . The procession xvas then formed , and at 1 . 30 p . m . moved by xvay of Sydney-street . It xvas very large , and embraced representatives from all thc lodges , chapter , preceptories , and members of the . Scottish Rite . The streets xvere lined xvith spectators , and so perfect had all the details of the parade been arranged that there xvas not the slightest hitch .

At the Mechanics' Institute the Grand Lodge , xvith the Templar escort and distinguished visitors , occupied the platform . The Fusilier ' s Band xvere seated in the orchestra , St . Stephen and St . Bernard Commanderies came next . Subordinate lodges occupied the two centre sections of the hall , and the invited public the rest of the npace . The banners of the lodges were artistically grouped at thc

rear of the stage , and made a very pretty picture . Grand Master ELLIS then delivered an historical address . It xvas lengthy , but able and very interesting , and traced the progress of the Fraternity from its establishment in Pan-Town , in 17 S 4 , to the present day . Referring to Capitulax-Masonry , he said : The Royal Arch Degree xvas certainl y brought in xvith the Loyalists . In 1700 a chapter xvas

xvorking here , probably attached to Hiram Lodge . There xvas one at Maugerville at a very early day . Carleton Chapter in this city , called after Governor Catleton , has its records back to 1805 . The practice of those days xvas for the Royal Arch Masons belonging to a Blue Lodge to congregate under the lodge xvarrant , providing the Masters and Wardens xvere xvilling . Thc

certificate of Thomas Sandall , grandfather of the present chamberlain of this city , both for the R . A . Degree and for the Knight Templar , are yet in existence . They xverc issued in 17 S 3 from a lodge on Scottish registry attached to the 22 nd Regiment , stationed on Staten Island . Thc original certificate is also in existence , issued to Rev . Robert Griffith Wetmore , lirst of Rye , Nexv York , in 1700 ,

ofthe degrees of the A . and A . Rite to the 10 . Mr . Wetmorexvas the father of the present D . G . M . of Nexv Brunsivick . Mayor Jas . Grant entertained the Grand Lodge at his residence , and St . John ' s Encampment gave the visiting fratres a royal reception . The xvhole proceedings reflect credit on the committee , and xvill long be remembered .

- ^ Bro . Sir J . B . Monckton , Toxvn Clerk of London ' , is touring in Switzerland ,