Address

And thus it is to this great instmct that Ave must attribute , among other associations , the birth of the institution of Freemasonry . Freemasonry is one of the most marked , as Avell as one of the splendid exponents of that great principle of Avhich I have spoken . It is simply the

development , noble in intention , still nobler in its results , of the instinct spirit of association . And when AA e speak of it legitimately , Ave must sj eak of it only as an association of good men united for the accomplishment of a common object .

And if you ask me Avhat that common object is , or if there be more than one hi AA'hich its disciples are engaged , I can only answer you by more strictly defining the character of the association . All men haA'e a right to ask this

question ; for , hoAA'eA'er unobtrusive the Masonic institution may be , hoAvever it may retire from the public gaze into the mystery and privacy of its OAA ' dvrelling , yet the fact that , hi the midst of the people , there is a banded organization , distinct , in so far as the relations of this organization aro

involved , from the rest of the citizens of the State , would be pregnant with mischief , if men Avere not permitted to inquire AA'hether such an organization Avas directed towards the abridgment of liberty , the support of corruption , or the

maintenance of political or religious power . It is the safeguard of the people that they should know AA'hat of evil or of good there is working within their midst , or hovering around them—if of evil , that they may be AA'arned ; if of good , that they may be tan "lit .

Standing here , then , on this day as the AA'illing exponent of the institution , surrounded by these intelligent jurors , AA'ho are anxious to giA'e their verdict only on competent eA'idence , and in the presence of this fair and enlightened auditory , I readily reply to tho question as to the true

design of Freemasonry . It is eminently due to * the occasion that Ave speak not in the " cabalistic language of the craft , but in terms of general import and interest . " I say , then , that Freemasonry is an association for the cultivation of intellectual

philosophy ; it is an association for the propagation of moral and religious sentiment ; it is an association for the exercise of charity and the encouragement of human love . And if 1 succeed in

SIIOAVmg that its philosophy is scholarly , its moral and religious teaching orthodox , its practice of charity diffusive , and its prin . ciple of love pure and holy , I shall claim all for character thus developed that I kno w just men AA'ill be disposed to bestoAV . I

Avill not ask more ; under such circumstances you could not give less . As an association engaged in the cultivation of intellectual philosophy , Freemasonry peculiarly recommends itself to our attention . As a scientific or

philosophic institution , it is true that even many of its OAA ' disciples are ignorant of its pretensions . But not less certainly are these principles of philosophy and science there , and our German brethren are right AA'hen they call the Masonic Lodge an academy .

Like the groves of Academus , AA'here Plato taught his almost diA'ine lessons of AA'isdom , or the school of the sage of Crotona , Avhere truth Avas unveiled by the master to his silent pupils , the lodge pours forth to the ear and the intellect of tho

AA'illing and searching brother its sublime teachings . The philosophy of Masonry is not patent to the inattentive or the ignorant . As

Pythagoras required a probation of several years before he intrusted his patient disciples Avith the profound arcana of his dogmatic philosophy , because the uncultured intellect could be no fit recipient of the mystic learning AA'hich Egypt and Chaldea had first unfolded ' to the laborious sage of

Crotona , so the school of Masonry bestoAvs not at once , and on all , the inspirations of its abstruse philosophy . Wisely , therefore has the institution provided grades of advancement through Avhich the aspirant must pass , making each grade the scholar

of the one that preceded it , and receiving at each step an instalment only of that light AA'hich bursts at last in its full effulgence only on the matured scholar Avho has diligently Avrought his hours of labour and receives his rich reAvard hi the hilosophic

p light of AA'hich that li ght is but a symbol . Freemasonry , then , has a philosophy Avhich it offers to teach to all who are AA'illing to receive it . Nor is tins an incidental character of the institution . It is not something that has been superadded to

it after its organization . It is not tho meretricious and extrinsic ornament that has been thrown over the structure after its completion , to attract the admiration of