Royal Arch Address.

Never , amid the mutations of time , or the vicissitudes of life , even from the glad hour when the smoke first ascended from the altar built by pious Abel , down through tho vista of ages , when lire came down out of Heaven and consumed the burnt

offerings and the sacrifices at the temple on Mount M oriah , never has there been a house erected to God , and completed under such auspicious omens , and indicating the Divine blessing as the one we sot apart this day to His glory . The ceremonial of

to-day , my Companions , is of great significance , and marks an epoch not only in the history of this Grand Chapter , but one of no ordinary character and interest to Eoyal Arch Masonry throughout . our entire country . 'Most Excellent , this is the very first and only instance , so far as we know

or have any record , in the entire history of our Order in which a tabernacle has been wholly sot apart and solemnly dedicated and consecrated exclusivclyfor the capitular degrees , and to this Grand Chapter belongs the honour . May wo not hope the example set to-day by this Grand Chapter will be

followed by our sister grand bodies 1 And why should it not bo so 1 Masonry has always had her holy ground , her high hills and low vales , her splendid palaces and gorgeous temples , rich and glorious in their associations , with none to dispute their

title or the right of their inheritance . Sailing on a broad and prosperous sea , on the very crest of the wave , how well calculated to inspire and beget within us feelings of joy and pleasure and mutual congratulations over our great success as an institution . At such a time as tho

present would it not be well , in a few cautious words , to raise the voice of warning , and bo reminded herein may lay our great danger ? Wo cannot be too careful in times of prosperity and in hours of rejoicing , to render unto Cod the praise due

Him , and our devout thanksgiving for His mighty acts and wonderful dealings and many blessings to us as a fraternity and people ; for without his blessing " nothing is good , nothing is strong , nothing is perfect ; " for Ho alone is good

and His mercy endureth for ever . In the midst of our festivities and rejoicings let us gratefully recognize the open hand of God , who in nice th rich and acldetli no sorrow . Pride and idolatry arc twin crimes , and so repugnant to God that the

malediction of Heaven has been more than once executed upon the guilty . Let us be careful not to indulge the unholy thought which dwelt in the breast of that idolatrous king of old , who exclaimed , as he surveyed in the pride of his heart , the magnitude and magnificence of the city over which he

ruled , " Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the Kingdom , by the might of my power and for the honour of my majesty 1 " And upon him , for the full blown pride of his heart , fell the blight and withering curse of God .

And may wc not with tho same degree of profit to ourselves remember , that it was at the time , in the midst and the very height of that proud city ' s boasted prosperity and strength . Even in that selfsame hour came forth fingers ¦ of a man ' s

hand and wrote over against the wall upon the King ' s palace , in mysterious characters , those ominous words that foretold her sudden and early doom , "' Mene , Mene , Tekel , Upharsin . " Let us' take counsel and warning from the past , for it is full of wholesome experience , and we manifest our superior wisdom and do well to profit thereby . Let us mark with glad

and grateful hearts all the way which God has so graciously brought us . But let these rejoicings be mingled with a degree of fear and trembling , lest , peradventure , among the large accretions which have gone to swell our still increasing numbers we may have been too indifferent and too

neglectful in the discharge of our duties , in scanning with that jealous scrutiny as wc should , those socking admission , and , consequently , suffering to pass tho threshold of our institution those who , ignoring the true design of our Orderhave done so

, for unworthy motives and for selfish ends , and lest such an clement increasing should spread its fatal poison , like the deadly upas , until our numbers become a source of weakness instead of power . Companion Boj r al Arch Masonry never can be strong or

respected from mere numbers alone . Opposition to our Order exists throughout the land , and that , too , in an organized form , aggressive in i ts nature and purposes , and , however lightly esteemed and despised by someis by no means to be disregarded

, much less ignored by us , so far as to make us negligent or indifferent of our duties as Masons . Men of no little influence , and , by virtue of their profession and posi-