Dedication Of A Masonic Hall In 1777.

pleasing , as nothing can be truly said , notwithstanding the ridiculous Surmises of the ignorant and uniformed , but what must redound to her Honour ; for being born of Virtue , like her amiable Parent , she need to be seen only , and she will raise our Admiration ; to be known , and she will claim our Respect . The AntiquitExtensivenessand Utilitof Masonryare Topics too

y , , y , curious for so incompetent a Speaker , and too copious for so short a Moment as the present Opportunity affords . You will suffer me , therefore , to waive these Points ; ancl as we derive the Ori gin of our Craft , though coeval with the Creation , * more immediately from the Building of Solomon ' s Temple , to moralize some Circumstances attending it , which I am persuaded will not appear unsuitable to the Occasion of our present Convention .

We are told b y the Jewish Historian , - } - that " The Foundation of Solomon ' s Temple was laid prodigiously deep ; and the Stones were not only of the largest Size , but hard ancl firm enough to endure all Weathers ; mortised one into another , and wedged into the Rock . " What a happy Descrip tion is this of our mystical Fabric , the Foundation of which is laid in Truth , Virtue , and Charity ;—Charity , that like the Patriarch ' s Ladder , has its Foot placed upon

the Earth , ancl the Top reacheth unto Heaven ; ancl behold the Angels of God ascending and descending on it ! so deep and large is our eternal Basis ; ancl the Superstructure , which Sages and Legislators , Princes and Potentates , have not disdained to assist , no Trials , no Persecutions will be able to shake . The Rains may descend , and the Floods come , and Winds blow , ancl beat vehemently against it , yet it will stand firm and impregenable , because , like the wise Man ' s House , it is founded upon a Rock .

The next emblematical Circumstance in Solomon ' s Temple was the Order of the Fabric : The same Historian tells us that " There were several Partitions , and every one had its Covering apart , independent one of another ; but they were all coupled ancl fastened together in such a Manner , that they appeared like one Piece , and as if the Walls were the stronger for them . " It is just the same with our Society , which is composed of Members of different Ranks ancl Degreeswith separate Viewsseparate Connectionsseparate

In-, , , terests .- but we are all of one Body , linked ancl coupled together by the indissoluble Bonds of Friendship ancl Brotherhood ; and it is to this Concord , this Affinity , this Union , that we must ever be indebted for our Strength and . Consequence . A third particular remarkable in Solomon ' s Temple was the Beauty of it : "The Wallssays the Historianwere all of white Stonewainscotted with

, , , Cedar ; and they were so artificially put together , that there was no Joint to be discerned , nor the least Sign of a Hammer , or of any Tool , that had come upon them . " Is it , I would ask , in the Power of Language , —Those , I would ask , who are formed in Masonry , —Is it in the Power of Language , to describe our Institution in fitter Terms than these ? Integrity of Life , ancl Candour of Manners , are the Characteristic , the Glory of Masons : It is these that must

render our Names worthy of Cedar : It is these that must immortalize our Art itself . Adorned and . inlaid with these , it has withstood the Corrosion of Time ; that Worm , whose cankering Tooth preys upon all the fairest Works of Art ancl Nature : Nay . GothicJ Barbarism itself , whose desolating Hand laid waste the noblest Efforts of Genius , the proudest Monuments of Antiquity;—even Gothic Barbarism itself was not able to destroy it . It was overcast indeed , for several Centuries , by that worse than Egyptian darkness , which