ets, sprung from Heaven.

The Grand Chaplain, standing before the Lodge, then makes the following

Invocation.

And may the Lord, the giver of every good and perfect gift, bless the
brethren here assembled, in all their lawful undertakings, and grant to
each one of them, in needful supply, the corn of nourishment, the wine
of refreshment, and the oil of joy. Amen.

Response: So mote it be.

The Lodge is then covered, and the Grand Master retires to his chair.

The following or an appropriate original oration may then be delivered,
and the ceremonies conclude with music:

Brethren: The ceremonies we have performed are not unmeaning rites, nor
the amusing pageants of an idle hour, but have a solemn and instructive
import. Suffer me to point it out to you, and to impress upon your minds
the ennobling sentiments they are so well adapted to convey.

This Hall, designed and built by Wisdom, supported by Strength, and
adorned in Beauty, we are first to consecrate in the name of the great
Jehovah; which teaches us, in all our works, begun and finished, to
acknowledge, adore, and magnify Him. It reminds us, also, in His fear to
enter the door of the Lodge, to put our trust in him while passing its
trials, and to hope in Him for the reward of its labors.

Let, then, its altar be devoted to His service, and its lofty arch
resound with His praise! May the eye which seeth in secret witness here
the sincere and unaffected piety which withdraws from the engagements of
the world to silence and privacy, that it may be exercised with less
interruption and less ostentation.

Our march round the Lodge reminds us of the travels of human life, in
which Masonry is an enlightened, a safe, and a pleasant path. Its
tesselated pavement of Mosaic-work intimates to us the chequered
diversity and uncertainty of human affairs. Our step is time; our
progression, eternity.

Following our ancient Constitutions, with mystic rites we dedicate this
Hall to the honor of Freemasonry.

Our best attachments are due to the Craft. In its prosperity, we find
our joy; and, in paying it honor, we honor ourselves. But its worth
transcends our encomiums, and its glory will outsound our praise.

Brethren: It is our pride that we have our names on the records of
Freemasonry. May it be our high ambition that they should shed a luster
on the immortal page!

The hall is also dedicated to Virtue.

This worthy appropriation will always be duly regarded w