ILLUSTRATIONS OF MASONRY.

CHAPTER I.

ON THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES OR ASSOCIATIONS ANALOGOUS TO FREEMASONRY, FROM THE EARLIEST AGES TO THE SUBVERSION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE BY THE GOTHS.

'Although the origin of our fraternity is clouded with darkness, and its history is, to a great extent, obscure, yet we can confidently say that it is the most ancient society in the world; and we are equally certain that its principles are based on pure morality— that its ethics are the ethics of Christianity-its doctrines, the doctrines of patriotism and brotherly love-and its sentiments, the sentiments of exalted benevolence. Upon these points there can be no doubt. All that is good, and kind, and charitable it encourages-all that is vicious, and cruel, and oppressive it reprobates.'-DE WITT CLINTON, Governor for the State of New York, 1824.

IN entering upon the task of endeavouring to illustrate and explain the ceremonies and symbols of Freemasonry, the author does not profess to present any novelties, but only to bring together the results of the labours of others in a clear and readable form-as a text-book for the Brethren to dilate upon in their various Lodges, for the instruction of the younger members of the Craft.

In writing upon the ceremonies and mysteries great caution must, of course, be at all times used, lest we

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ORIGIN OF FREEMASONRY.

should go too far, and lay bare to those who are not members of the Fraternity, secrets only to be divulged to the Brethren, and then only under circumstances well understood by Masons.

The object being to illustrate the different degrees of Freemasonry, it may naturally be expected that some conjectures should be offered as to its origin. None of the ancient historians furnish us with actual testimony on this point; the oral traditions of the Fraternity refer us to the East, and trace its rise to King Solomon; but there are traces of some such institutions long before that time.

The institution of Freemasonry undoubtedly must have been framed by a people who had made considerable advance in science. The Egyptians, in the time of Moses, were proficient in all the arts and sciences, as the gigantic works constructed in those early ages, still existing, prove. We are told that the fraternity of ancient Egypt was denominated the Hiero-Laotomi, or sacred builders.

Diodorus, a Greek historian who compiled The Library of Histories,' about 60 B.C., describing the manners and usages of different countries, was in Egypt, and we are indebted to him for many particulars which, but for him, we should never have known. We learn that the priestly governors of Egypt, to conceal their civil and religious polity from the vulgar, instituted certain mysteries, which were taught by symbols and hieroglyphics, the secret of which was confined to a select few of the priesthood, and to them only under a most solemn obligation. The fame of the Egyptian institution caused its imitation by other people, as the Phoenicians, from whom we think it probable it came to Britain by the Druids. Champollion says: A theocracy or government of priests was the first known to the Egyptians, and it is necessary to give the word priests the acceptation that it bore in ancient times, when the ministers of religion were also the ministers of science and learning; so that they united in their own persons two of the noblest missions with which men could be invested-the worship

of the Deity, and the cultivation of science.' The intent and purpose of those stupendous fabrics, the pyramids, was a great mystery, and a mystery they still remain. All authorities who have investigated the subject concur in fixing the age of these piles at 4,000 years. Many of the works of this ancient nation now in the British Museum are of equal, if not greater age, and their execution is marvellous.

Moses was initiated into the secrets and mysteries of the priestly order when in Egypt, and some have imagined that the Hebrews assisted in the construction of the pyramids; but in all probability these wondrous efforts of Masonic skill were hoary with age when the children of Israel settled in the land of Goshen, and were emblems of sublime truths to a civilized nation when Abraham was a wanderer in the wilderness.

By Egyptian colonists, according to our biblical chronology, the arts were carried to Greece two or three centuries before the age of Moses.

By the Israelites the arts of building were conveyed to the promised land; and when they became a settled people, the remembrance of the beautiful fabrics they had seen in Egypt led them to attempt constructions suited to their actual home. But it is evident that by the death of their great master, Moses, the Israelites were not in full possession of the knowledge requisite to complete the glorious fabric which the G.A.O.T.U. had in a vision to King David directed his son Solomon to erect; as we find by Holy Writ, that the wisest man' needed the assistance of the King of Tyre. Tyre and Sidon were the chief cities of the Phoenicians; the latter boasts an antiquity anterior to any other whose site can be determined. It was a place of considerable importance in the time of Joshua, who speaks of it as great Sidon.' Hence it is evident that the Phoenicians were far advanced in the arts of life when the Israelites reached the promised land. Homer frequently mentions the Sidonians. All superior articles of dress, all good workmanship, and all ingenious. trinkets and toys are ascribed by him to the skill and

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PRINCIPLES OF GOOD AND EVIL.

industry of the Sidonians. These people were great adepts in the sciences of their time, particularly astronomy and arithmetical calculation. The Phoenicians were an industrious people, and their cities were the emporia of commerce,-commercial communities having ever been the best promoters of the arts and sciences. They have the reputation of being the inventors of scarlet and purple dyes; and the buildings of Tyre were very magnificent, the walls being 150 feet high. From this city, with materials to assist King Solomon in erecting his temple, came, by order of his sovereign master, Hiram, the widow's son. The Israelites also formed among the Chaldeans, in after intercourse, a more extensive acquaintance with one science-astronomy-than they themselves were possessed of; and this science, we all know, can only be approached by a long study of mathematical formulæ.

Among the most remarkable men of the early ages of the world, ZOROASTER, in science and knowledge-and it is said, Knowledge is power'-must have foremost rank. Of Zoroaster, so called by the Greeks, or Zerdusht, as the Persians render his name, the Orientalists have the most extravagant statements. His history, when divested of all extraneous matter, can be reduced to this account. He appeared in Persia or Iran about 550 B.C., and with remarkable rapidity established a new faith. The ancient religion which Djamshid had established in Persia had lost its influence over the people, and new sects sprung up in every direction when Zoroaster appeared. taught that God existed from all eternity, and was alike infinity of time or space. There were, he affirmed, two principles in the universe-good and evil: the one termed Ormuzd, or the good principle (God Himself), the presiding agent of all good; the other, Ahriman (the devil), the lord of evil. God, the creator of all things, has produced light and darkness, and from the composition of these two-of generation and corruption-the composition and decomposition of the parts of the world are affected. There is an admixture of good and evil in everything

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PRINCIPLES OF THE ANCIENT MAGI.

5

created. The angels of Ormuzd sought to preserve the elements, the seasons, and the human race, which the spirits of Ahriman wished to destroy; but the power of good was eternal, and therefore must prevail. Light was the type of the good spirit, darkness of the evil spirit. Hence the Magian, or Guebre, the disciple of Zoroaster, when he performs his devotions, turns to the sacred fire upon the altar, or towards the sun when in the open air, as the light by which God sheds His Divine influence over the whole, and perpetuates the works of creation.

The principles of the ancient Magi, and the adherents to fire-worship, are handed down to us in the ZendAvesta, which is attributed to Zoroaster; and the chief doctrine inculcated and to be noticed is the eternity and self-existence of the Supreme Deity, whose ineffable attributes are emphatically celebrated. Prayer is to be made to Light, or Fire-not as being themselves deities, but as conveying the sacrifice to Divine Intelligence.

The original purity of the religion of Zoroaster soon became corrupted, and it gradually sank into a mere idolatrous worship of the sun and fire; and driven out of Persia by the Mohammedans, fled to the mountains, and at last left the country. They finally settled in Guzerat, in Hindostan, where they are to this day.

Zoroaster's fame has been transmitted to us as an astrologer and magician, and we are told that he communicated his knowledge by slow degrees. Porphyrius states that Darius was so proud of having been initiated into the mysteries of the art by Zoroaster himself, that he ordered the fact to be engraven on his tomb. We are also told that Pythagoras derived his system from the Persian philosopher.

There is considerable disagreement as to the era in which this philosopher flourished. Huet (Demonstratio Evangelica) identifies him with Moses; Abulfaraj, the celebrated Arabian historian, says he was the servant of the prophet Elijah; Abu-Mohammed says he was servant