our eager pinions towards the sky? And, tired with earth and vanity, take to ourselves wings as a dove, and fly away and be at rest!

Thus, my hearers, have I endeavored to convey to you some of the ideas which presented themselves in contemplating our text. I hope the lessons of wisdom and innocence will be allowed a general application, although the enumerated qualities of the one and the other are purely masonic. Not that they are the prevailing features in every Mason's character; for there are bad men among us, as well as amongst Christians, and other associations for virtue. These are spots in our, and in their, feasts of charity. But the moralities pointed out are the acknowledged, appropriate, articles of every Mason's creed. In our lodges they are illustrated by the most expressive symbols, recommended by the most engaging examples, and enforced by the most pathetic lectures: while the signet of heavenly truth stamps them, on every yielding, receptive heart, in characters indelible. This solemn declaration I make in the fear of God, as well as love of the brethren. "Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded; and, if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you."19

In conclusion, allow me to observe to you that though you should understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and have not charity, it will profit you nothing. In vain is it, my brethren, that you have been illuminated by a sun more glorious than that which rules the day, if its kindly beams have not warmed and melted your heart to softenings of love and generosity. "To do good, then, and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." An opportunity is now offered for that liberal bestowment of alms so grateful to the indigent receiver, so honorable to the generous bestower, and so acceptable to the Lord of mercy, who acknowledges the smallest instance of relief done for one of the least of these his brethren as bestowed on himself.

In pleading for the poor of this town I can use all the emphasis which confraternity in alliance and affection excites. Here are my dearest kindred and friends. Here

19 Philippians iii., 15.

first I drew the vital air; and with it inhaled a sentiment of partiality for my native place which has blended itself with all the affections of my heart, and breathed in all my prayers to heaven. Having, with my beloved parents, shared deeply in the distress and desolations which war occasioned here, most sensibly can I feel for those who yet sink under the accumulated pressure of disappointed expectations and penurious circumstances. And devoutly do I hope that those who share a kindlier fate will now be excited tenderly to commiserate and bountifully relieve their unfortunate brethren.

Permit me, my fellow-townsmen, on this day consecrated to the memory of worth departed, to tender you the condolences of my sympathy upon the recent death of two most valuable members of our community. A Russell and a Gorham are lost indeed to earth, though gained to heaven. To the circle of private relations and extensive friendship they were deservedly and invaluably dear: their removal from these is felt with all the poignancy of remediless grief. To the interests of their country, humanity, and of virtue, they were patrons whose loss is irreparable. But they have left us the bright legacy of their example. Let us all strive to emulate their never to be forgotten excellences; and our names shall be recorded with theirs in the registry of immortal glory.

DISCOURSE VII.

"Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your father who is in heaven."-MATT. v.. 16.

As the sun, when he retires from the horizon, is succeeded by the planets and the stars, which irradiate the hemisphere he has quitted with a lustre, though more feeble, yet such as shews they partake of his brightness and supply his place: so when he, who is emphatically stiled the Sun of Righteousness, was about to leave this earth, he ordained that the faithful should rise in his stead to enlighten the world in the knowledge of his truth, and diffuse its salutary influence through every region and every age.

When, at the first creation, God said, Let there be light, and there was light; it was to the end that the darkness might be dispersed, and his works become visible and his perfections manifest: and when, at the second creation, our Lord Jesus Christ says, Let your light shine before men; he intends that those whom he had just called "the light of the world" should endeavor to dissipate the moral darkness of mankind by instructing them in the doctrines of his gospel and by displaying the happy effects of his religion in the purity of their lives and the lustre of their virtues.

There is great propriety and beauty in the metaphor which he here used. Nothing is more apt to attract the eyes and enliven the countenance than light; especially that which shines in a dark place: So nothing can more excite the observation, engage the attention, or gladden the hearts of beholders, than a fair, bright, and excellent character, appearing in the midst of a dissolute and corrupt generation. And, as all luminous bodies, in proportion to the degree of their own brightness, diffuse their light around them, and, at a distance, enlighten other

Delivered at the consecration of the Meridian Sun Lodge, in Brookfield, September 12, 1798.

bodies; so, in a moral and religious sense, a good example is a light shining in darkness, spreading its influence every way, diffusing instruction and knowledge, motives to reformation and encouragements to virtue.

There is observable in human nature a peculiar proneness to imitation. Hence some of our earliest habits are formed. In infancy we catch the ideas and conform to the manners of our parents and acquaintance. As we progress forward in life, we learn to follow and copy those whom we respect as superiors, venerate as instructors, or love as friends. We assimulate to our associates, imbibe their opinions, and imitate their conduct: We even take their mode of speech and tone of voice. Indeed, example has a kind of fascination or charm which it is almost impossible to resist. It carries with it both instruction and encouragement. Whilst advice or precepts make only a slight impression on the mind, and one which lasts for a very short time, example is a constant and powerful call to imitation. It works, though gradually and imperceptibly, yet more powerfully and sucessfully than we are aware of; like light, silent in its operation, but wonderful in its effects. It has an eloquence which reaches the heart. No language is more persuasive or instructive. It admonishes without exciting resentment, and corrects without giving offence, and thus possesses all the utility without the formality of reproof.

As a good picture strikes us more forcibly, and gives a more adequate, lively, and impressive idea of the object represented by it, than any description by words could do; so goodness or excellence of any kind represented by precepts, does not so powerfully move the affections as when we see it delineated in the life. Nor is there any thing which can so effectually recommend any system, and render it worthy of all acceptation, exclusive of its own intrinsic worth, as its beneficial and happy effects made visible in the characters of its advocates. These

2 Cicero observes, that the reason why we are formed, pleased, and able to admire the beauty and regularity in the heavenly bodies, was to admonish us to imitate their constancy and order in the noble beauty of a worthy behavior.

3 Validiora sunt exempla quam verba, et plenius opere docetur quam voce."

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with them undeniable evidence of the value of those principles from whence they flow, and whose tendency is thus conspicuously good.

In farther discoursing on the passage under consideration, I propose to shew, in the first place, to my hearers in general, the importance of a good example, as exhibiting and vindicating the principles of Christianity; and, secondly, apply the subject to the present occasion, by recommending to my brethren of the masonic family, a conduct which shall reflect lustre and honor upon the institution to which they belong.

1. It is the peculiar honor and glory of Christianity, in its first promulgation, that the behavior of its professors was agreeable to the heavenly precepts they inculcated; that the integrity of their morals was answerable to the purity of their faith; and that the goodness of their example, and the holiness of their conversation, the irreproachableness of their conduct, and the amiableness of their manners, adorned the doctrine they taught, and gave it peculiar lustre in the eyes of the world. Prophecies had foretold its intent, and miracles announced its divinity; but the life of its author and its followers exhibited the religion in its genuine influence, and shew its intrinsic excellency. And it seems to have been the design of our Lord that in every after age it should extend itself by the internal evidence of its admirable precepts and the external display of its benign effects. And, if its possessors did but act up to their principles, an appeal might be made to their lives for the best recommendation of their faith; and less would need be written in defence of the gospel: For every doubt and every objection must yield to the loveliness of example and the eloquence of practice. When the graces of Christianity adorn the character, and its virtues dignify the conduct, its beauty must attract every eye, and its worth gain on every heart. Men, from admiring, will insensibly be induced to imitate such illustrious models; which, "bettering all precept, shine before the world the fairest call to good." Such bright displays will not only be seen, but felt; and may kindle, even in the coldest and most insensible hearts, a noble emulation. For a good example, as has been already intimated, has not only in itself a tendency to form the tempers and