I . W. GRAND LOlMiK ^licitnt, /ice, Mb ^cttptei SElasons, A i/ro \

Hence, Maaonry dispell the lowering cloud* of ignorance, wipe* away th*
suffocating miits of bigotry, and givj* freedom of thought, of speech, aad
of action ; and man'* mighty intellect, knocking off the clanking chain* of
•ervitude, and shattering into atoms tbe iron crusted shell of selfishness,
emerges from its prison-house, and steps forth in the beautiful sun-light of
knowledge in all its God-like majesty, " redeemeJ, regenerated, and disenthralled!"
It unbars the golden gates of science, unlock* the secret chambers of mystery,
affording a pleasure more delectable than the roseate sweets of Bacchus'
iry-wreathed goblet, more enrapturing than the mountain-moving mucic of
Orpheus' heaven-born lyre—unfolding a treasure moro desirable than the
pearl und*r " Oman's green water "—more valuable than the glittering ore
of the wild Sacramento.
It opens tho broad book of the Universe, with its ten thousand interesting
and instructive objects of contemplation ; the beautiful earth. " so grand, so
glorious in its action, and in itself "—its towering mountains—its quietly
sleeping vales—its soft rolling streams—its rushing torrents, and thundering
cataracts—the w.de world of waters too, old Ocean
• Boundless, endless, and sublime.
The imtfe of Eternitr, the Throne
Of the Invisible :"
The illimitable blue expanse above, like another mighty ocean, far, far
away—vast Archipelago, studded with countless glittering isles, throbbing
with light, in the (Treat pulse of Nature: Nay, the little glow-worm that
twinkles amid the darkness of Night—• tho bright Eye of the Universe, the
gorgeous sun that swings resplendent in the boundless realms of space ; the
animalcule that floats upon the downy b-wom of the breese ; the Luge mastodon
that shakes earth with bis ponderous weight; the tiny hummingbird,
that sports in the chal<strong>ice</strong> of the honey-suckle, the proud eagle, that
eleaves with unwearied wing the pure empyrean ; the insignificant flower,
that dares not raise its sinking form from the earth ; the beautiful lily, tbat
drinks the life-giving dews of heaven, and bowi its lovely head in bumble
gratitude ; the dwarfish, stunted oak, that boldly braves the chilling blast
nolis, that burthens the balmy sepbyr of the " sunny south " with the
delicious aroma of its snowy blossom ; the soft night wind, tbat grnt'y
creeps along, hardly rustling the crisp, withered leaves of aotnmn ; the
storm-king, that moves wildly onward, seated in his dark pavillion, wrapped
in his sombre mantle, and drawn furiously along by the dashing steeds of
the hurricane, whilst the lofty forest bends in humble awe at bis majestic
presence, and heaven's artillery greets big direful coming with firry flash
and deep-mouthed thunder :—the midnight sun, that bathes in spVndor the
bald summit of the Avasaxa, and gilds with golden resplendency the <strong>ice</strong>berg's
pellucid brow: the Aurora Boreal i«, that encircles the Northern Pete with
roseate majesty, and lights the weary Laplander to his cheerless boms ; the
hkmhng asset, eccentric wanderer of the skies, that for ages essence the blue