Masonic Duties.

than he yields himself up to willing obedience , and sacrifices to the genius of the Craft all of personal predilection in that regard . 2 , A Mason must be constant . No man is ever endued with the spirit of our Craft without having that fixed attachment to its principles , its ordinances , and its labours , which makes him a willing attendant upon the Lodges , and induces iu him a constantly growing fondness for our assemblies .

The man who catches the honours of the Craft , and leaves the Lodge as he hands to his successor the jewels of his place , may have some of the secrets of Freemasonry , but he has none of its principles . His attachments arc to the fleeting honours of the officer ; he knows nothing of the constancy of the true and faithful brother . 3 . A Mason must be faithful . Fidelity implies a strict conformity to all tho solemn requirements of a Master Masona fullperfectcontinued

; , , fulfilment of all the obligations of the Craft ; obligations deep , strict , unconditional—asseverated , sealed with awful solemnities ; obligations to do and to forbear . To some of these I may not , and need not , refer with more distinctness . But fidelity—the fidelity of a Mason , involves a watchful care ; a delicate but unwinking vigilance upon all that concerns the Craft . No movement that has a direct bearing upon the Order can escape the faithful Mason's notice he sees the evil and ives the alarm .

; g Our Order is wounded through the brethren . Her glory is in the pure morals aud correct principles of her children . Her shame is found in neglected ordinances , a desolate fraternity . Can , then , a true Mason see a brother falling into errors , lapsing from the path of rectitude , wandering away after the enticements of pleasant vices—and neglect the solemn duty of

admonition ? Can lie admonish , lure , entreat the erring brother in vain , and yet be faithful if he neglect to inform the Craft of the danger they incur by the relaxed morals of the offenders ? Surely not . He forgets the letter ^ and the spirit of the Craft ; iie overlooks the ties that bind him by one link to the brother , and by another to the Order , and cowardly and traitorously lets the enemy of our race get possession of the heart of a brother to . whom he should give due and timely notice ; and lie lets that

enemy of our institution find ingress to our Lodges , secreted in the bosom of a vicious brother . Fidelity to the Craft involves the unpleasant duty of rebuking the erring , as well as of admonishing the tempted brother . 4 . A Mason must be charitable . Of all the words in our language , there seems to be none so much abused as the term charity . With some , the charitable man is he that gives his thousands of dollars to an object of public benevolence , ov who doles a small portion to the beggar at the door .

Either act may be charitable , or it may be a contemptible ostentation—as undeserving the name of virtue as it is unworthy the approval of heaven . The charity which is the bond of love with Masons , lies deeper in the heart ; it is the principle of the act , rather than the act itself ; it is the motive sanctifying the movement and giving merit to the deed . True masonic charity finds its expression often in almsdeeds ; it is evinced in the small pittance which the brother can spare to the widow and the fatherlessitis evident in

; the princely liberality with which a Crirard endowed the Pennsylvania'Grand Lodge . * But it has also other modes of expressing itself ; it finds out the object for its exercise ; it pours a light on the pathway of the wanderer ; it guides-him onward in his course , and silently blesses him . True Masonic charity exhibits itself in solicitude for'the welfare of all interested in the

* The late Stephen Girarcl bequeathed to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , the sum o £ # 20 , 000 , which , by his direction , has been allowed to increase to # 30 , 000 - - ^ -the income of which is distributed to poor , worthy Masons .