Masonic Festivities.

125 Ayr Newton St . James—Bro . James Crone recently resusciated after 20 years' dormancy 124 Ayr Kilwinning—Bro . R . Fergusson 109 Kilmarnock St . Marnock- —Bro . ShaAV 86 Troon Navigation—Bro . Auld 22 Kilmarnock St . John Kilwinning—Bro . Reid 0 Mother Kilwinning

The weather being beautiful , the route of procession —Alloway Street , High Street , NEAV Bridge Street , Main Street- — -Avas lined with numerous spectators ; and upon the head of the procession entering the parish ofNeivton the bells were set a ringing , and to honour the occasion the tattered banner of the ancient burgh was displayed from one of the ivindoAvs of the Council-room .

At the Mission-House the crowd of onlookers AA-as immense . On arriving at the site Colonel Mure , accompanied by the Officers of the Provincial Grand Lodge , marched between the open lines to the place where the stone was to be laid , Mother Kilwinning aud the other Lodges successively following in the order . The ceremony Avas commenced by the band playing the Masonic

Anthem , after which the Provincial Grand Chaplain offered up an appropriate prayer . A glass vase containing the follovping articles was then deposited in the cavity of the stone , viz : —The Coins of the realm ; copies of the local newspapers , a scroll of parchment containing the names ofthe NeAvton Minister and Assistant Kirk-session Magistrates , councillors , Treasurer , and

Clerk ; a scroll containing the names of the Prov . Grand Master and his Officers ; a copy of the Church of Scotland Magazine ; a copy of the London Freemasons ' Magazine , containing extracts from Dr . Merzdorf ' s German translation of Murry Lyon ' s History of Mother Kilwinning ; Photographs of the Rev , Mr . Gunn and Bailie Fergusson .

The Plumb , Level , and Square were then applied to the stone , and corn , wine , and oil poured upon it , Avhereupon the Provincial Grand Master , after invoking the Divine blessing upon tbe undertaking , spoke as folloivs : Rev . Sir , Ladies and Gentlemen , —It IIOAV devolves upon me to take a feiv remarks appropriate to the interesting ceremony in which we have all assisted . Rev . Sir , it

was with a sense of the highest gratification and of pride that we received the invitation , Avhich Ave have this day accepted , to assist yourself and your brethren in the good Avork Avhich you have undertaken ; and 1 believe I am justified in saying on my part , and that of my felloivcraftsmen , that in the promotion of works such as these , lies not only our pleasure but our bounden dutyand

, that Ave are at all times ready and Avilling to forward not only the intelligence and prosperity , but also the reli gious welfare of the community . It has long been the custom ( whence it may be dated I knoAV not ) to inaugurate the commencement of any building , or the opening for the benefit of the public of any institution , with certain

ceremonials , and to implore the Divine blessing on the threshold of our undertakings . But it must not be forgotten that , even when the purpose which we have in view is connected Avith our religion , Ave in this country invest onr ceremonials with no superstitious attributes ; and the prayers Avhich Ave have this day offered up do not ask that the building itself may be made hol y in its

material nature , but that God will folloAV Avith His blessing the efforts of those who will officiate therein , and the prayers of those persons Avho therein Avill assemble for worship . Looking back into the history of mankind—into those remote and mysterious periods when mental darkness hovered over this beautiful and glorious world—and Avhen we anal the histories of

yse men , the proof of whose very existence has been a question for inquiry , and even for doubt , to the historian and the philosopher , Ave cannot discover a time Avhen , nor trace the existence of any nation by Avhom the mystic presence of a Supreme Being , though unseen , was not acknowledged . True it is that this acknowledgment has

been more or less-developed , according to tbe influences aud material conditions ofthe countries in Avhich those people dwelt ; but it is also remarkable that , wherever the intellect of man has been most active , there this acknowledgment or religious instinct has been most pronounced and distinct ; and that among those nations

Avhose physical and mental condition more nearly approached that of the beasts that perish , the religion Avas either of a very undefined and shadoAvy nature , or developed itself in forms of Avorship and mystic rites so abominable and cruel , as to appeal merely to the worst and grossest appetites . Furthermore , history bears eA-idence that such degraded peoples either disappear

altogether before the advance of civilisation , or have become the hewers of Avood and drawers of Avater to the more favoured sections of our race . Thus I think it may argued that a superior intellectual and physical condition have walked hand in hand with an intelligent belief in a governing Spirit at once remote , mysterious , and all-powoi-f ' ul . But , Reverend Sirin those distant

, times Ave seek in vain for the beneficent influence of those religions which even the most intellectual nations then professed ; and it was not until Christianity spread itself over the civilized Avorld that the religion of love of charity , of humanity , began to influence mankind Reverend Sir , one of tbe strongest evidences of presence of Christianity alike in nations and in individuals , is

that sympathy which the physical wants and sufferings of our fellows enlist in our bosoms . In old days gone by , though arts and sciences even then flourished ; though tbe ships of commerce and of war swarmed upon the seas then known ; though men learnt in tbe schools of philosophy , prayed in the temples , assembled on the public changes , and fought in array on tbe

battlefield , Avith subtle argument , earnest devotion , mercantile aeumen , and many of the appliances of modern science—and therefore , it may be fairly argued , with no lack of intellectual arrangement and activity—and though

as m those days famine , pestilence , and sudden calamity were even more severe and frequent than they are afc present , as recorded frequently by contemporary historians , we read of few accounts of public sympathy for the sufferers , nor of patriotic and organised measures for their relief . But tbe religion ivhich we happily profess not only inculcates that brotherly love , which induces

one man to assist bis brother in bis need , but encourages likeAvise patriotic charity and organized public benevolence , and whatever changes , political or social , which may take place in the complex state of society in which we live . he Avould be a bold man Avho ivould predict a day , when Avould commenc e the decay of the spirit of public appreciation of the sufferings of our fellows . But , Rev .

Sir , our assembling here to-day proves that the . sufferings of the body are not the only evils which endanger the peace of , and assail mankind , and that it is as much our duty to provide for the spiritual wants of the soul , as to alleviate the sufferings , and to supply the material necesssities of the body . The object of this building , Avhose ioundation-stone we have this day laidis to afford

, accommodation to the poorer inhabitants of this parish , and to enable them when their weekly toil is over , to gather together to offer up their thanks for tbe blessings of the past , their earnest prayers for the future , to tha common Father of rich and poor , and to hear tbe blessed doctrine of our great salvation explained by His appointed ministers . And , Ladies and Gentlemen , when I

tell you that , notwithstanding a large sum of money has already been spent by this congregation , on the repair and improvement of the Parish Church , they have deemed it right ivith willing heart and open hand , to guarantee to their poorer brethren the occupation of this building free of any expense whatsoever , I feel confident that there is not a heart in this assembly which will not beat Avith pride and satisfaction , to whatever denomination its OAvner may belong . Endorsing the prayer of my Rev . Brother near me , I hope that this church may