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sepulchre which will always be most illustrious; not that in which their bones lie mouldering, but that in which their fame is preserved. The whole world is the sepulchre of illustrions and useful citizens, and their inscription is written on the hearts of all good men."

But as funeral solemnities are not, in this enlightened age, intended so much for the benefit of the dead as for the living, it is our imperious duty to contemplate the ravages of death for our own use; and while we evidence a grateful remembrance, and heartfelt bereavement, on account of the depar ture of our esteemed and beloved friend and brother, it becomes us to improve, for our own advantage, the deep, and affecting loss. We have, on this oc

certainty of earthly expectations, and are invited to reflect in what rapid progression, mankind are hurrying through the shades of death, to their eternal home. Multitudes who were lately

vested with the office of deputy general grand commander of the grand encampment of Knight Templars, and deputy general grand high priest of the general grand royal arch chapter in the United States; he was chosen to the highest Masonic office in the Union, and in every department proved himself a master workman, and a wise superintendent; in every respect meritorious of the most exalted honours, and the most affectionate remembrance. He was a Christian by profession, and we believe piety reigned in his heart, for some of us have seen him cheerfully take the mortifying draught of self-denial, weep over the tomb of our Saviour, and humbly at the foot of the cross, exulting in the triumphal victories of redeeming love. But his transit is over; he appeared an il-casion, a striking instance of the unlustrious star on this obscure disk of mortality, and suddenly disappeared. He is gone, his spirit has fled, and we hope now rests in the temple above. In veneration for such men, to exchange the accustomed walks of plea-acting a conspicuous part on the stage sure for the house of mourning, to bedew its sacred recesses with tears of gratitude to their memory, to strive, if possible, to catch some portion of their etherial spirit, as it mounts from this earthly sphere into perfect union with congenial spirits above, is a laudable custom coeval with society, and sanctioned by the example of the wisest nations; in order that they might long be preserved in public view, as examples of virtue, and although dead, yet speaking. This practice teaches to posterity the important lesson, that whatever distinctions our wants and vices may render necessary, in this short and imperfect state of our being, they are all cancelled by the hand of death; and through the untried periods which succeed, virtue and bene- || ficence will make the true distinctions, and be the only foundations of happiness and renown. "Those who have bestowed their lives to the public good, and for the amendment of society, receive a praise that will never die, a

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of this busy world, now rest in their
graves. The scene is closed, the cur-
tain is drawn, and they are hidden
from our view. "They are, gone
where there is no distinction; con-
signed to the common earth.
A suc-
ceeding generation bursts into life;
another, and yet another billow has
rolled on; each emulating its prede-
cessor in height, towering for a mo-
ment, and curling its foaming honours
to the clouds; then roaring, breaking,
and perishing on the same shore."

Not only is human nature to be offered a sacrifice to death, but the fabricks which man has reared to immortalize his memory, must sink into oblivion; so that in the pathetic and sublime solemnity of the poet, we may exclaim,

"The cloud capp'd towers, the georgeous palaces,

The solemn temples, the great globe it-
self.

Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve;
And like the baseless fabric, of a vision
Leave not a wreck behind!"

"O death! it is thine to tread out empires, and to quench the stars!" While thus tossed on the expansive ocean of desolating horror, and the angry tempest bears death in every blast, where shall the weather-beaten mariner on life's stormy sea, find a harbour of defence, from the swelling tide of bereaving sorrow, and the pitiless storm of affliction, which threatens the final dissolution of every tender bond of friendship and humanity? Lift up your streaming eyes, ye disconsolate mourners, look through the portals of your shattered bark, and behol.. the celestial dove descending through the impending cloud; hovering on the balmy wings of heavenly perfume, and extending the olive branch, plucked from the tree of life in the midst of the Paradise of God; the emblem of peace and divine consolation; a sure token of the subsiding storm.

"Hence hope, ou exulting wings, may rise to the eternal throne, for life And immortality are brought to light by the gospel," whose messenger is the dove-like Spirit of God.

This is the blessed anchor of hope, of which those who are divinely illuminated, are possessed. It assuages the sorrow of the mourner, fills up the vacuum of bereavement, and sustains in life's last agony.

The shades of death to an infidel, are indeed terrific and gloomy. He stands upon the brink of eternity, but cannot discover what will be the event when he makes the awful plunge. Hence it is death indeed, for him to die; his imagination beholds the glomy monster before he comes, and when he makes the exterminating blow, the poor mortal sinks-yet not into repose.

But to the believer, to the virtuous, it is very different. The scriptures almost invariably speak of the happy termination of mortal existence, as a sleep, a state of sweet repose; a rest from labour, a deliverance from pain "here the wicked cease from trou bling, and there the weary are at rest.

There the prisoners rest together. They hear not the voice of the oppressor. The small and the great are there, and the servant is freed from his master." And he who sleeps in the arms of Jesus, is not only corporeally at rest, but the "vital spark of heavenly flame" flies to the great original fountain of light from whence it emanated, and rests in the bosom of its eternal God, enjoying all that etherial bliss which its expanded powers are capable of receiving through eternity. How desirable is it to the fragile, sickly nature of man, thus to meet with, and welcome death, as a long expected friend of relief; to have the cold damp cell of clay converted into an easy bed of angelic down; and for the soul to rise from nature's ruins, to the unclouded sunshine of Heaven's eternal day.

But what evidence have we that this is the happy termination of any? How shall we be released from the corroding gloomy thoughts, that in the loss of those whom we love and esteem, we lose every thing, and that all the world becomes a blank? The opening Heaven for the reception of Elijah, shows humanity's admittance there, and the blessed hope at which we slightly glanced, dissolves the mist of dull mortality; it wide expands Heaven's golden gates, and pours a flood of day on poor benighted mortals.

But Oh! can there live one dark, hopeless idolater of chance, beneath the broad expanse of heaven, content to dismiss all immortal energy, and call this barren world sufficient bliss ? thou wretched infidel! thou poor pilgrim of a day, wedded in joyless union to the dust, glittering dust, affording a momentary fire to light you to the grave, and there to sink in night and silence, and rise no more! awake to hope; that "hope which maketh not ashamed."

What would you do on the dashing waves of the expansive ocean, made angry by the sweeping storm, without

the anchor's firm and penetrating mooring while livid flashes of Heaven's fire gave you a momentary glance of the fearful desolation on which you were fast drifting; " and the thunder's repercursive roar loud bellowed through the affrighted deep?" This picture, however gloomy, will not sufficiently set forth the condition of the mind of the infidel, tossed on the sea of tumultuous distress, in dreadful uncertainty respecting a future state, without that blessed hope which is an anchor to the soul. The tremendous dreary abyss is just ahead; the irresistible whirlwind of God's eternal fury is, with inconceivable velocity bursting on the rear; while the proud billows of remorseful agony penetrate the sinking soul, and complete its eternal anguish. O how wretched is the man without hope, the blessed hope of the gospel! then shall we not seek to possess it?

Are we subject to every degree of temporal suffering, calamity, and sorrow? is there not in every flower a thorn? in every dazzling prospect of terrestrial felicity, an inconceivable degree of real disapointment? Friends cannot save or support us; for from them we must be parted asunder; God only can.

O what is man! poor, feeble, and wretched, his days few and full of sorrow. Yet he frequently towers to Heaven in imagination; grasps the universe in his arms; shakes the earth with his bustle, and in pride out-caps the most exalted mountains. He glitters with shining dust, rolls in pleasure, riots in luxury, and walks majestic as a god! yet this great independent self-sufficient being is of few days, and without hope, is wretched beyond description. Is it possible, that in a temporal respect, there is not a single cup for man, but that of wretchedness, filled with wormwood and gall; not a single day of those few but that is full of trouble? Disappointment and af fliction in variety beset him, and are appointed to snatch every consolation

away, and to pierce him through with ten thousand sorrows. Even the refined sensibility of the heart, is the food of its own wretchedness. Hence the look of disappointment at earthly losses; hence the pang of misplaced confidence; hence the sigh of wretchedness, the groan of bereavement, the sympathy of suffering, the torture of oppression, the agony of death. O man, thy cup is the cup of bitterness; and thy heart the receptacle of woe! Where shall we fly for relief from this accumulation of agonizing sorrow? O Faith! thou "substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," ," we look to thee. O hope! "thou anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil," we rest on thee. Sweet Charity divine! which beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, and endureth all things; we embrace thee.

Ye triune graces of the triune God; sent from the regions of eternal consolation, to the poor, forlorn, wretched abode of earth's weeping orphans; we would cherish you in our hearts, and by your divine influence, would we rise above the storm, and stand unmoved, "Like some tall rock, which rears its awful form,

Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm;

Though rolling clouds around its breast are. spread,

Eternal sunshine settles on its head."

Thou afflicted daughter of our beloved father and brother; the solitary mourner in these western wilds, may we not, although thou art absent on this occasion, be permitted to speak to thee in the language of sympathy and condolence; especially as thy fair sisters of this assembly, do cheerfully represent thee. How often hast thou cried "My father, my father." Restrain thy grief, and let thy sorrow be assuaged; although his well-known, tuneful voice, no more accompanies thy harp of solemn sound, yet we hope it sounds in Heaven, and that he has

When you are forced to drink

Worshipful Master, Wardens, and Brethren of Centre Star Lodge, and visiting Brethren,

Melancholy and interesting is the scene which visits our eyes this day. It casts a mournful ray on the feebleness of human nature, and awakens the soul to its highest interest. Here we behold the termination of our terrestrial career, and the commencement of an immutable eternity. "Man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets." The silver cord is loosed, the golden bowl is broken, our harp is turned to mourning, and our organ into the voice of them that

gone to the salubrious climes of eternal day, into which the torture of pain, the anguish of sin, nor the darts of malevolence can ever penetrate. The language of departed spirits, is". weep not for me, but for yourselves." You are in a weeping world, but the religion of our Great High Priest, proves a regard for the sorrows of the afflicted, infinitely soothing and supporting. "It changes the thorny couch into a bed of down; closes with a touch, the wounds of the soul, and converts a wilderness of woe into the borders of paradise. the cup of bitterness, mercy, at your call, will stand by your side, and min-weep. Our father and our brother has gle sweetness with the draught; while, with the voice of mildness and consolation, she will whisper to you that these unpalatable afflictions will assuredly establish in you immortal health. The same sweetner of life will accompany you to the end, and seating herself by your dying bed, will draw aside the curtains of eternity, and will bid you close your eyes on the end of sorrow, pain and bereavement; and in the opening gates of peace and glory, will point to your view, angelic choirs waiting to hail your arrival.

Among the various arguments of consolation, on the loss of our friend; an important one is drawn from the pleasing hope of a future meeting, in perfect felicity. Grief subsides into a tender soothing rememberance, and the mind is comforted with joyful expectation of one day seeing them again; meeting (never more to separate) those whom death hath torn from our affectionate embraces, and removed a little before us, to our Heavenly Father's house above.

Into the arms of a merciful Savour we commit you. To him who hath promised to protect the fatherless, and the orphan, from the grasp of unfeeling avarice, and smiling treachery; and who will plead your cause at the bar of Heaven's high chancery. He will guide you by his counsel, and afterwards receive you to glory.

left us. He has, we hope, been honourably discharged; has passed with the approbation of the Grand Tyler of this earthly lodge, and by the successive gradations of improvement, ascended to the Grand Lodge above. We have saluted him on the equality of mystery, and he has left us on the square of infallible equity. Although exalted in character, and in rank, yet he always walked upon the level with a brother, and his extensive benevolence embraced the great circle of mankind. In his actions he was governed by the square, and kept within the compass of good will to all men. He was indeed a great light, sent to us by the Grand Master above, to illuminate our darkness here below. But those eyes which looked with so much pleasure on a brother, are now closed in death. Those ears which have listened with so much attention to their complaints, are now stopped in dust; and the hands which have been so often extended to relieve their wants, and their distresses, will never more be raised. Like a morning star, he dawned in the east, with increasing splendour; he arose to the zenith of glory but suddenly sunk in the west. Let us catch the last twinkling rays, and by them read the great lesson of obligation devolving upon us. He has resigned his office as master, his seat is empty; he has now no more occasion for level

or plumb line. His work is completed; he has passed the veils of trial and affliction. He has presented the true signet and has been accepted. He bas made good his defence in displaying the red banners of the cross. He has terminated his weary pilgrimage, having seen the stone rolled from the mouth of the holy Sepulchre, and we believe now mingles his rays with the twelve luminaries, where there is no defection-and that he is now quaffing the last, the sweet libation of eternal joy, not from the bitter cup of mortality, but from the fountain of immortality itself. And is it, indeed true that our beloved master is no more; is he gone who was the head, the strength, and the glory of our fraternity? how spontaneously will each of us pay him the meritorious tribute of pathetically exclaiming, "my father, my father! the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof." Brethren,

Let us endeavour to imbibe a dou

ble portion of his spirit: let us copy the bright example of this our beloved brother, and by a sacred regard to his memory, and our own solemn engagements, pursue with unremitted assiduity, the tenets of our profession. Let us feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and afflicted, do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. Then shall we be able to silence" the tribe of scorners, and to convince them, the only qualities we wish to honour, are those which form good men, and good citizens; and the only buildings we seek to raise, are temples for virtue. and dungeons for vice." And (! let us above all, seek for and cherish that hope which is as an anchor to the soul, and which exults in the prospect of the boundless joys of Heaven.

"Eternal HOPE, when yonder spheres sublime,

Peal'd their first notes, to sound the march

of time;

Thy joyous youth began, but not to fade When all the sister planets have decay'd;

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A NEW INQUISITION.

The Western (Pennsylvania) Register says "We are informed that at the last meeting of the Presbyterian Synod of Pittsburg, some of the clergy introduced a resolution to exclude Free-Masons from the rights and benefits of the Church, except in case where they might confess their errors, and abjure their Masonic principles."

We can hardly believe the above statement correct, although there is no telling how far ignorance and prejudice may lead the best men astray; for such a proposition could only have originated with those who are utterly ignorant of the principles. of the Mosonic order, and who are they know not what. The society of therefore prejudiced against them, for Masons includes a very large proportion of the most respectable citizens in Europe and America. The order has been preserved, it has grown, and flourished, for ages, and in despite of and in the present enlightened age, any the most bitter and cruel persecutions; body of men might as well attempt to overturn the Andes, as to crush or extinguish it. Perceiving the strength with which the order has taken root, and the benefits it has conferred, and is daily conferring, upon those societies within the circle of its influences, even the Pope has ceased his opposition, and the thunders of the Vatican are no longer rolling over the heads of our brethren in Europe. And are bulls of excommunication to be issued against us here, in this land of civil and religious freedom? And who are to be thus singled out, and marked as being without the pale of the visible Church? The great body of Free Masons, the principles of whose order are as pure

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