Oration.

to listen to me . I can only beg yon , in reply , to hear me for my cause ; that , at least , should command attention and respect , even if Avhat I say should appear monotonous or tedious as a thrice-told tale . Strive to forget the speaker ' s want of skill , The cause is good although he plead it ill .

It would he an evil day indeed for Masonry if the brethren regarded the ceremony in which we have taken part to-day as a spectacle to pall upon the eye by frequent repetition ; or if thev listened to the ritual with a vague admiration for the beauty of its

language , which might tickle the ear , hut could not he expected to sink into the mind , or lead to any practical result . To-day , then , brethren of the Hauley Lodge , you have assumed , as it were , the virile toga which gives to you an enlarged standing and increased

importance in the province and in the Craft . Ten years have scarcely elapsed since I was present when our Chief consecrated your lodge . To-day ought to , and , I trust , does , carry with it the confirmation of those pledges which your sponsors , your first Master and his Wardens , made in your name at that your

first entrance within our pale . That you have been increasing in numbers and rising in importance may be owing to your commendable private and corporate zeal , or it . may be indicative only of that growing interest in Freemasonry which is now pervading the world . Bnfc if you would stand forth as true men and true Masons ,

if yon would show yourselves worthy of the token of manhood you have to-day assumed , covered by your own roof , and sitting by your . own hearth , you ought to be

able to show that the vows made by your sponsors have been well and truly kept ; that the typical lessons inculcated by the corn , wine , oil , salt , and incense , have sunk into your breasts , and that yon are better men . and better citizens , because you have been tanght and commanded by Masonry to be so . And if as Masons

you would come scatheless through the strict scrutiny which is applied , in the present day , to all human institutions , and especially to Freemasonry , because it professes and claims so much , while it conceals so much , you must be clear in your own consciences , and be able to make it clear to the - world that Masonry has made you

better men than you would have been without it . You must feel in yourselves and show in your lives that you have been controlled by the lessons which the square and compasses have taught you in the lodge ; that the chisel and mallet have knocked off many excrescences of temper ¦ and natural disposition which tho old Adam would have

allowed to expand into faults or vices . Above all , by a moral and religious life , you must be able to show that the awful but reassuring lessons taught us by the skerret and pencil have led you to turn your eyes upward to the Grand Lodge above , and have checked you in many a sin both of commission and omission by the

remembrance that all our words and actions are recorded there ' and that we shall bo rewarded or punished as we obey or disobey the Divine commands . And only when Masons practice toAvards each other and towards all the

outer world the tenets of universal charity m thought , word , and deed—when they lead upright , moral , and conscientious lives , guided by prudence , temperance , fortitude , and justice , then may they point to each new temple erected by themselves or their brethren as one step further on the road to universal brotherhood , which

is the great aim and object of Freemasonry . Then , may they inscribe on the walls of their lodge , as a motto which they can regard without blushing , and follow without scruple , — "Do mercy , love justice , and walk humbly with God . " And in their outer life , how would the true Mason be shown by practising the rules of true

chivalry from which some of our orders are derived , " to defend true ' religion faithfully , to practice the morals of it ; to protect widows , orphans , and the weaker sex ; not to make war on account of goods and- effects , but to let all disputes be decided judicially , and by the justice of God . "

If such tenets be followed , not only will our lodgerooms be sanctified , but of each brother as he sinks beneath the cold waters of death , the outer world would say — " The actions of the just , Smell sweet and blossom in the dust . " Even if , amidst the wear and tear of life , its distractions

and its temptations , some human frailty rises to the surface to show that Freemasonry is a human , and not a Divine institution , and therefore subject to the infirmities and the failures of everything human . To you , Sir , to whom , your brethren have confided On this auspicious occasion , the honourable and enviable

post of their Worshipful Master , I would appeal to justify their choice by a conscientious discharge of every duty pertaining to your office . May you be gifted with discretion to advise , temper to conciliate , judgment to determine in every case of difficulty and doubt , and firmness to maintain unimpaired the landmarks of our Order ,

Admonish with friendship and reprehend with mercy , where admonition and reprehension are necessary , ever remembering tbe command of Him , who Avas all charity , in the case of an en-ins ; brother . But still it is your

duty , both within and without the lodge , to take care that no member offend with impunity against the laws of morality and temperance . Above all , it is your duty to incite your brethren , both by precept and example , to the daily practice of these great cardinal tenets of our Order—brotherly love , relief , and truth . Although it is

not in the power of man to forsee in the green sapling the mature tree , or in the new-sown seen the golden harvest , I take it as an augury of good that you are yourself a young man , and that you are surrounded by young men . In this busy life , where the dust of the . world settles so heavily upon the hearts of men , it is especially gratifing to find so many young men bound together b

y y the softening and humanizing ties of Freemasonry . From this I draw the happy augury that when we who are old shall have passed away , and when our faces shall be seen and our voices heard no more , the young men will take our places with all the fire and energy of youth , and carry ou the good work , and in place of a feeble voice and faltering utterancesuch as you have heard

, to-day , the world will be addressed by men who will not SAverve from their good purpose , and who will speak , in trumpet-toned voice , calling their brethren to works of usefulness , charity , and love .