Address.

ADDRESS .

Delivered to the Pleiades Lodge of Marh Masters , ( No . 26 ) hy 7 . W . Bro . Dr . HOPKINS , G . J . W ., P . M . 7-k § x ., on re tiring from the Mastership , on March Uth , 1 S 69 .

( Continued from page 227 . ) Brethren , I have to thank you most sincerely for the confidence you reposed in me , in permitting me to be chief among the founders and first W . M . of the Pleiades Mark Lodge No . 26 . in Totnes ,

as I had been previously ; of the Cesarean Mark Lodge , No . 74 , in Jersey , and hence probably the privilege I enjoy in having been appointed to the hig h rank of Grand Junior Warden of England in the Mark Degree . In this capacity I have

attended one meeting held at Worcester last autumn , but was unable to be present at that held in London in December . Let me remind you that the Grand Mark Lodge has set a good example in this respect , one I have advocated for

some years , with a view to excite an interest in its proceedings through all parts of the kingdom , and to give others besides residents in the metropolis opportunities of displaying their Masonic abilities and qualities , and of thus obtaining high official rank in it . With this view ,

while the summer and winter meetings take p lace in London , the spring and autumn ones are held in the Provinces . In the course of a few weeks , in accordance with this arrangement , I expect as G . J . W . to be summoned to Cheltenham ,

and I would here suggest the propriety of your commissioning your new W . M ., also to attend on that occasion , and to offer an invitation to the Grand Mark Lodge to assemble at Totnes next autumn , and thus to enable the West of England

to participate in the benefit 'to be derived from a visit of the ruling body in this branch of Freemasonry , as well as to add to the character ancl reputation of the Pleiades Lodge . This course will no doubt be attended with some expense

and trouble , but it will confer honour and status upon you , ancl may lead to an augmentation of your members . I am quite sure that you could not find a more suitable opportunity than when your loclge is under the guidance of so genuine , zealous , able and urbane a Brother as your W . M . elect .

When I assumed the position of your head , I promised " not to relax in my efforts " on your behalf , and that it should be " my aim to enforce our principles , to carry out our constitutions , to

win your esteem , to instruct our younger members , and to promote union , love and harmony . " I hope I can conscientiously say that earnest efforts , punctual discharge of all duties , and good intentions have not been wanting , though errors

in judgment may perhaps have been committed . It has often been remarked , that the system of Masonic government is truly despotic , for that the W . M . has almost unlimited power , though certainly restricted in duration to one year . No

doubt the presumption is that he will be prevented from committing any great outrage on the feelings of those under his direction , by the influence of Masonic principles , by calling to mind that on initiation he was charged "to do unto others as

in similar cases he would wish that they should do unto him , " and , in the absence of higher motives , by the knowledge that he must soon

return to the condition of ordinary membership . Still , I have known cases in which the position has been abused , and one especially occurs to my mind , where for several years successful efforts had been made by successive masters to save the

funds of the lodge for a specific purpose , resulting in the accumulation of more than £ 100 , which was spent by their immediate successor in feasting , the brethren not having the moral courage to apply a check , and a heavy rate in aid was

afterwards required to make up a deficiency . I need hardly say that such is not the spirit by which I have been actuated , and happily such extreme cases as that I have cited are rare . Though as a ruler in the Craft , with definite duties

and responsibilities . which I have been anxious faithfully and impartially to discharge with a view to the advantage of the lodge , I may sometimes have been induced to utter words of

rebuke or of warning , an imputation from which you will hardly exempt me this evening , I trust that in so acting I have never forgotten the rules of courtesy , the claims of brotherhood , consideration for the honest opinions of others , the

interests of the loclge , or my own self-respect . If in anv case I have exceeded the limits of propriety and given offence , I now make the amende , by expressing absence of intention and seeking forgiveness .

Further experience in this province has confirmed an impression formed in the early part of my residence here , that there is a deficiency in social feeling amongst us , as in no department do we ever meet otherwise than formally in lodge