Dedication Of A Masonic Hall In 1777.

thing wanting— an ease , a grace , an elegance—which nothing but an intercourse with the softer sex could supply . It is from this most amiable and , accomplished part of the creation , that we catch those bewitching delicacies , those nicer , gentler , inexpressible graces , which are not to be taught by dull dry precept—for they are far beyond all rules of art—but are communicated from them to ns—I know not how—shall I say by contagion ? Accordingly

the succeeding order * was formed after the model of a young woman , with loose dishevelled hair , of an easy , elegant , flowing shape ; a happy medium between the too massive and too delicate , the simple and the rich . We are now arrived at that period when the human genius , which we have just seen in the bud , the leaf , the flower , ripened to perfection , and produced the fairest and sweetest fruit ; every ingenious artevery liberal science that

, could delight , exalt , refine , and humanize mankind . Now it was that Masonryf put on her richest robe , her most gorgeous apparel , and tricked herself out in a profusion of ornaments , the principal of which were eminently conspicuous in Solomon ' s Temple . And lo ! not satisfied with the utmost exertion of her own powers , she holds out her torch and enlightens the whole circle of arts and sciences . Commerce flies to her on canvass wings , fraught with the

produce and treasure of the whole universe ; painting and sculpture strain every nerve to decorate the building she has raised , and the curious hand of design contrives the furniture and tapestry . Music , poetry , eloquence—but whither does this charming theme transport me ? The time would fail me to recbunt half the blessing accruing to mankind from our most excellent and amiable institution . I shall conclude this part of my subject , therefore , with just

mentioning another ornament of Solomon ' s Temple , the two oherubims made of olive-tree , whose wings expanded from one wall to the other , and touched in the midst . The olive , you know , is the Symbol of Peace , and the very essence of the Cherubic Order is said to be love . Let peace and love for ever distinguish our society . Let no private animosities or party divisions , pollute these walls . Drive off from hence each thing of guilt and sin !

The very keystone , as it were , of our mystic fabric is charity . Let us cherish this amiable virtue , let us make it the vital principle of souls , " Dear as the ruddy drops that warm our hearts , " and it cannot fail to be the constant rule of our actions , the just square of our dealings with all mankind . And though pity may plead in more tender and eloquent terms , for the distress of a poor brother , yet let us be ready to extend the hand of relief , as far as our circumstances afford , to misfortune of every kind wherever it meets us . It was an everlasting reproach to the Jews , that they contracted their benevolence within the narrow sphere of their own sect and party . Let ours be free and unconfined ,

" Dropping like the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath . A good Mason is a citizen of the world ; and his charity should move along with him , like the sensible horizon , wherever he goes , and , like that too , embrace every object as far as vision extends . The temple , thus beautiful , thus complete , Solomon dedicated to the Lord , in a stle of wonderful devotion and sublimityas far above the most rapturous

y , flights of Pagan eloquence as the relig ion of the Jews was superior to Heathen , idolatry and superstition . "Lord , " says he , " thou that inhabi test eternity , and hast raised out of nothing the mighty fabric of this universe , the heavens , the air , the earth , and the