nocence, which is the object of religion, and the principal end of masonic initiation: thou wouldst once more be the favourite of heaven; the abundance of its blessings would be poured over thee, and acquiring the title of a wise, free and happy man, thou wouldst run thy terrestrial career, as the BENEFACTOR of mankind, and the PATTERN of thy brethren.

CHAPTER XII.

Of God and Religion.

It is incumbent on every one, who from the love of knowledge or curiosity is desirous of becoming a free-mason, to know, that as his foundation or great corner-stone, he is to believe in the great first cause, and to pay that worship and adoration, which is due to him as THE SUPREME ARCHITECT AND GOVERNOR OF THE UNIVERSE. A mason ought also, as a true Noachida,* to pay strict attention to the moral law; and if he understand the rules of the craft, it will be impossible for him to be an atheist, an irreligious libertine, or to act in opposition to that inward light, which his merciful Creator has been pleased to give him, I mean his conscience.

* A son of Noah; the first name for a free-mason.

He ought, likewise, to shun the dreadful errors of bigotry and superstition; errors, which at different periods, have occasioned the most serious calamities to the human species, and should make a due use of his own reason, according to that "liberty, wherewith a mason is made free," for though in ancient times, masons were charged to comply with the established religion of the country, in which they sojourned, it has, for many years been deemed adviseable, to give the brethren, no other injunction on this subject, than that they should be good men and true; that in their deportment they should be actuated by the principles of honour and integrity, and adhere to those essential points of religion, in which all good men are agreed, leaving every brother to his own judgment, in regard to particular forms.

The lodge consists of men of the most opposite religious persuasions, who, if they were suffered to discuss their different opinions, instead of harmony and brotherly love, discord and hatred would prevail. Wisely, therefore, was it calculated to conciliate true friendship amongst persons of all religions, by adopting the broad and natural principle of viewing all men as brethren, created by one Almighty parent, and placed in this sublunary world for the mutual aid and protection of each other.

The solemnity of our rites, however, which as they embrace all that part of religion, from which morality is derived, necessarily calls

our attention to the Great Architect of the Universe, the Creator of us all. In contemplation of his wisdom, goodness and power, the Mahometan under one name, the Jew and Christian under another, can join in adoration, all agreeing in the grand essential and universal principle of religion, the recognition and worship of a Deity, in whose hands are the issues of life and death, though differing in some minute points peculiar to each. Shall, then, this temporary and happy accommodation of sentiment to good purposes, stamp us as Deists? God forbid! When the lodge is closed, each departs untainted by the other, the Jew to his synagogue, the Mahometan to his mosque, and the Christian to his church, as fully impressed as ever with the divine origin and rectitude of his own faith, from the principles of which, he has never, for one moment, deviated, either in thought or deed.

Our order contemplates the whole human species, divested of all religious or political distinctions. It should be free to the worthy and accepted of all nations and languages. In this institution, party spirit is unknown. The Prince Regent of England, the King of Prussia, their Excellencies Daniel D. Tompkins, and De Witt Clinton, a Roman prelate and a Protestant reformer, a Wellington and a Jackson at the head of their armies, and an humble quaker, who holds in detestation the sword and bayonet, and indeed, the lowest peasant in the universe, may, provided they

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are free-masons, unite together as a band of brothers. Masonry, as has been before observed, excludes all distinction of religion, as well as of rank. The Episcopalian, the Presbyterian, the Methodist, the Baptist, the Catholic, the Hebrew, and the Turk, may here sit together in peace and harmony.

Thus masonry is the centre of unity, and the happy means of conciliating the affections of many upright and intelligent men, who might otherwise have remained at a distance from each other.

WHEN We contemplate that the formation of the world was the work of that Omnipotent Being who created the beautiful system of the universe, well may we exclaim with wonder and astonishment, "O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, nho hast set thy glory above the heavens. When we consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained, What is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man, that thou visitest him ?" Psalm viii.

Before he was pleased to command this vast world into existence, the elements and

the materials of the creation, lay blended without form or distinction. "Darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters?"? when the great Jehovah, as an example to man, that things of moment ought to be done with deliberation, was pleased to take six DAYS in periodically bringing it from chaos to perfection.

The Supreme Architect shewed the first instance of his power, by commanding light; and seeing that it was good, he gave it his sacred approbation, and distinguished it by a new name, by calling the light day, and giving the appellation of night to darkness; and in order to keep new framed matter within just limits, the SECOND period was employed in laying the firmament, which was to keep the water above the clouds, and those below them asunder, and God called the firmament heaven. On the THIRD period, he commanded those waters to be restrained within due bounds, on the retreat of which dry land appeared, which he called "earth, and the gathering together of the waters, called he seas." The earth being yet irregular and destitute of any kind of cultivation, God spake the word, and immediately it was covered with a most beautiful carpet of flowers, plants, trees, herbs, and shrubs of all sorts, in full growth and perfection.

On the FOURTH period, these two grand and bright luminaries, the sun and moon were