"' The cloud capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, the solemn temples' erected by the ancient Brethren have passed away, but it is in such dedications as have been this day made, that the triumph and permanency of our Order are exhibited and confirmed— ' Here 'midst the ruins of. three thousand years, U nhurt—unchanged—Freemasonry appears,'
"And Ever so Mote it be. God save the Queen!" The stone was then lowered to its proper resting place, with three loud cheers. THE MAYORAL SPEECH.
The Mayor (Dr. Palmer) delivered the following Address :—" After the observations which you have heard from the accomplished orator who has just preceded me, I find that little is left to say, except to express m y thanks to the ancient and honourable fraternity of Freemasons and other distinguished and alike honourable Public Bodies who have assisted on the present occasion, and to acknowledge the gratification with which such an event as the present is calculated to inspire every philanthropic breast. This event, besides being interesting in itself, is interesting in its causes. It is a trophy and genuine effect of Christianity. Among the accomplished nations of antiquity, we read of the achievements of art in the erection of temples and other buildings dedicated to gladiatorial displays, but no traces are discovered of Hospitals or any other Public Institutions devoted to the relief of the destitute—nothing, in short, which could evince the existence of the blessed spirit of Charity ; but on the contrary, a spirit of selfishness, displaying itself in a lavish expenditure on whatever could contribute to swell the pageantry of life, and a total disregard to the poor and despised destitute. Even Christianity itself as it has become more and more enlightened has been productive of greater and more suitable effects. All-perfect in itself on its original promulgation, it has not been adverse to the cultivation of Science, but proceeding hand in hand, they have together ameliorated the condition of the world, and given birth to an enlarged philanthropy. There is no profaneness in the thought that the torch of Science, in its onward progress, has served to illumine and disclose the beauties of Christianity, and hence have arisen those numerous Institutions in every part of Christendom designed for the relief of human suffering, in which we see these powerful influences happily combined in accomplishing the designs of Charity. W e have reason to be thankful to Providence, which, to the other advantages with which this land has been blessed, has added that of a comparative exemption from fatal epidemics. W e have neither the plague nor the cholera. W e have neither the yellow nor the jungle fever. W e are comparatively free from that fatal and most insidious of diseases—Consumption, which so often selects as its choicest victims the fairest and most endowed of our species, and whose insatiability is such that it is computed that not less than one-fifth of the population of Europe annually sink under its blight. Happily too, we live free, at least by comparison, of those endless and slow-wasting distempers which devastate the Mother-country, and whose origin is attributable to the joint influences of mental anxiety, and the pinching deprivations of poverty. But, blessed as we undoubtedly are, with a fruitful country and a salubrious climate, we are doomed, nevertheless, to submit to our common destiny. Disease, under the most favorable circumstances, will assail us sooner or later"; accidents will overtake the most healthy persons; and now it is that the healthy and strong should come forward to the assistance of the weak. Those only who have witnessed it can conceive the extent and degree of suffering which, after the consequence of illness, afflicts the poor who have to sustain their families by their exertions, and who by sickness are thus deprived of the only means of earning a subsistence. Those only, I say, who have visited the abodes of poverty under such circumstances, can imagine how severe are sometimes the inflictions of Providence, and how sweet and beneficial must be an asylum such as that the foundation stone of which we have just laid. Here they are provided with medicine, medical attendance, repose, and nursing, and the other auxiliaries of the healing art, such as they could not procure, even by payment, at their own homes, and which under any circumstances they could not pay for. Here they find an asylum where they procure health for their bodies, and have leisure for attendance to the higher concerns of their souls, removed alike from the distractions of poverty, and from family inquietude. But there is another view of the case, which I a m certain you will not disregard, namely, the advantages to Science
