Address,

Craft . Nothing I might say could bind it , or compromise it , even if I had the will so to do . " As I read our tenets , and interpret , the theory , practice and spirit our Order , Masonry has a creed . It is a religious Order . Our Great Light is the

Holy Bible ! From that we take our creed . That creed is , Faithin God , Hope in Immortality , Charity to all mankind . This is our way , so plain , so simple , ' that the wayfaring man , though a fool , cannot err therein . '

"Faith , that there is a God , a faith taught us by nature , taught us by every system of worlds , and every world of every system , taught us by material creation around , above , beneath us , taught us by every mountain that rears its lofty summit to the

skies , by every valley , with its emerald carpet and sun-lit flowers , by every season and by every creature . A faith taught us by Revelation , by that Great Book—that light shining through all the earth , taught us by prophet , priest , and seer ,

taught us in the living words , in characters blazing from every page—all proving , with the certainty of the demonstration , there is a God . "' Our faith is the subtle chain that binds us to the Infinite ; The voice of a deep life -within , The will remain , until we crowd it thence . '

" Our Hope . " 'Tis the divinity that stirs within us ; 'Tis Heaven itself that points out a hereafter , And intimates eternity to man . " "Not only does Masonry point us the way *

and bid us hope , but urges , commands , begs us to follow it . " Eternal Hope ! when yonder spheres sublime Pealed their first notes to sound the march , of time , Thy joyous youth beganbut not to fade

, , When all the sister planets have decay'd ! When rapt in fire , the realms of ether glow , And Heav ' ns last thunder shakes tbe earth below , 'Thou , undismayed shall o ' er the ruins smile , -And light thy torch at nature ' s funeral pile . "

'" The Great Apostle says , " Now abideth faith , hope and charity , but the greatest of these is charity . " As Masons understand it , this charity refers to all men , but more particularly to our ¦ brother Masons , " wheresoever dispersed

throughout the habitable globe . " Nor is it that charity alone which contributes to the pecuniary necessities of our brothers , but that God-like charity which , like a mantle , covers their errors , puts the most lenient and favourable construction on all their acts . Gathering to our hearts rays from the

Great Light ever present in our Lodge , we are taught to be charitable to the opinions , to the actions , to the motives of men , patient with their errors , forgiving * when they retract . Beautifully has the poet described our Masonic charity :

" Pure is her aim , and in her temper mild , Her wisdom seems the weakness of a child ; She makes excuses when she might condemn , Eeviled by those who hate her , prays for them ! Suspicion lurks not in her artless breast ; The worst suggested she believes the best ; :

Hot soon provok'd , however stung and teas'd , And if perhaps made angry , soon appeased : She rather waives than will dispute her right , And injured , makes forgiveness her delight . "

" Such a creed needs neither priest nor prelate to interpret ; no learned criticism to explain ; no profound erudition , hunting up far-fetched meanings for its words . The way to it does not lie through the dark , turbulent and disturbed streams

of relig ious controversy . The words mean just what they say—they are short ; scarcely as many letters as other creeds have volumes . Is not this

a religion ? If you define religion to be the close , technical' following of some particular theory or dogma , cut out and grooved and fitted together by human hands , it is not religion . If it consists in a mind and heart imbued with a love for God

and for man , is it not religion ? " We are charged with being an unchristian organization . The Divine Teacher , while on earth , said , ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart , and with all thy mind , and with all thy

strength—this is the first and great commandment ; and the second is like unto it , thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself . On these two commandments hang all th » 3 law and the prophets . ' That is the Christian creed ! That has been the Masonic creed from the earliest institution of onr

Order . "' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God . ' Masonry enjoins it . To him her temples are erected . Without that , without an abiding love , trust and belief in him , the bright temple of Masonry , with

all its glittering jewels and dazzling ornaments , must be for ever shut within impenetrable walls . He who has not this must pause at her outer door—his footsteps can never resound in her halls . ' Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself / He

who neglects this is no Mason . Cover him with the gorgeous paraphernalia of our Order , place him upon the topmost pinnacle of our column , if his heart is not filled with this , if' in his outward walk ,