Victory-Crowned.

with appropriate ceremonies and in due and ancient form . Eloquent addresses were made upon tbat most interesting occasion . It was the beginning of the end of more than

half a century ' s aspirations and hopes—hopes and aspirations thafc were clung to and cherished with a faith that was sublime , and a tenacity of purpose which could br neither daunted or shaken .

To-day we are assembled to consecrate and dedicate t > its noble purposes the completed structure erected upon that corner stone , and to return thanks to the Supremo Architect under whose guidance and fostering care the work fans been carried forward to the end . Reverently

and in all due humility do we perform that sacred obligation . Without the approbation of Almighty God onr efforts wonld have been in vain and our purposes bronght to nought ; sustained , however , by His gracious

favour , and tho light of His countenance , the task has been successfully accomplished , and we have been permitted to assemble here to-day to rejoice over the fact and to renew our pledges of devotion to the grand work in which wo as Craftsmen are engaged .

I congratulate yon , Brethren , I congratulate the great body of the Masonic fraternity of the State of New York , upon the completion of this great and most beneficent undertaking . Not to any one brother—not to any officer or set of officers of high or low degree—belongs the specinl

honour or credit of tho inception or carrying forward to completion of this humane and charitable enterprise . It is to the loyal and unswerving and persistent devotion of the brethren of all the Lodges for a series of successive decades , that the credit is due , under Almighty God . You ,

brethren , have borne the burdens . You have contributed the funds . Yours , therefore , shall be , as of right they ought fco be , the honours . I am not tinappreciative nor forgetful of the zealous labours of Officers , grand and subordinate , in the good cause ; bufc without your sympathy and efficient and effective aid their labours would have

been unavailing , and the project must havo ended in failure . The structure is , therefore , and so long as it shall endnre , must continue to be , a monument of your fidelity , to the teachings of the Order and of your devotion to the great truths and principles which underlie it and make it superior to all ordinary forms of organization among men .

The century which is now drawing to a close dawned upon the entire civilized world , but more especially upon Europe , with a horizon dark , gloomy and foreboding . The echoes of the French Revolution had scarcely died away , and the fearful tragedies and frightful excesses by which

it was ushered in and for a long time accompanied , wore still fresh in the minds of all . Order of a certain kind bad , indeed , been restored iu France , but the government was weak , unstable and vacillating , and the people uneasy and restless . All Europe looked askance at France , and the

daring and dashing young general who became head of thc state as First Consul and presently as Emperor . Then the dogs of war were let loose again , and for a period of fifteen years all Europe was one vast military camp , and her shores to the west and south were patrolled by immense

navies bearing well their part in the great struggle so terrific both npon land and sea . Great and sanguinary battles were fought , hundreds of thousands of lives were

sacrificed , and almost the entire continent was drenched in human blood . Cities and villiages were pillaged nnd Backed , churches and altars were desecrated , whole Provinces devastated and laid waste and in ruin . Those

whom the sword and the torch spared or failed to discover were threatened with famine and pestilence , and it seems as if the Almighty , in righteous anger and indignation , had withdrawn all His favours , and recalled or suspended all His mercies . The skies were black , and suffering , ruin and desolation were everywhere .

Throughout this dreadful period Freemasonry did not , as may well be imagined , flourish . Neither did religion , nor the arts , nor the sciences . History , to be sure , was making , and making rapidly ; but everything else was overshadowed by the war clouds . But if Freemasonry did

not flourish as in more peaceful times , it nevertheless existed and made itself manifest . The contending armies embraced many who had taken tbe solemn obligations of

the Order , and thousand of Officers and soldiers made prisoners by the enemy found their lot ameliorated and tbeir way to exchange made comparatively easy through the mysterious influence of fche " mystic tie . " Early in the eighteenth century Freemasonry was introduced into Ihe sparsely populated English colonies in

Victory-Crowned.

North America—the first Lodtje having been organized in Boston , about , the year 1733 . The Order spread rapidly considering the times , tho scattered population and the difficulty of inter-communication between tho colonies and even the several parts of fcho same colonies . Nevertheless

ifc is a fact worthy cf notice that during the struggle for American Independence , which commenced some forty years la t er , the commander in chief of the American annit'S—fcho illastrions Washington—as well as » very considerable proportion of other Officers of the army of all

grades , and of the common soldiers as well , belonged to the organization which makes all members brothers , and all brothers equals . In our own State , Lodges had been established in Albany ancl New York before the close of tlie eighteenth century , and those were soon followed by

Lodges in other of the older and mosfc populous towns . At the beginning of the second quarter of the nineteenth century the Order was in a flourishing and prosperous condition in New York , New England , Pennsylvania and certain portions of tho South .

All of a sudden came the fierce , unreasoning and unreasonable " anti-Masonic excitement , caused by the sudden disappearance of William Morgan , a renegade from the Order , who , it was claimed by their enemies , had been spirited away by Freemasons and presumably put to death .

LATA-I affairs were very dull aud peaceful in those days , the old party lines hiving Im- the m st part been obliterated , aud tho country wns tranquil to an extent that made demagogues restless and uneasy . Politicians of the baser sort were not slow , therefore , to avail themselves of

the temporary and , at first , merely local excitement caused by the disappearance of Morgan . Tbey fanned the excitement until it reached fever heat , denounced Freemasonry as inimical to the State and to society , and proclaimed its adherents to be a band of conspirators , ready at any time to become assassins in the execution of their nefarious

plots . So well did these discreditable and shameless politicians work their scheme , nnd so credulous and exasperated were many even of the best and most substantial people of that day , thafc ifc became almost dangerous for one to be known as a Freemason . Lodges

were closed . Some weak brethren renounced their allegiance , fearing the wrath or ill-will of their neighbours . Meetings of the faithful , when they were held afc all , were held in ont of the way and obscure places , and even th n

were doubly tiled . In fact , Freemasonry in the United States was undergoing a persecution as relentless and unreasoning in its way as any one to which a great cause was ever subjected . The political demagogues who had initiated and fomented this mad crusade nominated

anti-Masonic tickets in this and other States . In the year 1828 Solomon Southwick , of Albany , was their candidate for governor , receiving twenty-three thousand votes , most of

which were cast in the western counties of the State . The convention which brought about this nomination was held in this identical city of Utica in the month of August of that year .

Eighteen hundred and twenty-eight was a presidential year , and the anti-Masonic excitement was carried into the national campaign . Of the two principal candidates for the presidency , sturdy old Gen . Jackson was a Mason , while his chief competitor , President John Quincy Adams ,

was not . Tbe latter was not , however , pronounced enough in his opposition to Freemasonry to satisfy the bigots ; so they held a national convention of their own and nominated William Wirt for President . Jackson , ifc is needless to remark , was elected , but Wirt succeeded in securing the electoral vote of the State of Vermont . —Voice of Masonry . ( To be continued . )

A supper in connection wifch the Joppa Lodge of Instruction , No . 188 , will take place on Tuesday , tho 13 th inst ., at the City Boundary Tavern , 109 Aldersgate Street , E . G ., at 7 o ' clock . The price of tickets has been fixed at 4 s , which may be ' . ad from the Hon . Secretary , Bro . T . W . Hambly .

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IMPORTANT NOTIORAAsprs ou an important subject to men c'nteinpla'iujf marriage . IMI » - " I ICI »» < matters yon ought to know . Send for it to-day , ( Sraiis s < "il >¦ .- ! Address , Tra SBCBBTABY , i Fitzallan Square , Sheffield .