Oration

tunes has gone up to the Most High the same sacred song ; and if any cherish this feeling , surely may we , when we search the records of Masonry and look back upon its existence even beyond the period of these records . " The sources of . the

noblest rivers which spread fertility over continents and bear richly laden vessels to the sea , are to be sought for in wild and barren tracts , incorrectly laid down in maps and rarely explored by travellers . " Far back in the dim and hoary past ,

beyond the period of authentic history lies the origin of Masonry . We do indeed catch glimpses of it as it rolls along near to the fountain head , yet when we first clearly behold it , it bursts upon our eyes as a broad , deep river , well defined and

beautiful- There can be little doubt that long before the Christian era , the mountains of Judea , the plains of Syria , the deserts of India , and the valley of the Nile were cheered by its presence . and fertilised by its current . Nearly three

thousand years ago there were in Asia the Dionysian architects , a great corporation who undertook and even monopolised the building of temples , stadiums , and theatres , recognised each other by signs and tokens , were possessed of certain esoteric doctrine , and called all other men profane , who

were not admitted to these mysteries . Of these were the cunning workmen sent by Hiram , King of Tyre , to aid in the erection of the temple 1 , 000 years before the Christian era . Here it is that Masonry first meets us in strength and beauty .

In the construction of this magnificent edifice , 113 , 000 men were engaged under 300 overseers , and its building occupied seven years . And surely that day when the first temple was completed , must rise vividly before the minds of us

assembled within the last consecrated . It was a great and joyous day in Jerusalem . Wearily had they waited whilst it gradually rose up towards the skies , and now the capstone was brought forth -with shoutings . The multitude of the

people thronged the court- and stretched away down the streets to the very walls of the city . Attracting every eye , crowning the summit of Mount Moriah su-ud the temple with its lofty columns , and beauteous towers ancl gilded roof ,

sparkling in the pure sunlight of heaven—the chosen dwelling place of Jehovah—the joy of the whole earth , and the visible symbol of that other not made with hands . Within it were placed the brazen altar , and the golden altar , and the other vessels that had been in the tabernacle . In the

holy of holies placed they the mercy seat and the ark , and within that the moral law written on the tables of stone and delivered long- before to Moses amid the thunderinsrs of Sinai . Then , as it has been said , " did Masonry go forth bearing upon

her brow the name of Jehovah , in her bosom a jewel of living radiance , and in her hand the key that unlocked the gates of immortality . For more than 2 , 000 years has she been telling man of a Being brighter than the stars , and endless as

eternity . " Before the victorious son of Philip marched his phalanxes , or ever Romulus walked by Tiber ' s stream , had she been telling man how to live and how to die . Oh ! surely it is something to boast of , that her language has rolled from so many

tongues—that her altar fires have been kindled for so many centuries—that her beneficent works have been performed by so many hands . To remove her landmarks and her handmarks , the ancient buildings and the cathedrals , those chefs

cl ' ouvre of the middle age must be razed to the ground , even to the last stone ; for everywhere in the floor , the pavements , the columns , ' the mouldings , and the roofs , the masons , the sculptors , and the architects have left their marks . Thus

high and honourable is the prescription m her favour . Old she is , but there appear not yet the signs of senility . Mighty her works in the past , but there gather not the manifestations of weakness or weariness . Time has written no wrinkle

on her spotless brow . In the virtues of her children , she ever renews her youth . In her purification from profane appendages , she ever strengthens her stakes . In the distribution of the civilised races she ever lengthens her cords . Her lessons

and her precepts—those grand moral flora , of the universe—are of perennial growth . As they bloomed in Palestine , they bloom in this the farthest west . As they were with Solomon and our fathers , so they are with us ; and as with us , so

shall they be with our childrens's children . Of such thoughts are we reminded by the lodge ancl the dedication service . Turn we now to the living stones of the temple—the members of the Craft . As a society of men , we assert the dignity

of labour , the harmony of union , ancl the wisdom of organisation . We assert the dignity of labour . Activity is demanded , inaction and sloth proscribed . The high vocation of man is to be the fellow-worker with God . The vitalities of the universe are of God , the instrumentalities are of man . The Great