Colonial.

our country , and established of old with peace and honour in most ouutries , to do good to our brethren , to "build great buildings , and to fear God , who is the Great Arclutect of all things . AA'e have among us concealed from the eyes of all men , secrets which may not be revealed , ancl which no man has discovered , but these secrets are lawful ancl honourable to know by JIasons , who only have the keeping of them to the end of time . Unless our Craft were good and our calling honom .-

able , wc should not have lasted so many centuries , nor should we have had so many illustrious brothers in our Order , ready to promote our laws and further our interests . To-day we are here assembled , in the presence of you all , to build a church for tbe public use of this city , which we pray God may prosper , if ifc seem good to him , that it may become a building for good men and good deeds , ancl promote religious harmony , ancl brotherly love till the world itself shall end . " Response— " So mote it be . " t

The Gi-And Chaplain then offered up the following prayer : — : Great Architect of the universe , maker ancl ruler of all worlds , deign from thy celestial temple , from realms of light and glory , to help us in all the purposes of our present assembly . AA ' e humbly invite thee to give us , at this and all other times , wisdom in all our doings ; strength of mind in all our difficulties ; ancl the beauty of harmony in all our communications . Permit us , thou Author of light and life , great Source of love ancl happiness , to erect this temple , so that hereafter it maybe solemnly

consecrated to the honour of thy glory . Glory be to God in the highest . " Response— ' - 'As ifc was in the beginning , is now , and ever shall be , world without end . Amen . " The Grancl Secretary then read the translation of the following Latin inscription , recorded on a parchment beautifully engrossed by Jlr . Synnuonds : — " Dei Omnipotentis Gratia , Nono die Septenibris , A . D . JIDCCCLIX ., Anno Lucis 5 S 59 , et vicesimo tertio regni Victoria ;

nostra ; charissimo . principis Jlagute Britannia ., Hibernice , India :, possessionumque in Europa , Asia , Africa , America , et Australasia positarum Regius ; , illustrisshuo Edmundo AValker Head Equite , Britauuica ) Septentrionalis America ; , Prrcfacto , ingenuo Guliehnus JIacBride , Pra . to . is Urban ! JIunere Londini fungente , Venerando Johanne Jlac Murphy , oonvenfcus presbyteraie ecclesice cum Scotiea conjunetaj in C .-uiadiensi rcgioue constitute Jloderatore , lapsidem anguli priucipcm hujus tedis sacral nomine Sancti Jacobi appellate collatit a pocunia cedificato in

eultiim Supremi , Guliehnus Jlercer AA'ilson , curio maximus a summo concilio vestustorum liberorum probatorunique Latoiiiormn comitatis secundum Vetera a-rtis tectorial instituta posuifc : quod Deng secundet . " The above was engrossed on a huge sheet of parchment , and a translation in English , also engrossed by Jtv . Symmonds , was prepared to be placed in the vase , together with other documents . The following is a copy of the translation : —

' By the favour of Almighty God , on the ninth day of September , A . D . . MDCCCL . X ., of the iora of Jlasonry , SS 59 , and in the twenty-third year of the reign of our beloved Sovereign A'ietoria , Queen of Great Britain , Ireland , India , and of the dependencies thereof iu Europe , Asia , Africa , America , and Australasia ; the Right Honourable Sir Edmund AA'alker Head , Baronet , being Governor-General oi'Bi'itisliNorthAnierica ; AA'illiam JI'Bride , Esquire , being mayor of the city of Loudon ; Reverend John JlacJIurphbeing moderator of the synod of the Presbyterian church

y of Canada , in connexion with the Church of Scotland , the corner stone of this St . James ' s Church , erected by public subscription for the worship of the Jlost High , was laid by AA'illiam Jlercer AVilson , Esquire , Jlost AA ' crshipful Grand JIaster , attended by the Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted JIasons of Canada , according to the ancient usages of Jlasonry ; wliich may Gfod prosper . " Tho vase was then taken bthe Grand TreasurerBroAVMuirand

y , . . , put m the receptacle provided for it . The following documents were first placed inside : — List of officers of the Grand Lodge of Canada ; list of officers of St . John ' s Lodge , London ; list of officers of St . George ' s Lodge , London ; list of officers of Kilwinning Lodge , London ; list of officers of St . James ' s Church Building Committee and Proprietors ; Coins , Canada decimal coinage , twenty , ten . five , ancl one cent pieces ; copy of Free Oth 1859

Press , Sept . , ; copy of Prototype , Sept . 9 th , 1 S 59 : copy of "Proceedings and Acts of the Synod of the Church of Scotland in Canada , 1 S 5 U ; " Parchment Record of the ceremony in Latin ; translation of the same ou parchment ; copy of the Ode and Psalm sung on the

. A quantity of pitch was then placed round the glass , rendering it perfectly impervious to the atmosphere , the sides of the vase being surrounded by deposits of stone , sand , & o . The vessel being secured iu the receptacle in the stone , and it being levelled , a quantity of mortal- was spread over the top ready for the descent of tho " corner stone . " The stone was then let down with three regular stops , the fraternity singing the ode "Hail , Universal Lord ! " The band then struck up the National Anthem .

the Jlost AA ' orshipful Grand JIaster then addressed the Right AVorshipful Deputy Grand Jlaster , Bro . T . AVilson , as follows : — "You will now cause the various implements to be applied to the stone , in order that it may be laid in its bed according to the rules of architecture , " which was accordingly done . The JI . AV . Grand JIaster then directed that the stone should be squared , levelled , and plumbed . The ceremonies having been performed , tho JI . AV . Grand JIaster said : " Having full confidence in your skill in the royal art , it remains with me to finish our work , " He

then gave three knocks ou the stone , saying , ' ' AA ' ell formed , true , and trusty ; may this undertaking be conducted aud completed by the Craftsmen according to the grand plan , in peace , love , and harmony . " 'The cornucopia , and cups with corn , wine , and oil were then handed to the Deputy Grand JIaster , ancl Senior and Junior Grand AA ' ardens , who in succession handed them to the Grand JIaster . He then scattered the corn , and poured tho wine and oil upon the stone with the

accustomed ceremony . The Jf . AA ' . Grand JIaster then pronounced the following benediction : —" ' May corn , wine , and oil , and all the necessaries of life abound among men throughout the world , and may the blessing of the Supreme Grand Architect of the universe be upon the undertaking and all connected with ifc ; and may the same Providence preside over and preserve it from ruin and decay , to tho latest posterity . " The JI . AA ' . Grand JIaster having examined the plans of the church , directed ( in the following ivords ) that they aud the implements should

be returned to the architect : — "Bro . Architect , the foundation stone of St . James ' s Church , planned in much wisdom by you , being now laid , and these implements having been duly applied to it , ancl proved it , I return them to you in full confidence that as a skilful and faithful workman you will use them in such a manner that the building may rise in order , harmony , and beauty , and , being perfected in strength , will answer every purpose for which it is intended , to your credit , and the honour of those who have selected you . "

The brethren then gave three loud cheers , and the ceremony was concluded . The whole was conducted in a most imposing manner , and was witnessed by a large concourse of spectators . Immediately afterwards , V . AY . Bro . AA'm . Jfuir , as chairman of the Building Committee , presented the JI . AA' . Grand JIaster with the trowel which had been used on the occasion , which is of solid silver , exquisitely chased , and bears the following inscription : — " Presented to AA ' . JI . AA'ilson , Esq ., JI . AA' . Grand Master of Free aud Accepted JIasons in Canada , by the Building Committee of

St . James' Church , London , C . AV . 9 th Sept ., 1 S 59 . " The JI . AA ' . Grand JIaster in returning thanks said , that he should retain the trowel as a memento of the kindness of the Building Committee , and as a souvenir of one of the most interesting ceremonies he had ever taken part in . The Rev . Bro . Nichol then addressed the assembled brethren and spectators as follows : — " AA ' e have assembled here- to-day for a great purpose , to evect another temple to God , another church to his Son . Iu the true and catholic spirit of our holy religion , we hail the occasion as one of glory to God , and of good will to man .

- I am glad to sec around me , on the present occasion , the antient Order of Freemasons , to which we are indebted for those noble specimens of Gothic architecture , which have come down to us from the middle ages : and to tho security of whose organization , as woil as the zeal with which they preserved their noble art , wo owe the preservation of architectural principles , which might otherwise have been lost in the ignorance and tyranny of barbarous ages , and the highest cultivation which architecture has yet received since the palmy days of Greecewhen Phidias

, breathed his spirit into the stone , and the temples of Athens rose to be perpetual , monuments of genius and taste . " The humble edifice , of which we . have been now laying the foundation stone , has no pretensions . It is the church of a poor people , and in a community scarcely yet advanced to recognize , with much effect , the precepts of architecture . But I trust it will soon be obvious to the citizens of Londonthat it is rather in advance—not behind—the stles

, y previously in use ; and I feel confident that it will possess sufficient beauty to lead the eye ofthe Strang _ r , as he enters the city , to rest with pleasure upon it . It is a Gothic building of the fourteenth century—a period when the mind of Europe was still wrapped in slumber , though shortly to awake—ivhen the schoolmen wore wasting their acute and powerful intelligence in light and frivolous warfare—and when tho science of architecture ivas almost the only branch of human invention

which was worthy of the European mind . " But , my friends , we must never permit the love of architecture , nor the reverence for antiquity to interfere with the true character , ancl the holy purpose of the house of God . Far better that wo should worship under a thatched roof , than that the power and simplicity of the gospel should be wanting . It is iu vain that we tread the tesselated court and the mosaic pavement , in vain that the eye , captive , roams over the magnificence of groin , and arch , and vaulted roof , if the heart

ascends not unto God in pure and fervent love . No canopy so suitable and soul inspiring for the worshipper as the azure dome of heaven—no gaze so serene and sanctifying- as into the bright clouds , beyond which lie the glory and majesty of the Godhead : no neighbourhood , no company , so rich in association , so full of benefit as the proofs around us of a creating hand , and a bountiful Providence . " It would be unbecoming in me to allow this occasion to pass without adverting to the connexion which this church will maintain as an outpost

of a national and venerable institution , which in its long experience has seen both trouble and prosperity , and is still prepared to fight the battles of her Lord and King . For more than three hundred years the Scottish church has raised its blue banner aloft , and left the impress of its doctrines aud its discipline upon the minds of her people . JPerhaps in no country has fche mark been so clear and distinct . " The bare simplicity of the ritual has transferred itself to the character : and iu the clear , resolute and steady purpose of our countrymen , as you find them in all the countries of the world , do wo behold h )