Sermon By The Rev. H. W. Kemp, B.A., P.P.G.O.,

emblems of truth and duty , and in their system architecture is employed as the chief symbol of religion and morality . Where can there be found such a treasury of symbolism , such an allegory of art , such an emblematic representation of truth and

goodness as are exhibited in " this holy and beautiful house , " dedicated , as it was , ages ago , to the divine honour , and employed , as it has been ever since the clay of its consecration , to the exercise of devotion and the cultivation of virtue .

Again , there is great fitness in the assembling together in this place of the members of this brotherhood at tho present time . The occasion has been the installation of one of the nobles of the realm as Grand Master of this Province . The meeting hi

the Guildhall , where the installation took place , especially reminds us of the duties which men owe to each other as members of civil soeietj r , and of the allegiance which , for the sake of order , and the welfare of the Commonwealthis due to

, properly constituted authority . But our meeting here has a still deeper meaning . We are reminded of the foundations upon which the distinctions of ri ght and wrong are based , those divine laws ivhich

determine the nature and bounds of holiness and sin , and the existence , the glory , and the claims upon our affections and worshi p of the High and Holy One that inhabiteth eternity , the Supreme One , the Lord of all Lords , the Grand Master of all the

provinces of the kingdom of the Universe . Thc preacher then said that , as a not inappropriate way of giving a moral- -to their gathering ,. he woidd take that holy and beautiful house as a text , and from its analogiesacknowledged alike bMasonic

, y symbolism and Scriptural teaching , deduce a few topics of discourse . He then said that the noble pile of masonry in which they had offered up their common service of prayer and praise was a type of universal nature as viewed by the devout mind .

Nature itself ivas nothing else than a holy and beautiful house . Nowhere Avas the architecture of the universe more emphatically asserted than in the assemblies of the Masonic brotherhood , and noAvhere Avas the existence and lory of the Architect

g of the mi ghty frame of the Avorld more devoutl y and expressly acknowledged . Freemasons recognised no " fortuitous concourse of atoms" as the prime origin of order ; they acknowledged no inherent and

self-acting power in matter as the cause of the wonderful arrangements in the earth and heavens ; they did not impute to impersonal laws the attributes of null , design , and benevolent purpose ; hut they reverently ascribed all the beauty and

majesty of the universal frame , all the exquisite i arieties of form and colour , all the harmonious combinations of parts and agencies , all the adaptations of things to creatures and creatures to things , to one infinite creaturesustaining , and benevolent

, Mind . No more could that beautiful sanctuary , ivitli its many parts and graceful details , so simple in first principles and yet so varied in combination , have assumed its form and size Avithout the design of the architect and the subordinate labour of the

artisan , than the frame of the earth and heavens could have been put together Avithout the Avill and wisdom of the Divine Intelligence . Should they be -inipressed almost with awe in the admiration of the

dimensions of a building like that glorious Minster—should they be affected with almost speechless delight as they gazed upon its groupings of form and delicacies of tracery , and not be moved to far more solemn awe and still deeper delight Allien they contemplated the grandeur , the symmetry , and the beauty of the holy and beautiful house of nature ? In the next

place , the preacher treated of that Cathedral as a type of that order and harmony ivhich moral and religious culture had already brought about in the condition and structure of society . He showed that society ivas a building , and gave advice to liis hearers as to the individual share they

had in raising the fabric , observing that the rock ivhich alone could bear the wei ght of such a structure was religion . He then regarded that Minster as an emblem of that character to which ei ery man ivho was building unto God and for eternity should

endeavour to attain . Strength and beauty were the two main characteristics of that noble edifice in ivhich they were assembled . It had stood for hundreds of years and nothing but convulsions in nature , or revolutions in society could prevent it from

standing for hundreds of years more . And so long as that ancient shrine endured , so long would it charm the senses , refine the the taste , and elevate the thoughts of those who beheld it . What that sanctuary was so should they endeavour to become — strong , firmly rooted in faith , steadfast in