Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Colonial.
Prov . G . Chap , of Tasmania , assisted by the Rev . R . Strong , P . Prov . G . Chap , of South Australia , and the Philharmonic and Sacred Harmonic Societies in combination conducted the musical part of the service in a very effective manner * Bro . Adams , Prov . O . Organist , presided at the organ .
At one o'clock the members of the different public bodies , in full dress , and wearing their distinctive badges ,. together with a vast concourse of the public , wearing blue rosettes , assembled at the Horticultural Garden , where a grand procession was marshalled by Capt . Reid , in his uniform of a staff officer of pensioners , and his Masonic paraphernalia . At halfpast one o'clock the procession started , and extended to the distance of about a third of a mile , and the banners and
badges of the various societies formed a striking picture On teaching the ground the crowd was so immense , numbering probably three thousand persons , that some difficulty was experienced in clearing a space for the Masonic Fraternity . After the usual preliminaries , the Prov . G . M . desired the Prov , G . Sec , Bro . Nelson , to read the inscription : — - MECHANICS' INSTITUTE , LAUNCESTOK .
The foundation-stone of this building is laid with full Masonic honours by the Reverend Robert KirkwoodEwing , Provincial Grand Master of Free and Accepted Masons , E . C . Tasmania , in the year of our Lord 1857 , the 20 th year of the reign of her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria , the 54 th of the colony , and the third year of the administration of his Excellency Sir Henry Edward Pox Young
Knight , Governor of the colony . ( Names of Officers of Institute , Architect , and Contractor ) . The building is erected at a cost of ^ 6 , 000 by the voluntary contributions of the people , on a site granted by her Majesty ' s Government .
The stone was then lowered , the band playing the National Anthem , followed by the cheers of the assembly . The ceremony being concluded , the Prov . G . M . delivered the following address : — Fellow-Colonists , —There are occasions in the life of some public men when they must be strongly influenced by the feelings of a worthy pride , and when to deny the existence and power of these can only be regarded as the pride of humility .
I confess my feelings—I confess that , holding my present position , and discharging the duties of to-day-r-put on me , I may say , by the unanimous voice of the community—it is one of the proudest moments of my life . I thank you , gentlemen of the committee and members of the Mechanics' Institute , on behalf of my Masonic Brethren , that you have appointed me , as standing at the head of the Masonic Fraternity in this island , to lay the foundation-stone of what will be a " stately and superb edifice" —the Mechanics' Institute . As Masons , we appear before you as good men and true . I take this opportunity of stating that we
teach loyalty to the queen , and obedience to all properly constituted authorities , — that we take the volume of the Sacred Law as our guide , and seek by its precepts and light to carry on the mighty work of social progress and moral reformation . It is usual to seek the presence of our Order on such occasions , and also to delegate to us the performance of the requisite duties . The reasons for this have been well expressed by one of our Fraternity , at an event similar to the present : — " First , because the Masonic Order alone , of all organized bodies now in existence , so far as we are aware , have a prescribed form of ceremony for such occasions .
Second , because of the origin of our Order , which was once operative ; " and though " we have now for centuries past ceased to be an operative , and become a speculative Order , we have retained , however , all our ancient customs , forms , ceremonies , and working tools . Instead of using them , however , as in days gone by , in the erection of the temple of the living God on Mount Moriah , the palace of the king or noble , the abbey and the monastery , or the fortress of the feudal lord , we now make use of them for the more noble and glorious purpose of erecting the temple of moral reformation in the human heart , to stimulate to the cultivation of the artw and sciences , and to prepare each and all the members of our Order as luring stones for the spiritual temple—that house not made with hands , eternal in the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Colonial.
Prov . G . Chap , of Tasmania , assisted by the Rev . R . Strong , P . Prov . G . Chap , of South Australia , and the Philharmonic and Sacred Harmonic Societies in combination conducted the musical part of the service in a very effective manner * Bro . Adams , Prov . O . Organist , presided at the organ .
At one o'clock the members of the different public bodies , in full dress , and wearing their distinctive badges ,. together with a vast concourse of the public , wearing blue rosettes , assembled at the Horticultural Garden , where a grand procession was marshalled by Capt . Reid , in his uniform of a staff officer of pensioners , and his Masonic paraphernalia . At halfpast one o'clock the procession started , and extended to the distance of about a third of a mile , and the banners and
badges of the various societies formed a striking picture On teaching the ground the crowd was so immense , numbering probably three thousand persons , that some difficulty was experienced in clearing a space for the Masonic Fraternity . After the usual preliminaries , the Prov . G . M . desired the Prov , G . Sec , Bro . Nelson , to read the inscription : — - MECHANICS' INSTITUTE , LAUNCESTOK .
The foundation-stone of this building is laid with full Masonic honours by the Reverend Robert KirkwoodEwing , Provincial Grand Master of Free and Accepted Masons , E . C . Tasmania , in the year of our Lord 1857 , the 20 th year of the reign of her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria , the 54 th of the colony , and the third year of the administration of his Excellency Sir Henry Edward Pox Young
Knight , Governor of the colony . ( Names of Officers of Institute , Architect , and Contractor ) . The building is erected at a cost of ^ 6 , 000 by the voluntary contributions of the people , on a site granted by her Majesty ' s Government .
The stone was then lowered , the band playing the National Anthem , followed by the cheers of the assembly . The ceremony being concluded , the Prov . G . M . delivered the following address : — Fellow-Colonists , —There are occasions in the life of some public men when they must be strongly influenced by the feelings of a worthy pride , and when to deny the existence and power of these can only be regarded as the pride of humility .
I confess my feelings—I confess that , holding my present position , and discharging the duties of to-day-r-put on me , I may say , by the unanimous voice of the community—it is one of the proudest moments of my life . I thank you , gentlemen of the committee and members of the Mechanics' Institute , on behalf of my Masonic Brethren , that you have appointed me , as standing at the head of the Masonic Fraternity in this island , to lay the foundation-stone of what will be a " stately and superb edifice" —the Mechanics' Institute . As Masons , we appear before you as good men and true . I take this opportunity of stating that we
teach loyalty to the queen , and obedience to all properly constituted authorities , — that we take the volume of the Sacred Law as our guide , and seek by its precepts and light to carry on the mighty work of social progress and moral reformation . It is usual to seek the presence of our Order on such occasions , and also to delegate to us the performance of the requisite duties . The reasons for this have been well expressed by one of our Fraternity , at an event similar to the present : — " First , because the Masonic Order alone , of all organized bodies now in existence , so far as we are aware , have a prescribed form of ceremony for such occasions .
Second , because of the origin of our Order , which was once operative ; " and though " we have now for centuries past ceased to be an operative , and become a speculative Order , we have retained , however , all our ancient customs , forms , ceremonies , and working tools . Instead of using them , however , as in days gone by , in the erection of the temple of the living God on Mount Moriah , the palace of the king or noble , the abbey and the monastery , or the fortress of the feudal lord , we now make use of them for the more noble and glorious purpose of erecting the temple of moral reformation in the human heart , to stimulate to the cultivation of the artw and sciences , and to prepare each and all the members of our Order as luring stones for the spiritual temple—that house not made with hands , eternal in the