On The Principles Of Freemasonry.

years longer , of being able at this annual festival to send a message to New York at the commencement of the proceedings and to get an answer in return before they separated . There was one peculiarity of this which was even more extraordinary . It was , that the researches made to discover the lost cable had shown that the bottom of the

Atlantic was composed of a white blanket or covering of powder , Avhich stretched over the surface 1 , 500 miles in length and 1 , 300 miles in breadth . In this soft bed the Atlantic cable Avas lying , and the power of the electricity was every

day acquiring additional force , so that it Avas found the lost cable , which had lain in this avhite bed , had an electric power far greater than that sent in hy the hands of the Avorkmen . Here , then , Avas this provision of a snowy bed

for the Atlantic cable by the hands of nature ; and by whom was it made ? Was it made b y the giants who Avere said to have once inhabited the earth ? No . Was it made by the conquerors who had brought to bear on it the powers of

empires ? No . It Avas made by little creatures , so small that they were quite invisible to the naked eye , and could be detected only by the power of a microscope , and 10 , 000 of Avliich could be pub into a walnut shell . Was it possible to conceive of anything so extraordinary as that a substance of this description should have been

spread over such a surface from time immemorial , and done by living agents like those , and that it was by means of their agency that the great problem of uniting- Great Britain and America—he trusted in perpetual bonds—had been

accomplished ? This Avas a most extraordinary proof of the Divine prescience ; ancl if any man , after seeing that , and how it had come about , did not believe in the existence aud superintendence of a

Supreme PoAvei ' , he Avould not be converted though one rose from the dead . But there Avas more more in that than this . This powder lying at the bottom of the ocean was made of limestone , a most" fertilising ingredient . Now , observe what

has been going on . By the operation of these little impalpable creatures , Avliile the world had been fighting and struggling on the shore , why ihe creation of a new continent had been going on , not- under our eyes , but almost under our feet .

The Atlantic was stored with vegetable matter , and also with the remains of fishes , and there Avas also this Avhite powder made by these little labourers which was of this essentially fertilising

On The Principles Of Freemasonry.

character . Down below m the bowels of the earth there Avas an enormous mass of perpetual fire . It was not generally known , but it had been ascertained that at the distance of 35 miles beloAV the earth where Ave stood the heat was so

intense that not only would it melt any metal , but hold the very rocks of granite themselves in . solution . What was the purpose of nature in covering so large a part of the earth 'with the waves of the ocean ? The object he apprehended

was—it was a speculation of interest , but he could not avoid mentioning it—that the Atlantic ocean was the great workshop in which Nature was preparing additional land for the use of man . The time Avould come Avhen the superabundant heat

Avould expand , Avhen the ocean Avould be raised up , and a new earth would rise out of the bottom of the Atlantic . Thus , should the old world

become choked up with inhabitants and new space be required for the human race , this space would be fonnd provided in this new continent created by the little labourers , and from the animal remains at the bottom of the ocean . Should that

time ever come , they might feel assured of one thing—that the neAV earth for man would be as well adapted to his necessities and to promote his happiness as that which we noAV inhabit . They might be sure that the earth would be inhabited

by a happy , industrious , and prosperous race , and they might be sure that the labour of man would overcome all obstacles . And when that time came the voice of praise , he trusted , Avould ascend from . the temple , the song of birds be heard in the

1 fields , and the principles of Freemasonry overspread the earth as the Avaters cover the sea . The learned ancl eloqnnt baronet concluded Avith the

lines" Then shall the flocks on thymy pastures stray , And shepherds dance at summer ' s opening day . Each wandering Genius of tbe lonely glen Shall start to view the glittering haunts of men , And silence mark on woodland hei ghts around The village curfew , as it tolls profound . "

SKETCH or A GENTLEMAN . —Moderation , decorum , and neatness distinguish the gentleman ; he is at all times affable , diffident , and etudious to please . Intelligent and polite , his behaviour is pleasing and graceful . When he enters the dwelling of an inferior , he endeavours to hide , if possible , the difference between their rank in life ; ever willing to assist those around him , be is neither unkind , haughty , nor overbearing . In the mansions of the great the correctness of his mind induces him

to bend to etiquette , but not to stoop to adulation ; correct principle caution him to avoid the gaming table , inebriety , or any other fbible that could occasion him self-reproach . Pleased with tha pleasures of reflection , lie rejoices to see the gaieties of society , and is fastidious upon no point of little import . Appear only to be a gentleman , and its shadow will bring upon you contempt ; be a gentleman , audits honours will remain even after you are dead ,