was further incited by an ancient prediction of Moses. Bnt David as yet was ignorant of the place where the Temple of the Lord was to be erected; for it still remained in the possession of the Jebusites, and on that spot Araunah had established his threshing floor. At this period Mount Moriah exhibited a picturesque appearance, being covered by groves of olive trees; and for this reason it was called "the field of the wood." After David had made the above determination, the Lord directed Nathan the prophet to communicate to him, "Thus saith the Lord, shalt thou build me an house for to dwell in. When thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son."

DAY AND NIGHT. The sun is the monarch of the day, which is the state of light. The moon of the night, or the state of darkness. The rays of the sun falling on the atmosphere, are refracted and diffused over the whole of that hemisphere of the earth immediately under his orb; while those rays of that vast luminary which, because of the earth's smallness in comparison of the sun, are diffused on all sides beyond the earth, falling on the opaque disc of the moon, are reflected back on what may be called the lower hemisphere, or that part of the earth which is opposite to the part which is illuminated by the sun; and as the earth completes a revolution on its own axis in about twenty-four hours, consequently each hemisphere has alternate day and night.-Adam Clarke.

DAY'S WORK. The day's work closed when the sun set in the west. All the expressions used in scripture about hired servants imply that they were hired by the day. This is still the case in the east, where not only labourers, but mechanics, whether they work for a householder or for a master in their own craft, are paid by the day, and regularly expect their day's wages when the sun goes down. It has never come to our knowledge that they work at any trade after sunset, even in winter. -Kitto.

DEACON. The duties attached to the office of a deacon are, "to convey messages, to obey commands, and to assist at initiations, and in the general practice of the rites and ceremonies of the Order." The jewel of their office is a dove, as an emblem of peace, and characteristic of their duties.

DEATH. The heathen nations, before the coming of Christ, wanted the blessing of revelation, and knew nothing of the destination of man after he was laid in the silent tomb. One of their own poets tells us this: "Alas," says he, "when the plants and flowers of the garden have perished, they revive again, and bloom the succeeding year; but we, mighty, wise, and powerful men, when once we die, remain insensible in the hollow tomb and sleep a long and endless sleep-a sleep from which we never shall be awakened." Seneca said, "post mortem nihil est." Virgil describes death as an sleep, and an eternal night." (En. x. 745.) But so inconsistent were the heathen philosophers upon these abstruse subjects, which they had received only from dark and uncertain tradition, that in the sixth book of the Eneid, the same poet describes with great minuteness the places of reward and punishment which are assigned to mankind after death, as the consequence of their personal responsibility.-Bishop Mant.

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DECLARATION. Every candidate, previous to his admission, must subscribe his name at full length to a declaration of the following import, viz.:-"To the Worshipful Masters, Wardens, Officers, and Members of the Lodge of, No.-. I, - being a free man, and of the full age of twenty-one years, do declare, that unbiassed by the improper solicitation of friends, and uninfluenced by mercenary or other unworthy motive, I freely and voluntarily offer myself a candidate for the mysteries of Masonry; that I am prompted by a favourable opinion conceived of the institution, and a desire of knowledge, and that I will cheerfully conform to all the ancient usages and established customs of the Order. Witness my hand this day of Witness.

Constitutions.

DECLARING OFF. When a brother ceases to visit a Lodge, and to pay his monthly subscriptions, he thereby declares himself off the lodge. When a brother requires to leave the lodge for a few minutes, either at labour or at the banquet, he must request leave to do so. Many brethren whose bad conduct is brought before the lodge, and who are afraid that they will be excluded or expelled, take this means of declaring off. We also make use of this expression when any lodge has ceased to assemble for a length of time. A Freemasons' lodge, or assembly of the brethren, is properly tyled when none but brethren are present, and when no stranger can gain admittance. -Gudicke.

DECORATIONS. In disposing of the furniture and decorations of a lodge, great discrimination is required; and very frequently the imposing appearance which a lodge ought to present to the eye, is lost for want of due attention to these preliminary arrangements. The expert Mason will be convinced that the walls of a lodge room ought neither to be absolutely naked nor too much decorated. A chaste disposal of symbolical ornaments in the right places, and according to propriety, relieves the dulness and vacuity of a blank space; and though but sparingly used, will produce a striking impression and contribute to the general beauty and solemnity of the scene.

DEDICATION. From the building of the first temple at Jerusalem to the Babylonish captivity, the lodges of Freemasons were dedicated to King Solomon, from thence to the advent of Christ to Zerubbabel, who built the second temple, and from that time till the final destruction of the temple by Titus, they were dedicated to St. John the Baptist. But owing to the losses which were sustained by that memorable occurrence, Freemasonry declined; many lodges were broken up, and the brethren were afraid to meet without an acknowledged head. At a secret meeting of the Craft, holden in the city of Benjamin, this circumstance was much regretted, and they deputed seven brethren to solicit St. John the Evangelist, who was at that time Bishop of Ephesus, to accept the office of Grand Master. He replied to the

deputation, that though well stricken in years, having been in his youth initiated into Masonry, he would acquiesce in their request, thus completing by his learning what the other St. John had begun by his zeal; and thus drew what Freemasons call a line-parallel; ever since which, the lodges in all Christian countries have been dedicated to the two St. Johns.—York Lectures.

DEFAMATION. To defame our brother, or suffer him to be defamed, without interesting ourselves for the preservation of his name and character, there is scarce the shadow of an excuse to be found. Defamation is always wicked. Slander and evil speaking are the pests of civil society, are the disgrace of every degree of religious profession, and the poisonous bane of all brotherly love. Defamation is never absolutely, or indeed at all, necessary; for suppose your brother has faults, are you obliged, because you speak of him, to discover them? has he no good qualities? sure all have some good ones; make them then, though ever so few, the subject of your conversation, if ye must talk of him; and if he has no good qualities, speak not of him at all.-Inwood.

DEGREE. A degree, as the word implies, is merely a grade or step, or preparation, as one grade is but preparatory to another higher, and so on in progression to the "ne plus ultra." A degree sometimes, but not in Freemasonry, means a class or order.

DEGREES. Why are there degrees in Freemasonry? The reason why this question is asked by the men of the world, is because they are men and not schoolboys who are initiated, and because the whole of the Order could be communicated to them at one time. But still there are degrees, or steps, and truly for this simple reason, as there is no art or science which can be communicated at one time, so neither can Freemasonry; and although they are men of mature age who are initiated, yet they require to be proved step by step. Freemasonry science which requires both time and experience, and more time than many Masons, especially government officers or tradesmen, can devote to it; the only time they in fact can appropriate to this purpose being their hours of recreation. It is, therefore, good that it is com

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municated by degrees. Those degrees are communicated in the lodge at the end of certain determinate periods, or immediately after each other, according to the regulations of the lodge, or the candidate's power of comprehension. -Gadicke.

DEMIT. A Mason is said to demit from the Order when he withdraws from all connection with it. In the regulations of the Grand Lodge, dated 25th November, 1723, it was provided, that if the Master of a lodge is deposed, or demits, the Senior Warden shall fill the chair until the next appointment of officers.

DEMOCRACY. Symbolical Masonry, under whatever form it may be propounded, is a Catholic institution, democratic in its form and government, and universal in its operation. This is demonstrable from any of the definitions of the Order; from the free election of its chief magistrate, and the inferior governors of every priate lodge, annually and by universal suffrage, and from the reputed form and extent of its lodges. If it were deprived of any of the above attributes it would be no longer Freemasonry; and all its beneficial effects upon the mind and manners of men, would be scattered to the winds of heaven.

DEPORTMENT. Since many of our forms and operations are necessarily secreted from common inspection, the generality of mankind will make up their opinion of the society from the deportment of its members. This ought to serve as a very powerful call to every one of us, uniformly and openly to display those qualities and virtues so strongly inculcated and warmly recommended in the lodge. To little purpose shall we commend the institution, and boast the excellence of its principles and purposes, if our lives give not corroborative evidence to our assertions, and prove not the propriety of our encomiums. If we appear neither wiser nor better than the uninitiated, the world will begin to suspect the efficacy of our tenets; and if no good effects are apparent, they will doubt whether any are produced.-Harris.

DEPTH. The depth of a lodge is figuratively said to extend from the surface to the centre.