roughness and smoothness, figure, solidity, motion, and

extension.

These three senses, hearing, seeing, and feeling, are deemed peculiarly essential among Masons.

SMELLING

Is that sense by which we distinguish odours, the various kinds of which convey different impressions to the mind. Animal and vegetable bodies, and indeed most other bodies while exposed to the air, continually send forth effluvia of vast subtlety, as well in the state of life and growth, as in the state of fermentation and putrefaction. These effluvia, being drawn into the nostrils along with the air, are the means by which all bodies are smelled. Hence it is evident, that there is a manifest appearance of design in the great Creator's having planted the organ of smell in the inside of that canal, through which the air continually passes in respiration.

TASTING

Enables us to make a proper distinction in the choice of our food. The organ of the sense guards the entrance of the alimentary canal, as that of smell guards the entrance of the canal for respiration. From the situation of both these organs, it is plain that they are intended by nature to distinguish wholesome food from that which is nauseous. Every thing that enters into the stomach must undergo the scrutiny of tasting; and by it we are capable of discerning the changes which the same body undergoes in the different compositions of art, cookery, chemistry, pharmacy, &c.

Smelling and tasting are inseparably connected, and it is by the unnatural kind of life men commonly lead in society, that these senses are rendered less fit to perform their natural offices.

The proper use of these five senses enables us to form just and accurate notions of the operations of nature; and when we reflect on the objects with which our senses are gratified, we become conscious of them, and are enabled to attend to them, till they become familiar objects of thought. The senses, and indeed all the operations of the mind, are so difficult to understand and to analyse, that the most judicious may fail in the attempt to explain them. The mind is ultimately affected by the senses; when that is diseased, every sense loses its virtue. The fabric of the mind, as well as that of the body, is curious and wonderful; the faculties of the one are adapted to their several ends with equal wisdom and no less propriety, than the organs of the other. The inconceivable wisdom of an Almighty Being is displayed in the structure of the mind, which extends its power over every branch of science; and is, therefore, a. theme peculiarly worthy of attention. In the arts and sciences which have the least connexion with the mind, its faculties are still the engines which we must employ; the better we understand their nature and use, their defects and disorders, we shall apply them with the greater success. In the noblest arts, the mind is the subject upon which we operate.

Wise men agree, that there is but one way to the knowledge of nature's works-the way of observation and experiment. By our constitution we have a strong propensity to trace particular facts and observations to general rules, and to apply those rules to account for other effects, or to direct us in the production of them. This procedure of the understanding is familiar to every human creature in the common affairs of life, and is the only means by which any real discovery in philosophy can be made.

On the mind all our knowledge must depend; what, therefore, can be a more proper subject for the investigation of Masons? By anatomical dissection and observation, we

become acquainted with the body; but it is by the anatomy of the mind alone we discover its powers and principles.

To sum up the whole of this transcendent measure of God's bounty to man, we shall add, that memory, imagination, taste, reasoning, moral perception, and all the active powers of the soul, present a vast and boundless field for philosophical disquisition, which far exceeds human inquiry, and are peculiar mysteries known only to nature, and to - nature's God, to whom we and all are indebted for creation, preservation, and every blessing we enjoy.

The seven liberal arts and sciences are next illustrated in this section, it may not therefore be improper to insert here a short explanation of them.

GRAMMAR.

Grammar teaches the proper arrangement of words according to the idiom or dialect of any particular people, and that excellency of pronunciation, which enables us to speak or write a language with accuracy, agreeably to reason and correct usage.

RHETORIC.

Rhetoric teaches us to speak copiously and fluently on any subject, not merely with propriety alone, but with all the advantages of force and elegance; wisely contriving to captivate the hearer by strength of argument and beauty of expression, whether it be to entreat and exhort, to admonish or applaud.

LOGIC.

Logic teaches us to guide our reason discretionally in the general knowledge of things, and direct our inquiries after truth. It consists of a regular train of argument, whence we infer, deduce, and conclude, according to certain pre

mises laid down, admitted, or granted; and in it are employed, the faculties of conceiving, judging, reasoning, and disposing; all of which are naturally led on from one gradation to another, till the point in question is finally determined.

ARITHMETIC.

Arithmetic teaches the powers and properties of numbers, which is variously affected, by letters, tables, figures, and instruments. By this art, reasons and demonstrations are given for finding out any certain number, whose relation or affinity to another is already known or discovered.

GEOMETRY.

Geometry treats of the powers and properties of magnitudes in general, where length, breadth, and thickness are considered, from a point to a line, from a line to a superficies, and from a superficies to a solid.*

By this science, the architect is enabled to construct his plans and execute his designs; the general to arrange his soldiers; the engineer to mark out ground for encampments; the geographer to give us the dimensions of the world, and all things therein contained, to delineate the extent of seas, and specify the divisions of empires, kingdoms and provinces; by it, also, the astronomer is enabled to make his observations, and to fix the duration of times and seasons, years and cycles. In fine, geometry is the foundation of architecture, and the root of the mathematics.

* A point is a dimensionless figure, or an indivisible part of space. A line is a point continued, and a figure of one capacity, namely, length. A superficies is a figure of two dimensions, namcly, length and breadth. A solid is a figure of three dimensions, namely, length, breadth, and thickness.

MUSIC.

Music teaches the art of forming concords, so as to compose delightful harmony, by a mathematical and proportional arrangement of acute, grave, and mixed sounds. This art, by a series of experiments, is reduced to a demonstrative science, with respect to tones, and the intervals of sound. It inquires into the nature of concords and discords, and enables us to find out the proportion between them by numbers.

ASTRONOMY.

Astronomy is that divine art, by which we are taught to read the wisdom, strength, and beauty of the Almighty Creator, in those sacred pages the celestial hemisphere. Assisted by astronomy, we can observe the motions, measure the distances, comprehend the magnitudes, and calculate the periods and eclipses, of the heavenly bodies. By it, we learn the use of the globes, the system of the world, and the preliminary law of nature. While we are employed in the study of this science, we must perceive unparalleled instances of wisdom and goodness, and through the whole creation, trace the Glorious Author by his works.

Here the emblem of plenty is introduced and explained.

From this theme we proceed to illustrate the moral advantages of Geometry; a subject on which the following observations may not be unacceptable:

Geometry, the first and noblest of sciences, is the basis on which the superstructure of Masonry is erected. By geometry, we may curiously trace Nature, through her various windings, to her most concealed recesses. By it, we discover the power, the wisdom, and the goodness of the Grand Artificer of the Universe, and view with delight the proportions which connect this vast machine. By it