the lodge is adorned with an image of the sun; which he ordained to rise from the east and open the day, thereby calling forth the people of the earth to their worship and work in the walks of virtue.

The great Author of all has given the moon to govern the night, a fit season for solemn meditation. When the labours of the day are ended, and man's mind is abstracted from the cares of life, then it is for our souls' recreation to walk forth with contemplative minds to read the great lesson of the Almighty in the starry firmament, and in the innumerable worlds which are governed by his will; and thence to meditate on his omnipotence. Our thoughts returning from this glorious scene towards ourselves, we discern the insignificance of man, and by a natural inference, confess the benevolence of that God who regards us, such mean atoms, in the midst of his mighty works; whose universal love is thus divinely expressed: "That not a sparrow shall fall unpermitted to the Father of all, for the hairs of our head are numbered !"

very

Until matter was taken in hand by the great Architect, the earth remained dark, and without form; but the divine fiat was no sooner pronounced than there was light!-Creation was delivered from darkness, and the sun forthwith appeared in glorious brightness. The luminary of nature fostered the seeds of universal life, and vegetation flourished: the moon yielded her influence to the waters, and attraction originated the tides!

Remembering such wonders in the beginning, we pray for the auspicious countenance of heaven on our virtuous deeds, and assume the figures of the sun and moon as emblematical of the great light of truth discovered to the first men; thereby implying that, as true Masons, we stand redeemed from darkness, and are become the sons of light! acknowledging in our profession our adoration of Him who gave light unto his works! Let us then, by our practice and conduct in life, show that we carry our emblems worthily; and as the children of light, that we have cast away the works of darkness, obscenity and drunkenness, hatred and malice, Satan and his dominions; putting on the armour of light in charity, benevolence, justice, temperance, chastity, and brotherly love, as the acceptable service in which the great Master of all from his beatitude looks down with approbation on human beings.

The same divine hand, pouring forth bounteous gifts, which has blessed us with the sight of his glorious works in the heavens, has also spread the earth with a beauteous carpet; he has beautified it in various colours, fruits and flowers, pastures and meads, golden fields of corn, and green valleys, mountains skirted by nodding forests, and lands flowing with milk and honey: he has made it (as it were in Mosaic work), giving a pleasing variety to the eye of man: he has poured upon us his gifts in abundance, not only the necessaries of life, but

also "wine to gladden the heart of man, and oil to give him a cheerful countenance;" and that he might still add beauty to the scene of life wherein he has placed us, his highly-favoured creatures, he has bounded and bordered the earth with the ocean; and the wise Creator has made man in his own image; not meaning in the likeness of his person, but spiritually, by breathing into his nostrils the breath of life, and inspiring him with that resemblance of the Divinity, an intellectual spirit. He encompassed the land by the sea, not only for that salubrity which should be derived from its agitation, but also that to the genius of man, a communication should be opened to all the quarters of the earth; and that by mutual intercourse, men might unite in mutual good works, and all become as members of one society. These subjects are represented in the flooring of the lodge.

The universe is the temple of the Deity whom we serve:--wisdom, strength, and beauty, are about his throne, as the pillars of his works; for his wisdom is infinite, his strength is omnipotence, and beauty shines forth through all his creation in symmetry and order: he has stretched forth the heavens as a canopy, and the earth he has planted as his footstool he illuminates his pavilion with the stars, as with a diadem, and his hand he holds forth majesty and glory: the sun and moon are messengers of his will, and all his law is concord. pillars supporting the lodge are representative of these divine powers.

The

A lodge, where perfect Masons are assembled, represents these works of the Deity.

We place the spiritual lodge in the vale of Jehosaphat,' implying thereby that the principles of Masonry are derived from the knowledge of God, and are established in the judgment of the Lord; the literal translation of the word Jehosaphat, from the Hebrew tongue, being significative of those divine ideas. The highest hills and the lowest valleys, were, from the earliest times, esteemed sacred, and it was supposed the spirit of God was peculiarly diffusive in such places.3 So in Ezekiel, "Upon the top of the mountain, the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy." It is said in the Old Testament, the spirit of God buried Moses in a valley in the land of Moab; implying that from divine influence he was interred in such

1 A belief was prevalent in the minds of the early Christians that the second advent of Christ would occur in the year One Thousand of the Christian era, and that the valley of Jehosaphat, which is a deep ravine adjoining the city of Jerusalem, was to be the scene of the final judgment.-EDITOR.

2 It was said in the old York Lectures, that we meet on the highest of hills or in the lowest of valleys in commemoration of a remarkable custom with the ancient Jews in the building of temples, schools, and synagogues; and as, by the Jewish law, whenever ten of them assembled together for that purpose, they proceeded to work, so it was with our ancient brethren, who formed themselves into a lodge whenever ten operative Masons were assembled, consisting of the Master, two Wardens, and seven Fellow-Crafts.-EDITOR.

3 St. Cyril informs us, in his fourth book against Julian, that the phrases, the highest of hills, and heaven, are synonymous in the sacred writings.-EDITOR.

hallowed retirement. On Elijah's translation the son of the prophets said to Elisha, "Behold, now there be with thy servants fifty strong men: let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master, lest peradventure the spirit of the Lord has taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley." Hence was derived the veneration paid to such places in the earliest ages, and hence the sacred groves of the Orientals and Druids. They chose such solemn situations for their public worship, conceiving that the presence of the Deity would hallow them: they set up their altars there, and shadowed them with trees, that there, as did Adam, they might "hear the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden."

In the corruption and ignorance of after ages, those hallowed places were polluted with idolatry; -the unenlightened mind mistook the type for the original, and could not discern the light from darkness; the sacred groves and hills became the objects of enthusiastic bigotry and superstition ;the devotees bowed down to the oaken and the graven image, as if they were divine. Some preserved themselves from the corruptions of the times, as we find some sages and select men, to whom

4 The fraternity in Scotland, according to the traditions of the Scots Masons in the ancient lodges of Kilwinning, Stirling, Aberdeen, &c., used formerly to assemble in the monasteries in foul weather; but in fair weather, they met early in the morning on the tops of hills, especially on the day of St. John the Evangelist, and from thence walked, in due form, to the places where they were to dine. (North. Court., p. 129).