Love, eternal as God himself, without beginning and without end. In short, our fundamental principles differ in nothing from those of our holy religion. So much, indeed, are they the same, that he who is a good free mason will not be a bad christian.

After bestowing this just tribute of praise upon what I conceive to be the best of all human institutions, it is natural for me to exhort such of the brethren as are present, to walk worthy of their profession. Let not your good be evil spoken of; but be an example to others, and show to the world, by your conduct, that you belong to a society which is innocent and virtuous-Hereby shall all men know that ye are FREE MASONS, if ye love one another. This is a surer test of your initiation into the sublime mysteries of your art, than any sign or secret whatever. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away far from you and be ye kindly affectioned one towards another, in brotherly love preferring one another.

Above all, let your meetings be conducted with that harmony, peace and good order, which brotherly love ought to produce, without which society is not worth enjoying, and with

out which it were better to dwell in the wilderness, or on the house top. No strife, nor idle debate ought ever to be heard among you. You do not assemble to display your talents, or, in dire conflict, to brandish the weapons of political disputation, but as brethren and friends, to enjoy social conversation, and to promote one another's happiness.

Permit me to conclude this discourse with observing, to the honour of your institution, that on this grand festival you piously join trembling with your mirth; that, within these sacred walls, dedicated to Almighty God, you engage in his service, and acknowledge your dependence on him, before you proceed to partake of his bounty. Let the same principle of religion actuate the whole of your proceedings on this day, and teach you the wisdom of temperance, sobriety and moderation. Under these limitations, I know no principle in the order to which you belong, nor in the religion which you profess, prohibiting an indulgence in the innocent and lawful enjoyments of life. To every one who acts up to the true principles of Free Masonry, I may address myself in the words of the preacher, Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a

merry heart; for God accepteth thy works. And, with regard to every one of us, may he so accept our work of faith, and labour of love, that, when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, we may find a place in that eternal house, which the great Architect of Nature has framed, and into which every true FREE MASON, and every good and virtuous man will be admitted, with this joyful welcome, Well done good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.

Now to God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, be praise, honour, and glory, for ever and ever. AMEN!

349

AN ORATION,

Delivered at the Orphan-House in Charleston, on the sixth anniversary of the institution, 1795.

FELLOW-CITIZENS,

THE honour of being called to address you, on this occasion, is somewhat qualified by the consideration, that the subject to which our thoughts are naturally directed, has been so often discussed, that no new argument can be advanced to gratify the ear of curiosity, and no additional lustre given to those which are already known, to render them more acceptable to hearers of a refined taste. But, disadvantageous as this may be to the speaker, it affords no sufficient reason why we should discontinue the celebration of this anniversary. In the course of a year, many things occur, to wear away the impressions which former discourses may have produced. The zeal

which you felt at the commencement of the institution will gradually cool, unless renewed and revived by frequently presenting to your view the objects by which it was at first excited. It is a circumstance, too, highly encouraging, that I am not sent to you with heavy tidings, or desired to make unwelcome demands upon your charity; but rather to thank you for your former liberality, to congratulate you on the success with which your exertions have been attended, and to point out this institution as an object of the first importance to the community, and as highly deserving of your future patronage.

Had I no other purpose in view but to interest your affections in behalf of this establishment, I need go no farther than the objects before you. You now behold one of the most pleasing and affecting sights which can be exhibited to the benevolent eye; the most magnificent edifice of the kind of which the new world can boast, erected on a spot formerly barren and unprofitable, to shelter and protect those tender plants whom misfortune and adversity had left exposed to every rude and noxious blast-more than one hundred of your fellow-creatures, lately subject to pover

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