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I ^ iy y c THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY O^ CALIEORNIA LOS ANGELES

o L ORIGINAL DEDICATION. *^, To the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Ac.cEPTED MASONS. Gentlemen and Brethren, ^T^HE Antiquity of your excellent Fraternity, the universality of its plan, and the moral rectitude and purity of its design, claim a decided pre-eminence over every other Bond of Society into which mankind have ever formed themselves for the mutual welfare and happiness of each other. The nobleness of soul which first prompted to its institution, and the benevolence of heart which has ever since prevailed throughout all its members, will remain a subject of lasting admiration ! To you, therefore, as the promoters of liberal sentiment, and the guardians of every useful science, I commit this venerable pile of ancient Astrology ; a fabric obviously constructed by the Great Architect of the World, primeval with the Ordination of Nature, and inseparable from one of the grand subjects of your official contemplation. This science, by being little known, and less understood, may meet with censure and disapprobation from that description of learned, as well as of illiterate, men^ whose rule of faith uniformly keeps pace with their own arbitrary conceptions. But the dispassionate part of mankind, with every good Mason, will candidly weigh the evidence " by the balance of the Sanctuary," and reserve their sentence till after a fair and impartial trial. 2 Sheltered -"}

DEDICATION. Sheltered, therefore, under the wing of your fraternal regard, and patronized by every sober admirer of the secret works of Nature, I shall attempt to lay the Foundation-stone of an illustrious Building, sacred to Urania, upon which some more able and ingenious Workman, sanctioned by your patronage and protection, may hereafter raise the edifice to out-top the skies, and, like Jacob's ladder, pierce the starry regions, leading the intellectual faculties of the soul to tli,^ most sublime contemplations of God and Nature. I have the honour to profess myself, with unequivocal attachment and esteem, Gentlemen, Your Accepted Brother, And faithful Servant, E. SIBLY. Portsmouth CommoiV, Ib the Year of Masonry 5784.