resist the allurements and seductive persuasions of those pleasures and pursuits which would lead us from the path of duty. And to all appeals that may be made to us, to induce us to forsake the straight-forward path of honor and honesty-to all offers of reward, emolument, or pleasure that Sin may hold forth to us-let our unwavering answer be, "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Let us banish from our hearts all that would degrade us; and cultivate those feelings and emotions that tend to exalt our ideas, and make us pure and holy. Let us not be cast down by trials and privations, by opposition, and persecution; but let us press forward in the battle of life, fighting the good fight of Faith, and ever ready to do all in our power to bring human nature nearer to perfection; and while we make good deeds our stepping-stones to heaven, we will make our lives pleasant to ourselves and useful to others. He who has lived the life of a good Mason, and who has conscientiously and to the best of his abilities, performed the duties that are incumbent upon every Mason -who, by the practice of Charity and Benevolence, has brought comfort to the sorrowing heart and wiped the tears from weeping eyes-who has regarded the cry of the wretched and answered the prayer of the unfortunate -who has fed the hungry and clothed the naked-who has cheered and comforted the disconsolate, and has raised · up the soul that was sinking in despair-when such an one has reached a ripe old age, he can complacently look back upon his past life with pleasure and self-satisfaction, and as he stands on the brink of eternity, he can say, with honest Job, "The blessing of him that was ready to perish, came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy." Brethren, it is my earnest desire and heart's prayer, that my feeble words, spoken in weakness and imperfection but with honest intention, may have a good effect upon you. If we would be good men and true Masons, we must carry the principles that we profess into our every day life. We must prove by our lives that we are worthy of our high vocation. If we have erred and come short of our duty-and alas! too many of us must acknowledge that such is the case let us at once determine that we will do better, and live more consistently in the future, And if we would improve and reform ourselves, the proper time to do so is now. The present is all that we can call our own. The past is gone and can never be recalled-we know not how much of the future may remain to us. The young may die, the old must die, and time admonishes us all to prepare for that summons, which must sooner or later come to all of us, when we will be called to that judgment from which there is no appeal. Then we will receive the rapturous welcome, "Well done, good and faithful servants, enter ye into the joy of the Lord” -or our hearts will be crushed by the awful mandate, "Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity." We know not how soon this dread summons may come to each of us. We know not how soon our disembodied spirits will leave these earthly tabernacles, and our corporeal frames be clothed in the habiliments of death, and deposited in the narrow house appointed to all living. But we do know that it may come at any time-it must come at some time, and it were wise and well for us to be fully prepar to meet it, let it come when it may. "There's a world where all are equal, we are hurrying to it fast; We shall meet upon the level there-when the gates of death are pa sed: |