Oration Delivered At The Consecration Of The Eliot Lodge,

ORATION DELIVERED AT THE CONSECRATION OF THE ELIOT LODGE ,

ZONDOSr , SATURDAY , JUNE 22 , 1 S 67 .

By BEO . REV . Dr . BANNISTER . Right Worship ful Sir and Brother , Worshipful and Worthy Masters and Past Masters , Brethren , One and all , —We are met together to assist in consecrating in this place , once a noted school of

religious learning , the seat of a bishopric , and still preserving in its noble parish church portions of the ancient cathedral of Cwall , a Masonic lodge to be knoAvn by an honourable name , the Eliot Lodge . Long may the family after Avhich the

lodge is to be named be preserved as an honour to Masonry in general , and an ornament in particular to this county , the first , the last , and the best in England , and long may this lodge , now to be consecrated , revolve as a bright planet of the

first magnitude , around the central luminary—the Grand Lodge of England . In order that it may do so , as Ave know that every Avhole as made up of its several individual parts , small as Avell as great , it is necessary that each and all the

members of the lodge should remember the object for Avhich lodges are established , viz ., that Masons may meet together and improve themselves in their

own peculiar science . I reemasonry Ave knoAV is a peculiar system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols . It is founded on a sublime , rational , ancl moral principle , Avith the praiseworthy design of making us better men , better members

of society , better subjects , better parents , better husbands , better masters , better servants , better in all the relations of life , yes even better parsons and better preachers of the Gospel of peace . As in our lodges all the furniture , every figure ,

ornament and emblem , has a moralimport and tendency , so this design is represented by the immoveable jeAA'els . These are the tracing board , and the rough and perfect ashlar . The tracing board is for the Master to lay lines and draw designs on ,

ancl Ave are told that the volume of the Sacred Law ever open Avhile the lodge is Avorking , is the tracing board of our great Master above , the great Geometrician , the Grand Architect of the Universe , in which are laid down divine laAvs ancl moral

plans for our guidance through this short life to the life that knows no ending in the great lodge above . But the two emblems to AA'hich I especially Avished on this occasion to draAV your attention , are

the rough and perfect ashlar ; the former uncouth , unshapen , just as it comes from the quarry ; the latter , cut , carved , polished , and by skilled and patient labour , prepared for the place it is intended for , by the Avise superintendant of works . In the

volume of the Sacred Law also , various emblems , parables , aud Avise sayings are made use of , to teach us to use and improve our talents and to do our duty in that state of life Avhere in Gods providence Ave are placed . Every one , Avhatever

his rank , high or IOAV , rich or poor , has a work to do in life . Our talents , Avhether five , or only one , are to be improved to the honour and glory of God , and the good of our fellow creatures . We are to serve our generation in the fear of God . St . Paul , the great apostle of the Gentiles , and Avho

is thought by some , like St . Germanus after Avhom this place is called , coming here to confute heresy and to establish our British forefathers in the faith , to have visited the remoter Corner of the Avorld , St . Paul tells us that in a great house ,

there are vessels , not only of gold ancl silver , but also of Avood and stone and earth ( dome as it is called here ) , and some to honour and some to dishonour , i . e ., some to noble uses and for special occasions , and others for baser

purposes and every day use , useful , perhaps even more useful , than the more intrinsically valuable aud therefore more honoured and prized vessels , but all useful in their places . Now to vary this figure . In the erection of a noble building , a cathedral or a palace , stones of different sizes , and on which different amount of labour has been

expended , are used . There are the beautifully cut and polished and the elegantly carved stones for the ornamental parts . There is the plain cut and squared ashler for the building up of the walls . There is the rude and rough but strong- stone in

the foundation , and there is the rubble to fill up the interstices between the outer ancl inner Avork ; each piece insignificant and weak in itself , but put in its proper place and solidified Avith mortar or cement , helping to make the building strong and

firm . So it is in society generally ; so it is in Masonry in particular . All cannot reach the top stone . All cannot be ornamental stones ; but all accepting their position , doing their duty Avhere they are placed—all may be useful . In Masonry

Ave are taught subordination , to take the place assigned to us , and do our best ancl improve ourselves there ; for Ave are not in animate matter like the lifeless stone , each one of us has divine princip