Oration.

ORATION .

Delivered JyBro . Dr . HOPKINS , P . M . P . Z ., & c , at tlie Consecration of the Boyal Arch Chapter in connection with the Cesaree Lodge ( A o . 958 ) , St . Seller , Jersey . Companions , —I have heen requested to offer a few remarks on this solemn occasion , in order that the

custom of pronouncing an oration may be complied with , for I trust that we are all ritualists to this extent , that we would not desire to omit any of those forms , ceremonies , and practices of which we have heard with our ears , aud our fathers have told us , so that , at this , the inauguration of a new branch of the Masonic institution , everything may be done as we Avould Avish it to be continued—decently , and in order .

Allow me first to offer you hearty congratulations on the means which will henceforth be presented to members of the Cesaree Lodge of completing the Masonic circle , of attaining the heights of the symbolic structure , in a Eoyal Arch chapter in especial connection with it . I thus designate it

intentionally and advisedly , for though there may be other degrees highly prized by those who take them , they axe of comparatively modern origin , have nothing to do with ancient ^ Freemasonry as practised among God ' s favoured Jewish people , are necessarily exclusive , as alloAving the admission of Christians

only , and for these reasons are not recognised hy the Grand Lodge of England . Ton , my companions , have now laboured , and have taught others to labour , for many years in the outer courts of the Temple , so to speak ; you have proved by your zeal , your fidelity , and your success within this limited spherethat you

, are fit to be entrusted Avith the instruction of candidates in the more advanced and solemn of our mystic rites , for whieh the training and discipline in the Craft degrees are a suitable preparation , and Avithout

which they are , to a certain extent , unsatisfactory and incomplete . These primary degrees chiefly refer to our moral duties to each other , Avith a proper observance of all those kindly offices Avhich are due from man to man , Avhile not losing sight of those higher obligations which , as frail and erring creatures

of the dust , we owe to our merciful aud all-wise Creator , Redeemer , and Judge . The very nature of the ceremonies in Craft Masony clearly indicates that there is something far more exalted iu store for those who persevere in their course , Avho desire to set aside or pass beyond that Avhich is temporary and

uncertain , in favour of the higher mysteries Avhich bring us to a more advanced knowledge of the ineffable majesty of the Eternal ; something more sublime for those Avho successfully strive to enter within the veil , and to obtain the privileges and communications conferred on those onlAvho have passed

y through their probationary state with honours to themselves and credit to the fraternity . Companions , you who are here present have already crossed the boundary . Tou are familiar with the

importance , the sanctity , the full benefit and dignity of the Royal Arch degree . Some few of you , as Priest , Prophet , or King , have heen admitted to the higher honours , the more advanced mysteries of the sacerdotal , prophetical , or regal character . Be it yours from this day to lead others , Avith whom you " have worked in brotherly and friendly unison in the earlier

stages of the Masonic career , to share with you the privileges of this exalted branch of our Order , to direct their aspirations to a more perfect knowledge of the history ancl traditions of the Masonic art , as conveyed iu the Royal Arch . Much as they have found , in the instructions already received , to read ,

mark , learn and inwardly digest , they will , as you know , have opened to them a greatly extended field for their contemplation ancl study . They will see themselves surrounded by emblems of a new character , of far deeper and more mystical import , suggesting a totalldifferent train of thoughtobjects furnishing

y , fresh incitements to research . If they have hitherto heen made aware of the perversion of Masonic rites and ceremonies to ignoble and debased purposes , by the substitution of the spurious for the true Freemasonry , by the exchange of the knowledge and worship of the one living and true Godfor that of idols of

, wood and stone , with fabulous histories bearing faint traces of their Divine origin , they will , by a farther acquaintance with the sublime mysteries of the Royal Arch , mark more clearly the progress ancl connection of the false ideas Avhich have in all ages of the world led men away from a knowledge of the truth to

pursue phantoms of their own creation , under the guidance and encouragement of those who , from a desire of power or other causes , have been interested in maintaining superstition and error . They will discover , how , when His chosen people had lost a true and lofty estimate of the Divine name and majesty , the Almihty recalled them to Himself and a

cong sciousness of their dependence on Him , without the necessity for a fresh direct revelation after all traces of the AA'ritten law had heen swept aAvay at the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar , and the knowledge and worship of the true God was only retained by memory aud transmitted by oral tradition

amongst the remnant of his people , existing by sufferance and as exiles and captives in the midst of an idolatrous nation , practising a splendid superstition , profusely decorated with all the adjuncts whieh might render it imposing and attractive . They will more fully ascertain the oriin of the idolatrous religions of

g numerous nations and ages , in the rites and ceremonies dictated to His chosen people the Jews , in their intercourse Avith the Most High ; and here will be opened to them interminable subjects for inquiry , the result of which cannot but be beneficial to their own hearts and minds .

The round toAvers of Ireland , the varied Druidical monuments of this and neighbouring countries , the caves of India with their sculptures and adornments carved in the solid rock , the durable erections , and the figures with combinations of human and animal forms , of Egypt in the East , and of Mexico and other

countries in the Far "West , the monuments brought to light from the buried cities of Phoenicia , the tenets of Zoroaster and the fire-worshippers , tlie practice of Ophiolatry , the degrading systems of Brahma and Buddha , the mythological fables of the ancient reliions of Greece and Eomethe abstruse speculations

g , of the old heathen philosophers iu their strivings after better things amid the mental darkness by which they Avere surrounded—all these will furnish opportunities for tracing the different phases of deviation from the true religion , revealed in tne early stages of human existence , and the steps by which men fell from their