THE EXOTERIC DUTIES OF FREE MASONS. AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE TRENTON LODGE, No. 5, A. F. A. M., DECEMBER 12, 1859, BY THOMAS J. CORSON, W. M. Ordered to be published by the Lodge. TRENTON, N. J.: MURPHY & BECHTEL, PRINTERS, OPPOSITE THE CITY HALL. 1859. TRENTON, December 14th, 1859. THOMAS J. CORSON, M. D., W. M. of Trenton Lodge, No. 5. Dear Sir and Bro.-I am directed by a resolution of Trenton Lodge, No. 5, A. F. A. M., to request of you a copy, for publication, of the very able Address delivered by you before our Lodge, on the evening of the 12th inst. Fraternally Yours, JOHN O. RAUM, Secretary of Trenton Lodge, No. 5. TRENTON, December 14th, 1859. JOHN O. RAUM, Esq., Sec'y of Trenton Lodge, No. 5, A. F. A. M. Dear Sir and Bro.-Your note of to day, asking, in behalf of Trenton Lodge, for a copy of the Address delivered before that Lodge on the 12th inst., has been received. The Address was not written for publication; and, indeed, it was so hastily written, and so little care was devoted to its composition, that it is hardly fit for publication. But if the publication and dissemination of it will, in the slightest degree, advance the interests of the Royal Craft, or benefit a single Brother, I cheerfully waive all personal considerations, and herewith place it at your disposal. Fraternally Yours, THOMAS J. CORSON. ADDRESS. MY BRETHREN:-Let us, for our mutual benefit and instruction, devote a little time this evening to the examination of what is required of us as members of that Institution which we love, and which we should delight to honor. Let us, with unbiased minds, cooly and dispassionately inquire what are the exoteric duties of Free Masons, that we may thereby discover whether we are or are not faithful to our vows, and worthy of the name and professions which we have voluntarily assumed. In the remarks which a sense of duty impels me to make at this time, it will be necessary for me to speak of some of the flagrant sins and glaring faults, as well as those too commonly prevalent minor inconsistencies, of which many of the members of our Order are guilty; and the existence of which has brought discredit and disrepute upon our Institution, and has caused the undiscriminating profane-who unfairly take a part for the whole, and judge us by the acts of erring and unworthy brethren-to arrive at the unjust conclusion that Masonry is not what it is represented to be, and that our professions are mere empty words and hollow sounds, without meaning or vitality. In speaking of these things, which are an opprobrium and a disgrace to our Order, and detrimental to its very existence, I shall not use gentle words and honeyed |