various stations; and above all, be ever ready to do to others as we would in their circumstances reasonably wish to be done unto!s

They who move in a higher sphere, have, indeed, a larger province wherein to do good; but those of an inferior degree will be as eminently distinguished in the mansions of bliss, if they move regularly, if they are useful members of society, as the highest. He who performs his part best, not he who personates an exalted character, will meet with applause. For the moon, though it borrows its light from the sun, also sets forth the glory of God; and the flowers of the field declare a providence equally with the stars of the firmament.

To conclude, then, let me exhort all my worthy Brethren to be diligent in the cultivation of every moral and social virtue; for so long do we act consistently with the principles of our venerable Institution. Then what has been said, though on an occasion far more important to mankind, may not improperly be appropriated as the badge of our respectable Order, "By this shall all men know that you belong to the Brethren, if your hearts glow with affection, not to Masons alone, but to the whole race of mankind." And well, indeed, may ours be called a happy Institution! whose supreme wish is founded on the truest source of felicity, and whose warmest endeavours are ever exerted in cementing the ties of human nature by acts of benevolence, charity, and social affection; and who, amidst the corruption and immorality of the latter ages, have maintained in our assemblies the genuine principles and unsullied reputation acquired and established in the first.

Whilst qualities like these direct your proceedings, and influence your actions, Freemasonry must ever be revered and cultivated by the just, the good, and the exalted mind, as the surest means of establishing peace, harmony, and goodwill amongst men.

3 Baron Bielfield, Chancellor of the Prussian Universities, when considering the propriety of becoming a Mason, says: "One reflection that dissipated my scruples, and hastened my reception, was, that I knew this Order to be composed of a great number of very worthy men; men who, I was sure, would never have twice entered a Lodge, if anything had passed there that was in the least incompatible with a character of the strictest virtue."-EDITOR.

ARGUMENT II.

ON THE ORIGIN, NATURE, AND DESIGN OF THE MASONIC INSTITUTION, AND A CONFUTATION OF THE MANY SHAMEFUL AND IDLE FALSEHOODS WHICH ARE INDUSTRIOUSLY PROPAGATED BY ITS ENEMIES.

THE antiquity and utility of Freemasonry being generally acknowledged in most parts of the habitable world, it would be as absurd to conceive it required new aids for its support, as for him who has the use of sight to demand a proof of the rising and setting of the sun. Nevertheless, in compliance with the requests of many worthy Brethren, I shall lay before my readers some strictures on the origin, nature, and design of that Institution; and, with prudent reserve, confute and avert the many shameful and idle falsehoods which are industriously propagated by its enemies, the better to inform the candid and well-meaning Brother, who might not readily know how to investigate the truth, or want leisure and opportunity for that purpose.

With this view I have made it my business to collect a great number of passages from writers eminent for their learning and probity, where I thought they might serve to illustrate my subject. The propriety of such proceeding is too obvious to need any apology.

If our first parent and his offspring had continued in the terrestrial paradise, they would have had no occasion for the mechanical arts, or any of the sciences now in use; Adam being created with all those perfections and blessings which could either add to his dignity or be conducive to his real welfare. In that happy period he had no propensity to evil, no perverseness in his heart, no darkness or obscurity in his understanding; for, had he laboured under these maladies, he would not have been a perfect man, nor would there have been any difference betwixt man in a state of innocence and in a state of degeneracy and corruption. It was, therefore, in consequence of his wilful transgression, that any evils

came upon him. And, having lost his innocence, he in that dreadful moment forfeited likewise his supernatural lights and infused knowledge, whereby every science, so får as human nature is capable of, was rendered familiar to him without the tedious labour of ratiocination, requisite to men even of the greatest abilities, whose ideas, after all, remain weak and imperfect.

From this remarkable and fatal era we date the necessity and origin of the science. First arose divinity, whereby was pointed out to fallen man the way and will of God, the omnipotence and mercy of an offended Creator; then law, as directing us to distribute justice to our neighbour, and relieve those who are oppressed or suffer wrong. The royal art was beyond all doubt coeval with the above sciences, and was carefully handed down by Methuselah, who died but a few days before the General Deluge, and who had lived 245 years with Adam, by whom he was instructed in all the mysteries of this sublime science, which he faithfully communicated to his grandson Noah, who transmitted it to posterity: and it has ever been preserved with a veneration and prudence suitable to its great importance, being always confined to the knowledge of the worthy only. This is confirmed by many instances, which men of reading and speculation, especially such as are of this Society, cannot suffer to escape them.

At first, mankind adhered to the lessons of Nature; she used necessity for the means, urged them to invention, and assisted them in the operation. Our primitive fathers, seeing the natural face of the earth was not sufficient for the sustenance of the animal creation, had . recourse to their faithful tutoress, who taught them how to give it an artificial face, by erecting habitations and cultivating the ground: and these operations, among other valuable effects, led them to search into and contemplate upon the nature and properties of lines, figures, superficies, and solids, and by degrees to form the sciences of geometry and architecture, which have been of the greatest utility to the human species. Hence we were first taught the means whereby we might attain practice, and by practice introduce speculation.

From the Flood to the days of King Solomon, the liberal arts and sciences gradually spread themselves

over different parts of the globe, every nation having had some share in their propagation; but, according to their different manners, some have cultivated them with more accuracy, perseverance, and success than others; and though the secrets of the royal art have not been indiscriminately revealed, they have, nevertheless, been communicated in every age to such as were worthy to receive them.

But I am not at liberty to undraw the curtain, and publicly descant on this head; it is sacred, and ever will remain so those who are honoured with the trust will not reveal it, except to the truly qualified Brother, and they who are ignorant of it cannot betray it.

I shall, however, observe, that this art was called royal, not only because it was originally practised by kings and princes, who were the first professors of it, but likewise on account of the superiority which so sublime a science gave its disciples over the rest of mankind.

This supreme and divine knowledge being derived from the Almighty Creator to Adam, its principles have ever since been, and still are, most sacredly preserved and inviolably concealed. For as all things, in process of time, are liable to decay and corruption, the ancient professors, wisely foreseeing the great abuses which their exalted mysteries might sustain, if generally made known, determined to confide the knowledge of them only to select Brethren; men whom they had found by long experience to be well versed in the general principles of the Society, and who were eminent for their piety, learning, and abilities.

Hence it is, that a man may be sufficiently able to acquit himself in every test that is laid down by our present Institution, to prove his regular initiation therein, and also to show that he is not unacquainted with its general principles, and yet at the same time he may be totally ignorant and undeserving of the more valuable parts of the ancient Society. These, like the adyta of

After the revival of Masonry in 1717, the Order was deteriorated in public opinion, by the practice of some few unworthy Brothers, who had been excluded for transgressing the general laws. They opened Lodges without the requisite authority, and made Masons for a small fee, without any regard to private character. Dermott observes, "When these men, by the assistance of Masonry, are

of the ancient temples, are hid from vulgar eyes. It is not every one who is barely initiated into Freemasonry, that is entrusted with all the great mysteries thereunto belonging-they are not attainable things, of course, nor by every capacity; for, as Mr. Locke very justly observes, speaking of this society, "Though all have a right and opportunity, if they be worthy and able to learn, to know all the arts and mysteries belonging to it, yet that is not the case, as some want capacity, and others industry to acquire them." Nevertheless, such is the real felicity necessarily resulting from a knowledge and practice of the general principles of this Fraternity, as alone has been ever found sufficient to entitle it to a preference of all other human institutions. From the earliest ages of antiquity, the royal art was ever taught with the greatest circumspection,-not in schools or academies to a promiscuous audience, but it was confined to certain families; the rulers of which instructed their children or disciples, and by this means conveyed their mysterious knowledge to posterity.

. After the Flood, the professors of this art, according to ancient traditions, were first distinguished by the name of Noachidæ, or sons of Noah; afterwards by that of sages, or wise men-men instructed, like Moses, in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, philosophers, masters in Israel, &c.-and were ever venerated as sacred persons. They consisted of persous of the brightest parts and genius, who exerted their utmost abilities in discovering and investigating the various mysteries of Nature, from whence to draw improvements and useful inventions. Men, whose talents were not only employed in speculation, or in private acts of benevolence, but who were also public blessings to the age and country in which they lived; possessed of moderate desires, who admitted into the company of their superiors, they too often act beyond their capacities; and, under pretence of searching for knowledge, fall into gluttony and drunkenness, and thereby neglect their necessary occupations, and injure their families, who imagine they have a just cause to pour out all their invectives against the whole body of Freemasons, without considering or knowing that our Constitutions and principles are quite opposite to such base proceedings. Such men are totally unfit to be admitted Freemasons, as they cannot fulfil any of the duties of a Lodge; and if men are not persons of fortune or property, they should be persons of science."-EDITOR.