Freemasonry In Cornwall.

the remaining threepence be added to the lodge stock as a provision for distressed brethren . " This appears a very small portion for the " distressed brethren , " and a large part for the landl ord . The latter , liowever , never made any charge

for the occupation of the room and attendance . Soon after the members decided to give the whole to the Charity fund . The next minute of consequence is the following . " The P . M . proposed that Bro . Carlis should pass

the chair in order to his becoming a Eoyal Arch Mason . The proposal was complied with , under the recommendation of the whole lodge . " Dated 8 th August , 1808 . The Ancients owed their success to this Eoyal Arch degree . { To be continued . )

Masonic Oration

MASONIC ORATION

Delivered hy Bno . Wn . P . BLACK , at Gatlin , Illinois , June 24 th , 1867 .

{ Continued from page 126 . ) Next it is objected that Masonry brings good and bad men into confidential relations . Let me borrow an argument in reply to this . Among the twelve who were the daily companions of Christ , standing

in confidential relations with his brethren and the Master , there was a Judas . One of the objections urged against the founder of the Christian religion by his self-righteous opponents was this , that he ate with publicans and sinners , and sat with them

in token of confidence in their houses and at their feasts . It was his pride to be called the friend of such , and his constant theme that He came to save the iost . In every age , in every organisation , and , I sorrow to say , in none oftener than in the

Christian church in its various branches , hypocrites have introduced themselves and wrought their work of ill . We cannot escape the common evil ; but it is the work of Masonry to obviate that evil by elevating and ennobling the unworthy

who may be in our number . If our general character were bad ; if the majority of our members were evil men ; if to enter our Order were like fallin g among thieves , then this objection should have some weight to deter worthy men

from exposing themselves to the corruption of evil communications . But these broad charges will not be made against us by even the most bigoted of our opponents , unless they be at the same time the most ignorant . Again , it is objected that by the " substitution

Masonic Oration

of worldly and selfish motives for moral and religious influences , " there is a tendency to the > practical neutralisation of Christianity , and in this connection let us glance at the substance of the last resolution read , that one presented at Peoria ,

in 1865 , which runs thus : " That all rights and ceremonies not given of God but invented by men ,, for promoting morals and religion , are of th & world and not of Christ , and so are essentially Gentile worship , or the worship of devils . "

That-Masonry does not tend to the neutralisation o £ Christianity , but rather to lead to it , has already been considered . The hypothesis of this objection ,, that in Freemasonry there is a substitution of worldly ancl selfish motives for moral and religious

influences , I deny , and appeal again to the theory of Masonry , as already adduced in my argument ,. As well as to the disinterestedness of its work , in . proof of the assertion that the motives of Masonry are essentially moral ; and that drawn as its

tenetsare strictly in accordance with the Holy Scriptures , they are justly entitled to be considered religious ; . while the whole doctrine and practice of Freemasonry are exactly the reverse of selfish . But is . it true that all things not directly given of . God . are devilish ? It is never the manner of the .

teaching , but the matter that proves its character ,. and by which it will be accepted or rejected . The Bible is given as a foundation ; and upon thisdifferent superstructures are builded for different purposes and by different minds . If the principle * of them be all the same , then that principle will characterise the whole . The various ramifications .

of the Church and its different agencies for accomplishing its work—its missionary boards , its-Sabbath school unions , it publishing houses and . tract societies are not given of God , but invented , by men for promoting morals and religion . Yet

all these being in furtherance of that divinel y , appointed work , the spread of the gospel , we engage in these enterprises , nothing doubting that the purpose sanctifies the labour . Enlarge the . application ! There is a royal law— " Thou shalt .

love thy neighbour as thyself . " Masonry buildson this superstructure of beneficence , of welldoing . And in furtherance of this great object , adopts certain rites and ceremonies for the purpose of impressing ineradicably its doctrines and .

duties in the hearts of its members . These ritesand ceremonies stand relatively upon the same ground in regard to Masonry , that the confession .. of faith and the requirement of the covenant vows