Oration By M.W. Grand Master Van Slyck, Of Rhode Island.

bound to his Brother , by the tics of an equal creation , by a common hope and destiny , aud under the processes of time and progress , by common interests of life . To associate with his Brother in the holy but narrow connections of the familanil

y , thence in the larger , though still Aveak association of others remoter in blood , Avas to assimilate in the pursuit of mutual interests and the prosecution of mutual purposes . Naturall y each individual Avould find others toward ivhom some

peculiar regards and affections Avould flow , by moans of which , as between them , fraternity and friendship Avould become correlative . Thence came mutual protection and action for each other ' s welfare in Avar and peace . Thence came the sign of

recognition , Avhich , unknown to all outside the sacred circle , carried its mystery of fellowship , alike in tho bri ghtness of noonday and in the darkest shades of ni ght . Associated thus through the triumph of the higher souse of brotherhood over the loAver sense of selfishness , men , by a logical progression , as AVOII as through ° the necessities of practical lite , wore induced

to regard , not simply their loAver interests , but their education , culture , all mental and moral growths and expansions , the uplifting of individual life as objects aud ends to ' be fostered b y such association . As to the members of the brotherhood so formed , there must bo union

, a depreciation of self , aid and protection for others . The time must come Avhen those not yot united by the bond , should know that a band of their fellow men had been formed , peculiar and exclusive ; that it Avas held together b

y certain ties of connection not explicable to the common intelligence—that it Avas governed by law and inspired by high and holy purposes . In the earlier days of the race , Avhile men led a nomadic or pastoral life , aud all association assumed the simple forms and

characteristics of the patriarchal system , a system of autocracy , under Avhich the governing head ruled Avith a nearly absolute sway , the principle found little nurture or encouragement . Then followed the long periods of barbaric ni ght and darkness

, in which tho jealousies of neighbouring races and tribes evoked and maintained a constant or chronic condition of war , under Avhich human energies were bent onl y to Avaste and destruction . Emerging from the simplicities of the

merely pastoral or patriarchal life , and satiated with the bitter draughts of Avar , the dormant sense of brotherhood awoke to some realization of human needs . Tho bud began to unfold and to expand its

long hidden charms into blossom and perfume . See now , how tho great sentiment or idea of fraternity , was from tho beginning , knit to that of the paternity , and how co-ordinate these ideas Avere in their earliest externa ) manifestations . Tho

imaginative Hebrew race , basking in tho sunlight of tho Divine favour , recognised the paternity of the great Jehovah , tho special Father of a chosen people , in imposing forms of ivorship and reverence , and those Avore inseparably connected with

the rites and ceremonies which Avere the mere outward si gns of their inward societ y or association as Brethren . To the JeAV , the thunders of Sinai , the awful voice of God speaking to his peculiar servants , the utterance of the sacred prophets , the glories of Lebanon , the excellency of Carmel and the Avouders of Jerusalem , blendino- in concordant melodies the human

and the divine , Avere voices Avhich proclaimed with equal emphasis , the yearning ' of the Hebrew soul alike toAvard its Brother and its Father . The subtle and philosophic Greek , turning perhaps Avith quicker impulse from the merel y destructi ve

barbarities of tho early epochs , to the consideration of tho problems of human life and to all metaphysical investigations ,, exhibited the same blending of the spirit of brotherhood Avith the spirit of reverence for the tutelary gods of his mythological

system and the one higher God Avhich alone could satisfy the demands of his philosophy ; and the imposing rites of Eleusis , guarded Avith the most jealous care from the sight of the profane , disclosed to their devotees probably the grandest

and most aAve-inspiring ceremonial upon Avhich the eye of antiquity ever rested . But neither the poetic Hebrew , nor the philosophic Greek cotdd long be content Avith those exoteric forms of the manifestation of brotherhood , Avhich Avere confined to mere ivorship or contemplation .

Under the expansions of the human mind and of the social life , men beo-an active pursuits . It Avas not enoug h simply to revere , to think , to be . There Avas something to be done . The arts of construction arose from the necessities of the