N some respects the period embraced in the section now entered upon might be entitled a period of rest. The Temple had been built and dedicated, the dangers which had threatened it had been to a great extent overcome, and it would almost seem as if the brethren had made up their minds to let developments shape their own course and refrain from anything calculated to create undue excitement. The feeling with regard to the Temple-or Hall, as more properly it should be called, although for a long time it continued to be called by the former title, and still is, to a considerable extent-was that it would work out its own salvation, that is, that by its own income it would gradually but surely free itself from debt. It was a time of rest, too, inasmuch as no cloud appeared on the horizon, and if at one time the atmosphere became a little troubled at Rochester, and at another time that a sort of microscopic rebellion developed in the First District, such things served simply to emphasize the fact that the whole period was in reality one of harmony and peace and that loyalty to the Grand Lodge prevailed throughout the jurisdiction during the nine years, 1876 to June, 1885, covered by this division of our history.

In one way this division stands out in relief in the number of Grand Masters it provided. Somehow a succession of single terms was destined to rule throughout its course and each year brought to the front a new leader. Why this should have been the case

it is difficult to state. There was, of course, an idea that the honors should "go round" and there were plenty of aspirants, but the same idea had prevailed before this era, and we cannot place our thoughts on any time when an abundance of fitting material for the Grand East could not be found, although in their zeal for the craft the earlier brethren sometimes had to seek out the most available man for the time, as was the case in the selection of Gen. Morgan Lewis. The men who were called to the leadership during the time now under review were all men of ability, men who had earned their title to leadership by honest, hard, and, in some way or other, successful work for the craft and had fully demonstrated their capability by practical service. The honor came to each of them, in fact, as a crowning recognition of faithful labor and in the case of any one of them the additional recognition of at least a second term would have been fully in keeping with the traditions of the Grand Lodge.

James W. Husted, who succeeded to the Grand Mastership in 1876, was for many years. one of the most noted figures in the political history of the State. Born in Bedford, Westchester County, in 1833, and educated at Yale, he started out in the battle of life as a lawyer, but developed into what might be called a professional politician, that is to say, his life was spent in the Assembly at Albany and in political position, rather than in the office of a lawyer. Yet amid all the turmoil and vexation and wire-pulling and recrimination

and "opportunities" inseparably connected with American politics, he maintained his integrity and no man could assert that James W. Husted ever appropriated a cent of public money wrongfully, betrayed a friend or broke a promise. His popularity in the Albany Assembly is amply demonstrated by the fact that he was six times elected Speaker of that body. He was harbor master of New York from 1862 to 1870 and was then appointed Commissioner of Emigration; while in the National Guard of the State he received from Gov. Dix in 1873 the rank of Major General.

JAMES W. HUSTED.

In Masonry he made his acquaintance with Lodge work in 1856, when he was initiated in Pacific Lodge, No. 233, New York City. Afterward he affiliated with Cortlandt Lodge, No. 34, Peekskill, and was elected its Master. In 1867 he served as Deputy Grand Master for its district (then the sixth) and in 1870 became Junior Grand Warden. Four years later he was called to the Deputy Grand Mastership and thence to supreme command. He

was also prominent in Chapter and Chivalric Masonry and held the highest degree in Scottish Rite and was an honorary member of the Supreme Council for the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States of America. In his Masonic duties he displayed the same zeal, the same generous spirit, the same parliamentary ability and the same sterling honesty which he exhibited in public life and when his death, at Peekskill, Sept. 25, 1890, was announced the fraternity joined their mourning with his thousands of political and personal friends.

One of the first acts of Brother Husted as Grand Master was to dedicate, June 24, 1876, a new temple which the brethren in Buffalo had then completed. In many respects the occasion was a significant one, but unusual interest attached to the proceedings from the fact that the orator of the occasion was the Hon. G. W. Clinton, a son of the Grand Master whose name was so potent in New York Masonry half a century before and whose memory is yet held in green remembrance. in the fraternity. We reproduce his oration here:

This is the festival of the Evangelist who leaned upon his Master's bosom at the supper, who was pre-eminently the apostle of love, and who tarried for Christ's coming until there was vouchsafed to him a vision of the heavenly Jerusalem and the ' triumph of the Lamb of God. Our tradition hath it that he was a friend of our Ancient and Honorable order; and, whether the tradition be accepted or not, the fact that he is venerated as he is by all good Masons ought to satisfy the world that Freemasonry, though not Christian by profession, is Christian in its spirit. It is very pleasant to remember that throughout this hallowed day the glorious sun, as it looks down upon the revolving world-upon its isles, its continents, and its broad oceans-will see and smile upon Masonic votaries of St. John, the disciple whom Jesus loved.

This holy, happy time is a portion of the Centennial year of the United States of America. The third day of July will complete the first century of our national existence. How brief and unstable are all things which are not spiritual and of God! This beautiful earth, her sister planets, the great sun

himself and the innumerable host of stars which seem to make immeasurable space a fit tabernacle for Almighty God. must grow pale, and totter in their courses, and perish; but the soul, which is the breath of God, will survive the wreck of worlds and suns. Upon our earth, beings of infinite variety spring into life, and wax, and wane, and die. The isles, the continents, the seas, are raised, depressed and riven. Forests give place to arid plains and sterile deserts learn to blossom like the rose. Islands rise from and sit smiling on the bosom of the sea. The sea breaks down the rocky barriers of the land and swallows the receding coasts, and, through its action, it may be, as some believe, that the continents themselves, are slowly revolving around the axis of the earth from east to west. The world, and all its components, and everything material that doth it inhabit, are and have been from the beginning continually changing. Of the works of man nothing is everlasting. Nothing is immutable but truth: "The eternal years of God are hers." Freemasonry embodies and enshrines a portion of God's truth, and hence it is that excepting perhaps the Chinese and one or two other Asiatic states, there is not one living government in the whole world whose antiquity equals that of Ancient Masonry. The Indian, the Egyptian, the Assyrian, the Persian, the Macedonian, the Roman empires have vanished. The Mohammedan, once so mighty and so proud, is now a poor dependent upon the jealousies and vacillating policy of Christian powers. In the last century, the map of Europe has been changed fully fifty times. In that time, how frequent and how unfructuous have been devastating wars and bloody revolutions! Humanity has shrunk aghast from the appalling misery produced by mad ambition and the frenzies of oppressed nations. And yet, amid all these ruins and convulsions, from the earliest times till now, our order has quietly pursued its humble appointed labor. Its antiquity and steadfastness are not of themselves unquestionable titles to respect. Alas! we do well know that the enemies it contends with are more ancient than itself. Its long endurance and increasing vigor do indeed furnish some assurance of worth, but demonstration that it and its private works are good can flow only from present, open evidence-evidence such as the order has this day produced before an appreciating public.

This is not a fit occasion to dwell upon the history of our beloved country. God has sustained it through perils which would have been fatal but for His goodness. Our independence was won by war. It was confirmed and strengthened by another war. A third war was forced upon us by an

ignoble opponent. Then, in our own time, befell the most dreadful of them all-one which set brother against brother, threatened liberty with extinction and covered the land with mourning. Our hearts bleed afresh when we recall the horrors of the dreadful years through which it raged. But liberty and truth were vindicated, and rebellion was beaten down, though our country was left suffering and exhausted. Thank heaven, its wounds are nearly healed, and its rapidly returning strength gives assurance to the world that our country is renewing, with fresh majesty and vigor, its grand career. Look back, my brothers, and judge whether I err in my fond belief that, throughout the century, in peace as well as in those distressful wars, Freemasonry has been a useful friend of right and liberty and order. I shall not dwell upon this theme, nor shall I strive to prove what seems to me so manifest that our order, in its love of liberty, and by its quiet inculcations of all the virtues which make men pure and noble, has been of some service, however humble, to our happy land. Its tendencies are all to make man God-loving, just and kind, and it leaves them free to choose their religion and their party. The State is composed of its citizens. They are its life, its wealth, its all. The halo of past glory, present riches, a boundless territory and a countless people, cannot make it strong or happy. Its true strength resides in intelligent and virtuous citizens, actuated by the love of liberty and honor-a public that detests corruption and is aye ready to submit to any sacrifice for the vindication of purity and justice. Our order prepares men for true citizenship, and we argue well of its usefulness to our country in the future.

You will not, I am sure, mistake me, my brothers! If I should eulogize Masonry above its worth or falsely, I should offend you. It does not act directly upon States and creeds. It favors good government by making good men. It requires of every man whom it receives the avowal of his belief in God, and questions his creed no further. Its meetings are exclusive, simply because they are composed of men who meet as brothers to transact business which concerns themselves alone. Its secrets and its mysteries are precious to Masons, but their disclosure would be of no service to the world. It excludes females, because the work of the Lodge is, as the name of the order indicates, wholly masculine. Were another reason needed it might be found in the fact that the participation of women in secret mysteries has always resulted in terrible scandals, if not in crimes-witness the orgies of Bacchus! Masonry imposes no obligation in the least inconsistent with our duties to our God, our

country, our families, or ourselves. We hasten to the rescue of a brother in physical jeopardy, and warn and counsel him when his morals are in peril. In sickness and in suffering we visit him. The Lodge is a sanctuary for innocent affliction and not for crime. We cannot interpose between our brother and offended law. If he fall under its condemnation, or become a victim of debauchery, we still endeavor to comfort and reclaim him, though we abhor his vices and justify his punishment. As Masons, we are not liable to become the tools of the ambitious. No one can demand a brother's vote upon the mere ground of Masonic brotherhood. Freemasonry is based upon and commends the practice of order, love and labor. In its operations, it is quiet and unseen, like the unnoticed, genial forces of nature which educe life, and growth, and fruitage. Of the good seed it sows some falls by the wayside and some upon stony places, and some among thorns, and some into good ground-and of that God gives the increase. Far be it from us to exalt our ancient order beyond reason. It is religious, but not a religion. Apart from its history, its symbols and its ceremonies, Freemasonry is only an honest, homely, genial institution, that becomes very precious to every true man who tries it, and does him good. There is a stronger and more effectual grip than that of the lion's paw. There is something far superior to Masonry, and happy is he who, rising above the morality and love and worship it inculcates, can truly say: "For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Masonry has grown with the growth of our country. It lives, indeed, where aristocracy prevails, and I fear me is there somewhat tinctured by it. But it might well say, "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." Nowhere in the world does it flourish so vigorously as in the happy land where the dignity of manhood and the brotherhood of all men are practically acknowledged. When I reluctantly accepted the invitation to address you, my brothers, I longed to present you with a sketch of the rise and progress of the order in the United States, or in the State, or at least in the western portion of the State, but I soon found that I had по time for the collection of the materials for either of these works. Surely a history of Masonry in this State down to this Centennial year would be a most appropriate contribution to the literature of the order. Would that

some competent brother would prepare a history of Masonry in this city and county and the neighboring counties. It would embalm the memories of many departed worthies, afford striking examples of Masonic virtue, and guide and encourage the orIder in its honorable course.

On the 7th day of December, 1757, St. John's Lodge, No. 1, of the city of New York, was instituted, and it still exists. Thirty years ago, as I am informed, there were fewer than one hundred and fifty Lodges, and not twenty thousand Masons in the State; but now there are in it about eight hundred Lodges, embracing ninety thousand Masons. Then certainly there is strong proof that Freemasonry and free institutions are congenial. In the history of Freemasonry it ought never to be forgotten that about fifty years ago a few foolish Masons inflicted upon Masonry a most painful and disastrous wound. In violation of every Masonic rule and principle, they abducted William Morgan, an apostate Master Mason. Morgan disappeared. The public readily believed he had been murdered or compelled to commit self-slaughter. The people were easily induced to believe that the crime was the natural fruit of Masonic obligations, and that all Masons were in league to conceal the crime and shield the criminals. In the honest but mistaken popular excitement that followed, Masonry was abandoned throughout large portions of our country. In Western New York charters were surrendered and Masonry renounced by many honorable men. I believe that forty years ago there was not a Lodge at work in this State west of Cayuga river. Certainly there was not one in Buffalo. Here truth was "crushed to earth;" but she has risen again, and Masonry has to-day exhibited herself to an admiring and sympathizing public in all her modest beauty. Never was there, on this continent at least, a procession more creditable to our venerable order.

The known character and standing of the citizens who compose the ten Blue Lodges of Buffalo, and joined in our procession, gave assurance to the world that Freemasonry is honorable and good. Its veneration for the Holy Scriptures was unostentatiously evinced. It was indeed a glorious and impressive spectacle, and, I doubt not, brought tears of gratitude and joy to the eyes of the few old Masons who remember the dark anti-Masonic time. We are proud of the brotherly feeling that added to the procession so many faithful brothers and our sister and more distant Lodges. We are proud of the gallant bearing and accomplishments of the Knights of St. John. They have conferred pleasure and won deserved renown by doing the