An Oration,

an enemy where you before had a friend . Although the rest of the company may smile at your efforts to please them , yet ifc will not bo the smile of satisfaction ; they will feel an irksome restraint in your pressure , lest they should inadvertently give you some trifling cause to burn them into ridicule , in the next company yon go into . In this manner you will lose your friends , your acquaintances

will shun yon , and you will feel yourself alone in the midst of society . To conceal from the world the failings of our friend is charitable , to speak of his virtues noble , bufc to flatter him to his face , to revile him behind his back , and point him out as an object of ridicule , befits only the character of an assassin . The sweetest consolation and pleasure Ave receive from

society , is the enjoyment of friendship , ifc smooths the rugged paths of life , and dissipates corroding care from our brow when onr bodies are Avrifching with pain , and our minds tortured Avith anguish , friendship—sacred friendship—pours into the wounds the sweeb balm of sympathy , alleviates pain and makes SOITOAV smile . Friendship extends through ei'ery branch of the great

family of mankind , its influence is as unbounded as the horizon , ifc unites men of different religions and countries , and of opposite political sentiments , in the firm bond of fraternal affection . Tho Avandering Arab and the native American , the rigid observers of the Mosaic laiv , the foIIoAvers of Mahomet and fche professors of Christianity , are all cemented by the mystic union . HOAV valuable is

an institution founded on sentiments like these—hoAV infinitely pleasing must it be to Him , Avho is seated on a throne of everlasting mercy ? To that God Avho is no respecter of persons . Be not elated with the pride of birth , as merit alone can give \ -alne to distinction . Intrinsic Avorth lifts a man above the genealogy of ancestors , and the pageantry of sounding titles ; value not yourselves upon your honours , they may for a time be objects of envy and jealousy , bufc ivill crumble wifch fche dust , and "leave not a wrack

behind . " Least of all pride not yourselves upon your riches , they are insufficient to gratify the numerous wants they create , fchey may be treasured up by the miser , bufc the man of benevolence cannot esteem there , but as they afford him the means of doing good to his fellow creatures . Rational equality , as ifc is the most natural state , so is ifc the most pleasing and desirable .

Love the Avhole human species , but particularly those who are united to you by the mystic union . When the deep sighs of poverty assail yonr ear , stretch forth the hand of relief , and chase necessity and want from a brother ' s door . If afflicted by misfortune , comfort their souls , and soothe them to -tranquility , and if they are exposed to danger , give them your assistance . It is this

sympathy Avith the pleasures and pains , Avith the happiness and misfortunes of our felloAV men , which distinguishes us from other animals , and is the source of all our virtues . The key stone of our mystical fabric is charity . This amiable virtue , glorious as fche beams of morning , in whose beauty thousands rejoice , is the vital princi ple of

our Society . It should form the basis of all our dealings with each other , aud be as a square fco regulate our actions with all mankind . The Avants of a brother particularly interest us , but merit and virtue in distress , Avherever they meet us , Avill always claim fche pointed attention of a true Mas on . Our OAVU circumstances are to be the criterion of our beneficence . The rich bestoAV Avith liberal

hands the gifts of fortune , the poor their consolation , advice , and protection . This is , oftentimes , a source of relief , they frequently stand in Avunt of a friend to make known their distress , and to interest in their favour , those Avhose benevolent hearts rejoice iu the opportunity of relieving the Avaets of a fellow creature . Honest industrious men , borne doAvn in the Avorld by the pressure of misfortune , not attributable to any misconduct on their part , bufc by the acts of an overruling Pi'OA'idtnce , engulp hed iu ruin , the lonely and disconsolate

An Oration,

AvidoAV , the sad relict of a faithful friend , au affectionate husband , Avhose cheerful labours had yielded her the . comforts of life , now throivn for protection and supporton the bosom of benevolence . The orphan iu tender years cast naked and helpless on the Avorld , and the aged ,. Avhose spirits were exhausted in the toils of youth , AA'hose shrivelled sinews UOAV unbraced by time , are unable to

procure a scanty pittance for their subsistance . These my brethren are the true objects of charity ; to relieve such , will be showing your gratitude to thafc beneficent Being , who is the " husband of the AvidoAA-, and the father of the orphan . " The subject of charity has been so pathetically described by an elegant Avriter , in language so superior to

mine , that I cannot do better than transcribe it . " Ho Avhose bosom is locked up against compassion is a barbarian—his manners are brutal , his mind gloomy and morose , and his passions as savage as the beasts of fche forest . " What ; kind of man is he who , full of opulence , and . in Avhose hand abundance overflows , can look upon virtue

in distress , and merit in misery , Avithout pity ; AA'ho can behold Avithout tears the desolate and forlorn estate of the Avidow Avho , in early life , brought up in tho bosom of a tender mother , Avithout knoAving care and Avithout tasting of necessity , Avas nob befitted for adversity , Avhose soul is pure as innocence , and full of honour , Avhose mind had been brightened by erudition , under an indulgent

father , Avhose youth , untutored in the school of sorrow , had been flattered with the prospect of days of prosperity and plenty , —one , who at length , by the cruel adversity of lvinds and seas , Avith her dying husband , is AVrecked in total destruction and beggary—driven by ill-forfcune from peace and plenty , and from the bed of ease , changes her lob to the damp dunghill for relief of her Aveariness and pains , grown meagre with necessity , and sick Avith Avoe , at her bosom hanging her famished infant , draining

off the dregs of parental life for sustenance bestOAved from maternal love , yielding existence to support the babe . Hard-hearted covetousness and proud titles , can you behold such an object dry-eyed ? Can avarice grasp the mite Avhich should sustain such virtue ? Can hig h , life lift its supercilious brow above such scenes in human life , above such miseries sustained by a fellow-creature ?

Perhaps the fatal hour is at hand when consolation is required to close the last moments of this unfortunate one ' s life . Can the man absorbed in pleasure roll his chariot Avheels past the scene of sorrow Avithout compassion , and AA'ithoufc pifcy see the last convulsions , and : fche deadly gaze Avhich paint misery upon the features , of an expiring saint—if angels Avcep in heaven , they

weep for such . If they can knoAv contempt , they feel ib for the Avealthy , Avho bestOAv not of their superfluities , and snatch not ; from their vices Avhat Avould gladden souls sunk in the AVOOS of Avorldly adversity . "The eyes of chcrubims view Avith deli ght the exercise of such benevolence as forms the character of the good Samaritan , and saints touch their lyres , to hymn

humanity ' s fair history in the realms of bliss . " What should thafc human Avretch be called , Avho with premeditated cruelty and avarice , devises mischief ! Avhile he is conscious of his neighbour ' s honesty , on Avhose exerted labour an affectionate Avife and healthy children , eroAvding his narrow hearth wifch naked feet , depend for sustenance , Avhilst he sees him Avith fatigued

sineAVS lengthen oufc the toil of industry , from morn to nig ht with unremitting ardour , singing to elude repining , and smoothing his anxieties and pain u-ifch hope , that he shall reward his Aveariness by fche overfloAvings of his Avife ' s cheerful heart , and with the smiles of his feeding infants . " What must he be who sees such a man deprived by

fire or by Avater of all his substance , the habitation of his infants lost , aud nothing left bufc nakedness and tears , and seeing this , affords the sufferer no relief ? Surely in nature few such Avrctches do exist . But if such be