Oration By M.W. Grand Master Van Slyck, Of Rhode Island.

ORATION BY M . W . GRAND MASTER VAN SLYCK , OF RHODE ISLAND .

America , St , John ' s Bay , 1874 . On this auspicious day therefore , let us ,

in partial forgetfulness of Avhatovcr is imposing and commanding in the merely physical or external force and beauty of Misonry as an organized society , and even in its authority and dignity as a philosophic system , pass , Avith a Aviso and thoughtful

regard , during the necessarily few moments for Avhich I may claim your attention , to the theme Avhich may bo properly designated as the EVOLUTION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF

MASONRY . By the limits of this occasion , I am restricted in the unfolding of the subject , to the foAV simple hints and suggestions , Avhich can , at best , only stimulate your own thoughts in the direction of its fuller development .

The principle then , of Masonry , lias been evolved . It Avas not , like Minerva , springing from the head of Jove , brought at once into perfect being . It AVIIS not a creation , —nor AVIIS it a work , —it Avas never made . It had no construction , but growth .

The germ Avas found in the first form of manhood , springing from , and taking root in , its nature , as soon as there ivas another similar nature toward which its outgrowth could proceed . It might be apparently crushed by some outward obstruction—the

heat and cold of climates might alternatel y Avither and blast it . Under the processes of time , the forms of the social life might sometimes choke and hinder its groAvth ; the tyrannies of government and the greater tyrannies of creed might repress its

exoteric manifestations . Its bloom miylit bo darkened under the lurid and sul phurous clouds of war , but the mighty germ wa . s I

still there , beyond the possibility of decay , wailing only for the passing centuries to bring soil and climate to unfold and expand its groAvth and demonstrate its immortality .

However Ave may bo disposed to treat the Darwinian doctrine of the development of man , as a physical being , from the ruder structural forms of animal life into a more perfect organism , it is surely not a mere fancy , but is entirely consistent vvitli the

facts and demonstrations of science , to regard his Avholo intellectual and moral life , as a progress and growth from crude and imperfect beginnings . There was a time , Avhon looking toward others existing in Ids OAvn similitudehe found them jjossessed of

, his own nature , his tendencies , hopes and aspirations . The suggestions of a common paternity arose in Ids breast . He and his follows , not responsible for their own existence , not self-created , must OAVII a common Creator and Father . Thus

co-equal and co-ordinate in human contemplation Avere the germs of the great idea of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man . A nobler product than that of the lower animal forms by Avhich he Avas surrounded while it led man ' s thoughts

upward , to the creative source , led them outward a so toward the companions and . fellows of a just and equal creation . If his reverence and filial love should rightfully ascend to the author of his being , so should his sympathies and yearnings , Avith

equal right , be drawn out to those AVJIO Avero the obvious co-partners and sharers in the same existence . Even in the formative periods of the race , while men weie segregated and unwelded into even primitive shapes of the social life , it Avas the idea of the common father Avhich drew them

toward each other and which constrained them to meet as Brethren rather than as enemies . And however the principle of brotherhood wa * then subverted or suppressed as it has always been , even under the highest expansion of modern

civilization , by the potent principle of selfishness , which was from the beginning and will be to the end , the groat and often dominant ^ lw / 7-Mtisonic principle , that self interest , in which , as iiochefocatild observes , "the virtues are lost , as rivers in the sea , "

the suppression could nut last , nor could the subversion he complete . In spite of selfishness , man found himself drawn and