Middletown transcript., 1868-08-01

attehd all their phlianthropic underta-
kings"
When there shrine to him alone
They built, with worship sin to foil,
On threshold and on cornerstone
They poured out Corn & WINE & On.
The Grand Marshal presents the cup of
Oil to the Junior Grand Warden, who
pours it upon the Stone, saying:-
"May the Supreme Ruler Of the World
preserve this people in Peace, and vouch-
safe to them the enjoyment of every bles-
sing."
And we have come, fraternal bands,
With joy and pride and prosperous spoil,
To honor Him by votive hands
With streams of Corn & WINE & OIL,
Grand Mdster.-" May Corn, Wine
and Oil, and all the necessaries of life,
abound among men throughout the world |;
and may the blessing Of Almighty God
be upon this undertaking, and may the
structure here to be erected be preserved
to the latest ages, in order that it may
promote the humane purposes for which it
is designed"
The Grand Master then presents the
Implements to the Architect, saying .
"To you, Brother Architect, are con-
fided the implements of operative Masonry,
with the fullest confidence that BY your
skill and taste, fabric shall arise, which
shall add new lustre to our Town. May
it endure for many ages, a monument of
the iberality and benevolenoe Of Its foun-
ders.
Music, ,.........,.,,,,... THE BAND.
GRAFTON.
BY Rev. Bro. J. C. McCABE, D. D.
[Dr. McCabe being prevented, by indisposi-
tion, from delivering his Grafton, II was read by
II. Vanderford.l
Fellow Citizens and members ofthe
Masonic Fraternity
We have assembled to day to unite in
ceremonial, gratifying doubtless, to every
individual in this audience; for in the
growth and prosperity of our beautiful
little town all must feel a deep and abid-
ing interest; specially do we, as Masons,
feel gratifed that an opportunity is pre-
sented to us, in the invitation given us to
conduct the work of laying the Corner
Stone of your new Town Hall, that as
fraternity, we are duly and truly prepared
for the work assigned us, and, rs we trust,
worthy and well qualified to perform the
same
The part we take to day, far back in an
tiquity, was performed simply by the op-
erative; for centuries, however, where
speculative Masonry has been known. to
her by courtesy, in many instances by
authority, has been committed the special
honor of experimenting the deposits in
the Corner-Stones Of public ediRces, and
when she, on closing the aperture pro-
nounces that stone to be "well formed
true and trusty," it may be taken for
granted that the task has been executed
in due and ancient form.
1t has also been an honored custom on
such occasions, for some selected member
of the order to cah attention to the OBJ.
jects of the institution, and 10 bespeak for
a short time, the patient attention of those
to whom its principles are unknown, or
by whom it may be in great degree mis-
understood. Honored by special invita-
tion entirely unsought by myself, I'occu-
Ply to-day the position referred to.
If Masonic tradition be true, and who
has yet disproved it, Masonry arose as an
organized order when rose the first tenn
pie. She saw that temple in its dazzling
splendors crowning Mount Zion at Jeru-
salem. That temple was destroyed-dark-
ness pavilioned the city Of the Great
King, and the captive tribes mingled their
wild wall with the waters of the Euphra-
tes, as they hung their tuneless harps on
the weeping willows there-but Masonry
survived the blow. After long and
gloomy captivity the two tribes returned
by virtue of an edict of Cyrus the Per-
sian-but Masonry has outlived by ages
the throne that gave permission to rebuild
the House of the Lord. The Empire of
the Persian has dissolved like q dream,
while Masonry like the unspcnt ocean
moves on unwearied, unwasted protege
and younger sister of time. She has out
lived the structures Of operative work.
manship which her sons helped to rear,
and those that still crumble and fall and
thunder to the midnight moon from out
their ruins, seem in striking eloquence to
remind us that the only pillars which can
Withstand the shocks and the storms of
centuries are e.those whose foundations are
laid in the word of truth-moral and not
physical.
That Masonry has not gone down in
the tide of time, with the. numerous other
systems which have risen and sunk in the
nr0preSs of AGES and amid tho oonA;ot.
and mHtations which mark the birth and
the burial of schemes and. projects with
which men have sought to pefpetuate their
names and their deeds, We conceive las
christian Masons, is owing to the marked
fact that she has adopted the spirit, and
has worked by the letter of that great
Book of Constitutions, THE BIBLE. IL is
known to the intelligent members of the
craft that many of her signs and symbols
have been snggestad BY its nerusal and