Surely malice and mischief, or some infernal motive, must actuate the mind which is capable of defaming the innocent!-there is no crime of which such a wretch might not be the perpetrator; against such an offender there is no armour for defence; he assaults the naked and unsuspicious, and, like the contagion of some horrid disease, he smites whilst the victim sleeps. Justice is disarmed against such a sinner, as concealment is his safeguard, and the eye of heaven alone discovers his iniquity.

It is not only expected of Masons that they should, with a conscientious soul, refrain from evil speaking, but also that they should speak well of each other.

To give a man his just and due character is so easy a duty, that it is not possible for a benevolent mind to avoid it; it is a degree of common justice which honesty itself prompts one to. It is not enough that we refrain from slander, but it is required of Masons that they should speak graciously and with affection, withholding nothing that can be uttered to a brother's praise or good name with truth. What a pleasure does it give the heart feeling benevolent dispositions, to give due praises! There is a selfish joy in speaking good, as selfapprobation succeeds it. Besides, the breast of such a man feels enlarged whilst he utters the praise of his neighbour; and he experiences the finest sensations of love, whilst he moves others to feel for the object of his regard.

The neutral disposition, which tends neither to

good nor evil is frigid and reserved; but the man that feels brotherly love is warm to commend. It is an easy and cheap means of bestowing good gifts and working good works; for by a just praise to industry you recommend the industrious man to those to whom he might never be known, and thereby you may enlarge his credit and his trade. By a just commendation of merit, you may open the paths of advancement through those whose interest might never have been petitioned. By a proper praise of genius and art, you may rouse the attention of those patrons to whom the greatest deservings might have remained a secret. It is a degree of justice which every man has a right to from his brother, that his virtues be not concealed.

To conceal the imperfections of our friend and cover his infirmities, is Christian-like and charitable, consequently befitting a Mason. Even the truth should not be told at all times; for where we cannot approve we should pity in silence. What pleasure or profit can there arise by exposing a brother? To publish his misfortune is infernal, to revile him for defects which he cannot mend, is inhuman !

From hence we may determine that the duty of a Mason leads to acts of benevolence; and that his heart and hand go together in all kindness and goodness.

Let us therefore be stedfast and immovable in all our ordinances, in order to evidence, before all men, that we are a brotherhood of virtue and honourable dispositions.

180

ARGUMENT XVIII.

ON THE INFERENCES TO BE DRAWN FROM THE PRECEDING ARGUMENTS, AND AN EXHIBITION OF THE SCATTERED RAYS WHICH ARE SO MASONICALLY DISPLAYED IN ALL AND EACH OF THEM.

I WILL conclude these arguments by collecting into one view the propositions and maxims which have engaged our attention throughout the whole work; thereby to give a favourable idea of the mysteries of Masonry, the progression and spirit of its institution, origin, and present state.

I may have seemed prolix, and appeared to have filled my arguments or representations with repetitions; but where that seeming impropriety takes place, it was necessary to urge a position which combated some vulgar error or prejudice.

From the ancient rites and ceremonies which I have laid before you, it will be easy for you to trace the origins of our own rites, and to discover the foundations on which our society was erected. It is evident they had their progress in the post-diluvian world, from Ham. I have been under a necessity sometimes to use terms of art, or expressions which to others may not carry distinct and clear images, but which to the brethren convey the united force of technicalities, symbols, and hieroglyphics.

When I speak of Masons under the denomination of a society, I mean Masons as embodied in lodges, according to the present manner in which such lodges are held. Our antiquity is in our principles, maxims, language, learning, and religion: those we derive from Eden, from the patriarchs, and from the sages of the east; all which are made perfect under the Christian dispensation. The light and doctrines which we possess are derived from the beginning of time, and they have descended through this long succession of ages uncorrupted; but our modes and manners are deduced from the eras of the Creation, the building of the temple at Jerusalem, and the Christian revelation.

I have explained to you that the structure of the lodge is a pattern of the universe, and that the first entry of a Mason represents the first worship of the true God. We have retained the Egyptian symbols of the sun and moon, as the emblems of God's power, eternity, omnipresence, and benevolence; and thereby we signify that we are the children of light, and that the science of our profession consists in the knowledge and adoration of the Almighty Architect, enthroned in the heaven of heavens. We derive from the Druids many of the Amonian rites; and are bold to say that we retain more of their ceremonials and doctrines than is to be found in the whole world besides; and have saved from oblivion many of their religious rites, in our initiation to the first degree of Masonry, which otherwise would have been lost to posterity. These we seem

to have mixed and tempered with the principles of the Essenes, who are a sect as ancient as the departure of the Children of Israel out of Egypt. The philosophy of the Egyptians, and the manners, principles, and customs of the Hebrews were introduced to this land by the Phoenicians, and make a part of our profession, so far as they are adapted to the worship of Nature's great Author, unpolluted by idolatry.

We hold our grand festival on the day of St. John, which is Midsummer-day, in which we celebrate that season when the sun is in its greatest altitude, and in the height of its prolific powers, as the great type of the omnipotence of the Deity.

The famous lawyer Lord Coke, in his treatise on "Lyttleton's Institutes," says, "Prudent antiquity did, for more solemnity and better memory and observation of that which is to be done, express substances under ceremonies."

It has been pointed out to you that the furniture of the lodge contains emblems illustrative of morality and good government. Prudence shines in the centre, or if you would apply this object to more sacred principles, it represents the blazing star which conducted the wise men to Bethlehem, and proclaimed the presence of the Son of God. It is here placed in your view, that you may remember to work out the works of your salvation. The tesselated or Mosaic work intimates to you the chequered diversity and uncertainty of human affairs, that you may not set your hearts on the