Oration, By S. C. Dennison, Of Sacramento.

ORATION , BY S . C . DENNISON , OF SACRAMENTO .

Most Worshipful Grand Master and Brethren of the Grand Lodge : —To us who have groAvn to manhood amid the resounding machinery of modern progress it does not appear surprising that we sit to-day around the common altar Avhich

Ave have established in this beautiful temple , " erected to God and dedicated to his holy name ; " but to our patriot fathers Avho , Avithin the present century , held dubious title to their firesides , in constant Aval-fare Avith Avild beasts ancl savageshow

, improbable Avould have seemed a prophecy that a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons Avould be convened under the present circumstances , on the verge of the Avestern Avorld , Avhere the pulses of the Pacific Ocean throb and the setting sun

takes its leave of the American continent . The fact that ive are here to-day is but one more demonstration that our Order is founded upon liA'ing principles of broad ancl universal ai-plication . Those valiant sons of knighthood ancl

chivalry , AVIIO in ancient times rode forth emblazoned Avith the crude emblems of our Order , ancl illuminated a dark ancl cruel age with deeds of heroism ancl mercy , never imagined , even in their Avildest dreams of romance , that the principles of justice and charity Avhich they could

maintain only by fostering the martial spirit , Avould survive the assaults of superstition and fiendish foll y in reli gious guise , and finally arise triumphant , ancl build for themselves temples in the hearts of an enlightened people to live in a world to

them unknown . From the AvindoAvs of this Grand Lodge room we look to-day , Avith pride and admiration , upon a city grand and beautiful , teeming Avith life and reverberating Avith a thousand industries—the centre of a

large ancl constantly increasing population —the only city in the vrorld presenting the compactness of ajiparent anticpdt y , and , at the same time , embellished with the symmetrical beauty of modern architecture .

Upon the crowded thoroughfares the European , tbe Saxon , the Celt , the Asiatic , and the taAvny sons of the isles of the

ocean , meet upon a common level of civil and relig ious liberty , each intent upon Avorking out for himself the solemn problems of life , A feAV short years ago the site of this splendid city Avas a Avaste of shifting sands .

For untold ages had the stars of heaven kept silent Avatch by the unpeopled portals of the sea , Avbile none but ships of mist rode at anchor in this beautiful port . It Avas long after the intrepid Columbus discoA'ered ancl presented a new world to

the Queen of Castile , that the first civilized man stood upon the mountain ' s summit and gazed in raptured Avonder upon the p lacid Avaters of the Pacific Ocean ; and later still , when the English corsair ancl Spanish buccaneer drojrpecl anchor in San

Francisco Bay ; while far up in the-nineteenth century this bright land of the vine and fig , the shining metal , ancl the golden harvest , Avas so little known that eA'en the greatest of American statesmen characterized it as a land fit only for the

habitation of reptiles ancl beasts of prey . The votary of an occult science looked to the crucible of the alchemist for gold ; Aviser ancl more courageous , the Californian

pioneer sought and found it in the mountain ' s fforce in the land of the sunset . Scarcely a quarter of a century has elapsed since this fair State was an unexplored Avaste ; ancl now , no land beneath the sun is better knoAvn for its Avonderful productionsor for tbe enterprize and

intel-, ligence of its people . To the accomplishments of these splendid results , Masonry has contributed in no small degree . Full Avell do Ave know that a firm reliance on the universabty and reality of Masonic charity moved many of

our bravest , wisest and noblest pioneers to endure the hardships and perils incident to their immigration and the conquest of a remote ancl mysterious land . Amid all the excitements ancl distresses , and the moral and political revolutions

caused by the pouring in of a cosmopolitan population , Masonry Avas neither forgotten nor entirely neglected , but constantly raised its kind and pleading voice in solemn admonition , ancl undoubtedly exerted a mightinfluence in moulding the

y destinies and giving character to the State . This beneficent Avork of the past indicates that we have before us opportunities