pursuit. The study of the seven liberal sciences constituted the usual course of education prescribed by philosophers for the higher classes of mankind, and this course was termed encyclopædia, or instruction in a cycle.

The high antiquity of these and other philosophical attainments shews the avidity with which our ancient brethren pursued knowledge, even after they had deviated from the true worship of God. To trace these sciences back to their original may be counted an adventurous task; but if, amidst the doubtful evidence which remains of these times, we find strong presumptive proof that they were in the exclusive possession of Masons in the most early ages of the world, it will shew that Masonry is not a negative institution, but. that it is of some actual benefit to mankind.

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."*

It is highly probable that there existed a great variety of dialects before the Flood, which would cause some general elements to be both useful and

* Lect. of Masonry. Vide Preston's "Illustrations."

necessary for a beneficial intercourse amongst mankind. The migration of Cain into distant. parts would separate his family from the rest of the world for some ages; and the exclusive pursuits in which they were engaged would materially alter the original language: for new wants and new acquirements would demand new names and phrases, which, being adopted from fancy or accident, would in a few years change the character of the language altogether. The same causes would produce an alteration in the language of every tribe which lived separate from the general settlement of Adam; and repeated migrations doubtless took place, even during the life-time of that Patriarch, from the rapid increase of the human race, under the advantages of antediluvian longevity, which, without intercourse, must of necessity produce so many radical changes in the primitive language, as to fill the world with new and differing dialects, as infinite as the numerous tribes who might plant colonies in every part of the habitable globe.

Before the time of Enoch, neighbouring tribes had established a social intercourse with each other, which, by the invention of boats, might in some cases be extended to a considerable distance over the sea, having for its basis mutual wants and mutual conveniences. This intercourse rendered some simple medium necessary for the better interpreta

tion of strange languages. An object so desirable became the universal study; and it was at length effected by Enoch, who invented an alphabet to perpetuate sounds, and with it adopted some general rules for fixing the character of language :—and this was grammar, which had indeed been long used before such a science was actually known in its proper and specific form. Its essence was coeval with language: for the use of speech includes the idea of arranging words in such order as to convey an intelligible meaning. The invention of letters would naturally inspire the idea of converting this faculty into a science; and hence its most simple elements may be ascribed to Enoch.

This alphabet acquiring increased accessions of grammatical improvement before the translation of Enoch, was committed by that excellent Patriarch to Methusaleh, and by him to Noah, with whom it survived the Flood, and was transmitted, by him and his sons, to all the generations of the world. Noah carried his alphabet to China, where, in the hands of a jealous and suspicious people, it underwent changes without improvement. With the descendants of Shem it continued to improve, until it arrived at the perfection which the Hebrew dialect so early attained. The Persian language was founded by his son Elam, and is evidently a dialect of the Hebrew. The thirteen sons of Joktan carried the same language and alphabet into

Arabia, where, unpossessed of literary genius, its inhabitants suffered it to assume a new character, which, though nervous and bold, retained its original simplicity. This was the dialect in which the Book of Job is said to have been written, By Ham and his son Mizraim, this alphabet was conveyed to Egypt, whose philosophers and priests, in process of time, substituted hieroglyphical for alphabetical characters, that their attainments might be kept secret from the mass of mankind. The Egyptian Cadmus, improving upon the general principles of alphabetical knowledge, conceived the idea of adapting an alphabet peculiar to the characteristic principles of every distinct language. He carried a new alphabet, consisting of sixteen letters, into Greece, and for this reason is considered by many as the inventor of letters. The descendants of Japheth carried the same alphabet and the same language into the more remote parts of the world, varying into different shades, as new tribes were formed, and fresh migrations emanated from the colonies planted by the parent stock. "The Greek, the Latin, and the Sanscrit languages," says Sir W. Jones, "bear so great a resemblance to each other, that no philologer could examine them all three without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which perhaps no longer exists."*

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* Asiat. Researches, vol. i.

After the invention of letters, it would not be long before the difference between substances and qualities, action and passion, &c. would be marked by some peculiar designation; and this improving into a system, would define the precise limits of every national language, and an unerring standard would be produced, by which the inequalities of a wild or barbarous dialect might be reduced into symmetry and order.

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 intreat or exhort, to admonish or applaud."

LOGIC.

"Logic teaches us to guide our reason discretionally in the general knowledge of things, and directs our inquiries after truth. It consists of a regular train of argument, whence we infer, deduce, and conclude, according to certain premises laid down, admitted, or granted; and in it are employed the faculties of conceiving, judging, reasoning, and disposing, all of which are naturally