LIBRARY

OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
GIFT OF"
Mrs. SARAH P. WALS WORTH.
Received October, 1894.

^Accessions No 5^>
.
S^f"- Class No.

r
I
^^0^
V*" 9* *H*
*
[gilts ESI If]
A
 EXPOSITION OF THE MYSTERIES,

OR

RELIGIOUS DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS

OF THE ANCIENT

EGYPTIANS, PYTHAGOREANS, AND DRUIDS.

ALSO: AN INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN, HISTORY, AND PURPORT OF

FREEMASONRY.

BY JOHN FELLOWS, A. M

L'Unity de Dieu etait le grand Dogme de tous les Mysteres.

NE W-YORK:
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOli, AND SOL>' I'-Y (ioULD. HANK;- ANT CO

1R35.
ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the year 1835, by JOHN FELLOWS, in the
Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of
New-York.
 EXPLANATION OP THE FRONTISPIECE

The two Pillars represent two imaginary columns, supposed to be placed at the
equinoxes, to support tho heavens. The one on the left is called Boaz, and indicates
Osiris, or the Sun the one on the right is called Jachin, and designates Isis, the sym-
:

bol, its productions, and of the Moon.

both of the earth and
Arch, supported by the two pillars, is a representation of the semicircle made
The
by the apparent course of the sun in the upper hemisphere, from Aries to Libra inclu-
sive from whence originates the name of the royal arch degree of masonry.
;

The Seven Stars, are the Pleiades, " a small platoon of stars, says Pluche, very
remarkable, most known, and easiest to be distinguished, of all the constellations.
They were particularly useful to regulate the informations given to the disciples of the
priests, by means of an
atlas." "They were, says Bailey, very famous among men,
because they intimate the season of the year."
The Blazing Star is Anubis, the Dog-star; whose rising forewarned the Egyptians
of the approach of the overflowing of the Nile. Hence the great veneration in which
it was held by them, and which has* descended to the Freemasons.

The G indicates Geometry, the knowledge of which was of vast importance to the
Egyptians in measuring their lands, the boundaries of individual property being
removed by the inundation of the Nile. This science, consequently, was considered by
them divine ; and acquired a sort of mystical union with the Deity. The G, however,
was not intended as the initial of the word God, that term being unknown to the

Egyptians.
The Square and Compass, as instruments in the science of geometry, became an
emblem of justice; because through their means, every one had his "old land-marks"
restored to him.
The Cornucopia, or Horn of Abundance, was a symbol used by the Egyptians to
denote the sun's being in the sign Capricorn, when the harvest was gathered, and con-
sequently an abundance of provisions laid up in store.
The Armorial Bearings are those of royal arch masonjy for an explanation of ;

which, see Cherubim, page 243.

The C/ieckcred flooring, called mosaic or musaic work, represents the variegated
face of the earth in the places where the ancients used formerly to hold their religious
assemblies. This imitation was made when temple-worship was introduced, to recon-
cile the people to the change. For the origin of the term mosaic, or musaic work, see
page 288.
The Cenotaph, or Mock-Coffin, used irf the anniversaries, is typical of the death of
the sun in the inferior hemisphere, under the name of Osiris ; who is personated by the
Hiram of masonry.
The Mysterious Trunk, on the left of the coffin, is a copy of those used by tho.
ancients for a deposition of memorials of past events ; and the box, on tho right, is the
form of those used by Freemasons for a similar purpose.
Among the emblems of masonry, in Cross's Chart, is the figure of a Key, which is

also generally displayed in masonic Monitors. The key was the attribute of Anubis,
the Dog-star, in aftertimes denominated Mercury, and indicated the closing of one year,
and opening of another ; because the Egyptians formerly commenced the year at the
rising of this star. employment was afterwards extended to the opening and shut-
Its

ting the place of departed spirits. The Popes of Rome, consequently, now claim it as
their appropriate badge of office. The meaning of this symbol not having been pre-
served in the lodge, is there assigned to its Treasurer.
 ADVERTISEMENT.

As some works, frequently alluded to in this volume, may not be familiar to readers
in general, it is requisite to describe them more particularly than was convenient to do
when making references to them. In fact, often the names of the authors only are
mentioned ; of such, therefore, I will here give the titles more fully, with the dates of
the editions.
The work of Bailey, from which " An Univer-
many quotations are made, is entitled
salEnglish Dictionary of Words, and of Arts and Sciences, illustrated with 260 cuts."
London, 1759. This is a continuation of his etymological dictionary, but entirely dis-
tinct from that work.
"An Exposure of Freemasonry ;" published in London, 1825, in a periodical, entitled
"The Republican," edited by Richard Carlile.
"
Light on Masonry." By Elder David Bernard Utica, 1829. This work contains
:

an exposition of 48 degrees of Freemasonry.

"A Ritual of FreemaSonry, illustrated with numerous engravings." By Avery
Allyn Boston, 1831. This volume treats of 33 degrees of the order.
:

Volney'e Ruins, here made use of, is the New- York edition of 1828.

ERRATA. Many errors, which may appear in some copies, were corrected after a few
sheets were struck off. Those which mar the sense, and mistakes in the spelling of
classical words, as well as others in the learned languages, which the general reader
could not correct, will alone be taken notice of.
For Et foror and conjux, Page 22, Line 13, read, Et soror et conjux. p. 28, 1. 10,
repofitum and Ofiridis; repositum, JOsiridis. p. 11, 1. 38, Nemefis; Nemesis. p. 30, L
32, Jevov; Jehov. p. 35, 1. 26, that their founder of colony; that founder of their col-
ony. p. 40, 1. 9, Dionyisus Dionysius. p. 41, 1. 10, Sabio
; Saboi. p. 49, 1. 27, ;

Hannadi; Hannabi. p. 52, 1. 12, Daedalus; Daedalus. p. 56, 1. 7, Pegassus; Pega-

sus. p. 56, 1. 13, Stabro; Strabo. p. 86, 1. 14, covering; convening. p. 86, 1. 15,
That Thus.;

N- B. Ibid., page 152, line 10, refers to Moore's Epicurean, to which the preceding
extract from Dupuis should have been credited.
The running title of Ch. Ill, should have commenced at page 142, instead of 156.
In the Defence of Freemasonry is referred to as having been before noti-
page 318,
ced, whereas that article was printed subsequently.
The extract commencing at page 333, and ending at 335, should be credited to Fou-
teneileta History of Oracles.
 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Dogmas and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians 1-97

CHAPTER II.

Origin, Nature, and Object, of the Ancient Mysteries; abridged

from Bishop Warburton's Divine Legation of Moses with ;

masonry, etc. - ....

notes and remarks, pointing out their identity with Free-
100-141
CHAPTER III.

An Examination of Virgil's Sixth Book of the Eneid: in which

it is shown, that the
allegorical descent of Eneas into Hell,
is no other than an enigmatical
representation of his initia-
tion into the Mysteries -
142-177
CHAPTER IV.

The Metamorphosis of Apuleius and the Amour of Cupid and

:

Psyche. Also a Sketch of the Life and Doctrines of

:

Pythagoras, the founder of the sect that bore his name :

and the "Doctrines and Customs of the Druids, the priests

of the ancient Britons -
178-224
CHAPTER V.

Opinions and Observations of learned writers on Freemasonry,

' who are in full communion with the order - -
225-257
CHAPTER VI.

An Inquiry into the Origin and History of Freemasonry 258-274

CHAPTER VII.

Analysis of Freemasonry ; in which the symbols, and original

intention of the Institution, are explained - -
275-356
CHAPTER VIII.

Miscellaneous Articles. Ceremonies observed in laying the

corner stone of Freemasons' Hall, London, 1775 and at ;

its Dedication in 1776. Antimasonic Writers. Barruel

and Robison. The Illuminati. Horrors of the American
Revolution. Defence of Masonry. Conclusion. 357-403
 INDEX TO CHAPTER I.

A.
 INTRODUCTION.

THE original object of the secret rites of freemasonry has

been a subject of inquiry forupwards of six hundred years, and

the enigma seems not to have been satisfactorily solved. The

initiated, as well as those without the pale of the order, are equally

ignorant of their derivation and import. What mote it bet is a

question as difficult of solution now as when first propounded by

king Henry VI. of England.
The intention of this work is to endeavor to unravel the intri-

cate web in which the mystery is involved, by tracing the order

back to its source, and, by showing its intimate connection and

similitude to institutions more ancient, put it beyond a doubt, that
it
sprang from, and is a continuation of the rites and ceremonies
observed in those establishments.
Had a work, taken notice of by the Abbe Barruel, fallen into
the hands of the editor, he would probably have been saved much
trouble in the prosecution of this research. " We recommend,
says he, to our reader to peruse the treatise of a most learned and
zealous mason, dedicated Demen die es Verstehen, or To those

who can understand. He leaves no stone unturned throughout

antiquity to prove the identity of the ancient mysteries of Eleusis,

of the Jews, of the Druids, and of the Egyptians, with those of

freemasonry."
In pursuance of this course, it becomes necessary to take a
transient view of the dogmas and customs of Egypt in the remotest
2
X INTRODUCTION.

periods of its history ; for it

appears evident, that this country was
the salient point from which the religious observances of the
ancient world commenced.
What are emphatically called the mysteries, is but another
name for religion ; and an exposition of what they consisted, is of

course embraced in the subject as forming a parallel with the rites

of masonry. Independent of the main design of the work, these

topics in themselves possess great interest as matters of curiosity ;

which is enhanced by observing the close affinity which they bear

to the practices of the masonic order at the present day.
" all the ancient nations which have been
Among distinguished
in history, there is none more worthy of our notice than the king-
dom of Egypt. If not the birth-place, it was the early protector

of the sciences ; and cherished every species of knowledge, which

was known or cultivated in remote times. It was the principal

source from, which the Grecians derived their information ; and,

after all its windings and enlargements, we may still trace the

stream of our knowledge to the banks of the Nile." (New Edink

Ency.)
Whatever may be thought of the doctrines of the mysteries,

they enforced the principles of morality by the most terrific scenical

representations of the torments of the wicked on the one hand, and

of the most pleasing spectacles of the happiness of the righteous

on the other, in a future life. These scenes are faintly copied in

royal arch masonry, and the same morals, in like manner, incul-
cated.

The writer is not a devotee to the mystic rites of the craft :

he is not prepared to vindicate the outrages committed by indi-

viduals of the order, instigated by a fanatical zeal for the protec-

tion of frivolous ceremonies ; Jior will he apologize for the use that

m y have been made of the fraternity to promote the views of

 INTRODUCTION. XI

If any improper influence in this respect, has

political aspirants.

been employed, as is asserted, he does not hesitate to pronounce it

anti-masonic against the rules of the order ;

for both religion, on

which itself was originally founded, as well as politics, are totally

excluded from the lodge.
The most material and best founded objection that has been

brought against masonry, is the oaths which it

imposes upon the
brethren. They are shocking to the taste of the present age :

their continuance was an enormous blunder in the revivers of the

order in 1717. They were then no longer necessary. Masonry
contains nothing which at that time rendered its members amena-
ble to the laws of England.

The false construction put upon these oaths, has implicated the

order in the foulest deeds ; and perhaps caused the masonic obli-

gations to be considered paramount to legal oaths administered in

courts of law, and thus perverted the course of justice. The only
means, therefore, of avoiding evil, and of wiping away the
this

stain at present attached to the society, is a total abandonment of

the oaths.*

However desirable this may be to many of the brethren, it is

* "At the very threshhold of our mysteries, an oath of secrecy, extremely minute in
all its details, and tremendousin its sanctions, has from time immemorial been exacted
of every candidate. It is not to be supposed that such an oath had no foundation at
first. It would argue a profligacy incredible, to invent one so sacred and inviolable
merely for the sake of swearing it. Nor does such a solemnity comport with the design
or practices of any association of architects whatever. For what is there, or what could
there ever have been, in the art of building, or in the whole circle of science merely, that
could require or even warrant so appalling an obligation? Neither does it agree with
the present state of the institution for masonry harbors no treasons nor blasphemies.
;

Its designs at the present day are not only innocent, but laudable- It requires us to
fear God and promote the happiness of man. The inventors of this oath, then, must
have most unpardonably trifled with the awful solemnity of such an engagement, if, at
the time of its institution, there did not exist a cause, proportionate, at least in some
degree, to the precautions used against its violation. (Vid. The way to words by
things, or an attempt at the retrieval of the ancient Celtic, in a volume of tracts in the
library of Harvard College.) What this cause was, we can determine only by probable
conjecture. But we may presume that it must have originated in some great personal
danger, if not death, apprehended to members of the institution from the populace, if
their secrets were laid open to the world. Every mason, by reflecting on these hints,
will satisfy his own mind, that at the first constitution of our fraternity, its great object
was not solely the advancement of the arts, still less of architecture alone. (Green-
leaf's Brief Inquiry into the Origin and Principles of Freemasonry.
Xl INTRODUCTION.

resisted by others on the absurd and superstitious notion, that no

alterations can take " the ancient land-marks" of the
place in
institution ; which, like the laws of the Medes and Persians, must
remain eternally the same :
when, notwithstanding, within about
fifty years, the old inclosures have been broken down, and the
boundaries of the order extended so as to include an immense

territory beyond the ancient limits.

After this unqualified reprobation of the oaths, I confidently

assert, that nothing is taught or practised in the lodges contrary to

the strictest morals. The exposition of the ritual by those even

who are inimical to the order, proves the fact. And, as has been
often urged, if there were no other testimony, the characters of

many of those who are known to be members, is a sufficient

guarantee that nothing improper would be tolerated.

If it be said, that a partial feeling is created among the brethren,
that operates injuriously to the public good, it
may be answered,
that the same objection may be urged against all associations of

individuals, whatever may be their views and intentions.

This partiality, by the way, has been the cause of relieving

many in distress, and even saving the lives of valuable citizens.

A case of this kind happened in the American revolutionary w ar,

r

which is often alluded to by masonic writers. Col. McKenstry

was taken prisoner by the Indians, who were preparing to put him
to a cruel death. In this emergency, he gave the masonic sign of

distress, which induced a brother mason, a British officer, to inter-

fere and save his life.

While this transaction reflects honor upon the officer as a

mason, it at the same time leaves an indelible stain upon his charac-

ter as a man, which equally attaches to his king and government.

What employ savages as auxiliaries in war, and then stand by and
!

look coolly on, while they amuse themselves in tomahawking and

 INTRODUCTION. Xlll

scalping their prisoners, unless the latter can give the talismanic

signal, and pronounce the Shibboleth of masonry ? But as kings

are considered by their subjects not fo be moral agents, but looked

upon as minors or idiots who can do no wrong, the prime minister

at the time, lord North, and his principal adviser, lord Sackville,

must bear the bulk of the odium.

This rule of masons to grant aid to each other under certain

circumstances, was probably derived from the laws of Egypt :

by
" He who had neglected or refused to save a man's life
which,
when attacked, if it were in his power to assist him, was punished
as rigorously as the assassin : but if the unfortunate person could

not be succoured, ihe offender r was at least to be impeached, and

penalties were decreed for any neglect of this kind. Thus the

subjects were a guard and protection to one another ; and the

whole body of the community united against the designs of the
bad." (Rollings Anc. Hist.)

Some apology for the awful oaths administered in masonic

lodges, is
perhaps due on the ^core of precedent ; which has in all

times greatly influenced the customs and government of the world,

and sometimes sanctified principles the most absurd and pernicious.

The were protected by the most severe oaths in
mysteries
Greece and Rome, and, no doubt, were equally so in Egypt, the

place of their birth. And, moreover, in the two former countries,

if not in the latter, revealing the secrets of these mysteries was
punished with death by the laws.
For this there was a substantial reason : the greater mysteries

taught the doctrine of one Supreme God, and that polytheism was
an error ; admitting, at the same time, that the sun, moon, and
stars, were minor divinities under the superintendence of the one

Supreme. The belief, however, in Hero-go4s was so engrafted

on the minds of the ignorant multitude, that it was feared the open
XIV INTRODUCTION.

promulgation of a doctrine in opposition to that faith, would lead

to disturbances in the state that
might produce great evil. This

mystery consequently was confided only to a chosen few of the

most intelligent, under the sanction of an oath and the penalties of
the law.

When freemasonry was first established in England, soon after

the edict of Canute, in the beginning of the eleventh century, (as is

presumed,) prohibiting in toto the \Druidical worship, the strongest

oaths were required to bind the initiated to secrecy : for had the
real intent of its founders been known, it would doubtless have
cost them their lives.

That Canute was superstitious, and of course vindictive, is

evident from his having made a pilgrimage to Rome, through

excessive religious zeal, in 1030 ; and, therefore would, no doubt,
have punished the Druids for an infraction of his edict with merci-
less cruelty.

By the incorporation of the Danes with the nation, (says

Lingard, in his History of England,) the rites of paganism had

again made their appearance in the island. Canute forbade the

worship of the heathen gods, of the sun or moon, of fire or water,

of stones or fountains, and of forests or trees.

This ferocious and sanguinary warrior, in 1030, made a

pilgrimage to Rome. On the road he visited the most celebrated

churches, leaving every where proofs of his devotion and liberality.

In his return he proceeded immediately to Denmark, but despatched

the abbot of Tavistock to England with a letter, describing the

object and issue of his journey. In this letter he says, " It is long
since Ibound myself by my vow to make this pilgrimage but I ;

had been hitherto prevented by affairs of state, and other impedi-

ments. Now, however, I return humble thanks to Almighty God,
that he has allowed me to visit the tombs of the blessed apostles,
 INTRODUCTION. XV

Peter and Paul, and every holy place within and without the city
of Rome, and to honor and venerate them in person. And this I

have done, because had learned from my teachers, that the apostle
I

St. Peter received from the Lord the great power of binding and

loosing, with the keys of the kingdom of heaven. On this account

I thought it
highly useful to solicit his patronage with God."
He concludes his letter as follows " Lastly, I entreat all
:
my
bishops, and all the sheriffs, by the fidelity which they owe to m
e

and to God, that the church dues, according to the ancient laws,

may be paid before my return, namely : the plow-alms, the tithes

of cattle of the present year, the Peter-pence, the tithes of fruit in

the middle of August, and the kirk-shot at the feast of St. Martin,

to the parish church. Should this be omitted, at my return, I will

punish the offender by exacting the whole fine appointed by law .

Fare ye well."
Furthermore, it
may be remarked, that the customs of the
times in which I am endeavoring to show that masonry was estab-
lished, sanctioned the most horrible oaths.
"
The multiplicity of oaths in the judicial proceeding of the
middle ages,* (says Dr. Henry, in his History of Great Britain,
v. iii, had the same effect that it will always have, of
p. 425,)

diminishing men's veneration for them, and giving occasion for

frequent perjury. The legislators of those times employed several

devices to prevent this, by awakening the consciences, and keeping
alive the religious fears of mankind. With this view, their oaths
were couched in the most awful forms of words that could be
invented; and these forms were frequently changed, that they

might not lose their effect by becoming too familiar."

Many who have written with great asperity against masonry,
under false impressions of its general tendency, have doubtless

* The middle or dark

ages are described as comprehending the thousand years from
the taking of Rome by the Goths, in the middle of the fifth
century, to the taking of
Constantinople, by the Turks, in the middle of the fifteenth century. Edit.
XVI INTRODUCTION.

been actuated by the purest motives, whilst others, such as the

Abbe Barruel and Professor Robison, have been instigated by the

most malignant political prejudices. I shall take some notice of

these two writers in the sequel.

 UT
/* .

AN

EXPOSITION

MYSTERIES, &C.

CHAPTER I.

DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.

IT will be attempted, in this work, to show that the mysteries and

ceremonies of the celebrated order of Freemasons are derived from the
religious dogmas and customs of ancient nations, particularly those of
Egypt, where the foundation of the whole machinery of religious mys-
teries, as far as is known, was first laid.
In order, therefore, to attain a comprehensive view of this subject, it
becomes necessary to be well informed of the rites, customs, and cere-
monies, of the ancient inhabitants of that famous country. And as the
Abbe Pluche, in his History of the Heavens, has treated more minutely
of these topics, and explained them more satisfactorily, than any other
author that has fallen under my observation, I shall commence this
volume with extracts from his work.
Critical histories of the fabulous gods of Paganism, under the sem-
blance of truth, have been transmitted from age to age, and been gene-

rally received as narratives of real facts. Pluche has unveiled many

of these poetical fictions, and pointed out the source from which
they
were derived.

My limits will not

permit me to give the whole of his expositions j
but, on account of the great merit of the work, with which, it is pre-
1
2 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

sumed, but few American readers are acquainted, I have not confined
the selections merely to such parts as have a particular bearing upon
the subject in hand.
As the author is little known in America, I will give an abstract of
a sketch of his life and writings, contained in La Biographic Univer-
selle, Paris, 1830.

Anthony Pluche, a celebrated writer, was born at Reims, in 1688;

and obtained the appointment of Professor of Languages, in the Uni-
versity of that city. Two years afterwards, he passed to the chair of
Rhetoric, and was raised to holy orders. The bishop of Laon, (Cler-
mont,) becoming acquainted with his talents, gave him the presidency
of the College of his diocese. By his assiduity and science, the insti-
tution was much improved; when particular circumstances occurred
that troubled his tranquility, and obliged him to relinquish his employ.
The Intendant of Rouen confided to him the education of his son, at
the request of the celebrated Rollin. The Abbe Pluche having fulfill-
ed this trust with success, left Rouen for Paris, where he gave, at first,
lessons on Geography and History. Through the notice of distin-
guished authors, his name soon became celebrated, and he sustained
that celebrity by his works.
He gave successively, to the public, first, the Spectacle de la
Nature, (Nature Displayed,) in 9 volumes, 12mo. This work, equally
instructive as agreeable, is written with much clearness and elegance.

Second, The Histoire du Ciel, (History of the Heavens,) in 2 vols.,

12mo. In this work is to be found two parts, almost independent of

each other. The first contains learned researches upon the origin of
the poetical heavens. This is nearly a complete mythology, founded
upon new and ingenious adeas. The second is the history of the opin-
ions of philosophers on the formation of the world. The author here
shows the uncertainty of systems the most accredited. Besides a dic-
tion noble and well turned, one here finds an erudition that does not

fatigue. As to the ground of the system exposed in the first part, Vol-

taire calls it, probably with reason, the Fable of Heaven. Third, La
Mecanique des Langues, Paris, 1735, in 12mo. He here proposes a
means more short for learning languages. Fourth, Concorde de la
Geographic des differens ages; Paris, 1764, in 12mo.

Plan of the Work.

I FIND myself under the necessity of oversetting, or unravelling,

febles, in order to establish truth. The men most celebrated, who have
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.

treated of the formation of the heavensand of the earth, or of their mu-

were pagans, philosophers of different nations, and sacred
tual relations,
writers. Those systems which have been given by the Egyptians,
Phenicians, the Greeks, and Romans, are obszured by fabulous recitals,
and by metamorphoses full of absurdity. Although they were the most
ingenious arid polished of all people, they formed ideas so strange on the
government of the heavens, and on the powers which sustain the human
species, that there is no need to combat them with argument they carry ;

their own refutation with them. But, from the depth of this frightful dark-
ness, it is possible to elicit light. Through these fictions, I find a fact,
the explication of which shows us what has given birth to fables it is ;

the development of them. The first fixed point, is the signification of

the names and figures which have served, from the highest antiquity,
to characterize the sun, the moon, and the stars, according to their

different situations. The usages of the ancients, and the inspection of

nature, will aid us in discovering the sense, the knowledge of which
will lead us immediately to perceive the enormous abuse that has been
made of the institutions of the first men, and place in sufficient light the
origin of the idolatry of our fathers.
Another effect of this research, is to teach us, that the same mistake
which has peopled the heavens with chimerical divinities, has given
birth to a multitude of false pretensions on the influences of the hea-

venly bodies, and the errors which still tyrannise over most minds. If
our history of the heavens produces no other benefit than the discovery
of the mistakes which have precipitated the human race into errors that

disgrace it, the consequences of which still disturb the repose of soci-

ety, this w ill undoubtedly be an advantage

7

sufficiently satisfactory.
My remarks be useful to youth, by "unveiling to them those
may
fabulous personages which they hear so often mentioned. I have still

greater hopes, perhaps with too much presumption, that this small essay
might be of some use to teachers themselves. I should think myself
happy to have assisted their work, by some views which they might
afterwards improve and proportion to the wants of their
disciples.
Teachers, however well qualified, generally want leisure to undertake
researches of any considerable length and the more judicious
;
they are,
the more disagreeable is it to them, to be for a long series of
years
handling fables almost always absurd or scandalous, without being
for the tiresomeness of these ridiculous stories,
recompensed by the
satisfaction of being able at least to find out the origin of them. , I here
4 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

derive all the branches of idolatry from one and the same root. 1

endeavor to show, that the same mistake has given birth to the gods,

goddesses, metamorphoses, auguries, and oracles. The fables thus

reduced to their true value, will amuse without danger and the mas-
;

ters possibly will like and adopt a principle, whose great simplicity

puts it within the reach of children themselves.

The chief benefit I should be glad to reap from my labor, would be
the facilitating the study of nature, and even that of religion, in restrain-

ing the said study within the bounds of possibility and necessity, both
which are still of no small extent.
The engravings accompanying the work are all drawn from the
monuments of antiquity. They are marked as follows : all those
found in Antiquity Explained, by Montfaucori, with an those col- M ;

lected by Cartari, with a C those which are on the vase of agate of

;

St. Denys, with a V and those which are taken from the table of Isis,
;

published by Pignorius, with a T.

Vsages Common to All Nations.

We are sometimes amazed at the conformity found in many respects

between the practices of the Hebrews, and those of the nations given
over to the grossest idolatry. Most of the learned, in order to account
for such a similitude of usages, say that false religions only copied and
mimicked the true and from the conformity of some particulars of
;

mythology with sacred history, they think themselves authorized to

affirm, that the heathens had the communication of the holy scriptures,
or must have frequented the company and imitated the Hebrews.
Other learned men, and among the rest, Sir John Marsham, in his
Rule of Times, being sensible how much unknown to, and as it were,
separated from other nations, the Hebrews were, how much disliked
by those that knew them, and of course, how little fit they were to
serve them as models, and finding, moreover, from a multitude of evi-
dent proofs, that the sacrifices, the ceremonial, and the very objects them-
selves, of idolatry, were prior to Moses and the holy scriptures, they
have maintained, that the laws and the ceremonies of the Hebrews were
an imitation of the customs of Egypt and the neighboring nations, but
adapted to the worship of one God.*

* Great use is made of the Bible, in the ceremonies of

masonry which may be
;

accounted for by the conformity in the customs of the Hebrews with those of more
ancient nations, from which the masonic order is derived. Edit.
 THE ANCIENT ECYPTI 5

Symbolical Writing.
The Egyptians, even the most ancient of them, were acquainted with
the signs of the Zodiac. Their monuments, which are known to be of
the earliest antiquity, are covered with figures, among which those of
the crab and the wild goat, of the balance and the scorpion, of the ram
and the bull, of the kid, the lion, the virgin, arid the rest, are frequently
found.
The twelve symbolical names, which signify the twelve portions,
both of the year and the heavens, were a prodigious help towards regu-

lating the beginnings of sowing, mowing, harvest, and the other works
of mankind.
It was found
very convenient, to expose in public a small figure, or
a single letter, to notify the exact time when certain general works
were to be begun in common, and when certain feasts were to be cele-
brated. The use of these figures appeared so convenient, that they by
it to more
degrees extended things than the order of the calendar.
Several symbols, fit to inform the people of certain truths, by some anal-

ogy or relation between the figure and the thing they had a mind to
have understood, were devised.
This method of saying or showing one thing, to intimate others, is
what induced among the eastern nations the taste of allegories. They
preserved, for a long time, the method of teaching every thing under
symbols, calculated, by a mysterious outside, to excite curiosity, which
was afterwards recompensed by the satisfaction of hating discovered
the truths which they concealed. Pythagoras, who had travelled

among the eastern nations, thence brought that custom to Italy.

Ham, and those of his descendants who came to inhabit the banks of
the Nile, and the whole Lower Egypt, first tried to cultivate the earth

according the order of the year, and in the manner used in other
to

countries; but no sooner were they ready to cut down their harvest, in
the driest season of the year, and without the least appearance of rain,*
but the river swelled, to their great amazement it flowed on a sudden
:

over its banks, and took from them those provisions which they thought
themselves already sure of. The waters continued to rise to the height
of twelve, fourteen, or even sixteen cubits, f covered all the plains,

* Xever does it rain in the

Delta, (Lower Egypt,) in the summer, and but rarely and
in small quantities during the whole course of the y- .:. J~ 7 Vartis. Edit.
tin the time of Herodotus, sixteen cubits were necessary, or at le&- over-
flow the Delta, The same number was sufficient in the time of the Roman?. Before
the rime of Petronius, says Strabo. plenty was not known in the Delia, unless the Nils
rose to fourteen cubits. Ibid. (Edit.)
6 DOGMAS AND C'USTOMS OF

the plains, carried away their cattle, and even the inhabitants them-
selves. The inundation lasted ten or eleven weeks, and oftentimes
more.
It is true, the overflowing left on the land a mud which improved it;

but, the difficulty of obtaining- a harvest, since the summer the only time

proper for it, brought the storm and the inundation, caused Ham to quit
both the lower and the middle Egypt, and retire to the higher. He
there founded the city of Thebes, originally called Ammon-no, Amman's
abode. But many, finding it inconvenient to remove from lower Egypt,
which after the retiring of the waters, was throughout the remaining

part of the year like a beautiful garden, and a delightful place to dwell
in, endeavored to fortify themselves against the return of the waters.

They observed from one year to another, that the overflowing was

always preceded by an Etesian (annual) wind, which blowing fromnorth

to south, about the time of the passage of the sun under the stars of the

crab, drove the vapors towards the south, and gathered them in the
middle of the country, (Ethiopia, now Nubia and Abysinia) whence the
Nile came which there caused plentiful rains, that swelled the waters
;

of the river, and brought on the inundation of lower Egypt.

But they wanted the means "of knowing exactly the time when it
should be necessary for them to be prepared for the inundation. The
flowing of the river beyond its banks happened some days sooner or

later, when the sun was under the stars of the lion. Near the stars of

Cancer, though pretty far from the band of the zodiac towards the south,
and a few weeks after their rising, they see in the morning one of the
most brilliant, if not the largest star of the whole heaven, ascending the
horizon. appeared a little before the rising of the sun, which had
It

rendered it almost invisible for a month or two before. The Egyptians

then pitched upon the rising of this magnificent star as the infallible
sign of the sun's passing under the stars of Leo, and of the beginning of
the inundation. That star became the public mark, on which every one
was to keep a watchful eye, not to miss the instant of retiring to the

higher grounds. As
was seen but a very little time above the hori-
it

zon, towards the dawning of the aurora, which becoming every instant
clearer, soon made it disappear, it seemed to show itself to the Egyp-
tians, merely to warn them of the overflowing, which soon followed.

They then gave this star two names having a very natural relation to
the helps they borrowed therefrom. It warned them of the danger ;

whereupon they called it Thaaut or Tayaut, the dog they called it ;

also the barker, the monitor, in Egyptian, Anubis ; in Phenician, Han-

 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 7

nobeach ; which, by-the-by, shows the analogy there was between these
t\vo languages, notwithstanding the diversity of many words, though
chiefly in the pronunciation, which made them appear quite different.
The connection of this star and the rising of the river, caused the people
to call it
commonly the Nile-star, or barely the Nile. In Egyptian and
in Hebrew, Sihor ;
in Greek, Seirios; in Latin, Sirius. The Egyptians
gave it besides, but in latter times, the name of Sothis or Thotes, which
is the same with his other name, Thot, the dog, with a different pro-
nunciation.
The inhabitants, retiring into their towns on the warning of the
northern wind and the dog-star, remained idle for two months or more,
till the waters were
perfectly drained. Therefore, the prudence of the
Egyptians, before the overflowing, chiefly consisted in observing the
termination of the vernal winds, the return of the northerly which began
with the summer, and at last the rising of the dog-star, which circum-

stance was to them the most remarkable point of the heavens.

Daring their inaction, after the rising of the river its banks,
beyond
their attention was directed to the observance of the return of the south-
erly \vinds, more moderate than those of the spring, and which facilita-
ted the flowing of the river towards the Mediterranean, by the conformity
of their blowing with its direction, which is from south to north ;* and
also to measuring the depth of the river, in order to regulate their hus-

bandry according to the quantity of mud, which was always proportioned

to the degree of the increase.

I will here remark, that the Anubis or Dog-Star, so useful to the ancient Egyptians,
is the Blazing- Star of masonry and, although the craft are ignorant of its origin as a
;

masonic symbol, they are actually taught the moral drawn from its original emblem-
atical use.
"
The blazing-star represents that prudence which ought to appear conspicuous in
the conduct of every mason but is more especially commemorative of the star which
;

appeared in the east, to guide the wise men of Bethlehem, to proclaim the birth and the
presence of the Son of God." (Allyn, p. 47.)
What connection can possibly exist between a star and prudence, except allegorically
in reference to the caution that was indicated to the Egyptians by the first appearance
of this star, which warned them of approaching danger?
Mr. Converse, in his explanations of the intention of this emblem in his Symbolical
"
Chart, observes, Approaching evil is frequently averted by a friendly admonition."
"
Pluche, in a part of his work not quoted above, says, The names given to this public
sign were Anubis the barker, the giver of advices, or Tahaut the dog." The meaning
then that has been handed down to masons of their blazing-star, completely identifies
it with Anubis the dog-star.

* See Plutarch de Isid. arid Osiris. ; also 31. De Mallet's description of Egypt.
 8 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

The advice given to the ancient Egyptians by this star was undoubtedly very impor-
tant to them, but it cannot be of the least advantage to the masons of Europe or Ame-

rica.

As to the allusion to the star that guided the wise men to Bethlehem, every intelligent
and candid mason will acknowledge its absurdity because he must know, that the
;

principles and dogmas of freemasonry, contained in the ancient mysteries from which
it is derived, existed long before the birth of Jesus Christ.
Webb,in his "Monitor," says, "The Mosaic pavement is emblematic of human life,

chequered with good and evil ; the beautiful border which surrounds it, those blessings
and comforts which surround us; and which we hope to obtain by a faithful reliance on
divine providence, which is hieroglyphicalbj represented by the blazing-star in the

center."
This symbol is peculiarly, if not exclusively, applicable to the Egyptians who inhab-
ited the Delta, who by
placing a reliance on the warning providentially given by this
star, and in consequence retiring to the high ground with the produce of their agricul-

ture, might enjoy the comforts that surrounded them.

The same necessity which rendered the Egyptians astronomers,

made them also painters and writers. The inspection of the heavens
had taught them at last how to regulate their tillage, so strangely crossed
by that disposition which was peculiar to Egypt. The custom of giving
symbolical names to the objects that served them as rules, most natu-

rally led them a rude manner the figures -of these symbols,
to delineate in

in order to inform. the nation of the works in common to be done, and

which it was dangerous to misreckon.
of the annual events with regard to
This service was performed by a number of persons appointed for that
purpose and maintained at the public expense, whose duty it was to
study the revolutions and aspects of the heavenly bodies, and to com-
municate the necessary information to the people.
Such is the original of the sacerdotal order so ancient in Egypt the ;

chief functions of which always were the study of the heavens and the

inspection of the motions of the air. Such is the origin of the famous
tower where that company was lodged, and where the characters of the
several works and the symbols of the public regulations were carefully
delineated. Which symbols appeared in time very mysterious, when
the meaning of them was forgotten. That tower, the structure of which
has caused so much criticism, was at that time, without any affectation
-
of mystery, calted the Labyrinth, that is, the tower, the palace.
Now, if we would in a reasonable manner unriddle some of the most
usual of the Egyptian symbols, we ought to consult the wants of the
Egyptian colony. It is there we are naturally to look for the meaning
of the figures which were exposed to the eyes of the whole nation
assembled.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS,

The hawk and the hoop were the names and the symbolical figures

given the two winds, the return whereof the Egyptians were most con-
cerned to observe. The hawk signified the Etesian northerly wind,
which, in the beginning of the summer, drives the vapors towards the
south, and which covering Ethiopia with thick clouds, there resolves
them and makes the Nile swell all along its course. The
into rains,

hoop, on the contrary, signified the southerly wind which promoted the
draining of the waters, and the return of which proclaimed the meas-
uring of the lands and the time of sowing. I must here produce some

analogy and some peculiar resemblance, between a hawk and a north-

erly, a hoop and a southerly wind.

Naturalists observe, that the hawk delights in the north ;
but that at
the return of mild weather, and when she casts her feathers, she makes
southward with her wings spread, and looks towards the place whence
a warm air comes, which may assist the falling of her own feathers, and
restore her the beauties of youth. In times of the remotest antiquity,
and even before Moses, the Arabians, who were the neighbors and allies
of the Egyptians, had an idea of the hawk in all respects like that which
naturalists give us. In the conversation which God had with Job, and
in which he shows, that it is not man, but the Creator, who, by a spe-
cial providence, has varied all the parts of nature, and to good purpose
has regulated the inclinations of animals Does the hawk, says he to
:

him, by thy wisdom shake her old feathers, to get rid of them, and
stretch her wings towards the south? (Job, 39. 29.) This bird then,
on account of the direction of its flight at the return of the heats, was
the most natural emblem of the annual wind, which blows from north
to south about the summer solstice, and which on account of the effects
of this direction was of so great importance to the Egyptians.
The hoop on the contrary makes her way from south to north. She
lives upon the small worms, an infinite nnmber of which are hatched
in the mud of the Nile. (Diod. Sic. Biblioth. lib. 1.) She takes her
flight from Ethiopia into Higher Egypt, and from thence towards Mem-

phis, where the P^ile divides. She always follows the course of the
Nile as it retires within its banks, qite down to the sea. From this

method of hers, she was perfectly fit to characterize the direction of

the south wind.*

*A passage in Shakspeare's Hamlet seems evidently to allude to the hawk and hoop,
or hoopoe, of Egypt. Hamlet says, " my uncle-father, and aunt-mother are deceived."
G. "In what my lord?" Ham. " I am but mad north-north west: when the wind is
southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw." Thomas Capell, editor of the Oxford
edition of Shakspeare, changes handsaw to hemshaw, which renders the passage Intel"

2
 10 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

The warning given by the dog-star being their most important

concern, the Egyptians from its rising, anciently dated the beginning of
their year, and the whole series of their feasts. Wherefore, instead of
it under the form of a star, which
representing might not distinguish
it from another, they delineated it under the figure relative to its func-
tion and name. They called it the star-dog, the door-keeper, the star
which opens or shuts, closing one year as it were, and opening another
When they had a mind to express the renewal of the year, they rep-
it under the form of a
resented door-keeper, easy to be distinguished
the attribute of a or else they gave it two heads back to back
.

by key ;

the one of an old man, which marked :the expiring year, and the other
of a youngone which denoted the new.
When the people were to be warned of the time of their retreat
at the approach of the inundation, instead of the two heads, they then
put on the shoulders of a human body, the head of a dog. The attri-
butes or subordinate symbols, added thereto, were the explication of the

warning it gave. It was in order to give the Egyptians to understand,

they were to take with them a store of provisions, and repair with
all speed to the high ground, or their raised terraces, and there to

remain quiet by the water side, that Anubis had on his arm a kettle or
porrige-pot, wings
on his feet, in his right hand, or under his arm a
large feather, and behind him a tortoise or duck, both amphibious
animals, which live on the earth and by the water side.
The Egyptians expressed the several increases of their swelling
river, by a column marked with one, two or three lines in form of a
cross, and surmounted with a circle, the symbol of God, to character-

ize providence, which governs

this important operation. More com-
monly, instead of a column, they made use of a pole terminated like
a T, or crossed with one or more transverse pieces. To abridge these
remarks, they were often contented with one small cross; which
a vessel or elsewhere might signify the increase of the
put upon
water.

ligible. Hernshaw or hern is but another name for heron, of which there are various
species ; the tufted or crowned
heron is also denominated hoopoe. This kind is very
rare in Europe, but in Africa, they associate in great numbers. They feed upon worms,
and, in Egypt, follow, as above stated, the retreat of the Nile. See Rees's Cycl.
Hamlet, thovigh feigning madness, yet claims sufficient sanity to distinguish a hawk
from a hernehaw, when the wind is southerly ; that is, in the time of the migration of
the latter to the north, and when the former is not to be seen.
If it be said that Shakspeare was not probably acquainted with the customs of those
migrating birds of Egypt, I answer, that several of the works of Plutarch, who <rives
a particular account of that country, were translated into English, by Thomas North,
in about the middle of the sixteenth century, and no doubt were known to Shikspeara
whose Hamlet was first published in 1596. Edit.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 11

It is certain that the Mikias, or column marked as above stated,

to signify the progress of the water, became in Egypt the ordinary

sign of the deliverance from evil. They hung it on the neck of sick
persons, and put it in the hand of all beneficial deities. Mr. Gordon,
Secretary of the Society for the encouragement of learning, has given
us in the seventh plate of his collection, the amulets and preservatives
which he has observed in the Egyptian monuments ; many of which
are perfectly like the measure of the Nile.

They painted the devastation made by the overflowing water under

the figure of a dragon, of a crocodile, a hippopotamus, or a water

monster, which they called ob,* that is, swelling, an overflowing and ;

which they afterwards called Python, the enemy. f

Another method of communicating to the people information res-

pecting the inundation, seems to have been by publicly exposing three

vessels or measures, being pitchers of unequal capacities, well known
to thepeople without any proclamation or messengers, which served
to show themthe increase and diminution of the Nile. Two things
persuade me that this is the meaning of these vessels or bulging mea.
sures, socommonly found in the Egyptian monuments. One is the
name given them the other is the attributes annexed. The name
;

canob or canopus given to these vessels, is grounded on the use made

of them. Canob signifies the fatham of the dragon, the measure of
the overflowing. From Cane, a perch, a fatham, a rod or cane to
measure ;
and from ob, the dragon.
The canopi are very commonly terminated by one or two crosses.
The top of the vase is also oftentimes surmounted with several bird's
heads, to signify and characterize the several winds which they know,
and which either assisted or retarded the increase or the lowering of
O
the waters, sometimes
they put upon the canopus the head of a dog, to
signify the state of the river or the time of the rising of the dog star,
At another time they put theieon the head of a maid, to mark out the
state of the Nile under the sign of the virgin, and at the
approach of
the draining or retiring of the water.

* ob. Levit. 20, v. 27.

t Mount Cassius, to the foot of which the inundation of the Nile extended, a little
above the ancient City of Pelusium or the modern Damietta, derives its name from a
word which signifies the bound or term of this inundation and the sandy coast near
;

it was called Cassiobe for the same reason. And it was because the lake Sirbon, or
Sirbonis, which is near it, was still full of the remains of the inundation when Egypt
was quite dry, that it was said -Pytlion had gone to die in this lake. It was moreover
so full of bitumen and of oily or combustible maters, that it was imagined that Jupi-
ter had their pierced him with a thunderbolt, which filled all the
great morass with,
sulpher.
 12 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

It appears that the ancient Egyptians, after they had ascertained the
great benefit
of the inundation when they were properly prepared for it, changed the name of theii
Evil Genius, the Water Monster from ob* to Python ; which had reference to the deadly
effects of the miasmata from the stagnant waters left upon the low lands
arising
after the retiring of the inundation.
" Ovid makes
the serpent PytJion spring from
the steams of the mud which the deluge had left upon the earth and in this, he is ;

plainly making an allusion to Typhon, whose name is the same by a simple transposi-
tion. In making Python spring from the slime of the deluge, does not the Poet point
out thereby the noxious steams which rise in Egypt after the waters of the Nile have
subsided. In fine, when he says that Apollo slew him with his arrows, does he not con-
ceal under this emblem, the victory of Orusover Typkon^ or at least the triumph of the
sun beams over the vapors of the Nile 1" (Mayo's Myth. vol. ii. p. 47.) Python, says
Bailey, is derived from pytho, Gr. to putrify. The serpent Python's being slain byApollo,

isthus interpreted by Python is understood the ruins of waters ; but Appollo (that is
:

the sun) dispersing the vapors by his arrows (that is his beams) slew this serpent.
Typhus, a species of continued fever, has the same origin. "It may be occasioned
(says Hooper, in his Medical Diet.) by the effluvia arising from either animal or vegi-
table substances in a decayed or putrid state : and hence it is, that in low and marshy
countries apt lobe prevalent,
it is when intense and sultry heat quickly succeeds any
great inundation."

The convenience of that language, which rendered itself intelligible

to the eyes, and in some sense made animals and even stones them-
selves to speak, by degrees became more common. It was extended
to every thing. The
symbolical writing soon served as the rule of
morals, as well as the regulation of husbandry. It was made use of

to perpetrate among the people, the knowledge of the most important

truths, and to inculcate their principal duties, t

The character of the Egyptian writing designed to signify God,

was not a simple flame or blaze, as was the general usage of the East
but a circle, or rather a sun. They added to the circle or solar globe
several marks, or attributes which served to characterize so many dif-

ferent perfections.For instance, in order to indicate that the Supreme

Being is the author and preserver of life, they annexed to the circle
sometimes two points of flame, but more commonly one or two ser-
pents. This animal was always, among the Egyptians, as in other
countries, the symbol of life and health. Not because the serpent
makes itself lot>k young again, by every year casting its old skin,

* The descendants of Africa, in the West Indies, still retain the name of cb, or obi,

by whose aid they pretend to magical powers. Edit.

t The custom of conveying moral instruction by symbolical figures has descended
to the masons, that is, a show of it is kept up by them, but without being seriously
regarded. The practice is now a mere dead letter showing, however, the force of
;

habit in continuing a custom no longer needed. Too much light is now abroad in the
world, to require the square and compasses, to direct men in their duties. The contin-
uance of these old practices notwithstanding, is of use in pointing out the origin of the
institution that observesthem. Edit.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 13

but because among most of the eastern nations, as the Phenicians,

Hebrews, Arabians, and others, with the language of whom that of
Egypt had an affinity, the word heve or heva equally signifies the life,
and a serpent. The name of him who the great name of God Jov
is,

or Jehovi thence draws its

etymology. Heve or the name of the
common mother of mankind comes likewise from the same word.
It is from this word that the Latins made their avum, the life and
the ave, which is a wish of good health.
St. Clement of Alexandria, observes,
that the word heva, which
is known likewise signifies a serpent.
to signify the life, And it is
barely on a double meaning of the word hevi or heva, that the meta-
morphosis of Cadmas and Hermione into serpents is grounded, (Ovid,
Metam. ) They were of the country of the Hevians.
Macrobius has informed us that the serpent was an emblem of
health, salutis draco, speaking of Esculapius. When Moses lifted up
a brazen serpent in the wilderness, the afflicted Hebrews understood,
that it was a sign of preservation.*
To
express the wonderful fecundity of providence, they added to
the symbolical circle the figures of the most fruitful plants, and most

commonly two or three large leaves of the banana-tree.

The solar year. Osiris.

The year relates to three principal objects. To the course of the

sun ;
the order of the feasts of each season, and to the works in com-
mon to be done. Let us begin with the symbols of the sun.
That luminary, as it was the grandest had also its
object in nature,
peculiar character or mark was called
in the symbolical writing. It

Osiris. This word, according to the most judicious and most learned
among the ancients, f signified the inspector, the coachman, or the
leader, the king, the guide, the moderator of the stars, the soul of the
world, the governor of nature. From the energy of the terms of which
it was
composed, it signified in general the governor of the earth,
which amounts to the same sense. And it is because they gave that
name and function to the sun, that it was expressed in their writing

degrees of masonry, entitled T7ic Brazen Sernent, the

* In one of the modern
Jewel is a serpent entwined upon a cross pole, in form of a T, about which are the
Hebrew characters which signify one who shall live. The covered word is John
Ralp, the founder of this degree. The sacred word is Moses. This degree has refer-
ence to the deliverance of the Israelites, from captivity. (Benard,) Edit. /
t Plutarch de Isid, and Isirid, and Macrob, Dux and princeps, moderator luminum,
rcliquorum, nieris muudi, and emperatio.
14 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

sometimes by the figure of a man bearing a scepter, sometimes by

that of acoachman carrying a whip, or plainly by an eye*
They were often contented with setting down the marks of his dig-
nity, such as a scepter surmounted
with an eye, or a scepter with a
serpent twined round it, the symbol of life which the sun maintains, or

barely the whip and the scepter united sometimes the royal
; cap of
Osiris on a throne, with or without a scepter.
The Egyptians every where saw, and especially in the place of
their religious assemblies, a circle or the figure of the sun, Near the
sun, over the head of the symbolical figures, were seen sometimes one
or two serpents, the symbol of life, sometimes certain foliages, the sym-
bols of the bounties of nature; sometimes scarabeus's wings the em-
blem of the variations of the air. All these things being connected with
the object of their adorations, they entertained a sort of veneration for
the serpent, which they besides saw honorably placed in the small chest
that was the memorial of the state of the first men, and the other cere-
monies whose meaning began to be lost.

Having already contracted a habit of confounding the Most High

with the sun, they by little and little mistook the symbol itself of the
sun, the Osiris, the mederator of the year, for a man. Osiris, from the
letter or symbolical personage he was before, becoming in the minds

of the people a real person, a man who had formerly lived among
them, they made his history to relate to the attributes which attended
the figure. So soon as Egypt was possessed with the ridiculous notion,
that the statues of Osiris, Isis, and Horus, which served to regulate
society, by their respective significations, were monuments of their
founders ;
that Osiris had lived in Egppt, and had been intered there,

they framed stories agreeable to this belief. For want of a tomb

containing in reality the body of Hammond were con-
or Osiris, they
tented with a cenotaph, an empty tomb. A vast concourse of people

gathered near these pretended tombs, and with pomp celebrated an

annual feast there. Plutarch often mentions the feasts of Osiris's
tomb, and informs us, thatwhen the Egyptians were reproached with
placing in heaven gods whose tombs they showed, their reply was,
that the bodies of these gods had been embalmed and interred in

Egypt ;
but that their souls resided among the stars.

* "
Eye and sun are expressed by the same word in most of the ancient languages
of Asia." (Ruins p. 159.)
This is one of the emblems of masonry, called Uic all seeing eye, and said to repre ;

sent the true God ; whereas it is nothing more than a symbol of the sun made use of
by the ancient Egyptians, and from them descended to me masons. Edit.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 15

These tombs, tho merely representative, were become a necessary

part of the ceremonial. The Cretians, being of Egyptian extraction,
had their own feast of Osiris or Jehov, the feast of their god, and of
course the empty tomb was inseparable from that solemnity.*

Death and Resurrection of Osiris.

The author here gives a complex figure, copied from the collection of Mountfaucon
and which, he says, is painted on a mummyat the Austin-fry ar's of La Place des

Victoires, representing the death and resurrection of Osiris, and the beginning, pro-
gress, and end of the inundation of the Nile.
The sign of the lion is transformed into a couch, upon which Osiris is laid out as

dead under which are four canopi of various capacities, indicating the state of the
;

Nile at differeat periods. The first, is terminated by the head of the dog-star, which
gives warning of the approach of the overflow of the river ; the second by the head
of a hawk, the symbol of the Etesian wind, which tends to swell the waters the ;

third by the head of a Heron, the sign of the south wind, which contributes to propel
the water into the Medeterranean sea ; and the fourth by that of the Virgin, which
indicates that when the sun had passed that sign, the inundation would have nearly
subsided.
To the above is superadded a large Anubis, who with an emphatic jesture, turning
towards Isis who has an empty throne on her head, intimates that the sun, by the
aid of the lion, had cleared the difficult pass of the tropic of Cancer, and was now in
the sign of the latter, and, altho in a state of exhaustion, would soon be in a condi-
tion to proceed on his way to the South ; at the same time, gives to the husbandman
the important warning of retireing to avoid the inundation. The empty throne is indi-
cative of being vacated by the supposed death of Osiris.
its
"
The grand master Hiram, in the third degree of Masonry, by the grip or
raising of
paw of the Lion" (the terms used in that operation) who, as the story goes, had been
murdered by three fellows of the craft, is evidently copied from this fable of the death
and resurrection of Osiris. The position of the master Mason, when in the act of
raising Hiram, is a fac simile of that of Anubis over the body of Osiris.
Mr. Pluche seems not to have had an adequate conception of the fabled death of
Osiris, and consequently to have mistaken the purport of the figure now under consid

eration I therefore offer the foregoing explication as the result of my investigation of

the subject.
Mr. Pluche candidly acknowledges that he had doubts of his understanding the
intention of the picture which he endeavors to expound for he says, immediately after
;

" But it would be a rashness in me to

giving his explanation, presume to write any
longer in Egyptian, when I am not as yet over sure of my skill in reading it. Let us
first of all confirm ourselves therein, and again try the application of our principles to

some other monuments. " He adds, in a note,

" We shall in another place explain why
this figure is used about a dead body, when we show how the sense of these symbols
"
came to be preverted.
This he afterwards attempts to do as follows ;

"Thus being gradually come to ascribing divinity, and offering their worship to the
ruler, representing the functions of the sun, they to complete the absurdity, took him

* The coffin of Hiram has a place among the emblematical figures of masonry. Edit.
 10 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

for the first of their kings. Thence this odd mixture of three inconsistent notions, I
mean of God, of the Sun, and of a dead man, which the Egyptians perpetually con-
founded together."
The cause of their thus confounding them is easily accounted for, when the sup-

posed death of Osiris, the sun, and God of the Egyptians, is taken into consideration.
It must be understood that the sun was supposed to be in insurmountable difficulties
at both the solstices, which caused as great lamentations as his victories and reap-

pearance afterwards, did rejoicings. What

led to these apprehensions when he was
in the summer Rees's Cyclopedia, as follows :
solstice, is well explained, in
" Orus or
Horus,* a famous Deity of Egypt, which, as well as Osiris, was an emblem of
the sun. Macrobius, who informs us why the Greeks gave Horus the name of Apollo,
says, in the mysteries (Saturn, lib. 1,) they discover us a secret which ought to be
inviolable, that thesun arrived at the upper hemisphere, is called Apollo. Hence we
may infer, that this emblematical Deity was no other than the star of day, passing
through the signs of summer. As Apollo among the Greeks was called the Horus
of the Egyptians, as to his skill both hi Medicine and divination, he was regarded as
the same person, and called by the ancients Horus-Apollo.t The Allegory of Horus
has been thus explained. The wind Rhamsin makes great ravages in Egypt in the
spring,by raising whirlwinds, of burning sands, which suffocate travellers, darken the
air,and cover the face of the Sun, so as to leave the earth in perfect obscurity. This
circumstance represents the death of Osiris, and the reign of Typhon. When the sun
approaches the sign of the lion, he changes the state of the atmosphere, disperses
these tempests, and restores the northerly winds, which drives before them the malig-
nant vapors, and preserve in Egypt coolness and salubrity under a burning sky. This
is the triumph of Horus over Typhon, and his glorious reign. As some natural phi-
losophers have acknowledged the influence of the moon over the state of the atmos-
phere, they united her with this god to drive away the usurper from the throne. The
priests considering Osiris as the father of time, might bestow the name of his son on

Horus, who reigned three months in the year.

Jablonski, who has interpreted the epithet of Arueri, which the Egyptians gave to

Horus, pretends that it signifies efficatious virtue. These expressions perfectly charac-
terize the phenomina which happened during the reign of this god. It is in summer,
in fact, that the Sun manifests all his powers in Egypt. It is then that he swells
the waters of the River with rains, exhaled by him in the
air, and driven against the

summit of the Abysinian Mountains it is then that the husbandman reckons on the
;

treasures of agriculture. It was natural for them to honor him with the name of

Arueri, or efflcatious virtue, to mark these auspicious effecte." (Savery's Letters in

Egypt, etc.)
The reasons which the inhabitants of northern climates have for lamenting the
absence of the eun when in the southern hemisphere, is thus beautifully portrayed by

Dupuis :

"We
have, in our explication of the labors of Hercules, considered
the sun principally as the potent star, the depository of all the ener-
gies of nature, who creates and measures time by his march through
the heavens, and who, taking his departure from the summer solstice

* Authors write this

differently name
in the Greek, from which it seems to be
:

copied, the first letter, omega,

aspirated. Edit.is
t " Orus was more particularly Osiris in his second state, and therefore represented
by the Egyptians as a child." (Holwell,s Myth. Diet.) Edit.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 17

or the most elevated point of his route, runs over the course of the
twelve signs in which the celestial bodies move, and with them the dif-

ferent periods or revolutions of the stars, under the name of Osiris or of

Bacchus, we shall see this beneficent star, who, by his heat, in spring,
calls forth the powers of generation
all who governs the growth of
;

plants and of trees who ripens

;
the fruits, and who dispenses to all

seeds that active sap which is the soul of vegetation, and is the true
character of the Egyptian Osiris and the Greek Bacchus. It is above
all inspring-time that this humid generator developes itself, and cir-

culates in all the rising productions and it is this sun, by

;
its heat
that impels movements and gives
its its
fertilitjr.
" We may distinguish two points in the heavens which limit the
duration of the creative action of the sun, and these two points are
those where the night and the day are of equal length. All the grand
work of vegetation, in a great part of northern climates, appears to be
comprised between these two limits, and its progressive march is
found to be in proportion to that of light and heat. Scarcely has the
sun, in his annual route attained one of these points, than an active
and prolific force appears to emanate from his rays, and to communi-
cate movement and life to all sublunary bodies, which he brings to
the light by a new organization. It is then that the resurrection of

the great god takes place, and with his that of all nature. Having
arrived at the opposite point, that power seems to abandon him, and
nature becomes sensible of his weakness. It
Atys, whose mutila-
is

tion Cybele deplored ;

it is Adonis, wounded in the virile parts, of
which Venus regretted the loss it is Osiris, precipitated into the tbmb
;

by Typhon, and whose organs of generation the disconsolate Isis

never found.
"
What picture more effectual to render man sorrowful than that of
the earth when, by the absence of the sun, she finds herself
deprived
of her attire, of her verdure, of her foliage, and when she offers to our
regard only the wreck of plants dried up or turned to putrefaction, of
naked trunks, of arid lands without culture, or covered with snow
of rivers overflowed in the fields, or chained in their bed
by the ice,
or of violent winds that overturn every thing. What has become of
that happy temperature which the earth
enjoyed in the spring and dur-
ing the summer ? that harmony of the elements, which was in accord
with that of the heavens ? that richness, that
beauty of our fields loaded
with grain and fruits, or enameled with flowers whose odour
per-
fumed the air, and whose variegated colors presented a spectacle so
3 '-A-

.
18 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

ravishing. All has disappeared, and the happiness of man has

departed with the god, who, by his presence, embellished our climes ;

his retreat has plunged the earth into mourning from which nothing
but his return can free her.
"
He was then the creator of all these benefits, since we are deprived
of them by his departure he was the soul of vegetation, since it
;

languished and ceased as soon as he quitted us. What will be the

term of his flight and of his descent into other regions ? Is he going
toreplunge nature into the eternal shade of chaos, from whence his
presence had drawn it ?
'

"
Such were the inquietudes of these ancient people, who, seeing the
sun retiring from their climate, feared that it might one day happen
that he would abandon them altogether from thence arose the feasts of
:

Hope, celebrated at the winter solstice, when they saw this star check
his movement, and change his route to return towards them. But if
the hope of his approach was so sensibly felt, what joy would not be

experienced when the sun, already remounted towards the middle of

heaven, had chased before him the darkness which had encroached
upon the light, and usurped a part of its empire.* Then the equili-
brium of the day and the night is reestablished, and with it the order
of nature. A new order of things as beautiful as the first recom-
mences, and the earth, rendered fruitful by the heat of the sun, who
had renewed the vigor of youth, embellishes herself under the rays of
her lord." (Abrege de 1'Origine de tous lescultes, p. 142.)

The civil year. his.

We might here reasonably enough call the order of the feasts the
ecclesiastical year, since they were religious assemblies. But this
order of the days appointed for working or for religious purposes
being the rule of society, we shall call it the civil year.
The figure of the man, who rules over every thing on earth, had
been thought the most proper emblem to represent the sun, which
enlivens all nature and when they wanted a characteristic of the pro-
:

duction of the earth, they pitched upon the other sex. The changes of
nature, the succession of seasons, and the several productions of the

* I will here remark, that all the talk

put into the mouth of Masonic candidates about
wanting light and more light, relates to a physical and not to a mental benefit it
:

has reference to the light of the sun. In fact, on taking the bandage from the eyes of
a candidate, the blaze of many tapers is exhibited before him in satisfaction of his
"
desires, with this declaration of the master, And God said let there be light, and
there was light." These ceremonies are emblematical of the sun's return to the north-
ern hemisphere. Edit.
 THK ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 19

earth, subject of the common thanksgivings,

which no doubt were the
might easily be expressed by the several dresses given this woman.*
When the sacrifice was intended to be made in the day, Isis was
dressed in white, but if in the night she was dressed in black. They
put a sickle in her hand to denote the time of harvest. When the pur-
pose of a feast was to remind the people of the security afforded by
their dwellings, Isis was crowned with small towers, f To intimate
the winter neomenia, the head of Isis was covered with little fillets

and with skins sewed together ;

sometimes with feathers ranged one
over the other, or with small shells neatly set by each other. { There
were sometimes on the head of Isis a craw-fish or crab, sometimes
the horns of a wild goat, according as they had a mind to signify

* " On comparing the different explanations given by Plutarch, and other ancient
writers, it appear that Osiris
will is the type of the active, generating ana beneficent

force of nature and the elements Isis, on the contrary, is the passive force, the power
;

of conceiving and bringing forth into life in the sublunary world. Osiris was par-

ticularly adored in the sun, whose rays vivify and impart new warmth to the earth,
and who on his annual return in the spring, appears to create
anew, all organic bodies.
Isis was the sublunary nature, in general or, in a more confined sense, the
earth, or ;

soil of Egypt inundated by the Nile, the principle of all fecundity, the goddess of gen-

eration and production. United to one another, Osiris and Isis typify the universal
Pantheus of the Orphic verses. * * * *
being, the soul of nature, the
" The
Egyptians solemnized, at the new moon of Phamenoth (March,) the entrance
of Osiris into the moon, which planet he was believed to fecundate, that it might in
turn fecundate the Earth. (Plut. de Is etos.) Finally, on the 30th, of Epiphi, (24th,
of July,) the festival of the birth of Horns took place, (of Horus the representative of
Osiris, theconquerer of Typhon,) in the second great period." Anthon's Lemp. Class.
Diet. Art. Isis.)
The first conquest of Osiris over Typhon was at the winter solstice, and then ihe
birth of a renewed sun was celebrated the second conquest, as above stated, was
;

attributed to Horus, which, or rather Horus Apollo, as before observed, was the name
given to the sun when in the northern hemisphere, or at least after his passing the sum-
mer solstice.
One of the grand festival days of masons is on the 24th., of June. The cause of
this variation from the ancient custom arises from the precession of the equinoxes,
which has caused the northern solstice to occur on that day, when the sun is in the
sign Cancer whereas it was in Leo (July 24th,) that this solstice took place in ancient
;

times during 2160 years. This is the reason why the Egyptians consecrated this
animal to the sun, while in its full strength, and as the forerunner of the summer sol-
stice, of the rise of the Nile and its succeeding overflow, which caused the fertility of
"
Egypt- (See Truth drawn from Fables" by Dr. Constantio.)
t It is a little remarkable, that one of the significations given to tower, is high head-
dress . Edit.
t This is Mosaic work, and was no doubt intended to represent in anticipation the
variegated face of the earth in the approaching season, after the sun had changed hia
course to return to the northern hemisphere. Edit,
20 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OP

either the entering of the sun into the sign cancer, or the feast that

was solemnized at his entering into that of Capricorn. In Egypt,

where the inhabitants can with certainty judge of the product of the
year by the of the river, they proclaimed a plentiful crop by
state

surrounding with
Isis a multitude of breasts on the contrary, when
;

the presage of fertility were not favorable, they exposed an Isis with
a single breast thereby to warn the people, to make amends for the
;

smallness of the harvest by the culture of vegetables, or by some other

industry.
All these changes had each its peculiar meaning, and Isis changed
her dress as often as the earth.
Next to the symbolical king, or the emblem of the sun, the Egyp-
tians had no figure that appeared more frequently in their assemblies
thanIsis, the symbol of the earth, or rather the sign of the feast that

were successively characterized by the productions of the earth in

each season.
In looking for the origin of this woman, they ran into the same
mistake which had caused them to take the governor of the earth, the
symbol of the sun, for Ammon their common father. Isis was looked
npon as his wife she partook of the titles of her husband and being
:
;

jn their opinion raised to a real person and a considerable power,

they invoke her with confidence they gave her the honorable titles
:

of the Lady, the Queen, the Governess, the common Mother, the
Queen of heaven and earth.*
What contributed most to seduce the Egyptians, was the frequent

joining of a crescent or a full moon to the head-dress of Isis. Thence

they took occasion to give it out that Osiris's wife, the common mother
of the Egyptians, had the moon for her dwelling place.
"
It was formerly a general custom to make sacrifices and public

prayers upon eminent places, and more especially in groves, to shel-

ter the people from the heat of the sun. When
the Isis which pro-
claimed the feasts, and whose figures were one of the finest parts of the
ceremonial, was once become the object of it, and had been looked
upon as the dispenser of the goods of the earth, of which she still bore
the marks her several representations, which only foreboded abund-
;

* The RomanCatholics seem to have borrowed from the Egyptians the style of

"
Mary, which is as follows
their address to the Virgin ;

Holy Mary Holy Mother of God Mother most amiable Mystical rose Tower
of David Tower of ivory Gate of Heaven Morning Star Queen of Angela-
Queen of Virgins, Queen of all Saints," etc. Edit.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 21

ance and joy, becoming most agreeable to the people, always eager
and credulous on that head, the false sense attributed to these figures
made them pass for the surest means of obtaining plentiful harvests.
These images were worshipped with solemnity, and placed in the
finest words. Crouds of people flocked to the religious feasts of the
lovely queen who loaded them with blessings. No doubt they had ,

every thing from her. The coolness and beauty of the place where
she was worshipped, had no less an influence on the assistants than
the attire of the goodness, and instead of calling her the queen of
heaven, they often styled her the queen of the groves."
She also became the queen of herds, Asteroth, the great fish, or
queen of fishes, Adirdagal, or by way of excellence the queen Amalcta
Appherudoth.
The Greeks softened the sound of these words, and g ave them the
inflection and turn of their own language. The queen of herds
became Astarte that of fishes became Atergatis, and the mother of corn
;

became the Aphrodite of the Cyprians and the Greeks. The name
Appherudoth, the mother of harvests, changed into that of Aphrodite,
was no more than an empty sound void of all meaning. But it seeming
to the Greeks to be derived from a word in their tongue, which signified

the froth of the sea they thereupon built the wonderful story of the god-
dess engendered of the froth of the sea, and suddenly springing out of
the bosom of the watery main, to the great amazement both of the

gods and men.

They represented the Amalcta Aphrodite, the queen of harvest, hold-
ing with her left hand a long goat's horn, out of which they make
ears of corn, vegetables, and fruits to spring. She had a sickle or
some other attribute in her right hand and thus they united without
;

any reason the mark of the opening of the harvest, together with the
horn of the wild goat, which signified anciently the end of all harvests,
and the beginning of winter. This is then the plain original of the horn
of abundance, and of the Amalthean goat. That horn being
always full,
(a privilege it
evidently had) could not but proceed from a goat which
had done some important service to mankind. They contrived that this
goat had been nurse to Jupiter. But the god and the nurse are both
alike. The one existed as little as the other. This single instance is
fully sufficient to prove that most of the tales of the poets are little stories

grounded on quibbles of the same kind, and invented only to have some-
thing to say upon figures always presented at certain feasts, but no
longer understood. They made all these figures so many tutelar deities.
22 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

The common people have at all times and in all countries, been
fond of quibbles, equivocations, and puns. If the change of figure has
often made several gods of one and the same symbol diversified, a sim-

ple variety of names, nay the difference of pronunciation, has more

than once produced a like multiplicity. The Isis mistaken for the
queen of heaven, or for the moon, wasxalled Echet, Hecate, or Achate,
the only, the excellent. (Inter ignes luna minores.) Among some peo-
ple of Syria, the same symbol, by a slight inflection of name, was called
Achot, the sister. The same whom they had already made the wife of
Jehov, or of the sun, or of Jupiter, (for these are still but one) became
also his sister.

Ego quae di vum incedo regina, Jovisque

Et foror andiconjux

She afterwards became the daughter of the same Jupiter and then ;

the mother of all the gods. All this medley of states and genealogies

evidently proceeds from the diversity of the attributes and names given
to one and the same symbol.

It is not more difficult to guess, how the same Diana is sometimes

a terrestrial deity, sometimes the moon, and sometimes the queen of hell.

By her first institution she had a relation to the earth, and marked out
her productions. The false interpretation that was given to the cres-
cent and the full moon which she bore over her head to proclaim the
feasts, caused her to be taken for the moon and at last the time during
;

which she remains invisible, that is, last phasis and the
between the
return of the new, put it beyond all doubt that she was gone to take a turn
in the abode of Ades, or the invisible, that is, to the empire of the dead.
But what contributed most to the strange notions people framed to
themselves of this triceps Hecate, which was at the same time the earth,
the moon, and the wife of Pluto, is this. So soon as the first phasis of
the new moon was perceived in the evening, ministers for that purpose
went arid it in all the
proclaimed cross-ways and public places, and the
feast of the neomenia was celebrated either that very evening or the

next day, according to the institution of places. When the sacrifice

was to be made at night, they put an owl near the figure that proclaimed
it. The Isis then was called Lilith, that is the owl ;
and this visi.

bly is the origin of that nocturnal lilith of whom so many tales have
been told. A
cock was put in the room hereof, when the sacrifice was
to be made in the morning. Nothing could possibly be more simple
or more convenient than this practice. But when the deified Isis had
once been looked upon as a woman, or a queen dwelling in the moon,
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 23

and there governing the heaven in conjunction with Osiris or Adonis,

the proclamation of the return of the new moon, which was a thing

extremely plain before, assumed a mysterious and stately air. Hecate

was become invisible for many days her ;
return was expected with
ceremony, The goddess at last left the empire of the dead, to come
again into the heavens. Imagination had a vast field to expatiate here*
and Hecate never failing to visit successively those two districts, it
could not be doubted but she ruled both in heaven and in the invisible
abodes. On the other hand, they could not but be. sensible of the pal-
pable relation she had to the earth and its productions, whereof she
always bore the several marks either on her head or in her hands.
She then became the threefold Diana ( triceps Hecate )
which is at one
and same time, the earth ;
the moon or the lady of heaven- ;
and the
queen of hell.

Tergeminamque Hecaten, tria virginis ora Diana

The
ancient proclamation of the new phasis, which was made with
a loud voice, to proclaim the beginning of the neomonia,
insensibly
degenerated into loud shrieks, which they gave out of mere supersti-
tion and custom at the entrance of cross streets.
They saluted the god-
dess of the, dead, at her coming out of the horrid mansions. The music
and the notions agreed with and suited each other. But the ancient
proclamation of the neomenia, was the origin of those devout and meri-
torious roarings,

Nocturnis Hecate triviis ululata per urbes.

All the heathen antiquity, after it had confounded the
symbol of the
new moons and of the feasts relating to the several seasons of the year,
with the star that regulates society phases, ascribed to the
by its moon
an universul power over all the productions of the earth, and
generally
over operations of men.
all the
They likewise fancied, that she was
perfectly well acquainted with future things, and that she never appeared
without foreboding by certain marks what was to befal husbandmen, fam-
and whole kingdoms. People have not as yet fully shaken offthe
ilies,

persuasion they anciently had of the influences and presages of the moon.

A like respect was paid to the Neomenia, or New Moon by the Hebrews. Dr. Adam
Clarke, in his history of the ancient Israelites, gives the following statements in sub-
stance of this matter.
"As the Moon regulates the months, so does the Sun the year. The division
which we make of the year into twelve months, has no relation to the motion of the
moon. But it was not so with the Hebrews their months are lunar, and their name
:
24 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

sufficiently shows it.

They call them Jarchin, which comes from Jarac, which sig-

nifies the moon.

The moment inwhich the conjunction between the sun and moon is made, can
only be known by astromical calculation, because she does not then appear and as ;

the Hebrews were little skilled in this science, they began their months at the first pha-
eis, appearance of the moon, which required no learning to discover.
or first This
was an which the great Sanhedrim were concerned, and the different phases
affair in

of the Moon were painted upon the hall in which they assembled. It belonged to

them to choose men of the strictest proBity, whom they sent to the tops of the neigh-
boring moun'.ains, and who, no sooner perceived the new Moon, but they came with
all speed, even on the Sabbath day itself, to acquaint the Sanhedrim with it. It was

the business of that council to ascertain whether the moon had appeared, and to declare
it which was done by pronouncing these words, the feast of the New Moon, the feast
:

of the New Mwn ; and all the people were informed of it by the sound of trumpets.
To which ceremony David alludes, when he says, blow up the Trumpet in the New
Moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast-day. Psalms. 81. v. 3."
The masonic pillar Jachin, which represents Isis, the figure of whom, was exhib-
ited at each neomenia, is undoubtedly derived from Jarchin, the name given by the
Hebrews to their months.
r
Bailey relates some curious customs which formerly prevailed in regard to the moon.
" The common
people, he says, in some counties of England, are accustomed at
the prime of the Moon, to say It is a fine Moon, God bless her which some imagine
; ;

to proceed from a blind zeal,retained from the ancient Irish, who worshipped the Moon>,

or from a custom in Scotland, particularly in the Highland, where the women make a
courtesy to the New Moon and some English women do still retain a touch of thisgen-
;

tilism, who sitting upon a gate or stile the first night of a moon, say,
" All hail
to theMoon, all hail to thee ;

I prithee, good Moon, declare to me,

This night who my husband shall be. "

In New England, wl\ere most of the ancient usages of the "mother country have
been perpetuated, it is considered an ill omen to observe the first appearance of the
Moon over the left shoulder ; but when seen over the right, particularly if the beholder
has money in his pocket, it is deemed a presage of good luck. It is not unfrequent upon
such occasions to prefer a petition for what is most desired, and great confidence is
entertained in its being granted. .

appears that the Moon has been the innocent cause of much superstition
Thus it

from the earliest time to the present day, and that the term " moon struck," possesses
a legitimate origin.

Harpocrates.

The Egyptians did not fail to put in places consecrated to the pub-
exercises of religion, the symbol of the prosperities of their
lic
tillage.
They placed a figure, sinking under the burden of the goods he had
reaped, in the assembly of all the feasts that were solemnized after the
harvests of corn, wine, fruits, and vegetables. He carried on his head
the natural marks of a plentiful harvest, viz. three pitchers of either
wine or beer, surmounted with three loaves, and accompanied with
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 25

leaves, vegetables and several fruits. The bread, wine, etc., wherewith
they deck his head, lay immediately on the two great horns of a wild
goat. They could not possibly mark out in a more simple and less
mysterious manner, the perfect plenty which the husbandman enjoys
in the beginning of winter, when the sun passes under the sign Capri-
corn.
He is most commonly seen with a single pitcher instead of three,
and with one goat's horn instead of two ;* or with the circle accom-
panied with large banana leaves, or with some other symbol. The
Greek sculptors, who did not much like these enormous head dresses
disposed the whole with more comeliness and decorum. They placed
the goat's horn in one of the hands of the figure, and made some
fruits come out of it.

Symbolical ceremonies. Memorials of past events.

The symbolical writing so commonly and usefully imployed to

teach in a compendious and popular manner the most important truths
for the preserving of good manners, and promoting frhe good of man-

kind, served also from the beginning to preserve the memory of his-
tories, and publicly to expose the object or the motives of the feasts
to which some great event had given occasion.
The ancients always opened their festivals and public prayers
with woes and lamentations for what they had lost though they were ;

used to conclude the same by a general repast, where singing, the

sound of instruments, and joy succeeded their mourning. Whence
it comes, that the cries usual in the most ancient feasts, even those

which in process of time became expressions of joy, and set forms of

acclamations, being traced up to the primitive origin, signify nothing
but tears and expressions of grief addressed to Almighty God. Such
were the cries, io Bacche, hevoe Bacche, io triumphe, io paean. This
word io, jeov, jevoe, hevoe, is the name of God, and signifies the
author of life,he that is. Bacche comes from beche tears. Baccoth
signifies lamentations. The women who lament the death of Adonis
in Ezekiel are called Bacchants, meboccoth, women mourners. Tri-

umphe comes from, teroweh, which the western nations pronounced

triumphe there being no letter whose pronunciation was more diffi-
;

cult and more varied than the oin. That word triumphe signified
groans and sobs. It afterwards signified the public prayer, and finally

* Cross'smasonic chart represents two cornucopias or goat's horns, and one pitcher;
three, however, of the latter, as before observed, are used in the ceremonies. Edit.
4
26 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

the singing of the assemblies, as may be seen Ps. 89.* All these words

joined to the name of God, were short expressions by which the peo-
ple excited each other to have recourse to God in their distress, and
to direct their prayers and cries to him. The whole of these, was
like the Latin and French expressions, Deo gratias, Dieu mercy,
adieu.
The object and motives of this mournful practice are more easy
to be discovered among the Egyptians than among the other nations ;

not only because the Egyptians having been less mingled with other

people, have made fewer alterations in their ancient customs but ;

also because their practices being strictly connected with public and
certain symbols engraved in stone, or carried in ceremony at the
.

feasts,they were better fixed or less disfigured in Egypt than in other

parts of the world. There they lamented with Isis the death of the
governor which had been taken from them, and killed by a dragon
rising from under the ground, and by a water monster. They then
rejoiced for the resurrection of Osiris ;
but he was no longer the same
and had lost his strength.
The Egyptians, and most of the eastern nations, had an allegory
or picture, wh ich became famous, and which is every where met with.
It represented the water monster slain, and Osiris restored to life but ;

there sprang out of the earth hideous figures, who endeavored to

dethrone him. They were

"monstrous giants, one of which had

many arms another

; pulled up the largest oaks and a third had in ;

his hands the fourth part of a mountain, which he flung against hea-
ven. They were all distinguished by some singular attempt, and by
frightful names, the most known of which were Briareus, Othus,
Ephialtes, Enceladus, Mimas, Porphyrion, and Rouach or Roechus.
Osiris got the better of them and Horus, after he had been very
;

much abused by Roechus, happily got rid of his pursuits, by appear-

ing before him with the jaws and claws of a lion.
I might be thought here to offer a mere fable ;
But to show that
this picture is historical, and that all the personages which compose
it are so many symbols, or significant characters, representing the
hardships of the first men, and in particular the unhappy state of hus-

bandry in Egypt, it will be sufficient here to translate the peculiar

* Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound, they shall walk, O Lord, in
the light of thy countenance. For thou art the glory of their strength; and in thy
favor our horn shall be exalted. For the Lord is our defence ; and the holy one of
Israel is our king. How
long, Lord ? wilt thou hide thyself forever?"
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 27

names given to each of these giants. Briareus signifies the loss of

serenity] Othus, the diversity of seasons: Ephialtes, great gatherings
of clouds, Enceladus, the havocks of great overflowing waters
spread Porphyrion, the earthquakes or the fracture of the land,
:

Mimas, the great rains and Rcechus, the wind.*

;

As to the figure of Horus who assumes the head and claws of a

lion, to rid himself of the wind that ruined all his hopes it is a sym-
;

bol peculiar to the husbandry of the Egyptians.

Thus the necessity of personifying the objects they wanted to paint
very soon introduced the use of allegorical pictures, and of fabulous
recitals. They at that time could not write otherwise than by delinea-

ting the figures of the objects intended. But they thought themselves
masters of ordering the whole, in the manner they judged the fittest
to make an agreeable impression, and to be well understood. The
difficulty of conveying the ideas of intellectual things into the mind by
the eye, first made them have recourse to symbolical figures the use :

of these figures afterwards authorized the taste of fictions. But what

was obscure in them was cleared by the -simplicity and propriety of the
names given each peice.. I could produce new instances of this in
the fables of Andromeda and Bellerophon, which are pure allegories,
the interpretation of which must be deduced from the signification and

meaning of the names of all these personages. But this would take
us off too much from that part of the ancient writing and of the pub-
lic ceremonies that related to the representation of past disasters, and
to the regulations of mankind.

Altho, Mr. Pluche has actually shown the cause of the lamentations and after
rejoicings to have been occasioned by the
and subsequent restoration of Osiris the
loss

sun, he attributes the allegory to the misfortunes that had happened to mankind
still

in consequence of a general flood. His remarks upon this head are omitted.

The ancients not only expressed certain truths by figures delineated

on stone ;they also joined to these figures dramatic ceremonies, where-
in the objects and the names of the actors were significant, and served
to recall the memory of things past.
The feast of the ancient state of mankind, assumed a more shining
form in Egypt and Syria, by means of the symbolical figures, which
had been multiplied there much more, than any where else. This feast
having become common to all nations, on this account deserves a more

* The author gives in notes, the originals of the above names, which are omitted.
'
DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

ample illustration, than what has already been said about it. can- We
not explain the symbols of it, without casting a useful light upon an
infinite number of monuments remaining in our hands, and which have

hitherto been looked upon as unintelligible.

They carried at this feast a basket or small chest, that contained

the monuments of the progresses of husbandry. The chest was
neither mysterious nor significant in itself. It only served to receive
the memorative symbols of things past.

First, they found therein the mark of the weakening of Osiris, and
of the loss of fecundity. (In cista or capsula repqfitum erat Dionysii
(Ofiridis) pudendum. S. Clem. Alex, cohortat, adgentes. p. 6. edit.
Oxon. From the Phenician word, ouervah or orvia, pudendum,
they made Orgia, a name given the ancient rural feasts. They were
called in Greece Phallica, which has the same meaning. The indis-

cretion of that symbol gave birth to all sorts of extravagances and licen-

tiousness.
Then came sesameseeds, heads of poppies, pomegranates, bay-ber-
ries, branches of fig-tree, dry stalks, cakes of several kinds of corn,

salt, carded wool, cakes of honey and of cheese, and finally a child
a serpent and a winnowing van. See this enumeration in St. Clem.
Alexand. and in Potter's Antiquity of Greece, vol. 1. Grecian festi-
vals. The whole was accompanied with a flute, or some other musi-
cal instrument.
The drum or flute, which was inseparable from the celebration of
the feasts, was the symbol of gratitude, which on certain days invited
men meet together, to praise God in concert. The small chest, the
to

van, in which they afterwards found so many mysteries, (Mystica van-

nus. Virg. Georgic. See V Antiq. expliq. and the agate, in the treasury

of St. Denys.) and the whole representation here enumerated, passed

from the Egyptians to the Phenicians, and by their means spread far
and wide. Nothing is more commonly found in the monuments of the
heathen feasts, than a small chest, a van, a serpent, a human head, and
a flute or a drum.
When the feast representing the ancient state of mankind and the
progresses of industry was celebrated, both the figure of the earth and
that of work obtained several names in different countries. But we
find the same purpose and the same relations in all these names. The
Isis representing the earth, was called Ceres, Themis, Nemefis, Semele
Mnemosyne, and Adrastia.
W shall bestow an entire article upon thp explanation of the
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN!. 29

symbol of Ceres. The Isis surnamed Nemesis simply signified the

earth preserved from the waters. Semele signified the representation
of the ancient condition of men
and Mnemosyne is no more than a
;

bare translation of the same into Greek. word

Torches were always
carried next to Ceres, or the symbol of the mourning earth, and this
caused Isis thus accompanied to be called Themis, Themisto, and
Adrastia, which three names signify all the excellency of fire.
A multitude of ancient monuments testify to us the use of the lit-

tle portable chest, of the van, the child and the serpent. They added
to these figures the
sorry grains on which they in the beginning had
been obliged to feed, and the marks of the crosses they had been
necessitated to overcome.* (See the antiquities of Greece collected by
Dr. Potter, Vol. i. And Clem. Alexander. Cohort, ad Gent.)
The persons who in the public ceremony carried the chest wherein
all these memorials were contained, likewise assumed to themselves

significant names, and made a part of the representation. They

became actors,and every thing concurred with the symbolical pieces,
to convey certain truths into the minds of the spectators.
The
representative child was called simply the child, liber, the
beloved son sometimes the child author of life and subsistence, liber
;

pater sometimes the child of the representation, ben, Semeleh some-

; ;

times Horus, Erichthonius, Harpocrates, Bacchus, Apollo, Icarus.

He bore many other names, whereof we shall give an explication,
in the particular enumeration of the feasts of the several nations.!
It is known from the
testimony of Diodorus Siculus, and from the
conformity of the Athenian laws with the Egyptians, that the first

inhabitants of Attica were an Egyptian colony. We have even several

*
Every royal arch chapter of masons is supplied with a similar chest to which ;

great consequence is affectedly attached. It contains, besides other testimonials of

times past, something resembling, and which is declared to be, manna, the food upon
which the Israelites are said to have subsisted during their wanderings in the wilderness.
Among the emblems of masonry are likewise the skeleton or skull of the human
head, as well as the figure of a serpent. But the original intention of these symbols
are probably now unknown to the fraternity.
"
The Jews also had, at the east end of every school or synagogue, a chest called
Aaron, or ark, in which was locked up the pentateuch in manuscript, written on vellum
in square characters, which by express command, was to be delivered to such only as
were found to be wise among them." (Colcott Disq. on Masonry, p. 72.)
It is probable that this chest also contained memorials of the wretched state of the
Israelites while in the wilderness. The letters, above mentioned, were probably the
same as the royal arch ineffable characters, which consist of right angles in various
atitudes, with the addition of a dot. Edit.
tThe author makes this child the symbol of work ; and as the sun bore the name
of Apollo, or Horus Apollo, when in the northern hemisphere which is the time for
carrying on the labors of husbandry in this region, there be a propriety in the
may
application. Edit.
30 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

originally came from the city of Sais, so famous for its

it olive-
proofs,that
trees. Among the ceremonies which these foreigners brought from

Egypt into Greece, they remark the little chest, which accordingto the

custom of their original country, contained the symbolical figures of

agriculture. Three young Athenian women carried in their feasts a
basket, wherein lay a child and a serpent.

Infantemque vident exporrectumque draconem*

The three maids that carried this child had names relating to hus-

bandry, the symbols of which they bore in their hands. They were
called Herse, Pandrosos, and Aglauros, The signification of these
names unveils the whole obscurity of the enigma. It is enough for
us thereby to understand, that it is to the alternative of the rain, the
dew, and the fair weather, that husbandry is indebfed for the life it
affords us. Let the imagination of poets wander upon the rest, and,
according to their custom, look into a symbol to them become unintel-
ligible, for the matter of an insipid metamorphosis.
In order to render these representations more complete, they did
not in Egypt, forget any more than in other places, the necessity, the
first men had been under, of defending their houses and the fruits of
the earth, from wild beasts. They preserved the memory of this
particular circumstance by a kind of hunting which they renewed
every three years, throughout the East. The same feast was not cele-
brated every year, because wild beasts did not multiply from one year
to another so as to alarm the neighborhood. This hunting being
only a representation and not much in earnest, it made the sanctity
of feasts degenerate into tumultuous ramblings, which were succeded

by the greatest disorders.

It is true, they began by a sacrifice, and the invocation of the true
God ;
as may be easily proved from their warlike cries, that signified,
The Lord is the mighty; the Lord is ; Jo Saboi,] Deus
my strength
mihi exercitus. The Lord is an host to me
Lord is my guide ;
; the
Jevov nissi ; Jo nissi, Dio nissi ; Deus vexillum mihi, Deus mihi, dux esto.
Exod. xvii: 1 5. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jeho-
vah-nissi. It is not time
yet to convert the Dionissi, which was only
a prayer, into a man's name, and of it to make the Dionysius of the

* Chid. Mctam. of Erichthonius.

ISaboi, with.perhaps, some variations in the pronunciation, is a common expression
with country people, to set dogs upon cattle. Edit.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 31

Greeks. All words which we find again in the mouth of the Hebrews,
because their tongue and religion were originally the same with that of
the other nations. The latter have altered their notions, while the
form of prayers still remained the same.

Animals become Symbolical.

From knowledge we now have of the genius and taste of the
the
eastern nations, and chiefly of the Egyptians, for symbolical figures
and significant ceremonies, we are authorized to think, that the singu-
lar practices among them were so many emblems of certain
observed
astronomical, moral and other truths. We no longer run any risk in
saying, that the ram which they reverenced in Thebais and Libya, the
bulls they respected at Memphis and Heliopolis, the kids honored at

Mendes, the lion, the fishes and other animals which they worshiped in
several provinces, were very plain symbols in their first origin. They
were no more than the ancient signs of the Zodiac, and the different
marks of the situations of the sun. They distinguished the neomenia
of one month or of another, by annexing the figure of the celestial
animal into which the sun then entered, to the Isis which proclaimed
that feast and instead of a bare picture, they introduced into the feast the
;

animal the living animal relating thereto.

itself, The dog being the
symbol of the dog-star, which formerly opened the year they put a ;

living dog at the head of the whole ceremonial of the first neomenia.

It is who recounts this fact, as having been an eye-witness of

Diodorus,
it. therefore took the habit of calling these neomenise the feast
They
of the ram, the feast of the bull, of the dog, and of the lion.
i

Funeral symbols and Ceremonies.

There was near the Egyptian towns a certain ground appointed for

the common burying-place. Diodorus Siculus, (Biblieth. 1.) informs I.

us how these tombs were regulated, and in an exact description of the

burying-place at Memphis, the largest and most frequented of all,
was practised there. According to his recital, the com-
relates all that
mon burying place, was on the other side of the lake called Acherusia,
from acharie, after, and from ish, man, comes, achariis
ultima hominis the last condition of man, or rather what follows the
death of man. They also say acheron, postremum, condition
ultama. The dead person was brought to the shore of that lake,
and to the foot of a tribunal consisting of several judges, who inquired
3~: DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

into his life and conversation. When he had not faithfully observed
the laws, the body was left unburied, and very likely was thrown
into a sort of lay-stall or ditch called Tartarus. This word may
come from the Chaldaic, tarah, prcemonitio, doubling the word.
Diodorus informs was near a town, at a small distance
us, that there
from Memphis a leaking vessel, into which they incessantly poured
Nile water which could signify nothing but endless tortures and
;

remorses. And this single circumstance gives room to think, that the
place where the unburied bodies were thrown, was set round with

frightful representations.
When no accuser appeared, or he who deposed against the deceased
was convicted of falsehood, then they ceased to lament the dead person,
and his encomium was made. (Diod.) They, for instance, commended
his excellent education, his respect for religion, his equity, moderation,

chastity and other virtues. His birth, which was supposed to be the
same with all men, was never allowed as any merit in him. All the
assistants applauded these praises, and congratulated the deceased, on
account of his being ready to injoy an eternal repose with the virtuous.
There was on the shore of the lake a severe and incorruptible water,
man, who by order of the judges, and never upon any other terms,
received the deceased into his boat. The very kings of Egypt were
treated with the same rigor, and were not admitted into the bark, with-
out the leave of the judges, who sometimes deprived even them of
burial. The water-man carried the body on the other side of the lake,
into a plain embellished with meadows, brooks, groves, and all the
rural ornaments. This place was called Elizout, or the Elizian
fields, that is, full satisfaction, an habitation of repose or of joy.
There was at the entrance of that abode the figure of a dog with three
pair of jaws, which they called Cerberus. The whole ceremony
ended by thrice sprinkling sand over the opening of the vault wherein
they had put the corpse,* and by bidding him thricef adieu.
All these words and practices almost every where copied, were so

many instructions addressed to the people. They gave them to under-

stand by all these ceremonies, as by so many speeches or very signifi-
cant symbols, that death was followed by an account which we were
to give of our life before an inflexible tribunal : but that what was
indeed dreadful to the wicked, was only a passage into a happier

*The custom of throwing thrice sand upon the corpse is now become universal.
Injecto terpulverc. Horat. carm. 1. od. 28.
i.

iMagna manes ttr toce vocavit. ^Eneid. 6.

 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 33

state for the good. Wherefore death was called the deliverance.
(Pelitah, or rather, pelouta, alleviation, deliverance. Wherefore Horace
looks upon that passage as the end of evils.
Levare functum pauperem laboribus. Carm. 1. 2. od. 18.) It is

likewise called in French le trepas, that is, the passage to another

life. The boat of transportation was called tranquility, (beri, tranquil-

itas, serenitas, Whence comes, baris, Charon's bark. Diod. Sic.)

because it carried over, none but the just ;
and on the contrary
the waterman, who inflexibly refused those whom the judges had not
acquitted, was called Wrath, (Charon. Exod. 15 7.) or the vengeance.;

As to upon the corpse, and the tender adieus of

the earth thrown
the relations, they were no more than natural duty and a simple

expression of their regrets. But they were not contented with paying
them by the way this honor They also put at the entrance of the
:

cemetery and over the door of the deceased's tomb the symbol of the value
and tender affection they had for their departed relation. The dog,
being of all animals the most addicted to man, is the natural emblem of
friendship and attachment. They gave the figure of the dog three
heads or throats, to express the three cries they had made over their
friend's grave, according to the custom which granted that honor to
none but good men. Therefore this figure, thus placed near the tomb
and over the head of the new-buried person, signified his having been
honored with the lamentations of his family, and with the cries which
friends never failed to come and utter over the grave of him whom they
had valued and cherished for his good qualities. The meaning of this
symbol isno longer a riddle, after its name has been translated. They
called it Cerberus, that is in plain terms, the cries of the grave.*
It is neither easy nor reasonable to pretend to explain all the symbols
and ceremonies of antiquity, before we are convinced that most of the
singular figures used on the most solemn occasions, were in their first
original no more than significant symbols and instructive ceremonies.
It is enough for us that this is true of many of them ;
which I flatter

myself I have shewed in this first essay of explanation of the ancient

writing, since the explication I give of it is simple, plain, and strictly
connected both with the common notions and the wants of the first men.
The Egyptians, who had contracted a habit of adoring the sun as
God, as the author of all good, and looked on Osiris as their founder,
ran headlong into a third abyss. They, from a confused remem-

*From ctrl or crt, which has the same sense in French, and from bert
the vault, the grave cerber.

5
34 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS 01

brance, and an universal custom, knew that this figure of Osiris related

to the sun,and it was indeed nothing else in its first institution. They
besides saw the circle the character of God placed frequently enough
on Osiris's forehead. They then perpetually joined the idea of Ham-
mon with that of the sun, and both these with that of God. They no
longer honored God nor the sun, without singing at the same time the
Hammon. The one was still inseperably connected
favors of Osiris or
with the other which made them give out, that Hammon or Osiris
;

had been transported into the sun, there to make his residence, and that
he thence continually protected Egypt, taking a delight in pouring a
his offspring, than on
greater plenty upon the country inhabited by any
other land in the universe. Thus being gradually come to ascribing

divinity, and offering their worship to the ruler

representing the func-
tions of the sun ; they, to complete the absurdity, took him for the first
of their kings. Thence this odd mixture of three inconsistent notions
I mean of God, of the sun, and of a dead man, which the Egyptians

perpetually confounded together.

Jehov, Ammon, Neptune, Pluto.

That religion which grossly indulged the self-love and vanity of

the Egyptians, easily found favor, and took root in the minds of the

people. The rest of the symbols took the same turn. They inquired
who was the Poseidon or Neptune, that is, the marine Osiris, the sym-

bol of the annual return of the fleets ;

and they made of him a god who
delighted in the sea, as Osiris did in the heaven. The funeral Osiris
who declared the anniversary of funerals, had also his own history :

and as all the ceremonies belonging to burials, instead of being taken in

their true sense, that
is, as public instructions upon the state of the just,

after death,had by degrees been looked upon as pictures of the real

treatment given to the dead under ground and in delightful gardens :

they, of Pluto or of the symbol of the deliverance of the just, made a

god, who presided over the abodes of the dead.
The pretended' god Neptune, (Herodot, in Euterp,) who became
the favorite deity of the maritime nations, was almost unknown to and

hardly worshiped among the Egyptians, who hated the sea, and who
living in plenty of every thing, hardly ever went out of their own
country. On the contrary, as they were very exact in the outward prac-
tice of their religious ceremonies, the funeral anniversaries which were

frequently repeated, rendered Pluto much more renowned among them.

We often see round the head of the Egyptian Pluto a radiant
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 35

crown, and round his body a serpent sometimes accompanied with the
signs of the zodiac ;
which evidently signifies the duration of one
sun, that is, of one year. And it is
plain here, that the author of the
Saturnals, who pretended that Pluto and many other gods were origin-
ally nothing but the sun, had great reason to think so, since Jupiter,
Ammon, Neptune, and Pluto, are in reality no more than the symbol
of one solar year diversified according to particular circumstances.

They did not quite lose sight of the unity of their origin in making
persons of them for they made them three brothers, who, as they
:

said, had divided the empire of the world between them.

Ham or Hammon being commonly called God Jehov, Jehov- Am-
mon, the city of Thebes where he had dwelt and which they
longest,
anciently called Ammon's abode, (Ammonno) was afterwards called
the city of God. (Diospolis.)
This word Jehov, in its primitive use, signified the father of life*
the supreme being. The Greeks translated it
by that of Zeus or Dios ;*
and the Romans by that of Deus all names having the same sense, if
:

they be not the same sound diversified according to the pronunciation

of different people. They sometimes joined to it the name of father,
which was but an and called him Diospiter or Jovpi-
interpretation of it,

ter. The Ammon which

by stupid kind of love was confounded with
a
God, and with Osiris or the star moderator of seasons, became the famous
Jo v- Ammon or the Jupiter- Ammon, and had always the first honors

paid to him, after the other symbols had in like manner been converted
into so many celestial personages and powerful deities. The reason of
this pre-eminence is founded on their having annexed the idea of that
their founder of colony to the most brilliant of all their symbols, I mean,
their Osiris.

The establishment of the laws. Menes

The rural works not being resumed in Egypt, till after the Nile had
quitted the plain, they, for this reason, gave the public sign of husbandry
the name of Moses or Museus (saved from the waters ) and on the ;

same account, the moons during which Horus Apollo, or husbandry,

continued his exercises, went also by the same name.
About the end of autumn, the inhabitants being freed from the works
of the field, manufactured in their night .work the line thread and

*They sometimes changed this word into that of zerit which comes from zan hnd
zoo to live. Which makes the same sense.
36 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

cloth, which were one pf their chief riches. Thesign which was the
publication of it, took thence the name of Linus, which signifies watch-

ing, the setting up in the night. ( Lyn, to watch.) The star that
lights the night has on this account retained the same name, and so
has the matteritself that was manufactured during those watchings.

This sign has evidently given birth to the tales of Linus, Museus,
Orpheus, Picus, Ganymede, and many other pretended heroes or legis-
lators, of which it is needless to pretend to determine and fix the

chronology and the above.

The custom they had, to publish the several regulations concerning
polity, by the several postures of the son of Osiris, caused him to be

commonly called Menes, that is, the rule of the people. The Egyp-
tians from this new title took it into their heads, that Menes had been
their legislator, the author of their polity, the orderer of their year, the
founders of their laws. For this reason, they put this imaginary foun.
der at the head of all the lists of the kings of their several provinces.
The name Moses or Museus was very properly given to the
of

public sign of the revival of husbandry. This word, which signified

it was the
the drying up, made part of the calendar summary and the :

substance of a statute of polity. It was every year in the mouth of the

It was not
people, after the re-entering of the river within its banks.
then a man's name. But if Menes and Museus are but one and the
same thing they are only the names of the same sign what then
;
if ;

becomes of the first king of Egypt, the foundation of their history ? He,
from that moment, loses all his reality.
Two of the most learned men among the ancients, Eusebius in his
evangelical preparation, and St. Clement in his exhortation to the Gen-
by preserving and handing down to us the ancient set-form
tiles,

whereby they incited those that were initiated into the mysteries to
imbibe religious sentiments and love work, have helped us to find out
exactly what the famous Menes was. The instructions given therein
for good conduct, are addressed to work itself. It is called the son

of because husbandry can do nothing without the

the star of the day,
sun. Again, it is called Museus because in Egypt, whence this set.
;

form came, husbandry did not resume its operations but till after the
surnamed Menes *
retiring of the waters. In short, it is in the same
set-form, thatrule of the people.
is
pretended founder of
Therefore, this
the Egyptian monarchy has not more reality in him than his father

* Harken Menes Museus, son of the star of the day.

thou,
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 37

Osiris, the ancient character of the sun, nor more than Museus another
character of the revival of the tilling of the lands and of the operation
of sowing.

Anubis, Thot, jEsculapius.

The falsity of the ancient history

of Egypt is completely demon-
strated by the abuse they further made of the fourth key of their sym-
bolical writing. It was the figure of a man with a dog's head, wear-

ing oftentimes a pole with one or two serpents twisted about it. The
meaning and intention of the public sign exposed in the assembly at
the rising of the dog star, was to advise the people to run away and

give attention to the depth of the inundation, in order to rule their

ploughing accordingly, and to secure their lives and subsistence. The
names given to this public sign were Anubis the barker, the giver of
advices or Tahaut the dog, or ^Esculapius the man-dog. * It was still
the same meaning or the same public sign but they were three names
;

for one and the same thing. A sufficient ground for them to derive from
thence three personages of their history, the chronology whereof will be
still lengthened by this means. They make their demi-god Anubis to
reign before Menes, without telling us where. They make Thot or
Thaautes son of Menes, their second king of Egypt. They make him
a counsellor to Menes. They ascribe to him the introduction of the

letters, the invention of music and dancing, with a great many other

fine discoveries the foundation of which is because the dog-star opened

;

the year, brought along with it a new series of feasts, and appeared at
the head of all the letters or symbolical figures which expressed the
annual order. Though ^Esculapius was as yet no more than the sign
of the canicular star, the Egyptians made him a third king, who had

applied himself to the procuring the preservation of his subjects by the

study of physic a notion that had its origin from the preservation of
;

lifewhich was expressed by the serpents twisted about the measure of

the Nile. Such is the origin of the serpent of Epidaurus, and the very
plain reason for which the serpent has always been inseparable from
the god of physic, to which art both the man and the animal had origi-

nally no manner of relation. Several historians quoted by sir John

Marsham in his rule of times (Chronicus Canon.) attributed theinven-

*
From aish man, and from caleph dog, comes ceaaleph the man dog.
The Greeks called him astrokuon, the star-dog.
38 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

tion of the letters to u^sculapius as well as to Tahaut. Which was

doing them justice, the one not being different from the other. Marsham
is most earnestly angry with those who have thus confounded things and

altered history, by attributing to ^Esculapius the invention which is the

glory of Thot. This he patches up to the best of his power. But it
was very superfluous, here to have recourse to means of reconciliation ;

since /Esculapius or the man-dog, and the Tahaut, or the dog-star, as

well as Anubis, were no more than the names of one figure that was

exposed in the assembly of the people, to warn them of the appearance

of that star, the rising of which would soon be succeeded by the inun-
dation.*

The Gods of Egypt communicated to Asia and Europe by the

Phenicians.

Egypt always was and still is the most fruitful country in the world.
The harvest, which is almost certain there, and by much exceeds the
wants of the inhabitants, occasioned great quantities of corn to be amas-
sed there, which in barren years were the resource of the Arabians,
the Canaanites, the Syrians, and the Greeks. Travelers whom need
or curiosity had drawn thither, and the Phenicians especially, who
inhabited but a small maritime coast near mount Libanus, and had no

granary so certain as Egypt, were all equally struck with the polity
that reigned in every part of that beautiful country, with the gentle

temper of the inhabitants, the mysterious outside of the ceremonies and

feasts which were with much pomp celebrated there, and finally with the

plenty which they looked upon as miraculous in

a country where it
never rained. The notion they had of -that river whose source remained
concealed, and whose overflowings seemed to them contrary to the
common course of nature, made them say, that God himself poured
these beneficial waters on Egypt. (Fluvius a Deo missus. Odyss. 4.)
The Egyptians represented this marvel by the figure of God, that isi
by a sun out of whose mouth a river sprung ;f and the foreigners as

*'
JEscuIapius was sometimes represented either standing, or setting on a throne,
holding in one hand a staff, and grasping with the other the nead of a serpent : at his
feet a dog lay extended. On some ancient monuments we see him with one hand
applied to his beard, and having in the other a knotted staff encircled by a serpent.
Antfwn's, Clat. Diet. Edit.
tFor this reason it was, that they gave God or the sun among other titles that of
pheob Ph&bus or Phoibos which signifies the mouth of Ob, that is the source of
the overflowing, from the two words, pheb, os, the mouth, and ob the
swelling, the overflowing ; it is the ancient name they gave to the Nile overflowing ita
banks.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 39

well as the Egyptians every where gave it out, that so singular a

prosperity was the

reward of the piety of the inhabitants. Nay, the
Phenicians perhaps and the Canaanites at first received from the
themselves.
Egyptians and used the symbolical characters among
The introduction of the common writing must have, caused them to
lose the sense without suppressing the figures so that these symbols
;

being always a part of the ceremonies, and publicly exposed at feasts,

every body annexed to them the notion or history he thought
carried
the likelihood with it. Thus Egypt was the cup wherein the
greater
poison of idolatry lay, and the Phenicians are the people, who, by
trav-

eling all over the world, have presented this fatal cup to the greater
part of the western nations. For the same reason it is, that the names
of the gods and the words made use of in the heathen feasts, have so
sensible an analogy with the Phenician language.
Travellers and merchants, during their sojourn in Egypt, were

undoubtedly struck with the outward shew of the feasts and the abun-
dance that seemed to be the result of them. They did not carry home
this multitude ofsymbols and practices which they understood nothing
of but they seldom failed to look with veneration upon the three or

four chief symbols which the Egyptians honored as beneficial powers,

and as the authors of allthe good they enjoyed.
The governor, the woman, the child, and the messenger, or the
giver of advices, always appearing in their feasts, though with some
variety foreigners used themselves chiefly to these three or four
;

objects, the most distinguished of the whole worship : and the Pheni-
cians, whomconstant necessity always brought again to the port of
Pharos, were the first who made use of the same ceremonial, and cel-
ebrated the same feasts in their own country. The circle of the sun,
accompanied with serpents and with large wings to repre-
foliages, or
sent the intelligence which is the mover of all things, the master of the
the dispenser of seasons and harvests, though
air, always placed at top
of the noblest symbols, however less attracted the eyes than did the
brilliant figure of thegovernor of the earth, or the several dresses
given the mother and the beloved child. Nothing contributed more to
humanize, as I may say, the idea of God, or rather to make men refer
their worship and adorations to beings like ourselves.

Moloch, Baal, Adonis, and Achad.

The god, or rather the figure of the sun, which the Egyptians called
Osiris, or the governor of the earth, assumed other names in other
40 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

places. The eastern nations who had adopted him, and who looked
on their temporal advantages as the effect of this devotion, called him
Moloch or Melchom, that is the king some, Baal or Adonai, or ;

Adonis, or Hero* all which names

signify the lord. Others called him
Achad,} which the old inhabitants of Latium have rendered by that of

Sol,unicus ; and others named him Baalshamain or Beelsamen J

finally
the lord of But
the heavens.it was
always the sun which these fig-
ures of a king and these names immediately signified.

Dionyisus, Bacchus.

In the times when things were expressed by symbols, and the several

parts of these symbols were varied to be the better understood, far from
being designed to conceal any mystery the figure of Horus changed
;

its name and attributes according to the exigency of the circumstances

in which it was employed. The first use it was applied to in certain
feasts was the representation of past events. The second was the
instructionand the regulations fit for the people.
The
representation of the ancient state of mankind consisted, not
only in the commemorative signs that were carried either upon a win-
nowing van or in the small chest before mentioned they joined thereto :

ceremonies or setforms of prayers regarding the same intention. They,

in these feasts, invoked the name of God with great lamentations. They
called him the mighty, the life, the father of life.
They implored his
assistance against wild beasts, and made show of giving them chace t

running hither and thither, as if they w ere going to attack them. They
r

even did it in good earnest completely armed.

It was the custom to
say with a sigh Let us cry unto the Lord,
:

io terombe, or disterombe. Let us cry before the Lord, or God see our
tears, io Bacche, io Baccoth. Thou art the life, the author of being.
Thou art God and -the mighty : Jehova, hevan, hevoe, and eloah.
They chiefly said in the east God is the fire
: and the principle of life.
Thou art the fire ; life proceeds from thee hu esh atta esh.* All
: :

these words and many others, which were the expressions of grief and

* See the name of hero in that sense in the interpretation of the obelisk of Ramesses
in Ammian Marcellin, or in Marsham's rule of times. From that hero, the Latins made
their herus and her a, the lord, the lady. The Philistines called him the lord of men,
mamas, from the word maran, which signifies the master, and from as which signi-
fies man. And this comes to the sense of the foregoing names.
t achad, unicus, and by a softened pronunciation, adad, one, the only. The
ancient kings of Syria, who styled themselves his children, assumed the name of Ben-
adad son of God. See Macrob. Saturnal.
t Dominus ccelorum.
Hu esh ipse est ignis, Deuteron, 4 : 24. Atta esh, tu vita es. See Strabo, 1, 10.
 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF 41

adoration, became so many which the people, without under-

titles,

standing, gave to this child or imaginary deity. He was then called

Bacchos, Hevan, Evoe, Dithyrambus, Jao, Eleleus, Ves, Attes. They
knew not, what all this signified but they were sure that the god of
:

the feast delighted in all these titles. They never failed to give them
him, and thus these expressions became cries of joy, or extravagant
roarings.
When people went about pursuing the wild beasts that thwarted
the endeavors of husbandmen, they cried aloud Lord thou art an :

host to me, io Sabio. Lord ! be guide, io Nissi, or with a different

my
accent Dionissi.* Of these warlike cries, which were repeated with-
out being understood, they made the names of Sabasius and
Dionysius
Of all these names, that were most used in Italy was Baccoth. The
delicate ear of the Greeks, who could not indure harsh sounds, gave
the preference to the name of Dionysius. These several titles (and the
series of them was long) gave birth to as histories Thus
many they
god Dionysius, because he was son of Jehov or Jupiter, and
called this
born at Nysa an Arabian city. He was named Evius, because, as he
was fighting with one of the giants, Jupiter encouraged him in the
Greek language, and But if we now are sure of truth, why
should we busy ourselves in enumerating such sorry tales ? are We
no way concerned to hear all the nonsense, which the want of under-
standing these names f has caused to be built upon each of them.
Let us now pass on to the retinue of Bacchus. shall there find We
a proof, that Bacchus was no more than a mask or figure, and not any
man that ever existed.
When the arts were once invented, the remembrance of the rough-
ness of the first ages,and the comparison of the hardships which man-
kind had experienced with the conveniences and inventions of
at first

latter times, rendered the rural feasts or the feasts of the representation
of the ancient state of men, more brisk and lively than all the rest.
One of the most essential points of this feast was then to
appear

* The
supplications in Masonry are similar to the above. In the degree of royal
arch, the following ejaculations are utered "Lord I cry unto thee: make haste unto
:

me give ear unto

:
my voice. Mine eyes are unto thee O
God the Lord ; in thee is my
trust; leave not mysoul destitute. I cried unto thee, O
Lord; I said, thou art my
refuge, and my portion in the land of the living. Attend unto cry for I am my ;

brought very low deliver me from

:
my
persecutors ; for they are stronger than I.
Hear my prayer, O Lord give ear to my supplications
; :
? in
thy faithfulness answer me
and in thy righteousness." (Webb.) Edit.
t These fables may be seen in the hymns attributed to Orpheus and Homer in the ;

poems of Hesiod and Ovid in the hymns of Callimachus in the mythologies ofNofl
; ;

le Comte, and others.

6
42 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

there covered with skins of goats * bucks, tygers, and of other tame
and wild animals. They smeared their faces with blood, to bear the
marks of the danger they had run and the victory they had obtained.
Instead of a child of metal mysteriously carried about in a chest, they

by degrees contracted a custom of choosing a good fat jolly boy, to play

the part of the imaginary god. They in process of time gave him a
chariot; and to render the whole more admirable, the pretended tygers
offered to draw him, whilst the bucks, and goats were jumping and

capering round him. The assistants disguised and masked in this man-
ner had names agreeable to what they were doing. They were called
Satyrs, a word which signifies men disguised f or Fauni, that is
masks. These etymologies which are very plain, and strictly con-
nected with what precedes, are still confirmed by the usage which the
assistants at these rural feasts observed of consecrating to Bacchus, and
of suspending on the tree under which they made their last station,
the mask of bark or other matter, wherewith they had covered their
face, that they might have a share in the ceremony. The feasts of
Bacchus have been abolished by the preaching of the gospel but we ;

see the remains of them among us in our winter rejoicings. It is the

same concern, and, with no great difference, the same idolatry.^

Those who followed or attended the chariot of Bacchus, were
called Bacchants, that is, mourners, because the feast began with woes
and complaints, and with frequent invocations on the assistance of God.
The woman, who carried the small chest or the sacred baskets, or
at least a thyrsus,^ which was sometimes a javelin, in memory of the
first sometimes a torch of resiny wood, were called Menades
chaces ;

Thyades, and Bassarides. They were named Menades, which signi-

* This is what the Latins
expressed by Thyasos inducere :to form choruses of peo-
ple dressed like goats and rams. thiasim hirci et arietes, Genes. 30 ; 35.
t ^fatnr, hidden, disguised, panim or pfianim, fades, prosopa,personce, oscilla^
masks. Those panim or hideous masks could not fail frightening your children. For
this reason it is, that fears occasioned by appearances of evil void of reality, have been
called terreurs paniques^ panick terrors. Such is evidently the origin of the name
given to the god of Mendes, viz. Pan, in whose horns and hair the philosophers thought
they had found a very noble emblem of general nature. Those who are fond of these
admirable conceptions, may look out for them in the allegoric explications of Plutarch,
lamblichus, Psellus, the emperor Julian, and Plato.
tl have read in an English paper, that anciently it was not unusual for a wag, on
the first of January, to burst into a neighbor's house disguised in an ox' 8 hide, including
that of the head with the horns attached. Edit.
Thyrsus, a rod or lance twisted round with ivy, which was put into the hand of the
soldiers of Bacchus, or of those who celebrated his festivals. Ovid describes them as
wound about with vinebranchc .

The Jews do at this day carry a sort ofThyrsii or something like them, in the feasts
of Tabernacles and especially in the Uosanna Rabba. They are branches of wil-
low,myrtle and palm-tree, bound up together with citrons or oranges, which they wave
or push in a religious manner towards the four quarters of the world. (Bailey.) -Edit,
 THS ANCIENT EGYPTIANS 43

fies, the women who carry

the public signs, because the feasts or the

regulations, and the sacred figures inseparable from them, were in

all

the ancient language called Manes, that is, regulations. This the
Greeks rendered Thismoi. The extravagant attitudes of these mad
women, who strove to outvie each other by the lamentations and rep-
resenting gestures authorized by custom, were thence called Mania.
These woman again were called the Thyades, that is vagrant or wan-

dering, when they dispersed themselves in the mountains like so many

huntresses. They were called Bassarides or grape-geatherers, because
these feasts were celebrated after vintage, and when new wine began to

be drinkable.*
After the vagaries and the whole train, at last appeared an old man

upon an ass, who advanced with a sedate countenance, offering wine

to the tired
youth, and inviting every body to take some rest, f
Ifany body should complain that this explication of the origin of
the Bacchanals does not establish a relation sufficiently sensible
between wine and the feasts of Bacchus, who from all antiquity, has
been looked upon as the inventor and propagator of the vine, whereas
we reduce it to the proclamation of a few instructions, which the peo-
ple stood in need of ;
I shall reply, that the feasts of Bacchus and Ceres
are every where styled among the Greeks and Romans, the feasts of
the regulations; because they confusedly remembered, that the purport
Isis and Horus was to regulate the con-
and intention of the figures of
duct of the people. And I shall at the same time desire such, to take
notice of what Horus carries over his head at the solemnity of the

Pamylia, or at the beginning of the winter. Among other objects

capable of pleasing, there appear three large pitchers of wine. This
was the finest part of the ceremonial and the feasts where this liquor
:

was drunk in plenty could not but be the most brisk and most enliv-
ened of all.

I have considerably abridged the preceding article.. That the Bacchus honored in
the processions here described was not, as the author states, a man that ever lived, is
very evident ; but that the figure representing him was merely a symbol of husbandry
as he endeavors to show, is not so clear. The festivals were religious thanksgivings, in

virgins, followed a company of men carrying po'e^ at tho end of which

* After the
were fastened pkalloi. The heads of these men were crowned with ivy and violets,
and their faces covered with other herbs. They marched singing songs upon the
occasion of the festival. Anthon's Lemp, class Diet. Edit.
tlbat pando Silenus asello.
" It was the custom, at the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries, as we are told by
the Scoliast on the place, to have what was wanted in those rites, carried upon Asvet*
Hence the proverb, Asinus portat mysteria." Warb, Div. 'Leg.Edit.
44 DOGMAS AND CTSTOMS OF

which grateful acknowledgments were rendered for the favors received from the hand
of divine providence, and the image intended to represent the god who was supposed to
bestow these blessings, was ceremoniously carried in procession. The Bacchanals
were similar to the feasts noticed in the memorials of past events, with trifling varia-
tions arising from a difference of taste, and misconceptions in the conveyance of cus-
toms from one country to another.
The Roman Catholic processions of the Host are of the same nature as the above,and
no doubt the custom, like most of the practices of the church of Rome, has been
derived from the ancient pagan ceremonies. The catholic processions, it seems, are
conducted with more mystic, solemn pomp than those of the ancients, but the ruffian
assaults of the guards or assistants in this affair, of persons walking in the streets, who
are not even within the pale of their order, for neglecting to fall upon their knees,
on the passage of the host, is more outrageous than the extravagancies of their pro-
'
totype.
The masonic processions are identically the same thing as the Bacchanals, but got

up with more taste and refinement, owing to the influence of civilization. In these
are carried, besides other articles, which will hereafter be enumerated, a box or chest,
called the lodge, about which much secrecy is pretended, and which is kept covered
from the eyes of the profane or uninitiated. The utmost decorum is observed, and no
person is annoyed for not paying homage to the sacred contents of of the mysterious
chest.
The author himself in the next article to the foregoing, has told us who Bacchus
really was, and which fully explains the understanding that should be applied to these
Bacchanalian processions ; as follows :

The scepter and empire of heaven and earth fell to the share of
Osiris. The and the reins were assigned to Apollo
chariot, the whip, ;

whence it is that we so commonly find in one god the characters of

another. The Horus Apollo, who was only related to the rural year
or the order of works, was the more easily mistaken for the sun which
rules nature, that they put the whip and the attributes of the sun into the
hands of the Horus, in order to shorten and abbreviate the marks of the
and of the works suitable to each season. Thus Horus became
solar year,
thesame with the Moloch of the Ammonites, the Adonis of Byblos, the
Bel of the other Phenician cities, and the radiant Belenus honoured in
Gaul. This driver of the chariot, which gives light to the world, is the
son of Jupiter but the son of Jehovthe son par excellence, liber, is no
;

other than Horus, Bacchus or Dionysius. Osiris, Horus, Apollo, Bacchus,

and the sun, are then confounded. This the author of the Saturnals
has sufficiently demonstrated. Virgil himself makes no distinction
between Bacchus and Appollo or the sun, when he gives Bacchus and
Ceres or Isis the government of the year and the light.

V VO) V IslCl*
-Vos, ilOCMlAia. mundi
clarrissima UMUMAI
Lumina, labentem ccelo quae ducitis annum,
Liber et alma Ceres. Georgic. I.
 THE AXCIENT EGYPTIANS. 45

Atlas. The Hyades and Pleiades.

Atlas, according to the fable,was an ingenius master af astronomy

a doctor who knew nature in general, and gave information about it.
Homer gives us Atlas as a very learned god, who knew all the obli-
quities of the coasts, and all the depths of the sea. Virgil ascribes to
the informations of the great Atlas the knowledge men had acquired
of the moon, the eclipses of the sun, and the whole order of nature.
The name signifies a support, ( atlah, support, prop,) which
gave occasion for the invention of the metamorphosis of the doctor
Atlas into a column or high mountain, that props up the arch of the
heavens.
The Phenicians in the voyages they repeated every third year to
Tarshish, that is, to Cadis, and to Boetica,(now Andalusia) through the
Red-Sea, and in carrying on the commerce of all the coasts of Africa,
oftensaw the highest mountain of Mauritania, whose top is generally
covered with snow, and seems joined with the heavens. The name of
Atlas or column given to that mountain, caused the fable of Atlas to

be applied to They said he was king of Mauritania a great astro-

it.

loger and geographer, who at last was by the gods changed into a high
mountain, reaching from the earth to the heavens.
The Hyades or Huades, who took their name from the figure V,
which they form in the forehead of the celestial bull, and the Pleiades,
which are that small platoon of stars so remarkable, near the forego-
ing, are the most known and the easiest to be distinguished of all the
constellations of the zodiac. They particularly were of use to regu-
late the informations given to the disciples of the priests by means of
an is, of a Horus bearing a celestial sphere.
Atlas, that Atlas humani-
zed, became the father of the Hyades and Pleiades and Orion which ;

rises immediately after them, easily passed in the imagination of the

fabulists for a libertine, who incessantly pursues them.

Among the other fables which the Phenician travellers were suf-
ficiently at leisure to devise in their courses, or to recount when they
came home, the two finest doubtless are those of the garden of the

Hesperides, and of Atlas freed by Hercules of the burden of the celes-

tial globe. What can be the origin of the first ? Three nymphs
placed round a tree that bears golded apples, of which they have the
disposition and management a dragon that watches to interdict the
;

use of and access to this admirable fruit, to any other a wild goat that
;

browzes on the grass at the foot of the tree ;

or instead of the goat, a
4G IHKJMAS A.\D CUSTOMS OF ,

horn of abundance placed either at the foot of the tree or in the hand of
one of the three nymphs. This is the picture of the garden of the
Hesperides.
The picture, is nothing more than the ancient symbol of the rich
.

commerce of which the Phenicians made the preparations in winter.

It was the commerce of Hespeha or of the western countries,
particu-
larly of Spain, whence they drew exquisite wines, rich metals, and that
superfine wool which the Syrians dyed in purple, (Sec Diod, and Strab,
or Spect, de la, nat, vol. 4. part 2, dialog. 2.) They brought back
the finest ..corn from the coast of Africa and when they went round
;

the continent through the Red

exchanged all sorts of iron-
Sea, they
ware, knives, and edge-tools, for ebony and other precious woods, for

gold dust and provisions of all kinds. This branch of their commerce
was the most esteemed of all. It was the chief object that did then take

up the thoughts of the Phenicians ; nor did they fail to expose the
public sign of it in the assemblies. One may easily guess at the
meaning of that tree which afforded such precious things. The great
dragon that surrounded the tree, turned the mind of the beholders to

the subsistence and benefits whereof it was the sign. The Capricorn,
or barely one horn of this animal placed at the foot of the tree, was the
character of the season. The three moons during which the compa-
nies were formed, had their name of Hesperides, or Hesperia, as well as
all the West, from the word which signifies the good share, the best lot.

( espcr, 2 Sam. 6 :
19.)

The public sign, used upon this occasion, was doubtless three golden balls, having
reference to the three moons, personified by three nymphs, in which the companies were
formed, the figure and color corresponding with those of the full moon. An allusion
may also be made to the gold dust and other precious articles, the best lot, which the
Phenicians received in exchange for their merchandise.
The Lombards, the money-lenders of former times, are said to have adopted this
sign for their offices ; and pawn-brokers still use it, to designate their profession. I
am sensible that some writers conjecture the golden apples of the Hesperides to be
nothing more than oranges; but it is hardly probable that an article of so little value,
in a mercantile point of view, should have given rise to the fable.
Hercules isa name of the sun, and his releaving Atlas of his burden, alludes to his

dissolving the snow with which Atlas or the mountain of Moritania was loaded.

Mercury, Hermes, Camillus.

We have now a pretty large number of very famous men and

women, which we, methinks, have an acquired right to strike out of
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS 47

history. We
must no longer inquire into their country, antiquity, of
genealogy, since we have proved that they all of them are nothing more
than the Osiris, the Isis, and the Horus of Egypt that is, the three
;

the simbols of the solar, the

principal keys of the ancient writing, or
civil, and the rural year.

We T
know a fourth key, viz. the hot or Taaut, that is the dog.
Thence again springs a multitude of kings and gods, of whom we shall
in few words find out and explain the names, ranks, and imployments.
The Egyptians in after-times, no doubt, made him one of their kings,
who had been transported into this fine star. They give him as the
son of Menes, and the grandson of Osiris, and ascribe the invention of
the symbolical characters to him. They say, that he was the counsel-
lor of Menes, whom he assisted in the regulation of their feasts. But
this fine storyhad no other foundation than the report that went among
the Egyptians of old, that Thot introduced the Manes, and renewed the

proclamations. And indeed he opened the year, since that always

began at the rising of the dog-star whence the first of their months
;

had the name of Thot It was out of mere superstition, that the Egyp-
tians forbore calculating exactly the sacred or civil year, when they

began to know *hat besides the 365 days, there remained a quarter of a
day to be added to complete the revolution of a year. Four quarters of
a day overlooked, made a whole day in four years' time and neglec- ;

ing to intercalate that day at the four years' end, and to reckon 366 t

instead of 365, their civil year on this account began one day too soon,
and by retrogradation differed a whole day from the calculation of the nat-
ural year. The beginning of the sacred yep.r went successively therefore

through every one of the days of the natural y space of 365

times four years, which make 1460 years. They fancied they V.
and made all the seasons to prosper, by making them th.us enjoy one
after another the feast of Isis, which was celebrated along with that of
the dog-star ; though it was frequently very remote from that constel-
lation : and it was in consequence of the ancient custom of celebrating
the feast of or the renewal of the year at the exact rising of the
Isis, dog
star, thatthey afterwards, in whatever season that feast might fall, to be
sure, introduced, not only the figure of a dog, but even real and live dogs,
which always preceded the chariot of Isis (Diod, I. 1.) a circumstance ;

which I beg my reader to take a particular notice of. Thus in after-

times they took a special pleasure in
introducing a marvellous and
mysterious air into every thing.- The calculation just mentioned, and
many others which they had received from the priests their predeces-
 1HMJMAS AM) ( THTO.MS OF

sors, were tilings of the utmost plainness. They, in process of time,

mistook them for the durations of the several kings whom they quar-
in the dog-star and other celestial bodies. One had lived 1460
years ;
another had
reigned mnny thousands of years together.
so
The astronomical observations grounded on several suppositions and
combinations of the stars, were one of the chief Employments -of the

priests. These calculations found in the registers of the most laborious

among the learned, being always joined with names of men, such as
Anubis, Thot, Menes, Osiris, and others whom they lodged in the stars,
passed for the term of the terrestrial life of these gods. Such is indeed
the true origin of that antiquity of the Egyptian history, which they
trace back so very high. Their ancient kings are nothing more than
the names of the stars and the pretended duration of their lives, is only
;

a supputatiori of the time necessary to bring again a planet to that point

of the heavens from which it had begun its course. Thus they made
as wrong a use of their astronomical computations as they had done of
their writing.
Let us not, in mentioning the retrogradation of the feast of Isis and
the return of that feast at the rising of the dog-star at 1 460 years' end,
omit one observation, viz. that they looked upon the 1461st year as
privileged, as a year of plenty and delights. It was because this so

important an event,
according to them, concurred with the desired
Etesian wind, that they expressed the whole by a bird of singular

beauty, that raised admiration more than any of the rest, and returned
to Egypt after an absence of 1460 years, (Tacit, Annal, 6.) They
farther said, that this bird came thither upon the altar of the sun>
to die

and that out of its ashes there rose a little worm, that gave birth to a
bird perfectly like the preceding. They called it Phoenix, which sig-
nifies the advantage they pretended was annexed to the concurrence of

the opening of the year with the real rising of the dog-star I mean ;

the must delightful p/c/tt?/ pkonek, dcliri'is dbundans. Prov. 26;

(

21.) then We
have here again another emblematic figure converted
into a wonder which it would have been a crime to doubt of*
The dog-star has already afforded us two deities, one residing in the
fine star near Cancer, under the name of Thot or of Anubis, and very
\vell employed in swelling and sinking the river Nile, the other wholly
intent upon physic, and entirely taken up with the care of people's
Bailey observes, thai "a Phamix, hieroijlypliically,
* was pirtuml lo a
signify
lation ;" which corroborates our authors hypothesis. f..i a
complete
reformation of the calendar, according to the Egyptian calculation, at the end of the
f( mentioned period. Kdir.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 49

health under the name of ^Esculapius. Next to Anubis and ^Escula-

pius, let us now see the Camillus of the Heturians, the Janus of the
Latins, the Hermes of the Greeks, and the Mercury of the Phenicians,
all them rising out of the same figure. The observation of the dog-
of
star was not only justly denoted by the figure of a serpent, the symbol
of the life it had procured the Egyptians, but having besides procured
them abundance or rather a superabundance of corn, which enabled
them to help foreigners and to enrich themselves by the selling of their
commodities, the figure of Anubis was often accompanied by a full purse
the sight whereof filled the people with joy and this procured it the
;

new of Mercury, which signifies the dealer, or the intriguing, the

title

cunning, or only commerce.

A new proof Mercury was no more than a symbol of the dog.
that
star or of the warning of the retreat, and not a man that ever taught or
invented any thing, is, that they put into his hand the mark of the swell-
ng of the Nile, and at his feet the wings, intimating the necessity of
l

escaping the inundation by a speedy flight.

The mark of the rising of the water was a pole crossed a very ;

plain symbol indeed and the serpent twisted round it had, in the hand
;

of this figure, no other meaning than elsewhere. It always signified

the life, the subsistance. When double, it denoted subsistance in very

great plenty, and such as was sufficient both for the Egyptians and for-

eigners. This pole was terminated with two little wings the symbol
;

of the wind that regulated the increase of the waters. All which signifi-
cations were forgoten, and the monitor becoming a god as well as the
other figures, they changed his name of Anubis, the barker, into that of
Hannadi, the orator. (Hannobeah, Isai. Ivi. 10.) His gesture and the
stick he had in his hand helped on this metamorphosis. It was taken-

for the mark of a leader, an embassador. Hence the title of guide, of

inspector of the roads, of messenger of good news, and so many the
like that were given Mercury, and of which we find a collection in
Geraldi's history of the gods. Hence came the roads under his pro-
tection, and of placing his statue at the entrance of the
highways.
But what can be the origin of the name of Caduceus given to Mer-
cury's rod ?
In the East, any person preferred to honors bore a sceptre* or staff

* The
proof of this is frequently met with in Scripture. When
the tribes murmured
at seeing the priesthood settled in the family of Aaron, the chiefs of the tribes received
orders to bring their scepters into the tabernacle. The scepter of Levi borne by Aaron
was found in bloom the next day and the Scripture observes, that the other chiefs
;

took back their scepters or staves of command.

7
 50 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

of honor, and sometimes a plate of gold on the forehead called cadosh

or caduceus, * signifying a sacred person, ( cadosh sanctus, separa-
tus.) to inform the people that he who bore this rod or mark was

a public man, who might go hither and thither

freely, and whose per-
son was inviolable. Such is the origin of the name given to Merc.ury's
wand. Thus they made the guide of tiavelers, the interpreter, (

interpres, nuncius soccer,) and deputy of the gods, of a figure whose

office they confusedly knew was to warn people of being gone. Being
wholly ignorant of the relation between this long measure and the Nile,
it was every where converted into an embassador's stafi^ that there
might be some connexion between the envoy and the wand he
carried.
Instead of the measure of the Nile, they very often put into his hand a

key, and gave him two faces, one of a young man, the other of a man
in years ; incompassing the whole with a serpent having his tail in his
mouth. The serpent symbolof life or of time, here signifies the year
that makes a perpetual circle, and the revolution of the stars coming
again to the point of the heavens from which they began their course
the year before. Oar door-keeper who here shuts up the concluding

year, and opens the new, is no other than the dog-star, whose rising or
disengaging from the rays of the sun pointed out the new solar year.
I say solar, or natural, because it happened for reasons before stated,
that the beginning of the sacred year went through every one of the
seasons. But they still observed the custom of making the god Anubis
who was the door-keeper of the feasts, to precede the pomp of Isis f

which was the first feast of the year whence it appears, that the whole
;

was rather astronomical than historical. This undoubtedly is the Janus

of the Latins, who had the same attributes with the name of door-keeper.
His ordinary companion good king Pic us, with his hawk's head, has

* A similar plate decorated the chief priest of the Israelites. '

The high-priest wore
a plate of gold upon his forehead, on which were engraven these two words Kodesch
It was tied with a purple or blue ribbon to his
layhovah, that is Holy to the Lord.
tiara, which was made of linen, like those of the other priests, and
was only distin-
guished from them by this plate and ribbon. There was in every synnagogue a sort of
minister, who read trie prayers, directed the reading of the law, and preached, he was
called chazan, that is, inspector or bishop. See Dr. A. Clark's Hist. Israel p. 286-7.
" a
There is a degree in masonry called chapter of the grand Inspectors of lodges, or
grand elected knights of Kadosh ?" who seem to have borrowed
their title and func-
tions, as Inspectors, from those of the Egyptian Mercury. The"badge borne by Mercury
appears to be alluded to by the manner of ans weringthe question, Are you
Kadosh ?" upon
"
which the person questioned places his hand upon his forehead, and says, yes, I am."
The sacred words are Nekam Adonai ; which probably have the same signification as the
words engraved on the plate worn by the Jewish high priest Adonai or Adonis mean-
;

ing lord. This degree will hereafter be particularly

noticed.
The miter worn by the high priest of masonry, in the royal arch degree, is surroun-
ded with th words holinett to the lord. Edit.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 51

so much the air of an Egyptian, that we cannot doubt but that Egypt
not Latium, was the country of both.
Anubis considered as a symbol, was in reality the rule of the feasts,
and the introducer of all the symbolical figures that were successively
shown to the people during the whole year. When a god, he was
made inventor and regulator of these feasts. Now these solemnities
were called the manes, that is, the regulations, the signs, the ensigns ,

because the figures there presented to the assistants were originally

designed to regulate the works of the people. This they made the
noblest function of Anubis andit was with this frivolous
; regard to
opinion, that the pomp of Isis was always preceded by a dog. But the
neomenise of each season, and the particular feasts that went before or
that followed each harvest having peculiar names that distinguished

them, the general word of manes, ensigns or images, was still the name
of the funeral assemblies, which were frequently repeated, and the names
of manes, images simaulcres, and dead persons were confounded. Thus

Mercury, who opened and shut the manes,( manium dux, ductor
,

animarum,) became the leader of the dead. He conducted the souls with
a high hand. Theking or the shepherd must indiscriminately fol-
low the troop. He opened the melancholly abodes to them, shut these
again without remorse, and took away the key, not permitting any
one to escape. (Turn virgam capit. Hac animas ille evocat orco.)
This again is what the Phenicians and the Arcadians meant, when
they called himCyllenius, a word which signifies the shutting or one
that concludes the year, and who finishes for ever the duration of life.
The people were persuaded, that he invented music, the lyre, wrest-
ling, and all the exercises that form the body because all these things
being inseperably annexed to the ancient feasts, he was thought the
regulator of them as well as of the feasts, he of course introduced
every thing belonging to them.
As to the genealogy of Mercury, it confirms all we have said. He
is the son of fair Maia, and grandson of Atlas. Maia is the Pleias or
the cluster of stars known even by the vulgar, and placed on the back
of the bull. The eastern nations called these stars Maeah, which sig-
nifies the The Greeks sometimes retained
hundred, the multitude.
their firstname, and called them Maia sometimes translated this
;

word by those of Pleiades and Pleione, which likewise signify the

multitude. These so very remarkable stars being most fit to regulate
the study of the heavens, and
being the first that struck the eye before
the rising of the dog-star, of which
they thus became the forerunners ;
 52 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

they, together
with the Hyades, were the in the
knowledge of
first
which the Egyptian priests took care to instruct their
young pupils, in
the sphere of Atlas. This symbol being once become a god, all his
instructions were embellished with histories as well as he. The stars,
that served as a rule to know the others by, became the beloved
daugh-
ters of doctor Atlas. Maia disengaged herself at that time from the
rays of the sun in Gemini, that is, in the month of May, to which she
seems to have given her name. The finest star that clears itself a month
or somewhat more after from the rays of the sun, is the dog-star or the
Anubis, of which they were pleased to make Maia the mother, because
the star of Anubis was the first that succeeded her.

Daedalus.

It was the custom in

Egypt to say, when the dog-star or Anubis
was represented with large hawk's wings, that the water would be of a
sufficient height, and there would be a certainty of a plentiful har-

vest. On this occasion Anubis was called Doedalus, which signifies a

sufficient height, or a sufficient depth.
All the ancients agree that Doedalus was an ingenius architect.
They ascribe to him the invention of the compasses and the square.

They farther add, that to him mankind is indebted for statuary they ;

even characterize the nature of the progress which this noble art made
under him, by circumstances which render the thing very credible.
Before D&dalus, and to his very time, according to Diodorus Siculus.
" Statues and their hands close to their sides. But
had their eyes shut,

Dcedalus taught men how to give them eyes, to separate their legs, and
hands from their body. Which procured him the general
to clear their

admiration."
But by misfortune, both the history and the statues with their feet
united, become the proof of the origin I here assign to Doedalus. The
compasses and square, of which he is made the inventor, are no other
than the compasses and square that were put into the hands of Anubis
or Horus, to warn the husbandmen to be in readiness to measure their
lands, to take angles in order to distinguish them from the lands of
others. Thus he was made the inventor of the symbolical instruments
they saw in his hands. The statues whose hands and feet are frequently

swathed, and which are found in the cabinets of our virtuous, are no
other than the statutes of Osiris, Isis, and Horus, such as they were
presented to the people at the time of
the inundation. There was
nothing then to be done, and the inaction was universal. The intire
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 53

cessation of the rural works could not be better intimated, than by a

Horus swathed or deprived of the use of his feet by the inundation, and
using only his arms to point out the measure of the water, a vane to
shew the wind, another instrument to take angles, and a horn to pro-

claim the general surveying.

The Cabiri of Samothracia.

The three principal figures of the Egyptian ceremonial were carried

toBerytus in Phenicia, andthence into several Islands of the ^Egean sea.
Their worship became very famous, especially in Lemnos, and in
the island of Samothracia, which lies very near it. 'They were called
there the Cabiri, ( meaning the powerful
c/ibirim, potentes,)

gods: and their name of Cabiri,which is Phenician, was as much

used in Egypt as in Phenicia itself: which is a standing proof of the
mixture of the Phenician terms with the Egyptian language, if the

ground of both be not exactly the same.

The figures of these gods being originally designed to make up a
certain sense, by a collection of several pieces that very seldom meet

together, could not but have a very odd, if not a very ridiculous air in
the eyes of such as did not understand their meaning. The foliages,
horns, wings, and spheres, so commonly found on the heads of Osiris,
Isis and Horus, could not but amaze or raise the laughter of such as

were not accustomed to them. Herodotus observes, that the Cabiri,

as well as the same figure of Vulcan, were the diversion of Cambyses,
when he entered their temple and that of the forging deity.
Theyoften add to these a fourth god, whom they sometimes call

Mercury, sometimes Camilus or Casmilus, which among the Heturians

and in Latium signified a minister or a messenger. In all which it is
plain, that we
again meet with the four principal keys of the ancient
Egyptian writing, changed on accouut of their human figure into so
many tutelar and powerful gods.

The names of the Cabiri, with their significations, are thus given in Anthon's Class.
Diet. : "Axieros have signified in Egyptian, the all powerful one ; Axiokersos
is said to
is made to denote thegreat fecundator ; Axeokersa is consequently the great fecun-
datrix ; and Casmilus he who stands before the deity, or he who beholds the face of the
deity."
The first answers to the Supreme Intelligence; the second to Osiris the sun; the
third to Isis ; and the fourth to Anubis.
54 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

Apollo, the Muses, and the Graces.

Notwithstanding the variety which the caprice of private men and

the difference of tastes have introduced into the Egyptian ceremonial,
and among the signs whatever was of concern
that served to proclaim

to the public, we find

every where the same grounds, because the wants
of all men were the same, and their practices were founded on these
wants. After the sense of those emblems had been so far perverted as
to change the significant figures into so many deities solely taken up
with the care of supplying all the wants of the Egyptians, or of inform-
ing them of all their concerns each province paid special worship to
;

one or the other of the figures. For instance, in some places they
honored Apollo holding in his hand a lyre. This so very plain a
symbol of the feasts, having been taken for a deity presiding over har-
mony,* the other figures which attended him to denote the several cir-

cumstances of each season, were taken in a sense agreeable to the

notion they had framed to themselves of Apollo. The nine Isises which

proclaimed the neomeniae, or the first days of every one of the nine
months, during which Egypt is freed from the inundation, bore in
their hands symbols peculiar or suitable to each of these months; as
for instance, a pair of compasses, a flute, a trumpet, a mask, or some
other attribute, denote the feast that preceded the surveying of the
to

lands that had been overflowed, or some other solemnity. All these

figures in reality informed men of what they were to do. They had a
general confused remembrance that these were their functions. But
being once become goddesses, people imagined that they had the super-
intendance of music, geometry, astronomy, and of all sciences. They
were united in a chorus to the musician Apollo and instead of seeing
;

in the instruments they bore the peculiar characters of the feasts and
works of each month, men took them for the specific marks of all fine
and delicate arts, and even helped on this fancy, by adding a part of
the emblems. They were called in Egypt the Nine Muses which :

* The
author, it seems, was not sensible of the propriety of this title but none could
; t

be more appropriate for the inhabitants of the northern climates to bestow upon Apollo,
the sun of the upper hemisphere. Dupuis, as before noticed, has well described the
complaints that would naturally occur, in consequence of the absence of the sun in the
winter season : What has become of the happy temperature which the earth enjoyed
in the summer ? that harmony of the elements which accorded with that of the heavens ?
that richness, that beauty of our fields," etc.
Apollo restored this nappy state of things, and might, therefore, very properly be
"
styled a deity presiding over harmony. The god of the sun became also the god of
music by a natural allusion to the movements of the planets and the mysterious har-
mony of the spheres." (Anthon's Class. Diet.) Edit.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 55

signifies the nine months rescued from the waters, or delivered

from
the inundationan etymology whose exactness is demonstrated in the
:

name of Moses, or Mose, which signifies saved from the waters, disin-
gaged, freed from the waters. Such was the common name they
always retained. But the Greeks, among whom this chorus of deities
was introduced, gave each of them a proper name. Those names if
they are taken out of their language, conformably to the ridiculous
notions they entertained of these figures, are no manner of information to
us, and are not worth our translating. Near the nine Isises that
denoted the nine months in which people might go up and down, and
act at liberty, appeared also the three Isises, that represented the three
months during which the water remained on the plains, and hindered
the free correspondence of one city with another. They were drawn
sometimes in swathings, and incapable of making any use either of
their feet or arms sometimes half women and half lizards, or half
;

fishes ;
because men must then remain on the land by the water-side.
In fine, (and this last form was more to the liking of the Greeks,) they
were represented as three idle sisters, without any attribute, holding
one another by the hand because they denoted the inaction of the three
;

months of inundation, that succeeded each other without interruption.

And as these three months broke off the ordinary correspondence of
one city with another, at a time when they had not as yet raised the,
magnificent causeways that have since been made the three Isises ;

proclaiming the neomeniae, of these months of total separation, were

called Cheritout* that is, the divorce, the time of the separation.
This word had a relation of sound with the word eharites, which
in Greek signifies sometimes the thanksgivings, sometimes the favours,
or a courteous behaviour. Which gave occasion to the Greek poets
to imagine, that these three goddesses presided over gratitude and out-
ward charms.
Notwithstanding all the care every city had taken in the month of
June to supply itself with necessary provisions, they could not on many
occasions do without the assistance of each other, and they had recourse
to the conveniency of barks and sails. The bark with its sail was
represented in Egypt and Phenicia under a figure of a winged steed.
On this account it was that the people of Cadis, who were originally
of Phenician extraction, anciently gave a ship, whether large or small,

* From charat. abscindere, comes cheritoutrepudium,sdssio, the inter-

ruption of commerce. See the word Cheritout. Isai.50 1.: &
Deut. 24: 1.
56 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

the name ;* and speaking of their barks, they called them their
of a horse
horses. What can
be then the meaning of Pegassus, or the winged horse
set by the side of the three Graces and the nine Muses ? If these god-

desses preside over gratitude and the sciences, our winged horse becomes

unintelligible. But if our Charites are the three months of separation,

or the interruption of the free correspondence of one city with another,
in this case indeed Pegassus comes to our assistance and if the nine
;

Muses are the nine figures that publish what is to be done during the
nine months in which Egypt is freed from the waters, then indeed the
winged horse, that is, the boat, becomes a symbol of the end of naviga-
tion,and of the return of the rural works. They therefore gave this
figure the name of Pegassus, which signifies the end of navigation,^
according to the style of the Phenician people testified by Stabro, the

convenience/ of navigation.
An
Egyptian or Phenician colony, that had all these figures in the
ceremonial ofits religion, brought them along with it to Phocis in the

neighborhood of Mount Parnassus and of Delphos. They had for cer-

tain no meaning there, being no way related to any thing belonging to
that country. But they had been long honored, together with their
as so many bountiful deities: which was sufficient to
president Apollo,
perpetuate the use of these figures, and of the pretty stories which had
been devised to account for all.
will not be improper, in order to strengthen what has been said,
It

to observe, that in the ancient figures the three Graces are often seen

under the conduct of Mercury, because the rising of the dog-star in

Egypt is succeeded by the three months of inundation and the ;

nine Muses under the conduct of Apollo, because Horus, or working,

makes its use and benefit of the nine following months.
But why did this Apollo pronounce oracles, and foretel future events ?
This was its first destination and appointment. Horus served only to
inform people by his attributes, of what was to be done or expected ac-
cording to the winds and years. People never forgot, that these figures

were the signs and regulaitons that guided the works of man: but when
they were once made gods instead of lookng upon them as convenient
;

indications and tokens, whereby persons of great experience regulated

* Gaditarorum mercatores ingentibus uti navibus, pauperes parvis, quas equos appel-
lent. Strab. geograph. 1. 2. p. 99. edit. Reg.
tFrom pag, cessat,otiatur ; and from sus, cursor, navis, come* pegasus.
navigationis intermissio. The head of a steed put on the shoulders of Isis, (Pausan,
in Arcad.) with a fish in one hand and doves in the other, was evidently the proclama-
tion of a feast that opened the navigation, when the sun left the sign Pices, and brought
on the Zephyrs, the gentleness of which was denoted by the dove.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 57

the works of the people, and beforehand pointed out to them what was
to be done from one month another, they fancied that these figures
to

were acquainted with future events, and gave informations about

them.*

The author, it appears to me, is here in error. Apollo was a god, the sun, before
the invention of the symbols that indicated his movements in the heavens, and the
state of the seasons, which regulated the labors of man. Nor do I perceive the pro-
priety of naming these symbols Horus, or Apollo, any other appelation would answer
equally well. When Appollo had become personified by means of the popular religion
" Instead of
that governed the opinions of men at the time, he then, being the god
from whom eminate fecundity and inciease, is a simple shepherd, conducting the herds
of another. Instead of dying and arising again to life, he is ever young. Instead of
scorching the earth and its inhabitants with his devouring rays, he darts his fearful
arrows from his quiver of gold. Instead of announcing the future "in the mysterious
language of the planets, he prophesies in his own name. Nor does he any longer
direct the harmony of the spheres by the notes of his mystic lyre, he has now an

instrument, invented by Mercury and perfected by himself. The dances too of the stars
cease to beconducted by him for he now moves at the head of the nine muses, the
;

strings of his divine cithara, the divinities who preside each over one of the liberal
arts." (Constant, de la Religion. Anthon's Class. Diet.)

Nyobe.

Niobe, the poets say, proud of her own fruitfulness insulted Latona,
but Appollo punished her by slaying her fourteen children with his
arrows. She never could be comforted and the gods out of compas-
;

is on changed her into a rock. Latona or the lizard, or the figure which
is half woman and half lizard, signifies the retreat of the Egyptians to
the higher grounds. f

Nyobe signifies the sojourn of the enemy, or of the river overflow-

ing the plain. From nuah, habitares to sojourn and from ob, ;

exundation, tumor, comes Nyob, mora exundationis.

The insult Nyobe gives Latona is the necessity she lays the Egyp-
tians under of flying like amphibious animals, to terraces surrounded

with water. The fourteen children of Nyobe, are the fourteen cubits
that mark the several increases of the Nile, (Strab. 1.
17.) These
* has procured Horus-Apollo the title of Pecan or Pceana, revelator,
this
Possibly
the interpreter of hidden things, the oracle. It is the same name Pharoah gave Joseph
in his tongue. He called him (Genes. 41 :45 ;) tsaphat pocanach, the interpreter of sacred
things. These Egyptian words have a vast relation with the two of the Phoenician lan-
guage which signify the same thing, to observe, to perceive, and tsaphan to hide.
t The figure* of Anubis and Isis are sometimes attended by a tortoise, a duck, or an
amphibious lizard. The nature of these animals is to keep within reach both of the land
and water, which are frequently necessary to them, and to get to higher ground as the
water rises. This was the symbol borne by the Egyptian Isis at the approach of the
overflow, and she was then called Leto, or Latona, which is the name of the amphib-
ious lizard. This Isis,
haying the head and shoulders of a woman, with the paws, body
and tail of a leto or lizard, is found in the monuments of antiquity.
8
58 JDOOMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

fourteen cubits are still seen represented by fourteen children, disposed

one above another upon the feet and arms of the figure of the Nile,
now standing in the Tuileries.
Niobe, in short, is changed into a stone. Here lies the equivocation.
The sojourn of the enemy becomes the preservation of Egypt, shelav.
But the same word, disguised by a slight alteration into that of shelaw*

signifies a stone, ( shelav, sal us, shelaw, silex.)

-
Understand-
ing no longer what was meant, by the mother of the fourteen children,
changed into preservation, or become the preservator of Egypt, they
metamorphosed her into a rock, and her eyes into two fountains, that
continue to shed tears for the death of her dear family.

The following remarks of Mr. Mackey are ingenious and plausi-

ble. If his derivation of Tantalus be correct, it
completely developes
the origin of this celebrated personage.
"
Nyobe was the symbol of the Nile \vhosefourteen children show that the water
;

of the Nile rose four teen -cubits above the land, which being dried up by the rays of the
sun, it was said that Appollo, that is, the sun, slew the fourteen children with his
arrows. Ovid reckons up the pedigree of Nyobe with much precision, and tells us her
father's name was Tantalus.
" The lower was formerly a gulf of the sea, which
part of Egypt, that is, the Delta,
was filled up hi therun of some thousand ages by the sediment brought down by the
Nile from Ethiopia. Nyobe then is the daughter of a high country but Ethiopia on
;

account of its being a high country, is called in their language, Tandalus, from Tan
a country, and dalah high, Thus Tantalus, a high country, was the father of Nyobe,
a low country the sediment of the one having produced the other.
"
It is further said, that Tantalus was punished in hell with eternal thirst, while he
stood chin deep in water. But do we not know that Tandalus, that is, Ethiopia is an
arid country, notwithstanding all the fertilizing water of the Nile runs throngh it."
Although it rains in Ethiopia for several months almost continually, a portion of the
year is said to be very dry and sickly.

Argus.
The explication of the foregoing fable * assists us in the under-
standing another, which, puerile as it is, has often exercised the greatest
poets and the best painters I mean the fable of Argus.
:

Juno, provoked at the conduct of her husband, took from him fair
Isis, and having turned her into a heifer, committed her to the vigilance

of Argus, who had a hundred eyes, some of which were awr ake, while
the r,est slept. But Mercury by his songs lulled all the eyes of the
guardian asleep, and carried off Isis. What can this tale relate to ?

If I am not mistaken, the origin of it is this :

Argonauts, which is shown pretty conclusively by Dupuis, contrary

* That of the
to our author's explication, to be purely astronomical. Edit.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS 59

Weaving was famous at Athens, in the island Amorgos, and in

Colchis, as well as in Egypt.
Isis, the symbol offcasts, when she proclaimed the neomeniae, and

other solemnities of the winter and the spring, was attended by a Horns
fit to characterize the kind of work which was to last for six months

together. This figure was covered all over with eyes, to mark out the
peculiar kind of work which is done by night and it was because this
;

Horus intimated the necessity of watching to forward the making of

cloth, that he was called Argus, which means the weavers work* The
Isis, after having quitted the horns, of the wild goat, whereby she deno-
ted the winter, assumed during the whole spring those of a heifer,
because it is
properly the passing of the sun under the sign of the bull,
that constitutes in the temperate zone the true beauty of that delightful
season. The vernal Isis, the handsome heifer, thus remained several
months together under the eyes of Argus, or by the side of the open-
eyed Horus, till the latter was removed, and the heifer carried away by
Mercury that is, till the nightly works, spinning and the making of
;

cloth, wereby the rising of the dog-star or Anubis.

over, The people
jesting upon these figures, forged the fable of Isis changed into a heifer,
of her guardian Argus, and of the notable exploit of Mercury, who on
this account was surnamed Argiphontes, the murderer of Argus. We
find in Pierius, that the Egyptians gave also the name of Argus to the

peacock that was by the side of Juno or Isis and in the mythologists, ;

that Juno, after the death ofArgus, took the eyes he had about him,
and therewith embellished the tail of the bird that was consecrated to
her. This peacock placed near Isis, is only an attribute fit to denote
the beginning of the nightly works, by an agreeable imitation either of
the starry heaven, or rather of a multitude of eyes kept incessantly

open. The name of Argus, viz. of weaving, it then went by, is a

proof of this, and shews the intention of the ensign.

Circe.

The same Isis carried into Italy with her several attributes, gave
birth to a fable of quite another turn. There she became the sorceress
Circe, who with her wand turned men into lions, serpents, birds, swine
and any other figure she was pleased to give them. From what can
men imagine stories like this ? The mythologists thought she was an

*
argothoT argos, opus textrinu-m, the weavers work. Thence are derived the
words ergon, opus, and ourgla, generally used to express all kinds of work, thai
of spinning and making of cloth being the most common.
 60 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

emblem of voluptuousness, that brings men down to the condition of

beasts. It was say any thing more reasonable, when they

difficult to

neglected to inquire into the true origin of these fictions. Circe is no

other than the Egyptian Isis, who sometimes with a measure of the
Nile, sometimes with a weaver's beam, a distaff or a lance, always

appeared with some distinction in the public proclamations. She was

always accompanied with the figures of Horus and others, that varied
from month to month, and often from day to day. She was the princi-
pal part of the enigma, to which all the other enigmatic emblems were
subordinate. She was every where to be met with, and had always by
her side and under htr wand, sometimes a man with a dog's head,
sometimes a lion, then a serpent or a tortoise, sometimes a whole child,
at another time a child's head upon the body of a serpent, and succes-

sively the animals of the zodiac, and others, that denoted the return of
the different rural works. In a word, she converted all that were near
her into several animals. The Isis and her whole attendance was then
really a riddle to be found out, an emblem to be explained. But what
signifies Circe ? Even the wrapper, the enigma, (circ, involucrum.)
Let us proceed farther. Isis very probably was not called Circe on

any other account but that of the circ, or solar circle she commonly
wore over her head. That circle was the emblem of the Supreme
Being, of whom Isis proclaimed the several feasts But why was this
sun called circ, the enigma ? It is because God could not be painted
and a disc was the enigma of God. It was the enigma par excellence
the circ. The place in Italy, to which this Isis with her circle over
the head was brought and honored of old, is still called Monte Circello.
To proclaim certain feasts or sacrifices, that were celebrated perhaps
in the evening atthe rising of the new moon, or in the morning at the

rising of some star, or of the planet Venus, when it

is
admirably splen-
did, a little before the dawning of Aurora, they put over the head of Isis

instead of the disc of the sun, that of a star, or of the known planet, a
crescent, or a full moon. figures, and the prayers that were sung
These
in the old language at the return of each feast, made them imagine that
-Circe, by her inchantments, or by some mysterious words, had the power
of making the stars and the moon come down upon the earth. It is

equally evident, that the several foliages

she bore in her hand, or over
her head near the figure of the moon or of some other plannet, made,
the people say, that the properties of these plants were admirable and ;

t hat it was from a knowledge of their virtues that Circe was able to

make both heaven and earth submit to her power. The figure seemed
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 61

to intimate this,and they believed it. This afterwards became the priv-
ilege of common witches and the people is still persuaded, that the
;

sorceresses at their pleasure dispose of heat, cold, hail, and all nature.
This figure of Circe, which ignorance from an enigma or popular
ensign had converted into a witch that turns men into several animals,
and has the power of displacing the stars, relates very sensibly to the
enigmatic attributes of Isis, which were a sun, the moon, some stars,
certain extraordinary plants, and animals very often of a monstrous
kind. The rest of the fable, by its
conformity with this interpretation,
completes the demonstration of its exactness. Circe, or Isis, was so far

really the proclamation of the year, that she put on such clothes and
dresses as were agreeable to the four seasons. To announce the begin-
ing of spring, that overspread and enamels the earth with flowers and
verdure, she wore carpets of different colors. To denote the begin-
ning of summer, which nourishes us, she bore in her hand a basket
and a loaf to proclaim the autumn, she bore a cup and at the begin-
; ;

ing of winter she bore a chafing-dish, or a stove with its foot. These
four figures gave birth to the fable mentioned by Homer, (Odyss. v.
350.)
that Circe had four maids, one of which spread the carpets of several
colors to recive the guests, the second prepared the table, and put large
baskets upon it, the third presented the cups, and the fourth kept up the
fire on the hearth.

Proteus.

Proteus was the sign denoting the exchange of the Egyptian pro-
ducts for flocks, metals, wine, and other commodities which Phenician

ships brought into the island of Pharos, the only Egyptian port for-
merly of safe and easy access. These vessels there took in their pro-
visions of corn, flax, and all the productions of Egypt. The annual
return of those ships to the confines of Egypt, was proclaimed by an
Osiris called Neptune: The Egyptians, who hated the sea, did not
worship Neptune but they retained his name, which signifies the
;

fleet, and gave

it to the borders of
arrival of the Egypt or the sea
coast. This we have from Plutarch. Proteus going to Pharos to sup-
ply the marine steeds (the vulgar name for ships or vessels) with every

thing, can be no other than the sale the Egyptians went to make of
their commodities, on the arrival of the Phenecian barks. This is

confirmed by the name Proteus, which signifies nothing but the abun-
*
dance of fruit and the productions of the earth. From the name
* From peri, truchis, comes poret, copia fructuum. Genes. 49-
22.
6"^ DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF
/-

Poret or Proteus evidently proceed the French words port and porter
because the fruits of the earth were the first object of transportation from
one coast to another. The feigning that Proteus, on his arival at the
port of Pharos, assumed many figures, arose from the variety of the
commodities there offered for sale by the Egyptians.

The Syrens.

All Greece and Italy were by degrees filled with colonies "and cus-
toms originally derived from Egypt or Phenicia but the ritual, of ;

which Egypt itself had forgotten the meaning so far as to take Osiris
and Isis for deities, was infinitely more disfigured among other nations ;

and when a single part of the Egyptian religion was any where intro-
duced, it grew darker and darker, for want of being connected with
the other practices that served to compose the whole. The three Isises
that proclaimed the feasts during the three months of inundation
}

being presented to the inhabitants, who seemed to become amphibious

by their long dwelling by the water-side, were sometimes half-women,
and half-lizard, or half-women and half-fish. One of them had in her
hand an instrument of music rounded at top, and called Sistrum, which
was the symbol of the hymns, dances, and of the universal joy that
appeared throughout Egypt, when the Nile was of requisite height.
They sung and danced at that time, as is still practised in Cairo, and
all over Egypt, on the like occasion. They called the woman that
carried the sistrum, the singer of hymns, because her function was to

publish the good news, and the hymns of the great feast. This is

then the origin of the Syrens on the coast of Naples, whose name sig-
nifies to sing hymns. (From shir hymnus and from ;

ranan, canere.) The figure given to all the three is exactly that of
our Isis. The number of the Syrens answers to that of the three
months of inundation and" the sistrum borne by one of them has,
;

through ignorance, been converted into a looking-glass. As to what

is said, that
they devoured the strangers, that presumed to come too
near in order to hear them this fable is grounded on what was given
;

out, that the three Isises of the summer were fatal to foreigners, whom
the gross and marshy air of Egypt used to carry off, when they exposed
themselves too much to it. M. de Maillet, and all travellers, agree
that the air of the houses is then suffocating, that no one can bear it

and that every body has tents on board the boats, to

injoy a little cool
It is therefore evident, thafrit was of
ness.
very great moment to for-
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 63

eigners to avoid the three Syrens. Let us not leave this matter without

observing, that this number of four nymphs for the four seasons, that of
three for the moons of each season apart, that of nine for the nine
months during which they work in Egypt, their attire, their functions,
and names, are things very plain, connected with each other, and equally
agreable both with nature and the monuments. Messieurs Bochart Huet,le
Clerc, and other learned men, have thought upon these several subjects in
a very ingenious, and even sometimes very judicious manner. But what

they have said of them is destitute of connection. Facts do not favor

their opinion; and when they have made a few mythologies accessible
by the help of a key, they cannot lead us any further without hav-
first

ing recourse to a new

key, or without wresting the sense of every thing.
If we use but one single key, and the bare idea of a sign is sufficient to
introduce a sense, and some relations between figures so utterly incohe-
rent, is it not because we are indeed arrived at their true original, and
have found out the common and general intention from which they
?
sprung

The Metamorphoses, and the Phantoms.

After these instances of fables evidently proceeding partly from Egyp-

tian figuresand partly from the popular expressions, equivocations, or pro-
verbs occasioned by the sight of these figures we have acquired a privi-
;

lege of asserting in general that from the same source, metamorphoses,

phantoms, and oracles sprung.
All and every one of the Egyptian figures had been established
only to proclaim the feasts and works to come. When they were
become so many gods, all these deities had the privilege of foretelling
future events ;
whence it
happened, according to Herodotus, (In Enterp.
num. 52.) that Jupiter, Minerva, Apollo, Diana, Mars, and above all
Latona, pronounced oracles to the Egyptians. The oracle of Latona
became the most notable, because really Latona being originally no
other than the Isis, half-woman half-lizard, or the virgin Erigone united
to a lizard's body, to mark out the exact height of the increases of the

Nile, she was the most consulted of any figure. All eyes were fixed
upon this measure.They addressed to Latona every day and every
hour. When at last made a goddess, the people who consulted
she was
her imagined, that she knew every thing. But we shall treat of this
matter apart, as there is nothing in point of which it is so difficult to make
men cast off their ancient prejudice, as the predictions of futurity.
The same source from which the oracles sprung, has given birth
to phantoms. The gods which men had forged to themselves, bein
64 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

for the most part hideous and monstrous figures, and the apprehension
of the evil they were reputed capable of doing, having a greater share
in the religion of nations than confidence and the love of justice; men

represented to themselves their own deities, and the powers which they
dreaded, only under the ideas of figures bristling with serpents, armed
with claws or horns, very often with yawning wide-open jaws, and with
such an aspect as could not but corrupt the imagination and reason of
children. These empty phantoms fostered in them a childish terror,

that lasted as long as their lives.

It is no longer any task to guess at the general origin of metamor-

phoses. Egypt is evidently the source of them. A

man with a dog,
wolf or lion's head a woman, who, instead of feet, has a lizard or a
;

fish's taila child with the body of a serpent, and other the like figures
;

invented to supply the wants we have mentioned, being no longer

understood, they imagined as many fables and miraculous changes as
there were of these compound figures. This relish for surprising
stories became universal in Phenicia, then in Greece, and all the world
over. The least equivocation, historical facts abriged, short and pro-
verbial expressions, all in short gave birth to some miraculous transfer*
mations.
This would be the proper place to explain the whole series of the
metamorphoses, and to recall them severally to their peculiar originals.
I even conceive how several of them might be accounted for in a very

plain manner. But it is enough for us to know how this odd taste
came to take root in Greece and other places. The particular exami-
nation of these innumerable extravagances would become tiresome to

my readers and far from being willing to clog them with a new train
;

of Phenician etymologies, I am really very much afraid of having

already transgressed bounds, though I was indispensably obliged to

follow this method. It is with ancient languages as with
geometry ;

they must be made use of when there is necessity but it is ridiculous

;

to treat of needless matters, merely for the sake of making a show of

erudition and geometrical learning.

The Genealogy of the Gods.

Though the Egyptians, by introducing great mysteries where there

were none, have disfigured history and religion,
yet we cannot deny,
them the glory of good regulations for polity and public order. What-
ever was necessary, and must be done in common, was not left to the
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 65

free-will of private persons, but fixed to a certain time of the year, and

proclaimed by public signs.

In the beginning of the spring, or at the return of the first heats,

which in Egypt come on in February, they cleansed their goods, houses

and stables. Every thing in a decayed state, being of no use to the,
Egyptian lands which the Nile sufficiently improved, was consumed
fire.
by
This general purification was proclaimed by an Isis and a Horus,
who had names agreeable to to the work of the season. The Horus,
was called Our * or Ourim, the fire, the fire-brands ; and the Isis was
called Obs, f or Ops, mould or hoariness. These purifications which
were transmitted from coast to coast, are still in use all over Europe
towards the return of the fair weather in February or March ;
and the
custom of lighting fires in the evening on certain days in the spring for
still the amusement of
that purpose appointed, is youth in a multitude
of cities and villages, where they faithfully observe the old rubric
without knowing the reason of it. Even in Egypt, where the solemn
back one day every fourth year, appeared in seasons to
feasts, falling
which they had no longer any relation, they forgot the motive of the
institution of the feast of the fire-brands, but they were, always faithful

in the observation of it.

In the evening the inhabitants of Sais began their great feast with an
illumination. So soon as the neighboring towns saw it, they lighted
the like fires. Each did the same one after another, and all Egypt
took a part in the feast by a general illumination. (Herodot. in
Euterp. n. 50.)
The moon of February, besides the visitation of houses, proclaimed
two other operations. The one consisted in scouring the canals and
chanels of the Nile and the other, which immediately preceded the
;

harvests, was the decision of law-suits.

The during the year, appeared but seldom in public, except
priests,
at the times of religious affairs. But they went out in the spring, that
is, in February, and met to judge the differences of private persons, that

these might afterwards freely go about their respective works.

The scouring of the ditches and canals "was proclaimed in the
assembly of the neomenia, by an Isis that was called Tite, or Tetis,

*
our, whence the Latins derived their word cutr or vtr, the spring. They
had also their Februa, that is, their general purifications in the month of February,
which had its name from thence.
t From abash, putrescere, muddumji6ri, comes obs, mucort petrudo.
obsu pheruaot, the rotten corn. Joel i. 17.

9
66 DOGMA* AND CUSTOMS OF

and by an Horus whose name- was Titan, that is, the mud, the raking
up of the earth. ( tit, ccenum, lutum*

The assembly of the priests to judge the people was proclaimed by

a Horus with a great beard, and a scythe in his hand. He was indiffer-
ently called Sudec, Keren, Chiun, and Cheunna, or Saterin; and by an
Isis with manyand encompassed with the heads of animals.
breasts,
This Isis was on Rhea. The Horus with his great
this occasion called

beard denoted the assembly of the ancient men. The scythe in his
hand denoted hay-making and the harvest, which immediately fol-
lowed the assize. They called this figure Sudec or stadic, Justus.)
which means the just ;
Crone, ( keren, splendor, )
that

is, the glory, the dignity the majesty ; or the crown, that is the
circle of the judges ;
Chiun or Cheunna, which means the assembly

of the priests ; in short, Soterim, soter, judex, soterim or sotrim,

judices and principes. Joshua i. 10: sometimes executor es, satellite^

or Setrum, w hich
r

signifies the judges, or the execution of the judg-

ments.*!
After the decision of the law suits of private persons, and while
the people were busy about cutting down and threshing the corn, the
judges continued to hold their sessions, to provide by general regulating
for all the exigencies of the state ;
and it was on account of their being
assembled the rest of the year till the rising of the dog-star in June or

July, that the characteristick of the judgments, viz. the old man armed
with a scythe, remained in his place, till they saw a new Osiris, a new
sun, that is, till the new year. We shall see the strange fables to which
this particular circumstance gave birth.
They by degrees lost the meaning of these plain figures and
names, that were in use at the feasts in which the whole was become
an invariable ceremonial. The current or the running writing caused
the sense of them to be neglected on the other hand, nothing contri-
;

buted more to make it forgotten than the custom of not reckoningexactly

the sacred year, and of always putting the beginning of it back a whole

day every fourth year so that the feasts and figures relating to the
;

operations of the spring, being placed in autumn or winter, and so of the

rest, they no longer understood any thing of what this multitude of

* Father Pezron derives the name Titan from the

'
Celtic, Tit the earth, and Den,
a man.' Bailey. Edit.
t 'Justice (among the Israelites,) was administered by two sorts of officers Shophc-
tim and Soterim, established in every city, by the command which God gave to Moses
Deut. xvi. 18.) These posts were given to Levites, and there were six thousand of
hem in David's time (1 Chron. xxiii. 4.) Dr. Adam Clarke's, Hist. Isreal, p. 164, Edit
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 67

figures meant. All being taken for so many men and women whose
apothesis was celebrated, the people assigned to them a genealogy
agreeable to the order of their feasts. Osiris and who began the
Isis,

were the two great deities that held the first rank and from whom
year,
they made the secondary gods and goddesses already spoken of, to

descend. But from whom shall Crisis and is, Jupiter and
Isis, that

his wife, proceed ? They, as well as their brothers Neptune and

Pluto, are the children of that venerable old man, who, of all the
signs exposed, was what appeared the longest towards the end of
the year, and whose place
Jupiter afterwards took. According to the
primitive order, a new and a new Isis, or the posted signs of the
Osiris
new year, appeared again in June or July. According to the order of
later times, all these figures, it is true, succeeded each other in the

same manner, but in seasons which they had no longer

and months to

any just relation. Thus Sudec, became father of

or Cronos, or Saturn,

Jupiter and Isis. Saturn, Rhea, Tetis and Titan were their forefathers.
The Titans were looked upon as the children of Ur, or Urane, and of
Ops. Several genealogists go no further. Others, as Diodorus, make
Urane and Ops the children of Acmon. The Egyptians, in their gen-
ealogy, go back even to Vulcan. Now Acmon, the brazier, and Vul-
can are but one and the same thing.
Thus these great personages that have peopled heaven, whom
all

every country flattered themselves with having had for their inhabitants,
to whom poets have attributed tragical adventures, and all the accidents

of humanity these great conquerors, the histories of whom our

;

learned men are incessantly sifting, even so far as to penetrate into

the political concerns that prompted them to act, prove at last to be, as
well as Cancer, Capricorn, the balance, or the sphinx, mere ensigns or
direct the people, and regulate
public marks and figures posted up to
the feasts and public works all the year round,

Saturn.

Again I find a proof of the same truth in the observations which

the fable of Saturn naturally offers to my mind.
Instead of painting him with a scythe, to signify that the sessions of
the judges are to be held in the time of harvest and hay-making, we
sometimes find him represented with eyes before and behind, (Sancho-
niathonin Euseb,prcep, Evangel.) some of which are awake, and the
others asleep ;
and with four wings, two of which are spread and two
 68 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

closed which marked out the penetration and continuance of the work
;

of the judges, who relieved each other by succession night and day, to

dispatch the affairs of the people and those of the state, without making
any one to linger under prejudicial and destructive delays. new proof of A
Saturn's being a judge, or the symbol of justice, whose penetration nothing
can escape, is that the poets, and above all, Homer, most commonly calls
him the penetrating, the sagacious, the subtil, the quick-sighted Saturn.
it was, because Saturn in its
Again original, signified the execution of
the judgments, or the punishment of crminals, that they usually said,
Saturn carried away somebody, and demanded his victim every year.
Thence came the opinion they had, that Saturn would be worshipped by
the effusion of human blood, and tjie barbarous custom which every
where spread, making its way from Phenicia into Africa, and thence
throughout Europe.
It was because Saturn or Chrone had a necessary relation to the

equity of the judgments, that were passed without any respect of per-
sons, that Saturn was said
to have reigned with perfect gentleness and

integrity. said farther, that a perpetual spring reigned in his

They
time, because the sessions of the judges were anciently inseparable from
the finest month of the year such is constantly the month of Febru-
:

ary in Egypt.
The custom 365 days for the year, without intercala-
of reckoning

ting one day at four

years end, by degrees displaced all the feasts, and
made people forget that the figures there exposed related to the circum-
stances of the season.
In imitation of this usage, justice was anciently administered in
Europe in the finest of our months, viz. in May. We
still find in a

multitude of places remains of this custom, in the practice observed by

the farmers of the duties and receipts of lords, of setting up branches
with their leaves on, or a green arbour before the chief or manor-house,
where the assizes were held formerly, and where executions of crimi-
nals were made. But all this preparation is grounded on the circum-
stance of the season in which justice was administered in remotest anti-

quity ;
it was The above mentioned green
in the finest of our months.
arbor is still called theMay, and the terms of magistrate and majesty
seem to be borrowed from the name of the month in which these ven-
erable assemblies were held in Europe.*

* This month has received its name from the Pleias anciently called Maia, which

then disengaged itself from the rays of the sun, distant thirty degrees and passing
under Gemini.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 69

We again find a sensible token of the relation Saturn had to the

judicial functions of the sacredotal order, in the disposal of the public
treasure and the archives in the temple of Saturn. (Festus, et Lil. Greg,
Girald. syntagm. 4.) This was an imitation of the method of the
Egyptians, who anciently put the public treasure and the records of
the genealogies of families in the tower or labyrinth under the custody
of the priests.
In fine, there is no better proof that people were perfectly ignorant
of the sense of the figures mistaken for deified personages, than the
notion which the Greeks framed to themselves of Saturn when he was

brought into their country.

The name of Chrone under which he was known to them, very
plainly signified the majesty of the judicial assemblies, the crown or
circle of the judges. But not knowing what this figure and its inten-
tion were, and finding a relation of sound between the name of Chrone
and that of Chronos which among them signified time they interpreted,
the whole symbol in that sense. The age of the figure squared with this

incomparably well. But what were they to do with the scythe he carries
hand ? Why, he shall use it to cut down every thing. Above all,
in his
the stones which they made him to devour in Syria, seemed to distinguish
him perfectly well. Time consumes evejy thing, and preys upon the
very stones.

The following judicious remarks, from the Myth. Diet, of W. Howell, B. D. sup-
port the hypotheses of Pluche, in regard to the manner in which names have been
appropriated to individual persons that never had existence.

Semiramis.

The wonderful actions of Ninus and Semiramis may be read in divers historians,
Herodotus, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, Ctesias, etc. The accounts are inconsistent and
incredible;and indeed what credit can be given to the History of a person, Semiramis,
the time of whose life cannot be ascertained within 1535 years 1 for so great is the dif-

ference of the extremes of the following numbers.

According to Syncellus she lived before Christ 2177, years, Patavius makes the term

2060, Helvicus, 2248, Eusebius 1984, Mr. Jackson, 1964, Abp-Usher, 1215, Philo Bib.
lius from Sanchoniathon 1200, Herodotus about 713.

The history of Ninus and Semiramis is in great measure founded upon terms, which
have been misconstructed and fictions have been invented in consequence of these
;

mistakes. Under the character of Semiramis we are certainly to understand a people

called Semarim, a title assumed by the ancient Babylonians. They were called Sem.
arimfrom their ensign, which was a dove, expressed Semiramis. It was used as an

object of worship, and esteemed the same as Rhea, the mother of the gods. It wa
70 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

a common mode of expression to call a tribe or a family by the name of its founder :

and a nation by the head of the line. People are often spoken of collectively in the
singular under such a patronymic. Hence we read in Scripture, that Israel abode in
tents ; that Judah was put to the worst in battle, etc. When it was said, that the
Ninevite performed any great action, it has been ascribed to a person called Ninus, the
supposed founder of Nineveh. But we may be assured, that under the character of
Ninus and Niriyas, we are to understand the Ninevites ; as by Semiramis is meant a
people called Samarim and the great actions of these two nations are in the histories
:

of these personages recorded. But writers have rendered the account inconsistent, by
limiting, what was an historical series of many ages, to the life of a single person.
The Ninevites and Samarim did perform all that is attributed to Semiramis, and
Ninus. They did conquer the Medes and largely extended
their dominions. But these
events were many ages after the foundation of the two kingdoms.
It is said of this ideal personage, that she was exposed among rocks ; but delivered

and preserved by Simma, a Shepherd and was afterwards married to one Menon >
;

she is likewise said to have constructed the first ship. Now Simma is a personage
made out of Sema, or Sama, the divine token. Menon is the deus Lunus, under which
type the Ark was reverenced in many regions and as it was the first ship constructed,
:

with which the history of the Dove was closely connected they have given to Semiramis
the merit of building it.

Sesostris.

The history of this personage has been admitted as credible by the most learned
writers and chronologists ; though they cannot determine the era of his reign within a
thousand years. Notice has been taken under several articles of the supposed con-
querors of the earth and among them of the reputed deities of Egypt, under the
;

names of Osiris, Perseus, etc. These are supposed, if they ever existed, to have lived
in the first ages of the world, when Egypt was in its infant state and Sesostris is made ;

one of the number. He is by some placed before Orus and by some after. He is also ;

represented under the different names of Sethos, Sethosis, Sesoothis, Seconthosis, and
Sesostris.
Osiris is said to have conquered the whole earth ; then Zeus, then Perseus, then Her-
cules, all nearly of the we may believe the best mytho-
same degree of antiquity ; if

logists. Myrina comes in for a share of conquest in the time of Orus. After her
Thoules subdues the whole from the eastern ocean to the great Atlantic and as if ;

nothing had been performed before, Sesostris succeeds, and conquers it over again. By
comparing the histories of ancient personages together, we may perceive that they bear
a manifest similitude to one another tho' they are attributed to different persons.
;

Sesostris was Osiris the same as Dionysius, Menes, and Noah.

;

Origin of Apis and Mnevis.

Nothing could be more convenient or more ingenious than the

astronomical language, which immediately characterized each season
and the works peculiar to it, by making the governor of the earth enter
into the twelve signs of the zodiac, whose names had a just relation to
what successively passes upon the earth in the course of a year. Noth-
ing so gross, or* the contrary, or so pitiful as the historical sense which
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 7i

the people afterwards anexed to this language and such is evidently ;

the origin of the ridiculous doctrine of the transmigration of souls,

which Pythagoras brought to Italy as a rare discovery.
Generally all the animals of which the stars bear the name, were
looked upon with veneration by the Egyptians, as having been the first

retreats ol their gods, and as being very possibly appointed for that of
their dead parents. People never looked without a religious awe upon
those in which they knew Osiris and Isis had resided, such as the ram,
the bull, the heifer, the goat, and the lion. Their ancient custom of
carrying ceremonially at the feasts of certain seasons, the animal whose
name the house into which the sun entered, went by, disposed the peo-

ple of certain provinces to honor particularly the animal carried at the

feasts that concurred with the conclusion of their harvest.

Chance having produced a calf at Memphis which had some spots

nearly in the figure of a circle or crescent, symbols so much reverenced
among them, this singularity was taken by them for the characteristic of
Osiris and stamped upon the animal which their gods had an
Isis

affection for and that this was an apparition of the governor, a visit
:

which the protector of Egypt deigned to make them. This miracu-

lous calf, after having served preferably toany other at the ordinary
ceremonial, was lodged in the finest place in Memphis. All his motions
were judged prophetical, and the people flocked to him with their
He received the great name of Apis, which means the mighty,
offerings.
the powerful god.

They took great care after his death to replace him with another
that had nearly the same spots. When the marks desired were not
neat and exact, they were improved with a pencil.

They even seasonably and after a certain time prevented the inde-
cency of his death, by leading him in ceremony to a place where they
drowned and then interred him very devoutly. This melancholy cere-
mony was intermixed with torrents of tears, and was emphatically
called Sarapis, or the retreat of Apis, (- sur, recedere ; sar
aMr, recessit Apis. Vid. Judic. xvi 20.), a name which : was after-
wards given to Pluto the infernal Osiris. After the burial of
Apis, his
successor was sought for. Thus was this strange devotion perpetuated.
A powerful motive contributed greatly to it, viz. it was lucrative.
The inhabitants of Heliopolis, who made a separate dynasty, or a
kingdom different from that Memphis, thought themselves too much
at
in the favor of the sun whose name their capital bore, not to partake
of his visits or those of his son. therefore soon had the sacred
They
72 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

ox as well as those of Memphis. They called him Menavis or Mnevis

which is the same thing as Menes the mighty, or the same with Meno-

phis ;
and in choosing this magnificent name for him, they supposed
other qualities^and other functions in him no less capable of drawing
crowds of people thither.

Phyton or Typhon.

Osiris being become the common father of the Egyptians, was by

degrees looked upon as the principle from which all the good that hap-
pened to Egypt sprung; in like manner, Phyton, when he was
become the name of the symbol that signified the havock of waters, was
looked upon as an ill-minded spirit, as a principle fond of thwarting,
perpetually intent upon crossing and prejudicing them. They made
him the principle of all disorder, and charged him with all the physi-
cal evils they could not avoid, and all the moral evils which they did
not care to lay to their own charge. Hence came the doctrine of the
two opposite principles, equally powerful, incessantly striving against
each other (Plutarch, de hid. and Osir.,) and alternately vanquished
;

and victorious. This doctrine, which from the Egyptians was handed
down to the Persians under the names of Oromazes and Arimazes, is

altogether different from ours, according to which God, conformably to

the adorable views of his providence, employs the ministry of the spirits
who have persevered in a state of uprightness, and leaves a certain
measure of power to those who are fallen from it.

Theaversion of the Egyptians for this Phyton their imaginary

enemy, and according to them incessantly intent upon vexing them,

went so far, that they no longer dared to pronounce his name. How-
ever,we find it entire in the language of the Hebrews who had dwelt
Egypt, and had contracted the habit of calling by that name the most
in

mischievous of serpents, that is, the asp. ( peteu.) The entire

name of Phyton or Python, is found again in the most ancient and most
celebrated fables of paganism. There we see this terrible monster
engaged with the god who enlightens the world, and spreading deso-
lation every where.
Nothing has been more celebrated in antiquity than the victory of
the sun nothing more abhorred than Phyton, when, from a painted
;

monster, he was become a being intent upon doing mischief. The

Egyptians fearing to defile themselves by the bare pronouncing of that
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 73

detestable name, retained the letters of it, and converted them into that
of Typhon.*
We have seen how the cross, as well entire as abridged, was the
mark of the increase of the Nile, because it was the measure of it.
When confined in the hand of Osiris, in the claws of the hawk, or
the hand of Horus,
it
yery plainly signified the overflowing of the
Nile regulated by the sun, strengthened by the wind, and subject to
fixed rules. This cross which in their vulgar writing, as likewise in
the ancient Hebraic characters, in the Greek and the Latin alphabet,
was the letter Tau.
That the cross or the T suspended by a ring, was taken by the
Egyptians for the deliverance from evil, we may assure ourselves
by consulting their practices, which are the surest interpretation of the

opinion that governed them.

They hung it round the neck of their children, and of their sick
people. They applied it to the strings or fillets with which they wrap-
ped up their mummies, where we still find it. What can in their ideas
signify a T placed near those of to whom they wished health and life,
if not the deliverance from the disease and death, which they hoped to
obtain by these superstitious practices.
Hence we see how
strangely they misapplied those figures, which
in their first institution related to the Nile, to husbandry, and to things

totally foreign to the applications of succeeding times. This very pro-

bably isan introductive key, wherewith one might strive to explain part
of the meaning which the Egyptians of the later times have given to
their sacred writing.
This custom of the Egyptians appeared so beneficial and so impor-
tant, that it was
adopted by other nations. The children and the sick
most commonly wore a ticket, wherein was a T which they looked
upon as a powerful preservative. In process of time other characters
were substituted in the room of the letter T, which was at first engraved
on this ticket, but of which the other nations understood neither the
meaning nor the intention. They often put a serpent in it, an Harpo-
crates, or the object of the devotions in vogue ; nay sometimes ridicu-
lous figures, or even some that were of the utmost indecency. But the
name of Amulet, (Amolimentum malorum.), that was given to this

*Some people even at this day, have a reluctance to pronounce the common English
name of this prince of darkness. They call him the de'il, the old nick, old harry, &c.
Edit.

10
74 DOGMAS AND CUSTOM* OF

ticket, and which signifies the removal of the evil, most naturally rep-
resents the intention of the Egyptians, from whom this practice came.

The above mentioned practice, we have seen, arose from the instrument used for
measuring the height of the inundation of the Nile, being an abridgement of it, and
which was considered the salvation of Egypt. A like veneration is bestowed upon
this figure, that is, the cross, by Roman Catholics which, like other customs of the
:

ancients, has probably been adopted by them without understanding its origin, and
which they attribute to a different source. A spell, which they no doubt consider
more potent, however, is now generally used instead of the cross. This is called gos-
pels, and consists of short passages extracted from the gospels by a priest, which
is enclosed in a piece of silk, and tied round the necks of children, going to bed.
The same superstition prevails among the Mahometans.
Dr. Hume, in Walpole's memoirs, speaking of modern Egypt, says, "The general
remedy cases of fever and other kinds of illness, is a saphie from a priest, which
in
consists of some sentence from the Koran written on a small piece of paper and tied
round the patience's neck. This, if the sick man recovers, he carefully preserves by
it constantly between his
keeping scull-caps, of which he generally wears two or three.
Saphies are very commonly used by the Mahammedans, being considered to possess
much efficacy for the body as well as the soul, and occupy the same place in the esti-
mation of the superstitions as did the frontlets of the Jews and the phylacteries of the
early Christians." Quoted in Russell's View of Egypt, p. 324, New-York edition.
'
In regard to the sacred writing of the Egyptians, it is not improbable that its char-
acters were originnally formed from the figure of the Nilometer, consisting of right,

angles and thence considered sacred.

The Egyptian Mysteries.

We must not expect, we are told, that the priests of Isis, or Plutarch,
or any other travellers who heard them talk, can be able to give us any
information about the true sense and meaning of their symbols. It was

a mysterious theology which they took great care not to divulge.

;

Those who were initiated therein, engaged themselves by an oath never

to communicate to the people any part of what had been revealed to
them. Does not Herodotus often tell us, that he is permitted upon no
account whatever,to reveal the names and the honors that were destined
and annexed to certain deities, or what these deities were ? The secret
in this point being inviolable, are we to wonder that they have not

explained themselves on the grounds which concern us and can we ;

judge of what they have not revealed ?

Let us then see, (and this shall be the conclusion of our essay upon
the Egyptian religion) what these mysteries so much spoken of were ;

and, if possible let us penetrate into these secrets, in spite of the veils
and harries intended to render them inaccessible.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 75

Among the ancient Egyptian figures, there were some which could
not well be mistaken for celestial gods, and of which it was difficult to
lose the meaning, having at first been of infinite use to the people. Such

were, for instance, the serpent, the canopus, and the hawk. see We
therefore,from the interpretation given of them by the grammarian
Horapollo, that in the fourth century the Egpytian priesst still expres-
sed the life or eternity of their gods by a serpent encompassing thme :

(Serpcjitem auream Diis suis circumponunt.) that they repre-

sented the overflowing of the Nile by three piichers, and denoted
the wind by a hawk spreading her wings. Accipiter alis in aere pro-
tensisventum significat. Ibid. But the people having once forgotten
the sense of the sacred writing, and taken human figures for celestial

powers, never gave over inventing histories and the priests

;
who pre-
served this writing, adapted it to their histories, which renders it
worthy,
of contempt, and altogether different from the ancient as to the mean-

ing.

The priests at first retained a part of the primitive explications.

Thence comes the mixture of great and little in the Egyptian theology
and in the Eleusinian which was the same. In there more than any
where remained the ancient footsteps of the truths, which constituted
the principal ground-work of the religion of the patriarchs.
But it would have been dangerous for the Egyptian priests to attempt
undeceiving the people and divert them from the pleasing thought that
Osiris and Isis were two real personages, and were besides of their

country and the protectors of Egypt. This chimera and all the others
in appearance were authorized by the agreement of the monuments with
the common phrase. The actions of Osiris and Isis were incessantly
mentioned. The people believed what they saw and what they heard.
The perpetual recital of as many historical facts, as there were figures
and ceremonies exhibited, completed their errors, and rendered them
invincible.

If our councils and the most venerable of our bishops have had so
much ado to abolish among the people the belief of certain legends
unworthy the majesty of our religion, and which were connected with
no monument capable of countenancing them how can we conceive
;

that the Egyptian priests were able to take from a people immersed in

ignorance and cupidity, the extravagant stories which universal custom

offered to theirminds on sight of the personages and animals where-
with the places of their assemblies were filled ? It is much more nat-
76 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

ural to think, that the priests themselves, like the rest, yielded to the

persuation of being under the patronage of their ancestors transported

and now the moderators of the sun, the moon, and of all
into the stars,

nature. The
people, in their fanatic enthusiasm, would have torn in
pieces any that should have dared to deny the history of Osiris and Isis.
Truth was then altered and obscured by the very priests. They first
accustomed themselves to these notions, because it was dangerous not to
comply with them and afterwards became themselves the most zealous
defenders of them. The whole came on by degrees. They first com
plied with the common language, because they thought they could not
stem the torrent but they studied in private what they could collect of
;

the interpretation of the ancient writing. Thus they at once admitted

both the popular stories and tl>e explications that demolished them :

they only took care to require profound secrecy from those whom they
would more solid manner.
instruct in a
Thus assumed a mysterious and important air, without
instruction

altering any thing in what the people believed. It only mentioned a

a more perfect state, and a kind of knowledge of which none became

capable till after many trials and efforts which suited not the common
fort of men. Thus they avoided exciting the fury of the people.
This was already a crying injustice in those priests to detain truth cap-

tive, and to appropriate it exclusively to themselves.

So criminal a disposition could not but occasion a still greater

impairing of truth. And really every thing degenerated more and
more every day. The probation of the disciples, and the oath of an
inviolable secrecy, being very remarkable practices, were perpetuated
with great exactness. The ceremonial part easily supports itself in all
religions, and is often embellished rather than diminished, because it is

of no importance to the passions, which it never disturbs, and sometimes

really indulges. It was not with truth and instruction as with the

ceremonial. They were disfigured from age to age, sometimes through

the ignorance of the priests, sometimes by their averice, but principally

by their fondness for systematic reveries, with which the most subtil
among them tried to explain the symbolical writing and of which ;

they were much fonder than of a few plain and over simple truths,
which their predecessors were contented to teach them.
Therefore danger and fear first gave birth to the secrecy of the
of the ancient
Egyptian instructions, and have converted the practices,
ceremonial of the public religion, into so many mysteries, to the
knowledge of which none could be admitted but such as had given
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 77

proofs of a profound respect for the objects of religion, of a perfection

which common men could not attain, and of an unconquerable tacitur-
nity. But then those who were initiated thought themselves of a class
superior to the rest of men, and their condition appeared worthy the
envying. The
priest being sure of the discretion of their disciples,
might very well acknowledge to them the grossness of the meaning
which the people annexed to these symbols. But their shameful con-
nivance suffered error to get so much ground, that the piety of the

initiated themselves sunk into a mere ceremonial and the small ;

remains of truths, which amongst so many fadulous stories,

subsisted
remained there stifled as it were, and without any useful effect. The
priests themselves out-did the popular superstitions and oat of custom,
;

and from interested views preserved the preparatory ceremonies, and

the religion of silence, that gave the people a high notion of the min-
isters, and of their learning.
I have given the literal translation of most of the terms made use of
in these mysteries. Neither the Greeks nor the Romans understood the
meaning of them, because they are Phenician, The very name mys-
tery being also a Phenician word, which signifies a veil, an invelope-
mtnt* we are, on this very account, authorized to look out in the Cha-
nanean language for the meaning of the other terms made use of in
the mysteries. But if the terms used in the Eleusinian feasts shall per-
fectly concur with the sense I have ascribed to the pieces that were
most in use in the symbolical writing and ceremonies, the result will
evidently be, that the figures originally appointed to instruct the people
have been converted into so many imaginary gods, and that we have
obtained the true original of allthese inhabitants of the poetical heaven.
The Ceres of Sicily and Eleusis is no other than the Egyptian Isis,
brought intothose places by Phenician merchants, who made themselves
rich by transporting the corn of Lower Egypt into the places whither the

scarcity of provisions drew them, and generally on the different coasts of

the Mediterranean, where they had offices, and establishments. The
ceremonial of the rural feasts had in their hands taken a turn some-
what different. The mother of harvests there lamented her daughter,
instead of bewailing her husband, as the Egyptian ritual would have it,

This excepted, the ground and intention were the same.f

Isa. 4
mistor, velamen, absconsio, lalibulum. Psl. 10
* : : 6.
mistar, et
tCicero, on the "Nature of the Gods, makes the following remarks upon this subject;
"
The sovereignty and power over the earth is the portion of a god, to whom we, as
well as the Greeks, have given a name that denotes riches in Latin Dis, in greek Plu-
;
78 DOGMAS AND CUTOMS OF

The feasts instituted in honor of Ceres were called Thesmophoria,

whose principal parts may be reduced to three, viz. the preparations the
processions, and the autopsia, or the sight of truth.
The preparations, the long enumeration of which may be read in
Meursius, (Grcccia Feriata,) had for their object the frugality, chastity
and innor.ence that were necessary the worshippers.
to The proces-
sions consisted in sacred baskets, wherein they
the carriage of the
inclosed a child and a golden serpent, a van, grains, cakes, and all the
other symbols of which we have made the enumeration in another

place.
If in the feasts of Ceres or Isis, men carried to an extravagant
excess the form of the gestures and situations, the scrupulous recitals
of the set-forms of prayers, the length of the vigils, outward purity,
abstinence, the forbearance of all pleasures, and the shunning all man-
ner of distraction; it is because the whole of
religion was reduced to
these outward practices. Those who Observed them knew neither the
motive nor the purport or destination of them. It was no longer
any
but an artificial devotion, or the skeleton of the ancient religion. But
any upright unprejudiced mind will easily discern in them the inten-
tions of the first founders, who knew the full value of rule, the beauty
of order, and the benefit of recollection,
A long description of all the purifications and other ceremonies that
filled up the first of the nine days of devotion consecrated to Ceres,
would have tired out my readers, and is no part of my plan, which
chiefly aims at obtaining the origin of these establishments. It will

be the same with the long procession formerly made from Athens to
Eleusis, and with the several marches peculiar to each of the nine

days. The Greeks had built the particulars of this minute ceremo-
nial upon the adventures that composed the wonderful story of
little

the migration of Ceres into their country.

But this my reader is acquainted with. What was carried in the

He
ton, because all things arise from the earth and return to it. forced away Proserpine,
in Greek called Persephone, by which the poets mean the seed of corn ; from whence
their fiction of Ceres, the mother of Proserpine, seeking for her daughter, who was
hid from her. She is called Ceres, which is the same as Geres, a gerendis frugibus,
from bearing fruit, the first letter of the word being altered after the manner of the
Greeks for by them she is called Demeter, the same as Gemeter," that is mother
;

earth."
Pluche derives Persephone thus, from peri, fruit, corn, and saphan, to hide,
comes persephoneh, the corn lost.
It may be remarked, that the flambeau or torch which Ceres, according to the fable
is said to have carried night and day in search of her daughter Proserpine, is a symbol
of the lost sun, without whose aid no fruit or corn could oe found or produced. Edit
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN*. 79

feasts of Ceres at Eleusis, is the same that was carried in the feasts of

Isis. Let us, therefore, pass on to the explication of the autopsia,

or the manifestation of truth, which was in a manner the last act of

this representation,and was the whole purport of the mysteries. After

a horrid darkness, lightnings, thunder claps, and an imitation of what
is most shocking in nature, the serenity which at last succeeded, dis-

covered four personages magnificently dressed, and whose habits were

all mysterious.
The most brilliant of all, and who was especially called the Hie-
rophant, or the expounder of sacred things, was dressed so as to repre-
sent the being that governs the universe. The second was the flambeau
bearer, and had relation to the sun. The third, who was called the

adorer, and who kept near an altar, represented the moon. The fourth
was called the messenger of the gods, or Mercury, which corresponds
to the Egyptian Anubis, with his dog's head and measare of the Nile,

accompanied by two serpents, and is nothing but the wholesome advice

which the dog-star timely gives to men, to make off, at the increase of
the waters, and thereby secure their subsistence.

Nothing could be better contrived than these magnificent ceremonies

whereby the Egyptians incessantly recalled to the minds of the assis-

tants the belief of the first men concerning the judgment of God, and
the hopes which are to quiet the minds of the just at the approach of
death.
What an indestructible tradition attended with constant practices had
been able to preserve of the ancient doctrine, proved at last so
very
opposite to the popular notions, that the priests thought themselves
under the necessity of using much circumspection, and of having
recourse not only to the trial of their desciples, but also to the oath of

secrecy. The reason of the priests themselves went astray in this laby-
rinth of obscure signs and mysterious practices. Then came on
systems.
One looked out among all this apparatus of ceremonies and fables for a
complete set of physics.

Another
tried to find out a complete body of moral and instructive

maxims, under the color of the most scandalous fables. Others

imagined they had found the most profound metaphysics therein.
Nor does the simplicity of the Egyptian, appear by much so shocking
as the sublime nonsense of a Platonic, who sees Monades and Triades
every where who, in a figure of Isis exposed in the middle of
;

an assembly of husbandmen, finds the arehetpye world, the intel-

lectual world, and the sensible world or who seeks in the feet of a
;
 80 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

goat the picture of universal nature or who finds out in the horn of an
;

ox the efficacy of the impressions of his imaginary genii.

Thus the learned, from a habit of diving into matters, and of look-
ing out for extraordinary explications, have perplexed a subject of itself

very simple.
A
few regular assemblies excepted, in which by public authority
were preserved some footsteps of truth together with some ancient cus-
toms, the whole went on from bad to worse, from the liberty of embel-
ishments and interpretations. The gods were multiplied in the popu-
lar discourses as much as the symbols, and even in proportion to the
different names given one and the same symbol. Oftentimes the minu-
testequivocations, proceeding from a variety in the pronunciation, the
diversity of dresses of the same figure, nay a bare change of place, a
trifle added or retrenched, gave birth to anew god.
We may see in Plutarch's treatise, but above all in Eusebius's
Evangelical Preparation, the strange variety of adventures and employ-
ments which the Africans, the Phenicians, and the Phrygians attributed
to the same gods. The celestial court was not the same in Egypt as in
Greece. In Egypt it was Osiris that gave light to the world. In
Greece Osiris or Jupiter was freed from that care. The sceptre and
thunderbolt were left to him but the chariot of the day was given to
;

Horus or Apollo, who in his quality of symbol of the rural works

bore by way of abbreviation the marks of the situation of the sun, or
the characteristic of the season.

Jupiter could neither do every thing, nor be every where. Lieu-

tenantswere then given him, each with separate districts. Every thing
assumed a settled form. The histories of the gods were composed ;

and by attributing to them what each nation in particular was pleased

to publish on their account by adding thereto the histories of the
;

ministers of the temples, and those of the kings who had favored their

worship ;
but chiefly by excusing the disorders of women on account
of the pretended disguises of these gods possessed with their charms ;

they formed that monstrous lump, of mythology, in which it is no won-

der that we find no sense, no coherency, no order of place or time, nor
any kind of regard either to reason or good manners. Though the
major part of these fabulous recitals be utterly extravagant yet as they ;

have made part of the strange theology of our forefathers, men have at
all times endeavored to find out the true origin of them. I have ven

tured my own conjectures on the same subject because they appeared

;

to me to amount nearly to a certainty, and the whole might be unravelled

 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 81

with no less decency than benefit. It is no longer so with regard to the

minute particulars of these extravagances. The collection of them
would be the matter of very large volumes and there is indeed no
;

subject upon which it will be more lawful to set bounds to one's know-
ledge.

The foregoing article has been very much curtailed as it is intended to give a full
account of the ancient mysteries from bishop Warburton's Divine Legation of Moses :

in which the subject is treated of more at large, and in some respect evidently with
a better understanding of it than the Abbe Pluche possessed.
The horrors exhibited at the commencement of the ceremony were intended to

represent the condition of the wicked in another life, and the closing scene portrayed
the abode of the blessed the miseries of Tartarus and the happiness of Elysium were
;

contrasted ; priests, in whom the vulgar in barbarous

and being pronounced by holy
ages placed implicit confidence, to be a true picture of what actually takes place in a
future state of existence, must have produced a most powerful effect.
This scene is imitated in the. royal arch degree of masonry, originally with the
same view as the archetype and as in the
; original mysteries, it forms the last act or

degree of ancient masonry. The candidates, by being hoodwinked

are kept in the dark ;

thunder and lightning are represented by the firing of pistols, rolling cannon balls, etc.
In the conclusion, the aspirants are brought to light, and presented to what is called
the grand council, consisting of three personages denominated high priest, king, and
the holy scribe on whose decorations some hundred dollars are expended, in order
;

duly to prepare them to sustain the exalted characters allotted to them. These three
are the principal persons of the drama. The fourth, and next in dignity, is styled the
"
captain of the host ; who is stationed at the right hand of the grand council, and
whose duty is, to receive their orders, and see them duly executed."
The high priest corresponds with the hierophant of the mysteries, the king with the
flambeau bearer, the sun, who was deemed the king and governor of the world the ;

holy scribe with Isis, the adorer, hence the attribute holy applied to him and the cap-
;

tain of the host, with Anubis Hermes or Mercury, the messenger of the gods. The
identity of these institutions cannot be mistaken.

The Auguries.

My readers, ever so little conversant in ancient history, may remember

tohave often seen the Romans, the Sabines, the Hetrurians, the Greeks,
and many other nations, very careful in never attempting any important
undertaking, without previously consulting the birds, and drawing
favorable orill consequences, sometimes from the number and kind of

the birds that traversed the air, sometimes from the quarter whence

they began their flight, and the different course they took. may We
likewise remember, that in order not to be obliged to wait long for a
bird which chance may not immediately offer, the priests of the falte
11
82 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

deities had introduced the custom of the sacred chickens, brought into

the middle of the assembly of the people in a cage, for the magistrates

gravely to observe their ways and motion. They had reduced into an
art,and refered to constant and settled rules, all the consequences to be
drawn with regard to futurity, from the several methods in which
these whimsical animals let fall or swallowed the food offered to them.
Have not the priests of paganism, either out of interested views, or
from an infatuation for these chimerical rules, a thousand times spoiled
or put a stop to the most important and best concerted undertakings,
out of regard to a fowl that had refused her meat? Augustus and many
other persons of understanding, have without any fatal consequences

despised the chickens and divination. But when the generals in the
times of the republic had miscarried in any enterprise, the priest and

people cast the whole blame of it on the heedlessness with which the
sacred chickens had been consulted, and more commonly still, on the

general's having preferred his own forecast to that of these fowls. Nor
can one indeed without some indignation, see these dangerous silli-
nesses continue in the highest esteem and credit among people full of

magnanimity, and the greatest genius seemingly making serious apol-

ogies for them.
Tully has handed to us a good saying of Cato, who declared that
one of the most surprising things to him was, how one soothsayer
could look another in the lace without laughing. I do not doubt but
this judicious orator, when he was discharging his functions as a

priest of the auguries, was always ready te change his countenance

whenever he happened to see any of his colleagues walking with a
grave stately air, and lifting up the augural staff. He was perfectly
sensible of the vanity of these practices. After having observed in the
second book of divinition, that the Romans had never been concerned in
a matter of greater consequence than that of the quarrel between Cssar
and Pompey, he freely confesses, that the augurs, aruspices, and ora-
cles, had never been more frequently consulted but that the answers,
;

whose number- was endless, had not been followed by the events they
foretold, or else had been succeeded by such as were quite contrary.

However, Tully, notwithstanding this confession, which wholly demol-

ishes the art of prediction, yet out of politic views defends the practice
of it. He preferred leaving the people in their error, to the risk of
provoking them, by endeavouring to free them from a pernicious and
criminal superstition.*
* It be presumed that the ritk which Cicero was
may unwilling to hazard in thi
 THE AXCIENT EGYPTIAN?. 83

Anciently, or at the time of the institution of the symbols, men,

before sowing, or" planting, used to say; let us first consult the birds.
Nor was there any thing better understood. People were satisfied
when they had observed this custom with care. These birds signified
the winds, the observation and course of which determined the propriety
of rural works. But men, in process of time, very earnestly invoked
the birds themselves.
The cock commonly placed by the side of Horus and Anubis or
Mercury, very plainly signified what was to be done in the morning,
as the owl marked out the assemblies that were to be held in the eve-

ning. Cocks were then made so many new monitors foretelling futu-
rity ;
and the owl acquired in this matter a talent which many people
earnestly contend she is still
possessed of. When this bird, which is
an enemy to light,
happens shriek as she
to passes by the window of a
sick person, where she perceives it, you never can beat it out of their

head, that this shrieking, is a foreboding of his end.

Origin and Falsehood of the Sibyls.

It is from a sensible abuse in astronomy or of the custom of consult-

ing certain stars, that the oracles of the Sibyls were introduced. Har-
vest has always been the great object of the desires and attention of all
nations. In order therefore to regulate the manuring of their lands,
their plowing, sowing, and the other operations of concern to the bulk
of society, men had their eyes fixed on the virgin that bears the ear of
corn, and which is the mark of the time of harvest. They observed
how far the sun was remote from it, and on this account they generally
used to consult and have recourse to the virgin a language as reasona-
;

ble as the practice expressed by it. They at first gave this constellation
the name Shibyl Ergone* the reddening ear of corn, because it is

exactly the circumstance for which men wait to begin their harvest, and
because their crop ripens when the sun draws near this collection of
stars.

They afterwards called it sometimes Sibyl, sometimes Erigone.

case, was the loss of popularity, and the emolument arising from the priestly office. Self-
interest, in all ages of the world, has been the moving principle of action with the cun-
ning and designing, to impose upon the credulity of ignorance. Observing the feeding
or flight of birds, or inspecting the entrails of a bullock, thereby to predict future events,
is not more ridiculous, nor less creditable to the understanding of the human species,
than some practices that might be mentioned, which are in vogue at the present
day. Edit.
* From Dan. 6 7, Er-
Shibul, or Shibolet, spicas and from
;
:

gone purpura. The purple ear of corn, Spica rubtscent.

84 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

This name Erigone rendered in Greek by that of Erytra, which corres-

ponds to it, and signifies red, gave birth to the Erytrean Sibyl. There
was certainly an advantage in consulting her, and her answers were
very just to regulate husbandry so long as she was taken for what she
was, that is, for a cluster of stars under which the sun placed himself at
the time which brought on harvest, and reddened the ear of corn. And
because the Egyptian harve'st did not fall under that sign, but under
the Ram or the Bull, it is, that Egypt flocked to the oracles of Ammon
or of Apis, and had so particular an affection for Isis with the horns
of a heifer, the ancient proclamation of their harvest whereas all the
;

east consulted the

Erytrean Sibyl, in order to be assured of a plentiful
crop. This language became the matter of fables. Our maid changed
from a sign to a prophetess, had no doubt the most perfect knowledge
of futurity, since people came from all
parts to ask her questions. The
excessive wickedness of mankind at last obliged her to quit their abodes,
to go, and in the heavens take
possession of the place due to her-
Many countries assumed to themselves the honor of having given birth
to this sibyl : nor would it be a hard matter to find seven instead of one.
All the current predictions, among which some strokes of the prophe-
cies addressed to the Hebrews, are found, in time
passed for the answers
of these sibyls.*

The American reader should be aware that the term corn is used in England, as a
generic term for grow in ears. The French word, here translated corn, is
all seeds that
ble, which signifies grain, wheat ble de Terquie or d' Inde, means maize, Indian corn.
;

Wheat as it ripens puts on a reddish hue which is not the case with Indian corn,
:

although red ears are sometimes found among it. Grain, in English, seems the most
proper term, for the genus of the different species.
In masonic lodges, the master is stationed in the east, representing Osiris the sun ;
and the senior warden in the west, representing Isis or Virgo, the sign of harvest his ;

duty pay the craft

is to wages, which alludes metaphorically to the reward
their
the husbandman receives in the produce of his labor, when the sun arrives at this

sign. This is indicated by a painting representing a sheaf of wheat, which is hung

back of this officer's chair. The pass word of the fellow-craft, at this station, to enti-
tle him to pay, is shibboleth, the reddening ear of wheat. Can any thing more conclu-
sively point out the astronomical cast of free-masonry.
It must have been at a very remote period when the Egyptian harvest occurred, as
above stated, during the passage of the sun, either under the sign of the ram or the bull.
Volney, in his travels in Egypt and Syria, observes:
" As the
sun approaches the tropic of Capricorn, the winds becomes variable and
tempestuous; they most usually blow from the north, the north-west, and west, in

* See upon this subject the excellent remarks of P. Catrou on the fifth eclogue of
Virgil.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 85

which points they continue during the months of December, January, and February^
which is the winter season in Egypt, as well as with us. The vapour of the Medeterra-
nean, condensed by the coldness of the atmosphere, descends in mists and rains."

Conjuration.

I am still to inquire into the origin of an art far more important than

all the foregoing. This is necromancy, the art of calling up the spirits
of the dead, and of making them speak.* The reader will not be dis-
pleased here to find the key of the occult languages, and to be acquainted
how magicians went about asking questions of hell, and conversing
with the devils.

A respect for the human body which was believed to be destined for
a better state to come, and one day to rise from the dust, induced the
first nations to inter the dead in a decent manner, and always to join to
this melancholy ceremony, wishes and prayers, which were expres-
sions or a profession of their expectation.
Funeral assemblies were the most frequent, because men died every
day, and these meetings were repeated on every anniversary. They
were not only the most common, but also the most regular.
Every thing was simple in the ancient feasts. Men met upon some
high and remarkable place. They made there a small pit, wherein to
consume the entrails of the victims by fire. They made the blood to
flow into the same pit. Part of the flesh was presented to the ministers
of the sacrifice. They boiled the rest of the offering immolated, and
eat it, sitting near the fire.
By degrees they swerved from this sim-

plicity.
What had been approved on some important occasion, afterwards
passed into custom, and became a law. The number, the characters, and
the histories of the objects which men took for gods, afterwards gave
birth to a thousand varieties, which appeared very important rites and

necessary precautions. Whoever should have neglected one single

point of the ceremonial prescribed, had nothing less than the plague or
famine to apprehend. Whenever the gods in that case were contented
with only sending a transitory tempest or some furious beast among
them, the fault was reckoned very cheaply atoned for. Each feast hav-
ing its proper service and decorations had a peculiar name. It was not

*
The science of communing with departed spirits, supposed to have been lost for
many centuries, is believed, by the Swedenborgians, to have been communicated to
the founder of their sect, Emmanuel Swedenborg. He asserts, that in the year 1743,
the Lord manifested himself to him
by a personal appearance, and at the same time
opened his spiritual eyes, so that he was enabled constantly to see and converse with
pints and angels. Edit.
 Ot> DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

thus with the funeral assemblies :

nothing was changed in them. They
were void of joy and decoration. Men went on with practising what had
ever heen done. The families in intering their dead, were accustomed
to a common rubric which was perpetual. It is then in the service of
the funerals especially, that we may again find the principal of the usa-
ges of primitive antiquity. At these solemnities they continued to

make a ditch, to pour out wine, oil, honey, milk, or some other liquors in

use, to shed the blood of the victims,* to roast their flesh, to eat it in com-
mon sitting round the pit or hearth, and discoursing of the virtues of him

they came to lament. These assemblies continued to bear the name

given to all solemn convenings.
While the other feasts, on account of the diversity of the ceremonies,
were called Saturnalia, Dionisiaca, Palilia, etc. the funeral assemblies
were simply called the Manes,^ that is, the covering or regulation.
That the Manes and the dead became two synonymous words, or were
indifferently used, one for another. And as the things which gave
names to the feasts, were generally become the objects of an extravagant
worship the Manes or the dead became likewise the object reverenced
;

in the funeral ceremonies. The strange facility with which the

minute parts of the universe were deified, is a hint to us how the cus-
tom was introduced and religious worship
of directing prayers, vows,
to the dead whom they had loved, whose praises were celebrated, and

who were thought to enjoy the most refined knowledge, after they had,
together with their body, cast off the frailties of humanity.
The ancient sacrifices were not only eucharistical. In the times
when the Most High was as yet worshipped, they were looked upon as
an alliance contracted with him, and whereby they engaged themselves
to be faithful to him. I shall here mention neither the reasons nor any
instances of it. The former are palpable, and the scripture abounds
with the latter.

All nations, when they sacrificed either to the gods they had framed
to themselves, or to the dead whose memory was dear to them, thought

they entered into an alliance, conversed, and familiarly eat with them.
But this familiarity engrossed their thoughts most particularly in the
funeral assemblies, in which they were as yet full of the memory of the
t

*Inferimus tepido spumantia cymbia lacte,

Sanguinis et sacri pateras. JEneid. 5.
See the same ceremonies in the anniversary of Anchises. JEn. 5.
t From mantm, distributiones, vices, rtditus, tolemnitas. This name was
given to the symbolical figures. In particular it remained the name of the image of the
flead person which characterized a funeral assembly.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 87

personswhom they had tenderly loved, and who, as they thought, took
always a great part in the concerns of their family and country.
We have heretofore observed, how cupidity and ignorance hav-
ing rendered all men indifferent as to justice, had led them astray as

to the object of their worship, and had afterwards converted every part
of it into so many means of being relieved of in their illness, instructed
in futurity, and provided all proper means to succeed in all their under-
takings. Every object spoke to them. The birds in the
in nature

heaven, the serpents and other animals on the earth, a simple rod in
the hand of their minister, and all the instruments of religion, were so

many oracles and prophetical signs. They read the stars, and the gods
spoke or revealed their intentions to them from one end cf nature to the
other. This covetousness and gross religion, which applied to the gods
merely to ask them questions in matters of interest, was no less inquisi-
tive and thought it had a right to be still better served in the funeral

sacrifices than in all the rest. Men in these ceremonies thought they
had to dealwith affectionate gods, which, on account of the concern they
still had in the prosperity of their family, could not but inform them in
time, ofwhatever might be of service or detrimental to them. The
whole apparatus of the funerals was then again interpreted in the same
manner, as that of the other feasts, and the whole was converted into
so many methods of divination.
The ceremonies of the Manes, though they were but the bare practi-
ces of the assemblies of the primitive times, being in every respect dif-
ferent from those observed in the other feasts, appeared so
many differ,
ent methods of conversing with the dead, and of obtaining the desired
information from them. Who then could doubt but it was in order

familiarly to converse with their ancient friends, that men sat down
round a pit, which they had thrown the oil, the flour, and the blood
into
of the victim they had killed to their honor ? How could it be doubted,
but that this pit so different from the altars set up and pointing towards
heaven, was a suitable ceremony, and peculiarly belonging to the dead ?
The dead evidently took pleasure in these repasts, and especially in
what was poured into the pit for them. Doubtless they came to con-
sume the Jioney and the liquors which disappeared from thence and if ;

their friends were contented with offering them liquors only, no doubt it
was because their condition as dead persons would not admid of gross
foods. Men were then so extravagantly credulous as to believe tha*
the phantoms came to drink and voluptuously to relish these liquor^
88 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

while their relations feasted on the rest of the sacrifice around the pit.
After the repast in common between the dead and the living, came
the interrogation, or particular calling up of the soul, for which the
sacrifice was appointed, and who was to explain her mind. Every
body is sensible that an inconvenience attended the ceremony,
being it

to be apprehended that the dead might crowd about the ditch, to get a
share in this effusion which they were so very greedy of, and leave
nothing for the dear soul, for whom the feast was designed. This was
provided against. The relations made two ditches. In one they threw
in wine, honey, water and flour, to amuse the generality of the dead in :

the other they poured out the blood of the victim then to be eaten in
common by the family. They sat upon the brink of the latter, and with
their swords near them, they kept off by the sight of these instruments,
the crowd of dead who had no concern in their affairs. They on the
contrary invited and called up by his name the deceased, whom they
had a mind to cheer and consult. They desired him to draw near.
The dead seeing that there was there no security for them, flocked and
swarmed round the ditch, the access to which was free, and politely
abandoned the other to the privileged soul, who had a right to the offer-
ing, and who knew the bottom of the affairs about which she was to be
consulted.
The questions made by the living were distinct and easy to be under-
stood. The answers, on the contrary, though very certain, were nei-
ther so quick, nor so easy to be unraveled. But the priests who had
been taught in their labyrinth how to understand the voice of the gods
the answers of the planets, the language of the birds, the serpents and
the mutest instruments, easily understood the dead, and became their
interpreters. They reduced it into whose most necessary point
an art,

and what best suited the condition of the dead, was silence and darkness.
They retired inlo the deeper caves they fasted and lay upon the skins
:

of the sacrificed beasts. When

they waked or after a watch, which,
was fitterturn their brains than to reveal hidden things to them,
to

they gave for answers the thought or dream which had most affected
them. Or they opened certain books appointed for that use:* and the
first words which offered at the opening of them, were precisely those

* A similar custom is still practised by some superstitious people who, when in doubt
;

what they ought to determine in particular circumstances, open the bible, and the first
passage that strikes their eyes, is expected to intimate the proper course. Edit.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 89

of the prophecy expected or in short, the priest and sometimes the

:

person himself who came to consult, took care, at going out of the cave,
to listen with attention to the
very first words he could possibly hear,
from what part soever they proceeded, and they were to him in lieu of
an answer. These words for certain had no manner of relation or con-
nexion with the business in hand but they were turned so many ways,
;

and the sense of them so violently wrested, that they must needs have
given way some small matter. Commonly enough they had in appear-
ance some relation to it. They sometimes, instead of the foregoing
methods, had recourse to what they called sortcs, viz a number of :

tickets on which there were some words written at random, or some

verses already current ornewly coined. These tickets being throwr?

into an urn, they were stirred very well together, and the first ticket
that was drawn, was gravely given to the distressed family, as the
means to make them easy. Methods of divination were multiplied with-
out end. The whole of religion was almost converted into so many
methods of knowing futurity. See the dissertation of Van dale upon the
heathen oracles. See the history of the oracles. This matter has been
sufficiently treated upon by the learned: it would be needless to
resume it.

It is evident that the practices above mentioned were extremely fk

every where to spread this extravagant persuasion, which is still pre-
served among the people, that we may converse with the dead, and that
they often come to give us advices.
can again supply my readers with the proofs of this custom, or
If I

rather of this per verse abuse of the funeral ceremonies I shall, methinks,;

have shown, that the opinions of men upon the gods, the
sufficiently
dead, and the answers that may be obtained from either of them, are

nothing but a literal and gross interpretation made of very plain signs,
and of still plainer ceremonies, whose purport was to express certain
truths, and to fulfil certain duties.
Because all nations flocked to high places, there to shed the blood
of the victims into a trench, and to converse with a dead person, by

keeping olf otA'efs by the sight of a sword, it is, that, scripture so often,
and in so express a manner, forbids the Israelites to assemble upon
high places, or, (.which was frequently the same thing) to held their
assembly near the blood, or to eat sitting round any pit sprinkled with
the blood of the victims. The seventy interpreters knowing per-
fectly, that this was what drew the people to the high places, having
very well translated this passage of Leviticus, xix. 26. and other fclie

12
90 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

like by these words, ye shall not go and eat upon the mountains.
Here to eat is the same thing as to sacrifice.*

In concluding my extracts and remarks on the interesting works of the Abbe

Pluche, I will take some notice of what he says of the dog-days which are continually
;

recorded in Almanacs, when probably neither the authors nor readers, know any thing
of their origin, or the propriety or use of their being retained in such registers.

According to our author, the rising of the dog-star, was generally accompanied
with what the Egyptians called the Etesian northern wind, that continued to blow for
about forty days in succession. When this wind failed to occur at this period, or was
too light to be of use in causing the swelling of the Nile to a sufficient height, a general
sadness of the people ensued. The probability, therefore, is, that while the inhabitants
r
emained idle on the high ground, watching the progress of the inundation, these forty
days were passed very much, in fasting and other acts of devotion to gain the favor of
their gods in this respect. Indeed the author relates a story that prevailed among the
Cretians, that corroborates this opinion which is, that through the displeasure of the
;

" but after

gods, this wind was not permitted to blow for a considerable time ; repeated
sacrifices, the gods at length granted the return of the Etesian wind, and its constant

blowing, during the forty days that followed the rising of the dog star, called the dog-
days which again brought abundance-upon the earth." The people, he says, in
;

another place, "were warned to observe the dog-days."

"
Volney remarks that, about the end of July, dnring all the month of August, and
half of September, the winds in Egypt remain constantly in the north, and are moder-
ate brisker in the day,
;
however, and weaker at night."
The dog-days, in caflenders calculated for the United States, are generally noted as
commencing on the 30th of July, and ending on the tenth of September, making forty
two days.
It is Roman Catholic Lent has grown out of this ancient
highly probable that the
custom in regard dog-days accommodated however, in respect to the time of its
to the ;

observance, to the circumstances of countries differently situated to that of Egypt. Such

an essential change in the usual habit of living, is, no doubt, very detrimental to health,
and probably causes the premature death of thousands annually. The requirement of
abstinence from meat on Fridays and Saturdays, is founded upon the same principle.
A breach of this rule of the politico-religious church of Rome, is placed in the list of
damning sins, hra ritual issued, even under the reign of the Emperor Napoleon, with his
signature attached, ordering its observance by all Catholics throughout his dominions.
Thus the fastings and mortifications originally got up to appease the fickle and vin-
dictive gods of paganism, have, without the least propriety or reason, been incorporated
into the systems of some sects of professed Christians.
By required to abstain from eating meat
this establishment the catholic is for forty

days, except by special indulgence granted by a priest. Those therefore, to whom it is

inconvenient to pay for indulgences, are under the necessity of restricting- themselves
to fish and vegetable diet during- the above term.

* Masonic
writers say, " their brethren used to meet- on the highest hills." This
declaration applies to the predecessors of freemasons, but not to the craft; whose
assemblies were always held in a lodge-room, guarded by a member at the door, with a
drawn sword.
The Jirstword spoken, on raising the dead body of Hiram, was to be substituted
for
the lost master
mason,s word, provided it was not found upon him. This idea is evi-
dently copied from the superstitious practices mentioned above, at the funeral anniver-
saries. Edit.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 91

I will here observe, that personages which Mr. Pluche declares to be mythological,
never having had existence, will be considered by other writers, quoted in this work, as
real historical persons. Some of his hypotheses in other respects, may also be contrary
to the doctrines of authors here cited.I shall generally pass such discrepances wilhout

comment, leaving the reader to form his own opinion.

To Abbe Pluche' s account of Egypt, I will add a few extracts from a recent and
"
very valuable work, entitled, A View of Ancient and Modern Egypt, by the Rev.
Michael Russell, L L. D.

Literature and Science of the Ancient Egyptians.

In Egypt the use of the hieroglyph was not entirely superseded by

the invention of an alphabet. For many purposes connected with reli-
gion, and even with the more solemn occupations of civil life, the em-
blematical style of composition continued to enjoy a preference on a ;

principle similar to that which disposes the Jew to perform his worship
in Hebrew, and the Roman Catholic in Latin. There appears also to
have been a mixed language used by the partaking at once of
priests,

hieroglyphics and of alphabetical characterswhich, in allusion to the

;

class of men by whom it was employed, was denominated hieratic.

Hence, in process of time, the Egyptians found themselves in posses-

sion of three different modes of communication the hieroglyphic, pro-
perly so called, the hieratic, and the demotic or common. This dis-
tinction is clearly recognized in the following well-known passage
extracted from the works of Clemens Alexandrinus.
Those who are educated among the Egyptians, says he, learn first
of all the method of writing called the epistolographic secondly, the ;

hieratic, which the sacred scribes employ and, lastly, the mast myste-
;

rious description, the hieroglyphic, of which there are two kinds, the
one denoting objects, in a direct manner, by means of the initial sounds
of words the other is symbolical. Of the symbolical signs one class
represents objects by exhibiting a likeness or picture another, by a ;

metaphorical or less complete resemblance and a third, by means of

;

certain allegorical enigmas. Thus, to give an example of the three

methods in the symbolical division, when they wish
to represent an

object by the they

first, a
fix
upon distant resemblance such as a circle,
:

when they want to indicate the sun, and a crescent when their pur-
pose is to denote the moon. The second, or metaphorical, allows a
considerable freedom in selecting the emblem, and may be such as only

suggests the object by analogous qualities. For instance, when they

record the praises of kings in their theological fables, they exhibit them
in connexion with figurative allusions which shadow forth their good
 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

actions and benign dispositions. In this case the representation is not

direct but
metaphorical. Of the third method of symbolical writing
the following will serve as an
example they assimilate the oblique
:

course of the
planets to the body of a serpent, but that of the sun to the
figure of a scarabaeus.
In reference
to the
knowledge actually acquired of the literature of
ancient Egypt by means of the late discoveries in hieroglyphics, we
are not entitled to
speak in boastful or very confident language. The
wasting hand of time, which has rendered its effects visible even on the
Pyramids, has entirely destroyed the more perishable materials to which
the sages of Thebes and the
magicians of Memphis may have commit-
ted the science of their several
generations. We
know, too, that the big-
otry of ignorance and of superstition accomplished, in many cases^
what the flood of years had
permitted to escape for which reason we
;

must not estimate the extent of

acquirement among the wise men of
Egypt by the scanty remains of their labors which have been casually
rescued from accident and violence. From Diodorus Siculus we receive the
information that in the tomb of
Osymandias were deposited twenty thou-
sand volumes, a number which is
reducedby Manetho to three thousand
five hundred and all of which, on account of their anti-
twenty-five,
quity or the importance of their subjects, were ascribed to Thoth 01 Her-
mes, who, it is well known, united in his character the intelligence of
9. divinity with the patriotism of a faithful minister.
Of these works, which unquestionably belongto a very remote

antiquity, we have
a short account supplied by a Christian bishop,
Clemens of Alexandria, who appears to have devoted much attention
" In that
to the learning of the ancient Egyptians. country," he tells
" branch of an
us, every individual cultivates a different philosophy,
arrangement which applies chiefly to their holy ceremonies. In such

processions the singer occupies the first place, carrying in his hand an
instrument of music. He is said to be obliged to learn two of the books
of Hermes one of which contains hymns addressed to the gods, and
;

the other the rules by which a prince ought to govern. Next comes the

Horoscopus, holding a clock and the branch of a palm-tree, which are

the symbols of astrology. He must be completely master of the four
books of Hermes which treat of that science. One of these explains
tfte order of the fixed stars ;
the second, the motion and phases of the
sun and moon : the other two determine the times of their
periodical
rising. Then
follows the Hierogrammatist or sacred scribe, with two
feathers on his head, and, a book and ruler in his hand, to which are
added the instruments of writing, some jnfc and a reed. He must know
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 93

what are called hieroglyphics, and those branches of science which

belong to cosmography, geography, and astronomy, especially the laws

of the sun, moon, and five planets ;

he must be acquainted with the ter-

ritorial distribution of Egypt, the course of the Nile, the furniture of

the temples and of all consecrated places. After these is an officer
denominated Stolistes, who
bears a square-rule as the emblem of justice,
and the cup of libations. His charge includes every thing which
belongs to the education of youth, as well as to sacrifices, first-fruits,
hymns, prayers, religious pomps, festivals, and commemorations the ;

rules for which are contained in ten books. This functionary is suc-
ceeded by one called the prophet, who displays in his bosom a jar or
vessel, meant for carrying water, a symbol thought to represent the
deity, but which, more probably, had a reference to the sacred char-
acter of the Nile. He is attended by persons bearing bread
cut into slices. The duty of the prophet, [as president of the mys-
teries,according to Volney's citation of this passage,] made it neces-
sary for him to be perfectly acquainted with the ten books called sacer-
dotal, and which treat of the laws of the gods, and of the whole

discipline of the priesthood. He presides over the distribu-

also
tion of the sacred revenue ;
that the income arising from the
is,

performance of pious rites, and dedicated to the support of religious

institutions.Hence, there are forty-two books of Hermes, the know-
ledge of which is absolutely necessary of these, thirty-six, containing
;

the whole philosophy of the Egyptians, are carefully studied by the

persons whom we have mentioned ;

and the remaining six are learned
by the Pastophori, or inferior priests, as they belong to anatomy, to
nosology, to instruments of surgery, to pharmacy, to the diseases of
the eye, and to the maladies of women." (Clemen. Alexandrin. Strom,
lib. vi. p. 633.)
This distribution of the sciences does not enable us to determine either
the principles on which they were founded or the extent to which they
were pursued. We
possess a better criterion in the perfection to which
the people of Egypt, at a very early period, had carried some of those
arts which have a close dependence upon scientific deductions. The
prodigies of Thebes could not have been accomplished by a nation
ignorant of mathematics and chymistry ;
nor could the pyramids,
the obelisks, and the monolithic temples, which still meet the eye of the
traveler in almost every spot between Elephantine and the mouths of
the Nile, have been raised without the aid of such mechanical powers
as have their origin in the calculations of philosophy. (See p. 133,

Carper's Ed.)
94 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF

Here we have the archetype of masonic processions, on festival days and other
important occasions. I shall hereafter give a detailed account of those which took
place in London, on laying the cornerstone and on the dedication of Freemasons' Hall.
We see here also the original of the square rule, as a masonic symbol. It was, in

Egypt, an emblem of justice, because it was the means by which was ascertained the
boundaries of lands that had been obscured or carried away by the inundation. We
here moreover recognise the holy or sacred scribe of a royal arch chapter, with a book
and ruler in his hand. The original book, containing the laws of Egypt relating to
sacrifices and other matters appertaining to religion, not having been preserved, masonry
substitutes for it the Bible, which is opened at the beginning of the gospel of St.

John, and with the square and compasses laid thereon, is ceremonially carried in the
processions.
The jar or vessel spoken of, was undoubtedly one of the Cannopi which indicated
the different heights of the Nile, and for this reason acquired a sanctity among the peo-

ple. The three pitchers carried in masonic processions no doubt originally alluded to
the Egyptian cannopi.
As to -the learning, so much boasted of by the craft, and which seems to be claimed
by them as an inheritance from their predecessors, it is to be feared, that it remains
buried in the the tomb of Osymandias. The hymns or odes and songs, as well as prayers
are retained in great abundance, and compose an essential part of the masonic cere-
monies.
Attributing the authorship of twenty thousand, or even three thousand five hundred
and twenty-five volumes, to Thoth or Hermes, is an evidence of his being a fictitious
character, and corroborates the opinion of Pluche on the subject. Jamblichus, how-
"
ever, puts this matter beyound controversy he says
;
:
Hermes, the god who presides
over language, was formerly very properly considered as common to all priests and ;

the power who presides over the true science concerning the gods is one and the same
in the whole of things.
Hence our ancestors dedicated the inventions of their wisdom to this deity, inscrib-
ing all their own writings with the name of Hermes. (Taylor's trans, p. 17-)
Volney, who, in his Ruins, quotes part of the foregoing extract from Clemens
observes, that Mercury [who is the same as Hermes] is the Janus of the Romans, the
Guianeseof the Indians, and it is remarkable that Yanus and Guianese are synony-
mous. In short, it appears that these books are the source of all that has been trans-
mitted to us by the Greeks and Latins in every science, even in alchymy, necromancy,
etc. What is most to be regretted in their loss is that part which related to the principles
of medicine and diet, in which the Egyptians appear to have made considerable progress
and useful observations."

Remains of the Ancient Arts, in various parts of Egypt.

Dendera, which is
commonly identified with the ancient Tentyra,
presents some very striking examples of that sumptuous architecture
which the people of Egypt lavished upon their places of worship.
The gateway in particular which leads to the temple of Isis has excited
universal admiration. Each front, as well as the interior, is covered
with sculptured hieroglyphics, which are executed with a lichness, a
precision, elegance of form, and variety of ornament, surpassing in
many respects the similar edifices which are found at Thebes and
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 95

Philoe. The height is

forty-two feet, the width thirty-three, and the
depth
"
seventeen. Advancing along the brick ruins," says Dr. Richardson,
" wecame to an elegant gateway or propylon, which is also of sandstone,
neatly hewn, and completely covered with sculpture and hieroglyphics
remarkably well cut. Immediately over the centre of the door-way is
the beautiful Egyptian ornament
usually called the globe, with serpen
1

and wings, emblematical of the glorious sun

poised in the airy firmament
of heaven, supported and directed in his course
by the eternal wisdom of
the Deity. The sublime
phraseology of Scripture, the Sun of Righte-
'

ousness shall rise with healing on his wings,' could not be more
emphati-
cally or more accurately represented to the human eye than this ele- by
gant device. The
temple itself still retains all its original magnificence.
The centuries which have ekpsed since the era of its foundation h.a.ve

scarcely affectedit in
any important part, and have impressed upon it
no greater appearance of age than serves to render it more venerable
and imposing.* To Mr. Hamilton, who had seen innumerable mon-
uments of the same kind throughout the Thebaid, it seemed as if he
were now witnessing the highest degree of architectural excellence
that had ever been attained on the borders of the Nile. Here were
concentrated the united labors of ages, and the last effort of human
art and industry, in that uniform line of construction which had been

adopted in the earliest times.

The portico consists of twenty-four columns, in three rows each
;

above twenty-two feet in

circumference, thirty two feet high, and cov-
ered with hieroglyphics. On the front, Isis is in general the principal
figure to whom offerings are made. On the architrave are represen-
ted two processions of men and women bringing to their goddess, and
to Osiris, who is sitting behind her, globes encompassed with cows'

horns, mitred snakes, lotus flowers, vases, little boats, graduated staffs,
and other instruments of their emblematical worship. The interior

* The knowledge of astronomy leads to the interpretation of hieroglyphical charac-

ters, since astronomical signs are often found on the ancient Egyptian monuments,
which were probably employed by the priests to record dates. On the ceiling of the
is a long row of figures of men
portico of the temple among the ruins of Tentyra, there
and animals, following each other in the same direction ; among these are the twelve

signs of the zodiac, placed according to the

motion of the sun it is probable that the
:

first figure in the procession represents the beginning of the year. Now
the first is the
Lion as if coming out of the temple ; and it is well known that the agricultural year of
the Egyptians commenced at the solstice of summer, the epoch of the inundation of
the Nile :then if the preceding hypothesis be true, the solstice at the time the temple
was built must have happened in the constellation of the lion but, as the solstice now
;

that the
happens 21 6' north of the constellation of the Twins, it is easy to compute
zodiac of Tentyramust have been made 4000 ago. Diss. on Mech. of the Heav.
years
by Mrs. Somerville. Edit.
 DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF 96

of the pronaos is adorned with sculptures, most of them preserving

part of the paint with which they have been covered. Those on the
ceiling are peculiarly rich and varied, all illustrative of the union
between the astronomical and religious creeds of the ancient Egyp-
tians yet, though each separate figure is well preserved and perfectly
;

intelligible, we must be more intimately acquainted with the real prin-

ciples of the sciences, as they were then taught, before we can under-
take to explain the signs in which they were embodied.
The sekos, OK, interior of the temple, consists of several apartments,
all the walls and ceilings of which are in the same way covered with
religious and astronomical representations.
The rooms have been lighted by small perpendicular holes cut in
the ceiling, and, where it was possible to introduce them, by oblique
ones in the sides. But some idea might be formed of the perpetual
gloom whichinthe apartments on the ground-floor of the sekos must
have been buried, from the fact, that where no sidelight could be intro_
duced, all they received was communicated from the apartment above j

so that notwithstanding the cloudless sky and the brilliant colors on

the walls, the place must have been always well calculated for the mys-
terious practices of the religion to which it was consecrated. On one
corner of the roof there was a chapel or temple twenty feet square,
consisting of twelve columns, exactly similar in figure and proportions
tothose of the pronaos. The use to which it may have been applied
must probably remain one of the secrets connected with the mystical
and sometimes cruel service in which the priests of Isis were employed.
Towards the eastern end of the roof are two separate sets of
apartments, one on the north and the other on the south side of it.
The ceiling of the next room is divided into two compartments By
a figure of Isis in very high relief. In one of them is the circular
zodiac ;
in the other a variety of boats with four or five human figures
in each ;
one of whom is in the act of spearing a large egg, while
others are stamping with their feet upon the victims of their fury,

among which are several human beings. Near this scene a large
lion, supported by four dog-headed figures, each carrying a knife, may
be regarded as an additional type of the sanguinary purposes for
which the apartment was used. The walls of the third room
are covered with the several representations of a person, first at the

point of death lying on a couch then stretched out

;
lifeless upon a!
bier ;
and finally, being embalmed.
The western wall of the great temple is particularly interesting for
the extreme elegance of the sculpture.
 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 97

Here are frequent representations of men who seem prepared for

slaughter or just going to be put to death. On these occasions one or
more appear, with their hands or legs tied to the trunk of a tree, in the
most painful and distorted attitudes.
In a small chapel behind the temple, the cow and the hawk seem
tohave been particularly worshipped, as priests are frequently seen
kneeling before them presenting sacrifices and offerings. In the cen-
tre of the ceiling is the same front face of Isis in high relief, illumi-

nated, as were, by a body of rays issuing from the mouth of the same
it

long figure, which, in the other temples, appears to encircle the hea-
venly bodies. About two hundred yards eastward from this chapel is
a propylon of small dimensions, resembling in form that which con-
ducts to the great temple, and, like it, built in a line with the wall
which surrounds the sacred enclosure. Among the sculptures on it
which appear of the same style but less finished than those on the large
temple, little more is worthy of notice than the frequent exhibition of
human slaughter by men or by lions. Still farther towards the east,

there another propylon, equally well preserved with the rest, about
is

forty feet in height, and twenty feet square at the base. Among
the sacred figures on this building is an Isis pointing with a reed
to a graduated staff held by another figure of the same deity, from
which are suspended scales containing water animals, the whole group

perhaps being an emblem of her influence over the Nile in regulating

its
periodical inundations. Ibid. p. 166.

The
signs of the zodiac portrayed in the center of the roof of freemasons' hall, Lon-
don, appears, are in accordance with the astronomical decorations of the ancient
it

temples of Egypt. Celestial and terrestrial globes also compose a part of the masonic
emblems.
The author seems not to be aware that the Isis, pointing with a reed to a graduated
staff, was directing the attention of the Egyptians to the Nilometer or measure of the
inundation, so important to their well being. This measure in after times, as before
noticed,became an ensign of office, Mercury's wand, and as such has been adopted by
masonry.
The cruelty supposed to be connected with the Egyptian mode of worship, as indi-
cated by the appearance of persons under torture, the reader will find in the sequel, were
nothing more than sham representations of the punishments said to be inflicted upon
the wicked in another life. The contrast displayed in the death of a virtuous character,
embalmed, clearly points out the intention of these representations. The
carefully
appartments where these awful figures were portrayed, were, no doubt, the first into
which candidates for initiation into the mysteries were introduced.
 CHAPTER. II.
ORIGIN, NATURE, AND OBJECT, OF THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES;
ABRIDGED FROM BISHOP WARBURTON's DIVINE LEGATION Qf
MOSES WITH NOTES AND REMARKS, POINTING OUT THEIR
;

IDENTITY WITH FREEMASONRY, ETC.

IT is proper to. premise, that the author uniformly refers to the works of the writers
which he quotes, and generally gives the passages in the original language in which
they were written. His quotations from the Eneid, the Metamorphosis of Epuleius, and
some other works, given in the Latin language, are here rendered into English. A few
Greek passages in his work are also given in translation, and all Greek terms are put
in Roman characters for the benefit of the general reader.
An abstract of the author's remarks, introductory to his treatise on the Mysteries, ia

first given, as follows :

So inseparable, in antiquity, were the ideas of law-giving and

religion, that Plutarch, speaking- of the preference of atheism to super-
stition, supposes no other establishment of divine worship than what
"
was the work
of the legislator. How
much happier would it have
been, says he, for the Carthagenians, had their first law-giver been like
Critias or Diogoras, who believed neither gods nor demons, rather thaa
such an one as enjoined their public sacrifices io Saturn."
But here it will be necessary to remind the reader of this previous

truth, that there never was in any age of the world, from the most early
accounts of time, to this present hour, any civil-policied nation or people

who had a religion, of which the chief foundation and support was not
the doctrine of a future state of rewards and punishments the Jewish ;

people only excepted. This I presume, our adversaries will not deny.
Mr. Bayle, the indulgent foster father of infidelity, confesses it in the
"
fullest manner, and with the utmost ingenuity all -the religions of
;

the world, whether true or false, turn upon this grand pivot, that there is
an invisible judge who punishes and rewards after this life, the actions
of men, both of thought and deed. From thence it is
supposed the
principal use of religion is derived," and thinks it was the utility of
that doctrine which magistrate upon inventing a religion for the
set the

state. "-.It is the principle motive that incited those who invented it."

(Diet. Grit, and Hist. Art. Spinoza Rem. E.)

The Egyptians were the first people who perfected civil
policy, and
established religion :
they were the first too, who deified their kings,
law-givers and public benefactors. This was a practice invented by
them, who in process of time, taught the rest of the world their mystery,
 100 A DISSERTATION ON

The
attributes and qualities assigned to their gods, always corres-

ponded with the nature and genius of the government. If this was gen-

tle,benign, compassionate and forgiving goodness and mercy were ;

most essential to the deity but if severe, inexorable, captious or une-

;

qual, the very gods were tyrants and expiations, atonements, lustra-
;

tions, and bloody sacrifices composed the system of religious worship.

Gods partial, changeful, passionate, unjust,
Whose attributes were rage, revenge and lust,
Such as the souls of cowards might conceive,
And formed like tyrants, tyrantswould believe.

The first step the legislator took, was to pretend a mission and rev-
elationfrom some god, by whose command and direction he had framed
the policy he would establish. In a word, there is hardly an old law-

giver, on record but what thus pretended to revelation, and the divine
assistance.
The universal custom of the ancient world was, to make gods and
prophets of their kings, and law-givers.
first Hence it is, that Plato
makes legislation to have come from God, and not from man.
Aristotle, in his maxims for setting up, and supporting a tyranny,
"
lays this down for one to seem extremely attached to the worship of

the gods, for that men have no apprehension of injustice from such as

they take to be religious, and to have a high sense of providence.* Nor

will the people be apt to run into plots and conspiracies against those,
whom they believe the gods will in turn, fight for, and support." And
here it is worth noting, that, anciently, tyrants, as well as law-givers

gave all encouragement to religion ;

and endeavored to establish
their irregular wills, not by convincing men that there was no just
nor unjust in actions but by persuading them that the privilege of
;

divine right exempted the tyrant from all moral obligation.

Porphyry quotes an express law of Draco's concerning the mode

"
of divine worship. Let the gods and our own country heroes be pub-
licly worshipped, according to the established rites
;
when privately,
according to every man's abilities, with terms of the greatest regard
and reverence with the first fruits of their labors, and with annual
;

libations." Andocides quotes another of Solon, which provides for the

due and regular celebration of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Athenseus
does the same. And how considerable a part these were of divine
worship, and of what importance to the very essence of religion, we
shall see hereafter.

* This principle is beginning to be

understood, and acted upon, by some of our lead-
ing patriots in the American republic. Edit,
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 101

The second step the legislators took to propagate and establish

religion, was to make
the general doctrine of a providence, with which,

they prefaced and introduced their laws, the great sanction of their
institutes.
"
Thus Zaleucus begins his preface :
Every inhabitant whether of
town or country, should of all be firmly persuaded of the being and
first

existence of the gods : which belief he will be readily induced to enter-

tain, when he contemplates the heavens, regards the world, and
observes the disposition, order, and harmony of the universe which ;

can neither be the work of blind chance, nor of man. These gods are
to be worshiped as the cause of all the real good we enjoy. Every
one therefore should so purify, and possess his mind, as to have it

clear of all kinds of evilbeing persuaded that god is not honored

;

by a wicked person, nor acceptably served, like miserable man, with

sumptuous ceremonies, or taken with costly sacrifices, but with virtue
only, and a constant good and just actions"
disposition to
And much same fashion does Charondas introduce his laws.
in the
In imitation of this practice, Plato likewise, and Cicero both preface
their laws with the sanctions of religion. And though these two
great men were not, strictly speaking, law-givers in form yet we are ;

not to suppose that what they wrote in this science, was like the dreams
of the sophists, for the amusement of the idle and curious. They were
both well practised in affairs, and deeply conversant in human nature ;

and they formed their speculative institutes on the plan, and in the spirit
and views of ancient legislation; the foundation of Plato's being the
Attic Laws, and the foundation of Cicero's the Twelve Tables.
Plato makes it the necessary introduction to his laws, to establish

by a law against sacrilege. And

the being and providence of the gods
he explains what he means by sacrilege, in the following words ;

" Either
the denial of the being of the gods or, if that be owned, :

the denial of their providence over men or, thirdly, the teaching, that
;

they are flexible, and easy to be cojoled by prayer* and sacrifice."

And afterwards " It is not of small consequence, that what we here
:

reason about the gods, should by all means be made probable as, that ;

they are ; and that they are good; and that their concern for justice
takes place of all other human considerations. For this, in our opinion,
seems to be the noblest and best preface that can be made to a body of

* "
Plutarch, in his treatise of Isis and Osiris, remarks, that In Crete there was a
statue of Jupiter, without ears. The Cretians judging it fit that he who is the ruler
and lord of all things, should hear no one." See Taylor's Translation Jamb. p.
248. Edit.
12 A DISSERTATION ON

laws. In compliancy with this declaration, Cicero's preface to his laws

isconceived in the following terms " Let our citizens then be, first of all
:

firmly -persuaded of the government and dominion of the gods; that

they are the lords and masters of the world ;
that all things are dis-

posed by their power, direction, and providence ;

and that the whole
race of mankind is in the highest manner indebted to them that they
;

are intimately acquainted with every one's state and condition that
;

they know what he does, what he thinks with what disposition of ;

mind, and with what degree of piety he performs the acts and offices of
religion; and -that, accordingly, they make a distinction between the
good and evil."

And then follow the laws themselves ;

the first of which is conceived
" who approach the
in these words : Let those gods, be pure and unde-
filed ;
let their offerings be seasoned with piety, and all ostentation of

pomp omitted: the god himself will be- his own avenger on transgres-
sors. Let the gods, and those who were ever reckoned in the number
of celestials, be worshipped and those likewise, whom their merits
:

have raised to heaven such as Hercules, Bacchus, ^Esculapius, Cas-

:

tor, Pollux, and Romulus. And let chapels be erected in honor to

4hose qualities, by whose aid mortals arrive thither, such as reason,
.virtue, piety and good faith" De Legg. lib. ii. c. 8.

Institution of the Mysteries.

The next step the legislator took, was to support and affirm the
/general doctrine of a providence, which
he had delivered in his laws,
a
by very circumstantial and popular method of inculcating the belief
of a future state of rewards and punishments.
This was the institution of the mysteries, the most sacred part of
pagan religion: and artfully, framed to strike deeply and forcibly into
the minds and imaginations of the people,
I propose,. therefore, to give a full and distinct account of this whole

matter and the rather, because it is a thing little known or attended to

: :

$he ancients who wrote expressly on. the mysteries, such as Melanthius,
Menander, Hicesius, Sotades, and others, not being come down to us.
So that the modern writers on this subject are altogether in the dark
concerning their origin and end; not excepting Meursius himself to ;

y/hom, however, I am much indebted, for abridging my labor in the

^earch of those passages of antiquity, which make mention of the

Eleusinian Mysteries, and for bringing the greater part of them together
'under one view. {
Eleusinia : five de Cereris Eleusinse sacro.J
r
 TKfc ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 103'

To a void 'ambiguity, it will be proper to explain the term. Each

of the pagan gods had, besides the public and open, a secret worship-

paid unto him to whicn none were admitted but those who had been
;

selectedby preparatory ceremonies, called initiation. This secret'

worship was termed the Mysteries.
But though every god had, besides his open worship, the secret"
likewise yet this latter did not every where attend the former but only
; ;

there, where he was the patron god, or in principal esteem. Thus

when in consequence of that intercommunity of paganism, which will
be explained hereafter, one nation adopted the gods of another, they did
not always take in -at the same time, the secret worship or mysteries of-

that god ;
the public and open worship of Bacchus was in
so, in Rome,
use long before his mysteries were admitted. But on the other hand,
again, the worship of the stange god was sometimes introduced only
for the sake of his mysteries :
as, in the same city, that of Isis and Osiris,
Thus stood the case in general, the particular exceptions to it, will be'
seen in the sequel of this dissertation.
The and original mysteries, of which we have any sure
first -

account, Isis and Osiris in Egypt

were those of from whence they- ;

were derived to the Greeks, under the presidency of various gods, as 1

the institutor thought most for his purpose Zoroaster brought them? ;
1

into Persia, Cadmus and Inachus into Greece at large, Orpheus into*

Thrace; Melampus into Argis, Trophonius into Boeotia, Minos into*

and Erechtheus into Athens. And as in-
Crete; Cinyras into Cyprus,
Egypt they were to Isis and Osiris ; so in Asia they were to Mithras,

in Samothrace mother of the gods, in Boeotia to Bacchus, in

to the

Cyprus to Venus, in Crete to Jupiter, in Athens to Ceres and Proser-

pine, in Amphissa to Castor and Pollux, in Lemnos to Vulcan, and?

so to others, in other places, the number of which was incredible.
But their end, as well as nature, was the same in all to teach the* ;
i

doctrine of a future state. In this, Origen and Celsus agree; the two'
most learned writers of their several parties; The first, minding hisr
adversary of the difference between the future life
promisecTby" Chris-
and that taught in paganism, bids him compare the Christian
tianity,
with what all the sects of philosophy, and all the
mysteries, among
Greeks and Barbarians, taught concerning it and Celsus, in his turn, :

endeavoring to show that Christianity had no advantage over PaganisnV

in the efficacy of stronger sanctions, expresses himself to this
purpose;
'*
But now, after all, just as you believe eternal punishments, so do thf-
104 A DISSERTATION ON

ministers of the sacred rites, and those who initiate into, and preside in
the mysteries."
And that nothing very heterodox was taught in the mysteries con-
cerning a future state, I collect from the answer Origcn makes to Cel-
sus, who had preferred what was taught in the mysteries of Bacchus
on that point, to what the Christian religion revealed concerning it.
lib. iv. p. 167.

They continued long in religious reverence some were more :

famous and more extensive than others to which many accidents

;

occurred. The most noted were the Orphic, the Bacchic, the Eleusin-
ian, theSamothracian, the Cabiric, and the Mithriac.
Euripides makes Bacchus say, in his tragedy of that name, that
the Orgies were celebrated by all foreign nations, and that he came
to introduce them among the Greeks. And it is not improbable, but
several barbarous nations might have learned them from the
Egyp-
tians long before they came into Greece. The Druids of Britain
who had, as well as the Brachmans of India, divers of their religious
rites from thence, celebrated the Orgies of Bacchus, as we learn from
Dyonisius the African. And Strabo, having quoted Artemidorus for
a fabulous "
But what he says of Ceres and Proser-
story, subjoins,
pine is more credible, namely, that there is an island near Britain,
where they perform the same rites to those tico goddesses as are used
in Samothrace" (Strabonis Geor. lib. iv.) But of all the mysteries,
those which bore that name, by way of eminence, the Eleusinian, cel-
ebrated at Athens in honor of Ceres, were by far the most renowned ;

and in process of time, eclipsed, and, as it were, swallowed up the rest.

Their neighbors round about very early practised these mysteries to
the neglect of their own in a little time all Greece and Asia Minor
;

were initiated into them and at length they spread over the whole
;

Roman empire, and even beyond the limits of it.

*'
I insist not, (says

Tully) on those sacred and august rites of Eleuris, where, from the
remotest regions, men come to be initiated." And we are told in Zosi-
mus, that "these most holy rites were then so extensive, as to take in
the w hole race of mankind."
r
Aristides calls Eleusis the common

temple of the earth. And Pausanias says, the rites performed there
as much excelled otherjites, instituted for the promotion of piety, as
all

the gods excelled the heroes.

How this happened, is to be accounted for from the nature of the
State which gave birth to these mysteries. Athens was a city the
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 105

most devoted to religion of any upon the face of the earth. On this

account their poet Sophocles calls it the sacred building of the gods*
in allusion to its foundation. Nor was it a less compliment St. Paul
intended to pay the Athenians, when he said, " Ye men of Athens, I
perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.'* (Acts, xvii. 22.)
And Josephus they were universally esteemed the most
tells us, that

religious people of Greece. Hence, in these matters, Athens became

the pattern and standard to the rest of the world.
In discoursing, therefore of the mysteries in general, we shall be
forced to take our ideas of them chiefly from what we find practised in
the Eleusinian. Nor need we fear to be mistaken the end of all ;

being the same, and all having their common original from Egypt.
To begin with the general purpose and design of their institution.
This xvill be understood, by showing what they communicated pro-
miscuously to all.

To
support the doctrine of a providence which, they taught, gov-
erned the world, they enforced the belief of a future state of rewards"
and punishments, by all kinds of methods. But as this did not quite
clear up the ways of providence, they added the doctrine of a
intricate

metempsychosis, or the belief of a prior state, as we learn from Cicero,

and Porphyry, the latter of whom informs us, that it was taught in the
mysteries of the Persian Mithras. This was an ingenious solution,
invented by the Egyptian lawgivers, to remove all doubts, concerning
the moral attributes of God, and so, consequently to establish the belief
of his providence, from a future state. For the lawgiver well knew
how precarious that belief was, while the moral attributes of God
remained doubtful and uncertain.
In cultivating the doctrine of a future life, it was taught, that the
initiated, would be happier in that state than all other mortals that :

while the souls of the profane, at their leaving the body, stuck fast in
mire and filth, and remained in darkness, the souls of the initiated
winged their flight directly to the happy islands, and the habitations of
the gods. This promise was as necessary for the support of the Myste-
ries, as the Mysteries were for the support of the doctrine. But now,
lest it should be mistaken, that initiation alone, or
any other means
than a virtuous life, entitled men to this future happiness, the Myste-
ries openly proclaimed it as their chief business, to restore the soul to
"
It was the end and
its original purity. design of initiation, says
"
Plato, to restore the soul to that state, from whence it fell, as from its

native seat of perfection." They contrived that every thing should,

14
106 A DISSERTATION ON

tend to show the necessity of virtue, as appears from Epictetus.

11
Thus the mysteries became useful, thus we seize t\e true spirit of
them, when we begin to apprehend that every thing therein was insti-
tuted by the ancients, for instruction and amendment of life." Por-

phyry gives us some of those moral precepts, which were enforced i*i
the mysteries, as to honor their parents, to offer up fruits io the gods,
and to forbear cruelty towards animals. In pursuance of this scheme,
it was
required in the aspirant to the Mysteries, that he should be of a
clear and unblemished character, and free even from the suspicion of

any notorious crime. (Libanius Decl. xix.) To come to the truth, he

was severely interrogated by the priest or hierophant, impressing him
with the same sense of his obligation to conceal nothing, as is now
done at the Roman confessional.
As appears from the repartee which Plutarch records, in his
Laconic. Apothegms of Lysander, when he went to be initiated
into the Samothracian mysteries, "he was required, by the hierophant,
to confess every wicked act that he had committed during his whole

life." .

Why initiation into these mysteries is called, inquiring of the ora-

cles will be seen afterwards.
Hence it was, that when -Nero, after tl e murder of his mother,
took a journey into Greece, and had a mind to be present at the cele-
bration of the Eleusinian mysteries, the consciousness of his parricide
deterred him from attempting it. (Sueton. Vita Neron. cap. 34.) On
the same account, the good iimperor M. Antoninus, when he would
purge himself to the world of the death of Avidius Cassius,. chose to
be initiated into the Eieusinian mysteries, it being notorious, that none
were admitted into them, who labored under the just suspicion of any
heinous immorality. This was originally a fundamental condition of
initiation, observed in common by all the mysteries.

During the celebration of the mysteries, they were enjoined the

greatest purity, and highest elevation of mind. "When you sacrifice
or pray, says Epictetus in Arrian, go with a prepared purity of mind,
and with dispositions so previously disposed, as are required of you
when you approach the ancient riles and mysteries." And Proclus
tellsus that the Hysterics and the initiations drew the souls of men
from a material, sensual, and merely human life, and joined them in
communio i with the gods. Nor was a less dei ree of purity required of
the initiated for their future conduct. They were obliged by sol-
emn engagements to commence a new life of strictest piety and virtue ;
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES, 107

into which they were entered by a severe course of penance, proper to

purge he mind of its natural defilements. Gregory Nazianzen tells

"
us, that no one could le initiated into the mysteries of Mithras, till he
had undergone all sorts of mortifying trials, and had approved himself
holy and impassible." The consideration of all this made Tertullicn
say, that, in the mysteries, "truth herself took on every shape, to oppose
and combat truth." Omnia udversus veritatem, de ipsa veritate con-
structa esse, Apol. cap. 47.) And Austin, "that the devil hurried away
deluded souls to their destruction, when he promised to purify them by
those ceremonies, called initiations."
The initiated, under this discipline, and with these promises, were
esteemed the only happy men. Aristophanes, who speaks the sense
"
of the people, makes them exult and triumph after this manner On :

us'only does the sun dispense his blessings, we only receive pleasure
from his beams; we, who are initiated, and perform towards strangers
and citizens all acts of piety and justice." And Sophocles, to the
"
same purpose, Life, only is to be had there ;
all other places are full
of misery and evil." "Happy, says Euripides is the man who hath
been and leads a life of piety and
initiated into the greater mysteries,

religion." And any one had been initiated, the more hon-
the longer
orable they deemed him. It was even scandalous not to be initiated,

and however virtuous the person otherwise appeared, he became sus-

picious to the people, as was the case of Socrates, and, in after-times of
Demonax. No wonder then if the superior advantages of the initiated,
both here and hereafter, should make the mysteries universally
aspired to. And indeed, they soon grew as comprehensive in the num-
bers they embraced, as in the regions and countries to which they
extended. Men, women, and children, ran to be initiated. Thus
"
Apuleius describes the state of the mysteries even in his time There :

was an influx of a crowd of those who had been initiated in the sacred
men and women of every degree and
rites of the goddess, consisting of
of every age, resplendent with the pure whiteness of linnen garments"
The pagans, we see, seemed to think initiation as necessary, as the
Christians did baptism. And the custom of initiating children appears
from a passage of Terence, to have been general.
Nay, they had even the same superstition in the administration of
it which some Christians had of
baptism, to defer it to the approach of
death ;
so the honest farmer Trygseus, in the Pax of Aristophanes;
"
I must be initiated before I die."
The occasion of this solicitude, is told us by the scholiast on the
 108 A DISSERTATION ON

"
RanaE, of the sr.me poet. The Athenians believed, that he who was
initiated, and instructed in the mysteries, would obtain divine honors
after death; and therefore all ran to be initiated. Their fondness for
it became
so great, that at such times as the public treasury was low,
the magistrate would have recourse to the mysleries, as a fund to sup-
"
ply the exigences of the state. Aristogiton, says the commentator on
Hermogenes, in a great scarcity of public money, procured a law, that
in Athens, every one should pay a certain sum for his initiation."

Every thing was mysteriously conducted and under

in these rights

the most solemn obligations to secrecy* Which, how it could agree to

our representation of the mysteries, as an institution for- the use of the

people, shall now endeavor to show.

we
They were hidden and kept secret for two reasons:
First Nothing excites our curiosity like that which retires
from our observation, and seems to forbid our search. Of this opin-
ion you where he says, " the people will
will find the learned Synesius,

despise what is easy and unintelligible, and therefore they must always
be provided with something wonderful and mysterious in religion, to hit
"
their taste and stimulate their curiosity." And again, the ignorance
of the mysteries preserves their veneration ;
for which reason they are
entrusted to the cover of night."
On these principles the mysteries were framed. They were kept
secret, to excite curiosity they
: were celebrated in the night to impress
veneration and religious horror. f And they were performed with variety
of shows and representations, (of which more hereafter)
to fix and perpet-

uate those impressions. Hitherto, then, the Mysteries are to be con-

sidered as invented not to deter, but to invite the curiosity of the people.
But,
Secondly They were kept secret from a necessity of teaching the
initiated some things, improper to be communicated to all. The learned
Varro in a fragment of his book of religions, preserved by St. Augustin,
tells us that "there were many truths, which it was inconvenient for the
state to be generally known; and many things, which, though false, it
was expedient the people should believe ; and that therefore the Greeks

shut up their mysteries in the silence of their sacred inclosures."

Now to reconcile this seeming contradiction, of supposing the mys-
This obligation of the initiated to secrecy was the reason that the Egyptian hiero-
*

glyphic for them, was a grasshopper, which was supposed to have no mouth. See Ho-
rapolloHyeroglyph.lib. n. cap. 55.
t in the Bacchantes, act. ii. makes Bacchus say, that the orgeries were
Euripides,
celebrated in the night, because darkness has something solemn and august in it, and
proper to fill the mind with sacred horror.
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 109

teries to be instituted to invite the people into them, and at the same time
to keep them from the people's knowledge, we are to observe, that in
the Eleusinian rites there were two mysteries, the greater and the less.
The end must be referred to what we said of the institutor's
of the less
intention to invite the people into them and of the greater, to his inten-
;

tion of keeping- some truths from the people's knowledge. Nor is this
said without sufficient warrant antiquity is very express for this dis-
:

tinction. We
are told that the lesser mysteries were only a kind of

preparatory purification for the greater, and might be easily communi-

cated to all. That four years was the usual time of probation for those
greater mysteries in which, as Clemens Alexandrinus
; expressly
informs us, I he secrets were deposited.
However, as it is very certain, that both the greater and lesser mys-
teries were instituted for the benefit of the state, it follows that the doc-
trines taught in both, were equally for the service of society; only with
this difference, some without inconvenience, might be taught promis-
cuously, others could not.
On the whole, the secret in the lesser mysteries, was some hidden
rites and shows to be kept from the open view of the people, only to
invite their curiosity ;
and the secret in the greater, some hidden doctrines
tobe kept from the people's knowledge, for the very contrary purpose.
For the shows common both to the greater and lesser mysteries, were
only designed to engage the attention, and raise their devotion.
But it
may be worth while more
particularly into the hid-
to inquire

den doctrines of the greater mysteries, for so religiously was the

secret kept, that the thing seems still to lie involved in darkness. We
shall therefore proceed cautiously and try, from the obscure hints
;

dropped up and down in antiquity.

"Pandere res alta terra et caligine mersas."
Lay open things hidden in the deep earth and in obscurity.
To begin with a passage of Clemens Alexandrinus "After :
these,

(namely, lustrations,) are the lesser mysteries, in which is laid the

foundation of the hidden doctrines, and preparations for what is to
come afterwards."
But there was one insuperable obstacle to a life of purity and holi-
ness, the vicious examples of their gods. Ego homuncio hoc non
facerem? (Could not I, a sorry fellow, be permitted to do this thing)*
*
Terence, Eun. act. iii. sc. v. Euripides puts this argument into the mouth of several
of his speakers, up and down his tragedies. Helen, in the fourth act of the Trojan
"
Dames, says, How
could I resist a goddess, whom Jupiter himself obeys ?" Ion, in
his play of that name, in the latter end of the first act, speaks to the same purpose j
110 A DISSERTATION OH

was the absolving formula, whenever any one was resolved to give a
loose to his passions. And the licentious rites, in the open worship* of
their gods, gave still
greater encouragement to these conclusions.
Plato, in his book of laws, forbids drinking to excess unless, says he, ;

during the feast of Bacchus, and in honor of that god. And Aristotle,
in his politics, having blamed all lewd and obscene images and pic-

of the godt, which religion had sanctified.

tures, excepts those
Nowthe mysteries professed to exact nothing difficult of the initi-
ated, which they would not assist him to perform. It was necessary,

then, to remedy this evil ;

which they did by striking at the root of
it. So that, such of the initiated as were judged capable, were
made acquainted with the whole delusion. The mystagogue
taught them, that Jupiter, Mercury, Bacchus, Venus, Mars, and the
whole rabble of licentious deities, were only dead mortals, subject in
life to the same passions and infirmities with themselves, but having

been, on other accounts, benefactors to mankind, grateful posterity hcd

deified them, and, with their virtues, had indiscreetly cannonized their
vices.* The fabulous gods being thus routed, the supreme cause of all

things naturally took their place. Him they were taught to consider
as the creator of the universe, who pervaded all things by his virtue, and

governed all by his providence. But here it must be observed, that the
discovery of this supreme cause was made consistent w ith
r
the notion of
local tutelary deities, beings superior 1o men, and inferior to God, and
by him over the several parts of his creation.
set This was an opinion
universally holden by antiquity, and never brought into question by any
theist. What was the vulgar polytheism, the
the aporreta overthrew,

worship of dead men. From the initiated had the title of

this time,

Epoptes, by which was meant one that sees things as they are and with-
out disguise ; whereas, before he was called Mystes, which has a con-

trary signification.
But besides the prevention of vice, the detection of the national gods

and in the fifth act of Hercules Furens, Theseus comforts his friend by the examples of
the crimes of the gods. See likewise his Hyppolitus, act. ii. sc. ii. The learned and
ingenious Mr. Seward, in his tract of the conformity between popery and paganism, has
taken notice of a difficult passage in this tragedy, which he has very ably explained, on
the system here delivered of the detection of Polytheism in the sacred mysteries.
* When St. Austin, (Civ. de', lib. ii.
cap. 7. 8) had quoted the Ego homunico hoc non
facerem, to show what mischief these stories did to the morals of the people; he makes
the defenders of paganism reply, that it was true, but then these things were only
taught in the fables of the poets, which an attention to the mysteries would rectify;
this the father cannot deny ;but observes however, that in the then corrupt
elate of the mysteries the remedy was become part of the disease; "Woio
dicere ilia mystica quam ista theatnca esse turpiora."
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. Ill

had another important use, which was to excite men to heroic virtue,
had acquired,
by showing them what honors the benefactors of nations
by the free exercise of it. And this, as will be shown hereafter, was
he chief reason and leaders of colonies and
t why princes, statesmen,
armies aspired to be partakers of the greater mysteries.
all

Thus we see, how what was taught and required in the lesser mys-

teries, became the foundation of instruction in the greater the obliga- ;

tion to a good life- there, made necessary to remove the errors of vul-
it

gar polytheism here ;

and the doctrine of a providence taught previ-
ously in those, facilitated the reception of the sole cause of all things,
when finally revealed in these. Such were the truths which Varro t

as quoted above, tells us it was expedient

people to know.* for the

He supposed, indeed, the error of vulgar polytheism to be so inveterate,

that it was not to be expelled without throwing society into convulsions,
"
But Plato spoke out he owned it to be difficult to find the father and
creator of the universe; and, when found, impossible to discover him
to all the world." (In Tirnaso.)
Besides, there was another reason the institutors of the myste-
wljy
ries, who were lawgivers, should be for keeping this truth a secret.
They had had, themselves, the chief hand in the rise of vulgar polythe-
ism. They contrived it for the sake of the state and to keep the peo- ;

ple in awe, under a greater veneration for their laws. This polytheism
l
he poets had depraved, by inventing or recording vicious stories of the
gods and heroes, which the lawgivers were willing to have stifled. And
they were only such stories, that, in their opinion, as may be seen in
Plato, made Polytheism hurtful to the state.
That this accounts for the secret in the greater mysteries, is no pre-
carious hypothesis, raised merely on conjecture, I shall now endeavior
to show.
First, from the clear evidence of antiquity, which expressly informs
us of these two particulars. That the errors of polytheism were detectedi
and the doctrine of the unity taught and explained in the mysteries.
But here it is to be observed, that when the ancients speak of mysteries
indefinitely, they generally mean the greater.

* These two were the truths which the

pontifex Scaevola, said were to be kept hid
from the people. "It is recorded in books that Scaevola, a very learned pontiff, argued
that three kinds of gods had been handed down to us, one
by the poets, another by the
philosophers, the third by the rulers of the state. The first kind he says is worthless
the second not suitable for commonwealths, because it contains ce tain things, the
knowledge of which is prejudicial to the people. What ihen are those things which
are prejudicial to the multitude? "These," he says, " that Hercules, Esculapius, Castor,
Pollux, are not gods, but were men who departed human life. Augustin de Civit.
Dei, lib. iv. cap. 27.
 112 A DISSERTATION ON

It hath been shown, that the Grecian and Asiatic Mysteries came

originally from Egypt. Now, of the Egyptian, St. Austin giveth us

this remarkable account. "Of the same nature, too, are those things
which Alexander of Macedon wrote to his mother, as revealed unto him
by one Leo,* chief hierophant of the Egyptian mysteries, whereby it
appeared, that not only such as Picus, and Faunus, and Eneas, and
Romulus, nay Hercules, and Esculapius, and Bacchus the son of Semele^
and Castor, and Pollux, and all others of the same rank, had been
advanced, from the condition of mortality, into gods, but that even those
deities of the higher order, the Dii majorum gentium, those whom Cicero

without naming seems to carp at, in his Tusculans, such as Jupiter,

Juno, Saturn, Neptune, Vulcan, Vesta, and many others, whom Varro
endeavors to allegorize into the elements or parts of the world, were,
in truth, only mortal men. But the priest being under great fears and
apprehensions, while he was telling this, as conscious he w as betraying
r

the secret of the mysteries, begged of Alexander, when he found that

he intended to communicate it to his mother, that he would enjoin her
to burn the letter, as soon as she had read it."f
To understand the concluding part, we are to know, that Cyprian,
who has also preserved this curious anecdote, tells us, it was the dread
of Alexander's power, which extorted the secret from the hierophant. J
All this well illustrates a passage in Lucian's council of the gods ]

when after Momus had ridiculed the monstrous deities of Egypt, Jupi-
" which you
ter replies, it is true that these are abominable things,
mention of .the Egyptian worship. But then, consider, Momus, that
* It is not
improbable but this might be a name of office. Porphyry in his fourth
book of abstinence, informs us that the priests of the mysteries of Mithras were called
lions the priestesses lionesses, and the inferior ministers ravens. For there was a great
conformity, in the practices and ceremonies of the several mysteries, throughout the
whole pagan world. And this conjecture is supported by a passageinEunapius, which
seems to say, that it was unlawful to reveal the name of the hierophant.
In the modern degree of masonry, called knight of the Eagle, ana sovereign prince of
Rose Cross de Heroden, the aspirant "solemnly promises on his honor, never to reveal
the place where he was received, who received him, nor those who were present at his
reception."
Also in the degree of " knight of Kadosh," " when a reception is made, the great
commander remains alone in the chapter with the candidate, and must be so situated
that the latter cannot see him, as he is not to know who initiates him." (Bernard.) Edit .

1 1 suppose this communication to his mother, might be to let her understand, that
he was no longer the dupe of her fine story of Jupiter's intrusion, and the intrigue of his
divine original. For Erastosthenes, according to Plutarch, says, that Olympias, when
she brougnt Alexander on his way to the army, in his first military expedition, acquainted
him in private with the secret of his birth; and exhorted him to behave himself as
became the son of Jupiter Hammon. This, I suppose, Alexander might tell to the priest
and so the murder came out.
tBut this is a mistake, at least it is expressed inaccurately. What was extorted
by the dread of Alexander's power, was not the secret, which the initiated had a right
to, but the priest's consent that he should communicate the secret to another, which was
contrary to the laws of the mysteries.
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 113

much of it
enigmatical and so, consequently, a very unfit subject
is
;

for the buffoonry of the profane and uninitiated." To which the other
answers with much spirit, " Yes, indeed, we have great occasion for
the mysteries, to know that gods are gods, and monsters, monsters."
But Tully brings the matter home to the Eleusinian mysteries
"
themselves, What, says on
he, is not almost all heaven, not to carry
this detailany further, filled But
with the human
if I should race?
search and examine antiquity, and from those things which the Gre-
cian writers have delivered, go to the bottom of this affair, it would be
found, that even those very gods themselves who are deemed the Dii
majorum gentium, had their original here below and ascended from ;

hence into heaven. Inquire, to whom those sepulchers belong,

which are so commonly shown in Greece. Remember, for you are
initiated, what you have been taught in the mysteries ; you will
then at length understand how far this matter may be carried. (Tusc.
Disp, lib. i.
cap. 13.
He carries it further himself, for he tells us in another place, that not

only the Eleusinian Mysteries, but the Samothracian likewise, and the
Lemnian taught the error of polytheism, agreeably to this system, w'lich
supposes all the mysteries derived from the same original, and consti-
tuted for the same ends. "What think you, siys he, of those who
assert, that valiant, or famous, or powerful men, have obtained divine
honors after death, that these are the very gods, now become the
and
object of our worship, our prayers and adoration? Euhemerus tells us,
when these gods died, and where they lie buried. I forbear to speak of

the sacred and august rights of Eleusis I pass by Samothrace, and

the mysteries of Lemnos, whose hidden rites are celebrated in darkness,

and amidst the thick shades of groves and forests."

Here the author comments at considerable length on an equivocal passage of CicerO)

"
immediately following that here quoted, which, he says, M. Pluche, in his Histoire
du del, brings to prove, that the purpose of the mysteries was not to explain the
nature of the gods." His criticism goes to show the absurdity of this inference. He
thus concludes his remarks :

"It had hardly been worthwhile to take this notice of M. Pluche's interpretation of
Cicero, had it not been evident, that his purpose in it was to disguise the liberty he took
of transcribing the general explanation of the mysteries, as delivered in the first edition
of this volume, printed in 1738, into the second edition of his book, called Histoire du
del, printed in 1741, without the least notice or acknowledgment."
That Mr. Pluche may have taken some of his ideas on the mysteries from the bishop's
book, is highly probable, but his work certainly possesses sufficient originality to proro
15
 114 A DISSERTATION OJC

the laborious investigations of the author, upon ground not previously occupied, to
establish his fame as an ingenious acute writer. In the disagreement of these authors
in regard to the purport of the mysteries, the bishop has undoubtedly the advantage :

he had evidently paid more attention to the subject than his cotemporary. The abbe
was deceived by Cicero, in whom he appeared to place implicit confidence but he should ;

have remembered, that Cicero had been initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries, and,
therefore, no doubt, felt under restraint when speaking of them. Besides, he had four
characters to sustain that of a philosopher, a statesman, a lawyer, and an augur or
;

priest; in the due support of which, his popularity was, more or less, involved. A
striking instance of the incompatibility with each other of the first and last mentioned
of these characters,is exhibited by him, in the passage just quoted above and that before

cited, inwhich he says, "Let the gods, and those who were ever reckoned in the num-
ber of the celestials, be worshipped and those likewise, whom their merits have raised
:

to heaven ; such as Hercules, Bacchus, Esculapius, Pollux, and Romulus." Here the

augur and the philosopher are at complete issue. Two sentiments more directly in
opposition could not be entertained ;
and it is surprising the bishop did not notice their
total contrariety.

What hath been said, will let us into the meaning of Plutarch's
hint, in the following words of his tract concerning the ceasing of oracles.
"As to the mysteries, in whose representations the true nature of
demons clearly and accurately held forth, a sacred
is silence, to use an

expression of Herodotus, is to be observed."

Thus far in detection of polytheism. With regard to the doctrine
of the unity, Clemens Alexandrinus informs us, that the Egyptian mysta-
"
gogues taught it
amongst their greater secrets. The Egyptians,"
"
says he, did not use to reveal their mysteries indiscriminately to all,
nor expose their truths concerning their gods to the profane, but to those
only who were to succeed to the administration of the state and to such :

of the priests as were most approved, by their education, learning, and

quality."
But, to come to the Grecian mysteries. Chrysippus, as quoted by
the author of the Etymol. magnum, speaks to this purpose. "And
Chrysippus says, that the secret doctrines concerning divine matters, are
rightly called Teletai, for that these are the last things the initiated
should* be informed of the soul having gained an able support and,
:
;

being possessed of her desires, (that is, the mistress of herself,) can
keep silent before the uninitiated and profane." To the same purpose,
"
Clemens The doctrines'delivered in the greater mysteries, are con-
:

cerning the universe. Here all instruction ends. Things are seen at
they are ; and nature, and the things of nature, are given to be com-

prehended."
Strabo having said, that nature dictated to men the institution of the

mysteries, as well as the other rites of religion, gives this remarkable

 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 115

reason for his assertion, " that the secret celebration of the mysteries

preserves the majesty due to the divinity, and, at the same time, imitates
A
'

itsnature, which hides itself from our senses."* plain intimation of

the nature of the secret. And had there been any ambiguity, he pre-
sently removes it, where, speaking of the different faculties exercised in
the different rites of religion, he makes philosophy to be the object of the

mysteries. Plutarch expressly says, that the first cause of all things is
communicated to those who approach the temple of Isis with prudence
and sanctity. By which words he means, the necessary qualifications
for initiation.
We find Galen intimating, not obscurely, that the doctrine of the
divine nature was taught in those very mysteries. In his excellent
tract Of the use of the parts of the human body, he has these words :

*'
The study,
therefore, of the use of the parts, is not only of service to
the mere physician, but of much greater to him who joins philosophy
to the art of healing; and, in -order.to perfect himself in this mystery,

labors to investigate the universal nature. They who initiate them-

selves here, whether private men or bodies, will find, in opinion, my
nobler instruction than in the rites either of Eleusis or Samothrace. A
clear implication, that to lead men thither was their special business.
But this seems to have been so well known to the learned in the time
ofEusebius, that where this writer takes occasion to observe, that the

Hebrews were the only people whose object, in their public and national

worship, was the god of the universe, he suitshis whole expression, by

"
one continued metaphor, usuages of the
to the mysteries. For the
Hebrew people alone," says he, " was reserved the honor of being initia-
ted into the knowledge of God the creator of all things, and of being
instructed in the practice of true piety towards him. Where, Epopteia,
which signifies the inspection of the secret Theopia, the
; contemplation
of it and Demiourgos, the creator, the subject of it, are all words
;

I am persuaded
appropriated to the secret of the greater mysteries.
this learned writer had his eye on some particular passage of scripture ;

probably on the 45th chapter of Isaiah, where the prophet, foretelling

the conquests of Cyrus, and the exaltation of his empire, apostrophises
"
the God of Israel in this manner, Verily thou art a God that hidest
thyself, O God of Israel the Saviour." This was said with great pro-
priety of the creator of all things, the subject of the Apo.rreta or secret,

* Here Strabo takes in all that is said, both of the gods, and of nature, in the two pre-
ceding passages from Crysippus and Clemens and shows that by nature is not meant
;

theco*micoi but theological nature.

116 A DISSERTATION ON

in all the mysteries throughout the Gentile world and particularly of ;

of those of Mithras, in the country which was the scene of the pro-

phecy. That this is the true sense of this obscure passage, appears from
the following words of the same chapter, where God himself addresseth
the Jewish people " I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the
:

earth : I said not unto the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain." This
was said, to show that he was taught amongst them in a different way
from that participation of his nature to a few select Gentiles, in their

mysteries; celebrated in secret, and in dark subterraneous places;

which not being done in order to give him glory, by promoting his

public and general worship, was done in vain.

This naturally leads us to the explanation of those oracles of Apollo^
quoted by Eusebius from Porphyry; the sense of which neither those
Marsham seem rightly to have under-
ancient writers, nor our Sir John
"
stood. The first is in these words, The way to the knowledge of the
divine, nature extremely rugged, and of
is difficult ascent. The
entrance is secured by brazen gates, opening to the adventurer ;
and
the roads to be passed through, impossible to be described. These, to
the vast benefit of mankind, were first marked out by the Egyptians."
The second is as follows :

"
True wisdom was the lot only of the Chaldeans and Hebrews,
who worship the governor of the world, the self-existent deity, with pure
and holy rites."
Marsham, supposing after Eusebius, that the same thing was spoken
of in both the oracles, says, " Certainly there can be no controversy!
that, as the religious belief of the Hebrews in One Supreme Being, was
esteen ed very correct, the same belief by the Egyptians was equally
"
estimable." And The truth is, Apollo was little consistent
again,
with himself; because in the one oracle, the Egyptians are said to be
the first; and in the other, the Chaldeans and Hebrews the only people
who knew the true God." But they are perfectly consistent they treat ;

of different things the first, of the knowledge of the true God and the
:
;

second of his public worship.

only observe, that the frights and terrors to which the initia-
i will

ted were exposed, gave birth to all those metaphorical terms of diffi-
culty and danger so constantly employed by the Greek writers, when-
ever they speak of the communication of the true God.

Thomas Taylor, in a note to his translation of Jamblichus on the mysteries of the

Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians, has rendered the foregoing oracle in verse, agreea-
ble to the original which he introduces as follows
; ;
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 117

Most historians give the palm of antiquity to the Egyptians. And Lucian, in lib. De
Dea, says, "That the Egyptians are said to be the first among men that had a concep-
tion of the gods, and a knowledge of sacred concerns. They were also the first that
had a knowledge of sacred names." Conformably to this also, an oracle of Apollo,
quoted by Eusebius, says that the Egyptians were the first that disclossd by infinite
actions the path that leads to the gods. The oracle is as follows :

" The
path by which to deity we climb,
Is arduous, rough, ineffable, sublime;
And the strong massy gates, through which we pass
In our first course, are bound with chains of brass.
Those men the first who of Egyptian birth
Drank the fair water of Nilotic earth,
Disclosed by actions infinite this road,
And many paths to God Phenicians showed.
This road the Assyrians pointed out to view,
And this the Lydians and Chaldeans knew." (p. 295.)

Mr. Taylor has substituted Lydians Hebrews, under a suspicion, as he says, that
for
either Aristobulus, well known for interpolating the writings of the Heathens, or Eusebius,
had fraudulently inserted the latter.
Means are taken to produce a like terror as spoken of above, in candidates for royal
arch masonry. They are advised, that "It will be necessary for them to pass through
many trials, and to travel in rough and rugged ways, to prove their fidelity." The
gates alluded to in the oracle of Apollo, which secure the entrance to the knowledge of
the divine nature, are actually represented in the scenery of this degree. The true name
of the Supreme Being is affected to be communicated; and in an address to him are the
"
following expressions : Teach us, we pray thee, the true reverence of thy great, mighty
and terrible name."
In a C. L. Reinhold, entitled The Hebrew mysteries, or the oldest
German work, by
"
religious Freemasonry, it is affirmed, That the whole Mosaic religion was an initia-
tion into mysteries, the principal forms and regulations of which were borrowed by
Moses from the secrets of the old Egyptians."
Josephus, to the same purpose, says that, "That high and sublime knowledge, which
the Gentiles with difficulty attained, in the rare and temporary celebration of their mys-
was habitually taught to the Jews, at all times. So that the body politic seems,
teries,
as were, one great assembly, constantly kept together, for the celebration of some
it

sacred mysteries."
The two great mysterious secrets of the Egyptians, it lias been seen, were the exist-
ence of one Supreme Being, implying the error of polytheism and a future state of ;

rewards and punishments for acts committed in this life. The former of which only,
it appears, was taught to the Jews. This is likewise commuriicated to the masons ef the
royal arch degree, and is the only secret of the order.
It is true, it was formerly enjoined upon the Jews to observe certain rites and cere-
monies, which were then adapted to their peculiar circumstances but which by the ;

coming of Christ were rendered vain and useless, and were accordingly abrogated by
the new dispensation.* For instance, they were taught that a person became defiled
by touching a human corpse, and were absolutely prohibited from doing it.
their priests

So, at interments of their dead, those whoenter the cemetery wash their hands on
retiring, bowls of water and napkins being furnished for the purpose.

*"But notwithstanding he (Christ) obtained a more excellent ministry, by how

much also he is the meditator of a better covenant, which was established upon better
promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been
Bought for the second." (Hebrews viii. 6-7.
118 A DISSERTATION ON

The idea of defilement by touching human dead bodies, was also a pagan doctrine
for which Jamblichus gives the following reasons :

"It is not lawful to touch human dead bodies when the soul has left them, since a
vestige, image, or representation of divine life is extinguished in the body by death.
But it is no longer unholy to touch other dead bodies, because they did not participate of
a more divine life. To other gods, therefore, who are pure from matter, our not touch-
ing dead bodies is adapted but to those gods who preside over animals, and are proxi-
;

mately connected with them, invocation through animals is properly made." (Taylor's
Trans, p. 275 )

As mystery of obtaining remission of sins, by the performance of certain

to the

mystic is customary with the Jews at this time, on what are called atonement
rites, as

days,the secret is fully known to Roman Catholic priests, and practised upon by them
with equal success.
In "A brief Examination of the Rev. Mr. Warburton's Divine Legation of Moses :"
London, 1742, are the following remarks :

"We have no profane records that can reach, by many hundred years, so high as
the ancient state and constitution of the religion and priesthood of Egypt, in and before
the days of Moses. But as the Mosaic constitution itself was accommodated to the
natural temper and bias of a people perfectly Egyptianized, and who knew nothing but
the language, religion, laws, and customs of Egypt; and as this people could never be
brought off from the religon and customs to which they had been naturalized, the history
of Moses and the prophets gives one almost as just and adequate a notion of the religion,
priesthood, and worship of Egypt, as if their own history had been handed down to us.
Of this we need no other, or more authentic authority than our learned author's own
concessions, who has granted as much in this respect as could have been desired. And
though Moses attempted, in his law, to reform the religion of
Egypt, with regard to
their symbolical polytheism, or worship by images; yet this could never be
siderial

effected, but the gross of the people still continued in the symbolical worship of Egypt,
except when restrained from it by force and compulsion under some of their kings.
But they immediately fell back again to the same sort of religion and worship, as soon
as that restriction and legal persecution were relaxed or taken off."

Thus, I think it appears, that the Aporreta, in the greater mysteries

f

were the detection of the origin of vulgar polytheism;* and the dis-

covery of the doctrine of the unity.

I will venture to go further and give the very history repeated,
;

and the very hymn sung, on these occasions to the initiated in the first :

of which was delivered the true origin and progress of vulgar poly-
theism ;
and in the other, the unity of the deity.

What hath been said will give light to a strange story told by Thucydides, Plutarch,
*
and others, of a debauch and night ramble of Alcibiades, just before his expedition to Syra-
cuse. In which, they say, ne revealed to, and acted over with his companions, the
mysteries of Ceres that he assumed the office of the hierophant, and called some of
:

those he initiated Mystai, and others Epoptai: and that, lastly, they -broke all the
statues of Hermes. These are mentioned as distinct actions, and unconnected with
one another. But now we see their relation, and how one arose from the other : for
Alcibiades having revealed the origin of polytheism, and the doctrine of the unity, to
his companions; nothing was more natural than for men, heated with wine, to run forth
in a kind of religious fury, and break the statues of their idols. For, what he acted over,
was the greater mysteries, as appears from Plutarch's calling them the mysteries of
Ceres, and from Alcibiades' calling some Epoptai, the name of those who participated
of the greater mysteries.
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 119

For it
appears to me, that the celebrated fragment of Sanchoniatho
the Phenician, translated by Philo Byblius, and preserved by Eusebius,
conta'ning a genealogical account of the first ages, is that history, as it
was wont to be read to the initiated, in the celebration of the Egyptian
and Phenician mysteries. The purpose of it
being to inform us, that
their popular gods (whose chronicle is there given according to their

generations) were only dead men deified.

And as this curious and authentic record (for such we shall find it
was) not only serves to illustrate the subject we are now upon, but will
be of use to support what is said hereafter of the rise, progress, and
order of the several species of ancient idolatry, it may not be improper
to give a short extract of it in this place.

He tells us, then, that, "of the two first mortals, Protogonus and
JEon, (the latter of whom was the author of seeking and procuring
food from forest-trees) were begotten Genos and Genea. These, in the
time of great droughts, stretched their hands upwards to the sun, whom
(

they regarded as a god, and sole ruler of the heavens. From these,
aftertwo or three generations, came Upsouranios and his brother
Ousous. One of them invented the art of building cottages of reeds and
rushes ;
the other the art of making garments of the skins of wild
beasts. In their time, violent tempests of wind and rain having rubbed
the large branches of the forest-trees against one another, they took fire,
and burnt up the woods. Ofthe bare trunks of trees, they first made
vessels to pass the waters ; they consecrated two pillars to fire and
wind, and then offered bloody sacrifices to them as to gods." And here
let it be observed, that this
worship of the elements and heavenly bodies
is truly represented as the first species of idolatry.
"
After many generations, came Chrysor and he likewise invented ;

many things useful to civil life; for which, after his decease, he was
worshipped as a god. Then flourished Ouranos and his sister Ge ;

who deified and offered sacrifices to their father Upsistos, when he had
been torn in pieces by wild beasts. Afterwards Cronos consecrated
Muth his son, and was himself consecrated by his subjects." And this
isas truly represented to be the second species of idolatry ;
the wor-
ship of dead men.
"
He goes on, and says, that Ouranos was the inventor of the Baetylia,
a kind of animated stones, framed with great art. And that Taautus
formed allegoric figures, characters, and images of the celestial gods and
elements." In which isdelivered the third species of idolatry, statue
and brute worship. For by the animated stones, is meant stones cut
120 A DISSERTATION ON

into human shape ;

brute, unformed stones being before this invention

consecrated and adored. As by Taautus's invention of allegoric

figures, is insinuated (what was truly the fact) the origin of brute wor-

ship from the use of hieroglyph, i-s.

This is a very short and imperfect extract of the fragment ; many
particulars, to avoid tediousness, are omitted, which would much sup-
port what we are upon, particularly a minute detail of the principal arts
invented for the use of civil life. But what has been selected on this
head, will afford a good comment to a celebrated passage of Cicero,

quoted, in this section, on another occasion. As the two important

doctrines, taught in secret, were the detection of polytheism, and the

discovery of the unity ;
so, the two capital doctrines taught more openly,
were the origin of society with the arts of life, and the existence of the
soul after death in a state of reward or punishments.

The fragment explains what Tully meant by men's being drawn by

the mysteries from an irrational and savage life, and tamed, as it wr ere,
and broken to humanity. It was, we see, by the information given them,
concerning the origin of society, and the inventors of the arts of life,
and the rewards they received from grateful posterity, for making them-
selves benefactors to mankind.
The reasons which induce me to think this fragment the very his-

tory narrated to the Epoptai, in the celebration of the greater mysteries,

are these:

First, it bears an exact conformity with what the ancients tell us

that history contained in general, namely, an instruction that all the
national gods, as well those majorum, such as Hypsistus, Ouranos, and
Cronos, as those minorum gentium, were only dead men deified :

together with a recommendation of the advantages of civil life above the

and an excitement to the most considerable of the initia-
state of nature,

ted(the summatibus viris, as Macrobius calls them) to procure it.

And these two ends are served together, in the history of the rise and
progress of idolatry as delivered in this fragment.
Again, in order to recommend civil life, and to excite men to pro-
mote its
advantages, a lively picture given of his
is miserable condition,
and how obnoxious he was, in that state, to the rage of all the elements,
and how imperfectly, while he continued in it, he could, with all his
industry, fence against them by food of acorns, by cottages of reeds, and
by coats of skins : a matter the mysteries thought so necessary to be

impressed, that we find, by Diodorus Siculus, there was a scenical

 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 121

representation of this state exhibited in their shows.* And what

stronger excitement had heroic minds, than to be taught, as they are in
this fragment, that public benefits to their fellow creatures were
reward with immortality.
My second reason for supposing it to be that very history, is our
being told, thatSanchoniatho transcribed the account from secret records,
kept in the penetralia of the temples, and written in a sacred sacerdotal
character, called the Ammonean, from the place where they were
first deposited which, as Marsham reasonably supposes, was Ammon-
;

no, or Thebes, in Egypt a kind of writing employed, (as we have shown

:

elsewhere) by the hierophants of the mysteries.

But, lastly, we are told, that when this genealogical history came
into the hands of a certain son of Thabion, the first hierophant on record

amongst the Phenicans, he, after having corrupted it with allegories,

and intermixed physical and cosmical affections with historical, that is,
made the one significative of the other, delivered it to the prophets of the
orgies, and the hierophants of the mysteries who left it to their succes'
;

sors. So that now we have an express testimony for the fact here
advanced, that this was the very history read to the Epoptai in the
celebration of the greater mysteries.
But one thing is too remarkable to pass by unobserved and that is, :

Sanchoniatho' s account of the corruption of this history with allegories

and physical affections, by one of his own countrymen ;
and of its

delivery, in that state, to the Egyptians, for Isiris is the same as Osiris,
who corrupted it still more. That the pagan mythology was, indeed,
thus corrupted, I have shown at large, in several parts of this work:
but I believe, not so early as is here pretended: which makes me sus-

pect that Sanchoniatho lived in a later age than his interpreter, Philo,
assigns to him. And what confirms me in this suspicion, is that mark
of national vanity and partiality, common to after-times, in making the

mysteries of his own country original, and conveyed from Phenicia to

Egypt. Whereas it is very certain, they came first from Egypt. But
of this, elsewhere. However, let the reader take notice, that the

question concerning the antiquity of Sanchoniatho does not at all affect

our inference concerning the nature and use of this history.

* We here see the origin of the forlorn condition in which the candidate for masonic
honors is placed, when prepared for initiation; who, "neither naked, nor clothed, bare-
foot, nor shod deprived of all metals hoodwinked, with a cable- tow about his neck, is
; ;

led to the door of the lodge, in a halting moving posture"

His being hoodwinked is emblematical of the uninformed state of those not initiated
into the mysteries and the rope about his neck is in token of his submission to the
;

divine will, as will hereafter be shown from the customs of the Druids. Edit.
16
122 A DISSERTATION ON

A criticism of that very knowing and sagacious writer, father Simon

of the Oratory, will show the reader how groundless the suspicions of
learned men are concerning the genuineness of this fragment. Father
Simon imagines that Porphyry forged the history of Sanchoniatho,
under the name of a translation by Philo Byblius and- conjectures, his
( ;

purpose in so doing was to support paganism; by taking from it, its

mythology and allegories, which the Christian writers perpetually objec-
"
ted toit. He would make it appear, to ansiver the objections that
were made on all sides upon this, that their theology was a pure
mythology they go back to the times which had preceded the allegories
and the fictions of the sacrifices." (Bib. Crit. v. i. p. 140.) But this
learned man totally mistakes the case. The .Christians objected to vul-

gar paganism, that the stories told of their gods, were immoral. To
this their priests and philosophers replied, that these stories were only

mythological allegories, which veiled all the great truths of theology,

ethics, and physics. The Christians said, this could not be ;
for that

the stories of the gods had a substantial foundation in fact, these gods

Being only dead men deified, who in life, had like passions ar^d infirmi-
ties with others. For the truth of which they appealed to such writers
as Sanchoniatho, who had
given the history both of their mortal and
immortal stations and conditions. How then could so acute an adversary
as Porphyry, deeply engaged in this controversy, so far mistake the
state of the question, and grounds of his defence, as to
forge a book in
support of his cause, which totally overthrew it ?

The Rev. James Anderson, D. D. published, in 1723, the first book

on masonry with the sanction of the grand lodge of England. The
commencement of his work bears a strong resemblance to the foregoing
fragment. Instead, howe\ er,
r
of permitting the first inhabitants of the
world to gain knowledge gradually by the aid of experience, he makes
them finished artizans from the beginning. This was necessary for his

purpose, which was to show theoriginal establishment of the freemason

society. As his account throw's much light upon the early history of

man, and the amasing progress of the arts and sciences in the first stages
of human existence, and is, moreover, greatly relied upon by masons
I will here give a short abstract of it.

"
The Almighty Architect," says the Dr. "having created all things

according to geometry, last of all formed Adam, and engraved on his

heart the same noble science ;
which Adam soon discovered by survey-
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 123

ing his earthly paradise, and fabricating an arbor as a convenient shelter

from heat, etc. When expelled fromliis lovely arbor, he resided in the
most convenient abodes of the land of Eden, where he could be best
secured from cold, heat, winds, rains, tempests, and wild beasts, till his
sons grew upioform a lodge ; whom he taught geometry and the great
use of it in architecture ; without which the children of men must have
lived like brutes, in woods, dens, caves, etc. ;
or at best in poor huts of
* * *
mud, or arbors made of branches of trees, etc. Tubal Kain
wrought in metals, Jubal elevated music, and Jabal extended his
tents.

Adam was succeeded in the grand direction of the craft by Seth

Enock, Kainan, Mahalaleel, and Tared, whose son Enoch was expert
and bright, both in the science and in the art, and being a prophet,
he foretold the destruction of the earth for sin, first
by water, and
afterwards by fire. Therefore Enoch erected two large pillars, the one
of stone and the other of brick, whereon he engraved the abridgment
of the arts and sciences, 'principally geometry and masonry.
At last, when the world's destruction drew nigh, God commanded
Noah to build the great ark or floating castle, and his three sons assisted,
like a deputy and two wardens. That edifice, though of wood only,
was fabricated by geometry as nicely as any stone-building, like true
ship-building at this day,
a curious and large piece of architecture, and
finished when Noah enterod into his six hundredth year. Aboard which
he and his three sons and their four wives passed, and having received

the cargo of animals by God's direction, they were saved in the ark,
while the rest perished in the flood for their immorality and unbelief
And so from these masons, or four grand officers, the whole present rac.e
of mankind are descended.
After the flood,-Noah and his three sons, having preserved the know-

ledge of the arts and sciences, communicated it to their growing off-

spring. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the East towards
the West, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there

together, as which was the first name of

Noachidce, or sons of Noah,
masons, according some old traditions. When Peleg was born there
to

to Heber, after the flood one hundred and one years, father Noah par-

titioned the earth, ordering them to disperse and take possession but ;

from a fear of the consequences of separation, they resolved to keep

together.
Nimrod, the son of Gush, the eldest son of Ham, was at the head of
those that would not disperse ;
or if
they must seperate, they resolved to
124 A DISSERTATION OX

transmit their memorial illustrious to all future ages and so employed ;

themselves under grand master Nimrod,* in the large and fertile vale of
Shinar along the banks of the Tygris, in building a stately tower and
city, the largest work that ever the world saw, and soon filled the vale
xvith splendid edifices. But they over built it, and knew not when to desist
till their vanity
provoked theirMaker to confound their grand design, by
confounding their speech. Hence the city was called Babel, confusion.
Thus they were forced to disperse, about fifty-three years after they
began to build, or after the flood one hundred and fifty-four years,
when
the general migration from Shinar commenced. They went off at
various times, and travelled North, South, East, and West, \vith their

mighty skill, and found the good use of it in settling their colonies.
But Nimrod went forth no farther than into the land of Assyria, and
founded the first great empire at his capital Nineveh, where he long
reigned. Under him flourished many learned mathematicians, whose suc-
cessors were long afterwards called Chaldees and Magians and though :

many them turned image-worshippers, yet even that idolatry occa-

of
sioned an improvement in the arts of designing for Ninus, king of :

Nineveh or Assyria ordered his best artists to frame the statue of Baal,
that was worshipped in a gorgeous temple.
This history of Dr. Anderson is the only authority that masonry can
produce to substantiate the extraordinary antiquity which it claims.
The specimen I have given of it, is sufficient for the reader to form an
opinion of its
authenticity, as well as its resemblance to the fragment of
Sanchoniatho. Nimrod, Be], Baal, and Belus are supposed by mytho-
logists to be the same person. We will turn to Warburton.

We now come to the

hymn celebrating the unity of the godhead,
which r
sung
vx as Eleusian in the
mysteries by the hierophant, habited
like the Creator. f And this I take to be the little orphic poem quoted
"
by Clemens Alexandrinus and Eusebius; which begins thus I will ;

declare a secret to the Initiated but let the doors be shut against the
;

profane. But thou, O Musreus, the offspring of bright Selene, attend

carefully to my song for I shall deliver the truth without
;
disguise.
Suffer not, therefore, thy former prejudices to debar the of that
happy
* Nimrod signifies rebel, the name that the Israelites gave him but his friends called
;

him Belue, lord.

t A
Passage in Porphyry shows what kind of personage the creator was represented
; and that it was,
by like all the rest, of Egyptian original ; and introduced into these
pecret mysteries, for the reason above explained.
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 125

life, which the knowledge of these sublime truths will procure unto
thee hut carefully contemplate this divine oracle, and preserve it in
;

purity of mind and heart. Go on, in the right way, and see the sole
governor of the world ;* he is one, and of himself alone and to ;

thatone all things owe their heing. He pperates through all, was
never seen by mortal eyes, .but does himself see every one."
The reasons which support my conjecture are these 1. We learn :

from the scholiast on Aristophanes and others, that hymns were sung
in the mysteries. 2. Orpheus, as we have said, first brought the
mys-
teries from Egypt into Thrace, and even religion itself; hence it was

called Thresceia, as being supposed the invention of the Thracian.

3. The verses, which go under the name of Orpheus, are, at least,
more ancient than Plato and Herodotus though since interpolated.
;

It \vas the common opinion, that they were genuine; and those who
doubted of that, yet gave them to the earliest Pythagoreans. (Laertius
in Vita Pylhag. and Suidas.) 4. The subject of them are the mys-
teries, under the several titles of Thronismoi metrooi, teletai, zeros,
logos, and L is ado Katabasis. 5. Pausanias tells us, that Orpheus's

hymns were sung in the rites

of Ceres, in preference to Homer's,

though more elegant, for the reasons given above. 6. This hymn is
addressed to Musasus, his disciple, who was said, though falsely, to
institute themysteries at Athens, as his master had done in Thrace;
and begins with the formula used by the mystagogue on that occasion
warning the profane to keep at distance and in the fourth line men- ;

tions that new life or regeneration, to which the initiated were taught
to aspire. 7. No
other original, than the singing the hymns of

Orpheus Eleusinian mysteries, can be well imagined of that

in the

popular opinion, mentioned by Theodoret, that Orpheus instituted those

mysteries, when the Athenians had such certain records of another
founder. 8. We are told that one article of the Athenians' charge

against Diagoras for revealing the mysteries, was his making the Orphic
speech, or hymn, the subject of his common conversation. 9. But

lastly, the account, which Clemens gives of this hymn, seems to put
his words are these " But
the matter out of question : the Thracian :

mystagogue, who was at the same time a poet, Orpheus, the son of

Oeager, after he had opened the mysteries, and sung the whole theol-
ogy of idols, recants all he had said, and introduceth truth. The
sacreds then truly begin, though late, and thus he enters upon the

* That is, his representative ;

but how he could be habited like tiie Creator, who was
nerer seen by mortal eyes, it is difficult to imagine. Edit.
126 A DISSERTATION ON

matter." To understand the force of this passage, we are to know ;

that the mystagogue explained the representations in the mysteries,"

where, as we learn from Apuleius, the supernal and infernal gods pas-
sed in review. To each of these they sung a hymn which Clemens ;

calls the theology of images, or idols. These are yet to be seen

amongst the works ascribed to Orpheus. When all this was over,
then came the Aporreta, delivered in the hymn in question. And,
after that, the assembly was dismissed, with these two barbarous words,

kogx omphax, which shows the mysteries not to have been originally

Greek, The learned Mr. Le Clerc well observes, that this seems to
be only an pronunciation of kots and omphets which, he tells us,
ill

signify in the Phenician tongue, watch and abstain from evil*

Thus the reader sees the end and use both of the greater and less
mysteries ; and that, as well in what they hid as what they divulg-
ed, all aimed at the benefit of the state. To this end, they were to
draw in as many as they could to their general participation which ;

they did by spreading abroad the doctrine of a providence, and a future

state and how much happier the initiated would be, and what
; supe-
rior felicities they were
in another life. It was on this
entitled to
account that antiquity and express in this part.
is so full But then,
they were to make those they had got in as virtuous as they could ;

which they provided for, by discovering, to such as were capable of

the secret, the whole delusion of polytheism. Now this being sup-
posed the shaking foundations, was to be done with all possible cir-
cumspection, and under the? most tremendous seal of secrecy. (See
cap. xx. of Meursius' Eleusinia.) For they taught, the gods them-
selves punished the revealers of the secret ; and not them only, but
the hearers of it too. (Apul. Met. lib. xi.) Nor did they altogether
trust to that neither ;
for more effectually to curb an ungovernable
curiosity, the state decreed capital punishments against the betrayers of
the mysteries, and inflicted them with merciless severity. (Si quis
arcanae mysteria Cereris sacra vulgasset, lege morti addicebatur.)
The case of Diagoras, the Melian, is too remarkable to be omited
This man had revealed the Orphic and Elusinian mysteries and so ;

passed with the people for an atheist; which at once confirms what
hath been said of the object of the secret doctrines, and of the mischief
that would attend an indiscreet communication of them. He likewise,

"
* In closing a royal arch chapter, the high priest says, may we invariably practice
allthose duties out of the chapter, which are inculcated in it. Responcc ; so mote it be,

Amen." (Bernard.) Edit.

 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 127

dissuaded his friends from being initiated into these rites the conse- ;

quence of which was, that the city of Athens proscribed him, and set
a price upon his head. While Socrates, who preached up the latter

part of this doctrine (and was likewise a reputed atheist,) and Epicu-
rus, who taught the former (and was a real one) were suffered, because

Jthey
delivered their opinions only as points of philosophic specula-

tion, amongst their followers, to live a long time unmolested. And

this, perhaps, was the reason why Socrates declined being initiated.*

Which, as it appeared a singular affectation, exposed him to'much

censure. But it was foreborn with his usual prudence. He remem-
bered, that Eschylus, on a mere imagination of his having given a
hint in his scenes of something in the mysteries, had like to have been
torn in pieces on the stage by the people and only escaped by an.
;

appeal to the areopagus which venerable court acquited him of that

;

dangerous imputation, on his proving that he had never been initiated.

The famous Euhemerus, who assumed the same office of hierophant
to the people at large, with more boldness than Socrates, and more

temperance than Epicurus, employed another expedient to screen him-

self from the laws, though he fell, and perhaps deservedly, under the
same imputation of atheism. He gave a fabulous relation of a voy-
age the
to imaginary island of Panchsea, a kind of ancient Utopia ;

where, in a temple of Jupiter, he found a genealogical record, which

discovered to him the births and deaths of the greater gods and, in ;

short, every thing that the hierophant revealed to the initated on this
subject. Thu3 he too avoided the suspicion of a betrayer of the mys-
teries.

This, therefore, is the reason why so little is to be met with concern-

ing the Aporreta. Varro and Cicero, the two most inquisitive persons
in antiquity, affording but a glimmering light. The first giving us a
short account of the cause only of the secret, without mentioning the
doctrine ; and the other, a hint of the doctrine, without mentioning
the cause.
But now a remarkable exception to all we have been saying con*
cerning the secrecy of the mysteries, obtrudes itself upon us, in the
case of the Creatans who, as Diodorus Siculus assures us, celebrated
;

* " Some enlightened persons did not believe that to be virtuous there was an7
necessity for such an association.
"
Diogenes was once advised to contract this sacred
engagement ; but he answered Pataecion, the notorious robber, obtained initiation ;
;

Epaminondas and Agesilaus never solicited it is it possible I should believe that the
;

former will enjoy thebliss oitheElysian fields, while the latter shall be dragged through
the mire of the infernal shades," (Travels of Anachar.) Edit.
128 A DISSERTATION ON

their mysteries openly, and taught their aporreta without reserve.

" was provided
His words are these : At Cnossus in Crete, it for, by an
ancient law, that these mysteries should be shown openly to all and ;

that those things, which in other places were delivered in secret, should
be hid from none who were desirous of knowing them." But, as con-
trary as this seems to the principles delivered above, it will be found,
on attentive reflection, altogether to confirm them. We have shown,
that the great secret was the
detection of polytheism which was done ;

by teaching the original of the gods their birth from mortals

;
and ;

their advancement to divine honor, for benefits done to their country, or

mankind. But it is to be observed, that the Cretans proclaimed this to
all by showing, and boasting of the tomb of Jupiter himself,
the world,
the Father of gods arid men. How then could they tell that as a
secret in their mysteries, which they told to every one out of them ?
Nor is it less remarkable that the Cretans themselves, as Diodorus, in
the same place, tells us, gave this very circumstance of their celebra-
ting the mysteries openly as a proof of their being the first who had
"
consecrated dead mortals. These are the old stories which the Cre-
tans tell of their gods, who, they pretend to say, were born amongst
them. And they urge this as an invincible reason to prove that the
adoration, the worship, and the mysteries of these gods were first derived
from Crete to the rest of the world, for, whereas, amongst the Athen-
ians, thosemost illustrious mysteries of all, called the Eleusinian, those
of Samothrace, and those of the Ciconians in Thrace, of Orpheus's
institution, are all celebrated in secret ; yet in Crete" and'so on as
above. For it seems the Cretans were proud of their invention and ;

used this method to proclaim and perpetuate the notice of it. So when
Pythagoras, as Porphyry informs us, had been initiated into the Cre-
tian mysteries, and had continued in the Idean cave three times nine

days, he wrote this epigram on the tomb of Jupiter, Zan, whom

men call Jupiter, lies here deceased,
It was this which so much exasperated the other Grecians against
them ;
and gave birth to the common proverb of Kretes aei pseystai,
the Cretans are eternal liars. For nothing could more affront these

superstitious idolaters than asserting the fact, or more displease the

politic protectors of the mysteries than the divulging it.
The mysteries then being of so great service to the state, we shall
not be surprised to hear the wisest of the ancients speaking highly
in their commendation ;
and their best lawgivers, and reformers, pro-
"
viding carefully for their support. Ceres (says Isocrates) hath made
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 123

the Athenians two presents of the greatest consequence corn, which ;

brought us out of a state of brutality and the mysteries,

;
which teach
the initiated to entertain the most agreeable expectations touching death
and eternity." And Plato introduced! Socrates speaking after this manner:
" In those who established the mysteries, whoever they
my opinion,
Were, were well skilled in human nature. For in these rites it was
of old signified to the aspirant, that those who died without being ini-

tiated, stuck fast in mire and filth but that he who was purified and ini-
;

tiated at his death should have his habitation " with the Gods." And
Tully thought them of such use to society, for preserving and propaga-
ting the doctrine 6f a future state of rewards and punishments, that in
the law where he forbids nocturnal sacrifices offered by women, he
makes an express exception for the Mysteries of Ceres, as well as for
the sacrifices to the good goddess.
Aristides said, the welfare of Greece was secured by the Eleusinian

mysteries alone Indeed the Greeks seemed to place their chief hap-
!

" I
piness in them so Euripides makes Hercules say,
;
was blest, when
"
I got a sight of the mysteries and it was a proverbial speech, when
;

anyone thought himself in the highest degree happy, to say, I seem as

if I had been initiated in the higher mysteries.

But now, such is the fate of human things, these mysteries, vehei'a-
ble as they were, in their first institution, did, it must be owned, in
course of time, degenerate and those very provisions made by the
;

enable the mysteries to obtain the end of their establishment,

State, to
became the very means of defeating it. For we can assign no surer
cause of the horrid abuses and corruptions of the mysteries (besides
time, which naturally and fatally depraves and vitiates all things) than
which they were represented and the profound silence
the season in ;

inwhich they were buried. For night gave opportunity to wicked'

men to attempt evil actions and secrecy, encouragement to repeat
;

them and the inviolable nature of that secrecy, which encouraged

;

abuses, kept them from the magistrate's knowledge so long till it

was too late to reform them. In a word, we must own, that these

mysteries, so powerful in their first institution for the promotion of vir-

tue and knowledge, became, in time, horribly subservient to trie grati-
fication of lust and revenge. (Wisdom of Sol. xiv. 23. 24.) Nor
will this appear at all strange after what hath been said above. like A
corruption, from fhe same cause, crept even into the church, during the
purest ages of it. The primitive Christians, in imitation, perhaps, of
these pagan' rites, or from the saute kind of spirit, had a custom of celcK
17
T30 A DISSERTATION &N

brating vigils in the night; which, at first, were performed with a!

becoming sanctity but, in a little time, they were so overrun with,
;

abuses, that was necessary to abolish them.

it

And the same remedy, Cicero, tells us, Diagondas the Theban was
forced to apply to the disorders of the mysteries.
However, this was not the only, though the most powerful cause of
the depravation of the mysteries. Another doubtless was their being
sometimes under the patronage of those deities, who were supposed to
inspire and preside over sensual passions, such as Bacchus, Venus, and
Cupid for these had all their mysteries and where was the wonder,
; ;

if the initiated should be sometimes inclined to give a loose to vices, in

which the patron god was supposed to delight ? And in this case, the
hidden doctrine came too late to put a stop to the disorder. However,
it is remarkable, and confirms what hath been said concerning the origin

of the Mysteries, and of their being invented to perpetuate the doctrine

of a future state, that the doctrine continued to be taught even in the
most debauched celebrations of the Mysteries of Cupid and Bacchus.
Nay, even that very flagitious part of the mysterious rites when at
worst, the carrying ihekteis and phallos, in procession, was introduced
but under pretence of their being emblems of the mystical regeneration
and new which the initiated had engaged themselves to enter.
life* into

The lastto which one may ascribe their corruption, was

cause
the Hierophant's withdrawing the mysteries from the care and inspec-
tion of the civil Magistrate whose original institution they were-
;

But in aftertimes it would happen, that a little priest, who had borne
an inferior share in these rites, would leave his society and country,
and set up for himself ;
and in a clandestine manner, without the allow-
ance or knowledge of the magistrate, institute and celebrate the myste-
ries in private conventicles.From rites so managed, it is easy to
believe;many enormities would arise. This \vas the original of those
horrid impieties commited in the mysteries of Bacchus at Rome of ;

which the historian Livy has given so circumstantial an account for ;

in the beginning of his

story, he tells us, the mischief was occasioned

by one of these prifst's bringing the mysteries into Etruria, on his own
head, uncommissioned by his superiors in Greece, from whom he learnt
them and unauthorized by the State, into which he had introduced
;

them. The words of Livy show that the mysteries were, in their own
nature, a very different affair ;
and invented for the
improvement of
knowledge and virtue.
"
A Greek of mean extraction, (says he,) a
little
priest and soothsayer, came first into Etruria, without any skill,
 THE ANCIENT MYSTE1UES. 131

GT wisdom in mysterious ritos, many sorts of which, that most improved

people have brought in amongst us, for the culture and perfectiort
both of mind and body."
What Livy means by the culture of the body, will be seen hereafter
when we come to speak of the probationary and toilsome trials under-

gone by those aspirants to the mysteries, called the soldiers of Mithras.

However, it is very true, that in Greece itself the Mysteries became
abominably abused a proof of which w e have even in the conduct of
r

their comic writers, who

frequently lay the scene of their subject, such
as the rape of a young girl, and the like, at the celebration of a religious

mystery and from that mystery denominate the comedy. And in the
;

time of Cicero, the terms, mysteries and abominations, were almost

synonymous. The Academic having said they had secrets and mys-
teries, Lucullus replies, " Q,uo& funt tandem ista myteria ? aut cur cela-
tis, quasi turpe aliquid, vestram sententiam ?" What, after all, are
these mysteries ? or why conceal your purpose as if it included some-

thing base. However, occasions and opportunities,

in spite of all
some of the mysteries, as particularly the Eleusinian, continued, for
many ages, pure and undefiled. The two capital corruptions of the
mysteries were magic and impurities. Yet, so late as the age of Apol-
lonius Tyan, the Elusinian kept so clear of the first imputation, that
the tierophant refused to initiate that impostor because he was a magi-
cian. And, indeed, their long-continued immunity, both from one and
the other corruption, will not appear extraordinary, if we consider
that, by a law of Solon, the Senate was always to meet the day after
the celebration of these mysteries, to see that nothing had been done
amiss during the performance. (Andoc. Orat.) So that these were
the very last that submitted to the common fate of all human institu-
tions.
And here the fathers will hardly escape the censure of those who
will not allow high provocation to be an excuse for an unfair represen-
tation of an adversary. They will hardly escape censure, for accus-
toming themselves to speak of the mysteries as gross impieties and
immoralities, in their very original.* Clemens Alexandrinus, in a heat
* What hath been said
above, shows that M. Le Clerc ihath gone into the other
extreme, when he contends, (Bibl. Univ. torn. yi. p. 73.) that the mysteries were not
corrupted at all. I can conceive no reason for his paradox, but as it favored an accusa-
tion against the fathers, who have much insisted on the corruption of them. "The fathers
have said that all kinds of lewdness were committed in the mysteries but whatever ;

they may say, it is not credible that all Greece, .however corrupt it
may have been, has
ever consented that the women and girls should prostitute themselves in the mysteries.
But some Christian authors have found no difficulty in saying a thousand things little
conformable to truth, to defame paganism as though there were none but pagans
;

against whom they could discharge their calumnies." Bibl. Univ. torn. vi. p. 120.
 A DISSERTATION ON

"
of zeal, breaks out, Let him be accursed, who first infected the world
with these impostures, whether it was Dardanus or etc: These
I make no scruple to call wicked authors of impious fables ;
the fathers
of an execrable superstition, who, by this institution, sowed in human
life the seeds of vice and corruption." But the wisest and best of the
pagan world invariably hold, that the mysteries were instituted pure ;

and proposed the noblest end, by the worthiest means.

The truth of the matter was this the fathers bore a secret grudge
:

to the mysteries for their injurious treatment of Christianity on its first

appearance in the world. We are to observe, that atheism, by which

was meant a contempt of the gods, was reckoned, in the mysteries,
amorigst the greatest crimes. So, in the sixth book of the Eneid, (of which
more hereafter,) the hottest
seats in Tartarus are allotted to the atheist,

such as Salmoneus, Tityus, and the Titans, etc. Now the Christians,

contempt of the national gods, were, on their first appearance,

for their
deemed atheists by the people and so branded by the mystagogue, as
;

we and exposed amongst the rest in Tartarus, in their

find in Lucian,
solemn shows and representations. This may be gathered from a
remarkable passage in Origen, where Celsus thus addresses his adver-
sary :

"
But now, as you, good man, believe eternal punishments, even so
do the interpreters of these holy mysteries, the mystagogues and initia-
tors you threaten others with them these, on the contrary, threaten
:
;

you}
This, without doubt, was what sharpened the fathers against the
mysteries and they were not always tender in loading what they did
;

not approve. But here comes in the strange part of the story that ;

after this, they should so studiously and formally transfer the terms,

phrases, rites, ceremonies and discipline of these odious mysteries into

our holy religion and, thereby, very early vitiate and deprave what a
;

pagan writer (Marcellinus) could see, and acknowledge to be absoluta

and simplex, [perfect and pure] as it came out of the hands of its author.
Sure then it was some more than ordinary veneration the people had for
these mysteries, that could incline the fathers of the church to so fatal a
counsel however, the thing is notorious, and the effects have been
:

felt.
severely
The reader will not be displeased to find here an exact account of
this whole matter, extracted from a very curious dissertation of a great
and unexceptionable Casaubon, in his sixteenth Exer. on the
writer, Is.

Annals of Baronius. [Bishop W.

has given the remarks of Casaubou
in the original Latin, of which the following is a translation :]
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 183

"
When the fathers found it to be an easier way of bringing over

j m'n ds corrupted by superstition to the love of the truth, first

they adopted
many terms used in their rites ;
and after thus treating of several heads
of the true doctrines, they further adopted some of their ceremonies
that theymight seem to be saying, as Paul said to the Gentiles, 'Whom
ye ignorantly worship the same do I declare unto you!' Thence it
came that the fathers called the sacraments by the same names as were
used describe the (pagan) mysteries, as miteseis, teletas, tcleiosei,
to

epoptcias, or epopseias, telcsteria, and sometimes, but more rarely,

orgies. The Eucharist they emphatically denominated the mystery of

mysteries; and also, by autonomy, the mystery, or in the plural, l/te

mysteries. And you may

every where .read in the writings of the
fathers, when treating of the holy communion, the words phrieta mys-

teria, or aporreton mystcrion, referring to those that were to be divulged

and those that were not. So the Greek verb myesthai in the ancient
writing is often employed to signify .the becoming a partaker of the
Lord's Supper and the term myesin for the act itself, and mystes&i the
;

priest, who is also called mystagogon, and hieroteleslcs. In the Greek

liturgies and elsewhere hieratelete, and cryphia hai epiphobos teleie (the
hidden and awful mystery) means the Eucharist.
"
And as certain degrees were used in the pagan rites, so in like
manner Dionysius divides the whole tradition of the sacraments into

three acts, distinguished by their seasons and ceremonies. The first

was Catharsis, the purgation, or purification, the second the myeslis or
initiation, and the third, tcleosis or the consummation, which they also

frequently called epopsian, or the revered. Tully had before affirmed

that the Athenian mysteries brought to the dying better hopes. On
their part, the fathers maintained, that the mysteries of Christ brought
certain salvationand eternal life to those who worthily partook of them ;

and who contemned them there was no salvation and

that for those :

they did not scruple to say that the end and ultimate fruit of the sacra-
ments was deification, when they knew that the authors of those vain
superstitions had dared to promise the same honor to their initiates.
And you may read in the fathers that the end -of the holy
therefore

mystagogies was deification and that those who faithfully received them
should in the life to come be gods. Athanasias has used the verb theo-
poiesthai (to deity) in the same sense, and subsequently confirmed it by
saying, that by partaking of the spirit we are united to the God-head.'
'

Of the symbols of the sacraments by which those ceremonies are cele-

brated, it is not here the place to treat : but that which is called a symbol
134 A DISSERTATION ON

offaith is various in its kinds, and they serve as tokens or tests by which
the faithful may recognize each other. And we show that the same
were used in the pagan mysteries. The formula pronounced by the
Depart hence all ye catachumens, all ye possessed and unini-
'

deacons,
tiated,' corresponds with the procul este profan? of the pagans.
'

Many
rites of the pagans were performed in the night, and Guadentius has
' 1
the expression splendidissima nox vigiliarum, the brightest night of
the vigils. And as to what We have said of the silence observed by the
pagans in their secret devotions, the ancient Christians so far approved,
that they exceeded all their mysteries in that observance. And as Seneca
has observed, the most holy of the sacred rites were only known to the
initiated and Jamblichus on the philosophy of the Pythagoreans has
;

distinguished between the aporreta which could not be carried abroad,

and the exphora, which might so the ancient Christians distinguished
;

their whole doctrines into those w hich might be divulged to all (the
r

exphora) and the aporreta, or arcana, which were not rashly to be dis-
closed. Their dogmas, says Basilius, they kept secret, their preaching
was public. And
Chrisostom, treating of those who were baptized for
'
the dead, says, I verily desire to relate the matter fully, but I dare not
be particular, because of the uninitiated.' They make a difficulty for us
in the interpretation, and oblige us either to speak without precision, or
else to disclose what they should not be informed of: and as the pagans
used the terms exorcheisthai ta mysteria, touching those who divulged
the mysteries, so Dionysius says, See that you do not disclose, nor
'

slightly reverence the mysteries, and every where in Augustinus, you

will read of the sacrament known to the faithful.' And thus (in Johan-
nem, tract, xvi)
'
all the catachumens already believe in Christ, but
Christ does not trust them :' and if we should ask one of them whether
he eat the flesh of the Son of man, he would not understand what we
meant ;
and again, '
The catachumens
are ignorant of what the Chris-
tians receive.' Let them blush that they are ignorant"
We have observed above, that the fathers gave very easy credit to
what was reported of the abominations in the mysteries and the easier,
;

perhaps, on account of the secrecy with which they were celebrated.

The same affectation of secrecy in the Christian rites, and the same lan-
in speaking of them, without doubt procured as
guage easy credit to
calumnies of murder and incest, charged upon them by the pagans.
-those

Nay, what is still more remarkable, those very specific enormities in

which their own mysteries were then known to offend, they objected to
an the Christians.
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES 135

"A cataehumen is a candidate for baptism, or a person who prepares himself for

receiving it. Towards the end of the first century, Christians were divided into two
orders, distinguished by the names of believers and catachumcns. The latter as contra,

distinguished from the former, were such as had not yet been dedicated to God and
Christ by baptism, and were, therefore, admitted neither to the public prayers, nor to
the holy communion, nor to the ecclesiastical assemblies. As they were not allowed to
deacon dismissed them, after sermon, with
assist at the celebration of the eucharist, the
"
this formula, proclaimed three times, "Ite catachumeni missa est" (Rees.) Missa ia
derived from mitto to send. Missa has been used for missio. Itc missa est or missio

est. You may all return home.

1 '

(Bailey.)
''Quod noruntjldeles, what the faithful know. These words, or, as expressed in
Greek, isasin oi pemuemenoi, formes what may be called the watch- word of the secret)
ai& occur constantly in the fathers. Thus St. Chrysostom, for instance, in whose
writings Casaubon remarked the recurrence of this phrase, at least fifty times, in speak-
ing of the tongue (comment, in Psalm 153,) says, 'Reflect that this is the member with
which we receive the tremendous sacrifice, the faithful Know what I speak of.*
Hardly less frequent is the occurrence of the same phrase in St. Augustin, who seldom
ventures to intimate the eucharist in any other way than by the words Quod norunt
fideles." (Travels in search of a Religion, Phila. ed. p. 82.)
This precaution needs no apology when referring to religious rites, which if exposed,
"
would subjectvotaries to punishment.
'its "It was, says the same writer, "in the
third century, when the followers of Christ were most severely tried by the fires of per-

secution, that the discipline of secrecy, with respect to this (the Eucharist) and the other
"
mysteries, was most strictly observed." A
faithful concealment (says Tertullian) is due
to all mysteries from the very nature and constitution of them. How
much more must
it be duesuch mysteries as, if they were once discovered, could not escape immediate
to

punisment from the hands of man." (Ibid. p. 73.)

The persecuted, when they obtained the majority, became the persecutors, and the
Druids of England were under the same necessity of concealing their dogmas and rites,
as the Christians formerly had been. But what excuse have the masons of the pre-
sent day for making a mystery of the same rites when not in danger of persecution?
There can be no pretext for retaining a secret, when the cause that gave it birth no
longer exists. Besides, the masons do not profess the doctrines of paganism, they
merely repeat the ceremonies, parrot-like, without any regard to or knowledge of the
original intention.

That the mysteries were invented, established, and supported by

lawgivers, may be seen,
From the place of their original ;
which was Egypt. This Herod-
otus, Diodorus, and Plutarch, who collect from ancient testimonies,
expressly affirm ;
and in this, all antiquity concurs the Elusinian
;

mysteries, particularly, retaining the very Egyptian gods, in whose

honor they were celebrated; Ceres and Triptol emus being only two
other names for Isis and Osiris*
* Mr. Le Clerc owns, that Plutarch, Diodorus, and Theodoret have all said this;

yet, the better tosupport his scheme in the interpretation of the history of Ceres, he
has
thought fit to contradict them. Yet he in another place, could see that Astarte was
certainly Isis, as Adonis was Osiris; and this, merely from the identity of their cere-
monies.
I3'6 A DISSERTATION ON

Hence it is, that the universal nature, or the first cause, the object of
all the mysteries, yet disguised under diverse names, speaking of her-
self in Apuleius, concludes the ennumeration of her various mystic rites,
"
in these words The Egyptians skilled in ancient learning, worship-
ping me by ceremonies perefectly appropriate, call me by my true name,
queen Isis"
But the similitude between the rites practised, and the doctrines
taught in the Grecian and Egyptian mysteries, would be alone suffi-
cient to point up to their original such as the secrecy required of the
:

initiated ; which, as we shall see hereafter, peculiarly characterized the

Egyptian teaching ;
such as the doctrines taught of a metempsychosis,
and a future state of rewards and punishments,' which the Greek writers
agree to have been first set abroach by the Egyptians;* such as absti-
nence enjoined from domestic fowl, fish, and beans, (see Porphyrius De
Abstin,) the peculiar superstition of the E'gyptians such as the Ritual ;

composed in Hieroglyphics, -an invention of the Egyptians. But it

wr ould be endless to reckon up all the particulars- in which the Eg}--p-
tian and Grecian mysteries agree: it shall suffice to say, that they were
in all things the same.

Again nothing but the supposition of this common original to all

;

the Grecian mysteries can clear up aud reconcile the disputes which
arose amongst the Grecian states and cities concerning the first rise of
the mysteries; every one claiming to be original to the rest. Thus
Thrace pretended that they came first from thence ;
Crete contested the
honor with those barbarians and Athens claimed it from both. And
;

at that time, when they had forgotten the true original, it was impossi-

ble to settle and adjust their differences: for each could prove that he
did not borrow from others ;
and, at the same time, seeing a similitude
in the rites, would conclude, that they had borrowed from him. But the
owning Egypt for their common parent, clears up all difficulties by :

accounting for that general likeness which gave birth to every one's
pretensions.
Now, in Egypt, all religious worship being planned and established
by statesmen, and directed to the ends of policy, we must conclude, that
the mysteries were originally invented by legislators.
The sages who brought them out of Egypt, and propagated them in

Asia, in Greece, and Britain, were all kings or lawgivers; such as

* Timseus the Locrain, in his book of the soul of the world,
speaking of the necessity
of inculcating the doctrine of future punishments, calls thorn Timopiai xenai, foreign v

torments ; by which name both Latin and Greek writers generally mean Egyptian,
where the subject is religion.
 Tilt; ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 137

Zoroaster, Inachus, "h-pheus,* (

Melampus, Trophonius, Minos, Cinyras,
Erectheus, and the Druids.
They were under the superintendence of the State. magistrate, A
intitled Basileus,or king, presided in the Eleusinian mysteries, Lysias
informs us, that this king was to offer up the public prayers, according
to their country rites ;
and to see that nothing impious or immoral crept
into the celebration. (In Andoc.) title given to the president of
This
the mysteries, was, doubtless, in memory of the first founder.

Though it be now apparent that the mysteries were the invention of

the civil magistrate, yet even some ancients, who have mentioned the

mysteries, seemed not to be apprised of it, and their ignorance hath occa-
sioned great embroilment in all they say on this subject. The reader
may see by the second chapter of Meursius' Eleusinia, how much the
ancients were at a loss for the true founder of those mysteries some :

giving the institution to Ceres some to Triptolemus others to Eumol-

; ;

pus ;
and some again to Erectheus. How then shall
others to Musaeus ;

we disengage ourselves from this labyrinth, into which Meursius has

led us, and in which, his guard of ancients keep us inclosed ? This clue

through it. It appears, from what hath been said,

will easily conduct us
that Erectheus,king of Athens, established the mysteries;! but that the
people unluckily confounded the institutor, with the priests, Eumolpus
and Musseus, who first officiated in the rites and, with Ceres and ;

Triptolemus, the deities, in whose honor they were celebrated. And

these mistakes were natural enough the poets would be apt, in the
:

licence of their figurative style, to call the gods, in whose name the

mysteries were performed, the founders of those mysteries and the ;

people, seeing only the ministry of the officiating priests, in good earnest
believed those mystagogues to be the founders. And yet, if it were
reasonable to expect from poets or people, attention to their own fancies
and opinions, one would think they might have distinguished better, by
the help of that mark, which Erectheus left behind him, to ascertain his
title ; namely,, the erection of the officer called Basileus, or king.
But
this original is still further seen from the
qualities required in
the aspirants to the mysteries. According to their original institution,
neither slaves nor foreigners were to be admitted into them.J Now if
* Of whom "
Aristophanes says, Orpheus taught us the mysteries, and to abstain
from murder," that is, from a life of rapine and violence, such as men lived in the state
of nature.
t And
so says Diodorus Siculus, lib. i. Bibl.
t Schol.
Horn. II. It was the same in the Cabiric mysteries, as we learn from
.

Diodorus Siculus, lib. v. who speaks of the -like innovation made there. As to slaves,
hear Aristophanes in his Thesmophoriaz. "
Begone, ye vulgar crew, it is not fitting that
slaves should hear these words."
18
138 A DISSERTATION ON

the mysteries were instituted, primarily for the sake of teaching religious
truths, there can be no reason given why every man, with the proper
moral qualities, should not be admitted : but supposing them instituted

by the state for political purposes, a very good one may be assigned ;

for slaves arid foreigners have there neither property nor country.
When afterwards the Greeks, by frequent confederations against the
Persian, the common enemy of their liberties, began to consider them-
selves as one people and community, the mysteries were extended to all

who spoke the Greek language. Yet the ancients, not reflecting on the
original and end of their institution, were much perplexed for the reasons
of an exclusion so apparently capricious. Lucian tells us, in the life of
his friend Demonax,, that that great philosepher had the courage, one
day, to ask the Athenians, why they excluded barbarians from their mys-
teries, when Eumolpus, a barbarous Thracian, had established them:*
but he does not tell us their answer. One of the most judicious of the
modern critics (Is. Casaubon) was as much at a loss; and therefore

thinks the restraint ridiculous, as implying, that the institutors thought

the speaking the Greek tongue contributed to the advancement of

piety.
Another proof of this original may be deduced from what was taught,
promiscuously to all the initiated; which was, the necessity of a
virtuous and holy life, to obtain a happy immortality. Now this, we
know, could not come from the sacerdotal warehouse: the priests could
afford their elysium, at the easy expense of oblations and sacrifices :

for, our great philosopher (who, however, was not aware of this
as

extraordinary institution for the support of virtue, and therefore con-

cludes too generally) well observes, " the priests made it not their busi-
ness to teach the people virtue if they were diligent in their observances
:

and ceremonies, punctual in their feasts and solemnities, and the tricks

of religion, the holy tribe assured them that the gods were pleased, and
they looked no further: few went to the schools of philosophers, to be

instructed in their duty, and to know what was good and evil in their
actions the priests sold the better pennyworths, and therefore had all
:

the custom : for lustrations and sacrifices were much easier than a
clean conscience and a steady course of virtue and an expiatory sacri- ;

fice, that atoned for the want of it, much more conveniant than a strict

and holy life. (Locke's Reasonableness of Christianity.) Now we

* But the
fact, their not being a Grecian but a foreign, that is, barbarous, invention,
is proved by their very name, mysteria^ from the eastern dialect, mistor, or mistur, res
aut locus absconditus (a thing or place hid.)
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 1 o9

may be assured, that art institution, which taught the necessity of a

strictand holy life, could not but be the invention of lawgivers, to

whose schemes virtue was so necessary.

It is now submitted to the reader, whether it be not fairly proved,
that the mysteries were invented by the legislator, to affirm and establish
the general doctrine of a providence, by inculcating the belief of a future
state of rewards and punishments. Indeed, if we may believe a certain
ancient, who appears to have been well versed in these matters, they

gained their end,by clearing up arl doubts concerning the righteous

government of the gods. (Sopater in Divis. Quest.)

It seems of very little importance to determine whether the mysteries were the inven-
tion of civil legislators, or of the sacredotal order. And in fact, in Egypt where they
were first established, the priesthood and the legislators formed but one body. This
was also the case in where the Druids performed the offices of priests, and
Britain,
were at the same time makers of the laws.
the
Tytler, in his Elements of general History in the chapter on Egypt, says, The ' '

functions of the sovereign were partly civil, and partly religious. The king had the chief

regulation of all that regarded the gods and the priests, considered as his deputies, fil-
:

jed all the offices of state. They were both the legislators and the civil Judges they ;

imposed and levied the taxes, and regulated weights and measures."
The title of Basileus (king) given to one of the officers in the celebrations of the
mysteries, who is decorated with a crown, has doubtless caused the supposition that
this character was the representative of civil, temporal power. Whereas the crown
was originally the ensign of divinity. " In the remotest antiquity, the crown was only
given to gods. Leo, the Egyptian, says, it was Isis who first wore a crown, and that
it consisted of ears of corn [grain] the use whereof she first taught men.
" in this most authors
agree, that the crown originally was rather a religious than
a ornament ; rather one of the pontificalia, than the regalia that it only became
civil ;

common to kings, as the ancient kings were priests as well as princes and that the ;

modern princes are entitled to it in their ecclesiastical capacity rather than their tempo-
ral." (Rees's Cijd.)
The author cites no authority for his assertion that, " A magistrate, entitled Basileus
"
or king, presided in the Eleusinian mysteries." But, he says, Lysias informs us that
this king, was to offer up the public prayers, according to their country rites ; and to
see that nothing impious or immoral crept into the celebration."

Lysias, it appears, was noticed by Cicero as an orator of some repute, but he is little
known as an author and he seems in this case, to have indulged his fancy in one of his
;

popular orntions, without possessing an absolutelmowledge of the truth of his declara-

tion; for there is no evidence of his having been initiated into the mysteries. He was
no doubt, deceived by the title given to one of the officers in these celebrations, which
was very likely to be generally known.
"
Besides, the bishop has shown above, that, By a law of Solon, the Senate was
always to meet the day after the celebration of these mysteries, to see that nothing
had been done amiss during the performance." Now, if there were a magistrate appointed
by the king, bearing his title, and presiding in these celebrations as his representa-
140 A DISSERTATION ON

live what need would there be for the meeting of the senate for the purpose here
stated.

Jamblichus, who, by the by, was a Pagan priest, and appears to be thoroughly versed
in themetaphysical science of the gods, has clearly intimated who this Basileus of the
mysteries was. In speaking of the one Supreme, he says "prior to truly existing beings
and total principles, there is one god, prior to the Jlrst god and king, immoveable, and
abiding in the solitude of his own unity. Who is father of himself, is self-begotten, is
father alone, and is (See Taylor's Trans, p. 301.)
truly good."
The original of that part of the passage particularly alluded to isproton kai ton pro-
ton Theon kai Basileus ; which Gale properly translates, prior etiam primo Deo, et
rege [sole.] That is, prior to the first god and king, the sun. For it is well known
that the sun was the first object of adoration among all the ancient nations, and he
was styled the king or governor of the world.
The Supreme God, alluded to by Jamblichus, was called in Egypt, Kneph, of whom
Plutarch says " the unbegotten Kneph was celebrated with an extraordinary degree of
veneration by the Egyptian Thebans."
As a further proof of the erroneous opinion formed by our author on this subject,
an appeal may be made to the practice of royal arch masonry, which I deem conclu-
and similar cases. Here the hierophant or high priest is the presiding officer
sive in this
and the king holds the second rank, and presides only in the absence of the former.
And the idea that this officer was ever the representative of an earthly monarch was
never entertained by masons. No civil power has ever exercised any authority in the
lodge ; and although some of the royal family of England, and also of other countries
have become members of the fraternity, they enter it like other men, on the ground of
perfect equality. In short, the officer styled king, personates Osiris the sun, one of (he
divinities celebrated in the mysteries, the second person in the pagan trinity.
It ie worthy of remark, and perhaps here is the most proper place to make it, that

masonry conforms to the practice of the Egyptians, in prohibiting to slaves a participa-

tion of its mystic rites. It excludes also all those who possess any bodily defect. That
a benevolent society, as the masonic institution is, should make a misfortune of this
kind the cause of debating admission to its social and friendly communion, admits of
no justification no mason can give a plausible reason for it.
;

It isan outrage against humanity. Any one who, in fighting the battles of liberty
and his country, should have lost a leg or an arm in the conflict, would in vain apply
Every mason has sworn not to be present at the initia
-
for admission into this society.
tion of a person thus situated. He
bound down with the adamantine chains of pre-
is

cedent, which has often perverted the plainest principles of justice and common sense.
I do not believe there is a single mason who would not wish to get rid of this rule

but the fraternity entertain a religious horror against defacing the "old land marks"
The oaths, therefore, engendered in days of darkness and superstition, must remain the
same to the end of time.
This circumstance alone is a strong proof of the origin of the order. The practice
from a stupid adherence to the religious customs and observances of the ancient
rises

Egyptians. The mysteries, has been seen, were deemed a sacred institution, and thr
it

most rigid investigation of character, and the severest trials were imposed upon thr
" No
aspirant* to its benefit?. person, says De Pauw (in his Phil. Diss. on the Egypt-
and Chinese,) who was born with any remarkable bodily imperfection, could be con-
secrated in Egypt and the very animals, when deformed, where never used either for
;

or in symbolical worship."
nacrifice,
The Levites among the Jews were subjected to the same rigid discipline ; no on^
ihathad the least bodily blemish could be admitted hito the sacerdotal order.
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIKS. HI
"
As to the admittance of the Levites into the ministry, birth alone did not give it

to they were likewise obliged to receive a sort of consecration. Take the Levites
them ;

from among the children of Israel, says God to Moses, and cleanse them. And thus
shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and
;

let them shave all their flesh, and letthem wash their clothes, and so make themselves
clean. Then let them take a young bullock, etc. Numbers, viii. v. 6.
Nor was any Levite permitted to exercise his functions till after he had served a sort
of novitiate for five years, in which he carefully learned all that related to his ministry.
"
From considering their order, we proceed to consider the manner in which the
priests were chosen, and the defects which excluded them from the priesthood. Among
the defects of body, which rendered them unworthy of the sacerdotal functions, the Jews
reckon up fifty which are common to men and other animals, and ninety which are
peculiar tomen alone. The priest whose birth was polluted with any profaneness, was
clothed in black, and sent without the verge of the priests' court, but he who was
chosen by the judges appointed for that purpose, was clothed in white, and joined him-
self to the other priests. And I know not whether St. John does not allude to this
custom when he says, "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white rai-
ment and I will not blot his name out of the book of life." (Rev. iii. v. 5.) They
;

whose birth was pure, but who had some defect of body, lived in those appartments of
the temple wherein the stores of wood were kept, and were obliged to split, and pre-
pare it for keeping up the fire of the altar." (Rev. Adam Clarke's Hist. Anc. Israelites.
Burlington Edit. p. 273, 279.)
There is a remarkable similarity in the institutions of the Egyptians, Jews, and
Freemasons. The probation
of four years was required after initiation into the lesser

mysteries, before the candidate could be admitted to a participation of the greater. An

entered apprentice in the lodge of Freemasons had formerly to serve seven years in
that grade before he could be advanced. This extra time, however, arose from the
necessity of adapting the rules of the order to the craft of masonry it being the usual
;

period required for apprentices in that and other mechanical trades. The members of
"
the masonic fraternity also formerly wore white during lodge-hours but at present
the white apron alone remains." (Smith.)
 CHAPTER III.

IN
WHICH ITSHOWN, THAT THE ALLEGORICAL DESCENT OF
IS

ENEAS INTO HELL, IS NO OTHER THAN AN ENIGMATICAL REPRE-

SENTATION OF HIS INITIATION INTO THE MYSTERIES.

WE have seen in general, how fond and tenacious ancient pagan-

ism was of this extraordinary rite, as of an institution supremely use-
ful both to society and religion. But this will be seen more fully in
what I now proceed to lay before the reader ;
an examination of two
celebrated pieces of antiquity, the famous Sixth Book of Virgil's Eneid,
and the Metamorphosis of Apuleius. The first of which will show us
of what use the mysteries were esteemed to society ;
and the second, of
what use to religion.
An inquiry into Eneas' adventure to the shades, will have this
farther advantage, the instructing us in the shows and representations of
the mysteries ; a part of their history, which the form of this discourse

upon them hath not yet enabled us to give. So that nothing will be
now wanting to a perfect knowledge of this most extraordinary and
important institution.
For, the descent of Virgil's hero into the infernal regions, I presume^
was no other than a figurative description of an initiation; and par-
ticularly, a very exact picture of the spectacles in the Eleusinian mys-
teries ;
where every thing was done in show and machinery and ;

where a representation of the history of Ceres afforded opportunity of

bringing in the scenes of heaven, hell, elysium, purgatory, and what

ever related to the future state of men and heroes.
As the Eneid is in the style of ancient legislation, it would be hard
to think that so great a master in his art, should overlook a doctrine,
which, we have shown, was the foundation and support of ancient

politics; namely a future state of rewards and punishments. Accord-

ingly he hath givenus a complete system of it, in imitation of

his models,

which were Plato's vision of Erus, and Tully's dream of Scipio.

Again, as the lawgiver took care to support this doctrine by a very
extraordinary institution, and to commemorate it by a rite, which had all
the allurement of spectacle and afforded matter for the utmost embel-
;
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 143

lishments of poetry, we cannot but confess a description of such a scene

would add largely to the grace and elegance of his work and must ;

conclude he would be invited to attempt it. Accordingly, he hath done

this likewise, in the allegorical descent of Eneas into hell which ;

is no other than an enigmatical representation of his initiation into the

mysteries.
Virgil was to represent a perfect lawgiver, in the person of Eneas ;

now, initiation into the mysteries was what sanctified his character and
enobled his function. Hence we find all the ancient heroes and law-
givers were, in fact, initiated.
Another reason for the hero's initiation, was the important instruc-
tions he received in matters that concerned his office.

A third reason for his initiation, was the custom of seeking support
and inspiration- from the god who presided in the mysteries.
A fourth reason for his initiation, was the circumstance in which the

poet has placed him, unsettled in his affairs, and anxious about his
future fortune. the uses of initiation, the advice and
Now, amongst
direction of the oracle was not the least. And an oracular bureau was
so necessary an appendix to some of the mysteries, as particularly the
Sarnothracian, that Plutarch, speaking of Lysander's initiation there
expresses it by a word that signifies consulting the oracle on this :

occount, Jason, Orpheus, Hercules, Castor, and (as Macrobius says)

Tarquinius Priscus, were every one of them initiated "into those mys-
teries.

All this the poet seems clearly to have intimated in the speech of
Anchises to his son :

"
Carry with you to Italy the choisest of the youths, the stoutest
hearts. In Latium you have to subdue a hardy race, rugged in man-
ners. But first, my son, visit Pluto's infernal mansions, and, in quest of
an interview with me, cross the deep floods of Avernus."
A fifth reason was the conforming to the old popular tradition, which
said, that several other heroes of the Trojan times, such as Agamemnon
and Ulysses, had been initiated.
A sixth, and principal was, that Augustus, who was shadowed in
the person of Eneas, had been initiated into the Eleusinian
mysteries.
(Suet. Oct. cap. xciii.)
While the mysteries were confined to Egypt, their native country,
and while the Grecian lawgivers went thither to be initiated, as a kind
of designation to their office, the
ceremony would be naturally described,
in terms This was, in part, owing to the genius of
highly allegorical.
144 A DISSERTATION ON

the Egyptian manners in part, to the humor of travelers; but most of

;

all, to the policy of lawgivers; who, returning home, to civilize a bar-

barous people, by laws and arts, found it useful and necessary (in order
to support their own characters, and to establish the fundamental prin-
that initiation, in which, they saw the
ciple of a future state) to represent
state of departed mortals in machinery, as an actual descent into hell.

This way of speaking was used by Orpheus, Bacchus, and others and ;

continued even after the mysteries were introduced into Greece, as

appears by the fables of Hercules, Castor, Pollux, and Theseus's descent

into hell. But the allegory was generally so circumstanced, as to dis-
cover the truth concealed under it. So Orpheus is said to go to hell by
the power of his harp : that is, in quality of lawgiver ;
the harp being
the known symbol of his laws, by which he humanized a rude and bar-
barous people. So again, in the lives of Hercules and Bacchus, we
have the true history, and the fable founded on it, blended and recorded

together. For we are told, that they were in fact initiated into the

Eleusinian mysteries and that it was just before their descent into hell,
;

as an aid and security in that desperate undertaking. Which, in plain

speech, was no more, than that they could not safely see the shows, till

they had been initiated. The same may be said of what is told us of
Theseus's adventure. Near Eleusis there was a well, called Callicho-

rus; and, adjoining to that, a stone, on which, as the tradition went,

Ceres sat down, sad and iveary, 6n her coming to Eleusis. Hence the
stone was named Agelastus, the melancholy stone. On which account it
"
was deemed unlawful for the initiated to sit thereon. For Ceres, (says
Clemens) wandering about in search of her daughter Proserpine, when
she came to Eleusis, grew weary, and sat down melancholy on the side
of a well. So that, to this very day, it is unlawful for the initiated to

sit down there, lest they, whp are now become perfect, should seem to
imitate her in her desolate condition." Now let us see what they tell

us concerning Theseus's descent into hell. "There is also a stone,"

says the scholiaston Aristophanes, "called by the Athenians, Agelastus ;

on which, they say, Theseus sat when he was meditating his descent
into hell. Hence the stone had its name. Or, perhaps, because Ceres
sat there, weeping, when she sought Proserpine." All this seems

plainly to intimate, that the descent of Theseus was his entrance into the
Eleusinian mysteries. Which entrance, as we shall see hereafter, was a
fraudulent intrusion.
Both Euripides and Aristophanes seem to confirm our interpreta
tion of these descents into hell. Euripides, in his Hercules furens,
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 145

brings the hero, just come from hell, to succor his family,
and destroy
the tyrant Lycus. Juno, ,in revenge, persecutes him with the furies ;

and he, in his transport, kills his wife and children, whom he mistakes
for his enemies. When he comes to himself, he is comforted by his
friend Theseus; who would excuse his excesses by the criminal
examples of the gods : a consideration, which, as I have observed above^

greatly encouraged the people in their irregularities; and was therefore

obviated in the mysteries, by the detection of the vulgar errors of poly,
theism. Now Euripides seems plainly enough to have told us what
he thought of the fabulous descents into hell, by making Hercules reply,
like one just come from the celebration of the mysteries, and entrusted
" "
with the aporreta. The
examples," says he, which you bring of the
gods, are nothing to the purpose. I cannot think them guilty of the

crimes imputed to them. -I cannot apprehend, how one god can be the
sovereign of another god. A
god, who is truly so, stands in need of no
one. Reject we then these idle fables, which the poets teach concerning
them." A
secret, which we must suppose, Theseus had not yet
learnt.
The comic poet, in his Frogs, tells us as plainly what he too under-
stood to be the ancient heroes' descent into hell, by the equipage, which
he gives to Bacchus, when he brings him in, inquiring the way of
Hercules. It was the custom, at the celebration of the Eleusinian mys-
we are told by the scholiast on the
teries, as place, to have what
was wanted in those rites, carried upon asses. Hence the proverb,
Asinus portat mysleria : accordingly the poet introduces Bacchus, fol-
lowed by his buffoon servant, Xanthius, bearing a bundle in like man-
ner, and riding on an ass. And, lest the meaning of this should be
mistaken, Xanthius, on Hercules's telling Bacchus, that the inhabitants
of Elysium were initiated,
puts in, and says, "And I am the ass carry-
ing mysteries." This was so broad a hint, that it seems to have
awakened the old scholiast ; who, when he comes to that place, where
the chorus of the initiated* appears, tells us, we are not to understand
this scene as really
lying in the Elysian fields, but in the Eleusinian
mysteries.
Here then, as was the case in many other of the ancient fables, the
pomp of expression
betrayed willing posterity into the marvellous. But
* The resemblance between the practices of
masonry and those of the ancient mys-
s too Here we have the chorus of the initiated ; in
striking not to be noticed.
masonry, we observe the apprentice's, the fellow craft's, and the master mason' chorus
or son? that is, songs
j
adapted to each degree. Edit.
19
146 A DISSERTATION O*

why need we wonder the genius of more ancient times, which

at this in

delighted to tell the commonest things

in a highly figurative manner,

when a writer of so late an age as Apuleius, either in imitation of anti-

quity, or perhaps in compliance to
the received phraseology of the mys-
"
teries, describes his initiation in the same manner. I approached to

the confines of death, and having trod on the threshold of Proserpine, I

returned from it, being carried through all the elements. At midnight
I saw the sun shining with a splended light ;
and I manifestly drew
near to the gods beneath, and the gods above, and proximately adored
them."
Eneas could not have described his night's journey to his com,
panions, after he had been let out of the ivory gate, in properer terms,
had it been indeed to be understood as a journey into hell.

Thus, we see, Virgil was obliged to have his hero initiated and ;

*.hat he had the authority of fabulous antiquity to call his initiation a

descent into hell. And surely he made use of his advantages with
great judgment ;
for such a fiction animates the relation, which, delivered

out of allegory, had been too cold and flat for epic poetry.
poem, under the name of Orpheus, entitled, A descent
"
Had an old
into hell" been now extant, it would, perhaps, have shown us, that no
more was meant than Orpheus's initiation; and that the idea of this
sixth book was taken from thence.
But further, it was customary for the poets of the Augustan age tQ
exercise themselves on the subject of the mysteries, as appears from
Cicero, who desires Atticus, then at Athens, and initiated, to send to
Chilius, a poet of eminence, an account of the Eleusinian mysteries in ;

order, as it would seem, to insert into some poem he was -then writing-
Tims it
appears, that both the ancient and modern poets afforded Virgil
a pattern for this famous episode.
Even Servius saw thus far into Virgil's design, as to say, that

many things were delivered according to the profound learning of the

Egyptian theology. And we have shown that the doctrines taught in

the mysteries, were invented by that people. But though I say this
was our poet's general design, ^1 would not be supposed to think he fol-
lowed no other guides. Several of the circumstances are borrowed
from Homer; and several of the philosophic notions from Plato some :

of which will be taken notice of, in their place.

The great manager in this affair is the sibyl; and, as a virgin, she
sustains two principal and distinct parts: that of the inspired priestess*
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 147

to pronounce the oracle ;

and that of hierophant, to conduct the initiated
through the whole celebration*
For as we have observed, the initiated had a guide or conductor*
called Hierophantes, Mystagogos, indifferently of either sex, who was
to instruct him in the preparatory ceremonies, and lead him through
and explain to him, all the shows and representations of the mysteries
Hence Magna Sacerdos, and Docta Comes, words
Virgil calls the sibyl
of equivalent signification. And as the female mystagogue, as well as
the male, was devoted to a single life, so was the Cumamn Sibyl, whom
he calls Casta Sibylla. Another reason why a priestess is given to
conduct him, is, because Proserpine presides in this whole affair. And
the name
of the priestess in the Eleusinian mysteries shows that she

properly belonged to Proserpine, though she was called the priestess o

Ceres. "
The ancients," says Porphyrius, " called the priestesses of
Ceres, Melissai, (bees,) as being the ministers or hierophants of the sub-
terraneous goddess and Proserpine herself, Melitodes.
;

It was for this reason that these female hierophants were called
Melissai, as is well observed by the Schol. on Pind. in Pyth. the bee

being, among the ancients, the symbol of chastity.^

Quod nee concubitu indulgent, nee corpora segnes
In Venerem solvunt.
The first instruction the priestess gives Eneas, is to search for the

golden bough, sacred to Proserpine.

Under this branch is concealed the wreath of myrtle, with which the
initiated were crowned, at the celebration of the mysteries (Schol. Aris-
toph. Ranis.)
The golden bough is said to be sacred to Proserpine, and so wears
told was the myrtle ; Proserpine only is mentioned all the
way ; partly,
because the initiation is described as an actual descent into hell ;
but
principally, because, when the rites of the mysteries were performed,
Ceres and Proserpine were equally invoked but when the shows were
;

represented, then Proserpine alone presided now this book is a repre-

:

sentation of the shows of the mysteries. The quality of this golden

bough, with its lento vimine,
admirably describes the tender branches 6f
myrtle. But the reader may ask, why is this myrtle-branch represented
'

to be of gold ? not
merely for the sake of the marvellous, he may be
*This remark can apply only to the shows and
representations of the lesser myste-
ries at the conclusion of which the office of female
;
hierophant ends, if we can judge by
the duty imposed upon the sibyl by Virgil, as will appear further on. Edit.
t The bee, or rather
bee-hive, among the masonic symbols, is considered an emblem
of industry: for which there is probably some authority in antiquity. Edit,
148 A DISSERTATION O^

assured. A golden bough Avas literally part of the sacred equipage in

the shows of the mysteries. For, the branch which was sometimes
wreathed into a crown, and worn on the head, was, at other times, car-
ried in the hand. Clemens Alexanclrinus tells us, from Dionysius Thrax
the grammarian, that it was an Egyptian custom to hold a branch in
the act of adoration. And of what kind these branches were, Apuleius
tells us, in his description of a procession of the initiated in the mys-
teries of Isis :
"
A third advanced bearing a palm branch of thin guilt

leaves, and also the Mecurial Caduceus." The golden branch, then,
and the caduceus were related. And accordingly Virgil makes the
former do the usual office of the. latter, in affording a free passage into
the regions of the dead. Again, Apuleius, describing the fifth person
in the procession, says, " A
fifth (bearing) a golden van full of golden

boughs." golden bough, we see, was an important imple-

So that a

ment, and of a very complicated intention in the shows of the mysteries.

Eneas having now possessed himself of the golden bough, a pass-
port as necessary to his descent as a myrtle crown to initiation.
He is then led to the opening of the descent :

"
Here stood a cave profound and hideous, with a wide yawning
mouth, stony, fenced by a black lake and gloomy woods."
And his reception is thus described :

"
The ground beneath their feet began to rumble, the mountain tops
to quake, and dogs were seen to howl through the shade of the woods
at the approach of the goddess."
How this to the fine description of the poet Claudia^
similar is all

where, professedly and without disguise, he speaks of the tremendous

entry into these mystic rites :

"
Now I see the shrines shake upon their tottering bases, and light-
nings, announcing the deity's approach, 'shed a vivid glare around-
Now a loud -warring is heard from the depths of the earth, and the
Cecropian temple re-echoes; and Eleusis raises her holy torches; the
snakes of Triptolemus hiss, and lift their scaly necks rubbed by their
curved yokes. So afar, the three-fold Hecate bursts forth." (De raptu
Proserpinae.)
Both these descriptions agree exactly with the relations of the
ancient Greek writers on this subject. Dion Crysostom, speaking of
initiation into the mysteries, gives us this general idea of it: "Just so it
is, as when one leads a Greek or barbarian to be initiated in a certain

mystic dome, excelling in beauty and magnificence;

where he sees
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 140

many mystic sights, and hears in the same manner a multitude of voices ;

where darkness and light alternately affect his senses and a thousand ;

other uncommon things present themselves before him.

" The ritual of initiation was read

aloud, and hymns icerc sung in honor of Ceres.
Soon after a hollow sound was heard, and the earth seemed to groan beneath our feet :

we heard thunder and perceived by the glare of the lightning, phantoms and specters
;

wandering in darkness, and filling the holy places with howlings that chilled us with
terror, arid groans that rent our hearts." (Travels of Anacharsis.)
" This
happy moment (de 1'autopsia) was introduced, says Dupuis, by frightful scenes,
by alternate fearand joy, by light and darkness, by the glimmerings of light, by the
terrible noise of thunder, which was imitated, and by the apparitions of specters, of

magical illusions, which struck the eyes and ears all at once." (See Moore's Epicurean \
De Pauw, in his Philosophical Dissertation on the Egyptian and Chinese, observes
"
Were it true, as some have pretended, that certain mysteries were celebrated in apart-
ments of the labyrinth, it would not have been difficult to produce noise there as violent
as thunder. Pliny assures us, that the re-percussion of the air in that edifice, merely on
opening the doors, which probably acting as suckers caused others to shut. According to
the common report thunder was imitated in Greece, by rolling stones in vessels of cop-
per. The initiated were to be terrified, and this was done effectually in the mysteries of
Mithra." (Vol. 1. p. 305.)
If Virgil copied solely from initiations in the Eleusinian mysteries, the temples of
Ceres would seem to have been constructed on a plan similar to that of the Egyptian

labyrinth ; for in the sixth book of the Eneid, v. 126, arc the following lines :

Now, with a furious blast, the hundred doors

Ope of themselves; a rushing wirlwind roars
Within the cave, and Sibyl's voice restores.
Similar delusions are practised in royal arch masonry, where tlninder is imitated by
rolling cannon balls, etc.

The poet next relates the fanatic agitation of the mystagogue, on this
occasion.
" O procul, este, profani, etc.
Procul, Hence, far hence, O ye profane,
exclaims the prophetess, and begone from all the grove.* This said,
she furiously plunged into the open cave."
So again, Claudian, where he counterfeits, in his own person, the
raptures and astonishment of the initiated, and throws himself, as it were,
like the sibyl, in the middle of the scene.
"
Away, ye profane, now fury has expelled human feelings from
my breast." The affectation of fury madness, as we are told by
or
Strabo, (lib. x.) was an inseparable circumstance of the mysteries.
The procul, O procul este, profani of the sibyl, is a literal transla-

* When
about to open a chapter of royal arch masons, the high priest says, " If there
be any person present, who is not a royal arch mason, he is requested to retire." Ber-
nard. Edit.
150 A DISSERTATION ON

tion of the formula used by the mystagogue, at the opening of the mys-
teries :

Ekas, ekas este, bebeloi.

But now the poet, intending to accompany his he^o through all the
mysterious rites of his initiation, and conscious of the imputed impiety
in bringing them out to open day, stops short in his narration, and breaks
out into this solemn apology.
Dii, quibus in imperium est animarum, etc.
" whom
Ye goes, tothe empire of ghosts belongs, and ye silent
shades, and Chaos, and Phlegethon, places where silence reigns around
in the realms of night permit me to utter the secrets I have heard
!
;

may have your divine permission to disclose things buried in deep

I

earth and darkness."

Claudian, who, as we have observed, professes openly to treat of the
Eleusinian mysteries, at a time when they were in little veneration yet, :

in compliance to old custom, excuses his undertaking in the same maner :

Dii, quibus in numerum, etc.

Had
the revealing the mysteries been as penal at Rome, as it was in
Greece, Virgil had never ventured on this part of his poem. But yet
it was esteemed impious.
He therefore does it
covertly ;
and makes this apology to such as
saw into his meaning.
The now enter on their journey
hero and his guide :

"
They advanced under the solitary night through the shade, and
through the desolate halls and empty realms of Pluto; their progress
resembling a journey in woods by the precarious glimmering moon
under a faint malignant light, when Jupiter hath wrapped up the heavens
in shade, and sable night hath stripped objects of color."
This description will receive much light from a passage in Lucian's
dialogue of the tyrant. As a company made up of every condition of
life, are voyaging together to the other world, Mycillus breaks
"
out, and says Bless us how dark it is where is the fair Megillus ?
: ! !

who can tell in this situation, whether Simmiche or Phryna be the

handsomer ? every thing is alike, and of the same color; there is no
room for rivalling of beauties. My old cloak, which but now presented
to your eyes so irregular a figure, is become as honorable a garb as his

majesty's purple. They are, indeed, both vanished,* and retired

* The
original has a peculiar elegance. Haphane gar ampho, etc. alludes to the ancient
Greek notions concerning the first matter, which they called aphanes, invisible, as
being without the qualities of form and color. The investing matter with these qualities,
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 151

together under the same cover. But my friend, the Cynic, where are
'

you ? give your me

hand you are initiated in the Eleusinian mys-
:

teries. Tell me now, do you not think this very like the blind march they
make there ? Oh extremely : and see, here comes one of the Furies as I
guess by her equipage ; her torch, and her terrible looks"
The Sibyl, on their approach to the mouth of the cave, had advised
Eneas to call up all his courage, as being to undergo the serverest
trials.
"
Do you, Eneas, boldly inarch forward, and snatch your sword
from its sheath now is the time for fortitude, now for firmness of reso-
;

lution."
These were of two sorts the encountering real labors and
trials :

difficulties and the being exposed to imaginary and false terrors.

;

Tkis latter was submitted to by all the initiated in general; the other
was reserved for chiefs and leaders. On which account, Virgil
describes them both in their order as they were both
: to be undergone
by his hero. The first in these words,
"
Before the very courts and in the opening jaws of hell, grief and
tormenting cares have fixed their couches; and pale diseases, repining
age, fear, and famine, forms terrible to view, (terribiles visuformse) and
death and toil ;
then sleep that is akin to death, and criminal joys of
the mindand in the opposite threshold murderous war, the iron bed
;

chambers of the furies, and frantic discord."

To understand the force of this description, it will be necessary to
transcribe the account the ancients have left us of the
probationary
trials in the mysteries of Mithras, whose participation was more par-
ticularly aspired to, by chiefs and leaders of armies whence those ;

initiated were commonly called the soldiers of Mithras. " No one,"

"
says Nonnus, could be initiated into these mysteries till he had passed

gradually through the probationary labors, by which he was to acquire

a certain apathe and sanctity. There were eighty degrees of these
labors, from less to greater and when the aspirant has gone through
;

them all, he is initiated. These labors are, to pass through fire, to

endure cold, hunger, and thirst, to undergo much journeyings ; and,

in a word, every; toil of this nature."

was the production of bodies, the ta Phainomena: their dissolution, a return to a state
of invisibility.eis Ha'ihanes chorei ta dialuomena, as the pretended Merc.
Trisma?, has it, cap. xi. Matter, in this state of invisibility, was, by the earlier Greeks,
called Hades. Afterwards, the state itself was so called ; and at length it came to sig-
nify the abode of departed' spirits hence some of the Orphic odes, which were sung in
:

the mysteries, bore the title of e eis Adoy Katabasis, a descent into the regions of the
dead, a little equivalent to Teaetai and Hieros Logos.
152 A DISSERTATION ON

Theyexercised the candidates, says Dupuis, in his Recherches sur les Initiations,
threw them into it,
many days, to cross by swimming, a large.extent of water ; they
and it was with great difficulty that they extricated themselves. They applied a sword
and fire to their bodies made them pass over flames. The aspirants were often
:
they
in considerable danger, and Pythagoras, we are told, nearly lost his life in the trials.

In tracing the early connections of spectacles with the ceremonies ofreligion, Voltaire
" The
truly grand tragedies, the imposing and terrible representations, were
the
says,
sacred mysteries, which were celebrated in the greatest temples in the world, in pre-
sence of the initiated only ; it was there that the habits, the decorations, the machinery
were proper to the subject, and the subject was the present and future life." Ibid.
" The
Volney, shows the origin of these ceremonies. Egyptians, says Porphery,
employ every year a talisman in remembrance of the world at the summer solstice, ;

they mark their houses, flocks, and trees with red, supposing that on that day the whole
world had been set on fire. It was also at the same period that they celebrated the

pyrrhic or fire dance." And this illustrates the origin of purification by fire and water,
for having denominated the tropic of cancer, gate of heaven and of heat or celestia
fire,and that of Capricorn, gate of deluge or of water, it was imagined that the spirits
or souls who passed through these gates in their way to and from heaven, were scorched
or bathed hence the baptism of Mithra, and the passage through the flames, observed
;

throughout the east long before Moses. Ruins, p. 238.

in the third and royal
Ancient masonry has slightly imitated these trials, particularly
arch degrees. The Druids who were, perhaps, fearful that by carrying
established it,

the joke too far, their practices might come to the knowledge of the government,
which would probably have led to the destruction of the order. For, form en, whose
professed object was merely to teach the mechanical art of masonry, to be engaged in
the performance of such extravagances as were practised in the ancient mysteries, would
certainly have alarmed even the initiated themselves a great portion of whom, who were
;

carried no farther than the third degree, doubtless retained their attachment to the
Christian religion. They knew not what was meant by the ceremonies ; they were
pleased, however, with the shows.
But the inventors of modern degrees of the order, without any regard to religion,
keeping, however, for the most part, within the pale of Christianity, have indulged their
imaginations to an unbounded extent. They could have been influenced by no other
motives than the pleasure of exercising their wit in experiments upon human credulity-
following specimens will show that the ancient models have served as the
The
ground work upon which the new superstructure has been reared ; which, by the by,
already extends fifty stories above the old fabric.
In the degree, called Chevalier de 1' Orient, or knight of the East, the master says
to the junior general, cause Zerubbabel to undergo the seventy trials, which I reduce to

three, namely, first that of the body ; second,' that of his courage', third, that of his
mind. After which, perhaps, he may merit the favor which he demands. (Bernard.)
The
following .is taken from the Abbe Barruel, but whose book, being replete,
with falsehoods against masonry, renders the account justly entitled to suspicion. It
relates to initiations in the degree of Knight of Kadosh, or as (he says) the regenerated
Man."
" that there is no machinery,
Adepts have told me,
that, no physical art is spared ;

specters, terrors, which are not employed, to try the constancy of the candidate.
etc.

We are told by Mr. Monjoy, that the duke of Orleans was obliged to ascend, and then
throw himself off a ladder. A deep cave, or rather precipice, whence a narrow tower
rises to the summit of the lodge, having no avenue to it but by subterraneous passage*
 THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 155

is abandoned to himself, tied hand

replete with horror, is the place where the candidate
and foot. In this situation he finds himself raised from the ground Jfey machines making
the most frightful noise. He slowly ascends this dark vault, and then suddenly falls,
as if he were not supported by any thing. Thus mounting and falling alternately
he must carefully avoid showing any sign of fear."
Perhaps, on account of the high rank of the duke of Orleans, he was thought enti-
and trials than common men. Bernard gives this degree, and,
tled to greater perils

although a ladder is required to be ascended, and the candidate is prohibited to return

the same way, yet no such hazards as here related, are spoken of.
The description of the ceremonies in the degree of kniglda of the White Eagle or

Pelican, aa reported to Carlile, exceeds, in terrors and awfulness, even Barruel's

account of those in the knight of Kadosh. It must have been got up by persons inti-

mately acquainted with the practices of the holy Inquisition, particularly in regard to
Auto-dajee. I will give a short extract from it.

Second Point of Reception.

The apartment for the preparation, and for this reception, is made aa terifying as
possible, to resemble the torments of has seven chandeliers, with grey burning
hell. It

flambeaus, whose mouths represent death's heads with cross bones. The walls are
hung with tapestry, painted with flames and figures of the damned.
The door is opened by a brother appointed to guard it, to whdm each gives the report
of a perfect mason and the pass word Emanucl. The candidate is instructed to say,
11
1 am one of the brothers, who seek the word lost, by the aid of the new law, and the

three columns of masonry." At these words, the guard takes his sash and apron from
him, saying these marks of decoration are not humble enough to qualify him to find it,
and that he must pass through much more vigorous trials. He then covers him with
a black cloth, so that ho can see nothing, telling him that he must be conducted to the
darkest of places, from which the word must come forth triumphant, to the glory of
masonry, and that he must abandon all self-confidence. In this condition, he is con-
ducted into an apartment, in which there is a steep descent, up and down which ho is
directed to travel. After which, he is conducted to the door, and the black cloth ia
removed. Before him stand three figures dressed as devils. He is then ordered to
parade the room three times, in memory of the mysterious descent into the dark places,
which: lasted three days. He is then led to the door of the apartment, covered with the
black cloth, and told, that the horrors through which he has passed are as nothing, in
comparison with those through which he has to pass therefore he is cautioned to summon
:

all his fortitude, to meet the dreadful scene. After farther maneuvering of this sort, the
candidate is reported to the master, by the deacon, as a knight of the Eagle, who, after
penetrating the deepest places, hopes to procure the lost word, as the fruit of his research
and to become a perfect mason, etc.
Onturning to Bernard's description of this degree, I find he agrees in substance with
Carlile. He says, " On the hangings of the third apartment must be represented, irt
transparent paintings, all the horrors which we attach to the idea of hell ; such as
human figures and monsters with convulsed muscles, engulfed in flames, etc. etc. On
each side of the door is a human skeleton, with an arrow in his hand, etc."
Virgil has made the sufferings in the other world, preparatory to admission into
Elysium, as related by Anchises to Eneas, to correspond with the trials to which candir
dates were subjected in the mysteries. Bishop Warburton refers to that part of the
poem which describes the nature and end of purgatory, but does not quote the

20
154 AN EXAMINATION OF THE
"
Anchises, says : Even when with
the last beams of light their life IB gone, yet
not every ill, nor corporeal stains, are quite removed from the unhappy beings,
all

and it is absolutely unavoidable that many vicious habits, which have long grown
up with the soul, should be strangely confirmed and riveted therein. Therefore are
they afflicted with pains, and pay the penalties of their former ills. Some, hung on
high, are spread out to whiten in the empty winds in others the guilt not done away
:

is washed out in a vast watery abyss, or burned away in fire. We

have each of us a
Demon, from whom we suffer, till length of time, after the fixed period is elapsed,
hath done away the inherent stains, and hath left celestial reason pure from all irreg-

ular passions,and the soul that spark of heavenly Jire, in its original purity and bright-
ness, simple and unmixed then are we conveyed into Elysium, and we, who are the
:

happy few, possess the fields of bliss." (Davidson's Trans.)

The second sort of trial were the imaginary terrors of the myste-
ries ;
and
these, Virgil describes next. And to distinguish them from
the real labors preceding, he separates the two accounts by that fine
circumstance of the tree of dreams which introduces the latter.
" In the midst a
gloomy elm displays its boughs and aged arms ;

which seat vain dreams are said haunt, and under every leaf they
to

dwell. Besides many monstrous spectres of various forms in the ;

gate Centaurs, and double-formed Scylas, Briareus with his hundred

hands, and the enormous snake of Lerna hissing dreadful, and Chi-
mera armed with flames Gorgons, Harpes and the form of Geryon's
;

three-bodied ghost."
terribiles yisu formse are the same which Pletho, in the place
These
quoted above, calls allokota tas morphas phasmata, as seen in the

entrance of the mysteries and which Celsus tells us, were likewise
;

presented in the Bacchic rites.

But it is reasonable to suppose, that though these things had the
use here assigned to them, it was some circumstance in the recondite

physiology of the East, which preferred them to this station. are We

to considerthen this dark entrance into the mysteries, as a representa-
tion of the Chaos, thus characterised.
"
They advanced under the solitary night through the desolate halls
and empty realms of Pluto."
And amongst the several powers invoked by the poet, at his entrance
on this scene, Chaos is one.
Now a fragment of Berosus, preserved by George Syncellus
describes the ancient Chaos, according to the physiology of the Chal-
"
deans, in this manner There was a time, they say, when all was
:

water and daikness. And these gave birth and habitation to monstrous
 SIXTH BOOK OF VIRGIL' S ENEID. 155

animals of mixed forms and species. For there were men with
two wings, others with four, and some again with double faces.
Some had the horns of goats, some their legs, and some the legs of

horses; others had the hind-parts of horses, and the fore-parts of men,
like the hippocentaurs. There were bulls with human heads, dogs
with four bodies ending in fishes, horses with dogs heads and men, ;

and other creatures with the heads and bodies of horses, and with the
tails of fishes. And a number of animals, whose bodies were a mon-
strous compound of the dissimilar parts of beasts of various kinds.

Together with these, were fishes, reptiles, serpents, and other creatures,
which, by a reciprocal translation of the parts to one another, became
all portentously deformed the pictures and representations of which
:

were hung up in the temple of Belus. A woman ruled over the whole
whose name was Omoroca, in the Chaldee tongue Thalath, which sig-
nifies the sea and, in the course of connexion, the moon."
;
This
account seems to have been exactly copied in the mysteries, as appears
from the description of the poet.
The canine figures have a considerable station in this region of
"
monsters : And he tells us, And
dogs were seen to howl through
the shade of the woods," which Pletho explains in his scholia on the
"
magic oracles of Zoroaster. It is the custom, in the celebration of

the mysteries, to present before many of the initiated, phantasms of a

canine figure, and other monstrous shapes and appearances."
The woman, whose name coincides with that of the moon, was the
Hecate of the Greeks, who is invoked by Eneas on this occasion.
"
By mistic sounds invoking Hecate, powerful both in heaven and
hell." Hence terrifying visions were called Hecatea.
The ancients called Hecate, diva triformis. And Scaliger observes
that the word thalath, which Syncellus, or Berosus, says, was equiva-
lent to the moon, signifies tria.
"
And now we soon find the hero in a fright, Here Eneas, discon-
certed with sudden fear, grasps his sword, and presents the naked point
to each approaching shade."

With these affections the ancients represent the initiated as posses-

sed on his firstentrance into these holy rites. " Entering now into the

mystic dome (says Themistius) he is filled with horror and amazement.

He is seized with solicitude, and a total perplexity he is unable to
;

move a step forward, and at a loss to find the entrance to that road
which is to lead him
the place he aspires to
to till the prophet or
conductor, laying open the vestibule of the temple" To the same pur-
156 AN EXAMINATION OF THE
"
pose Proclus ;
As in the most holy mysteries, before the scene of the

mystic visions, there is a terror infused over the minds of the initiated,

so," etc.
The now to the banks of Cocytus. Eneas is sur-
adventurers come

prized crowd
at the of ghosts which hover round it, and appear impa-
tient for a passage. His guide tells him they are those who havQ not
had the rites of sepulture performed to their manes, and so are doomed
to wander up and down for a hundred years, before they be permitted to

cross the river.

We are not to think this old notion took
its rise from the vulgar super-

stition. It was one of

the wisest contrivances of ancient politics and ;

came originally from Egypt, the fountain-head of legislation. Those

profound masters of wisdom, in projecting for the common good, found
nothing would more contribute to the safety of their fellow citizens than
the public and solemn interment of the dead as without this provision,
;

private murders might be easily and securely committed. They there-

fore introduced the custom of pompous funeral rites ; and, as Herodo-
tus and Diodorus tell us, were of
people the most circumstantially
all

ceremonious in the observance of them. To secure these by the force

of religion, as well as civil custom, they taught, that the deceased could
not retire to a place of rest, till they were performed. The notion spread
so wide, and fixed its roots so deep that the substance of the supersti-
tion remains, even to this day, in most civilized countries. By so effec-
tual a method did the legislature gain its end, the of the citizen.
security
Mr. Bayle cries out, " What injustice is this was it the fault of !

these souls, that their bodies were not interred ?" But not knowing the
origin of this opinion, nor seeing its use, he ascribes that to the blind-
ness of religion, which was the issue of wise policy.
The next thing observable is the ferryman, Charon and he, the ;

learned well know, was a substantial Egyptian and, as an ingenious

;

writer says, fairly existing in this world. (BlackwtlV s life of Homer.)

The case was plainly thus the Egyptians,, like the rest of mankind,
;

in their descriptions of the other world, used to copy from something

they were well acquainted with in this. In their funeral rites, which,
as we observed, was a matter of greater moment with them than with

any other people, they used to carry their dead over the Nile, and
through the marsh of Acherusia, and there put them into subterrane-
ous caverns the ferryman employed in this business being, in their
;

language, called Charon. Now in their mysteries, the description of

the passage into the other world was borrowed, as was natural, from
 SIXTH BOOK OF VIRGIL/6 ENEID. 157

the circumstances of their funeral rites. And it might be easily proved,

if were occasion, that they, themselves transferred these realities
there
into the mythos, and not the Greeks, as later writers generally imagine.
Eneas having crossed the river, and come into the proper regions
"
of the dead, the apparition that occurs is the dog
first Cerberus Huge ;

Cerberus makes those realms resound with barking from his triple jaws,

stretched at his enormous length in a den that fronts the gate."

of the mysteries, which Pletho
This is plainly one of the phantoms
tells above, was in the shape of a dog kunode tina. And in the fable
of Hercules's descent into hell, which, we have shown, signifiedno
more than his initiation into the mysteries, it is said to have been,
amongst other things, for fetching up the dog Cerberus.
The prophetess, to appease his rage, gives him a medicated cake,
" him a soporific cake of
which casts him into a slumber ;
to
Flings
honey and medicated grains" (medicatis frugibus.)
In the mysteries of Trophonius (who was said to be nursed by
Ceres, that is to derive his rites from the Eleusinian,) the initiated car-
ried the same fort of medicated cakes to appease the serpents he met

with in his passage. Tertullian, who gives all mysteries to the devil,
and makes him the author of what is done there, mentions the offering
up of these cakes, celebrat et panis oblationem. This in question was
of poppy-seed, made up with honey ;
and so I understand medicatis
frugibus, here, on the authority of the poet himself, who, in the fourth
book, makes the priestess of Venus prepare the same treat for the dra-
gon who guarded the Hesperian fruit.
But without doubt, the images, which the juice of poppy presents to
the fancy, was one reason why this drug had a place in the ceremonial
of the shows not improbably, it was given to some at least of the ini-
;

tiated, to aid the impression of those mystic visions which passed before
them.* For that somethingwas done, that is, giving medica-
like this

ted drugs to the aspirants, we are

informed by Plutarch who speaks of ;

a shrub called Leucophyllus used in the celebration of the mysteries

of Hecate, which drives men into a kind of frenzy, and makes them
confess all the wickedness they had done or intended. And confession
was one necessary preparative for initiation.!

* This practice obtains in a modern degree of masonry, denominated Le Petit

Architect. A potion is given to the candidate, which, he is told is a part of the heart
of master Hlram preserved ever since his assassination ; which every faithful mason
}

may receive, but that it cannot remain in the body of one who is perjured. After fhe
candidate has swallowed the dose, the master thus addresses him, brother, one
thing
you came here to learn is, that you ought never to refuse to confess your faults ; obst^
nacy ought to be banished from the heart of every good mason. Edit.
t What were called the secret ceremonies of the
gods, says Fontenelle, were withe in
 158 AN i'X AM I NATION OF THE

The regions, according to Virgil's geography, are divided into

three parts, Purgatory, Tartarus, and Elysium.
The mysteries divided them in the same manner. So Plato, where
he speaks of what was taught in the mysteries, talks of souls sticking
fast inmire and filth, and remaining in darkness, till a long series of
years had purged and purified them and Celsus, in Origen, says, that ;

the mysteries taught the doctrine of eternal punishments.

Of all the three states this of Tartarus, only was eternal. There
was, indeed, another, in the ancient pagan theology, which had the same
relation to Elysium, that Tartarus had to Purgatory, the extreme of

reward, as Tartarus of punishment. But then this state was not in the
infernal regions, but in Heaven. Neither was it the lot of common human-
ity,
but reserved for heroes and daemons ; Beings, of an order superior
tomen, such as Hercules, Bacchus, etc. who became Gods on their
admission into that state, where the eternity was in consequence of
their deification.
And here it is to our purpose to observe, that the virtues and vices,
which stock these three divisions, with inha.bitants, are such as more
immediately affect society. A plain proof that the poet followed the
views of the legislator, the institutor of the mysteries.

Purgatory, the first division, is inhabited by suicides, extravagant

lovers, and ambitious warriors and in a word, by all those who had
:

indulged the violence of the passions which made them rather miser- ;

able than wicked. It is remarkable that amongst these we find one of

"
the initiated :
Polybetes devoted to Ceres." This was agreeable to

the public doctrine of the mysteries, which taught that initiation with
virtue procured men great advantages over others, in a future state ;

but that without virtue, it was of no service.

Of all these disorders, the poet hath more distinctly marked out the

misery of suicide.

doubt the best artifices the priests could invent to keep people in the dark ; and yet
they could not so well hide the juggle, but that the cheat would be suspected by many
persons and therefore they contrived among themselves to establish certain mysteries
:

which should engage those who were initiated into them to an inviolable secrecy. Those
who were initiated also gave further security for their discretion ; for they were obliged
to make a confession to their priests of all the most private actions of their lives ; so
that by this means they became slaves to their priests, that their own secrets might be
kept.
It was upon this sort of confession that a Lacedemonian, who was going to be ini-
tiated into the mysteries of Samothrace, spoke roundly thus to the priest; if I have
committed any crimes, surely the Gods are not ignorant of them.
Another answered almost after the same manner ; is to you or to God we ought to
confess our crimes ? It is to God, says the priest. Well then retire thou, answered
the
Lacedemonian, and I will confess them to God. These Lacedemonians were not very
full of the spirit of devotion. (Hist, of Oracles, p. 114, London, 1608). Edit.
 SIXTH BOOK OF VIRGIL'S ENEID. 159

close to the mysteries which not only forbade sui-

Here he keeps ;

"
cide, buttaught on what account it was criminal. That which is said
in the mysteries (says Plato) concerning these matters of man's
being
placed in a certain watch or station, which it is unlawful to fly from, or
forsake, is a profound doctrine, and not easily fathomed." (Phsed. p.
62. Ser. ed. torn. 1.)
Hitherto all But what must we say to the poet's putting
goes well.
new-born infants, and men
falsely condemned into his purgatory ? For
though the faith and inquisition of modern Rome send many of both
sorts into a place of punishment, yet the genius of ancient paganism
had a gentler aspect. It is, indeed, difficult to tell what these inmates
have to do here. Let us consider the case of the infants and if we ;

find itcan only be cleared up by the general view of things here offered,
this will be considered as another argument for the truth of our inter-

pretation.
" Forthwith are heard and weeping ghosts of
voices, loud wailings,
infants, mthe first opening of the gate whom, bereaved
: of sweet life out
of the course of nature, and snatched from the breast, in a black unjoy-
ous day cut off, and buried in an untimely grave."
These appear to have been the cries and lamentings that, Proclus
tells us, were heard in the mysteries. So that we only want to know
the original of so extraordinary a circumstance. Which, I take, to
have been just such another provision of the lawgiver for the security
of infancy, as that about funeral rites was for the adult. For nothing
could more engage parents in the care and preservation of their young,
than so terrible a doctrine.Nor are we to imagine, that their natural
fondness needed no inforcement, or support for that most degenerate
;

and horrid practice among the ancients, of exposing infants, was univer-
sal ;* and had almost erased morality and instinct. St. Paul seems to have
had this in his eye, when he accused the pagan world of being without
natural affection. It needed therefore the strongest and severest check ;

and I am well persuaded it occasioned this counterplot of the magis-

trate, in order to give instinct fair play, and call back banished

* We may well judgeit to be so, when we find it

amongst the Chinese (see M. Polo
lib. cap. 26.) and the Arabians, the two people least corrupted by foreign manners,
ii.

and the vicious customs of more civilized nations. The Arabians, particularly, living
much in a state of nature, where men's wants are few, and consequently where there
is small temptation to this unnatural crime
yet were become so prone to it, that their
3

lawgiver Mahomet found it necessary to exact an oath of the Arabian women, not to
destroy their children. The form of this oath is given us by Gagnier, in his notes on
Abel-feda's Life of Mahomet, and it is in these words ; " You will associate
nothing
with God; nor indulge
anger ; nor destroy your children; nor be disobedient to the
Apostle of God, in that which is just."
160 AN EXAMINATION OF THE

nature. Nothing, indeed, could be more worthy of his care for :

the destruction of children, as Pericles finely observed of youth, is

cutting off the spring from the year.

lilce Accordingly we are told by
Diodorus, that the Egyptians had a law against this unnatural practice,
which law he numbers amongst the singularities of that people. " They
are obliged says he, to bring up all their children, in order to render the

country populous, this being esteemed the best means of making states
flourishing and happy." And Tacitus speaks of the prohibition as no
less singular amongst the Jews.
"
Here again Mr. Bayle is much scandalized : The first thing which
occurred, on the entrance into the other world, was
the station assigned
to infants, who cried and lamented without ceasing; and next to that, the
station of men unjustly condemned to death. Now what could be more
shocking or scandalous than the punishment of those little creatures,
who had yet committed no sin, or those persons whose innocence had
been oppressed by calumny?" The first difficulty is already cleared
up the second shall be considered by and by. But it is no wonder Mr.
:

Bayle could not digest this doctrine of the infants ; for I am much mis-

taken, did not stick with Plato himself; who, relating the Vision of
if it

Erus, the Pamphylian, concerning the distribution of rewards and

punishments in another life, when he comes to the condition of infants,
"
passes it over in in these words : But of children who died in their

infancy, he reported certain other things not worthy to be remembered.

Erus's account of what he saw in another world, was a summary of what
the Egyptians taught in their mysteries concerning that matter. And I
make uo doubt but the thing not worthy to be remembered, was the
doctrine of infants in purgatory: xvhich appears to have given Plato
much scandal, who did not, at that time at least, reflect upon its original
and use.
But now, as to the falsely condemned, we must seek another solu-
tion:
" Next to those are such as had been condemned to death by false
accusation. Nor yet were these seats assigned them without destina-
tion and appointment, or without the sentence of a judge. Minos, as
inquisitor,
shakes their urn he convokes the council of the silent
:

shades, and examins their lives and crimes."

This designment appears both iniquitous and absurd. The falsely

accused are not only in a place of punishment, but, being first delivered
under this single predicament, they are afterwards distinguished into two
sorts,; some as blameablc, others as innocent. To clear up this coir
 SIXTH BOOK OF VIRGIL's ENEID. 161

fusion, it will be necessary to transcribe an old story, told by Plato in

his " This law, concerning mortals, was enacted in the time of
Gorgias :

Saturn, and is
yet, and ever will be in force amongst the gods that he ;

who had and pious life, should at his death be carried into
lived a just
the islands of the blessed, and there possess all kinds of happiness,
untainted with the evils of mortality: but that he who had lived unjustly
and impiously, should be thrust into a place of punishment, the pirsoa
of divine justice, called Tartarus. Now the judges, with whom the
execution of this law was intrusted, were, in the time of Saturn, and
under the infancy of Jove's government, living men, sitting in judgment
on the living and passing sentence on them, upon the day of their
decease. This gave occasion to unjust judgments: on which account*
Pluto, to whom the care of the happy islands was committed,
and those
went and told him, that men came to them wrongfully judged,
to Jupiter,

both when acquitted and when condemned. To which the father of the
gods thus replied I will put a stop to this eviL These wrong judg-
:

ments are partly occasioned by the corporeal covering of the persons

judged;' for they are tried while living: now many have their corrupt
minds hid under a fair outside, adorned with birth and riches
and, ;

when they come to their trial, have witnesses

hand, to testify for their at

good life and conversation this perverts the process, and blinds the
;

eyes of justice. Besides, the judges themselves are encumbered with the
same corporeal covering and eyes and ears, and an impenetrable tegu-
:

ment of flesh, hinder the mind from a free exertion of its faculties. All
these, as well their own covering, as the covering of those they judge,
are bars and obstacles to right judgment. In the first place then, says
he, we are to provide that the fore-knowledge which they now have of
the day of death, be taken away and this shall be given in charge to
:

Prometheus and then provide, that they who come to j udgment be quite
naked : for from henceforth they shall not be tried, till they come into
the other world. And as they are to be thus stripped, it is but fit their
judges should await them there in the same condition that, ;
at the arrival

of every inhabitant, soul may look on soul, and all family relation, and
every worldly ornament being dropt and left
behind, righteous judgment
may at length take place. I, therefore, who foresaw all these things,
before you felt them, have taken care to constitute my own sons, the

judges two of them Minos and Rhadamanthus, are Asiatics the third,
:
;

Eacus, an European. These, when they die, shall have their tribunal
erected in the shades, just in that part of the highway, where the two
roads divide, the one leading to the happy islands, the other to Tartarus.
21
162 AN EXAMINATION OF THE

Rhadamanthus shall judge the Asiatics, and Eacus the Europeans but ;

toMinos I give the superior authority of hearing appeals, when any

thing obscure or difficult shall perplex the others' judgments that every :

one may have his abode assigned him with the utmost equity."
The matter now begins to clear up and we see plainly,
;
that the cir-

cumstance of the falsely condemned, alludes to this old fable so that by :

not mean,
falso damnati crimine mortis, if it be the true reading, Virgil did
as one would suppose, men condemned, but wrongfully judged,
falsely
whether but condemnation being oftenest the
to acquittal or conviction ;

sentence of justice, the greater part is put figuratively for the whole.
One difficulty remains and that, to confess the truth, hath arisen
;

rather from a mistake of Virgil, than of his reader. find these peo- We
ple yet unjudged, already fixed with other criminals in the assigned
district of purgatory. But they are misplaced, through an oversight of
the poet; which, had he lived to perfect the Eneid, he would probably
have corrected for the fable tells us they should be stationed on the
:

borders of the three divisions, in that part of the high road that divides
itself in two, which lead to Tartarus and Elysium, thus described by

the poet:
" This is the place where the path divides in two the right is that :

which leads to great Pluto's walls, by this our way to Elysium lies ;

but the left carries on the punishments of the wicked, and conveys
to cursed Tartarus.''
It only remains to consider the origin or moral of the fable ;
which,
I think, was this : it was an Egyptian custom, as we are told by Dio-
dorus Siculus, for judges on every man's life, at his interment; to
to sit

examine his past actions, and to condemn and acquit according to the
evidence before them. These judges were of the priesthood and so, it ;

the church of Rome, that their

isprobable, taught, like the priests of
decrees were ratified in the other world. Partiality arid corruption
would, in time, pervert their sentence ;
and
and favor prevail over
spite

justice. As this might scandalize the people, would be found necessary

it

to teach, that ihe sentence which influenced every one's final doom, was
reserred for a future judicature. However, the priest took care that all
should not go out of his hands; and when he could be no longer judge,
he contrived to find his account in turning evidence ; as may be seen
"
by the singular cast of this ancient inscription : I Sextus Anicius

pontiff* certify
that this man has lived honestly: may his soul rest in

peace." (Fabius Celsus Inscript. Antiq. lib. iii.)

Eneas, having passed this first division, comes now on the confines
 163

of Tartarus ; and is instructed in what relates to the crimes and punish-

ments of the inhabitants.
It is remarkable, that Eneas is led through the regions of Purga-
tory and Elysium but he only sees the sights of Tartarus at a distance,
;

and this could not be otherwise in the shows of the mysteries, for very
obvious reasons.

Among the criminals destined to eternal punishment, in this division,

are, those who had sinned so secretly as toescape the animadversion
of the magistrate.
And it was principally on account of such crimes that the legislator
enforced the doctrine of a future state of punishment.
The infringers of the duties of imperfect obligation, which civil
laws cannot reach : such as those without natural affection
to brothers,

duty or charity to the poor.*

to parents, protection to clients,

The invaders and violators of the holy mysteries, held out in the per-
son of Theseus, make the last class of offenders.
"
There sits, and to eternity shall sit, the unhappy Theseus ;
and
Phlegyas most wretched is a monitor to all, and with loud voice pro-
claims through the shade warned by my example, learn righteousness,
:

and not to contemn the gods."

The fable says, that Theseus and his friend Pirithous formed a
design to steal Proserpine from hell but being taken in the fact, Piri-
;

thous was thrown to the dog Cerberus, and Theseus kept in chains, till
he was delivered by Hercules : which without doubt means the death
of one, and the imprisonment of the other, for their clandestine intrusion
into the mysteries. We
have already offered several reasons, to show
Theseus into hell, was a violation of the mysteries
that the descent of :

to which we may add what the ancients tell us of the duration of his

imprisonment, which was four years the interim between the cele-;

brations of the greater mysteries.

But when Virgil comes to describe these shows, which were sup-
posed to be a true representation of what was done and suffered in hell,

Theseus is put among the damned, that being his station in the other
world.
"
This will remind the learned reader of a story
told by Livy. The
Athenians, says he, drew upon themselves a war with Philip, on a very
slight occasion and at a time when nothing remained of their ancient
;

fortune, but their high spirit. Two young Acarnanians, during the
* So the law of the Twelve Tables: Patronus si clienti fraudtm feccrit, sacer
tsto.
164 AN EXAMINATION OT THE

days of initiation, themselves uninitiated, and ignorant of all that related

to that secret worship, entered the temple of Ceres along with the crowd-
Their discourse soon betrayed them as making some absurd inquiries
;

into what they saw; so being brought before the president of the mys-

teries, although it was evident they had entered ignorantly and without

design, they were put to death, as guilty of a most abominable crime."

The office Theseus is put upon, of admonishing his hearers against
impiety, could not, sure, be discharged in these shows by any
one so
well,, as by him who represented the violator of them. But the critics,,

unconscious of any such design, considered the task the poet has
imposed on Theseus, of perpetually sounding in the ears of the damned,,
this admonition :

"Warned- by my example, learn righteousness, and not to contemns

n For though it was a sen-
the gods; a^a very impertinent employment.
tence of great truth and dignity, it was preached to very little purpose
amongst those, to whom there was no room for pardon or remission.
Even Scarronhath not neglected to urge this objection against it:*
and it must be owned, that, according to the common ideas of Eneas' s
descent into hell, the objection is not easily got over.
But, suppose Virgil to be here relating the admonitory maxims
delivered during the celebration of these mystic shaws, and nothing could
be more just or useful for thea the discourse was- addressed to the vast
:

multitude of living spectators. Nor is it a mere supposition that such

discourses made part of these representations. Aristides expressly says,
that in. no place were more
astonishing words pronounced or sung, than
in these mysteries; the reason, he tells us, was, that the sounds and the

sights might mutually assist each other in making an impression on;

the minds of the initiated. But, from a passage in Pindar, I conclude,,
that in these shows, from whence men took their ideas of the infernal
regions, it was customary for each offender as he passed by, in machi-
make an admonition " It is
nery, to against his own crime. reported,,
says, Pindar, that Ixion, by the decrees of the gods r while he is inces-

santly turning round his rapid wheel, calls out upon mortals to this
effect : that they should
be always at hand to repay a benefactor for
the kindness he had done them." Where the word Brotoi, living men,
seems plainly to show that the speech was at first made before men in
this world.

bonne & belle,

* Cette sentence est
Mais en Enfer de quoi sert-elle'{
 SIXTH BOOK OF VIRGIL's ENEID. J65

The poet closes his catalogue of the damned with these words :

Ausi omnes immane nefas, ausoque potiti.

For the ancients thought that an action was sanctified by the success ;

which they esteemed a mark of the favor and approbation of heaven.

As w as a very pernicious opinion, it was necessary to teach, that
this
r

the imperial villain who trampled on his country, and the baffled plot-
ter who expired on a gibbet, were equally the objects of divine ven-

geance.
Eneas has now passed through Tartarus ; and here end the lesser

mysteries.
The hero advances to the borders of Elysium, and here he under,

goes the lustration :

"
Eneas springs forward to the entry, sprinkles his body with fresh
water, and fixes the bough in the fronting portal."
"
Being now about to undergo the lustration, says Sopater, which
immediately precede initiation into the greater mysteries, they called me
happy."
Accordingly, Eneas now enters on the greater mysteries, and comes
to the abodes of the blessed :

"
They came at length to the regions of eternal joy, delightful green-
retreats, and blessed abodes in groves where happiness abounds. Here
the air they breathe is more free and enlarged, and clothes the fields with
radiant light here the happy inhabitants know their own sun and their
:

own stars."

These two so different scenes explain what Aristides meant, when

he called the shows ofthe Eleusinian mysteries, that most shocking, and
at the same time, most ravishing representation.

The initiated, who till now only bore the name of Mystai, are called
Epoptai, and this new vision, Autopsia. "The Autopsia, or the seeing
with their own eyes, says Psellus, is when he who is initiated beholds
the divine lights."
In these very circumstances Themistius describes the initiated, wher*
"
just entered upon this scene. It being thoroughly purified, he now
discloses to the initiated, a region all over illuminated, and shining withh
a divine splendor. This which was all over illuminated, and which-
the priest had thoroughly purified, was agalma, an image. The rea-
son of transferring what is said ofthe illumination of the image, to the
illumination of the region, is, because this image represented the appear-
ances ofthe divine Being, in one large, uniform, extensive light. This,
Jamblichus says, was without figure. To this image, the following lines-

in the oracles of Zoroaster allude :

 166 AN EXAMINATION OF THE
"
Invoke not the self-conspicuous image of nature, for thou must
not behold these things before thy body be purified by initiation." This

aulopton agalma was only a diffusive shining light, as the name partly
declares and the sight of this divine splendor was what the
;
mysteries
called autopsia.
The cloud and thick darkness are dispersed; and the mind emer-

ges, as it were, into day, full of light and chearfulness, as before, of dis-
consolate obscurity.
Pletho tells us with what these clouds were accompanied, namely,
thunder and lightning, and other meteoric appearances. He says, they
were symbols, but not of the nature of the deity and this was true; for :

the symbol of was the autopton agalma which followed: hence, as

that
we see above, it was without figure.
Let me observe, that the lines, " Here the air they breathe is more
free and enlarged, and clothes the fields with radient light here the :

inhabitants know their own sun, and their own stars," are in
happy
the very language of those who profess to tell us what they saw at
" At
their initiation into the greater mysteries. midnight I saw the
sun shining with a splendid light," says Apuleius on that occasion.

"
Dupuis, speaking of the mysteries, says, They discovered the origin of the soul,
its fall tothe earth through the spheres and the elements, and its return to the place of
its origin here was the most metaphysical part and which could not be understood by
:

the generality of the initiated, but of which they gave them the sight by figures and
allegorical specters." (See Moore's Epic.)
Thomas Taylor, a modern writer, and 1 believe still living, in a Dissertation on the
Eleusinian and Bacchic Mysteries, contends for the reality of the descent of the gods
through magical evocation ;
and he quotes the authority of ancient authors in proof of
the fact.
Mr. Taylor possesses great erudition has translated the commentaries of Proclus,,
;

and the works of Jamblichus and Apuleius is a thorough convert to the Platonic philo-
;

" In the
sophy, and an enthusiastic admirer of the rites of Geres and Bacchus compo- ;

sition of which he says we may discern the traces of exalted wisdom, and recondite

theology ; of a theology the most venerable for its antiquity, and the most admirable
for its excellence and reality.

Plato, says he, in the Phoedrus, thus describes the felicity of the virtuous soul prior
to its descent, in a beautiful allusion to the arcane vision of the mysteries :

" But it lawful to survey the most splendid beauty, when we obtained
was then
together with that blessed choir, this happy vision and contemplation. And we indeed
enjoyed this blessed spectacle together with Jupiter, but others, in conjunction with
some other god at the same time being initiated in those mysteries, which it is law-
;

most blessed of all mysteries. And these divine Orgies were celebrated
ful to call the

by us, while we possessed the proper integrity of our nature, and were freed from the
molestations of evil which awaited us in a succeeding period of time. Likewise in con-
sequence of this divine initiation, we became spectators of entire, simple, immoveable.
and blessed visions, resident in a pure light ; and were ourselves pure and immaculate
 167

and liberated from this surrounding vestment, which we denominate body, and to
which we are now bound like an oyster to its shell." Upon this beautiful passage Pro-
clus observes, in Theol. Plat. lib. 4. p. 193. "That initiation and inspection are sym-
bols of ineffable silence, and of union with mystical natures, through intelligible vis-
ions !"

Now, from all this, it may be inferred, that the most sublime part of epoptia or
inspection, consisted in beholding the gods themselves invested with a resplendent
light ; and that this was symbolical of those transporting visions, which the- virtuous
soul will constantly enjoy in a future state, and of which it is able to gain some ravish-

ing glimpses, even while connected with the cumbrous vestment of the body.
But that this was actually the case, is evident from the following unequivocal testi-
mony of Proclus in Plat. Repub. p. 380.
"In all initiations and mysteries, the gods exhibit many forms of themselves, and
appear in a variety of shapes and sometimes indeed, an unftgured light of themselves
;

is held forth to the view, sometimes this light is figured according to a human form,
and sometimes it proceeds into a different shape." This doctrine, too, of divine appear-
ances in the mysteries, is clearly confirmed by Plotinus, Ennead i. lib. 6. p. 55. and
Ennead 9. lib. .6 p. 700. And in short, that magical evocation formed a part of the
sacerdotal office in the mysteries, and that this was universally believed by all anti-
quity, long before the era of the latter Platonists, is plain from the testimony of Hippo-
deMorbo. Sacro. p. 86. For speaking of
crates, or at least Democritus, in his treatise
those who
attempt to cure this disease by magic, he observes :
"If they profess themselves able to draw down the moon, to obscure the sun, to
produce stormy and pleasant weather, as likewise showers of rain, and heats, and to
render the sea and the earth barren, and to accomplish every thing else of this kind,
whether they derive this knowledge from the mysteries, or from some other institution
or meditation, they appear to me to be impious, from the study of such concerns."
From all easy to see, how egregiously Dr. Warburton was mistaken, when
which it is
" that
in his Divine Legation, he asserts, the light beheld in the mysteries, was nothing
more than an illuminated image which the priests had thoroughly purified."
But he is likewise no less mistaken, in transferring the injunction given in one of the
magic oracles of Zoroaster, to the business of the Eleusinian mysteries, and in pervert-
ing the meaning of the Oracle's admonition. For thus the Oracle speaks :

"Invoke not the self conspicuous image of nature, for you must not behold these
things before your body has received the purification necessary to initiation." Upon
which he observes, " that the self conspicuous image was only a diffusive shining light,
as the name partly declares." But this is a piece of gross ignorance, from which he
might have been freed by an attentive perusal of Proclus on the Timaeus of Plato, for
in these truly divine commentaries we learn, "that the moon is the self conspicuous
image of fontal nature." In Tim. p. 260.
Theurgic magic is still adhered to by the church of Rome, and forms apart of the
sacerdotal office. By which means, it is believed, that the real presence of the Saviour
is manifested in the eucharist.
Masonry adopts the same principle. In the royal arch degree, the autopton agalma
is exhibited in an illuminated bush: the candidate for initiation is ordered to put off his
shoes, being told that the place where he stands is holy ground. In fact one of the
characters personates the deity, and announces his actual appearance.
The more we examine the pagan system of religion, the more shall we be convinced
that the rites and ceremonies of masonry, as well as those of the Catholic church, are
derived fiom that ancient institution.
168 AN EXAMINATION OF THE

Virgil, by leaving his master, and copying the amiable paintings of

Elysium, as they were represented in the mysteries, hath artfully avoided
a fault too justly objected to Homer, of giving so dark and joyless a
landscape of the fortunata nemora, as could raise no desire or appetite
for them his favorite hero, himself, who possessed them, telling
:

Ulisses, that he had rather be a day laborer above, than command in

the regions of the dead. Such a representation defeats the very intent
of the law giver, in propagating the doctrines of a future state.
Nay,
to mortify every excitement to noble actions, the Greek poet makes repu-
tation, fame, and glory, the great spur to virtue in the pagan system,
to be visionary and impertinent. On the contrary, Virgil, whose aim,
in this poem, was the good of society, makes the love of glory so
strong a passion in the other world, that the Sibyl's promise to Palinu-
rus, that his name should only be affixed to a promontory, rejoices his
shade even in the regions of the unhappy.
It was this ungracious description of Elysium, and the licentious
stories of the gods, both so pernicious to society, that made Plato ban-
ish Homer out of his republic.
But to return. The poet having described the climate of the happy
regions, speaks next of the amusement of its inhabitants.
'
Some exercise their limbs on the grassy plains, in sports contend, and wrestle on
1
the yellow sand.

Besides the obvious allusion in these lines to the philosophy of Plato

concerning the duration of the passions, it seems to have a more secret
one to what he had all the way in his eye, the Eleusinian Mysteries,
whose celebration was accompanied by the Grecian games. On which
account too, perhaps it was that, in the disposition of his work, his fifth
book is employed in the games, as a prelude to the descent in the
sixth.

The first place in these happy regions, is assigned to the lawgiv-

ers, and those who brought mankind from a state of nature into society.
At the head of these is Orpheus, the most renowned of the Euro-
pean lawgivers but better known under the character of poet for the
;
:

first laws being written in measure, to allure men to learn them, and

when learnt, to retain them, the fable would have it, that by the force of
harmony, Orpheus softened the savage inhabitants of Thrace.
But he has the first place because he was not only a legislator but
;

the bringer of the mysteries into that part of Europe.

The next is allotted to patriots, and those who died for the service
of their country.
 SIXTH BOOK OF VIRGII/S KNEID. 169

The third to virtuous and pious priests. For it was of principal

use to society, that religious men should lead holy lives ;
and that they
should teach nothing of the gods but what was agreeable to the divine
nature.
The last place is given to the inventors of arts mechanical and
liberal. The order is exact and beautiful. The first class is of those who
founded and lawgivers the second, of those who sup-
society, heroes :

ported it, patriots and holy priests and the third, of those who adorned
:

it, the inventors of the arts of life, and the recorders of worthy actions.

Virgil has all along closely followed the doctrine of the mysteriesi
which carefully taught that virtue only could entitle men to happiness ;

and that rites, ceremonies, lustrations, and sacrifices would not supply
the want of it.

Nor has he been less studious in copying their shows and repre-
sentations in which the figures of those heroes and heroines, who were
;

most celebrated in the writings of the ancient Greek authors, passed in

procession. (Aristid.)
But notwithstanding this entire conformity between the poet's scenea
and those represented the mysteries, something is still wanting to
in

complete the identification and that is, the famous secret of the mys-
:

teries, the unity of the godhead, of which so much hath been said above.

Had Virgil neglected to give us this characteristic mark, though, even

then, we could not but say, his intention was to represent an initiation;
yet we must have been forced to own he had not done it with the
utmost art. But he was too good a painter, to leave any thing ambigu-
ous ;
and hath therefore concluded his hero's initiation, as was the cus-
tom, with instructing him in the Aporreta, or the doctrine of the unity.
Till this was done, the initiated was not arrived to the highest stage of

perfection ;
nor, in the fullest sense, intitled to the appellation of Epoptes.
Musaus, therefore, who had been hierophant at Athens, takes the
place of the Sibyl, as it was the custom to have different guides in dif-
ferent parts of the celebration, and is made to conduct him to the recess
where his father's shade opens to him the hidden doctrine of perfection,
in these sublime words :

"First then, the divine spirit within sustains the heavens, the earth,
and watery plains, the moon's enlightened orb, and shining stars and ;

the eternal mind, defused through all the parts of nature, actuates the
whole stupendous frame and mingles with the vast body of the universe.
Thence proceed the race of men and beats, the vital principles of th

flying kind, and the monsters which the ocean breeds under its smooth
crystal plain,"
m
 170 AN EXAMINATION OF THE

This was no other lhan the doctrine of the old Egyptians, as we are
assured by Plato; who says they taugh that Jupiter was the spirit
which pervadeth all things.
We
have shown how easily the Greek philosophy corrupted this
principle into what is now called Spinozism. Here Virgil has pro-
ved his judgment to great advantage. Nothing was more abhorrent
from the mysteries, than Spinozism, as it overturned the doctrine of a
future state of rewards and punishments, which the mysteries so

carefully inculcated and yet the principle itself, of which Spinozism

;

was the abuse, was cherished there, as it was the consequence of the
doctrine of the unity, the grand secret of the mysteries. Virgil, there-
fore, delivers the principle, with great caution, and pure and free of the
abuse though he understood the nature of Spinozism, and in his fourth
;

Georgic, where he delivers it, appears to have been infected with it.

The doctrine of the unity of the godhead, here contended by the author to be taught
by Virgil, and as being the doctrine of the old Egyptians, must not be understood as
opposed to the belief in the tripUcity of the Supreme Being, an opinion universally held
by the ancient world. Different nations expressed this triplicity by various names, to
which they also assigned different attributes.
" The
philosophers of all nations (says Ramsey, in a Dissertation on the Theory and
Mythology of the Pagans) seem to have had some idea, more or less confused, of ihe
triplicity of the Supreme Unity. Plato speaks of the three forms of the Divinity, which
he calls Agathos, Logos, and Psyche ; the sovereign good, which is the principle of deily j
the intelligence, which drew the plan of the world and the energy, which execu.
;

ted it."

An erroneous assignment is here made, by Ramsey, of the attributes or powers of

the persons composing this trinity. Agathos, the sovereign good, is the intelligence
which drew the plan of the world Logos or Word is the energy which executed it and
; ;

Psyche, is but another name for Isis, indicating the productions of the earth, which gives
a finish and beauty to the whole creation. This is agreeable to the masonic trinity,
which is denominated Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty.

Fontenelle gives the following curious anecdote of a responce from the Oracle of
Serapis :

"Thulis, a king of Egypt, who, as is said, gave the name of TTiule to the isle now
called Iceland; his empire reaching thither was of large extent; arid, being puffed up
thus spake to it : Thou that art the god
'
with he went to the oracle of Serapis, and
pride,
of and who governest the course of the heavens, tell me the truth; was there ever,
fire,

or will there ever be, one so puissant as myself?' The oracle answered him thus :

First God, then the Word and Spirit, all united in one, whose power can never end.
1

Go hence immediately, O mortal whose life is always uncertain.' And Thulis at his
!

going thence, had his throat cut." (Suidas.) History Oracles, p. 9, London, 1688.
The Greek inscription on the great obelisk at Rome, says Chateaubrian, was to this
effect: "The Mighty God; Begotton of God; and the All-resplendent Apollo, the
Spirit." (See Knapp's Spirit. Mas. p. 102.)
The idea of the pagan according to Volney's opinion,
trinity, was founded on the
three modes of action of the sun, in the three seasons of the year. The sun thus char-
 171

"
acterized, Is, says he, no other than the three-eyed Jupiter, eye and sun being expres-
sed by the same word in most of the^ancient languages of Asia. This is the origin of all
the trinitary system subtilised by Pythagoras and Plato, and totally disfigured by their
interpreters." (Ruins, p. 159.)
Although innovations appear to have been introduced in the administration of the
rites of the lesser mysteries, in Greece and Rome, particularly in the latter, still it does

not appear that women, as our author supposes, were even admitted to participate in
the celebrations of the greater mysteries; much less to act as hierophants, to expound
what were called the sacred secrets therein contained. This would have been too great
a departure from the original, and, moreover, exposed the secrets to too great hazard.
"In Egypt the office of the priesthood is in every instance confined to the men there ;

are no priestesses in the service of male or female deities." (See Bedoe's Herodotus.)
And here it maybe worthy of remark, that the freemasons have adhered closely to their
prototype, by the total exclusion of females from their order.
Women and children, as we have seen, were freely admitted to the trifling showa
and representations of the lesser mysteries, and here, it seems, women sometimes took
the lead, and presided at the celebrations.
Virgil has made this distinction as pointed as possible, in the duties he assigns to
the Sibyl. When she arrives in eight of Elysium, where the greater mysteries com-
mence, her command ceases, and she resigns her office to Musaeus, She was an utter
stranger to the country, and applies to him for instruction. Eneas, while under her
guidance, could only view at a distance, like Moses upon Mount Pisgah, the happy
regions of the blessed :

The chief beheld their chariots/rom afar,

Their shining arms, and coursers trained to war.
Their lances fix'd in earth their steeds around,
Free from their harness, graze the flow'ry ground.
The love of horses which they had, alive,
And care of chariots, after death survive.
Some cheer eful souls were feasting on the plain;
Some did the song, and some the choir, maintain,
Beneath a laurel shade, where mighty Po
Mounts up to woods above, and hides his head below.
To these the Sibyl thus her speech address'd,
And first to him surrounded by the rest .

(Tow'ring his height, and ample was his breast)

"Say, happy souls! divine Musaeus! say,
Where lives Anchises, and where lies our way
To find the hero, for whose only sake
We sought the dark abodes, and cross'd the bitter lake T'
To this the sacred poet thus
reply'd :

"In no fix'd place the happy souls reside.

In groves we live, and lie on mossy beds,
By crystial streams, that murmer through the meads :

But pass yon easy hills, and thence descend ;

The path conducts you to your journey's end."

This said, he led them up the mountain's brow,
And shows them all the shining fields below;
They wind the hill, and thro' the blissful meadows go.
(Dryden's Trans.)

The mysteries did not teach the doctrine of the unity for mere spe-
culation ; but, as we said before, to obviate certain mischiefs of poly-
theism, and to support the believe of a providence. Now, as a future
state of rewards and
punishments did not quite remove the objection!
172 AN EXAMINATION OF TIIR

to its inequalities here, they added to it the doctrine of the metempsy.

ehosis, or the believe prior of a. state. (Vid Porph. de Abst. 1. iv.
sect. Cic Fragm. ex lib. de Philosophia.) And this, likewise
16. et

our poet has been careful to record. For after having revealed the
great secret of the unity, he goes on to speak of the metempsychosist
or transmigration, in this manner ;
"
All these souls whom you see, after they have rolled away a
thousand years, are summoned forth by the god, in a great body to the
river Lethe ; to the intent that, losing memory of the past, they may
reviset the upper regions, and again become willing to return into
bodies."
Andthence takes occasion to explain the nature and use of purga-

tory, which, in his hero's passage through that region, had not been
done this affords him too an opportunity for that noble episode, the
:

procession of the hero's posterity, which passes in review before him:

And with this the scene closes.
In attending the hero's progress through the three estates of the
dead, we have shown, from some ancient author, at almost every step,
the exact conformity of his adventures to those of the initiated in the

mysteries. We
shall now collect these scattered lights to a point;
which will, I am persuaded, throw such a lustre on this interpretation,
as to make the truth of
it irresistible. To this purpose, I shall have
nothing but
to do,
to transcribe a passage from an ancient writer, pre-
served by Stobaeus which professes to explain the exact conformity
;

between death, or a real descent to the infernal regions, and initiation,

where the representation of those regions was exhibited. His words
"
are these ; The mind is affected and agitated in death, just as it is in
initiation into the grand mysteries. And word answers to word as
well as thing to thing : for Teleytan is to die ;
and Teleisthai, to be
initiated, The
stage first is nothing but errors and uncertainties
;

laborious wanderings; a rude and fearful march through night and

darkness. And now arrived on the verge of death and initiation, every
thing wears a dreadful aspect: it is all horror, trembling, arid affright-
ment. But this scene once over, a miraculous and divine light displays
itself; and shining plains and flowery meadows open on all hands

before them. Here they are entertained with hymns, and dances,
with the sublime doctrines of sacred knowledge, and with reverend
and holy visions, And now become perfect and initiated, they are free
and no longer under restraints but crowned, and triumphant, they
;

walk up and dowri the regions of the blessed converse with pure and ;
 SIXTH BOOK OP VIRGIL'S ENEID. 173

holy men; and celebrate the sacred mysteries at pleasure."

The Son of Sirach, who was full of Grecian ideas, and hath embel-
lished his admirable work of Ecclesiasticus with a great deal of Gen-
hath plainly
tile learning-, alluded, though in few words, to these circum-
stances of initiation, where encouraging men to seek after wisdom, he

says: she will walk with him by crooked ways, and bring
"At first

fear and dread upon him, and torment him with her discipline, until
she may trust his soul, and try him by her laws. Then will she
return the straight way unto him, and comfort him, and show him her
xecrets." (Chap. iv. 17, 18.)

The conjecture of the author, that an allusion is here made to circumstances attend-
ing into the mysteries, is corroborated, or, I might say, confhmed by
initiations

masonry; for a known practice in the one renders it pretty certain that the same
existed in the other.
In the royal arch degree, after the candidates have taken the required oath, they are
told, that hey were now obligated and received as royal arch masons, but as this
degree was infinitely more important than any of the preceeding, it was necessary for
them (as before noticed) topass through many trials, and travel in rough and rugged
ways toprove their fidelity, before they could be entrusted with the more important
secrets of this degree. They are futher told, that though they could not discover ihe path
they were to travel, they were under the direction of a faithful guide, who would
"bringthe&Zind by a way they know not, and led them mpaths they had not known ;

who would make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight ; who would
"
do these things, and not forsake them. (Isaiah 42, v. 16.) Bernard.

The progress finished, and every thing over, Eneas and his guide
are let out again to the upper regions, through the ivory gate of
dreams. A circumstance borrowed from Homer, and very happily

applied for, as Euripides elegantly expresses

to this subject; it,
"
"
A dream
the lesser mysteries of death.
is

But, besides this of ivory, there was another of horn. Through

the fisrt issued fasle visions ; and through the latter, true.
Servius, with the spirit of a rank grammarian, who seldom
finds

any thing to stop at but a solecism in expression, says very readily,

"Vultautem intelligi, falsa esse omnia quae dixit. He would have

you understand by this, that all he has been saying is false and ground-
"
less. Other critics give the same solution. Ruaeus, one of the best,
"
may speak for them all ; When, therefore, Virgil sends Eneas forth
through the ivory gate, he clearly indicates that whatever he has
said in regard to the infernal the
regions, is to be reckoned among
fcble."
 '
174 AN EXAMINATION OF THE

This interpretation is strengthened by Virgil's being an Epicu-

rean and making the same conclusion in his second Georgic
;
t

"
Felix, qui potuit cognoscere causas,

Atque metus omnes inexorabile fatum

'
et

Subjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari !"

"
Happy is he who can know the causes of things, and tread under
"
foot all feur, inexorable fate, noise of greedy Acheron.
and the-

But Virgil wrote, not for the amusement of women and children
over a winter's fire, in the taste of the Milesian fables but for the use ;

of men and citizens to instruct them in the duties of humanity and

;

society. The purpose, therefore, of such a writer when he treats of

a future state, must be to make the doctrine interesting to his reader,
and useful
in civil life Virgil hath done the first, by bringing his
:

Hero through the most perilous achievement; and the second, by

to it

appropriating the rewards and punishments of that state to virtue and

to vice only.
The
truth is, the difficulty can never be gotten over, but by sup

posing the desent to signify an initiation into the mysteries. This will
unriddle the enigma, and restore the poet to himself. And if this was
Virgil's meaning, it is to be presumed, he would give some private
mark to ascertain it: for which no place was so proper as the conclu-
sion. He has, therefore, with a beauty of invention peculiar to him-
felf, made improvement on Homer's story of the two gates;
this fine

and imagining horn for true visions, and that of ivory for false,
that of
insinuates by the first the reality of another state and by the second, ;

the shadowy representations of it in the shows of the mysteries s o :

that, not the things objected to Eneas, but the scenes of them only,
were false ; as they lay not in hell but in the temple of Ceres.
But though the visions which issued from the ivory gate were unsub-
stantial, as being only representative ; yet I make no question, but the
ivory gate itself was real. It appears, indeed, to be no other than that
sumptuous door of the temple, through which the initiated came out,
when the celebration was over. This temple was of an immense big-
ness.*

* Ancient authors inform us that the festivals of Ceres sometimes

brought to Eleusis
thirty thousand of the initiated, without including those who came only from motives
of curiosity. These were not present at all the ceremonies. To the more secret, no
doubt, were only admitted the small number of novices who every year received the
last seal of initiation,and some of those who had received it long before.
Behind the temple, on the western side, is still to be seen a terrace, cut in the
rock itself, and raised eight or nine feet above the floor of the temple. Its length it
 175

And now, having occasionally, and by parts only, said so much of

these things, it will not be amiss, in conlusion to give one general and
concise idea of the whole. I suppose the substance of the celebration

to be a kind of drama of the history of Ceres, which afforded oppor-

tunity to represent the three particulars, about which the mysteries

were principally concerned. The rise and establishment of civil society.
The doctrine of a future state of rewards and punishments. The
error of polytheism, and the principle of the unity.
But here let it be observed, that the secrets of the mysteries were
unfolded both by words and actions : of which Aristides, quoted above,
"
gives the reason; Tfiat so the sounds and sights might mutually
"
assist each other in making an impression on the minds of the initiated.
The erroi of polytheism therefore was as well exposed by the dark
wanderings in the subterraneous passages through which the initiated

began his course, as by the information given him by the hiero-

phant and the truth of the unity as strongly illustrated by ths autop-
:

ton the self seen image, the diffusive shining light, as by the
agalma
hymn of Orpheus, or the speech of Anchises.
On the whole, if I be not greatly decieved, the view in which
I place thisfamous episode, not only clears up a number of difficulties
inexplicable on any other scheme; but likewise ennobles, and gives
a graceful finishing to the whole poem for now the episode is seen
;

to be an assential part of the main subject, which is the erection of, a

civil policy and a religion. For custom had made initiation into the

mysteries a necessary preparative to that arduous undertaking.

To conclude, the principles here assumed, in explaining this famous
poetical fiction, are, I presume, such
as give solidity, as well as light, to
what is deduced from them and are, perhaps, the only principles from
;

which any thing reasonable can be deduced in a piece of criticism of

this nature. For from what I have shown was taught and represented
in the mysteries, I infer that Eneas's descent into hell signifies an initia-
tion ; because of the exact conformity, in all circumstances, between

what Virgil relates of his hero's adventure, and what antiquity delivers

about 270 feet, and its breadth in some places 44. At the northern end is to be seen
the remains of a chapel, to go up into which there were several steps.
I conjecture that on this terrace was exhibited the scenery; that it was divided
lengthwise into three great galleries, the two first of which represented the region of
trial, and that of the infernal shades; and the third, covered with earth, presented
proves and meadows to the view of the initiated, who from thence went up into the
chapel, where their eyes were dazzled by the splendor of the statue of the goddess.
^Travels of Anacharsis.) Edit.
 176 AN EXAMINATION OF THB

concerning the shows and doctrines of those mysteries, into which

heroes were wont to he initiated.

The view taken by bishop Warburton of the purport of the sixth book of the
Eneid,
was new, and caluculated to excite the deep attention of the learned world. Accord,

ingly various opinions were entertained for and against the correctness of the position
assumed by him. Among the critics who entered the lists in opposition to the author,
was the celebrated historian Gibbon. And
he says, was his first publication in
this,

English. His remarks on the subject are contained in the third volume of his miscel-
laneous work which he introduces as follows
;
:

"
The which the bishop of Gloucester has given of the sixth
allegorical interpretation
book of the Eneid, seems to have been very favorably received by the public. Many
writers, both at home and abroad, have mentioned it with approbation, or at least with
esteem; and I have more than once heard it alleged, in the conversation of scholars, aa
an ingenious improvement on the plain and obvious sense of Virgil. As such, it is not
undeserving the notice of a candid criiic nor can the inquiry be void of entertainment,
;

whilst Virgil is our constant theme.

"I shall readily allow, what I believe may in general be true, that the mysteries
exhibited a theatrical representation of all that was believed or imagined of the lower
world ; that the aspirant was conducted through the mimic scenes of Erebus, Tarta-
rus, and Elysium and that a warm enthusiast, in describing these awful spectacles,
;

might express himself as if he had actually visited the infernal regions. It is not sur-
prising that the copy was like the original; but it still remains undetermined, whether
Virgil intended to describe the originator the copy."
If the copy was a true representation of the original, of what consequence is it which
the poet took as his sampler? But, as it was more easy to procure a correct description
of the spectacles exhibited in the temple of the Eleusinian Ceres, than of what takes
place in the regions below, it is most probable Virgil chose the former. Besides, it may
be remarked, that the description of the infernal regions was doubtless first matured in
the mysteries. No author, it is presumed, had before their establishment, ever given
any thing like a detailed account of such place. They therefore, properly speaking, are
the original, and the parallel is to be found in Virgils description of Eneas's descent.
Mr. Voltaire showed great fickleness in his opinion on this subject ; sometimes
giving it in favor of Warburton's hypothesis, and at others, the contrary. Speaking of
the Eleusinian mysteries, (tome, xvi, p. 162) he says,
"The mysterious ceremonies of Ceres were an imitation of those of Isis. Those who
had committed crimes confessed and expiated them :
they fasted, they purified them-
selves, All the ceremonies were held secret, under the religious sanction
and gave alms.
of an oath, to render them more venerable. The mysteries were celebrated in the night
to inspire a holy horror. They represented a kind of tragedy in which the spectacle

exposed to view the happiness of the just and the torments of the wicked. The greatest
men of antiquity, the Platog, the Ciceros have eulogized these mysteries, which had not
then degenerated from their primative purity.
"Very learned men have supposed that the sixth book of the Eneid was a descrip-
"
what passed in these secret and celebrated shows."
tion of Again, he says, The sixth
book of the Eneid is only a description of the mysteries of Isis and the Eleusinian
Ceres."
"
He afterwards recants this opinion, and says, I think I see a description of th

Eliusinian Ceres, in Claudian's poem on the Rape of Proserpine much clearer than I
 SIXTH BOOK OF VIRGIL's ENEID. 177

can see any in the sixth book of the Eneid. Virgil lived under a prince who joined to all
his other bad qualities that of wishing to pass for a religious character; who was probably
initiated in these mysteries himself, the better thereby to impose upon the people and :

who would not have tolerated what would have been pretended to be such decided pro-
fanation."

Why, Augustus was the hero of the poem ; it was for his honor and glory that the
poet labored. He was,
says our author, shadowed in the person of Eneas ; and would
not, therefore, probably have been very scrupulous about a vague exposition of the
mysteries, while it tended to his own glorification.
"Claudian, (says Warburton,) professes openly to treat of the Eleusinian mysteries,
at a timewhen they were in little veneration." It is not strange, therefore, that Mr.
Voltaire should see a description of the Eleusinian Ceres, in Claudian's poem, much
clearer than in the sixth book of the Eneid ; the author of which evidently not intend-

ing that his object should be generally known.

Voltaire seems frequently to have writ ten offhand, without subjecting himself to the
trouble of rigid scrutiny and, indeed, he wrote so much, and upon such a variety of
;

topics, that would appear impossible that he should bestow strict attention to them
it

all. In the present case, his first impresssions appear to have been founded on the
opinions of the learned men he alludes to, and he probably adopted a contrary belief in
like manner, without an attentive examination of the subject.

Bishop Warburton was probably occupied many years in the composition of his
learned work; he had thoroughly studied the subject, and it is confidently believed that
this application of the sixth book of the Eneid to the mysteries will stand the test of the
most severe criticism.
The Abbe Barthelemi, in an article on the mysteries, in his " Travels of Anacharsis,"
quotes the Eneid in a description of them, as if no question then existed in regard to
Virgil's views*
 CHAPTER IV.

THE METAMORPHOSIS OF APULEIUS: AND THE AMOUR OF CUTIP

PSYCHE.

Thus concerning the use of the mysteries to society.

far How
essentialthey were esteemed to religion, we may understand by the
Metamorphosis of Apuleius ; a book, indeed, which from its very first
appearance hath passed for a trivial fable. Capitolinus, in the life of
Clodius Albinus, where he speaks of that kind of tales which disconcert
the gravity of philosophers, tells us that Severus could not bear with

patience the honors the Senate had conferred on Albinus especially ;

their distinguishing him with the title of learned, who was grown old in
the study of old wives-fables, such as the Milesian-Punic tales of his

countryman and favorite, Apuleius.

The
writer of the Metamorphosis, however, was one of the gravest
and most virtuous, as well as most learned philosophers of his age,
Albinus appears to have gone further into the true character of this
work, than his rival Severus. And if we may believe Marcus Aure-
lius, who calls Albinus,
"
A
man of experience, of demure life, and
grave morals," he was not a man to be taken with such trifling amuse-
ments as Milesian fables. His fondness therefore for the Metamorpho-
sis of Apuleius shows that he considered it in another light. And
who so likely to be let into the author's true design, as Albinus, who
and was of Adrumetum in the neighborhood
lived very near his time,
of Carthage, where Apuleius sojourned and studied, and was distin-

guished with public honors ? The work is indeed of a different char-

acter from what some ancients have represented it and even from what
;

modern critics have pretended to discover of it. Those ancients,who stuck

in the outside, considered it, without refinement, as an idle fable the ;

moderns, whocould not reconcile a work of that nature to the gravity

of the author's character, have supposed it a thing of more importance,
and no less than a general satire on the vices of those times.
But this is far short of the matter. The author's main purpose
was not to satirize the specific vices of his age, though to enliven his
fable, and for the better carrying on his story, he hath employed many
circumstances of this kind, but to recommend Pagan rdigion, as the

only curd for all vices whatsoever.

To give what we have to say its proper force, \ve must consider
 THE METAMORPHOSIS ETC. 179

the real character of the writer. Apuleius, of Madaura in Africa, was

a devoted "Platonist and, like the Platonists of that age, an inveterate
;

enemy to Christianity. His zeal for the honor of philosophy is seen

in that solemn affirmation, when convened before a court of justice,
"
I have never derogated ought from the honor of philosophy, which
is more
precious to me than life." His superstitious attachment to the
religion of his country is seen in his immoderate fondness for the mys-
teries. He was initiated, as he tells us, into almost all of them ;
and in

some, bore the most distinguished In his Apology before the

offices.
" Will
proconsul of Africa, he says, you have me relate what kind of
things those were, which wrapped up in a napkin, I confided to the
house of Pontianus ? You shall be allowed. I have been initiated

in Greece into many mysteries. I carefully guard certain of their

signs and tokens which have been committed to me by the priests. I

say nothing unusual, nothing unknown. ye who are present know

what thing it is of father Bacchus Symmistas which you keep concealed
at home, and silently venerate apart from the profane. But I, as I
have said, through love of truth, and duty to the gods, have learnt
numerous mysteries, and very many rites, and various ceremonies.
Nor do I make up this for the occasion but it is about three years :

ago that shortly after my arrival at Oea, in a public discourse on the

majesty of yEsculapius I made some declaration, and enumerated what-
ever mysteries I knew. That discourse is very celebrated is generally ;

read; is in the hands of every body, commended to the pious people

of Oea, not so much by my eloquence, as by the mention of ^Escula-
pius. Can it then appear strange to any body who has any knowledge
of religion, that a man versed in so many mysteries of the gods should
keep certain holy trifles in his house ? I am accustomed wherever I

go to take with me the image ofsome god packed up among my books,

and on festivals to worship it with incense and wine, and sometimes
with sacrifices."
His great devotion to Paganism, therefore, must needs have been
attended with an equal aversion to Christianity and it is more than ;

probable, that the oration he speaks of as made in honor of ^Esculapius,

was in the number of those invectives, at that time so well received by
the enemies of our holy faith. For, not to insist on the success of his
oration, which, he tells us, was in every body's hands, a thing common
to discourses on subjects that engage the public attention, but rarely
the fortune of such stale ware as panegyrics on a God long worn into
an establishment not, I say, to insist upon this, we may observe that
;
181 THE METAMORPHOSIS

^Esculapius was one of those ancient heroes, who were employed, by

the defenders of Paganism, to oppose to Jesus and the circumstances
;

of ^Esculapius's story made him the fittest of any in fabulous antiquity,

for that purpose.

Having seen what therewas in the common passion of his sect, and
in his own fond mode of superstition, to indispose Apuleius to Chris-
us inquire what private provocation he might have to preju-
tianity, let
dice him it for, a private provocation, I am persuaded, he had
against :
;

occasioned by a personal injury done him by one of this profession ;

which, I suppose, did not a little contribute to exasperate his bigotry.
He had married a rich widow, against the will of her first husband's
relations who endeavored to set aside the marriage on pretence of
;

his employing sorcery and enchantments to engage her affections. Of

this, he was judicially accused by his wife's brother-in-law, Licinius

^Emilianus, before the Proconsul of Africa. Now his accuser, if lam

notmuch mistaken, was a Christian, though this interesting circum-
stance hath escaped his commentators.
Now irreligion and atheism, we know, was the name Christianity
at thattime went by, for having dared to renounce the whole family of
the gentile gods in a lump. ^Emilianus had made such clear work f

that there was not so much as an anointed stone, or a tree adorned

with consecrated garlands, to be found throughout his whole Farm.
That the Atheism of ^Emilianus was of this sort, and no courtley or
philosophic impiety, appears from his character and station. He was
neither a fine gentleman or a profound inquirer into nature ;
charac-
ters indeed which are sometimes found to be above religion ;
but a
mere rustic in his life and manners. Now
plain unpolished men in
such a station are never without some religion or other when ;

we find ,/Emilianus, therefore, not of the established, we must

needs conclude him to be a sectary and a Christian. His neg-
lect of his country gods was not a mere negative affront of forgetful-;

ness. He gloried in being their despiser and took kindly to the

;

name of Mezentius, as a title of honor, (alterum, quod libentius audit,

obdeorum contemptum, Mezentius,) which I would consider as a fur-
ther mark of a Christian convict. He even held it an abomination so
much as to put his hand to his lips, (according to the mode of adora-
tion in those times,) when he passed by a heathen temple; (nefas habet
adorandi gratia manum labris admovere,) the most characteristic mark
of a primitive confessor, by which he could never be mistaken ; nor,
one would think, so long overlooked.
 OF APULEIUS 180

The aversion therfore, which Apuleius had contracted to his

Christian accuser, and we see,by his apology, it was in no ordinary
degree, would without doubt increase his prejudice to that religion. I
am persuaded he gave the character of the Baker's wife, in his golden ass
for no other reason than to outrage our holy faith. He draws her
stained with all the vices that could fall to the share of a woman and ;

then, to finish all, he makes her a Christian.

Let us see now how this would influence his writings. There
was nothing the Philosophers of that time had more at heart,
especially the Platonists and Pythagoreans, than the support of sink
ing Paganism. This service, as hath been occasionally remarked
they performed in various ways and manners : some by allegorizing
their theology; some by spiritualizing their philosophy; and some
as Jamblicus and Philostratus, by writing the lives of their Heroes, to

oppose to that of Christ; others again, as Porphyry, with this view,

collected their oracles; or as Melanthius, Menander, Hicesius, and
Sotades wrote descriptive encomiums on their Mysteries. Which last,
as we shall now show, was the province undertaken by Apuleius; his

Metamorphosis being nothing else but one continued recommendation

of them.
But let us enquire into the motives our author might have for enter
ing at all into the defence of Paganism His reasons for choosing this
:

topic of defence, the recommendation of the mysteries.

As to his defence of paganism in general, we may observe, that
works of this kind were very much in fashion, especially amongst the
philosophers of our author's sect. He was, as we have seen, most super-
stitiously devoted to pagan worship: and, he bore a personal spite
and prejudice to the Christian profession.
As to his the defence of the mysteries his chioce, still stron-
making
ger reasons may be assigned. These were the rites to which he was so
peculiarly devoted, that "he had contrived to be initiated into all the

mysteries of note, in the Roman world; and in several of them had

borne the most distinguished offices. The mysteries being at this time
become extremely corrupt, and consequently, in discredit, needed an
able and zealous apologist both of which qualities met eminently in
:

Apuleius. The corruptions were of two kinds, debaucheries and

magic. Their debaucheries we have taken notice of, above: their
magic will be considered hereafter. But, our author's close attach-
ment to mysterious was, without question, the very thing that
rites

occasioned all those suspicions and reports, which ended in an accusa-

 182 THE METAMORPHOSIS

tion of and considering what hath been said of the corrupt

magic :

wonder at it.
state of the mysteries, the reader will not

Such then being the general character of the mysteries, and of this
their great devotee, nothing was more natural than his projecting their
defence ;
whichsame time, that it concurred to the support of
at the

paganism would vindicate his own credit, together with an

in general,

institution of which he was so immoderately fond. And the following

considerations are sufficient to show, that the Metamorphosis was writ-
ten after his Apology :
for, his accusers never once mention the fable
of the golden ass to support their charge of magicr, though they were
in great want of proofs, and this lay so ready for their purpose. He
positively asserts before the tribunal of. Maximus Claudius that he had
"
never given the least occasion to suspect him of magic :
Nusquam
"
passus sum vel exiguam suspicionem magise consistere.

Now antiquity considered initiation into the mysteries as

a delivery
from a living death of vice, brutality, and misery, and the beginning of
a new life of virtue, reason, and happiness. This therefore, was the
very circumstance which our author chose for the subject of his recom
mendation.
And as in the mysteries, their moral and divine truths were repre-
sented in shows and allegories, so in comply with this
order to
method of instruction, and in imitation of the ancient masters of wisdom,
who borrowed their manner of teaching from thence, he hath artfully
insinuated his doctrine in an agreeable fable; and the fittest one
could conceive for his purpose, as will be seen when we come to exam-
ine it.

Thefoundation of this allegory was a Milesian fable, a species of

polite trifling then much in vogue, and not very unlike the modern
Arabian tales. To allure his readers, therefore, with the promise of
a fashionable work, he introduces his Metamorphosis in this manner '<

"
And I too will deliver to you various fables in this Milesian style,
and delight your ears in a gentle whisper ;" plainly intimating that there
was someting of more consequence at bottom. But they took him at
his word and, never troubled their heads about a further meaning.
:

The outside engaged all their attention, and sufficiently delighted

them as we may gather from the early title it bore of Asinus Aureus :*
;

* the beginning of one of Pliny's epistles, I suspect that Aurete was the com-
From
mon given to the Milesian, and such like tales as strollers
title used to tell for a piece
of money to the rabble in a circle. Pliny's words are these assem para et accipe
aurtam fabulam. 1. ii, Ep. 20.
 OF APULEIUS. 183

unless we will rather suppose it to have been bestowed by the few intel-

ligent readers in the secret; for, in spite of the author, a secret it was,
and so all along continued.
Upon one of these popular fables, he chose to ingraft his instruc
tion taking
;
a celebrated tale from the collections of one Lucius of
Patra3 who relates his transformation into an Ass, and his adventures
;

under that shape. Lucian has epitomised this story, as Apuleius seems
to have
paraphrased it and the subject being a metamorphosis, it admi-
:

rably fitted his purpose as the metempsychosis to which that supersti-

;

tion belongs, was one of the fundamental doctrines of the mysteries.

The fable opens with the representation of a young man, person-
ated by himself, sensible of the advantages of virtue and piety, but im-
moderately fond of pleasure, and as curious of magic. He gives a
loose to his vicious appetite, and the crimes and follies into which they
lead him soon ends in his transformation to a brute.
This contrivance of the introductory part is artful; and finely insinu-
ates the great moral of the piece, that brutality attends vice as its pun-
ishment : and punishment by actual transformation was keeping up to

the popular opinion.

Austin permitted himself to doubt whether Apuleius' s account of
St.

his changeinto an ass was not a true relation. I shall say nothing to

this extravagant doubt, but only observe, that it appears from hence, that

St. Austin esteemed Apuleius a profligate in his manners, and addicted

to the superstitionsof magic.
But to proceed with his plan. Having now shown himself thoroughly
brutalized by his crimes he goes on to represent at large the miseries
:

of that condition, in a long detail of his misadventures ; in the course of

which he fell, by turns, under the dominion of every vicious passion ;
though the incidents are chiefly confined to the mischiefs of unlawful
love and :
this, with much judgement, as one of the principal ends of

the mysteries curb and subdue this inordinance, \vhich brings

was to

more general and lasting misery upon mankind than all the other.
And as it was the great moral of his piece to show that pure religion,
such as a Platonic philosopher esteemed pure, was the only remedy
for human corruption so, to prevent the abuse or
;
mistake of this
he takes care to inform us, that an attachment to super-
capital principle,
stitious and corrupt religion does but plunge the wretched victim into

still greater miseries. This Jie finely illustrates, in the history of his
adventures with the of Cybelc
begging whose enormities
priests ;

are related in the eighth and ninth books ;

and whose corrupt myste-
184 THE METAMORPHOSIS

xies are intended as a contrast to the pure rites of Isis ;

with which
in a very studied description and encomium he concludes the Fable.
In the mean time, matters growing from bad to worse, and Lucius

plunged deeper and deeper in the sink of vice, his affairs come to a
crisis.For this is one great beauty in the conduct of the fable, that
every change of station, while he remains a brute, makes his condition
more wretched and deplorable. And being now about to perpe-
still

trate one of the most shocking enormities Nature, though so deeply ;

brutalized, revolts ; he abhors the idea of his projected crime he evades ;

his keepers ;
he flies to the sea-shore ; and, in this solitude, begins to
reflect more seriously on his lost condition. This is finely imagined,
for we men, even after a whole life of horrors, come suddenly
often see
to themselves on the hideous aspect of some monster-vice too frightful
even for an hardened conscience to endure. Nor is it with less judg-
ment that the author makes
these beginnings of reformation confirmed

by solitude ;
when the unhappy victim of pleasure hath broken loose
from the companions and partakers of his follies.
And now, a more intimate acquaintace of his hopeless state obliges
him to fly to heaven for relief. The moon is in full splendor, and the
awful silence of the night inspires him with sentiments of religion.
He then purifies himself in the manner prescribed by Pythagoras,
the philosopher most addicted to initiations of all the early sages as ;

Apuleius, of all the later and so makes his prayer to the moon or Isis,
;

invoking her by lier several names of the Eleusinian Ceres, the celestial
Venus,Diana and Proserpine, when betaking himself to repose, she
appears to him in a dream, under that shining image so much spoken
of by the mystics, as representing the divine nature in general.*
These several symbolic attributes, [as described by Apuleius,
but here omitted,] the lucid round, the snakes, the ears of corn,
and the sistrum, represent the tutelar Deities of the Hecataean, Bac-
chic, Eleusinian and Isiac mysteries." That is, the mystic '"rites in
general for whose sake the allegory was invented.
: As the black
Palla in which she is wrapped, embroidered with ^silver moon, and
stars, denotes the time, in which the mysteries were celebrated, namely

Artemidprus says, that for a man to dream that Ceres Proserpine, or Bacchus
*

appears to him, betokens some extraordinary good fortune to happen to him. This
popular divination by dreams was apparently founded on the common opinion of the
advantages attending initiation into tne mysteries. The ancient Onirocritics were not
founded on the arbitary fancies of the impostors who professed that art, but on the
customs and superstitions of the times, and with a principal reference to the Egyptian
Hieroglyphics and mysteries.
 OF APL'LEIUS 185

in the dead of night ;

which was so constant and inseparable a circum-
stance, that the author calls initiation, noctis societas*
"Behold, Lucius, I, moved by thy prayers, am present with thee;

I, who am Nature, the parent of things, the queen of all the elements^
the primordial progeny of ages, the Supreme of Divinities, the sover-

eign of the spirits of the dead, the first of the celestials, and the uniform
resemblance of gods and goddesses. I who rule by my nod the lumi"

nous summits of the heavens, the salubrious breezes of the sea, and the
deplorable silences of the realms beneath: and whose one divinity the
whole^orb of the earth venerates under a manifold form, by different
rites,and a variety of appalletions. Hence the primogenial Phry-
gians call me Pessinuntica, the mother of the gods the Attic Abori- ;

gines, Cecropian Minerva; the floating Cyprians, Paphian Venus;

.
the arrow-bearing Cretans, Diana Dictynna the three tongued Sici-
;

lians,Stygian Proserpine and the Eleusinians, the ancient goddess

;

Ceres. Some also call me Juno, others Bellona, others Hecate, and
others Rhamnusia. And those who are illuminated by the incipient
rays of that divinity, the sun, when he rises, viz. the Ethiopians, the
Arii, and Egyptians skilled in ancient learning, worshipping me by
ceremonies perfectly appropriate, call me by my true name queen
"
Isis. This was exactly adapted to the design of the mysteries ; and
preparatory to the communication of the aporreta. It had likewise

this further use, to patch up and recommend the pagan religions; by

showing that their Polytheism consisted in nothing else than in giving
the Supreme God various names, merely expressive of his various
attributes^ This was the fashionable coloring, which, after the

appearance of Christianity, the advocates of paganism employed to

blanch their Idolatry. I will
only observe further that the words
the Egyptians loorshipping me with ceremonies perfectly appropriate,
insinuate what was true, that all mysterious worship came first
from Egypt\ this people having penetrated furthest into the nature
of the gods as the calling her who represents the mysteries in general
:

rerum naturaparens, shows plainly what were the aporreta of them all.
Parent Nature then reveals to Lucius the means of his recovery.
Her festival was on the following day when there was to be a pro-
;

* Masonic
meetings are nocturnal, and the 'Aprons of the fraternity are generally
ornamented with figures of the sun, moo??, and seven stars, or planets; which shows
that the principal design of the institution was
something very different from the
mechanical occupation of masonry. They show, indeed, that it was founded on Sabe
t>m. fhe worship of the Mars. -
Edit.
21
186 MLTAMORPHOSIS

cession of her votaries. The priest who led it

up, would have a chaplet
of roses in his hand, which had the virtue to restore him te his former
of vice is, of all things, the
shape. But as breaking through a habit
most difficult ; she adds encouragements to her promises, " Nor should

you any thing pertaining to my concerns as difficult. For in this

fear

very same moment of time in which I come to you, being there also
I order my priest in a dream to do those things which are to be
present,
done hereafter." Alluding, to what was taught in the mysteries, that,
the assistance of Heaven was always present to second the efforts of
virtue. But in return for the favor of releasing
1

him from his brutal

shape, that is of reforming his manners by initiation, she tells him she
expected the service of his whole life and this, the mysteries required.
;

Nor should his service go unrewarded, for he should have a place

in Elysium hereafter; and
this, too, the mysteries promised.

Lucius is at
lenght confirmed in his resolution of aspiring to a life

of virtue. And on this change of his dispositions, and entire conquest

of his passions, the author finely represents all nature as putting on a
new face of cheerfulness and gaiety. "All things likewise, indepen-
dent of my peculiar joy, seemed to me to exultwith such great hilarity
that I might have thought that cattle of every kind, every house, and
"
even the day itself, rejoiced with a serene countenance. And to enjoy
Nature, in these her best conditions, was the boasted privilege of the
Initiated, as we may see from a Chorus in the Frogs of Aristo-

phanes.
And now the procession, in honor of Isis, begins. Where by the
way, we must observe, that the two first days of the celebration of
the Eleusinian mysteries are plainly described the one called agyrmos, :

from the multitude assembled the other alase mysiai,homthe pro-

;

c ession "
made to the sea-shore. Then there was an influx of a crowd
of those who had been the sacred rites of the goddess,
initiated in

respledent with the pure whiteness of linen garments. In the next

place, the images of the gods, carried by the priests of Isis, pro-
ceeded, not disdaining to walk with the feet of men ; this terriffically

raising a canine head ; but that being the messenger of the infernal
gods, and of those in the realms beneath, with an erect face, partly
black, and partly of a golden color, bearing in his left- hand a cadu-
ceus, and shaking in his right hand branches of the flourishing palm
tree whose footsteps, a crow, in an erect position, immediately followed.
;

This crow was the prolific resemblance of the all-parent goddess, and
was carried on the sholders of one of the blessed servants of this divinity
 OF APULEIUS 187

and who acted the part of a mimic as he walked another carried a ,

cist a, or chest, containing arcana, and perfectly concealing the mystic

symbols of a magnificent religion. And another bore in his happy

bosom the venerable effigies of the Supreme Divinity, which was not
similar to any cattle, bird or wild beast, nor even to man but being ;

venerable for the subtilty by which it was invented, and also for its
was an ineffable indication
novelty, of a more sublime religion, and
which was to be concealed with the greatest "* The
silence. priest or

hierophant of the rites leads up the train of the initiated with a garland
of roses in his hand. Lucius approaches, devours the roses, and is
according to the promise of the goddess r restored to his natural form,
by which, as we have said, no more was meant than a change of man-
ners from vice to virtue. And this the author plainly intimates by
making the goddess thus address him under his brutal form, " Imme-
diately divest yourself of the hide of that worst of beasts, and which for
"
some time since has been to me detestable. For an Ass was so far
from being detestable, that it was employed in the celebration of her
rites and was ever found in the retinue of Osiris or Bacchus. The
;

garland plainly represents that which the aspirants were crowned with
at their initiation ; just as the virtue of the toses designs the mysteries.
At his transformation he had been told, that roses were tp restore him

to humanity t so that amidst all his adventures, he had still this remedy
in view.
Our author proceeds to tell us, that the people wondered at this
"
instantaneous metamorphosis. The people admire, and the religious
venerate so evident an indication of the power of the Supreme

Divinity, and the magnificence and facility of my restoration." For

* I have given a more full account of this procession, from the work of Apuleius,
than is copied by Warburton. In the processions of the London masons, before noticed,
at laying the foundation stone, and the dedication, of freemasons' hall, in 1775, and 1776,
among other things, were carried, three pitchers, containiug corn, wine, and oil; the
bible ; wand or caduceus ; a cista or chest, here called the lodge &c. After the cere-
mony of laying the foundation stone, "the brethren proceeded " through
the city in pro-
cession, without exposing any of the ensignia of the order. Smith. Edit.
tThe modern masomic degree of Rose-Cross seems to allude to this ridiculous con-
ceit regarding the virtue of roses. The following dialogue takes place ^between the
master and senior warden "Do you know the Pelican? I do.
: What does it sig-
nify ? Among us it is a symbol of the Saviour of the world, and of his perfect human-
Whatthe object of the degree of the Rose-Cross'? To lead us to
ity. is
Knights of
respect the decrees of the Most High, who is able to reinstamp his image on us." To
reinstamp is here intended to signify the restoration to a former state ; which is exact-
ly what occurred to Lucius, when in his assine condition, by the eating of roses. The
Pelican is a Roman Catholic symbol of the Saviour, arising from the fable that-this
bird perforates its breast, and suffers its young to feed upon the blood issuing therefrom.
The Saviour, in the ritual of the Catholic Church, is thus addressed " Pelican Je-
: O
sus! cleanse us with thy blood, one drop of which is sufficient to purify a world." ^

The_degreof Rose-Cross was invented 'in France, a Roman Catholic country. Edit.
183 METAMORPHOSIS

the mysteries boasted the power of giving a sudden and entire

change to the mind and affections. And the advocates of paganism

against Christianity used to oppose this boast to the real and miracu-
lous efficacy of grace.
As
soon as Lucius had recovered the integrity of his nature by ini-
tiation, the priest covers him, naked as he was, with a linen garment.
A habit always bestowed upon the aspirant, on his admission to the

mysteries ;
the rationale of which, Apuleius himself gives us in his

apology.* When all was over, the priest accosts his penitent in the fol.
"
lowing manner. O Lucius you have at length arrived at the port of
!

quiet, and the altar of pity, having endured many and various labors,
and great tempests of fortune, and been tossed about by mighty waves of
calamity. Assume now a more joyful countenance, and more adapted
to that white garment which you wear. Attend the pomp of your
saviour goddess with triumphant steps. Let the irreligious see, let them
see and acknowledge their error. Behold Lucius, rejoicing in the
providence of the great Isis, and freed from his pristine miseries, tri.
umphs in his own fortune,"!
Here the moral of the fable is delivered in plain terms ;
and, in this
moral, all we have advanced, concerning the purpose of the work, fully
confirmed. It is expressly declared, that vice and inordinate curiosity-
were the causes of Lucius's disasters from which the only relief was
:

initiation into the mysteries. Whereby the author would insinuate

that nothing was more abfrorent from those holy rites than debauchery
and magic ; the two enormities they were then commonly suspected to
encourage.
It hath been observed above, that, by Lucius's return to his proper

form, was meant his initiation ;

and accordingly, that return is called,
as initiation was, the being born again, ut renatus quodammodo,
* "
Wool, the excretion of the most sluggish body belonging to the herd, was for
that reason, pronounced by Orpheus and Pythagoras, to be a profane raiment. But
flax, truly the most cleanly of thejaest production of the earth, not only cloathed and
vailed the most holy priests of Egypt, but was used also to cover the sacred utensils,"
Apul." p. 64.
t Whilst the apron with which we [masons] are cloathed indicates a disposition
of innocence, and belies not the wearer's heart, let the ignorant deride and scoff on :

superior to the ridicule and malice of the wicked, we will enfold ourselves in the garb of
our own virtue; and safe in our self-approving conscience, stand unmoved against the
persecutions of adversity.
"
Tha raynent which truly implies the innocence of the heart, is a badge more
honorable than ever was devised by kings ; the Roman eagle, with all the orders of
" Smith.
knighthood, are thereunto inferior.
Formerly masons used to be cloathed in white during Lodge hours, which prac-
'

tice is still followed in France, and Holland; but in Kng-

many lodges in Germany,
"
land, the white apron is only remaining. Ibid. Edit.
 or APULEIUS. 189

and sua providentia quodammodo rtnatos ; but this was only to the

lesser, notthe greater mysteries. The first was to purify the mind:
hence it was called by the ancients, kakias aphairesin, a separation
from evil : the second was to enlighten it, when purified, and to bring
it the knowledge of divine secrets.
to Hence they named the one
Katharsin, and the other Teleiothta, purification and perfection*
The first is here represented in the incident of Lucius's being restored
to humanity by the use of roses : The second, as the matter of chief

importance, the author treats more

circumstantially.
He begins with the priest take occasion, from the benefit
making
already received, to press Lucius to enter into
the greater mysteries of
Isis.

But at the same time makes him inform the candidate, that nothing
was to be precipitated for that not only many previous rites and cere-
:

monies, concerning religious diet, and abstinence from profane food,

were to be observed but
;
that the aspirants to these higher mysteries

were to wait for a call.

The author, by the doubts and apprehensions which retarded his
gives us to understand, that the highest degree of sanctity
initiation, first
was required of those who entered into the mysteries.
These difficulties being surmounted, he is initiated with the accus-
tomened ceremonies. He then makes his prayer, in which the grand

aporreta of the mysteries is still more plainly referred to.

" O
Thou, holy and perpetual saviour of the human race, being
always munificent in cherishing mortals, dost employ the sweet affec-

tion of a mother in the misfortunes of the miserable. Nor is there any

day or night, or even a slender moment of time, which passes unat-
tended by thy benevolent interpositions. Thou protectest men both by
sea and land, and dispersing the storms of dost extend thy salutary
life,

right hand, by which thou drawest back the enextricably twisted thread
of the Fates, and dost mitigate the tempests of inclement fortune, and
restrain the noxious courses of the stars. The supernal gods reverence

thee, in the realms beneath attentively observe thy nod. Thou

and those
rollest the sphere of the universe round the steady poles, dost illuminate
the sun, govern the world, and tread on the dark realms of Tartarus.
The stars move responsive to thy command,! the gods rejoice in thy
"
* The masonic
Degree of Perfection, or the grand elect, perfect, aud sublime
mason," it may be presumed, is entitled to the appellation of Teleiothta. Edit.
t Respondent cidera. This, I suppose, relates to the music of the spheres. The
image is noble and sublime. It is taken from the consent in the lyro, to answer to, and
obey the hand of the master who had put them into tune.
 190 AMOUR OF

divinity,the hours and seasons return by thy appointment, and the

elements reverence thy decree. By thy nod blasts of wind blow, the
clouds are nourished, seeds germinate, and blossoms increase. Birds

swiftly pass through the tracks of the air, wild beasts wandering on the
mountains, serpents concealed in the ground, and the enormous mon.
sters that swim in the sea, are terrified at the majesty which invests thy

divinity, etc."
The affair thus over, the author, in the next place, takes occasion,

agreeably to his real practice and opinions, to recommend a multiplicity

of initiations. He tells us how Isis counseled him to enter into the

mysteries of Osiris :
how, after that she invited him to a third initiation :

and then rewarded him for his accumulated piety with an abundance
of temporal blessings.
All this considered, we can no longer doubt but that the true design
of his work was to recommend initiation into the mysteries, in opposi-

tion to the new religion. We see the catastrophe of the piece, the
whole Eleventh Book, entirely taken up with it
;
and composed with
the greatest seriousness and superstition.
And, surely, nothing could be better conceived, to recommend the
mysteries, than the idea of such a plan or better contrived than his exe-
;

cution of In which, he omits no circumstance that might be plau-

it.

sibly opposed to Christianity or that might be recommended, with

;

advantage, to the magistrate's favor : as where he tells us, that in these

"
rites, they prayed for the prosperity of all orders in the State, For
trie great Emperor, the senate, the equestrian order, and for all the
Roman people."
This interpretation will throw new light on every part of the
golden ass. But I have been so long upon the subject, that I have only
time to give one instance and this, chiefly because it reflects it back
;

again on the general interpretation of the fable.

The Amfiur of Cupid And Psyche.

In the fifth and sixth books is the long episode of Cupid and Psyche*

visibly allegorical throughout ;

and entirely foreign to all the rest of the
* In order to a due understanding of the Fable, it is necessary to know the nature of

the characters upon which it is founded.

"
Psyche, (Greek, the soul or life) a goddess by which the ancients seem to mean the
human soul. She was represented with the wings of a butterfly on her shoulders, to
intimate by the nimbleness of that creature, the activity, nature and properties of the
soul." -(Bailey.)
According to ancient mythology, there were two cupids, one, born of Venus, and
begotten by Jupiter, the inciter of celestial love the other, the son of Erebus
;
and Nox,
She author of terrestial amours. (Edit.)
 CUPID AND PSYCHE 191

work, considered as a mere Milesian fable but very applicable to the

;

had that moral to inculcate which we have here

writer's purpose, if he

assigned him.
There was no man, though he regarded the golden ass as a thing of
mere amusement, but saw that the story of Cupid and Psyche was a
philosophic allegory of the progress of the soul to perfection, in the
possession of divine love and the reward of immortality.* Now we
have shown at large, that the professed end of the mysteries was to
restore the soul to its original rectitude, and to encourage good men
with the promises of happiness in another life. The fable, therefore,
of Cupid and Psyche, in the fifth and sixth books, was the finest and
most artful preparative for the subject of the eleventh, which treats of

the mysteries.
But if we look more nearly into this beautiful fable, we shall find that,

besides its general purpose, it has one more particular. We have observ-
ed that the corrupt state of the mysteries, in the time of Apuleius, was one
principal reason of his undertaking their apology. These corruptions
were of two kinds, debaucheries and magic. Their debaucheries have
been taken notice of above. Their magic was of three sorts The :

magic of invocation or necromancy the magic of transformation or

;

metamorphosis and the magic of divine communication under a visible

;

appearance or theurgy. The shows of the mysteries seem to have

given birth tothe doctrine of the metempsychosis taught
the first,

therein to the second, and the Aporreta concerning the divine nature, to
the third. The abomination of the two first sorts was seen, by all, and
frankly given up but the fanatic Platonists and Pytha-
as criminal :

goreans of the latter ages, espousing the third, occasioned it to be held

in credit and reverence. So that, as Heliodorus tells us, the Egyptian
priests, (between whose Philosophy and fanatic Platonism, there was at
this time a kind of coalition,) affected to distinguish between the magic
of necromancy and the magic of theurgy, accounting the first infamous
and wicked but the last very fair, and even commendable. For now
;

both those fanatics had their philosophic mysteries: the rites of which
consisted in the practice of this theurgic magic. These were the mys-
teries, to observe it by the way, of which the emperor Julian was so fond,
that he placed his principal felicity, as the Christians did his principal
* The Amour of
Cupid and Psyche was a subject which lay in common amongst
the Platonic writers. And every one fashioned this agreeable fiction according to the
doctrines he had to convey under it. By this means it could not but become famous.
The remaining monuments of ancient sculpture convince us that it was very famous ;
in which, nothing is so common as the figures of Cupid and Psyche in the various cir-
nimstances of their adventures.
192 AMOUR OF

crime, in t/ieir celebration. But our author who had imbibed his Pla-

tonism, not at the muddy streams of those late enthusiasts, but at the

pure fountain-head of the Academy itself, well understood how much

this superstition, with all its plausible pretences, had polluted the mys-

teries and, therefore, as in the course of the adventures of his golden

;

ass, he had stigmatized the two other kinds of magic, he composed this
celebrated tale, understood, to expose the magic of
hitherto so little

theurgy. It a
is, we
philosophic allegory, delivered in the
as said,
adventures of Psyche, or the soul whose various labours and traverses :

in this progress, are all represented as the affects of her indiscreet pas-
sion for that species of magic called Theurgy.
To understand this, we must observe, that the enthusiastic Platonists,
in their pursuit of theSupreme Good, the union ivith the Deity, made
the completion and perfection of it to consist in the theiirgic vision of the

Autopton Agalrna or the self seen image, that is, seen by the splendor
of its own light. Now
the story tells us, there were three sisters, the

youngest of whom was called Psyche by which we are to understand, ;

the three peripatetic souls, the sensitive, the animal, and the rational ;
or, in other words, sense, appetite, and reason: that the beauty of Psyche
was so divine, that men forsook the altars of the gods to follow and
worship her, according to the ancient aphorism :

Nullum Numen abest, si sit'Prudentia.

No Deity is wanting, if Prudence is consulted.
She is contracted to, and possesses the celestial Cupid or divine love,

invisibly. In the mean time her

envious of her superior enjoy-
sisters,

ments, take advantage of the god's invisibility to perplex her with a thou-
sand doubts and scruples, which end in exciting her
curiosity to get a
sight of her lover. By which the author seems to insinuate that they are
the irregular passions and appetites which stir
up men's curiosity to this
of the
species magic, theurgic vision. Psyche is deluded by them, and
who calls it sacrilcga curiosi-
against the express injunction of the god,
tas,attempts ihisfobidden sight. She succeeds, and is undone. Divine
love forsakes her the scenes of
pleasure vanish and she finds herself
:
:

forlorn and abandoned surrounded by miseries, and pursued with the

;

vengeance of Heaven. In this distress she comes to the temples of

Ceres and Juno, and seeks protection of those deities:
by which is
meant, the having recourse to their mysteries, against the evils and dis-
asters of life: ns is
plainly marked by the reason given for her applica-
"
tion: Not willing to omit arcv even doubtful means of hotterinir mv
 CUPID AND PSYCHE. . 193

condition-." They both deny admittance to her intimating that the purer ;

discouraged all kind of magic, even the most specious. In

mysteries
a word, after a long and severe repentance and penance, in which the
author seems to have shadowed the trials and labors undergone by
the aspirants to the mysteries, she is pardoned and restored to the
favor of Heaven. She is put again into possession of Divine Love,
and rewarded with the prerogative of immortality.
There are many other circumstances in this fine allegory equally

serving to the end here explained: as there are others which allude to

divers beautiful platonic notions, foreign to the present discourse. It

is enough that we have pointed to its chief and peculiar purpose ;

which it was impossible to see while the nature and design of the whole
fable lay undiscovered.
Before I totally dismiss this matter it
may not be improper to
observe, that both Virgil and Apuleius have represented the genuine

mysteries, as Rites of perfect sanctity and purity and recommended ;

only such to their countrymen ;

while they expose impure and impious
rites to the public aversion ;
for it was their purpose to stigmatize the

reigning corruptions and to recommend the ancient sanctity. On the

contrary, a man attached by his office to the recommendation of the

mysteries, as then practised, was to do the best he could, when deprived
of the benefit of this distinction ;
and was to endeavor to give fair
colors to the foulest things. This was the case of Jamblichus.
His
friend Porphyry had some scruples on this head. He doubts whether
those rites could come from the gods, which admitted such a mixture of
lewdness and impurity. Such a mixture Jamblichus confesses but at ;

thesame time, endeavors to account for their divine original, by show-

ing, that they are only the emblems of natural truths ;
or a kind of
moral purgation of the inordinate passions.
Hitherto we have considered the legislator's care in perpetuating
the doctrine of a future state. And have been longer than ordinary
if I

on this head, my excuse is, that the topic was new, and the doctrine

itself, which is the main subject of the present inquiry, much interested
in it.

Theurgy.
Theurgy compounded of Theos, God, and ergon, work, and signifies magic
is

operating by divine or celestial means, or the power of doing extraordinary and super-
natural things by lawful means, as prayer, invocation of God, etc., called by some
white magic. Bailey.
The wisest of the pagan world, and their greatest philosophers held Theiirgic magic
1

25
194 THE AMOUli OF CUPID AND PSYCHE.

in the highest esteem. Theurgy was, according to them, a divine art, which served only
to advance the mind of man to the highest perfection, and render the soul more pure and ;

they, who by meansof this magic had the happiness to arrive at what they called

Autopsia, or Intuition, a state wherein they enjoyed intimate intercourse with the gods,
believed themselves invested with all their power, and were persuaded that nothing to
them was impossible. Towards this state of perfection all those aspired, who made
profession of that sort of magic ; but then it laid them under severe regulations. None
could be priest of this order but a man of unblemished morals, and all who joined with
him in his operations, were bound to strict purity they were not allowed to have any
;

commerce with women to eat any kind of animal food, nor to defile themselves by the
;

touch of a dead body. The philosophers, and persons of the greatest virtue, thought it
their honor to be initiated into the mysteries of this sort of magic." Mayo's Myth.
v. 1. p 277.
Thomas Taylor, in a note to his translation of Jamblichus, observes "This art of :

divine icorks is called theurgy^ in which Pythagoras was initiated among the Syrians:
as we are informed by Jamblichus in his life of that philosopher. Proclus was also
skilled in this art, as may be seen in his life by Marinus. Psellas, in his MS. treatise
on Demons, says, that magic formed the last part of the sacerdotal science :' in which
'

place by magic he doubtless means that kind of it which is denominated theurgy. And
that theurgy was employed by the ancients in their mysteries, I have fully proved in
my treatise on the Eleusinian and Bacchic mysteries. This theurgy, is doubtless the
same as the magic of Zoroaster, which Plato in his first Alcibiades says, consisted in
the worship of the gods."
"The emperor Julian alludes to this theurgical art, in the folio wing extract from his
Arguments against the Christians, preserved by Cyril:
'
For the inspiration which arrives to men from the gods is rare, and exists but in a
few. Nor is it easy for every man to partake of this, nor at every time. It has ceased
among the Hebrews, nor is it preserved to the present time among
;
. the Egyptians.

Spontaneous oracles, also, are seen to yield to temporal periods. This, however, our
philanthropic lord and father Jupiter understanding, that we might not be entirely
deprived of communion with the gods, has given us observation through sacred art,$> by
"
which we have at hand sufficient assistance.' (p. 343, 347
This art was professed by the early masons, as appears by an examination of one
of the brotherhood by King Henry VI. It is, as before observed, a fundamental doctrine
of the Roman Catholic church.
"
The priests of Egypt, Persia, India, etc. pretended to bind the gods to their idols,
and to make them descendfrom heaven at their pleasure ; they threatened the sun and
moon to reveal the secret mysteries, to shake the heavens, etc." (Eusebius Prep. Evang.
p. 198, and Jamb, do Myst. Egypt. See Ruins, p. 235.)
 CHAPTER IV.

A SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND DOCTRINES OF PITHAGORAS, THE

FOUNDER OF THE SECT OF ANCIENT PAILOSOPHERS THAT BORE
HIS NAME. ALSO THE DOCTRINES AND CUSTOMS OF THE DRU-
IDS, THE PRIESTS OF THE ANCIENT BRITONS.

NOTWITHSTANDING Pythagoras died, at least fifteen hundred years before the insti.
tution of theFreemasons' society, he is hailed by the fraternity as a brother mason,
Both Cross and Webb, in treating of masonic emblems, among which they include a
diagram of the forty-seventh problem of Euclid, hold the following language :

"This was an invention of our ancient friend and brother, the great Pythagoras,
who in his travels through Asia, Africa and Europe, was initiated into several orders of
priesthood, and raised to the sublime degree of master-mason. This wise philosopher,
enriched his mind abundantly in a general knowedge of things, and more especially in
geometry or masonry on this subject he drew out many problems and theorems." etc.
;

The appellation of grandfather of freemasons would perhaps apply much more appro-
priately to Pithagoras, than that of brother for he probably was the father of Druidism,
and this was the father of the masonic society which it made use of as a mere cloak
;

to cover its religious observances, with no special regard to the improvement of the
craft. The idea however of a connection between Pithagoras and masonry, must
have been handed down in tradition by the old Druidical masons which is a strong
;

evidence, that the secrets and ceremonies of masonry, are derived from the ancient
Egyptian mysteries through the Pythagorian school.
Upon this supposition, of the truth of which I have no doubt, it becomes important
to give some account of this celebrated philosopher, whose memory is so deservedly
renerated by the masonic order.
The best arranged account of his life and doctrines, that I have met with, is contained
in Rees's Cyclopedia; I therefore make the following abstract from that work.

Pithagoras was of Samos, the son of a lapidary, and the pupil of

Pherecydes, and nourished, says Bay le, about five hundred years before
Christ, in the time of Tarquin, the last king of Rome, and not in Nu-
ma's time, as many authors have supposed. (See Cicero Tus. Qms.
lib. iv. cap. 1.

Posterity has been very liberal to this philosopher, in bestowing

upon him all such inventions as others had neglected to claim, particu-
larly in music for there is scarcely any part of it, as a science, with
;

which he has not been invested by his generous followers in biography.

Musical ratios have been assigned to him, with the method of deter-
mining the gravity or acuteness of sounds by the greater or less degree
of velocity in the vibration of strings the addition of an eighth to the
;
196 LIFE AND DOCTRINES

lyre, (Pliny, cap. 2.) the harmony of the spheres (Plato;) and
lib. ii.

the Greek musicalnotation (Boethius). His right, indeed, to some of

these discoveries has been disputed by several authors, who have given
them to others with as little reason, perhaps, as they have been before
bestowed upon him.
After musical ratios were discovered and reduced to numbers, they
were made by Pithagoras and his followers, the type of order and just
proportion in all things ;
hence virtue, friendship,
good government,
celestial motion, the human soul, and God himself were harmony.
This discovery gave birth to various species of music, far more
strange and inconceivable than chromatic and enharmonic ;
such as
divine music, mundane music, elementery music, and many other divi-
sions and subdivisions, upon which Zarlino, Kircher, arid almost all the
old writers, never fail to expatiate with wonderful complacence.* It is

perhaps, equally to the credit and advantage of music and philosophy,

that they have long descended from these heights, and taken their
proper and separate stations upon earth that we no longer admit of ;

music that cannot be heard, or of philosophy that cannot be under-

stood.

Master Thomas Mace, author of a most delectable book, called

"
Music's Monument," would have been an excellent Pythagorean ;

for he maintains that the mystery of the Trinity is perspicuously made

plain by the connection of the three harmonical concords, 1, 3, 5 that ;

music and divinity are nearly allied and that the contemplation of
;

concord and discord, of the nature of the octave and unison, will so
"
strengthen a man's faith, that he shall never after degenerate into that
gross sub-beastical sin of atheism."
Pythagoras is said by the writers of his life, to have regarded
music as something celestial and divine, and to have had such an opin-
ion of its power over the human affections, that according to the Egyp-
tiansystem, he ordered his deciples to be waked every morning,
and lulled to sleep every night, by sweet sounds. He likewise con-
sidered it as
greatly conducive to health, and made use of it in disor-
ders of the body, as well as in those of the mind. His biographers pre-
tend to tell us what kind of music he applied upon these occasions.

* The terms sacred and

profane music, are still retained, appropriating grave and
plain ive tones to the former, and gay and lively to the latter. On this account, it is
reported, that Wesley, the founder of the Methodist sect, declared that the Devil should
not have all the best tunes, and accordingly, he introduced into his church service the
most sprightly airs, which are still in use among his followers, having, it is said, the
most happy effect. Edit.
 OF PYTHAGORAS. 197

Grave and solemn, we may be certain and vocal, say they, was pre-
;

ferred to instrumental, and the lyre to the flute, not only for its decency
and gravity, but because instruction could be conveyed to the mind, by
means of articulation in singing, at the same time as the ear was
delighted by sweet sounds.
In perusing the list of illustrious men, who have sprung from the
school of Pythagoras, it appears that the love and cultivation of music
was so much a part of their discipline, that almost every one of them
left a treatise behind him upon the subject.
The journey of Pythagoras from the Grecian islands was prob-
first

ably into Egypt, which were celebrated in his time for that kind of
wisdom which best suited his genius and temper. In his way thither,
Jamblichus asserts that he visited Phcenecia, and conversed with the
prophets and philosophers that were the successors of Mochus the

Physiologist.
While he was in Egypt, he was introduced by the recommendation
of Polycrates, tyrant* of Samos, to Amasia, king of Egypt, a distin-

guished patron of literary men, and thus obtained access to the col-
leges of the priests. Having found it difficult to gain this privilege, he
performed many severe and troublesome preliminary ceremonies, and
even submitted to circumcision, a prescribed condition of his admission.
He passed twenty-two years in Egypt, availing himself of all possible
means of information with regard to the recondite doctrines of the
Egyptian priests, as well as their astronomy and geometry, and Egyp-
tian learning in its most unlimited extent.
After his return from Egypt to his native island, he wished to com-
municate the benefit of his researches and studies to his fellow-citizens,

and with this view he attempted to institute a school for their instruc-
tion in the elements of science ; adopt the Egyptian mode
proposing to

of teaching, and
communicate his doctrines under a symbolical form.
to

But the Samians were either too stupid or too indolent to profit by his
instructions. Although he was obliged to relinquish his design, he did
not altogether abandon it. In order to engage the attention of his

countrymen by some other means, he repaired to Delos and after pre- ;

senting an offering of cakes to Apollo, he there received, or pretended

to receive, moral dogmas from the priestess, which he afterwards

delivered to his deciples under the character of divine With

precepts.

t The name tyrant, as at first used,

merely designated the chief magistrate of a
the Greeks in old time, called the supreme governor of every city a tyrant or
place:
king. Bailpy. Edit.
198 LIFE A\D DOCTRINES

the same views he also visited the island of Crete, so celebrated in

mythological history; where he was conducted by the Corybantes, or

priests of Cybele, into the cave of mount Ida, in which Jupiter is said
to hare been buried. Here he conversed with Epimenides, an
eminent pretender to prophetic powers, and was by him initiated into
the most sacred mysteries of Greece. About the same time he visited
Sparta and Elis, and was present during the celebration of the Olympic
games, where he said to have exhibited a golden thigh to Abaris, in
is

order to convince him

that he was Apollo. Besides other places
which he visited during his stay in Greece, he repaired to Phlius, where
he first assumed the appellation of philosopher. Having thus added
to the stores of learning which he had previously accumulated, and

acquired a kind of authority which was calculated to command respect, he

returned to Samos, and made a second attempt, more successful than his
first, to establish a school of philosophy. In a semicircular kind of build-

ing, which the Simians had used as a place of resort for public business,
he delivered, with an assumed authority of a sacred nature, popular
precepts of morality and he also provided himself with a secret cave,
;

into which he retired with his intimate friends and professed deciples,
and here he gave his followers daily instructions, accompanied with a
considerable parade of mystery, in the more abstruse parts of philoso-

phy. His fame, and the multitude of his followers, increased. What
he failed to accomplish by mere force of learning and ability, he effected
by concealing his doctrines under the veil of mysterious symbols, and

issuing forth his precepts as responses from a divine oracle. About

the beginning of the fifty-ninth Olympiad, Pythagoras, desirous of esca-

ping the tyranical government exercised in his native island, by Sylo-

son, the brother of Polycrates, left Samos, and, as we have already
hinted, passed over into Italy, and attempted to establish his school
the colonies of Magna Graecia. It is probable, that, in order to
among
obtain credit with the populace, he about this time pretended to possess
a power of performing miracles, and practised many arts of imposture.
The first place at which he arrived in Italy was Crotona, a city in the

bay of Tarentum, the inhabitants of which were very corrupt in their

manners. But such were his reputation and influence, that he was
treated with great respect, and people of all classes assembled to hear
his discourses ; insomuch that themanners of the citizens were soon
totally changed from great luxury and licentiousness to strict sobriety

and frugality. It is said that six hundred, (some say two thousand,)
strict discipline which he
persons were prevailed upon to submit to the
 OF PYTHAGORAS. 199

required and to throw their effects into a common stock for the benefit of
the whole fraternity. The influence of his philosophy extended from
Crotona many other cities of Magna Grsecia, and obtained for Py-
to

thagoras from his followers a degree of respect little short of adora-

tion. If he had contented himself with delivering doctrines of philoso-

phy and precepts of practical wisdom, he might probably have contin-

ued his labors, without molestation, to the end of his life. But he mani-
fested a strong propensity towards political innovations and he ;

employed his influence in urging the people to the strenuous assertion of

their rights, against the encroachment of their tyrranical governors.
This course of conduct raised against him a very powerful opposition
which he was unable to resist and contend against, and which obliged
him to retire to Metapontum. Here he found himself still surrounded
with enemies, and was under a necessity of seeking an assylum in the

temple of the Muses, where not being supplied by his friends with suf-
ficient food, he perished with hunger.* The time of his death is uncer-
tain ; but according to the Chronicon of Eusebius, he died in the third

year of the sixty-eighth Olympiad, B. C. 506, after having lived accord-

ing to the most probable statement of his birth, to the age of eighty
years. After his death his followers paid a superstitious respect to his

memory. They erected statues in honor of him, converted his house at

Crotona into a temple of Ceres, the street in which it stood was called the
Museum, and appealed him
as a divinity, swearing by his name.
to
It
appears, from the history of this philosopher, that with all his tal-
ents and learning, he owed much of his celebrity and authority to

imposture. His whole manner of life confirms this opinion. Clothed

in along white robe with a flowing beard, and, as some say, with a gol-
den crown on his head, he preserved among the people, and in the
presence of his desciples, a commanding gravity, and majesty of aspect.
He recurred to music for promoting the tranquility of his mind, fre-

quently singing, for this purpose, hymns of Thales, Hesiod, and

Homer. He had such an entire command over himself, that he was
never seen to express, in his countenance, grief, joy, or anger. He
refrained from animal food, and confined himself to a frugal vegetable
diet, excluding from his simple bill of fare, for mystical reasons, pulse

* Anobius affirms that

Pythagoras was buried alive in a temple ; others slate that
he was slain in attempting to make his escape. It can hardly be doubted that his
death was violent, and that, with all his caution to preserve himself, he fell a martyr
to his generous efforts to undeceive mankind. An ill construction was put upon the
union of the Pythagoreans, and it proved very fatal to them. That society of students
being looked upon as a faction which conspired against the state, sixty of them were
destroyed, and the rest went into banishment. Diegesis, by the Rev. 11. Taylor. Edit.
200 LIFE AND DOCTRINES

or beans. this artificial demeanor, Pythagoras appeared among

By
the vulgar as a being of an order superior to the common condition of

humanity, and persuaded them that he had received his doctrine from
heaven. Pythagoras married Theano of Crotona, or, as some say, of
Crete, by whom he had two sons, Telaugus and Mnesarchus, who, after
his death took the charge of his school. Whether this philosopher left
behind him any writings has been a subject of dispute. Many works
have been enumerated under his name by Leartius, Jamblichus, and
Pliny : but it is the declared opinion of Plutarch, Josephus, Lucian,
and others, that there were no genuine works of Pythagoras extant ;

and appears highly probable, from the pains which he took to con-
it

fine his doctrine to his own school during his life, that he never com-

mitted his philosophical system to writing, and that the pieces to which
his name was affixed at an early period, were written by some of his

followers, upon the principles imbibed in his school. The famous gol-
den verses attributed to Pythagoras, and illustrated with a commentary

by Hierocles, were not written by our philosopher, but are to be

ascribed to Epicharmus, or Empedocles They may, however, be con-
sidered as a brief summary of his popular doctrines.
His method of instruction, formed upon the Egyptian model, was
" "
exoteric," and esoteric," that is, public and private. Those auditors,
who attended his public lectures, did not properly belong to his school,
but followed their usual mode of living. His select deciples called his
companions and friends, wei?e such as submitted to a peculiar plan of
discipline, and were admitted by a long course of instruction, into all the

mysteries of his esoteric doctrine.*

Masons, who have taken only the three first degrees of the order, are taught only
*
what may be called the exoteric doctrine of masonry, and this in an obscure symbolical
manner, not intended to be fully understood. In this grade, they call each other brother.
Thev were formerly, that is, in the time of the Druids, not permitted to advance further,
until they had convinced their superiors that confidence might be placed in them, and
that they were worthy of receiving the esoteric principles of the order. When raised to
the sublime degree of royal arch, they address one another by the appellation of com-
panion. And then, no doubt, in ancient times, the whole secret of masonry, that is,
the doctrine of Druidism was clearly exposed.
Dermott, after making some remarks on the conduct of certain persons, who, it
seems, were dissatisfied at not having been admitted to the royal arch degree, says, "To
this I will add the opinion our worshipful brother, Dr. Fifield
D'Assigney, printed in
the year 1744. Some of the fraternity, says he, have expressed an uneasiness at this
'

matter's being kept a secret from them, since they had already passed through the usual
degrees of probation but I cannot help being of opinion that thoy have no right to any
;

such benefit until they make a proper and are received with due formality;
application,
and as it is an organized body of men, who have passed the chair, and given undenia-
ble proofs of their skill in architecture, it cannot be treated with too much reverence,"
Now, Dr. Fifield must have been sensible, that architecture was not taught in the
lodge in his day. This ridiculous parade, therefore, about skill in this art, is a mere
excuse for the observance of an ancient custom, the reason for which was unknown.
Edit,
 OF PVTHAGORAS. 201

Previously to the admission of any person into this fraternity, Pythago-

ras examined and external appearance inquired how he
his features ;

had been accustomed to behave towards his parents and friends marked ;

his manner of laughing, conversing, and keeping silence and observed ;

what passions he was most inclined to indulge with what kind of ;

company he chose to associate how he passed his leisure moments

; ;

and what incidents appeared to excite in him the strongest emotions of

joy or sorrow. Nor after this examination was any one admitted into
his society, till he was fully persuaded of the docility of his disposition,
the gentleness of his manners, his power of retaining in silence what
he was taught, and, in fine, his capacity of becoming a true philosopher.
After the first
probationary admission, the fortitude and self-command
of the candidate were put to the trial by a long course of severe absti-
nence and rigorous exercise. The course of abstinence and self-denial
comprehended food and drink, and clothing, all which were of the most
plain and simple kind, and the exercises prescribed were such as could
not be performed without pain and fatigue. To teach them humility
and industry, he exposed them, for three years, to a continued course
of contradiction, ridicule and contempt, among their fellows.* In
order to restrain the powerful passion of avarice, he required his disci-
ples to submit to voluntary poverty : he deprived them of all command
over their own property, by casting the possessions of each individual
into a common stock, to be distributed by proper officers as occasion

required. After this sequestration of their goods, they lived together

on a footing of perfect equality, and sat down together daily at a com-
mon table. If any one afterwards repented of the connection, he was
at liberty to depart, and might reclaim, from the general fund, his

whole contribution. Thatmight acquire a habit of entire

his disciples

docility, Pythagoras enjoined upon them, from their first admission, a

* Thisimitated in thepast master's degree of masonry. The newly initiated mem-

is

ber, perfectly ignorant of the mode of proceedings in a lodge, is, against his will,
"
placed in the chair of the master as presiding officer ; and the installed worshipful
is made the butt for every worthy brother to exercise his wit upon."
This custom, it would appear, has descended from the Druids, the ancient school-
masters of England, to the universities and colleges, even of America ; where those of
the freshmen, or newly entered class, are made the butt and ridicule of the higher classes
for twelve months. The latter are empowered to direct the former to perform any
errand they wish ; can order them to repair to their rooms, and there lecture them for
their awkwardness, ignorance, etc. This practice was doubtless introduced upon the
principle of Pithagoras, to inculcate humility ; but when exercised upon a raw, diffident,
country boy, it must prove extremely discouraging and oppressive. The custom how-
ever, said has
it is
gone into disuse. Gen. Erastus Root of Delhi, in this State,by a
resolute refusal to submit to this has the honor, as I am informed by a grad-
discipline,
uate of Dartmouth college, of putting an end to this vile practice in that institution.
Edit*
26
202 LIFE AND DOCTRINES

long term of silence, called echemythia. This initiatory silence,

which probably consisted in refraining- from speech, not only during

the hours of instruction, but through the whole term of initiation, con-
tinued from two to five years, according to the propensity discovered

by the pupil towards conceit and loquacity. With regard to himself,

this was a judicious expedient, as it checked impertinent curiosity, and
his dis-
prevented every inconvenience of contradiction. Accordingly
ciples silenced all doubts and refuted all objections, by appealing to his

authority Autos epha, ipse dixit, decided every dispute. More-

over, during the years of initiation, the disciples were prohibited from
seeing their master, or hearing his lectures, except from behind a cur-
tain,* or receiving instructions from some inferior preceptor.
To the members of theesoteric school (who were called gyesioi emile-
tai genuine disciples) belonged the peculiar privilege of receiving a full

explanation of the whole doctrine of Pythagoras, which was delivered

to others in brief precepts and dogmas, under the concealment of sym-

bols. Disciples of this class were permitted to take minutes of their

master's lectures in writing, as well as to propose questions, and offer
remarks, upon every subject of discourse. These were particularly dis-
tinguished by the appellation of the "Pythagoreans," they were also
called " Mathematicians," from the studies upon which they entered

immediately after their initiation. After having made a sufficient pro-

gress in geometrical science, they proceeded to the study of nature, the

investigation of primary principles, and the knowledge of God. Those
who pursued these sublime speculations were called " Theorists," and
those who devoted themselves more particularly to Theology, were

styled sebastikoi,, religious. Others, according to their abilities and incli-

nations, were engaged in the study of morals, economics, and policy ;
and were afterwards employed in managing the affairs of the fraternity,
or sent into the cities of Greece, to instruct them in the principles of
government, or assist them in the institution of laws.
The brethren of the Pythagorean college at Crotona, called coniobion,
coenobium, about six hundred in number, lived together as in one fam-
ily, with their wives and children, and the whole business of the society
was conducted with the most perfect regularity. Every day com-
menced with a deliberation upon the manner in which it should be
spent, and concluded with a retrospect of the events which had occurred,

* There \B an affectation of this

sort, as before observed, in the ninsonic degrees of
" "
Knight of the Eagle," and Knight of Kadosh," in which the candidate is not permit-
Jed to sec the person who initiates him. Edit.
 OF PYTHAGORAS. 103

and of the businessthat had been transacted. They rose before the sun
that they might do him homage after which they repeated select ver-
;

ses from Homer and other poets, and made use of music, both vocal
and instrumental, to enliven their spirits and fit them for the business
of the day.They then employed several hours in the study of science.
These were succeeded by an interval of leisure, which was commonly
spent in a solitary walk for the purpose of contemplation. The next
portion of the day was allotted to conversation. The hour immediately
before dinner was filled up with various kinds of athletic exercises.
Their dinner consisted chiefly of bread, honey, and water for after ;

they were perfectly initiated, they wholly denied themselves the use of
wine. The remainder of the day was devoted to civil and domestic
conversation, bathing and religious ceremonies.
affairs,
The " exoteric" disciples of Pythagoras were taught after the

Egyptian manner, by images and symbols, obscure and almost unintel-

ligible to those who were not initiated into the mysteries of the school ;

and those who were admitted to this privilege were under the strictest
obligation of silence with regard to the recondite doctrines of their
master. The wisdom of Pythagoras, that it might not pass into the
ears of the vulgar, was committed chiefly to memory and when they ;

found necessary to make use of writing, they took care not to suffer
it

their minutes to pass beyond the limits of the school.*

Clemens observes, that the two orders above described corresponded
very exactly to those among the Hebrews ;
for in the, schools of the

prophets there were two classes, viz the sons of the prophets, who
:

were the scholars and the doctors or masters, who were also called
;

perfecti ;
and among the Levites, the novices or tyros, who had their

quinquenial exercises, by way of preparation. Lastly, even among the

proselytes there were two orders :
exoterici, or proselytes of the gate j

* The
principal and and most efficacious of their doctrines, the Pythagoreans com-
mitted to memory, and communicated them to their successors as mysteries from the
gods ; and if at any time there were any extraneous, or, as I may say, profane per-
sons among them, they signified their meaning by symbols.
Hence Lysis reproving Hipparchus for communicating the discourse to uninitiated
persons, void of mathematics and theory, saith, it is reported that you teach philosophy
in public to all that come, which Pythagoras would not do. If you are changed, I shall
rejoice ; if not, you are dead to me for we ought to remember that it is pious, accord-
:

ing to the direction of divine and human exertations, that the goods of -wisdom ought
not to be communicated to those whose soul is not purified so much as in dream. It
is not lawful to bestow on every one that, which was acquired with so much labor, nor
to reveal the mysteries of the Eleusinian goddess to profane persons. They who do
both these, are alike unjust and irreligious. It is good to consider within ourselves how
much time was employed in taking away the spots that were in our breasts, that after
five years we might be made capable of his
[Pythagoras' s] discourses. Jamblichus.
Quoted in T. Stanley's History of Philosophy. London, 16(56, p. 376. Edit.
204 LIFE AND DOCTRINES

and intrinseci, or perfecti, proselytes of the covenant. He adds, it is

highly probable, that Pythagoras himself had been a proselyte of the

gate, if Jiot of the covenant.
After the dissolution of the assembly of Pythagoras's disciples by
the faction of Cylo, a man and distinction at Crotona, it was
of wealth

thought necessary by Lysis and Archippus, in order to preserve the

Pythagorean doctrine from oblivion, to reduce it to a systematic sum-
mary at the
;
same time, however, strongly enjoining their children to
preserve these memoirs secret, and to transmit them in confidence to their

posterity. From this time^ books began to multiply among the follow-
ers of till at length, in the time of Plato, Philolaus exposed
Pythagoras,
the Pythagorean records to sale, and
Archytas of Tarentum gave Plato
a copy of his commentaries upon the aphorisms and precepts of his
master. Of
the imperfect records of the Pythagorean philosophy left

by Lysis, Archytas, and others, nothing has escaped the wreck of time,
except perhaps sundry fragments collected by the diligence of Stobasus,
concerning the authenticity of which there are some grounds for sus-
picion and which, if admtted as genuine, will only exhibit an imper-
;

fectview of the moral and political doctrine of Pythagoras under the

disguise of symbolical and enigmatical language. The strict injunc-
tion of secrecy,which was given by oath to the initiated, Pythagoreans
has effectually prevented
any original records of their doctrine con-
cerning Nature and God from passing down to posterity. On this
head we are to rely entirely for information, and indeed concerning
the whole doctrine of
Pythagoras, upon Plato and his followers. Plato
himself, while he enriched his system with stores from the magazine
of Pythagoras, accommodated the Pythagorean doctrines, as he also
did those of his master Socrates, to his own system, and thus gave an

imperfect, and, we may suppose, in many particulars, a false represen-

tation of the doctrines of the Samian philosopher. It was farther cor-

rupted by the followers of Plato, even in the old academy, and after-
wards in the Alexandrian school. To which we may add, that the
doctrine of Phythagoras itself, probably in its original state, and
certainly in every form under which it has been transmitted to us, was
observed, not only by symbolical, but by mathematical language, which
israther adapted to perplex than to illustrate metaphysical conceptions.
In this fault Pythagoras was afterwards imitated by Plato, Aristotle,
and others.*

* Moderatus saith, that the Pythagoric philosophy came at last to be extinguished ;

because it was enigmatical ; next, because the writings were in the Doric dialect,
first,
which is obscure, by which means the doctrines delivered in it were not understood ;
 OF PYTHAGORAS. 205

We extract from Brucker the following faint delineation of the

Pythagorean philosophy: The end of philosophy is to free the mind

from those incumb ranees, which hinder its progress towards perfection,
and to raise it to the contemplation of immutable truth, and the know-
ledge of divine and spiritual objects. This effect must be produced by
easy steps, lest the mind, hitherto conversant only with sensible thingSj
should revolt at the change. The first step towards wisdom is the
study of mathematics, a science which contemplates objects that lie in
the middle way between corporeal and incorporeal beings, and as it
were on the confines of both, and which most advantageously inures the
mind to contemplation.
The monad, or unity,
is that quantity, which, being deprived of all

number, remains fixed whence called monad from to menein. It is

;

the fountain of all number. The duad is imperfect and passive, and
the cause of increase and division. The triad, composed of the monad
and duad, partakes of the nature of both. The tetrad, tetractys, or

quaternion number, is the most perfect. The decad, which is the sum
of the four former, comprehends all arithmetical and musical propor-
tions.

According to some writers, the monad denotes the active principle

in nature, or God; the duad, the passive principle, or matter the triad, ;

the word formed by the union of the two former and the tetractys, the ;

perfection of nature. Some have understood by this mysterious number

the four elements; others, the four faculties of the human mind; others,
the four cardinal virtues ;
and others have been so absurd as to suppose
that Pythagoras made use of this number to express the name of God.
in reference to the word [Gehovah,! by which that name is

expressed in the Hebrew language. But every attempt to unfold this

mystery has hitherto been unsuccessful.

Next to numbers, music had the chief place in the preparatory
exercises 6f the Pythagorean school, by means of which the mind was
to be raised above the dominion of the passions, and inured to contem-
plation. Pythagoras considered music, not only as an art to be judged
of by the ear, but as a science to be reduced to mathematical principles
and proportions.

and, moreover, because they who published them were not Pythagoreans. Besides,
Plato, Aristotle, and others, as the Pythagoreans affirm, vended the best of them as
their own, changing only some few things in them, but the more vulgar and trivial, and
whatsoever was afterwards invented by envious and calumnious persons, to cast a
contempt upon the Pythagorean school, they collected and delivered as proper to that
sect. (Porphyry, p. 36 ; Stanley, p. 363.) Edit.
206 LIFE AND DOCTRINES

was said of Pythagoras by his followers, who hesitated at no

It

assertion, however improbable, which might seem to exalt their master's

fame, that he was the only mortal so far favored by the gods as to be
permitted to hear the celestial music of the spheres. Pythagoras applied
music to the cure of diseases both bodily and mental. It was, as we
have seen, the custom of his school, to compose their minds for rest in
the evening, and to prepare themselves for action in the morning, by
suitable airs, which they performed upon the lute, or other stringed
instruments. The music was, however, always accompanied with
verse, so that it
may be doubted, whether the effect was to be ascribed
more to the musician or to the poet. It is said of Clinius, a Pythago-

rean, that whenever he perceived himself inclined to anger, spleen, or

other restless passions, he took up his lute, and that it never failed to
restore the tranquility of his mind. Of Pythagoras himself, it is related,
that he checked a young man, who, in the midst of his revels, was

meditating some act of Bacchanalian madness, by ordering the

musician, who had inflamed his passions by Phrygian airs, to change
the music on a sudden into the slow and solemn Doric mood. If the

stories which are by the ancients concerning the wonderful

related
effects of their music are to be credited, we must acknowledge we are

strangers to the method by which these effects were produced.

Besides arithmetic and music, Pythagoras cultivated geometry,
which he had learned in Egypt; but he greatly improved it, by inves-
tigating many new theorems, and by digesting its principles, in an
order more perfectly systematical than had before been done. Several
Grecians, about the time of Pythagoras, applied themselves to mathe-
matical learning, particularly T hales in Ionia. But Pythagoras seems
to have done more than any other philosopher of this period towards

reducing geometry to a regular science. His definition of a point is

a monad or unity with position. He taught that a geometrical point
corresponds to unity in arithmetic, a line to two, a superficies to three*
a solid to four. Of the geometrical theorems ascribed to Pythagoras, the

following are the principal that the interior angles of every triangle
:

are together equal to two right angles that the only polygons which
;

fillup the whole space about a given point, are the equilateral triangle,
the square, and the hexagon the first to be taken six times, the second
;

four times, and the third three times and that, in rectangular triangles,
;

the square of the side which subtends the right angle is equal to the
two squares of the sides which contain the right angle. Upon the
invention of this later proposition (Euclid, 1. i.
prop. 47.,) Plutarch says,
 OF PYTHAGORAS. 207

that Pythagoras offered an ox, others, an hecatomb, to the gods. But

this story is thought by Cicero inconsistent with the institutions of
Pythagoras, which, as he supposes, did not admit of animal sacrifices.
Theoretical philosophy, which treats of nature and its origin, was the

highest object of study of the Pythagorean school, and included all those
profound mysteries, which those, who have been ambitious to report
what Pythagoras said behind the curtain, have endeavored to unfold.
Upon this subject, nothing can be advanced with certainty, especially
respecting theology, the doctrine of which, Pythagoras, after the man-
ner of the Egyptian priests, was peculiarly careful to hide under the
vail of\symbols, probably through fear of disturbing the popular super-
stitions. The ancients have not, however, left us without some grounds
of conjecture.
With respect to God, Pythagoras appears to have taught, that he is
the Universal Mind, diffused through all things, the source of all animal
life, the proper and intrinsic cause of all motion, in substance similar to

light, innature like truth, the first principle of the universe, incapable
of pain, invisible, incorruptible, and only to be comprehended by the
inind.
The region of the air was supposed by the Pythagoreans to be full
of spirits, demons, or heroes, who cause sickness or health to man or
beast, and communicate, at their pleasure, by means of dreams, and
other instruments of divination, the knowledge of future events. That
Pythagoras himself held this opinion cannot be doubted, if it be true, as
his biographers relate, that he professed to cure diseases by incantations.
It is probable that he derived it from the Egyptians, among whom it

was believed that many diseases were caused by demoniacal posses-

sions.

The doctrine of the Pythagoreans, respecting the nature of brute

animals, and metempsychosis, the transmigration of souls, were the foun-

dation of their abstinence from animal food, and of the exclusion of
animal sacrifices from their religious ceremonies.
This doctrine Pythagoras probably learned in Egypt, where it was
commonly taught. Nor is there any sufficient reason for understand-

ing it, as some have done, symbolically.

The precept prohibiting the use of beans, is one of the mysteries
which the ancient Pythagoreans never disclosed, and which modern
ingenuity has in vain attempted to discover. Pythagorean precepts of
more value are such as these Discourse not of
:
Pythagorean doctrines
without light. Above all Quit not your
things govern your tongue.
208 LIFE AND DOCTRINES

station without the command of your general. Remember that the

paths of virtue nncl of vice resemble the letter Y. To this symbol
Persius refers, when he says,

"There has the Samain Y's instructive make

Pointed the road thy doubtful foot should take ;

There warn'd thy raw and yet unpractis'd youth,

To tread the rising right-hand path of truth."
(Bruckcr's Hist. Philos. by Enfield, vol.i. b. c. 12.)

After the death of Pythagoras, the care and education of his chil-
dren, and the charge of his school, devolved upon Aristasus of Crotona,
who, having taught the doctrine of Pythagoras thirty-nine years, was suc-
ceeded by Mnesarchus, the son of Pythagoras. Pythagorean schools
were afterwards conducted in Heraclia by Clinias and Philolaus at ;

Metapontum by Theorides and Eurytus; and at Tarentum by Archy-

tas, who is said to have been the eighth in succession from Pythagoras,
The first person who divulged the Pythagorean doctrine was Philo-
laus.

The symbolical use of the letter Y

has reference to the old fable, before noticed, of
the trivia or triple path, that is, where the road to the infernal regions divides into two f

the one leading to Elysium, and the other to Tartarus. This letter was a very appro-

priate symbol
to mark out these roads ;
two strokes which form
the disproportion of the

it, being
indicative of the comparative numbers to be accommodated in the two courses ;

that is, of the righteous and the wicked. St. Matthew, no doubt, makes allusion to the

common idea entertained upon this subject, when he says,

" Enter
ye in at the straight gate for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that
:

leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat because straight is the:

gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life ; and few there be that find it."
(vii. 13.)
"It is surprising, says Bayle, that a philosopher so skillful as Pythagoras in astro-
nomy, in geometry, and in other parts of the mathematics, should be pleased to deliver
his most beautiful precepts under the vail of enigmas. This vail was so thick, that the
have found in it ample matter for conjecture. This symbolic method was
interpreters
It is from thence without doubt Pythagoras
very much used in the East, an<J in Egypt.
has derived it. He returned fro'm his travels laden with the spoils of the erudition of
all the countries he had visited. It is pretended that his tetractys is the same thing as

the name tclragrammaton, a name ineffable and full of mystery, according to the
Rabbins. Others have it, that this tetractys, this grand object of veneration and of
will

oaths, is nothing more than a mysterious

manner of dogmatising by numbers. But let
us not forget, that Pythagoras and his successors had two ways of teaching, one for the
initiated, and the other for strangers
and the profane. The first was clear and unvailed,
the second was symbolic and enigmatical." (Diet.)
It is somewhat remarkable, that a difference of opinion should exist among the
to convey to his pupils of
learned in regard to the meaning which Pythagoras intended
the esoteric class, by the word Tetractys for it appears pretty evident, that he used it.
:
 CUSTOMS AND DOGMAS OF THE DRUIDS. 209

enigmatically ae synonymous with geometry. And so Bailey, who seems' to have

known more of antiquity than any other of his day, defines it. He says, " Tetractys
in ancient geometry, signified a. point, a line, a surface, and a solid." Hutchinson, in
his 'Spirits of Masonry,' gives the same definition. He says, "The Pythagoric
tetractics [tetractys] were a point," etc. as aboTe.
The ancient Druidical Freemasons were taught, as reported by Prichard, that there
are four principles in masonry, which are specified agreeably to the above definition
oftetractys.
These four principles contained in the letractys or geometry, comprehend the entire
of physical nature, and on this account the enigma of the perfection of the number four
has been erected.
A writer on masonry (see Carlile. p. 99) observes, "That the Pythagoreans
affirmed the tetractys, or number four to be the sum and completion of all things, as
comprising the four, great principles both of arithmetic and geometry. In the center of
a masonic lodge, within an irradiation or blazing star, is inscribed the letter G, denoting
the great and glorious science of geometry, as cultivated by our ancient and venerable
masters." And adds, " Whilst each of those our symbols recipocally serves to illustrate
the rest, there is one sense, in which they yield to the decided preeminence of the great
central emblem, whose sacred initial character, surrounded by a blaze of glory, recalls
cur minds from the work to the architect, from the science to its mystery."
The Egyptians invented geometry, and they found it of such infinite importance, that
.theyin a manner deified the science. Hence the great respect paid to its initial in
masonry. It is, in fact, made to indicate 4he Supreme Being, who, according to the
Pythagorean doctrine, was mysteriously involved in the physical principles of nature.
Geometry is painted as a lady, with a sallow face, clad in a green mantle, fringed with
silver, and holding a wand [the Nilometer] in her right hand. Bailey.
silver
The Eleusinian mysteries were regularly celebrated every fifth year, that is, after a
revolution of four years. Tho Olympic games toek place at the same time, the name of
which originated from their being first celebrated near the city of Olympia. Hence the
olympiad, an epoch of four years; all arising, evidently, from the perfection attributed
to the number four.

The Customs and Religious Dogmas, of the Druids of England,

extracted from the History of Great Britain^ by Robert

Henry, D. D.
When the Romans
first invaded Britain, under Julius Caesar, the

inhabitants of were famous, even among foreign nations, for their

it

superior knowledge of the principles, and the great zeal for the rites of
their religion.
To say nothing here of the profits which the Druids derived from
the administration of justice, the practice of physic, and teaching the
sciences, (which were all in their hands,) they certainly received great
emoluments from those whom they instructed in the principles, and ini-
tiated into the mysteries of their theology; especially from such of
them as were of high rank, and came from foreign countries.
27
210 CUSTOMS AND DOGMAS

Nothing can be affirmed with certainty, concerning the precjse num-

ber of the British Druids, though, in genera], we have reason to believe,
that they were very numerous. Both the Gauls and the Britons of
these times were much addicted to superstition ;
and among a supersti-
tious people, there will always be many priests. Besides this, they enter-
tained an opinion, as we are told by Strabo, which was highly favor-
able to the increase of the priestly order. They were fully persuaded,
that the greater number of Druids they had in their country, they would

obtain the more and the greater abundance of all

plentiful harvests,
things. Nay, weare directly informed by Caesar, that great numbers of
people, allured by the Conors and privileges which they enjoyed, embraced
the discipline of the Druids of their own accord, and that many more
were dedicated to it
by their parents. Upon the whole, therefore, we
shall probably not be very much mistaken, if we suppose that the Bri-
tish Druids bore as great a proportion in number to the rest of the peo-

ple, as the clergy in popish countries, bear to the laity, in the present

age.
The Druids, as well as the Gymnosophists of India, the Magi of
Persia, the Chaldeans of Assyria, and all the other priests of antiquity,
had two sets of religious doctrines and opinions, which were very diffe-
rent from one another. The one of these systems they communicated
only to the initiated, who were admitted into their own order, and at
their admission were solemnly sworn to keep that system of doctrines a
profound from all the rest of mankind. Besides this, they took
secret
several other precautions to prevent these secret doctrines from transpir-

ing. They taught their disciples, as we are told by Mela, in the most
private places, such as caves of the earth, or the deepest recesses o the
thickest forests, that they might not be overheard by any who were not
initiated. They never committed any of these doctrines to writing, for
fear th'ey should thereby becomeNay, so jealous were some
public.
orders of these ancient priests on this head, that they made it an inviola-
ble rule never to communicate any of these secret doctrines to women,
lest they should blab them. The other system of religious doctrines
and opinions was made public, being adapted to the capacities arid super-
stitious humors of the people, and calculated to promote the honor and

opulence of the priesthood.

It cannot be expected, that we should be able to give a minute detail
of the secret doctrines of the Druids. The Greeks and Roman wri-

ters, from whom alone we can receive information, were not perfectly
acquainted with them, and therefore they have left us only some general
 OF THE DRUIDS. \\%

hints, and probable conjectures about them, with which we must be con-
tented. The secret doctrines of our Druids were much the same with
those of the Gymnosophists and Brachmans of India, the Magi of Pet-
sia,the Chaldeans of Assyria, the priests of Egypt, and of all the other

priests of antiquity. All these are frequently joined together by ancien 1

authors, as entertaining the same opinions in religion and philosophy,
which might be easily confirmedby an induction of particulars. The
truth is, there is
hardly anything more surprising in the history of man-
kind, than the similitude, or rather identity, of the opinions, institutions,
and manners of all these orders of ancient priests, though they lived
under such different climates, and at so great a distance from one ano-
ther, without intercourse or communication. This amounts to a demon-
stration, that all these opinions and institutions flowed originally from
one fountain. The secret doctrines of the Druids, and of all these diffe-
rent orders of priests, were more agreeable to primitive tradition and

right reason, than their public doctrines as they were not under any
;

temptation, in their private schools, to conceal or disguise the truth.

It is not
improbable that they still retained, in secret, the great doctrine
of one God, the creator and governor of the universe. This, which
was originally the belief of all the orders of priests which we have
mentioned, was retained by some of them long after the period we are
now considering, [that is from the first invasion of England by the
Romans under Julius Caesar, fifty-five years before the Christian era, to
the arrival of the Saxons, A. D. 449,] and might therefore be known to
the Druids at this period. This is one of the doctrines which the Brach-
mans sworn to keep secret " That there is one God, the
of India are :

creator of heaven and earth." Caesar acquaints us, tnat they taught
their disciples many things about the nature and perfections of God.
Some writers are of opinion, and have taken much learned pains to
prove, that our Druids, as well as the other orders of ancient priests,
taught their disciples many things concerning the creation of the world
the formation of man his primitive innocence and felicity and his
fall into guilt and misery the creation of angels their rebellion and

expulsion out of Heaven the universal deluge, and the final destruc-
tion of this world by
fire; and that their doctrines on all these subjects
were not very different from those which are contained in the writings
of Moses, and other parts of Scripture. There is abundant evidenc 6
that the Druids taught the doctrine of the immortality of the souls of men
and Mela tells us, that this was one of their doctrines which they were
"
permitted to publish, for political rather than religious reasons. There is
212 CUSTOMS AND DOGMAS

one thing xvhich they teach their disciples, which hath been made known
to the common people, in order to render them more brave and fearless ;
"
viz : that souls are immortal, and that there is another life after the

present." Caesar and Diodorus say, that the Drdids taught the Pytha-

gorean doctrine of the transmigration of souls into other bodies. This

was perhaps their public, doctrine on this subject, as being most level to

the gross conceptions of the vulgar. But others represent them as

teaching that the soul after deatK ascended into some higher orb, and

enjoyed a more sublime felicity.

This was probably their private doc-
trine, and real sentiments.*
But however agreeable to truth and reason, the secret doctrines of
the Druids might be, they were of no benefit to the bulk of mankind,
from whom they were carefully concealed. For these artful priests, for
their own mercenary ends, had embraced a maxim, which hath unhap-
that ignorance was the mother of devotion, and that
pily survived them,
the common people were incapable of comprehending rational princi-

ples, or
of being influenced by rational motives ;
and that they were
therefore to be fed with the coarser food of superstitious fables. This is
the reason assigned by Strabo, for the fabulous theology of the ancients.
" the common herd of mankind
It is not possible to bring women, and
to religion, piety, and virtue, by the pure and simple dictates of reason.
It is necessary to call in the aids of superstition, which must be nou-
rished by fables and portents of various kinds. With this view there-
fore were all the fables of ancient theology invented, to awaken super-
stitious terrors in the minds of the ignorant multitude." As the Druids
had the same ends in view with the other priests of antiquity, it is
highly
probable that their public theology was of the same complexion with
theirs; consisting of a thousand mythological fables, concerning the
genealogies, attributes, offices, and actions of their gods ;
the various

superstitious methods of appeasing their anger, gaining their favor, and

discovering their will. This farrago of fables was couched in verse
full of figures and metaphors, and was delivered by the Druids from lit-

tle eminences (of which there are many still

remaining) to the surround-

* Man is placed,
according to their [the Druids'] doctrine, says Dr. Lingard, in his
in the circle of courses : good and evil are placed before nim for his
history of England,
selection. If lie prefer the former, death transmits him from the earth into the circle of
felicity ; but if he prefer the latter, death returns him to the circle of courses : he is
made to do penance for a time in the body of a beast or reptile^ and then permitted to
re-assume the form of man. According to the predominance of vice or virtue in his dis-
position, a repetition
of his probation may be necessary ; but after a certain number of
transmigrations his offences will be expiated, his passions subdued, and the circle of
felicity will receive
him among its inhabitants. Edit.
 OF THE DRUIDS. , . 213
\

ing multitudes. With this fabulous divinity, these poetical declaimers

intermixed moral precepts, for the regulation of the lives and manners
of their hearers and were peculiarly warm in exhorting them to abstain
;

from doing any hurt or injury to one another and to fight valiantly in
;

defence of their country. These pathetic declamations are said to have

made great impression on the minds of the people, inspiring them with
a supreme veneration for their gods, an ardent love to their country,
an undaunted courage and sovereign contempt of death. The secret and
their system of morals and
public theology of the Druids, together with
had swelled to such an enormous size, in the beginning of
philosophy,
this period, that their disciples employed no less than twenty years in

making themselves masters of all their different branches, and in getting

by heart, that infinite multitude of verses in which they were con.

tained.
The sun seems to have been both the most ancient and most univer-
sal object of idolatrous worship :
insomuch, that perhaps there never
was any which did not pay some homage to this
nation of idolators,

glorious luminary. He was worshipped by the ancient Britons with

great devotion, in many places, under the various names of Bel, Beli-
nus, Belatucardus, Apollo, Grannius, etc., all which names in their
v

language were expressive of the nature and properties of that visible

fountain of light and heat. To this illustrious object of idolatrous
worship, those famous circles of stones, of which there are not a few
still remaining, seem to have been chiefly dedicated where the Druids :

kept the sacred fire* the symbol of this divinity, and from whence, as
being situated on eminences, they had a full view of the heavenly
bodies.
As the moon appeared next in lustre and utility to the sun, there
can be no doubt, that this radient queen of heaven obtained a very
early and very large share in the idolatrous veneration of mankind.
The Gauls and Britons seem to have paid the same kind of worship
to the moon, as tothe sun and it hath been observed, that the circular
;

temples dedicated to these two luminaries were of the same construc-

tion, and commonly contiguous. But a great number of the gods of
Gaul and Britain, as well as of Greece and Rome, had been men, vic-

torious princes, wise legislators, inventors of useful arts, etc.

* Like the ancient

Jews and Persians, the Druids had a sacred, inextinguishable fire,
which was preserved with the greatest care. At Kildare, (Ireland,) it was guarded
from the most remote antiquity, by an order of Druidesses, who were succeeded in later
times by an order of Christian Nuns." (Higgins's Celtic Druids, p. 283.) Edit.
214 CUSTOMS AND DOGMAS

They worshipped also several female divinities or goddesses as ;

Andraste, who is supposed to have been the same with Venus or Diana ;

Minerva, Ceres, Proserpine, etc. Nay, into such an abyss of superstition

and idolatry were they sunk, that according to Gildas, they had a greater
number of gods than the Egyptians; and there was hardly a river,
]ake, mountain, or wood, which was not supposed to have some divinr
ties, or genii residing in them.
As it hath always been one end of religious worship, to obtain cer-

tain favors from the objects of it, so prayers and suplications for these
favors, have always made a part of the religious w orship of all nations,
r

and particular of that of the ancient Britons.

in When in danger,
they implored the protection of their gods prayers were intermixed
;

with their praises, accompanied their sacrifices, and attended every act
of their religion. It seems, indeed, to have been the constant, invaria-
ble practice of all nations, the Jews not excepted, whenever they pre-
sented any offerings or sacrifices to their gods, to put up prayers to
them to be propitious to the persons by whom and for whom the offer-

ings or sacrifices were presented and to grant them such particular

;

favors as they desired. Offerings of various kinds constituted an im-

portant part of the religion of the ancient Britons. This was a mode
of worship, which the Druids very much encouraged, and their sacred
places were crowded with those pious gifts.
Mankind in all ages, and in every country, have betrayed a con-
sciousness of guilt, and dread of punishment from superior beings, on
that occount. In consequence of this, they have employed various
means to expiate the guilt of which they were conscious, and to

escape the punishment of which they were afraid. The means which
have been most universally employed by mankind for these ends, were
sacrifices of living creatures to their offended gods ;
which constituted

a very essential part of the religion of the ancient Britons, and of

almost all other ancient nations. The animals which were sacrificed
by them, as well as by other nations, were such as they used for their
own food which being very palatable and nourishing to themselves,
;

they imagined would be no less agreeable to their gods. These vic-

tims were examined by the Druids with great care, to see that they
were the most perfect and beautiful in their several kinds after which ;

they were killed, with various ceremonies, by priests appointed for

that purpose. On some occasions the victims were consumed entirely
by fire upon the altar but more commonly they were divided into
;

three parts, one of which was consumed upon the altar, another fell to
 OF THE DRUIDS. 215

the share of the priests who officiated and on the third, the person
;

who bought the sacrifice, feasted with his friends.

It had been well, if our British ancestors had confined themselves
to the sacrificing of oxen, sheep, goats, and other animals but we ;

have undoubted evidence, that they proceeded to the most horrid lengths
of cruelty in their superstition, and offered human victims to their gods.
"
It had unhappily become an article in the Druidical creed, That
nothing but the life of man could atone for the life of man." In conse-
quence of this maxim, their altars streamed with human blood, and
great numbers of wretched men fell a sacrifice to their barbarous super-
stition. They are said indeed to have preferred such as had been
guilty of thieft, robbery, and other crimes, as most acceptable to their
gods but when there was a scarcity of criminals, they made no scru-
;

ple to supply their place with innocent persons. These dreadful sacri-
fices were by the Druids for the public, at the eve of a danger-
offered
ous war, or in the time of any national calamity and for particular ;

persons of high rank, when they were with any dangerous dis-
afflicted

ease. By such acts of cruelty did the ancient Britons endeavor to

avert the displeasure, and gain the favor of their gods.
It seems to have been one article in the creed of the ancient Britons

and of all the other nations of antiquity, that the gods whom they wor-
shipped had the government of the world, and the direction of future
events in their hands ; and that they were not unwilling upon proper
"
application, to discover these events to their pious worshippers. The
gods (says Amianus,) either from the benignity of their own natures,
and their love to mankind, or because men have merited this favor
from them, take a pleasure in discovering impending events by various
indications." This belief gave
rise to astrology, augury, magic, lots,

and an multitude of religious rites and ceremonies; by which

infinite

deluded mortals hoped to discover the counsels of Heaven, with regard

to themselves and their undertakings. We
learn from Pliny, that the
ancient Britons were greatly addicted to divinition, and excelled so
much in the practice of all its arts, that they might have given a lesson
to thr- Persians themselves.
The
British sovereigns of this period had not much authority either
in the or executing the laws, which are the principal acts of
making
government in peaceful times. In that great relaxation of political
union and civil government which prevailed in times of peace, their reli-
gion seems to have been the chief bond of union among the British
tribes and nations; and the Druids, who were the ministers of that reli-
216 CUSTOMS AND DOGMAS

gion, appear to have professed the sole authority of making, explaining^

and executing the laws an authority to which the clergy of the church
;

of Rome long and eagerly aspired, but never fully obtained. One great
reason of the superior success of the D;uids in their ambitious schemes
was this the laws among the ancient Britons, and some other ancient
:

were not "considered as the decrees of their princes, but as the

nations,
commands of their gods; and the Druids were supposed to be the only
persons whom the gods communicated the knowledge of their com-
to

mands, and consequently the only persons who could declare and
explain them to the people. The violations of the laws were not con-
sidered as crimes against the prince or state, but as sins against Heaven;
for which the Druids, as the ministers of Heaven, had alone the right
of taking vengeance. All these important prerogatives of declaring,

explaining, and executing the laws, the Druids enjoyed and exercised
"
in their full extent. All controversies, says Csesar, both public
and private are determined by the Druids. If any crime is committed,
or any murder perpetrated if any disputes
;
arise about the division of

inheritances, or the boundaries of estates, they alone have the right to

pronounce sentence; and they are the only dispensers both of rewards
and punishments. These ghostly judges had one engine which con-
tributed much procure submission to their decisions.
to This was the
sentence of excommunication or interdict, which they pronounced

against particular persons, or whole tribes, when they refused to sub-

mit to their decrees. The interdicts of the Druids were no less dread-
ful than those of the Popes, when their power was at its greatest height.

The unhappy persons against whom they were fulminated, were not
only excluded from all sacrifices and religious rites; but they were held
in universal detestation, as impious and abominable; their company was
avoided as dangerous and contaminating they were declared incapable
;

of any trust or honor, put out of the protection of the laws, and exposed
to injuries of every kind.* A condition which must have rendered life
intolerable, and have brought the most refractory spirits to submission.
The first
day of May was a great annual festival, in honor of Bel-
* Here doubtless is the source of the
severity said to be enjoined upon the masonic
brotherhood towards backsliding or contumacious members; but the tolerant spirit of
the age has, no doubt, left the threats held out in this case, a mere dead letter. Masons
expel their members for immoral conduct, and so do all other religious societies. They
have a practice, however, in this regard, that appears reprehensible, which is, to publish
in their registers, the names of all those who have had the misfortune to be expelled
from the order. This tends to fix an indelible stigma upon the character of an offend-
ing brother, prejudicial not only to himself, but to his family connections. The list con-
taining names of delinquents, should never be permitted to go beyond the walls of the
lodge room. Edit.
 OF THE DUUIDS. 217

inus, or the sun. On this day prodigious fires were kindled in all
their sacred places, and on the tops of all their cairns, and many sacri-

were offered to that glorious luminary, which now began to shine

fices

upon them with great warmth and lustre. Of this festival there are still
some vestiges remaining, both in Ireland and in the Highlands of Scot-
land, where the first of May is called Beltain, that is, the fire of Bel, or
Belinus.* Midsummer-day and the first of November, were likewise
annual festivals; the one to implore the friendly influences of heaven
upon their fields, and the other to return thanks for the favorable sea-
sons and the fruits of the earth as well as to pay their yearly contri-
;

butions to the ministers of their religion. Nay, it is even probable, that

all their gods and
goddesses, their sacred groves, their hallowed hills,
lakes, and fountains, had their several anniversary festivals so that the ;

Druidish calendar was perhaps as much crowded with holidays as the

popish one is at present. On these festivals, after the appointed sacri-
fices and other were finished, the rest of the time was
acts of devotion

spent in feasting, singing, dancing and all kinds of diversions.

It was an article in the Druidical creed, " That it was unlawful to

build temples to the gods or to worship them within walls and under
:

roofs." All their places of worship therefore were in the open air.
and generally on eminences, from whence they had a full view of the
heavenly bodies, to whom much of their adoration was directed. But
that they might not be too much incommoded by the winds and rains,
distracted by the view of external objects, or disturbed by the intrusion
of unhallowed feet, when they were instructing their disciples, or per-

forming' their religious rites, they made choice of-the deepest recesses
of groves and woods for their sacred places. These groves were planted,
for that purpose, in the most
proper situations, and with those trees in
which they most delighted. The chief of these was the strong and
spreading oak, for which tree the Druids had a very high and super-
stitious veneration. These sacred groves were watered by some conse-
crated fountain or river, and surrounded by a ditch or mound, to prevent

the intrusion of improper persons. f In the centre of the grove was a

* I am inclined to think the

author has mistaken the cause of these illuminations,
and that they were originally signals for a general purification, mentioned by Pluche,
in which every thing subject to decay, for the benefit of health, was consumed by fire,
on the first of February in Egypt. They were called the festival of the fire-brands ;
which name probably became changed, in consequence of the origin and intention of
the custom having been lost. Edit.
t Where
(says masonry) did our ancient brethren meet, before lodges were erected ?
Answer. Upon holy ground, or the highest hill, or lowest vale, or any other secret
place; the better to guard against cowans and enemies." Edit.
28
218 CUSTOM AND DOGMAS

circular area, inclosed with one or two rows of large stones set perpen-
dicular in the earth ;
which constituted the temple, within which the
altar stood, on which the sacrifices were offered. In some of their most

magnificent temples, as particularly in that of Stone-henge, they had

laid stones of prodigious weight on the tops of the standing pillars,

which formed a kind of circle aloft in the air, and added much to the

grandeur of the whole.

The British Druids were in the zenith of their power and glory at
this period enjoying
;
an almost absolute authority over the minds and
persons of their own countrymen and being greatly admired and resorted
;

to by strangers. But as the Romans gained ground in this island, the

power of the Druids gradually declined, until it was quite destroyed.
For that victorious people, contrary to their usual policy, discovered
the persons and religion of
every where a very great animosity against
the Druids. They deprived the Druids of all authority in civil matters'
and showed them no mercy when they found them trangressing the laws,
or concerned in any revolt.

Such of the Druids as did not think fit to submit to the Roman
government, and comply with the Roman rites, fled into Caledonia*
Ireland, and the lesser British isles, where they supported their authority
forsome time longer. Many of them retired into the isle of Anglesey,
which was a kind of little world of their own and where the Arch ;

Druid of Britain is thought to have had his stated residence. But they
did not long remain undisturbed in this retirement. For Suetonius
Paulinus, who was governor of Britain under Nero, A. D. 61, observ-
ing that the isle of Anglesey was the great seat of disaffection to the
Roman government, and the asylum of all who were forming plots
against it, determined to subdue it. Having conducted his army to the
island,and defeated the Britons, who attempted to defend it, though they
were animated by the presence, the prayers, and the exhortations of a
great multitude of Druids and Druidesses, he made a very
cruel use of

his victory. Not content with cutting down their sacred groves,

demolishing their temples, overturning their altars, he burned many of

them in the fires, which they had kindled for sacrificing the Roman pri-

soners, the Britons had gained the victory.

if So many of the Druids
revolt under Boadicia,
perished on this occasion, and the unfortunate
queen of the Iceni, which happened soon after, that they were never

able to make any considerable figure after this period.

But though the dominion of the Druids in South Britain was des-

at this time,- many of their superstitious practices continued

troyod
 OF THE DRUIDS. 219

much longer. Nay so deeply rooted were these principles in the

minds of the people both of Gaul and Britain, that they not only bafled
all the power of the Romans, but they even resisted the superior power

and divine light of the gospel for a long time after they had embraced
the Christian religion. This is the reason that we meet with so many
edicts of emperors, and canons of councils, in the sixth, seventh, and

eight centuries, against the worship of the sun, moon, mountains, riv-
ers, lakes, and trees. This superstition continued even longer in Bri-
tain than in some other countries, having been revived first by the
Saxons, and afterwards by the Danes. It is a sufficient
proof of this*
that so late as the eleventh century, in the reign of Canute, it was
found necessary to make the following law against those heathenish
superstitions :
"
We
strictly discharge and forbid all our subjects to

worship the gods of the gentiles that is to say, the sun, moon, fires,
;

rivers, fountains, hills or trees, and wood of any kind."

Extract from Dr. Lingartfs History of England.

To the veneration which the British^ Druids derived from their

sacerdotal character, must be added the respect which the reputation of

knowledge never fails to extort from the ignorant. They professed to

be the repositories of a sacred science, far above the comprehension of
the vulgar and their schools were opened to none but the sons of illus-
:

trious families. Such was their fame, that the Druids of Gaul, to attain
the perfection of the institute, did not disdain to study under their
British brethren. They professed to be acquainted with the nature,
the power, and the providence of the divinity with the figure, size, ;

formation, and final destruction of the earth stars, their posL

;
with the
tionand motions, and their supposed influence over human affairs.
They practiced the art of divination and magic. Three of their
ancient astrologers were able, it whatever should hap-
is said, to foretel

pen before the $ay of doom. To

medicine also they had pretensions:
but their knowledge was principally confined to the use of the miseltoe,
vervain, savin, and trefoil and even the efficacy of these simples was
:

attributed not the nature of the plants, but to the influence of prayers
and incantations.

From the Edinburgh Encyclopedia.

The garments of the Druids were remarkably long and, when ;

employed in religious ceremonies, they always wore a white surplice.

220 CUSTOMS AND DOGMAS

They generally carried a wand in their hands ;

and wore a kind of
ornament enchased in gold about their necks, called the Druids egg.
Their necks were likewise decorated with gold chains, and their hands
and army with bracelets they wore their hair very short, and their
:

beards remarkably long.

The Druids had one chief, or Arch-druid, in every nation, who
acted as high-priest, or pontifcx maximus. They had absolute authority
over the rest and commanded, decreed, punished, etc. at pleasure.
:

He was .elected from amongst the most eminent Druids, by a plu-

rality of votes.

They worshipped the Supreme Being under the name of Esus, or

Hesus* and the symbol of the oak and had no other temple than a
;

wood or a grove, where all their religious rites were performed. Nor
was any person admitted to enter that sacred recess, unless he carried
with him a chain, in token of his absolute dependence on the Deity-
The consecrated groves, in which they performed their religious
rites, were fenced round with stones, to prevent any persons entering

except through the passages left open for that purpose, and which were
guarded by some inferior Druids, to prevent any stranger from intrud-
ing into their mysteries. These groves were of different forms some ;

quite circular, others oblong, and more or less capacious as the votaries
in the districts to which they belonged were more or less numerous.

In the chain carried by the ancient Britons, in the performonce of their religious rites,
is tobe seen the archetye of the cable- tow, or tow-rope, worn about the neck of the aspi-
rant to masonic secrets which is the subject of much ridicule among the uninitiated
;

profane, and, indeed, the fraternity themselves do not seem to be aware of its true
import. They are not conscious that this humble badge is a testimony of their belief in

God, their dependence on him, and their solemn obligations to devote themselves to his
will and service.
The candidate for masonic instruction should be looked upon as an untutored, wild
man of the woods a mere child of nature, unregenerated and destitute of any knowl-
:

edge of the true God, as well as the conveniences and comforts of civilized life. For

* " Horus,
says Pluche, assumed the casque and buckler, when levies or recruits were
intended. He was then called Harits, that is, the mighty, the formidable, (violentes.
Job xv. 20.) The Syrians softened this word and pronounced Hazis. We
find the
same word hazis or hesus, used to signify the terrible in war. "The Lord strong and
mighty, the Lord mighty in battle." Ps. xxiv. 8. Others pronounced it without aspira-
tion, and &\dAres ; others with a very harsh and rough aspiration, and pronounced
Wards. This figure of Horus in a warlike dress, became the god of combats. He
evidently is the Asis of the inhabitants of Edesse, the Hczus, of the Gauls, the Area of
the Greeks, the Warts or Mars of the Sabines and Latins." Edit.
 OF TUB DRUSDS. 2*21

this reason, he is exhibited blindfolded, "Neither naked nor clothed," but about halfway
between both.
Here also may be seen the type of the masonic Tiler, an inferior officer, with a
drawn sword, to guard the lodge from the impertinent intrusion of cowans, or father
covins, and eavesdroppers. It will not be pretended that a sword is needed in this case ;

it is a mere ensign of office, in conformity to the Druidical custom.

The following- extracts from Hume's History of England, will

account for the slow introduction of Christianity among the ancient
Britons.
The most memorable event which distinguished the reign of this
great prince [Ethelbert,] was the introduction of the Christian religion
among the English Saxons. The superstition of the Germans, particu-
larly that of the Saxons, was of the grossest and most barbarous kind,
and being founded on traditionary tales received from their ancestors,
not reduced to any system, nor supported by political institutions like
that of the Druids, it seems to have made little impression on its vota-

ries, and to have easily resigned its place to the new doctrine promul-

gated to them.
On the contrary, the constant hostilities which the Saxons main-
tained against the Britons, would naturally indispose them for receiv-

ing the Christian faith, when preached to them by such inveterate ene-
mies.
The Saxons, though they had been long settled in the island, seem
not as yet, [early part of the ninth century,] to have been much im-
proved beyond their German ancestors, either in arts, civility, know-
ledge, humanity, justice, or obedience to the laws. Even Christianity
though it
opened the way to connections between them and the more
polished states of Europe, had not hitherto been very effectual in ban-
ishing their ignorance, or softening their barbarous manners. As they
received that doctrine through the corrupted channels of Rome, it car-
ried along with it a
great mixture of credulity and superstition, equally
destructive to the understanding and to morals. The reverence toward
saintsand reliques, seems to have almost supplanted the adoration of
the Supreme Being. Monastic observances were esteemed more
meritorious than the active virtues ;
the knowledge of natural causes
was neglected, from the universal belief of miraculous interposition and
judgments bounty to the church atoned for every violence against
;

society and the remorses for cruelty, murder, treachery, assassination,

:

and the more robust vices, were appeased, not by amendment of life,
222 CUSTOMS AND DOGMAS

but l)y penances, servility to the monks, and an abject and illiberal
* * *
devotion. The ecclesiastics, in those days of ignorance, [mid-
dle of the ninth century.] made rapid advances in the acquisition of pow-
er and grandeur and in inculcating the most absurd and most inter-
;

ested doctrines.Not content with the donations of land made them by

the Saxon Princes and nobles, they had cast a wishful eye on a vast
revenue, which they claimed as belonging to them, by a sacred and in-
defeasible title. However little versed in the scriptures, they had
been able under the Jewish law, a tenth of all the pro-
to discover, that,

duce of land was conferred on the priesthood; and, forgetting what

they themselves taught, that the moral part only was obligatory on
Christians, they insisted that this donation conveyed a perpetual prop-

erty, inherent, by divine right, in those who officiated at the altar.

During some whole scope of sermons and homilies was

centuries, the
directed to this purpose; and one would have imagined, from the gene-
ral tenor of these discourses, that all the practical parts of Christianity
were comprised in the exact and fathful payment of the tithes to the
clergy. Encouraged by their success in inculcating these doctrines,
they ventured farther than they were warranted, even by the Levitical
law, and pretended to draw the tenth of all industry, merchandize, wages
of laborers, and pay of soldiers nay, some canonists went so far as to
;

affirm, that the clergy were entitled to the tithe of the profits made by
courtesans in the exercise of their profession.

Slavery in England.

As slaves are not admitted into the society of Freemasons, it may be

interesting to some of readers, unacquainted with the fact, to know
my
the vast extent of the evils of slavery in England at the time when this
institution issupposed to have been established, and the great propor-
tion of the inhabitants, particularly of the mechanical and laboring
classes, that were consequently excluded from a participation in its

charitable and benevolent purposes. I, therefore, give the following

extract from Dr. Henry's History of the different ranks of people, in

Britain, from the arrival of the Saxons, A. D. 449, to the landing of

William, duke of Normandy, 1066.
The lowest order of people among the Anglo-Saxons, and the other
nations of Britain, in this period, were slaves, who with their wives and
children were the property of their masters. Besides those who were
native slaves, or slaves by birth, others frequently fell into this wretched
 or THE DRUIDS.

state, by various means ; as, by an ill run at play, by the fate of war,
or by forfeiting their freedom by their crimes, or even by contracting
debts which they were not able to pay. These unhappy people, who
were very numerous, formed an article, both of internal and foreign
trade only if the slave was a Christian, he was not to be sold to a Jew
;

or a Pagan or if he belonged to the same nation with his master, he

;

was not to be sold beyond the sea. Slaves were, however, of various
kinds, among the Anglo-Saxons, employed in various works, and were
not all in an equal state of thraldom. Some of them were called villani,
or villains, because they dwelt at the villages belonging to their mas.
ters, and performed the servile labors of cultivating their lands, to
which they were annexed, and transferred with these lands from one
owner to another. Others were domestic slaves, and performed various
offices about the houses and families of their masters. Some of these
domestic slaves of the king and the nobility, were taught the mechanic
arts, which they practised for the benefit of their owners and the ;

greatest number of the mechanics of those times seem to have been in

a state of servitude. Slaves were not supposed to have any family or
relations who sustained any loss by their death ;
and, therefore, when
one of them was killed by his master, no mulct was paid, because the
master was supposed to be the only loser when slain by another, his ;

price or manbote was paid to his master. In a word, slaves of the

lowest order, were considered merely as animals of burden, and parts
of their owners' living stock. In the laws of Wales it is expressly
"
said That a master hath the same right to his slaves as to his cattle."
:

The horrors of this cruel servitude were gradually mitigated ; and

many of thoseunhappy wretches were raised from this abject state to

the privileges of humanity. The introduction of Christianity contribu-
ted not a little, both to alleviate the weight of servitude, and diminish
the number of slaves. By the canons of the church, which were in
those'times incorporated with the laws of the land, and of the same

authority, Christians were commanded to allow their slaves certain

portions of time to work for their own benefit, by which they acquired
property, the bishops had authority to regulate the quantity of work to-
be done by slaves, rand to take care that no man used his slave harshly
but as a fellow-Christian. The bishops and clergy recommended the
manumission of slaves as a most charitable and meritorious action .

and in order to set the example, they procured a law to be made, that
all English slaves of every bishop should be set at liberty at his death,
and that every other bishop and abbot in the kingdom should set three
 CUSTOMS AND DOGMAS

slaves at liberty. But after all these mitigations of the severities of

slavery, and diminuitons of the number of slaves, the yoke of servitude

was still very heavy, and the greatest part of the laborers, mechanics, and
common people, groaned under that yoke at the conclusion of this period.
The next class or rank of people in Britain, in this period, was

composed of those who were called frilazin ; who had been slaves, but
had either purchased, or by some other means obtained their liberty.

Though these were in reality free-men, they were not considered as of the
same rank and dignity with those who had been born free but were ;

still more ignoble and dependent condition, either on their former

in a

masters, or on some new patrons. This custom, the Anglo-Saxons

seemed to have derived from their ancestors in Germany, among whom
those who had been made free did not differ much in point of dignity
or importance in the state, from those who continued in servitude.
This distinction, between those who had been made free, and those
who enjoy freedom by descent from a long race of freemen, still pre-
vails in many parts of Germany; and particularly in the original seasts
of the Anglo-Saxons. Many of the inhabitants of towns and cities in
England, in this period, seem to have been of this class of men, who
were in a kind of middle state, between slaves and freemen.
The third class, or rank of people in Britain, in the period we are
now considering, consisted of those who were completely free, and
descended from a long race of freemen. This numerous and respecta-
ble body of men, who were called ceorls constituted a middle class,
between the laborers and mechanics, who were generally slaves, or
descended from slaves on the one hand, and the nobility on the other.
They might go where they pleased, and pursue any way of life that
was most agreeable to their humor. vol. iii.
p. 320
In the time of the Anglo-Saxon rule, says Dr. Lingard, not less
than two thirds of .the population of Britain, existed in a state of sla-
very. And the sale and purchase of slaves publicly prevailed during
ilie whole of this period. These unhappy men were sold like cattle
in the market. The Northumbrians, like the savages of Africa, are
said to have carried of not only their own countrymen, but even their
friends and relatives, and to have sold them as slaves in the ports of the

continent. The men of Bristol were the last to abandon this nefarious

traffic. Their agents travelled every part of the country ; they

into

were instructed to give the highest price for females in a state of preg-

nancy; and the slave ships regularly sailed from that port to Ireland,

where they were secure of a ready and profitable market.

 CHAPTER V.

OPINIONS AND OBSERVATIONS OF LEARNED WRITERS ON FREE-

TOASONRY, WHO ARE IN FULL COMMUNION WITH THE ORDBR.

MOST of those writers on masonry who belong to the craft, either through ignorance
or design, have mystified the subject in such a manner as to render it, not only unin-
telligible, but absolutely forbidding. The opinions, therefore, of those of the order who
have written with candor, and with a view of eliciting the truth, so far as they deemed
consistent with their obligations, are entitled to great consideration. Such are the
writings from which the following extracts are made, or, at least, the passages selected
generally bear that character.

"
From The Spirit of Masonry" by William Hutchinson. Carlisle,

(England,) 1802.

I am induced to believe the name of mason has its derivation from a

language, in which it implies some strong indication, or distinction, of

the nature of the society and that it has no relation to architects.
;

The masons and masonry most probably were derived from

titles of
the Greek language, as the Greek idiom is adopted by the Druids,
as is shown in many instances in the course of this work. When
they committed any thing to writing,they used the Greek alphabet
and I am bold to assert the most perfect remains of the Druidical rites and
ceremonies are preserved in the ceremonials of masons, that are to be
found existing among mankind. My brethren maybe able to trace
them with greater exactness than I am at liberty to explain to the pub-
lic. The original names may probably be derived from or corrupted
ofMysterion,res arcana, mysteries, and Mystes, sacrisinitiatusmystis
those initiated to sacred mysteries.*
There is no doubt that our ceremonies and mysteries were derived
from the rites, ceremonies, and institutions of the ancients, and some of
them from the remotest ages.

* The
"
English word mason has a very simple origin it comes from macon, French ;
;

From mas, an old word which signifies house; thus a mason is a person who makes
houses." (French Enc.) The awkard connection which architecture is made to bear
towards the mysteries involved in freemasonry, is easily accounted for on the supposi-
tion, which is undoubtedly a fact, that the Druids made use of the craft of masonry
merely as a cover to their mystic worship.
29
226 OPINIONS OF WRITERS

The ancient masonic record, [the examination of a freemason by

Henry masons knew the way of gaining an understand-

VI.] says, that
ing of Abrac. On this word all commentators (which I have yet read)
on the subject of masonry, have confessed themselves at a loss.
Abrac, or Abracar, was a name which Basilides, a religious of the
second century, gave to God, who he said was the author of three hun-
dred and sixty-five.
The author of this superstition is said to have lived in the time of

Adrian, and that it had its name after Abrasan, or Arbaxas, the deno-
mination which Basilides gave to the Deity He called him the
God, and ascribed to him seven subordinate powers or angels,
Supreme
who presided over the heavens and also, according to the number of
:

the days in the year, he held that three hundred and sixty-five virtues,
as the emanations of God the value, o-r
powers, or intelligences, existed
:

numerical distinctions of the letters in the word, according to the ancient

Greek numerals, made 365 A B P A XA 2.
1 2 100 1 60 1 200.

With antiquaries, Abraxas is an antique gem or stone, with the

word abraxas engraven on it. There are a great many kinds of them,
of various figures and sizes, mostly as old as the third century. Per-
sons professing the religious principles of Basilides, wore this gem
with great veneration, as an amulet ;
from whose virtues, and the pro.
tection of the Deity, to whom
consecrated, and with whose name
it was
it was inscribed, the wearer presumed he derived health, prosperity,
and safety.
In the British museum is a beryl stone, the form of an egg. The
head is in camio, and reversed in taglio. The head is supposed to

represent the image of the Creator,

under the denomination of Jupiter
Ammon the sun and moon on the reverse, the Osiris and Isis of the
:

Egyptians and were used hieroglyphically to represent the omnipo-

;

tence, omnipresence, and eternity of God. The star seems to be used

as a point only, but is an emblem of prudence* the third emanation of
the Basilidian divine person.
In church history, Abrax is noted as a mystical term, expressing
the Supreme God under whom the Basilidians supposed three hun-
;

dred and sixty-five dependent deities it was the principle of the gnostic
;

hierarchy whence sprang their multitudes of Thaeons. From Abraxas

;

proceeded their primogcenial

mind ; from the primogaenial mind % the
or word from the logos, the Phronasis or prudence from :

logos ;

phronsesis, Sophia
and Dynamis, or wisdom and strength ;
from these
 ON FREEMASONRY. 227

two proceeded principalities, powers, and angels ; and from these other
angels, of the number of three hundred and sixty-five, who were sup-
posed to have the government of so many celestial orbs committed to
their care. The Gnostics were a sect of Christians having particular
tenets of faith ; they assumed their name to express that new knowledge
and extraordinary light to which they made pretensions ;
the word
gnostic implying an enlightened person.
Jupiter Ammon, was worshipped tinder the symbol of the sun. He
was painted with horns, because with the astronomers the sign Aries in
the zodiac is the beginning of the year when the sun enters into the
:

house of Aries, he commences his annual course. Heat, in the Hebrew

tongue is Hammah, and in the prophet Isaiah Hammamin is given as a
name of such images. The error of depicting him with horns, grew
from the doubtful signification of the Hebrew word, which at once
expresses heat, splendor, or brightness, and also horns,
"
The sun was worshipped by the house of Judah, under the
also
name of Tamuz, for saith Hierom, was Adonis, and Adonis is
Tamuz,
generally interpreted the sun, from the Hebrew word Adan signifying
dominus, the same as Baal or Moloch, formerly did the lord or prince
of the plinets. The month which we call June, was by the Hebrews
called Tamuz ;
and the entrance of the sun into the sign cancer ,was in
Jews' astronomy termed Tekupha Tamuz, the revolution of Tamuz.
About the time of our Saviour, the Jews held it unlawful to pronounce
that essential name of God, Jehovah ;
and instead thereof, read Adonai,
toprevent the heathen blaspheming that holy name, by the adoption of
the name of Jove, etc. to the idols. Concerning Adonis, whom some
ancient authors call Osiris, there are two things remarkable: the death
or loss of Adonis, and the finding of him again as there was great
:

lamentation at his loss, so was there great joy at his finding. By the
death or loss of Adonis, we are to understand the departure of the sun

by his finding again, the return of that luminary. he seemeth to Now

depart twice in the year first, when he is in the tropic of cancer, in the
;

farthest degree northward and, secondly, when he is in the tropic of

;

Capricorn, in the farthest degree southward. Hence we may note, that

the Egyptians celebrated their Adonia in the month of November, when
the sun began to be farthest southward, and the house of Judah theirs in
the month of June, when the sun was farthest northward yet both ;

were for the same reasons. Some authors say, that this lamentation was
performed over an image in the night season and when they had suf-
;

ficiently lamented, a candle was brought into the room, which ceremony
228 OPINIONS OF WRITERS

might mystically denote the return of the sun, then the priest with a
"
soft voice, muttered this form of words, Trust ye in God, for out
salvation is come unto us." Godwyri s Moses and Aaron.
of pains
Our ancient record, which I have mentioned, brings us positive evi-
dence of the Pythagorean doctrine, and Basilidian principles, making
the foundation of our religious and moral rules.
As the servants of one God, our predecessors professed the temple,
wherein the deity approved to be served, was not the work of men's
hands. In this the Druids copied after them the universe, they con-
:

fessed, was filled with his presence, and he was not hidden from the
most distant quarters of creation: they looked upwards to the heavens
as his throne, and wheresoever under the sun, they worshipped, they

regarded themselves as being hi the dwelling place of the divinity, from

whose eye nothing was concealed. The ancients not only refrained
from building temples, but even held it utterly unlawful; because they
thought no temple spacious enough for the sun, the great symbol of the
"
deity. Mundus universus est templum solis*" was their maxim they ;

thought it profane to set limits to the infinity of the deity when, in later ;

ages, they built temples, they left them open to the heavens, and
unroofed.
As we derived many of our mysteries and moral principles from the
doctrines of Pythagoras, who had acquired his learning in Egypt, and
others from the Phoenicians, who had received the Egyptian theology
in an early age, it is we should adopt Egyptian
not to be wondered that

symbols, to express the attributes of the Divinity.

represent or
The third emanation of Abrax, in the Gnostic hierarchy, was

Phronassis, the emblem of Prudence, which is the first and most exalted
object that demands our
attention in the Lodge. It is placed in the

centre, ever to be present to the eye of the mason, that his heart may be
attentive to her dictates, and steadfast in her laws ;
for prudence is the
rule of all virtues prudence;
which leads to every degree
is the path
of propriety prudence
;
is the channel whence self-approbation flows
for ever she leads us forth to worthy actions, and as a Blazing Star,
:

enlighteneth us through the dreary and darksome paths of this life.f

* The maxim of the ancients, that " The whole world was the
temple of the sun,"
does not indicate that they looked upon the sun as the symbol of the Deity, but as the
Deity itself.
t It is a difficult task for masons to make out any thing respecting this blazing
star, that has the least semblance of reason. They find it among the symbols, but are
not aware how it came there, and endeavor to make the best of it they possibly can.
The reader will recollect that it is Anubis the dog-star, who warned the Egyptians to
retire from the plain with their produce, to avoid the destructive effects of the inunda-
tion.
 ON FREEMASONRY. 229

That innocence should be the professed principle of a mason, occa-

sions no astonishment, when we consider that the discovery of the

Deity leads us to the knowledge of those maxims wherewith he may

be well pleased. The very idea of a God, is succeeded with the belief,
that he can approve of nothing that is evil ; and when first our prede-
cessors professed themselves servants of the Architect of the world, as
an indispensable duty, they professed innocence, and put on white
raiment, as a type and characteristic of their conviction, and of their
being devoted to his will. The Druids were apparelled in white, at
the time of their sacrifices and solemn offices. The Egyptian priests of
Osiris wore snow-white cotton in the service of Ceres, [Isis] under whom
was symbolized the gift of Providence in the fruits of the earth and
the Grecian priests also put on white.

Every degree of sin strikes the rational mind of man with some
feelings of self-condemnation. Under such conviction, who could call
upon, or claim the presence of a Divinity, whose demonstration is good
works? Hence are men naturally led to conceive, that such Divinity
will accept only of works of righteousness. Standing forth for the
approbation of heaven, the servants of the first, revealed God, bound
themselves to maxims of purity and virtue and as masons, we regard ;

the principles of those who were the first worshippers of the true God,
we imitate their apparel, and assume the badge of innocence.

In this pretension of the author, that the predecessors of the freemasons were the
first to discover the true God, an allusion is evidently made to the Egyptians, who
seem to have been great boasters in this respect.
"
The most ancient of the profane historians, and he who speaks in the most learned
manner of the religion of the Egyptians, is Herodotus. The Egyptians, according to

him, are the first people in the world who knew the names of the twelve great gods, and
from them the Greeks had learnt them. They too are the first who erected altars to
the gods, made representations of them, raised temples to them, and had priests for
their service, excluding wholly the other sex from the priesthood. Never was any peo-
continues he, more religious.
ple, They even had two sorts of writing, the one common,
and the other sacred ; and this last is set apart solely for the mysteries of religion.
Their priests shave their whole body every third day. Clothed in linen, with sandals
made of the plant papirus, they are not allowed to wear other apparel, nor other cover-
ing for their feet. They are obliged to bathe themselves in cold water twice a day, and
as often by night. So scrupulously exact must the priests be in the choice of the victims
which thy are to offer to their gods, that they are punished with death if they offer up
any which have not the qualities requisite." Mayo's Myth. v. 11. p. 27.
The
color of white's being made a symbol of purity and innocence probably owes its
origin to the following absurd notions of the ancienta :
230 OPINIONS OF WRITERS

"As the constellations of summer accompanied the season of long, warm and
unclouded days, and that of fruits, and harvests, they were considered as the powers Of

light, fecundity and creation, and by a transition from a physical to amoral sense, they
became genii, angels of science, of benificence, of purity and virtue and as the constel-
:

lations of winter were connected with long nights and polar fogs, they were the geni1
of darkness, of destruction, of death, and, by transition, angels of ignorance, of wicked-
ness, of sin and vice.
"Now, as the ea-rthly states, the greater part despotic, had already their monarchs,
and as the sun was apparently the monarch of the skies, the summer hemisphere,
empire of light, and its constellations, a people of white angels, had for king an enlight-
ened God, a creator intelligent and good. And as every rebel faction must have its
chief, the heaven of winter, the subterraneous empire of darkness and woe, arid its stars,
a people of black angels, giants or demons, had for their chief a malignant genius, whose
character was applied by different people to the constellation which to them was the
most remarkable. Ruins p. 144-5.
"The priests, says Dupuis, clothe themselves in white, a color assigned to Aromaze
or the god of light."
The superstition, or rather affectation in regard to this color, is still retained among
some Christian sects, whose priests cover themselves with this pagan, outward show of
purity.
It is somewhat remarkable that white as an emblem of purity and innocence should
have descended to the oborigines of America. The prophet, who accompanied Black
Hawk and other chiefs to Washington as hostages for the faithful performance of the
treaty made with their nation, (1833) thus addressed the President of the United States :

"
Father I have come this day clothed in white (pointing to his leather doublet) in
order to prove that my intentions are of the most pacific nature, and (raising his hands
to heaven) I call upon the great spirit of myself and forefathers to witness the purity of

my heart on this occasion."

In this country, [England] under the Druids, the first principles of

OUT profession most assuredly were taught and exercised.
We are bold to say, that if we trace the antiquity of masonry on
operative principles, and derive such principles from the building of
Solomon's Temple, we may as well claim all the professions which
Hiram excelled in.

Assuredly the secrets revealed to us were for other uses than what
relate to labouring up masses of stone; and our society, as it now

stands, isan association on religious and charitable principles which ;

principles were instituted and arose upon the knowledge of God.

We ground a judgment of the nature of our profession on our cere-
monials, and flatter ourselves every mason will be convinced that they
have no relation to building and architecture, but are emblematical, and

imply moral, and spiritual, and religious tenets. It appears self-evi-

dent, that the situation of the Lodge, and its several parts, are copied
 ON FREEMASONRY. 231

after the Tabernacle and Temple, and are representative of the universe
implying that the universe is the temple in which the Deity is every
where present;* our mode of teaching the principles of our profession,
is derived from the Druids ;
our maxims of morality, from Phythago-
ras ;
our chief emblems, orignally from Egypt ;
to Basilides we owe the
science of Abrax,and the characters of those emanations of the Deity
which we have adopted, and which are so necessary for the main-
tenance of a moral society.
Our Lodges are not now appropriated to worship and religions
ceremonies we meet as a social society, inclined to acts of benevolence,
;

and suffer the more sacred offices to rest unperformed. Whether this

neglect is to our honor, we presume not to determine ;

in our present
state professing ourselves free and accepted masons, we are totally

severed from architects, and are become a set of men working in the
duties of charity, good offices, and brotherly love.
From the ancient rites and ceremonies which we have laid before

you, it
you to trace the origin of our own rites, and to
will be easy for
discover the foundations on which our society is formed.
We have explained to you, that the structure of the Lodge is a pat-
tern of the universe, and that the first entry of a mason represents the
first
worship of the true God. We have retained the Egyptian symbols
of the sun and moon, as the emblems of God's power, eternity, omnipre-
sence, and benevolence ;
and thereby we signify, that we are the chil-
dren of light, and that the first foundation of our profession, is the
knowledge and adoration of almighty Mesouraneo, who seateth himself
in the centre of the heavens we derive from the Druids many of the
:

Amonian and have saved from oblivion, many of their religious

rites ;

rites, in our initiation to the first degree of masonry, which otherwise

would have slept in eternity. These we seem to have mixed and

tempered with the principles of the Essenes, who are a sect as
ancient as the departure of the children of Israel out of Egypt. The
philosophy of the Egyptians, and the manners, principles, and customs
of the Hebrews, were introduced to this land by the Phoenicians, and
make a part of our profession, so far as they are adapted to the worship
of Nature's great Author, unpolluted by idolatry.
We
hold our grand festival on the day of St. John, which is mid-
summer day ;
in which we celebrate that season when the sun is in its

*This was a pagan principle, according to the author's own showing above- The
fact is, the tabernacle, as well as the temple of Solomon,
appear to have been con-
structed upon the same plan as the temples of the ancients.
232 OPINION* OF WRITERS

and in the midst of its prolific powers the great type

greatest altitude, :

of the omnipotence of the Deity.

Weare not to search for our antiquity in the mythology of
Greece or Rome, we advance into remoter ages. Religion was the
original and constituent principle; a recognition of the Deity first dis-
tinguished us from the rest of mankind our predecessors searched for
;

the divine essence in the wonders displayed on the face of nature they
discovered supreme wisdom in the order of the universe in the stel-

lary system they traced the power, in the seasons and their changes the
bounty, and in animal life the benevolence of God every argument
;

brought with it conviction, and every object confirmation, that all the
wonders displayed to the eye of man, were only to be produced by some
superlative being, and maintained by his superintendency. It was

from such conviction, that men began to class themselves in religious

societies.

it was the
I may venture to assert,
only consequence which could
ensue, whilst men, were looking up to the Divinity through his works,
that they would conclude the sun was the region, where, in celestial
glory, the Deity reposed.
We discover in the Amonian and Egyptian rites, the most perfect
remains of those originals, to whom our society refers. We are told they
esteemed the soul of man to be an emanation of the Supreme, and a
spirit detached from the seraphic bands, which filled the solar mansions,
and surrounded the throne of majesty. They looked up to this grand
luminary, as the native realm from whence they were sent on this
earthly pilgrimage, and to which they should, in the end, return the ;

figure of the sun was at once a memorial of their divine origin, a badge
of the religious faith they professed, and a monitor of those principles,
which should conduct and ensure their restoration. How
soon, or to
what extreme, superstition and bigotry debased this emblem, is a
research painful and unprofitable.
We masons have adopted three particular characteristics, secrecy^,
charity,and brotherly love. Our sense of these great duties has been
explained, and of what especial import they are to masons or to men ;

who have separated themselves from the rest of mankind, and professed
they are servants of Him who ruleth in the midst of heaven. ,
If our ceremonies mean not the matter which has been expressed;

if they imply not the moral and religious

principles which we have
endeavored to unvail; it may be asked of you, masons, what they do
imply, import, or indicate ?
 ON FREEMASONRY. 233

(icnius of Masonry.

Samuel L. Knapp, Esq., in a work entitled " The Genius of Masonry,

or a Defence of the Order," in taking notice of the late discoveries made

by Champollion and others, of the hidden wisdom of the Egyptians, by

ascertaing a clue to the understanding of their hieroglyphics, observes :

"
These distinguished men who have embarked with so much of
that zeal which
is
necessary for the accomplishment of any great object,
will, we be permitted to entirely draw the veil of Isis which has
trust,
covered her mysteries so long that the world began to despair of ever
seeing the glories it concealed. Behind this veil of Isis I have long
thought was concealed our masonic birth. I now fully believe it.

There was the cradle of masonry no matter by what name

: it was
by whom it was enjoyed." p. 99.
called: no matter

An Ahiman Rezon ;*
By brother Frederick Dalcho, M. D., Charleston, S. C., 1807. Containing extracts
'
from an Oration delivered by him, before the grand lodge of South Carolina, 1801
from which the following is taken.

In the earliest age of man, when the human mind, untainted by

the vices and prejudices of later times, unshackled by the terrors and
anathemas of contending sectaries, and the machinations of biggotted
priests, the God of nature received the homage of the world, and the

worship of his adorable name constituted the principal employment of

him, to whom the mysteries of nature were first revealed. After the

deluge, the worship of the Most High was obscured by clouds of

imagery, and defiled by idolatry.

In many of the ancient nations of the east, their religious rights
were enveloped by the priests, in allegories, emblems, hieroglyphics,
and mystic devices, which none could understand, but those of their
own order. From these ancient examples, the mysteries of the craft
have been wisely concealed from the vulgar and under cover of vari-
;

ous well adapted symbols, is conveyed to the enlightened freemason an

uniform and well connected system of morality.
I am of opinion that the ancient society of free and accepted
masons was neyerabody of architects; that is, they were not, origi-

* The book of constitution is

usually denominated, Ahiman Rezon: which is a cor-
ruption of three Hebrew words, achi man ratzon, which signifie the thoughts, or opin-
ions, of a true and faithful brother.
30
234 OPINIONS OF WRITERS

nally, embodied for the purposes

of building, but were associated for
moral and religious purposes. It must be evident to every freemason,
that the situation of the lodge, and its several parts, are copied after the

tabernacle and temple and represent the universe as the temple

;

in which the Deity is every where present. Our manner of teaching

the principles of our mystic profession is derived from the Druids, who

worshipped one supreme God, immense and infinite our maxims of ;

morality from Pythagoras, who taught the duties we owe to God as our

creator, and to man as our fellow creature; many of our emblems are

originally from Egypt; the science of Abrax, and the characters of those
emanations of the Deity, which we have adopted, are derived from Bas-
ilides.

The word Mason is derived from the Greek, and, literally, means
a member of a religious sect, or one who is professedly devoted to the

worship of the Deity.*

As humanity ever springs from true religion, every religious sect,
which acknowledges the Supreme Being, are equally respected by the
order. Religious disputes are banished from our societies, as tending
to sap the foundations of friendship, and to undermine the basis of the
best institutions. The great book of nature is revealed to our eyes ;

and the universal religion of her God, is what we profess, as freema-

sons.

Dr. Dalcho published a second edition of his Ahiman Rezon, with additions and
explanatory notes, in 1822. And it may not be improper to state, that previously to
this period he had taken clerical orders which perhaps caused him to examine the
:

masonic institution more than he had done, to ascertain if it contained any-

critically

thing inconsistent with his sacerdotal functions. At any rate, a change in his opinions
on some points, seems to have taken place ; which are set forth in his explanatory
notes, from which the following extracts are taken.

Origin of Freemasonry.

The
principles of our order, are coeval with the creation. Founded
upon the laws of nature, and the commands of God, nothing had pre-
cedence of them in time. The origin of the society, however, as an
institution distinct from other associations, is involved in impenetrable
obscurity. And notwithstanding the learning and zeal of many indus-
trious masons, it will, I fear, forever remain unknown. Various

* The author here adopts Hutchinson's conjecture, upon which has been shown
trust,
to be erroneous.
 ON FREEMASONRY. 2,35

indeed, have been the speculations on this subject and great has been
;

the labor expended by many " good men and true," to prove that every
man of note, from Adam down to the present day, were freemasons.
But such round assertions are beneath the dignity of the order, and
would not be urged by men of letters. Neither Adam, nor Noah, nor
Nimrod, nor Moses, nor Joshua, nor David, nor Solomon, nor Hiram,
nor St. John the Baptist, nor St. John the Evangelist, belonged to the
masonic order, however congenial their principles may have been.
It is unwise to assert more than we can prove, and to argue against

probability. Hypothesis in history is absurd. There is no record,

sacred or profane, to induce us to believe that these holy and distin-

guished men, were freemasons, and our traditions do not go back to

their days. To assert that they were freemasons, may "make the vul-
gar stare," but will rather excite the contempt, than the admiration of
the wise. If St. John was a freemason, then it is impossible that Solo-
mon should have been one, because his lodges could not have been
dedicated to John, who was not born until a thousand years after
St.

the first
temple was built, therefore, there would have been in St. John's

day, what there was not in Solomon's, which would be contrary to our
known principles. And besides if both these personages were freema-
sons, then we have the evidence that Solomon was the greater mason
of the two, and our lodges should be dedicated to him, instead of St.
John. But if Solomon was a freemason, then there could not have
been a freemason in the world, from the day of the creation, down to

the building of the temple, as must be evident to every master-mason.

The excellence of our institution depends upon its usefullness, and
not its
antiquity. It is sufficient for us to know, that the origin of the
institution is so remote, that the date is lost in the lapse of ages, and
can now only be indistinctly traced by occasional records, and the tra-

ditions of the order.

Dr. Priestly, in his remarks on Mr. Dupuis' Origin of all Religions,
and Gypsies together. He affirms that, " they
classes the freemasons
have formed themselves into a body, though of a very heterogeneous
kind, but are not able to give any rational account of their origin."

(Institutes of Moses page 336.) The

philosopher has certaily placed us
in bad company, by classing us with these vagrants but his inference is
;

nevertheless true. The purposes for which our institution was originally

organized, are now as unknown as the date of its origin. Whether it

was designed for architectural purposes, for the improvement of the arts
and sciences, or for the preservation of revealed religion, by significant
symbols and impressive rights, in an idolatrous and barbarous age
130 OPINIONS OF WRITERS

cannot now be ascertained. Perhaps all these objects gave rise or

perfection to the institution.

When the Hindoos claim for their Shastras an antiquity of more
than two millions of years; when the Chaldeans boast of observations
of the stars for more than four hundred and seventy thousand years,
and Manetho Sebennyta, the high priest of Heliopolis, claims for the

Egyptians, a national existence of near fifty-four thousand years, who

would hesitate to pronounce them all fabulous? Let freemasons, then,
give up the vain boastings, which ignorance has foisted into the order,
and relinquish a fabulous antiquity rather than sacrifice common sense.

Let us trace our principles'to Adam, or even to Godjiimself, with reve.

rence be it spoken, but let us not excite the pity of the wise, by calling
Adam a freemason. This will not lessen the dignity or importance of
the institution, but rather add to its
celebrity by giving it a reasonable

origin.

Mr. Clinch supposes freemasonry was introduced into Europe by means of the
Gypsies. (See Anthologia Hibernica, for April, 1794, p. 280 )

this is a very ridiculous supposition, it is highly probable that the leaders of

Although
the emigrants of this tribe from Egypt, had been initiated into the lesser mysteries ;
first

and perhaps copied in part from them the forms of the oath which they administer to
their initiates.
"
Every person who was not guilty of some public crime, could obtain admission to
the lesser mysteries. Those vagabonds called Egyptian priests in Greece and Italy,
required considerable sums for initiations; and the Gypsies practise similar mummeries
to obtain money." (DePuaw's Egypt, vol. 2. p. 42.)
The customs of the latter, and the oath which they impose upon each other, has
been preserved by Bailey ; from which, as a curious antique, I make the following
extract.
The Gypsies derive their origin and name from the Egyptians, a people heretofore
very famous for astronomy, natural magic, the art of divination, etc., and therefore,
are great pretenders to fortune-idling.
It is the custom of these vagrants to swear all that are admitted into their fraternity,

by a form and articles annexed to it, administered by the principal Maunder or roguish
Strowler, and which they generally observe inviolably. The manner of admitting a
new member, together with the said oath and articles, are as follows :

The name of the person is first demanded, and a nick-name is then given him in its
stead, by which he is ever after called, and in time, his other name is quite forgotten.
Then standing up in the middle of the fraternity, and directing his face to the Dimber-
Damber, or prince of the gang, he swears in this manner, as is dictated to him by one
of the most experienced.
"I, Crank-Cuffin, do swear to be a true brother, and will in all things obey the
commands of the great Tawney Prince, and keep his counsel, and not divulge the
secrets of my brethren.
never leave nor forsake this company, but observe and keep all the times
I will

of appointments, either by day, or by night, in any place whatsoever.

I will not teach any one to cant ; nor will I disclose ought of our mysteries to

them, although they flog me to death.

 0\ FREEMASONRY. 237

I will take my Prince's part against all that shall oppose him, or any of us, accor-

ding to the utmost of my ability; nor will I suffer him, or any belonging to us, to be
abused by any strange Abrams, Rufflers, Hookers, etc., but will defend him or them
as much as I can against all other outlyers whatever.
I will not conceal ought I win out of Libkins. or from the Ruffmans; but will pre-
serve it for the use of the company."
The canters have, it seems a tradition, that from the three first articles of this oath,
the first founders of a certain boastful, worshipful fraternity, who pretend to derive their
origin from the earliest times, borrowed of them, both the hint and form of their estab-
lishment. And
that their pretended derivation from the first Adam, is a
forgery, it

being only from the first Adam-Tiler.

The same author has given the meaning of the cant terms here used as follows :

Abrams shabby beggars. Rufflers notorious rogues. Hookers petty thieves,

; ; ;

Libkin a house to lie in. RufFmans; the woods or bushes. Adam-Tiler; the com-
;

rade of a pick-pocket, who receives stolen goods or money, and scours off with them.

Festival of St. John the Evangelist.

In every country where freemasonry is encouraged, their anniver-

festival is celebrated with great ceremony. It is a
sary day set apart
by th3 brotherhood, to worship the Supreme Architect of heaven and
earth ;
to implore his blessings upon the great family of mankind and ;

topartake of the feast of brotherly affection. All who can spare a day
from their necessary avocations, should join in this celebration. The
freemasons of South Carolina have chosen St. John the Evangelist's
day, as their anniversary.
The annual festival of the order, is celebrated in some places on St.
John the Baptist's day, (June 24.) and in others on John the Evan-
St.

(Dec. 27.)
gelist's day, The latter has been preferred in South Caro-
lina,on account of the heat of our climate. But why either of them
should be chosen in preference to any other day, is, perhaps, difficult
to explain. I know of no connection between these eminent " Saints

and Servants" of God, and the lodge of freemasons. I now write as a

minister of that God, to whose honor and glory, my life is devoted, and
to whom I must, ere long, give an account of my stewardship. I think
I run no hazard of contradiction in saying that if either of these most
holy men, were now permitted to revisit the earth, they would greatly
wonder at finding their names enrolled as patrons of an institution, of
which they had never heard. And there can be no question of the
fact, that if they were now to apply for admission into any of our
lodges, they would be utterly incapable of " working their way in."
238 OPINIONS OF WRITiRS

"
The annual masonic festival in England, is held on the anniver-
sary of the feast of St. John the Baptist, or of St. George, or on such
other day as the grand master may appoint." Their reasons for select-
ing these days, are sufficiently expressive of their opinions. The feast
of St. John the Baptist, occurs on the 24th June, when, in that climate,
the weather is not too warm for a public procession and St. George, ;

whose anniversary held April 23d, is the patron Saint of England.

is

This, to me, is clear evidence, that the anniversary of St. John was not

selected,because they deem him to have been a freemason.

I am, however, of opinion, that we act
wisely in taking St. John the
Evangelist, for the patron of our order. He is worthy of imitation,
both in his principles and conduct. But, as it has been well said of old

Amicus Plato, Amicus Socrates, sed magis arnica veritas; so I may truly

*ay, that I
highly venerate the masonic institution, under the fullest

persuasion, that where its principles are acknowledged, and its laws and
precepts obeyed, it comes nearest to the Christian religion, in its moral
effects and influence, than any institution with which I am acquainted.
At the same time, I hold truth to be too sacredly connected with my
office and character, to allow me to approve of the custom, now gene-

rally adopted, of dedicating our lodges "to God and the holy St. John,"
as joint patrons of the society. I hold it to be irreverent, to unite the

name of any created being, with the uncreated Godhead. The name
of God is
surely sufficiently honorable and powerful as the patron of
our institution, without the'additionof any other. If the lodge be dedi-
cated to God, let it be dedicated to him alone. He can bless all our
"
work begun, continued, and ending" in Him, without the assistance
of St. John. But, if it be necessary to have St. John, let us take him
alone, as our tutelary head, or unite with him any of the old worthies,

usually considered as masons.

It is a well known fact, as, before observed, that the

early Christians very judi-
ciously adopted, not only the festival days of the pagans, but even their manner of
celebrating them. This was doubtless done with the view of rendering the change in
the new religion less perceptible, and consequently less shocking to the prejudices
of those who adhered to the ancient instition. Among the principal festivals of the
pagans were those of the solstices and equinoxes.
De Pauw, in his Philos. Diss. on the Egyptians and Chinese, observes, that " Besides
the Sabbath, which the Egyptians seem to have observed
very regularly, they had a
fixed festival at each new moon one at the summer and one at the winter
;
solstice, as
well as the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. All others
except that at the rising of Sirius
 ON FREEMASONRY. 239

were changeable, and dependent on certain combinations known to the priests only
who transferred them arbitrarily, whenever they occurred on the neomenia, the equi-

nox, or the solstice." Vol. 2. p. 159.

"The festival of the 25th of December, (says Higgins, in his Celtic Druids, p. 165.)
was celebrated by the Druids in Britain and Ireland, with great fires lighted on the
tops of the hills. This festival was repeated on the twelfth day, or on what we call
the Epiphany. In some parts the fires are still continued. The evergreens, and par-

ticularly the missletoe, which are used all over the country, and even in London, in
this festival, betray its Druidical origin.
"
On the 25th of December, at the first moment of the day throughout all the ancient
world, the birth day of the god Sol was celebrated. This was the moment, when,
after the supposed winter solstice, and the lowest point of his degradation below our

hemisphere, he began to increase, and gradually to ascend- At this moment, in all the
ancient regions, his birth day was kept from India to the ultima Thule, these ceremo-
;

nies partook of the same character every where the god was feigned to be born, and
:

his festival was celebrated with great rejoicings."

The fires on the hills are emblematical of the power and ardor of the sun, when
he should have ascended to the upper regions, which he was then approaching; and
the evergreens are typical of the effect that would be produced in the vegetable king-
dom by that event.
What possible allusion can the display of evergreens at Christmas have, unless that
here suggested ? The custom is undoubtedly borrowed from the Druids, and is contin-
ued without the least applicability to the Christian religion. Masonic lodges, moreover,
are decorated in this manner on the 27th of December, which is corroborative of the

opinion here advanced.

The Roman and Episcopal churches still retain an astronomical cast, as is appa-
and mor cable feasts. " The principal of the moveable feasts i 3
rent both in their fixed
Easter, which governs the rest. Easter was an idol or goddess of the Saxons, in
honor of whom, sacrifices were offered about the time of the year which is now obser-
ved by the church in commemoration of our Saviour's resurrection. It is kept on the
first Sunday after the full moon, succeeding the vernal equinox." (Bailey.
The birth days of the two St. Johns, jt appears, are fixed by the framers of the
church ritual, at the periods of the solstices. These of course were observed as festi-
val days by the Druidical masons ; and as they were celebrated openly with pompous
processions, etc., it became necessary for them to use every precaution to prevent a
discovery of the real cause of these demonstrations of joy. With this view they appro-
priated the names of the feasts or festivals that had been assumed for them by the
Catholic Church. But while they ostensibly honored the two St. Johns, they were
mentally paying homage to their favorite divinity, the sun.

Signs and Symbols,

Illustrated and explained, in a course of Lectures on Freemasonry. By George Oliver

Vicar of Clee, etc.Grimsby, 1826.

Under what denomination soever our Science has been known in the
world under what form soever it may have been practised it has
; ;
 240 OPN10NS OF WRITERS

always been understood to have a distinct reference to the worship of

God, and the moral culture of man.
The characteristic propensities of a people, the state of their progress
from barbarism to civilization their intellectual attainments, the charac-
;

ter of their government, or their intercourse with other nations, might

and did create some distinction in the ceremonial, but the great essen-

broadly
tials, struck out by the Cabiric priests, did never vary.
In a word, the mysteries were the only vehicles of religion through-
out the whole idolatrous world and it is probable that the very name
;

of religion might have been obliterated from amongst them, but for the

support it received by the periodical celebrations, which preserved all

the forms and ceremonies, rites and practices of divine worship and ;

the varieties of custom in this particular, constituted the sole difference

betwixt the masonry (shall I so call it?) of different nations. Where-
soever the mysteries were introduced, they retained their primitive
form, adapted to the customs and usages of the national religion: and
if varied in some unimportant points, it was to commemorate certain

extraordinary performances of the tutelary deities, or to perpetuate some

remarkable circumstance attending their first institution in a particular
country. Hence the same, or similar ceremonies, which were applied
to Osiris and Isis in Egypt, the great source of secret and mysterious
(Lucian de Dea Syr,) were celebrated in Greece, in honor of
rites,

Bacchus and Rhea at Eleusis, they were applied to Ceres and Proser-
;

pine ;
in Tyre and Cyprus, to Adonis and Venus ;
in Persia, to Mithras
and Mithra ;
in India, to Maha Deva and Sita ;
in Britain, to Hu and
[Ceridwenjin Scandinavia, to Odin and Frea and in Mexico, to Tla- ;

loc and trie Great Mother for these appear to be but different names
;

same deities, and most probably referred to Noah and the Ark.
for the

They were all

originally the same system.
They used as most significant emblems, the Theological Ladder
the triple support of the universal lodge, called by masons, wisdom,

strength, and beauty; the point within a circle, and many other
legitimate emblems of masonry they used the same form of government
;

the same system of secrecy, allegory, and symbolical instruction all ;

tending to the same point, the practice of moral virtue. None were
admitted without previous probation and initiation the candidates were :

bound by solemn oaths united by invisible ties taught by symbols

; ; ;

distinguished by signs and tokens; and, impelled by a conscientious

adherence to the rules of the order, they professed to practice the most

rigid morality ;justice towards men, and piety to the gods,

 ON FREEMASONRY. 241

If primitive masonry was a system of light, the initiated heathen

equally paid divine honors to the sun, as the source of light, by cir-

cumambulating in the course of that luminary, during the ceremony of

initiation.

Did the initiated refer to the four elements ? They were portrayed
by certain prismatic colors. White represented the air; Blue the
water Purple the earth and
; ;
Crimson the fire.
The Zodiac was considered as the great assembly of the twelve gods ;

the sun being supreme, and the planets his attendants.

The emblems which masons now make use of as the secret reposito-
ries of their treasures of morality, were adopted by the ancients in very

early times, as signs and symbols ;

and were even substituted for

alphabetical characters.
The triangle, now called a trowel, was an emblem of very extensive

application, and was much revered by ancient nations as containing the

greatest and most abstruce mysteries. It signified
equally the Deity<
Creation, and Fire.

On the name of the Deity.

The great name of the Deity, which is termed by Josephus, incom-

municable, is said to be preserved in the system of freemasonry. Cal-
" when we
met observes, pronounce Jehovah, we follow the crowd for ;

we know distinctly the manner wherein this proper and incom-

do not
municable name of God should be pronounced, which is written with
lod, Hi, Vau, Hi, and comes from the verb haiah, he has been. The
ancients have expressed it differently. Sanchoniathon writes Jevo ;

Diodorus the Sicilian, Macrobius, St. Clemens Alexandrinus, St.

Jerom, and Origen, pronounce lao," etc.

The Tetragrammatori was preserved and transmitted by the

Essenes. It was always communicated in a whisper, (R. Tarphon,
apud. Ten. Idol, page 395,) and under such a disguised
form,
that whilecomponent parts were universally known, the con-
its

nected whole was an incommunicable mystery. They used, in

common with the whole Jewish nation, the ancient and significant
symbol by which this name was designated, viz. three jods, with

the point kametz placed underneath them, thus,

(V J to express the

equality of the three persons of which they believe the godhead to be com-
posed. This holy name they held in the utmost veneration, Calmet,
31
242 OPINIONS OF WRITERS

says, they believe the name of God to include all things. "He who
pronounces it, say they, shakes heaven and earth, and inspires the very
angels with astonishment and terror. There is a sovereign authority
in this name ;
it
governs the world by its
power."
The letter was adopted as a mysterious emblem to desig-
schin, ^j,
nate the Tetragrammaton and hence this letter was supposed to com-
;

prehend many valuable qualities. It was, therefore, deeply engraven

by the Jews on their phylacteries, both before and behind, to induce the
protection of the omnipresent deity it
represented. Another symbol

was an equilateral triangle illuminated with a single jod. >/* This

"
denotes the thought, the idea of God.
initial letter jod, It is a
Ray of
Light, say the enraptured cabbalists, which darts a lustre too transcen-
dent to be contemplated by mortal eye ; it is a point at which thought

pauses, and imagination itself grows giddy and confounded. Man, says
M. Basnage, citing the rabkies, may lawfully roll his thoughts from
one end of heaven to the other ; but they cannot approach that inacces-
sible Light, that primitive existence contained in the letter Jod." (Maur.
Ind. Ant. vol. iv.)
The name amongst the inhabitants of
chief varieties of this sacred
different nations,were Jah, and Bel or Baal, and On or Om. The first
of these, as we have just seen, had many fluctuations. Jupiter, Jove,
Evohe, etc. were but corruptions of Jah or Jehovah. lao, was pro-
nounced by the oracle of Apollo, to be the first and greatest of the dei-
ties. (Macrob. Saturn. 1. 18.)
The compounds name Bel, are of great variety. Belus,
of the second
was used by the Chaldeans and the deity known amongst the ancient
;

Celts, by the name of Bel or Bel-enus, which title, by the modern

authors, is identified with Apollo.
The third variation was On. Under
this appellation the deity was

worshipped by the Egyptians and they professed to believe that he

;

was eternal, and the fountain of light and life; but, according to their
gross conceptions, being necessarily visible, the sun was adored as
his representative, and was, most
probably the same as Osiris. They
knew the general purport of the name and little more. If they believed
ON to be the living and eternal God, they allowed the same attributes
to the sun, which they undoubtedly worshipped as the Lord of the
creation. Oannes was the god of the Chaldeans; and Dag-On of the
Philistines, both of which are derivations of the same name. On, was
 ON FREEMASONRY. 243

evidently the same deity as the Hebrew Jehovah ;

and was introduced
amongst the Greeks by Plato, who acknowledges his eternity and
incomprehensibility in these remarkable words; "Tell me of the god
ON which is, and never knew beginning." (In Timoso. v. iii. p. 27.)
;

And the same name was used by the early Christians for the true God ;

for St. John in the Apocalypse, (Chap. 1. v. 4.)has this expression

On, kai 6 en, kai 6 erchomenos, which is translated in our authorized
"
version of the Scriptures, by, HIM, which is, and which was, and
which is to come."
The same word with a small variation, was one of the names of the
supreme deity in India and a devout meditation on it was considered
;

capable of conveying the highest degree of perfection.* In the ordi-

nances of Menu, we are informed how this sacred word was produced.
"
Brahma milked out, as it were, from the three Vedas, the letter A, the
letter U, and the letter M ;
which form, by their coalition, the triliteral

monosyllable, together with three mysterious words, bhur, bhuvaht

swer; or, earth, sky, heaven." (S. W. Jones. Works, vol. iii. p. 93.)
These three letters, which are pronounced OM, refer to the deity in his
triple capacity of creator, preserver, and destroyer. The method
of using it is given in the same code. "Three suppressions of
breath, made according to the divine rule, accompanied with the
triverbal phrase, bhurbhuvahswah and the triliteral syllable OM, may
be considered as the highest devotion of a Brahmin." (Ibid. p. 235.)
Mr. Colebrooke informs us that " a Brahmana, beginning and ending a
lecture of the Veda, or the recital of any holy strain, must always pro-
nounce to himself the syllable OM ; for unless the syllable
precede, Om
his learning will slip away from him and unless it follow, nothing
;

will be retained or that syllable being prefixed to the several names

;

of worlds, denotes that the seven worlds are manifestations of the power,
signified by that syllable." (Asiat. Res. vol. v. p. 352.)

On the Cherubim.

Every branch of science is progressive. In the first degree of

masonry, we are taught the several duties of our station, whether to

*
Seneca, the stoic, says, "It is of little consequence by what name you call the first
nature, and the divine reason that presides over the universe, and fills all the parts of it
he is still the same God. You may give him as many names as you please, provided
you allow but one sole principle, every where present." Edit.
244 OPINIONS OF WRITERS

God, our neighbor, or ourselves; the practice of the Theological and

Cardinal Virtues, and every moral and social work. In the second
degree, we are admitted to a participation in the mysteries of human
science; and catch a glimpse of celestial glory. But in the third
degree, the vail is removed we are admitted to the holy of holies
;

we view the Cherubim in all their brightness and are blessed with
; a
Jorctaste of heaven, through the resurrection of the dead. And if we
pass on to the royal arch, we receive a wonderful accession of know-
ledge, and find every thing made perfect ; for this is the ne plus ultra of
masonry, and can never be exceeded by any human institution.
In the peculiar lectures of masonry, much importance is attached to
that greatsymbol of the glory of God, the cherubim. It is a subject
which adds much to the dignity tax& authority of our science; inas-
much as its illustration has formed an important part of speculative
masonry.
When "the true invisible God was renounced and forgotten, this
symbol furnished mankind with plausible substitutes; and hence in
almost all the heathen nations of which we have any account, the
Supreme Being was worshipped under the corporeal form of one or
other of its component
parts and they all ultimately referred to the
;

sun ;
and hence this luminary, in connection with the cherubic animals,
became a chief object of Gentile worship throughout the world.
The ox was adored in Egypt, India and Britain China and Japan
; ;

Persia, Greece, and Peru. (Plin. Nat. Hist. 1. viii. c. 46. Asiat.
Research, vol. i.
p.250. Dav. Druids, p. 128.)
As the ox was the predominating figure in the cherubim, so it was

the most universal symbol of idolatry, and was frequently worshipped

in a compound form.
He was an emblem of the great father or Noah and the ark was ;

called Ken-Tauros, the stimulator of the bull. (Bryant. Anal. vol. ii. p.
440.) He was worshipped with splendid rites, at that season of the
year particularly when the sun was in Taurus.
In India, the bull was held in high veneration ;
and honored with
diurnal worship in conjunction with the Linga or Phallus, as an emblem
of justice and prolific power.
A bull was also the well known symbol of Bacchus ;
who is
styled
in the Orphic hymns, "the deity with two horns, having the head of a
bull." (Hymn 29.)
The LION was adored in the east and the west, by the Egyptians and
the Mexicans as a most powerful divinity. (Diod. Sic. Bibl. 1. i. c. 6.)
 ON FREEMASONRY. 245

The same animal was emblematical of the sun in Tartary and Per-

sia; (Hesych.) and hence, on the national banner of Persia, a lion was
emblazoned with the sun rising from his back. " The sovereigns of
Persia have for many centuries preserved as the peculiar arms of their

country, the sign or figure of Sol in the constellation

Leo and this ;

device, which exhibits a lion couchant and the sun rising at his back,
has not only been sculptured upon their palaces, and embroidered upon
their banners, but has been converted into an order, which in the form of

gold and silver medals, has been given to those who have distin-
guished themselves against the enemies of their country." (Sir John
Malcom's Hist, of Pers. c, xxv.)
The Egyptian astronomers taught that the creation of the world
took place at the precise period of time when the sun rose in Leo ;

which sign was hence esteemed the peculiar habitation of the sun ;

and this belief gave an additional stimulus to the veneration which man-
kind entertained for the king of animals. Mr. Bryant observes in
"
reference to this superstition as the chief increase of the Nile was
;

when the sun was passing through Leo, the Egyptians made the lion a
type of an innundation. All effusions of water were specified by this
characteristic. And
from hence has been the custom of making the
water which proceeds from cisterns and reservoirs, as well as spouts
from the roofs of buildings, come through the mouth of a lion."

(Bryant's Plagues of Egypt, p. 86. note.)

The
eagle was sacred to the sun in many countries, particularly in
some parts of Egypt, Greece and Persia. In our Scriptures the king
of Babylon is termed an Eagle. It was reputed to have fed Jupiter

with nectar in the Cretan cave, and was certainly an emblem of his
dominion. With the British Druids it formed a symbol of their
supreme god it was embroidered on the consecrated standard of the
;

Mexican princes and the common ensign of the Roman legions was
;

a golden eagle. Indeed the peculiar property which this noble bird
possesses of beholding with impunity the undiminished vigor of the
sun's meridian rays, would naturally procure for it an emblematical
distinction.

The man, or idol in human shape, was worshipped all over the
world ;
for which custom this reason has been assigned by Porphiry,
when charged with worshipping God under the figure of a man. He
allowed the deity to be invisible, but thought him well represented in
thatform not because he is like him in external shape, but because that
:

which is divine is rational. (Porph. In Euseb. de prsep. evan, 1 iii. c. 7.)

246 OPINIONS OF WRITERS

The Cherubim, according to the author, consist of the figures of a man, an ox, a

lion, and an eagle: which combination he represents as awfully sacred and sublime,
evidently with the view of heightning the mystical importance of royal arch masonry,
whose armorial ensigns it composes.
Dr. Rees remarks, that "Cherub, or Cherubim, in Hebrew, is sometimes taken fora
cralf or on ox. In Syriac and Caldee, the word cherub signifies to till or plough, which
is the work of oxen. According to Grotius, the Cherubim were figures resembling a
calf. Bochart and Spencer think they were similar to an ox. The figure of the Cheru-
bim was not always uniform, since they are differently described in the shapes of men,
eagles, oxen, lions, and a composition of all these figures put together.* After all the
suggestions and conjectures of learned persons, it still remains to be determined, what
these emblematic figures were intended to represent."
They form a part of the machinery of pagan worship, each figure being symbolical
of the great object of adoration, the sun. This Mr. Oliver himself has fully shown.
Thus it appears that the masonic Cherubim, composing its arms, consists of
representations of the sun under various figures, conformible to the fanciful super-
stitious notions of ancient nations.
"Ye inhabitants of India ! in vain you cover yourselves with the vail of mys-
tery : the hawk 'of your god Vichenoa is but one of the thousand emblems of the

sun in Egypt and your incarnations of a god in the fish, the boar, the lion, the
;

tortoise,and all his monstrous adventures, are only the metamorphoses of the suh,
who, passing through the signs of the twelve animals, was supposed to assume their
figures, and perform their astronomical functions. People of Japan your bull 1

which breaks the mundane egg, only the bull of the zodiac, which in former
is

times opened the seasons, the age of creation, the vernal equinox. It is the same
bull Apis which Egypt adored, and which your ancestors, O Jewish rabbins wor- !

shipped in the golden calf. This is still your bull, followers of Zoroaster which !

sacrificed in the symbolical mysteries of Mythra, poured out his blood which fer-
talized the earth." Ruins, p 138.
The supporters of the armorial ensigns of royal arch masonry, according to
Cross's chart, are two figures representing the god Pan who may be considered
;

as one of the most ancient divinities of paganism.

"
Orpheus says that Pan signifies universal nature, proceeding from the divine
mind, of which the heaven, earth, sea, and the eternal fire, are so many members.
He was generally represented with the body and head of a man, and the lower
parts were those of a goat." Bailey.

On the mysterious darkness of the Third Degree.

In thea ncient mysteries, the Epoptes, or perfectly initiated aspirants,

were reputed to have attained a state of pure and ineffable Light, and

* At the end of the planetary system, the myystagogue presents us with a picture of
the fixed heavens, and the four celestial figures which were placed at the four corners of
heaven, according to the astrological scheme.
These four figures were the lion, the bull, the man (Aquarius,) and the eagle, which
divide the whole zodiac into four parts of three signs each, in the points of the sphere
called fixed and solid. The stars which correspond to these are called the four royal
stars. (DupuiSj p. B57>)Edit.
 ON FREEMASONRY. 247

pronounced under the protection of the celestial gods; (Diod. Sic.

safe

Bibl, 1. while the unhappy multitude who had not undergone

v. c. 3.)

the purifying ceremonies, were declared reprobate said to wander in ;

all the obscurity of darkness, to be deprived of the divine favor, and

doomed to a perpetual residence in the infernal regions, amidst a

cheerless and overwhelming contamination. (Plato Phredone. Arist.
Eleusinia et apud Stoba3um. Serm. 189, etc. Schol. Arist. Ranis.)

During the Persian initiations, this doctrine was enforced ex cathe-

dra, (from the desk or pulpit.) The Archimagus informed the candi-
date at the moment of illumination, that the divine lights were displayed
before him; (Psell. in Schol. in Orac. Zoroast.) and after explaining
the nature and purport of the mysteries in general, he taught that the
universe was governed by a good and evil power who were perpetually

engaged in contest with each other, and as each in turn prevailed, the
world was characterized by a corresponding succession of happiness
and misery that uninitiated and immoral men were votaries of the
;

evil power, and the virtuous initiated of the good and that at the end ;

of the world, each, with his followers will go into a separate abode; the
latter with Yazdan shall ascend by means of a ladder to a state of eter-

nal light, where exists unalloyed happiness and the purest pleasures;
the former with Ahriman, shall be plunged into an abode of darkness,
where they an eternity of disquietude and misery, in a deso-
shall suffer
late place of punishment situated on the shore of a stinking river, the
waters of which are black as pitch and cold as ice. Here the souls of
the uninitiated eternally float. Dark columns of smoke ascend from
this stream, the inside of which is full of serpents, scorpions, and veno-
mous reptiles. (Hyde, de relig. vet. Pers. p. 399.)
The multitude, being thus amused with fables, and terrified with
denunciations, were effectually involved in uncertainty, and directed to
paths where error only could be found; for every proceeding was
mysterious, and every mythological doctrine shrouded under a corres-
ponding symbol. These allegorical fables becoming popular, the simple
rites of primitive worship soon assumed a new arid more imposing form,
and religion was at length envelloped in a veil so thick and impervious
as to render the interpretation of their symbolical imagery extremely
difficult and uncertain. The slender thread of truth being intimately
blended and confused with an incongruous mass of error, the elucida-
tion was a task so complicated and forbidding, that few had the courage
to undertake it
;
and men were father inclined to bow implicitly to popu-

lar tradition, than be at the pains to reconcile truth with itself, and
248 OPINIONS OF WRITERS

separate, with a nice and delicate hand, the particles of genuine know-
ledge from the cumbrous web of allegory and superstition, in which
they were interwoven.
It is an extraordinary fact, that there is scarcely a single ceremony

in freemasonry, but we find its corresponding rite in one or other of

the idolatrous mysteries and the coincidence can only be accounted
;

forby supposing that these mysteries were derived from masonry. Yet
however they might assimilate in ceremonial observances, an essential
difference existed in the fundamental principles of the respective insti-
tutions.*
In all the ancient mysteries, before an aspirant could claim to par-

ticipate in the higher secrets of the institution, he was placed within

the Pastos, or Bed, or Coffin ; or in other words, was subjected to a soli-

tary confinement for a prescribed period of time, that he might reflect

seriously, in seclusion and darkness, on what he was about to under-
take and be reduced to a proper state of mind for the reception of great
;

and important truths, by a course of fasting and mortification. This

was the symbolical death of the mysteries, and his deliverance from
confinement was the act of regeneration, or being born again ;
or, as it

was "
also termed, being raised from Clement of Alexan-
the dead.
dria tells us, that in the formulary used by one who had been initiated,
he was taught to say, I have descended into the bed chamber. The
ceremony here alluded to was doubtless the same as the descent,
into Hades and I am inclined to think, that when the aspirant entered
;

into the mystic cell, he was directed to lay himself down upon the bed,

which shadowed out the tomb 01 coffin of the Great Father. This pro-

*The author, in the commencement of his work, says:" One important question
which appears to have been almost wholly neglected, by masonic writers, is, whether
freemasonry be a ceremonies in the ancient idolatrous mys-
servile imitation of certain
teries, as is asserted by some writers or whether it be the great original from winch
;

the mysteries themselves were derived. On this inquiry, I have bestowed much deliberate
conssideration for I found it impossible to be satisfied with practising a science derived
;

from the polluted dregs of idolatry." And, he comes to the conclusion, that freema-
sonry is, "in reality, the original institution from which all the mysteries were derived."
And adds, "We have ample testimony to establish the fact, that the mysteries of all
nations were originally the same, and diversified only by the accidental circumstances
of local situation and political economy."
That an essential difference exists between the ancient mysteries and freemasonry,
wants evidence. The whole of bishop Warburton's dissertation on the subject of the
former, goes to disprove the assertion. However erroneous both may be in a theologi-
cal point of view, they agree in moral principles, and are unexceptionable. And that
any institution called freemasonry, or having a relation thereto, existed anterior to that
which is termed the mysteries, is a gratuitous assumption, without a shadow of proof.
The mysteries, under the name of freemasonry, were first introduced in the eleventh
century of the Christian era.
The Reverend author, it is evident, instead of having any qualms of conscience on
the subject, was endeavoring to satisfy the scruples which might arise in the minds of
come of his less liberal parishioners.
 ON FREEMASONRY. 249

cess was equivalent to his entering into the infernal ship; and while
stretched upon the holy couch, in imitation of his figurative deceased
prototype, he was said to be wrapped in the deep sleep of death. His
resurrection from, the bed was his restoration to life, or his regenera-
tion into a new world and it was virtually the same as his return from
;

Hades, or his emerging from the gloomy cavern, or his liberation from
the womb of theship-goddess.* (Fab. Pag. Idol. b. v. c. 7.)
Thecandidate was made to undergo these changes in scenic repre-
sentation and was placed under the Pastes in perfect darkness, gene-
;

rally for the space of three days and nights. The time of this solitary
confinement however varied In Britain nine days
in different nations.

and nights was the specified period (W. Arch. Tri. 50 apud Dav.
;

Druids, p. 404.) in Greece, three times nine days (Porph. vit. Pyth.);

while in Persia it extended to fifty days and nights of darkness, want

of rest, and fasting! (Porph. de abstin. c. vi. s. 18.) To explain the
nature pf these places of penance and mortification, I need not carry

you to distant shores the remains in our own country are both numer-
;

ous and open to public inspection; for I have no doubt but the British
Cromlech was the identical vehicle of preparation for the Druidical

mysteries.
Acelebrated piece of antiquity was recently standing near Maid-
stone, called Kit's Cotti House. This was a dark chamber of proba-
<: tion ; for Kit is no other than Ked, or Ceridwen, the British Ceres ;
and Cotti or Cetti meant an Ark or Chest : hence the compound word
referred to the Ark
of the diluvian god Noah, whose mysterious rites
were celebrated in Britain and Ceridwen was either the consort of
:

Noah, or the Ark itself; symbolically the great mother of mankind.

* This is
exactly imitated in the third degree of masonry ; where the candidate person-
ates his figurative deceased prototype, Hiram. Of this Mr. Oliver is fully aware, yet
with all this pitiful mummery before him, he,
as we have seen above, says :
"In the third degree, the veil is removed ; we arc admitted to the holy of holies ; we
view the cherubim, [the ox, the lion, ere.] in all their brightness; and are blessed with
afaretaste of heaven, through the resurrection of the dead."
Voltaire, in speaking of the Eleusinian mysteries, says, "This pure religion consisted
in the acknowledgment of one Supreme God, of his providence, and of his
justice.
That which disfigured these mysteries was, if we can believe Tertullien, the ceremony
of regeneration. It was necessary that the initiated should appear to be resuscitated;
it was the symbol of the new life he was about to embrace. The hierophant raised over
him the sacred knife they feign to strike him, and he also feigns to fall dead; after
:

which he appears to be resuscitated. There is still among the freemasons, a remnant

of this ancient ceremony." (Oeuvres, tome 16, p. 166.)
The whole of this nonsense grow]s out of the fabled death of the sun. " It is he,
[the sun] that, under the name of Osiris, persecuted by Typhon and by the tyrants of
the air, was put to death, shut up in a dark
tomb, emblem of the hemisphere of winter ;
and afterwards, ascending from the inferior zone towards the zenith of heaven, arose
again from the dead, triumphant over the giants and the angels of destruction."
(limns, p. 139.)
32
250 OPINIONS OF WRITERS

The Phallus was the gross Symbol under which Noah, or the
great was worshipped; and it was usually
father of the mysteries

represented by a pyramidal stone.

Coincidences like these are too striking to be overlooked particu- ;

larly when we consider that the initiations formed a most important and
essential part of religious worship and no person could hold any dig-
;

nified appointment as a priest, or legislator, without passing through

these forms, which
included, as an indispensable preliminary rite, the

solitary confinement of the darkened Pastos.

On the three pillars, wisdom, strength, and beauty.

In the British and other mysteries, these three Pillars represented

the great emblematical Triad of Deity, as with us they refer to the
three principal officers of the lodge. We
shall find however that the

symbolical meaning was the same in both. It is a fact, that in Britain,

the Adytum or lodge was actually supported by three stones or pillars*

which were supposed to convey a regenerating purity to the aspirant,
after having endured the ceremony of initiation in all its accustomed
formalities. The delivery from between them was termed a new birth.
(Hanes Taliesin, c. iii. Dav. Druids, p. 230.) The corresponding
pillars of the Hindu mythology were also known by the names of wis-
dom, strength, and beauty, and placed in the east, west, and south,
crowned with three human heads. They jointly referred to the crea-
who was said to have planned the great work by his infinite wis-
tor,

dom executed it by his strength and to have adorned it with all its
; ;

beauty and usefulness for the benefit of man. These united powers
were not overlooked in the mysteries, for we find them represented in
the solemn .ceremony of initiation, by the three presiding Brahmins or

Hierophants. The chief Brahmin sat in the east, high exalted on a

brilliant throne, clad in a flowing robe of azure, thickly sparkled with
golden stars, and bearing in his hand a magical rod thus symbolizing
;

Brahma, the creator of the world. His two compeers, clad in robes of
equal magnificence, occupied corresponding situations of distinction.
The representative of Vishnu, the setting sun, was placed on an exalted
throne in the west ; and he who personated Siva, the meridian sun>

occupied a splendid throne in the south. The masonic lodge, bounded

only by the extreme points of the compass, the highest heavens and the
lowest depths of the central abyss, is said to be sppported by three pil-

lars, wisdom, strength, and beauty^ In like manner the Persians, who
 ON FREEMASONKY. 251

termed their emblematical Mithratic cave or lodge, the Empyrean,

feigned it to be supported by three intelligences, Ormisda, Mithra, and
Mithras, who were usually denominated, from certain characteristics
which they were suppored individually to possess, eternity, fecundity,
and authority. (Vid. Ramsay's travels of Cyrus and dissertation
thereto annexed.) Similar to this were the forms of the Egyptian

Deity, designated by the attributes of wisdom, power, and goodness

:

(Plut. de Isid. and Osir. p. 373.) And the sovereign good, intellect,
and energy of the Platonists, which were also regarded as the respec-
tive properties of the divine Triad. (Plat, in Tima3O.)
remarkable that every mysterious system practised on the habit-
It is

able globe, contained this Triad of deity. The oracle in Damascius

asserts that " throughout the world a Triad shines forth, which resolves
itself intoa Monad;" and the uniform symbol of this three-fold Deity,
was, an equilateral triangle the precise form occupied by our pillars
;

of wisdom, strength, and beauty. In the mysteries of India, Brahma

Vishnu Siva, were considered
as a tri-une god, distinguished by the

significant appellation of Tri-murti.* Brahma was said to be the crea-

tor, Vishnu the preserver, and Siva, the judge or destroyer. In the
east, as the pillar of wisdom, this deity was called Brahma ; in the

west, as the pillar of strength, Vishnu ;

and in the south as the pillar
of beauty, Siva: and hence, in the Indian initiations, aswe have just
observed, the representative of Brahma was seated in the east that of ;

Vishnu in the west and that of Siva in the south,

; very remark- A
able coincidence in the practice of ancient masonry.

On the point within a Circle.

The tribes contiguous to Judea, placed a jod (,) in the center of a

circle, as a symbol of the Deity surrounded by eternity, of which he
was said to be the inscrutable author, the ornament and support. The
Samothraeians had a great veneration for the circle, which they con-

sidered as consecrated by the universal presence of the deity and ;

hence rings are distributed to the initiated,! as amulets possessed of the

power of averting danger. (Plin. Nat. Hist. 1. xxxiii. c. L) The

Chinese used a symbol which bore a great resemblance to that which

*" The word murti or form, is exactly synonymous with eidolon; and in a secon-
dary sense means an image ; but in its primary acceptation, it denotes any shape or
appearance assumed by a celestial being." Wilford in Asiat. Res. vol. iii. p. 359.
t Rings are also presented to the initiated into the masonic degree of Noachidse.
Edit.
252 OPINIONS or WRITERS

is the subject of this lecture. The was bounded north and south
circle

by two serpents, equivalent to the two perpendicular parallel lines of

the masonic symbol ; .and was emblematical of the universe, protected
and supported equally by the power and wisdom of the creator. The
Hindus believed that the Supreme Being was correctly represented by
a perfect sphere, without beginning- and without end. (Holwel. Hist.
Events.) The first settlers in Egypt transmitted to their posterity
an exact copy of our point within a expressed in emblematical
circle,

language. The widely extended universe was represented as a circle

of boundless light, in the 9enter of which the deity was said to dwell ,'

or in other words, the circle was symbolical of his eternity.

The point within the circle, afterwards became an universal emblem
to denote the temple of the deity, and was referred to the planetary cir-

cle, in the center of which was fixed the sun, as the universal god and

father of nature for the whole circle of heaven was called God
; ;

1.) Pythagoras esteemed them

(Cicero, de nat. deor. the central fire, the

supernal mansion of Jove; (Stob. Phys. Aristot. de Casio. 1. ii.) and

he called it Mesouraneo, because the most excellent body ought to have
the most excellent place: i. e. the center. (Plut. Simplic.) And
Servius tells us it was believed that the center of a temple was the pecu-
liar residence of the
deity the exterior decorations being merely orna-
:

mental. (Serv. Georg. 3.) Hence the astronomical character used to

denote or represent the sun, is a point Avithin a circle ;
because that fig-
ure the symbol of perfection.
is The most perfect metal gold, is also

designated in chymistry by the same character.

With this reference, the point within a circle was an emblem of
great importance amongst the British Druids. Their temples were cir-
cular many of them with a single stone erected in the center their
; ;

solemn processions were arranged in the same form; their weapons

all

of war, the circular shield with a central boss, the spear with a hollow

globe at its end, etc. all partaking of this general principle: and with-
out a circle it was
thought impossible to obtain the favor of the gods.
The of divination could not be securely and successfully performed
rites

unless the operator was protected within the consecrated periphery of a

magical circle. The plant vervain was supposed to posses the virtue
of prerenting the effects of facination, if gathered
ritually with an iron
instrument, at the rising of the dog-star, accompanied with the essen-
ceremony of describing a circle on the turf, the circumference of
tial

which shall be equally distant from the plant, before it be taken up.
(Borl. Ant. Corn. p. 91. from Pliny.)
 ON FREEMASONRY, 253

Specimens of British temples founded on the principle of a point

within a circle are still in existence to demonstrate the truth of the

theory.
The body of the temple at Classerniss, in the island of Lewis, sacred
to the sun and the elements, will illustrate the principle before us.
This curious Celtic temple was constructed on geometrical and astro-
nomical principles, in the form of a cross and a circle. The circle
consisted of twelve upright stones, in allusion to the solar year, or the
twelve signs of the Zodiac the east, west, and south are marked by
;

three stones each, placed without the circle, in direct lines, pointing to
each of those quarters; and towards the north, is a double row of twice
nineteen stones, forming two perpendicular parallel lines, with a sin-

gle elevated stone at the entrance. In the center of the circle, stands,
high exalted above the rest, the gigantic representative of the Deity, to
which the adoration of his worshippers was peculiarly directed. (Olaus
Magnus, apud Borl. Ant. of Corn. p. 193 .Toland. Druids. Vol. 1. p. 90.
This extraordinary symbol was also used by the ancient inhabitants
of Scandinavia and had an undoubted reference to the hall of Odin, or
;

the Zodiac which, the Etfda informs us, contained twelve seats dis-
;

posed in the form. of a circle, for the principle gods, besides an elevated
throne in the centre for Odin, as the representative of the great father.
It is remarkable that in all the ancient
systems of mythology, the
Great Father, or the male generative principle was uniformly symbol-
ized by a point within a circle. This emblem was placed by the Scan-
dinavian priests and poets, on the central summit of a Rainbow, which
was fabled to be a bridge leading from earth to heaven the emblem ;

therefore represented Valhall, or the supernal palace of the chief celes-

It is said in the Edda, that this bridge "is all on
tial deity. fire; for
the giants of the mountains would climb up to heaven by it, if it were

easy for any one to walk over it." The palace thus elevated, was no
other than the celestial system, illuminated by a central sun, whose

representative on earth was Thor, a god depicted by Verstegan with a

crowned head placed in the center of twelve bright stars, expressive of
the sun's annual course through the Zodiacal Signs. (Rest, of Dec.
Int. p. 74.)

Circumambulation.

The author, in conclusion of his course of lectures, among other

remarks, observes :

"
It was an ancient custom to use circumambulation during the
254 OPINIONS OF WRITERS,

performance of religious ceremonies. In Greece, while the sacrifice

was in the act of priests and people walked in proces-
consuming the
1

sion round the altar thrice, singing the sacred hymn, which was divided
into three parts, the Strophe, the Antistrophe, and the Epode. While
the first part was chanted, they circumambulated in a direction from
east to west, emblematical of the apparent motion of the heavenly bodies ;
at the commencement of the second part, they changed their course

and proceeded from west to east, pointing out their real motion;
and during the performance of Epode, they remained stationary around
the altar, a symbol of the stability of the earth, waiting for some propi-
tious omen which might announce the divine acceptance of the sacri-
fice.

In Britain, the devotional exercises of the insular sanctuary were

conducted on a similar principle. Ceremonial processions moved
round it, regulated by the mystical numbers, and observing the course
of the sun sometimes moving slowly and with solemn gravity, chant-
;

ing the sacred hymn to Hu ;

at others, the devotees advanced with great
rapidity, using impassioned gestures, and saluting each other with
secret signs. This was termed, "the mystical dance of the Druids."
The circular movement was intended to symbolize the motion of the
earth, and' to give an idea of God's immensity which fills the universe.
The foundation stone of every magnificent edifice was usually laid
in the north-east; which accounts in a rational manner for the general

disposition of a newly initiated candidate when enlightened but unin-

structed, he is accounted to be in the most superficial part of masonry.
This stone, to which some portion of secret influence was formerly attri-
buted, is directed in Alet's Ritual to be " solid, angular, of about a foot

square, and laid in the north-east."

It was incumbent on the author, in the first place, to account in a rational manner
custom of laying the foundation stone of buildings in the north-
for the origin of the
east. As the whole machinery of the religion from which masonry is derived, was
founded on the movements of the heavenly bodies, there is doubtless an astronomical
reason for this practice.
Now, we are told by Mr. Bryant, quoted by our author, that the "Egyptian astro-
nomers taught that the creation of the world took place at the precise period of time
when the sun rose in Leo." And admitting that this notion was got up when that con-
stellation was situated in the north-east at the rising of the sun, this circumstanc6
would Egyptian mode of worship, induce the custom
naturally, in accordance with the
of commencing magnificent edifices at the north-east corner, in imitation of that glori-
ous luminary, believed by the Egyptians to be the Supreme Architect of the world. This,
 ON FREEMASONRY. 255

among a superstitious people, would be deemed a certain means of insuring their sta-

bility and usefulness.

Mr. Oliver has bestowed great labor in his researches into the original meaning and
intention of the ancient pagan symbols, and shed much light upon the subject. But by
endeavoring to place freemasonry, or something like it, before the pagan mysteries, he
has thrown a veil of darkness over the investigation, tending to bewilder his readers
who have any wish to arrive at truth in this inquiry. By this course he expects to clear
freemasonry from the imputation of having descended from what he considers a vitia-
ted source, and, on the contrary, to show it to be derived from a pure institution, of
which in his opinion, the mysteries are a corruption.
In this way he thinks to connect Christianity with ancient masonry, and conse-
quently show that he, as a minister of the gospel, may without impropriety ally him-
self to the order. There is no need of this fastidiousness. Ancient masonry is a pure
moral institution, but has no connection or relation whatever with Christianity. Its
original dogmas are totally different ; but these at present are not regarded, nor even
known to the craft, who perform the ceremonies for mere sociability and pastime.

The Secret Discipline,

Mentioned in ancient Ecclesiastical History explained.

A small, but learned work bearing has lately been issued from the
this title press, in
this city, under a fictitious signature, edited by Samuel L. Knapp, Esq.
This author adduces many authorities, in addition to those before cited in this vol-
ume, which go to prove that the fathers of the church adopted the terms and ceremo-
nies used in the ancient mysteries.
The following are extracts from the Work.

St. Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, in 412, in his Vllth book against

"
Julian, declares, These mysteries are so profound and so exalted, that
they can be comprehended by those only who are enlightened. I shall
not therefore attempt to speak of what is most admirable in them, lest

by discovering them to the uninitiated, I should offend against the

injunction not to give what is holy to the impure, no to cast pearls
before such as cannot estimate their worth." And elsewhere, "I should
say much more if I were not afraid of being heard by those who are
uninitiated ;
because men are apt to deride what they do not under-
stand and the ignorant, not being aware of the weakness of
; their

minds, condemn what they ought most to venerate."

Theodoret, Bishop of Cyzicus, in Syria, 420, in the first of his three
dialogues, thatentitled "The Immutable," introduces Orthodoxus,
"
speaking thus answer me if you please in mystical and obscure
terms, for, perhaps, there- are persons present who are not initiated in
250 OPINIONS OF WRITERS.

the mysteries." And in his preface to Ezekicl, tracing up the secret

"
discipline to the commencement of the Christian era, says, these mys-
teries are so august, that we ought to keep them with the geatest Cau-
tion."
To show that these mysteries were retained under ecclesiastial

saction to a still later period, I refer to the Seal of the ancient Abbey of
Arbroath, in Scotland, and to the explanation given of it by the Rev.
"
Charles Cordinet, in his Description of the Ruins of North Britain,"
2 vols. 4to.

"
The figures sculptured on the seal marked INITIATION, evi-
dently reprerent (says he) some formidable ceremony in a sacred place
where a pontiff presides in state one hand on his breast expressive of
;

seriousness, the other stretched out at a right angle holding a rod

and cross, the badge of high office, while he makes some awful appeal
respecting a suppliant, who, in a loose robe, blindfolded with seeming
terror kneels before the steps of an altar, while several attendants with
drawn swords brandished them over his head." Mr. Cordinet inti-
mates the resemblance of these figures to an engraving which made the

frontispiece- to a book about freemasonry and then adds, that both

:

bring to remembrance a description which Plutarch, in his famous

"
essay De Osiris," gives of the engraving of a seal which the priests of
Isis used in their solemnities,
namely, that of a man kneeling with
 ON FREEMASONRY. 257

his hands bound, a knife at his throat, etc, "And (says he) it is not a
little remarkable, which is more to the present purpose, in how many
particulars the mysterious fate of Osiris, as recorded by the above cele-
brated author, corresponds with the account of Hiram ; a strong insinu-
ation that the annals of the latter, however mutilated and defaced,
have somehow or other been descended from the Eleusinian Mysteries,
and that the Masonic rites of initiation into a lodge, are a faint sketch,
an imperfect epitome of the august ceremonies which took place at
initiation into the secrets which hallowed I\IQ primeval fanes : and this

high when discerned, may have been at the bottom of that gen-
origin,
eral respect which men of learning have avowed for them.
This subject as an amusing research into antiquity, may be resumed ;

it
only remains present to specify that Hiram coming forth in hal-
at

lowed dignity of character from within the veil of the sanctuary vio- ;

lated in the open temple of the world by the ignorant and profane;
concealed for a time in awful secrecy; the want of his presence patheti-
cally deplored; the ardent solicitude with which he is sought for;
the acclamation of joy at finding him again and consequent ; discovery
of the word, almost of itself developes the secret ivhich the personification
had involved."

It does indeed develop^ the secret, that the Hiram of masonry is substituted for
Osiris, one of the pagan gods of the mysteries. Mr. Cordinet understands what is meant
by the lost word, which is declared in the royal arch degree, to be recovered, and proves
to be the Logos, the second person of the ancient trinity, the lost sun.
u
The rod and cross, the badge of high office," held by the pontiff] is precisely a copy
of the measure of the Nile, which was originally put into the hands of a figure of Anu-
bis, to indicate the rise of the inundation, upon which mainly depended the subsistence,
or tempqral salvation of Egypt.
This pole or rod afterwards obtained, says Pluche, the name of Caduceus, or Mercu-
ry's wand, and was borne as a seeptre or staff" of honor, indicating a sacred person-
The figure a cabalistic number, supposed, says Bailey, "to conjoin the virtue of
(10),
all numbers," marked upon this copy, shows its original to have been a measure. Mr.
"
Oliver observes, that the amount of the points contained in a Pythagorean circle, is

exactly ten, which is the consummation of all things."

33
 CHAPTER VI.

AN INQUIRY IiNTO THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY.

" No man can give a tolerable
The spirit of innovation had seized all the Brethren.
account of the origin, history, or object of the Order, and it appeared to all as a lost
or forgotten mystery. The symbols seemed to be eqally susceptible of every inter-
3 '

pretation, and none of these seemed entitled to any decided preference. Professor
Robison.

Proofs of the existence of the society of freemasons at certain remote

periods, added to the occurrence of events that would naturally tend to
create it, will point out its origin with sufficient accuracy for the present

inquiry. No regular history of the order is attainable at this time, nor

is it essential to our purpose.

It is highly probable, as asserted by Dr. Anderson, that many valu-

able documents relating to the society, were destroyed at the revolution

of the order in 1717, by some scrupulous brethren, for fear that an

improper use might be made of them.

I shall endeavor to show that the British Druids instituted this

society, and the first consideration will

be to point out the period when

they were in a condition that required a resort to such secret means for

the preservation and continuance of their religious rites.

We have seen that their open worship was entirely prohibited by the
edict of Canute, who reigned from 1015
to 1035. Within those
periods, therefore, this edictwas issued by which the very existence
;

of the Druids in England was put at hazard.* Cut off from their
favorite devotional retreat, no means were left them but to devise some
mode to evade the scrutinizing eye of the ministers of the law.
"
About the beginning of the fifth century, (says Lawrie,) Theodo-
sius the Great prohibited, and almost totally extinguished the pagan

theology in the Roman empire, (Gibbon ;) and the mysteries of Eleusis,

suffered in the general devastation. (Zosim. Hist.) It is probable,

however, that these mysteries were secretly celebrated, in spite of the

severe edicts of Theodosius and that they were partly continued dur-
;

* It appears that paganism existed at this time, not only in England, but in most of
the other states of Europe. Dr. Lingard, speaking of Olave, king of Norway, says,
"That prince was a zealous Christian; but his religious innovations irritated the jealousy
of the pagan priests ; and he wa8 murdered in an insurrection of his subjects," [in 1023. ]
 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY. 259

ing- the dark ages, though stripped of their original purity and
splen-
dor : we are certain, at least, that many rites of the pagan religion
were performed, under the dissembled names of convivial meetings,
long after the publication of the emperor's edict. (Gibbon.) And Psel-
lus,informs us, that the mysteries of Ceres subsisted in Athens till
the eighth century of the Christian eTa, and were never totally sup-

pressed." (p. 22.)

A. similar course would naturally suggest itself to the Druids : that
such a course was adopted, and that they fixed on the craft of masonry,
as a cloak under which to screen their mystic ceremonies and dogmas
will,it is believed,
appear so evident in the sequel as to leave no room
for doubt upon the subject.
During the reign of Canute, therefore, it may fairly be presumed,
the famous freemason society was first established.
The conquest of England, by William, duke of Normandy, occur-
red in 1066, and it is highly probable that many of the artisans who
were induced by him to from France into England, were
^migrate
initiated into the order of freemasons, and greatly contributed to raise
itsfame as an operative masonic institution. " King William, (says
'

Dr. Anderson,) brought many expert masons from France. He died

in Normandy, in 1087."

probable that many of these masons were attached to the

It is

Druidical religion, as the rites of Druidism are said to have been

openly practiced in France, upwards of a hundred years after the edict

of Canute prohibiting them in England
The condition and character of the people of England,_at the time
of the conquest, is thus portrayed by Guthrie :

" manners of the 'Anglo-Saxons, we can say

With regard to the

little, but that they were in general, a rude, uncultivated people, igno-
rant of letters, unskilful in the mechanical arts, untamed to submission
under law and government, addicted to intemperance, riot, and disor-
der. Even so late as the time of Canute, they sold their children and
kindred into foreign parts.
Their best quality was their military courage, which yet was not
supported by discipline or conduct. Even the Norman historians, not-
withstanding the low state of the arts in their own country, speak of
them when
they mention the invasion of the duke of
as barbarous,

Normandy. Conquest placed the people in a situation to receive slowly

from abroad the rudiments of science and cultivation, and to correct
their rough and licentious manners.'
2"60 ORIGIN AND HISTORY

" He
'

He
(William) introduced the Norman laws and language.
built the stone square tower at London,; bridled the country with forts,
and disarmed the old inhabitants in short, he attempted every measure
;

possible to obliterate even the traces of the Anglo-Saxon constitution ;

though, at his coronation, he took the same oath that had been taken

by the ancient Saxon kings." Great advancement however in the art of

building it seems, soon followed this event, Dr. Henry, in his " His-

tory of the necessary arts in Britain, from 1066 to 1216," says:

"
Architecture, in all its branches, received as great improvements
in this period as agriculture. The truth is, that the twelfth century
e
may very properly be called the age of architecture, in which the rag
for building was more violent in England than at any other time.
"
The
great and general improvements that were made in the
frabrics of houses and churches in the first years of this century, are
thus described by a cotemporary writer: 'The new cathedrals and
innumerable churches that were built in all parts, together with the
many magnificent cloisters and monasteries, and other apartments of
monks, that were, then erected, afford a sufficient proof of the great
"
felicity of England in the reign of Henry I.'
Henry I. was the third son of William, and ascended the throne in

1100; only thirty-four years after the conquest. To enable him to

carry on such extensive works in architecture, required that his sub-
jects should have been previously instructed by his predecessors.
Under the patronage, therefore, of King William, there is the strong-
est reason to believe, the masonic society was fostered and protected.

And' although the principal purpose of the leading members of the

institution was the preservation of their religious rites, yet attention
was required to be given by them to the ostensible object of the estab-
lishment. Through this means, there is no reason to doubt, that arch-
itecture was improved to a greater extent in England, at this time, than
it would have been but for this adventkious circumstance.

The mere craftsman, however, knew nothing of the secret views of

his superiors. The symbols made use of in the lodge were unintel-
ligible to him. But he was pleased with the tinsel show of the repre-
sentations; and Avhen he was found sufficiently intelligent, and was
thought worthy to be trusted, he was raised to the sublime degree of
Holy Royal Arch, and gained the honorary appellation of companion.

Here, duly attentive to the symbols and ceremonies, he might make

if

some progress towards discovering the hidden scheme upon which free
masonry was founded.
 OF FREEMASONRY. 261

Lawrio observes, " The principles of the order were even imported
into Scotland,* where they continued, for many ages, in their prim-
itive simplicity, long after they had been extinguished in the conti-

nental kingdoms. What those causes were which continued the socie-
ties of freemasons longer in Britain than in other countries, it may not,
perhaps, be easy to determine ; but as the fact itself is unquestionably
true, it must have arisen either, from favorable circumstances in the

political state of Britain, which did not exist in the other governments
of Europe ; or from the superior policy, by which the British masons
eluded the suspicions of their enemies, and the superior prudence with
which they maintained the primitive simplicity and respectability of
the order. In this manner did freemasonry flourish in Britain when
it was completely abolished in^every part of the world."
"
That freemasonry was introduced into Scotland by those archi-
tects who abbey of Kilwinning, is manifest, not only from
built the
those authentic documents, by which the existence of the Kilwinning

lodge has been traced back as far as the end of the fifteenth century,
but by other collateral arguments which amount almost to a demon-
stration.
"
In every country where the temporal and spiritual jurisdiction of
the Pope was acknowledged, there was a continual demand, particu-
larly during the twelfth century, for religious structures, and conse.
quently for operative masons, proportional the piety of the inhab-
to

itants, and the opulence of their ecclesiastical establishments ; and

there was no kingdom in Europe where the zeal of the inhabitants
for popery was more ardent, where the kings and nobles were more

liberal to the clergy, and where, of consequence, the church was more

richly endowed, than in Scotland.! The demand, therefore, for ele-

gant cathedrals and ingenious artists, must have been proportionably
greater than in other countries, and that demand could be supplied
only from the trading associations on the continent. are author- We
ized, therefore, to conclude, that those numerous and elegant ruins
which still adorn the villages of Scotland, were erected by foreign
masons, who introduced into this island the customs of their order.
"
It is a curious fact, that in one of those towns where there is an
elegant abbey, which was built in the twelfth century, the author of
this history has often heard that it was erected by a company of indns.

* A. D. 1140. Vid. Statistical account of Scotland, vol. xi. Parisli of Kilwinning ;

or, Edinburgh Magazine for April, 1802, p. 234.

t The church possessed about one half of the
property in the kingdom. Robertson's
Hist, of Scotland.
 262 ORIGIN AND HISTORY

trious men who spoke in a foreign language, and lived

separately from
the town's people. And stories are still told about their petty quarrels
with the inhabitants.
"
was probably about this time, also, that freemasonry was intro-
It

duced into
England but whether the English received it from the
;

Scotch masons at Kilwinning, or from other brethren who had arrived

from the continent, there is no method of determining. The fraternity
in England, however, maintain that St. Alban was the first that brought

masonry to Britain, about the end of the third century ;

that the brethren
received a charter from King Athelstane, and that his brother Edwin
summoned all the lodges to meet at York, which formed the first grand
lodge of England, in 926. But these are merely assertions, not only
incapable of proof from authentic history, but inconsistent, also, with
several historical events which rest upon indubitable evidence. (See
Dr. Plot's Nat. Hist, of Staffordshire, chap, viii, pp. 316-318.) In sup
port of these- opinions, indeed, it is alleged, that no other lodge has
laid claim to greater antiquity than that of York, and that its jurisdiction
over the other lodges of England has been invariably acknowledged by
the whole fraternity. But this argument only proves that York was
the birth place of freemasonry in England. It
brings no additional
evidence in support of the improbable stories about St. Alban, Athel-
stane, and Edwin. If the antiquity of freemasonry in Britain can be
defended only by the forgery of silly and uninteresting stories, it does
not deserve to be defended at all. Those who invent and propagate
such do not surely consider that they bring discredit upon their
tales,
order by the warmth of their zeal and that by supporting what is false,
;

they debar thinking men from believing what is true."

Mr. Lawrie has made it
appear very probable that the churches
erected in Scotland in the twelfth century, were built by foreign masons.
Indeed, the want of skill in the natives is a sufficient evidence of the
fact. But this is no proof that they belonged to the freemason society.
And the dissolution of the trading associations on the continent, of
which he speaks, as soon as the rage for church-building ceased, while

freemasonry held its ground in England, is conclusive that there was

no connection between them.
But even admitting that the foreign masons who built the abbey of
Kilwinning, were freemasons, the presumption would be, that they had
been initiated in England; and there is no evidence that the secrets of
the society were communicated to the Scotch, They could be of no

possible advantage to operative masons, and the people of Scotland

 OF FREEMASONRY. 263

appear to have been thoroughly imbued with popery to embrace them

in a religious point of view. Besides, if these foreigners were free-
masons, and had admitted into their society a portion of the inhabitants
of the where they were employed, it is not probable that the
places
petty quarrels mentioned by Lawrie, would have occurred.
The case was different in England, where Druidism had been
revived by the Danish emigrants, after its conquest by that nation.

Upon the whole, there is no conclusive evidence that freemasonry

was established in Scotland, till after its reorganization in England, in
1717. The mason-associations in that country before this period,
appear to be no other than common trade-companies, such as those

incorporated in London.
They had a chief or grand master, with deputies in the different
counties; all appointed by the king; tho sometimes by consent of the
craft. The master was styled the patron, protector, judge, or master
masons of Scotland and the craft styled themselves
of the "
;
free of the
masons and hammermen." Lawrie cites the following :

"
In the Privy Seal-book of Scotland there is a letter dated at Holy-
rood-house, 25th Sept. 1590, and granted by King James VI. to Patrick
'

Copland of Udaught, for using and exercising the office of War-

danrie over the art and craft of masonrie, over all the boundis of
Aberdeen, Baff, and Kincardine, to had warden and justice courts
within the boundis, and there to minister justice.' Lawrie also ob- '

serves, that "In the year 1645, a particular jurisdiction for masons was
established in France. All differences which related to the art of
building, were decided by particular judges who were called overseers
of the art of masonry; and several counsellors were appointed for plead-

ing the causes which were refered to their decision. This institution
has such a striking resemblance to the warden courts which existed in
Scotland in the sixteenth century, that it must have derived its origin from
these. In both of them, those causes only were decided which related
to masonry, and overseers were chosen in both for bringing these causes
to a decision."
There is nothing of freemasonry in all this ;
there is nothing of
Druidism, the very spirit and soul of the order, to be seen in it. There
is every reason to believe that
freemasonry was first established in Eng-
land, and that there it remained till the famous meeting of the brother-
hood, at the Apple Tree tavern, in 1717, when it took wing, and visited
all parts of the civilized world.

In fact, there was no cause for its institution in any other country
264 '
OAK; IN AND HISTORY

than England, where the edict of Canute had compelled the Druids to
relinquish their religion altogether, or practise its rites and ceremonies
covertly.
" As the
'
Druids (says Hutchinson) were a sect of religious peculiar
to Gaul and Britain, it may not be improper to cast our eyes on the
ceremonies they used : their antiquity and peculiar station, render it

probable some of their rites and institutions might be retained, in form-

ing the ceremonies of our society. In so modern an era as 1 140, they
were reduced to a regular body of religious in France, and built a col-

lege in the city of Orleans. They were heretofore one of the two estates
of France, to whom were committed the care of providing sacrifices, of

prescribing laws for worship, and deciding controversies concerning

rights and properties," etc. (Spirit of Mas. p. 37.)'
As, therefore, it does not appear that Druidism at any time, was
under a positive legal restraint except in England, it
may be reasonably
inferred that its
offspring freemasonry existed no where else, till the

period above stated.

"
All the brethren on the continent agree in saying, that freemasonry
was imported from Great Britain' about the beginning of this [the eigh-

teenth] century, and in the form of a mystical society." (Robison's

Proofs,*?. 393.)
"
Robison, in speaking of freemasonry in Germany, observes, Tho
no man could pretend that he understood the true meaning of free-
masonry, its origin, its
history, or its real aim, all saw that the interpreta-
tions of hieroglyphics, and the rituals of the new degress imported
its

from France, were quite gratuitous. It appears, therefore, that the safest
thing for them was an appeal to the birth-place of masonry. They sent
to 'London for There they learned, that nothing was
instructions.

acknowledged for genuine, unsophisticated masonry but the three

degrees and that the mother lodge of London alone, could, by her
;

instructions, prevent the most dangerous schisms and innovations.

Many lodges, therefore, applied for patents and instructions. Patents

were easily made out, and most willingly sent to the zealous brethren ;

and these were thankfully received and paid for. But instruction was
not so easy a matter.
"
They afterwards sent a deputation to Old Aberdeen, Scotland, to
inquire after thr cnvcs where their venerable mysteries were known,
and their treasures were hid. They had, they thought, merited some
confidence, for they had remitted annual contributions to their unknown
superiors to the a mount of some thousands of dollars. But ulas their !
 OF FREEMASONRY. 265

ambassadors found the freemasons of Old Aberdeen ignorant of all this,

and equally eager to learn from the ambassadors, what was the true
origin and meaning of freemasonry, of which they knew nothing but
the simple tale of old Hiram."
Mr. Ward, in his Anti-Masonic Review, v. 1, p. 345, quotes the
"
following from a French work, entitled Essais sur la Franc.he Ma-
onnerie," by J. L. Laurens, which shows very conclusively that the
freemason society originated in England. Mr. Laurens says :

" it is, to determine the

Impossible as precise era of the establish-
ment of freemasonry in Europe, so easy it is, to show in what man-
ner and by what means it spread and propagated itself. Many reasons
concur to make us believe that the English brought it into Europe and ;

that they have given it names by

the exterior form, and the different
which we know it at this day. Independent of the historical monu-
ments, which prove that long before the 4th century it was known in
1

England, it appears indisputable that in that country of Europe it has

been furnished, if I may so express myself, with the form in which it has

come to us. There is not a doubt that the names Franche-Magonnerie

and Francs-masons are purely of English origin. Freemasonry free-
mason ; that is to say, magonnerie libres, masons lebres, literally rendered
into French, have produced those strange terms, a manner of speaking
far enough removed both from our customs, and the genius of our
language for it is certain if what we understand by. freemasonry and
;

freemasons, had received in France, or in any other country besides

England, any name whatever, that name could not have had so cha-
racteristic a mark of the English tongue. A slight knowledge of the
principal languages of Europe, and especially to know, that in Eng-
lish the adjective commonly precedes the noun, is enough in order to
become convinced that these names have been formed by the genius of
the English tongue.'
" word lodge at some length, he goes on
After criticising the masonic
the investigation of the terms of English
'
tosay : I might further
push
etymology peculiar to freemasonry, did I not fear to enter upon details,
which I am not permitted to publish. The usages and practices of the
lodges in what concerns only the exterior of freemasonry, present some
points of resemblance not less striking and it is this intimate relation
;

with the peculiar character of the English people, that I cite in support
of my proposition.
What is the origin of that wearisome quantity of healths, with which
1

the masonic entertainments were formerly burdened, which have been

34
266 ORIGIN AND HISTORY

the occasion of so much sarcasm

against freemasonry, and which a
good taste has now wisely reformed ? Is not this immoderate use of a
custom innocent in itself, an image of the too often repeated toast, which
so much distinguishes English Clubs? The love of good cheer, the
profusion, the lengthening out of the feast, the intemperate drinking,
which are contrary to French sobriety, and which reason and decency
have long since banished to the taverns of London, to which they legi-
timately belong, can these have any relation to the object of masonic
fellowship, of which they are at best only a despicable parody ? The
grossness of these practices, introduced into France with freemasonry,
is too nearly allied to the taste of the English nation, not to be attributed
to their invention.
'
The nature of the customs connected with freemasonry, its
pecu-
liarname, the most of the words that express the matters which make
up its exterior form, are precisely conformed to the taste and peculiar

genius of the English, and prove that in England it began to have being
as a society.'
"
After furtherargument from the geographical position, free insti-
tutions, and melancholy temperament of the English, Mons. Laurens
adds 'all these observations incline us to believe, that it is from Eng-
:

land freemasonry comes to us, as it exists now that is to say, dressed

;

in this whimsical fashion, which almost entirely disguises it, and

scarcely permits us to discover it in the precious allegory of the

Egyp-
"
tian philosophy.' p. 21 5.

The allegories of the Egyptian mysteries required to be disguised,

to prevent the real purport of masonry's being discovered. The idea
of the author, that the English first established freemasonry is very
correct, but inaccurately expressed they did not bring it into Europe
:
;

"
they manufactured it themselves at home, from what he calls the
precious allegory of the Egyptian philosophy."
I will now
produce such proofs of the long standing of the society
of freemasons in England, as have survived the wreck of time.

Examination of a Mason, by King Henry VI.

One of the documents referred to by freemasons in proof of their

antiquity, and which is considered as more decisive than any other, is

a paper said to have been found in the Bodleian library, in 1696, and

supposed to have been written in about the year 1436. It purports to

be an examination of one of the brotherhood by King Henry VI.
Altho there are suspicious circumstances attending this manu-
 OF FREEMASONRY. 267
/

regard to its authenticity, yet it appears to possess an internal

script in
evidence of genuineness. The objections to it are, that it was first
printed at Frankfort, in Germany, as late as 1748, and is accompanied
with annotations attributed to the learned John Locke, a most absurd

upon the original document itself.

supposition, tending to cast a doubt
The annotations never eminated from the philosophical mind of Locke.

They were written by a zealous mason superstitiously credulous in

the mysteries of the craft, or intending to impose upon the credulty of
others. Locke was not a mason, and if he had been, he would not have
given countenance to the absurdities set forth in this manuscript.
would seem, that the Frankfort editor had heard of the learned
It

John Locke, and in order to give the greater respectability to the record,
he singles him out as a proper person to write a commentary upon
it. But not having a sufficient knowledge of English characters to
select a suitable person to be addressed by Locke on the occasion, he
directs his letter enclosing the record and comments, to the Rt. Hon.
* * * *
*, Earl of ;
and for fear of detection by what is technically
called an alibi, he dates the letter, without giving the place from whence
it was written, May 6, 1696. The address continued to be thus printed
ia copies issued in England as late as 1764, when Dermott first pub-
lished his Ahiman Rezon. Since that period, some English editor, to
rid the document of this awkward appearance, substituted for the blanks
Thomas Pembroke. Hutchirison gives this amendment in 1772.
Where did he obtain the information? The parties concerned, how-
ever, were all defunct, and there were no means of detecting the fraud.

But, altho the connecting of the name of John Locke in this affair, is
evidently a forgery, still that does not destroy the validity of the record,
which accords in every respect with Druidical masonry.
This paper is said to have been found in the desk of a deceased
brother at Frankfort, but how it came into his possession is not
accounted for. If believed to be authentic, it would no doubt, be highly
prized by a superstitious mason, and preserved with great care. Every
thing, at the time of its supposed discovery in 1696, relating to the

origin and purport of masonry, Was kept a profound secret and this ;

document went expose both.

to It is, therefore, not a little
surprising
that the fraternity should ever have acknowledged its authenticity. The

pride of antiquity seems in this case to have prevailed over discretion,

for all masonic writers claim it as genuine. The author of a work
entitled, Annales Martinique, speaking of this document, says,
"
We
ought to value this piece the more, because it is an historical monu-
263 ORIGIN AND HISTORY

merit of the dawn of the fifteenth century, a time when we march

through a vast wilderness. So the thirsty traveler, finding- an unex-
pected fountain in the desert, rests and refreshes himself, and quits it

only with painful regret." (See Anti-mas. Review, vol. 2d. p. 23.)
I shall give the whole of this curious document. In copying it,
however, I have changed the ancient orthography to the present, and
corrected, according to the annotations, the errors it contains in respect
to persons and places.
The of the paper is, Certain questions, with answers to the same,
title

concerning the mystery of masonry, written by King Henry, the sixth,

and faithfully copied by me, John Leylande, antique rius, by command
of his highness.

They are as follows :

What mote it be ? It is the knowledge of nature and the power of

itsvarious operations; particularly, the skill vof reckoning, of weights
and measures, of constructing dwellings and buildings of all kinds,
and the true manner of forming all things for the use of man.
Where did it
begin ? It began with the first men of the east, who
were before the first menof the west, and coming westerly, it hath
brought with it all comforts to the wild and comfortless.
Who
brought it to the west ? The Phenicians, who being great
merchants, came first from the east into Phenicia, for the convenience
of commerce, both east and west, by the Red and Mediterranean seas.
How came it into England ? Pythagoras, a Grecian, traveled to
acquire knowledge in Egypt and Syria, and in every other land where
the Phenicians had planted masonry and gaining admittance into all
;

lodges of masons, he learned much, and returned and dwelt in Grecia

Magna, growing and becoming mighty wise, and greatly renowned.
Here he formed a great lodge at Crotona, and made many masons,
some of whom traveled into France and there made many more, from
whence, in process of time, the art passed into England.
Do masons discover their arts to others ? Pythagoras, when he
was first made [initiated] and then taught
traveled to gain knowledge, j

this courseshould rightly be applied to all others. Nevertheless

masons have always, from time to time, communicated to mankind
such of their secrets as might be generally useful they have kept ;

back such only as might be hurtful if taught to improper persons, or

such as would not be beneficial without the necessary teaching joined
thereto in the lodge ; or such as do bind the brethren moro strongly
by the profits and convenience accruing to the fraternity therefrom.
 OF FREEMASONRY. 269

What arts have the masons taught mankind 1 The arts of agricul-

ture, astronomy, arithmatic, music, poetry, chymistry,* government and

religion.
How does it happen that masons are better teachers than other
men? They only have the art of finding new arts, which the first
masons received from God; by which they discover what arts they
please, and the true way of teaching the same. What other men find
out, is only by chance, and therefore but of little value, I tro.
What do the masons conceal and hide ? They conceal the art of
finding new arts, and that for their own and praise: they conceal
profit
the art of keeping secrets, that so the world
may hide nothing from
them. They conceal the art of wonder-working and forfeiting things
to come, that so the same art may not be used by the wicked to a bad

end; they also conceal the art of changing, the way of obtaining the
faculty of Abrac, the skill of becoming good and perfect without the
aid of hope or fear, and the universal language of masons.
Will you teach me the same arts? You shall be taught if you be
worthy, and able to learn.

Do all masons know more than other men ? Not so. They only
have a right and opportunity to know more than other men, but many
fail from want of capacity, and many more from want of
industry,
which is
very necessary for gaining all knowledge.
Are masons better men than others ? Some masons are not so
virtuous as some other men ;
but for the most part, they are better than

they would be if they were not masons.

Do masons love one another mightily, as is said ? Yea verily,
and that can not be otherwise: for the better men are jhe more they
love one another.
"
Ou-r celebrated annotator, says Hutchinson, has taken no notice of
themasons having the art of working miracles, and foresaying things to
come." This circumstance alone, renders it sufficiently evident, that
Locke was not the annotator for such a bold assumption would not
;

have escaped his observation and severe animadversion. The annota-

tor was doubtless fearful of involving the craft in difficulty by touching
upon this subject ;
altho he might have cited the mysteries in support
of the pretention.
The universal language of masons, so much vaunted of, extends no

* It has been
objected, that the word chymistry was not in use in the time of Henry
VI. Its appearance, however, in this document may he accounted for, by supposing
that the Frankford editor substituted it for alchymy. Edit.
270 ORIGIN AND HISTORY

further than to a few words, signs, and grips, by which they can com-
municate each other
to that they are masons, and have been initiated
into certain degress. They may also learn a cypher that is given in
the royal arch, but which not one in a thousand takes the pains to

acquire, and if obtained, can be of no masonic use, that is, to communi-

cate any secrets of the craft, for masons are prohibited from committing
these to writing, printing, carving, or engraving.

John Guilllm.

"
In a work entitled The Display of Heraldry," by John Guillim,
it is
company of masons, being otherwise termed free-
stated, that the

masons, of ancient standing, and good reckoning, by means of affable

and kind meetings, divers times did frequent this mutual assembly in
the time of King Henry VI. in the twelfth year of his reign, 1434.

Ellas Ashmole.

"
Ashmole, in his diary, p. 15, says, I was made a freemason at
Warington in Lancarshire, 16th of October, 1646. On March the 10th,
1682, I received a summon? to appear at a lodge, to be held the next
day, at masons' hall, in London.
March llth, I accordingly attended,
where I was the senior fellow among them, it being nearly 35 years
since I had been admitted into the fraternity. We
all dined at the half-

moon tavern, where we partook of a sumptious dinner, at the expence

of the new accepted mason.
Lawrie, in recording this anecdote, says, "This gentleman was the
celebrated antiquary who founded the Ashmolean museum at Oxford.
His attachment to the fraternity is evident from his diligent inquiries
into itsorigin and history, and his long and frequent attendance upon
its meetings. See Diary, p. 66."
Robert Plott, L.L.D., keeper of the Ashmolean museum, etc. says,
"
in his Natural History of Staffordshire, (1686) that They have a
custom in Staffordshire of admitting men into the society of freemasons ;

that in themoorelandsof this country seems to be of greater request than

any where else, tho I-find the custom spread more or less all over
the

nation for here I found persons of the most eminent quality, that did
;

not disdain to be of this-fellowship: nor indeed need they, were it of

and honor that is pretended in a large parchment volume
that antiquity

they have among them, containing the history and rules of the craft of
masonry, which is there deduced not only from sacred writ,
but pro-
 OF FREEMASONRY. 271

iiinc story," etc. (Frcemas. Poc. Comp. p. 192. Antimas. Review,

vol. 2d. p. 334.

New Regulations.

to a copy of the old constitutions, says Anderson, a gene-

According
ral
assembly and feast was held, on St. John's day, 27th December,
1663 when Henry Jermyn, earl of St. Albans, was elected grandmas-
;

ter, who appointed Sir John Denham his deputy, and Mr. (afterwards

Sir) Christopher Wren, and John Webb his wardens. At this assembly
the following regulations, among others, were made:
" That no
person of what degree soever, be made or accepted a free

mason, unless in a regular lodge, whereof one to be a master or war-

den in that limit or division where such lodge is kept, and another to

be a craftsman in the trade of free masonry."

This regulation shows clearly that the society was not confined to
It shows also, that it was at this time, in a
opperatives. very disorderly
condition.
"
That for the future, the fraternity of freemasons shall be regulated
and governed by one grand master, and as many wardens as the
society shall think fit to appoint at every annual general assembly.'
It appears by this, that at the
period here spoken of, whatever may
have been the case formerly, the freemasons had no grand master, and
that each lodge regulated its own affairs.
"
That no person shall be accepted, unless he be twenty-one years
old, or more."
It is evident that this regulation was an innovation, and that pre-

viously apprentices were entered at the usual age in which they are
taken in other trades.
Sir Christopher Wren, says Anderson, was chosen grand master,
in 1698. He then enumerates the public buildings that were erected
"
by freemasons under his superintendance, and adds, some few years
Christopher neglected the office of grand master yet the
after this St. ;

old lodge near St. Paul's and a few others, continued their stated meet-

ings."
"
Previously to this period, the government enacted the building of
fifty new churches in the suburbs of London," to supply the places of
those consumed, at the great fire in London, in 1666; and Sir Christo-

pher Wren, an eminent architect, was appointed one of the commis-

sioners to superintend the construction of these edifices.
It is
highly probable that Wren was at this time master or president
 272 ORIGIN AND HISTORY

of the company of operative masons of London, and may

perhaps have
been a member of the freemasons' society but that the latter as a body,
;

was employed to construct public works is not probable. It was not

acknowledged by the government as a company of architects, and what-
ever may have been its standing in the time of the Druids, it was at
this period, in little repute.

Anderson gives the following account of the revolution of the order

which took place at this period. " In 1716, the few lodges in London,
finding themselves neglected by Sir Christopher Wren, thought fit to
cement under a grand master as the center of union and harmony" It

here appears that the order made in 1663, in regarda grandmaster, to

had become neglected. These lodges were those "that met, 1, at the
Goose and Gridiron Ale-house, in St. Paul's church yard 2. at the ;

Crown Ale-house, in Parker's lane ;

3. at- the Apple-tree Tavern, in
Charles-street, Covent Garden ;
4. at the Rummer and Grapes tavern,
in Channel Row, Westminster.
"
The members of these lodges and some old brothers met at the
said Apple-tree, and having put into the chair the oldest master mason

they constituted themselves a grand lodge, pro tempore in due form,

and forthwith, revived the quarterly communication of the officers of
lodges, called the grand lodge, and resolved to hold the annual assem-
bly and feast; and then to choose a grand master from among them-
till
selves, they should have the honor of a noble brother at their head.
"Accordingly, on St. John Baptist's day, [the 24th June, the sum-
mer solstice,] 1717, the assembly and feast of the free and accepted
masons was held at Goose and Gridiron Ale-house."
the aforesaid
The freemasons at this seem to have rummaged their old
time,
records, and found out what the society formerly was, and come to a
determination to revive old Druidical, Hiram masonry.
At assembly, "Mr. Anthony Sayre, gentleman, was elected
this

grand master of masons, who being forthwith invested. with the badges
of office and power, and installed, was duly congratulated by the assem-

bly, who payed him the homage. Capt. Joseph Elliot, and Mr. Jacob
Lamball, carpenter, were appointed grand wardens."
The brethren did not wait long before a noble brother condescended
to be placed at their head; for on the 24th of June, 1721, the duke of

Montague was elected and accepted the office of grand master of masons.
From that time to the present, a nobleman or a prince has constantly
presided over the lodges of England. The society soon became fash-
ionable. The brilliant processions arid luxurious feasts now got up,
 OF FREEMASONRY. 273

which had for a long time been neglected, added to the snblime myste-
riesand secrets held out to the initiated, allured the young, the gay,
and the inquisitive, to the standard of the order, which now assumed
such an imposing appearance as caused it to spread, with astonishing
rapidity, over Europe, Asia, and America. The year 1717 forms and
important epoch in the history of freemasonry. It had till then been

for some centuries, almost in the hands of mere craftsmen

exclusively,
who knew not what to make of it. Druidism being extinct, the reli-
gious cement which had bound them together, was dissolved and the ;

incorporated company of masons, no doubt, rendered its combination

in respect to that profession inefficient.

As operative masons, the incorporated company would naturally

take the lead of a society not sanctioned by the laws, and the utility of
whose mystic rites could not be estimated, after the religion which
gave them birth, was no longer known.
Dermott names eight persons, among whom is the Rev. Dr.
Desaguliers, who was elected grand master in 1719, as the authors of
this remarkable revolution. At this revival, the ostensible ground
upon which the society was originally founded, the craft of masonry, as
though in derision of the pretention, was utterly abandoned, and no
longer considered as a recommendation for admission into the order.
The society, however, keeps up a show of respect to the craft by
marching in processions, to lay the corner stone of masonic halls, and
other public edifices. This, was an ancient religious custom, having
no reference to the art of building.

Incorporation of Masons in London.

Masons No. 30. By the arms granted this society by William

Hanckestow, Clarencieux-king at arms,* in the year 1477, it appears

tobe of considerable antiquity; however, it was only incorporated by

Letters Patent of the 29th, of Charles 2d, Sept. 17, anno 1677, by the
name of the master, wardens, assistants and commonalty of the com-
pany of masons of the city of London.
" two wardens, twenty-two assistants, and
They consist of a master,

men, whose fine of admission is five pounds. They

seventy livery
have a small, but convenient hall in Mason-alley, Basing-hall street.
Their armorial ensigns are azure on a chevron between three cas-

*
Kings at arms, are officers of great antiquity, and anciently of great authority ;

they direct the heralds, preside at their chapters, and have the jurisdiction of armory.
There are three in number, Garter, Norroy, and Clarencieux. Bailey.
35
274 ORIGIN AXD HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY.

ties argent, a pair of compasses somewhat extended of the first. Crest

a castle of the second." (Maitland's History of London, from its founr
dation to 1756.)

This incorporation of course included the operatives of the freema-

sons, who in their society make use of the same armorial bearings,
which it is
very probable, originally belonged to them.

To what period the pagan rites, under the name of Druidism, were
sustained in different parts of Europe, is uncertain but that they were :

not concealed, under the title of freemasonry, in any other quarter than
from the charters of all lodges on the continent's
Britain, is evident

emanating from either the grand lodge of England or that of Scotland.

The latter, however, was not instituted till 1736.
The grand lodge of Ireland was formed in 1730. And in 1733, a
charter for a lodge was obtained for Boston. So, it is seen, that Amer-
ica was not far behind in availing itself of the earliest opportunity to
become a partaker in the advantages resulting from a knowledge of
this wonderful secret
To suppose, as some writers have done, that the freemasons' society
first sprang up in 1717; that such a mass of curious ceremonies, bear-
ing on their very front the most palpable marks of remote antiquity, was
then for the first time concocted by doctors of divinity and other learned
men, is to my mind preposterous.
Freemasonry based on Sabeism, the worship of the stars but, as
is
;

before observed, its original intention has long since been lost sight of
and abandoned. Modern masons not only continue the ceremonies of
ancient masonry, consisting of seven degrees, which relate exclusively
to pagan rites, but have added 'thereto about others. These are
fifty
founded partly upon pagan mysteries, and partly upon Jewish and
Christian doctrines forming altogether an incoherent medley of oppo-
;

site principles. The partisans, however, of opposing sects seem to be

reconciled to not stopping to inquire into the meaning of the
it,
symbols,
or willing to be deceived by the false explication given of them, con-

gregate together in great harmony. And, although the ceremonies

relate wholly to religion, either Pagan, Jewish, or Christian, discus-
sion on the subject is
absolutely prohibited in the lodge.
 CHATER VII.

ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY.*

Introduction.

I shall now proceed to analyse Freemasonry. And as I conceive

at to be no other than the forms and ceremonies of the ancient Pagan

religion that is, Sabeism or the worship of the stars, the following
;

remarks of Volney, on the natural causes which led to this species of

worship, will not be amiss :

"
The unanimous
testimony of all ancient monuments, presents us
a methodical and complicated system, that of the worship of all the stars,
adored sometimes in their proper forms, sometimes under figurative
emblems and symbols ;
and this worship was the effect of the know-
ledge men had acquired in physics, and was derived immediately from
the first causes of the social state, that is, from the necessities and arts

of the degree which are among the elements of society.

first

"Indeed, as soon as men began to unite in society, it became' neces-

sary for them to multiply the means of subsistence, and consequently to
attend to agriculture; agriculture, to be carried on with success,

requires the observation and knowledge of the heavens. It was neces-

sary to know the periodical return of the same operations of nature, and
the same phenomena in the skies; indeed, to go so far as to ascertain
the duration and succession of the seasons and the months of the year.
It was indispensable to know in the first place, the course of the sun,
who, in his zodiacal revolutions, shows himself the first and supreme
agent of the whole creation then, of the moon, who, by her phases and
;

periods, regulates and distributes time; then of the stars, and even
planets, which by their appearance and disappearance on the horizon
and nocturnal hemisphere, marked the minutest divisions; finally, it
was necessary to form a whole system of astronomy, or a calendar and ;

from these works there naturally followed a new manner of considering

these predominant and governing powers. Having observed that the

* The author of " the Master

"
Key to the door of Freemasonry," has judiciously
remarked, that the word/rec was added to masonry by the society, because none but
ihefreeborn were admitted into it." And for a very obvious reason, for there conld be no
safety in confiding secrets to slaves, which might at any time be extorted from them by
their masters. Besides, this was in conformity with the rule established in the Egyp-
tian mysteries.
276 ANALYSIS OF

productions of the earth had a regular and constant relation with the
heavenly bodies that the rise, growth, and decline of each plant kept
;

pace with the appearance, elevation, and declination of the same star
or group of stars; in short, that the languor or activity of vegetation
seemed to depend on celestial influences, men drew from thence an idea
of action, of power in those beings, superior to earthly bodies ;
and the
stars dispensing plenty or scarcity, became powers, genii, gods, authors
of good and evil.

"As the state of society had already introduced a regular hierarchy

of ranks, employments and conditions, men, continuing to reason by

comparison, carried their new notions into their theology, and formed
a complicated system of gradual divinities, in which the sun, as first

god, military chief, a political king the moon was his wife,
was a ;
and
queen the;planets were servants, bearers of commands, messengers ;
and
the multitude of stars nation, an army of heroes, genii whose
were a
office was to govern the world under the orders of their chiefs; and all

the individuals had names, functions, attributes drawn from their rela-
tions and influences ;* and even sexes, from the gender of their appel-
lations, f
" If it be asked to what people this system is to be attributed, we
shall answer that the same monuments, supported by unanimous tradi-
tions, attribute it to the first tribes of Egypt; and when reason finds in
that country all the circumstances which could lead to such a system ;

when there a zone of

it find's
sky, bordering on the tropic, equally free
from the rains of the equator and the fogs of the north; when it finds
there a central point of the sphere of the ancients, a salubrious climate,
a great, but manageable river, a soil fertile without labor or art,
.and plceed between two seas which communicate with the richest coun-
tries it conceives that the inhabitant of the Nile, addicted to agriculture
from the nature of his soil, to geometry from the annual necessity of

measuring his lands, to commerce from the facility of communications,

to astronomy from the state of his
sky always open to observation, must
have been the first to
pass from the savage to the social state, and con-

* A
pretty fair description of a masonic lodge, with the worshipful master at the
head, personifying the sun, and taking his place in the east ; surrounded by the senior
warden, who acts the part of the moon ; the junior warden, who takes that of Orion,
and the other subordinate officers and privates, all under the command of their chief,
the worshipful master. Edit.
t According as the gender of the object was in the the nation masculine
language of
or feminine, the divinity who bore its name was male or female. Thus the Capadocians
called the moon god, and the sun goddess ; a circumstance which gives to the same
beings a perpetual variety in ancient mythology*
 FREEMASONRY. 277

sequently to attain the physical and moral sciences necessary to civil-

ized life.
"
It was then on the borders of the upper Nile among a black race
of men, that was organized the complicated system of the worship of
the stars considered in relation to the productions of the earth and the
labors of agriculture and this first worship, characterized by their ado-
;

ration under their own forms and natural attributes, was a simple pro-
ceeding of the human mind; but in a short time, the multiplicity of the
and their reciprocal influence, having compli-
objects of their relations,
cated the ideas, and the signs that represented them, there followed a
confusion as singular in its cause, as pernicious in its effects."
It has been sufficiently made to appear, it is believed, that the Soci-

ety of Freemasons, has existed in England for upwards of six hundred

years. How far its principles and objects- were generally understood
by its members in the early stage of its establishment, is unknown.
But, judging from the enigmatical manner in which its ritual, as handed
down to us, is explained, we may conclude that the brethren, particu-
larly the craftsmen of the three first degrees, were kept as closely hoodr
winked in respect to its true import, after, as they were before their
initiation. The personal safety of its founders required this course.
Hence the awful oaths exacted of them to keep secret the rites and cere-
monies in which they were permitted to participate.
These ceremonies were manufactured for the occasion; and were
so obscurely framed as to be rendered incomprehensible to all those not
intrusted with the secret object of the institution. Besides artifice was
made use of to mislead the brethren, answers to questions propounded

being often given that have no relation to their true interpretation. In

short, freemasonry is allegorical throughout, and is an imitation of the
astronomical worship of the Egyptians, Hiram being substituted for
Osiris. There are occasional departures from the original, to accom-
modate it to the craft or trade of
masonry, which, as before observed, is
a mere finesse cover the real design.
to There, otherwise, would have
been no necessity for dividing the subject matter of the three first
.

degrees ;
which may be considered as substituted for the ceremonies
and secrets of the lesser mysteries and that of the royal arch and its
;

appendages, for those of the greater. It

may, however, have been the
policy of the Druids, to deal out their mysteries in small parcels, to
try the good faith of their pupils by degrees, and to stop short, or pro-
ceed with them accordingly.
No account of the secret practices of masonry, had been given to
278 ANALYLIS OF

the public, till after its revival in 1717. The first writers who under-
took expose them, were Prichard, in 1730; Master Key to the door
to

of Freemasonry, in 1768 and Jachin and Boaz, in 1776.

;
As material
alterations in the ritual have been made since the report of Prichard,
whatever may be said of "old land marks," in making this Analysis, I
shall rely chiefly upon him and the two following expositions for an
explanation of the three first degrees, which was the extent of their

labors, although the author of Master Key, signs himself

"
member A
of Royal Arch."
On the revival of the institution, the surviving heirs of the mystery,
no doubt, gave to the society as far as recollected, the very words and

ceremonies as delivered to them ;

and which Prichard testifies under
oath, to be truely reported by him.
This expose particularly indicates the order to be of ancient date.
After perusing it, it would seem impossible to believe that men of lear-

ning, talents, and standing in society, would, in the eighteenth century of

the Christian era, seriously form de novo such a medley, void of the least
claim to wit or rationality, except in reference to the scientific worship of
the heavenly bodies and other physical powers of nature. According to
Prichard, many of the questions and answers, are in verse, which suf-
ficiently indicate their Druidical
formation ;
the sense of which, how-
ever, hasbeen changed to prose, thereby rendering the dialogue more
conformable to the present taste, and at the same time divesting it of its
Druidical dress.
In adapting this parody of the mysteries to the uninformed state of
the initiated to the three degrees of masonry, although a trinity is
first

acknowledged under the title of wisdom, strength and beauty, still the
true first person is kept out of view.
"
The maintainers of the Egyptian philosophy held, that the

Supreme Being, the infinitely perfect and happy, was not the creator of
the world, nor the alone independent Being. The Supreme Being,
who resides in the immensity of space, which they call peteroma or
fullness, produced from himself, say they, other immortal and spiritual
natures, styled by them -<Eons, who filled the residence of the Deity
with beings similar to themselves." (Key to the Testament. New
Hutchinson, p. 36.)
This Divinity is spoken of by Jamblichus, under the name of Emeph
"
or Kneph. He says, that This God is an intellect, itself intellectu-

ally perceiving itself, and converting intellections to itself; and is to

be worshipped through silence alone." (Taylor's Trans. Jam. p. 302.)

 FREEMASONRY. 279

Altho this god was secretly acknowledged by the philosophers and

learned priests of Egypt, he was utterly unknown to the common peo-

ple; and this is supposed to be the case with the mason of the three
first
degrees. But when he arrives at the holy royal arch, the discovery
ismade known to him. This is the awful Divinity, on coming into
whose presence, the shocking exhibitions of thunder, lightning, etc.
produce such excessive trepidation and fear. This is the Wisdom,
the first
person of the Egyptian trinity ;
Osiris the sun, the Strength,
the Demiurgus or supposed maker of the world, is the second person ;

and Isis the moon, the Beauty of masonry, is the third. But as the
first
person is not revealed to the initiates of the minor degress, the
trinity for these grades is made up wholly of visible, physical powers,
adapted to the gross conceptions of theuninlightened viz. Osiris, Isis,
;

and Orus ;
that is the sun, moon, and Orion.
To
prevent that satiety arising from the perusal of long rituals, par-
ticularly those in which the reader has no faith, I shall confine myself
to as few items in that respect, as is consistent with the necessary

developement of the subject. This analysis is not intended as a regular

expose of the ceremonies of masonry.
After these preliminary remarks, I commence with the

Manner of Opening a Lodge ;

and preparing a candidate for initiation, taken/ram Jachin and Bcaz.

Masonry throughout is in the catechetical form, in the same manner

as instruction is given to novices in allother religions. The master,
before opening the lodge, demands of the officers their varions stations
and duties (which will appear in what are called lectures further on,}
e
nding with those of the master whose station is in the east, because
;

the sun rises in the east to open the day, so the master stands in the east
to open his lodge, and set the men to work.

After the conclusion of this ceremony, the master puts on his hat,
and declares the lodge to be
opened, in the name of holy St. John, for-
bidding all cursing, swearing, whispering, and all profane discourse
whatever. He then gives three knocks upon the table, and puts on his
hat, the brethren being uncovered. Provided a candidate has received
the approval of the lodge for admittance, the master asks, if the gentle-
man proposed last lodge-night is
ready to be made and on being ;

answered in the affimative, he orders the wardens to go out and pre-

pare the person, \vho is
generally waiting in a room at some distance
from the lodge room by himself, being left there by his friend who pro-
280 ANALYSIS OF

posed him. He is conducted into another room, which is totally dark ;

and then asked, whether he is conscious of having the vocation neces-

sary to be received? On answering yes, he is asked his name, sur-

name, and profession. When he has answered these questions, what-

ever he has about him made of metal is taken away, as buckles, buttons,

rings, etc. and even the money Then they uncover his
in his pocket.

right knee and put his with his shoe on into a slipper, (this is
left foot

not practised in every lodge, some only slipping the heel of the shoe
down ;) hoodwink him with a handkerchief, and leave him to his
reflection for about half an hour. The chamber is also guarded within
and without by some of the brethren who have drawn swords in their
hands. The person who proposed the candidate stays in the room with
him ;
but they are not permitted to converse together.

During this silence, and while the candidate is

preparing, the
brethren in the lodge are putting every thing in order for his recep-
tion there such as drawing the annexed figure [omitted] on the floor
;

at the upper part of the room ;

which is generally done with chalk
and charcoal intermixed. It is drawn east and west. The Master
stands in the east, with the square hanging at his breast, the holy bible

opened at the gospel of St. John, and three lighted tapers are placed in
the form of a triangle in the midst of the drawing on the floor.
The proposer then goes and knocks three times at the door of the
apartment, in which the ceremony is to be performed. The Master
answers within by three strokes with the hammer, and the Junior
warden asks, who comes there ? The candidate answers (after
"
another who prompts him) One who begs to receive part of the bene-
fitof this Right Worshipful Lodge, dedicated to St. John, as many
brothers and fellows have done before me." The doors are then
opened, and the senior and junior wardens, or their Assistants,
receive him, one on the right, and the other on the left, and conduct
him blind-folded three times round the drawing on the floor, and bring
him up to the foot of it, with his face to the master, the brethren

ranging themselves on each side, and making a confused noise, by

striking on the attributes of the order, which they carry in their hands.*
In some lodges the candidates are led nine times round; but as
this isvery tiresome to the person who is to undergo the operation, his
patience being pretty well tried by being blinded so long beforehand,
it is
very justly omitted.

* This custom is not observed in all Lodges.

 FREEMASONRY. 281

Apprentice's Degree.

commence "
I degree with Prichard's report, called
this
Masonry
Dissected," as inserted in the Antimasonic Review; which Mr. Ward,
the Editor, informs me, he printed from a manuscript copy. It is evi-

dently an abridgment of the original for it opens with the examina-

:

tion of an Apprentice previously initiated. It contains, however,

enough for the present purpose. An attestation to the truth of the

statement is prefixed to the document, as follows :

"
Samuel Prichard maketh oath, that the copy hereunto annexed is
a true and genuine copy in every particular. Jur. 13 Die Oct. 1730
Coram me R. Hopkins."
I shall not confine myself to any one of the books on the subject in
regular order, but take the questions and answers, or the purport of
them, from either as may best suit my purpose.
Question.From whence came you 1 Answer. From the Holy
Lodge of St. [Why the Druids gave this name to the lodge
John.
will be explained in the sequel.] What recommendations brought you
from thence ? The recommendation which I brought from the right
worshipful brothers and fellows of the right worshipful and holy lodge
of St. John from whence I came, and greet you thrice heartily well.
;

What do you come here to do ?

Not to do my own proper will,

But to subdue mypassions still;
The rules of masonry in hand to take,
And daily progress therein to mako.

Are you a mason? I am so taken and accepted to be 'mong broth-

ers and fellows* Where were you made a mason ? In a just and
perfect lodge. What makes a lodge ? Five. Masons are deceived
"
by the reason given for this number's making a lodge. The ancient
theology (as before observed) being nothing more than a system of
physics, a picture of the operations of nature, wrapped up in myste-
rious allegories and enigmatical symbols," a solution of the enigma
must be sought for from that source.
"
The Egyptians
represent the world by the number five, being that
of the elements, which, says Diodorus, are earth, water, air, fire and
ether or spiritus (they are the same amongst the Indians ;) and accord-

ing to the mystics, in Macrobius, they are the

supreme God or primum
mobile, the intelligence or meus born of him, the soul of the world
which proceeds from him, the celestial spheres and all things terres-
36
282 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY:

trial. Hence, adds Plutarch, the analogy between the Greek pente,
five, and Pan, all." (See Ruins, p. 23G.)
What makes a just and perfect Lodge ? Seven. This is in conse-
quence of its being formed by the union of three and four] which,
number superlatively perfect.
as before observed, renders this

Masonry teaches that the above numbers are required to make a

lodge, because man has five senses, and there are seven
liberal scien-

ces and much ridiculous parade is made in the definition of these

;

sciences which are thus arranged

; Grammar, rhetoric, logic, arith-
:

metic, geometry, music, and astronomy. What doth geometry teach 1

The measuring whereby the Egyptians found out their own
art of
same quantity which they had before the overflowing of
land, or the
the Nile. How were you prepared to be made a mason? I was
neither naked nor clothed, barefoot nor shod; deprived of all metal;
hoodwinked, with a cable-tow about my neck, when I was led to the

door of the lodge, in a halting moving posture. This preparation, as

before noticed, is in conformity to the ancient usage in the mysteries :

it isa scenical representation of the forlorn condition of man in a state

of nature. The rope about the neck of the candidate, like the chain
required by the Druids to be carried by their followers in the perform-
ance of their sacred rites, was, as before stated, in testimony of his
submission to the will of God. [See Mayo's Myth. v. 2d. p. 220.
How got you admittance-? By three, great knocks. Who received
you ? A junior warden. How
he dispose of you ? He carried
did
me up to the northeast part of the lodge, and brought me back again
to the west, and delivered me to the senior warden. (Why the candi-
date begins his labors at the northeast part of the lodge has already
been explained.)
Where
did our ancient brethren meet, before lodges were erected ?

Upon holy ground, or the highest hill or lowest vale, or in the vale
of Jehoshaphat, or any other secret place the better to guard against
;

cowans* and enemies, either ascending or descending, that the brethren

might have timely notice of their'approach to prevent being surprised.
These ancient brethren were Druids and the places mentioned are
;

such as they used to assemble at, before the edict of Canute entirely

* to be a corruption of Covin, which the author of The Secret Disci-

Cowan seems
pline,&c. noticed above, substitutes for it. This word is thus defined by Webster :

'Covin (<iu. Arabic to defraud.) More probably this word belongs to some verb in
Ob. signifying to conceal, or to agree. In Norm. Fr. covyne is a secret place or
meeting."
 APPRENTICE'S DEGREE. 283

prohibited their public meetings. In consequence of which Dmidism

was changed and lodges were erected. It cannot be
into freemasonry,

shown, that a lodge of masons ever held a meeting for the performance
of their mystic rites, except in a close room, properly tiled. The
groves and other places where the Druids assembled for worship,
were consecrated divinity, and considered holy ground.
to some The
vale of Jehoshaphat here introduced as a mere juggle.
is It is a

valley near. Jerusalem, where, or in Jerusalem itself, a lodge of free-

masons never held a meeting. The following extract from Holwell's
My thol. Diet, will show the reasons given by the ancients for worship-

ing the gods upon high hills or mountains.

High Places.

Many of old worshiped upon hills, and on the tops of high moun-
tains ; imagining that they thereby obtained a nearer communication
with heaven. Strabo says (I. 15.) that the Persians always performed
their worship upon hills. (Some nations instead of an image wor-
shiped the hill as the deity. Max. Tyr. Dissert 8. v. Appian. de
bello Mithridatico.) In Japan most of their temples at this day are

upon eminences and often upon the ascent of high mountains com-
;
:

manding fine views, with groves and rivulets of clear water for they ;

say, that the gods are extremely delighted with such high and pleasant
spots. (Ka3mpfer's Japan, v. 2. b. 5.) This practice in early times
was almost universal and every mountain was esteemed holy. The
;

people, who prosecuted this method of worship, enjoyed a soothing

infatuation, which flattered the gloom of superstition. The eminences
to retired were lonely, and silent ; and seemed to be hap-
which they
pily circumstanced for contemplation and prayer.
They, who fre-
quented them, were raised above the lower world; and fancied that

they were brought into the vicinity of the powers of the air, and of the
deity who resided in the higher regions. But the chief excellence for
which they were frequented, was the Omphi, interpreted Theia cledont
vox divina, being a particular revelation from heaven. In short, they
were looked upon as the peculiar places where God delivered his
oracles.

Many times when a reformation among the Jews was introduced by

some of the wiser and lamented by the sacred
better princes, it is still

writer (1 Kings xxii.) that the

high places were not taken aicay ; the
people still offered, and burnt incense on the high places.
The lodge is described as extending in length from east to west; in
284 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY :

breadth from north to south ; as high as the heavens as deep as from

;

the surface to the center; and supported by three large columns or

named Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty.
pillars,
"
Our institution is ,said to be supported by wisdom, strength, and
beauty because it is necessary that there should be wisdom to contrive,
;

strength to support, and beauty to adorn, all great and important under-
takings. Its dimensions are unlimited, and its covering no less than

the canopy of heaven. To this object the mason's mind is continually

directed, and thither he hopes at last to arrive, by the aid of the theolo-

gical ladder, which Jacob, in his vision, saw ascending from earth to
heaven ; the three principal rounds of which are denominated faith,
hope, and charity. 11 (Webb.)
It is evident from the foregoing, that a masonic lodge is supposed

to represent the world upon which plan the ancient pagan temples
;

were formed. The flooring of the lodge is intended to resemble the

face of the earth, and the principal ceremonies performed in it, are an
imitation of the movements of the heavenly bodies, particularly of that

great luminary the Sun, the god of Egypt.

TheRev. R. Taylor, in his Lecture on masonry, very ingeniously
solves the enigma of the three principal rounds of the aforesaid theolo-

gical, or rather astronomical ladder, thus

:

" the Genius of Spring Hope of Summer ; and Charity

Faith is ;

of Autumn. Faith, in Spring, because faith and works must always

come together. Hope, of Summer, because from that point, the sun
looks vertically down upon the seeds which have been committed in
faith to the fertilizing womb of the earth. Charity, of autumn, because
then the sun empties his cornucopia into our desiring laps. Faith is the
eastern pillar charity the western and hope the key stone of this
; ;

11
royal arch. This theological ladder has seven rounds, and is enig-
matically described in the degree called Knight of Kadosh, which I
shall hereafter notice. It marks the course of the sun through seven

sighs of the zodiac, commencing at the vernal equinox, and ending at

the autumnal, both inclusive. The semicircle made by the sun in
passing these signs, forms the celebrated royal arch and a mason to ;

attain the degree so called, must pass through the seven grades of the
order. The three principal steps above noticed, allude to the equi-
noxes, and the northern solstice.
Why should the master represent the pillar of wisdom, and be sta-
tioned in the east? As the sun rises in the east to open and adorn the
day, so rises (at these words the master rises,) the worshipful master
in

the east to opeu and adorn his lodge, and set the craft to work. Why
 285

should the senior warden represent the pillar of strength? As the

sun sets in the west, to close the day, so stands the senior warden in the
west, to close the lodge, and dismiss the men from labor, paying them
their wages. The junior warden represents the pillar of beauty,
because he stands in the south, at high twelve at noon, which is the
glory and beauty of the day, to call the men off from labor to refresh-
ment, and to see that they come on again in due time.
The above arrangement is evidently deceptive. Wisdom, applica-
ble to the true God, who, according to pagan theology, resides in the

immensity of space, is kept out of view, and Osiris the sun is substituted
in his place. Strength which is required for labor, at the opening of
the day, and which is applicable to the sun, is transferred to its close,
when the men are called from labor. The senior warden properly per-
sonates Isis, indicating the productions of the earth in the fall, which
ornaments and beautifies the creation. The sun, moon, and Orus or
Orion, (which lies directly over the equator,) form the wisdom, strength
and beauty of the three first degrees and they also composed the vul-
;

gar trinity of the Egyptians.

The two principal pillars are called Jachin and Boaz, and are sup-
posed be
to placed at the equinoctial points Boaz in the east, and
;

Jachin in the west the former being on the left hand, and the latter on
;

the right, to the inhabitants of the northern hemisphere, the seat of

masonry. "The equinoctial points are called pillars, because the

great semicircle, or upper hemisphere, doth seem to rest upon them."
(R. Taylor.)
In the degree of perfect master, these two pillars are said to \>Q fixed
crossways. It is asked, are you a perfect master 1 Ans. I have seen

the circle and the square enclosing the two columns. What do
the columns represent? Jachin and Boaz, through which I must
have passed to arrive at the degree of perfect master. What have you
done in entering the lodge ? I came to the altar, worked as an entered
"
apprentice, fellow-craft, and master, to cross the two columns. Now,
(says Taylor,) what are cross- ways but two ways of which one crosses
? These
the other cross-ways, Boaz and Jachin, are the equinoctial
points, at which the line of the ecliptic crosses the line of the equator
thatis, the sun in his apparent path, the ecliptic, comes to shine
directly
over the line of the equator this he does in spring and autumn, and
:

only then."
The fellow-craft is said to receive his
wages in the middle chamber,
at which he arrives by seven winding stairs, passing- the two pillars of
286 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY :

Boaz and Jachin. This is embematical of the seven circular stages,

made by the sun in his tour round those imaginary columns. The
emerging of the sun from the lower hemisphere, on the 21st of March,
and his return on the 27th of September, may, in figurative language,
be denominated his rising and setting in regard to our hemisphere.
Thus Osiris, the sun, sets the husbandmen to work on his rising at the
former period, and Isis, the emblem of harvest, pays them in the fruits
of the earth, on his return to the latter.

The following figure by which the symbol of harvest

is that
is represented in mythology; The, torch, however, was peculiar to
Ceres.

Isis, Ceres, Cylde, etc.

 APPRENTICE'S DEGREE. 287

So the master of the lodge, who stands in the east, representing the
sun, rises and sets his men to work and the senior warden, who
;

stands in the west, representing Isis, pays them their wages. To ren-
der this personification of Isis perfectly plain, a painting of a sheaf of
wheat, is hung back of the senior warden's seat.*
It is also worthy of remark, that as the pagans constructed their
temples in a manner to represent the world, they would naturally for
that purpose, imagine the world to be divided into three departments or
chambers the upper, the middle, and the lower. The middle cham-
;

ber would of course include the autumnal equinox : and on the arrival
of the sun at that point of the heavens, the laborer, the husbandman, is

paid his wages in the fruits of

the earth.

Freemasons hall, in London, is a partial imitation of a pagan

" In the center of the roof of this
temple. magnificent hall, says Smith,
a splendid sun is represented, surrounded with the twelve signs of the
zodiac." And he adds, " The scientific freemason only knows the
reason why the sun is thus placed in the center of this beautiful hall."
How is the lodge situated ? Due east and west, because all
churches and chapels are or ought to be so.
All pagan temples were so situated in consequence of the sun's
"
being the universal object of worship. The
Egyptians, Chaldeans,
Indians, Persians, and Chinese, all placed their temples fronting the
east, to receive the first rays of the sun. Hence the worship of the
sun has been the religion of the ancient people from which these, [the
present race] are descended." Tytler's Elem. of Hist.
It is true this custom continued long after the cause which pro-
duced it, be respected. Preston, in his illustrations of masonry,
ceased to

in giving a description of St. Paul's Cathedral, says,

"
strict regard A
to the situation of this edifice, due east and west, has given it an oblique,
appearance in respect to Ludgate street in front." This building was
finished in 1696. Christopher Wren, in a letter dated
Its architect, Sir

1707, addressed to a joint commissioner with himself for building

churches to supply the places of those destroyed by the conflagration of

*
Henry O'Brien A. B. in a late work entitled "Phenecian Ireland," Dublin, 1833
:
;

after treating of some other of the pagan divinities, says:

"But our decision on the word sibbol, a name by which the Irish, as well as almost
all other nations, designated and worshiped Cybele, must be guided altogether by
another principle. For here I at once recognise the Syriac character as derived from
sibola, an ear of corn, under which guise the Phenecians used to worship the earth as
the mother of all harvests, and vegetables. All nations, therefore, by one common
consent, represented Cybele holding in her right hand some ears of corn." [wheat]
(p. 107.) Now, Cybele has been shown to be but another name for Isis.
 288 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY :

16G6, observes, "As to the situation of the churches, I should propose

they be brought forward as far as possible into the larger and more
open streets. Nor are we, I think, too nicely to observe east or west
in the position, unless it falls out
properly." See Anderson's Const,
of freemasonry.
Have you any ornaments in your lodge? Yes, the masonic pave-
ment, the blazing star, and the indented or tesseled border. The
Mosaic pavement is the flooring of the lodge. This points out the
diversity of objects which decorate and adorn the creation, the animate
"
as well as the inanimate parts thereof. The same divine hand which
hath blessed us with the sights of his glorious works in the heavens,
hath also spread the earth with a beautiful carpet Ire hath wrought it
:

in various colors, fruits and flowers, pastures and meads; he hath

wrought it as it were, in mosaic work, giving a pleasing variety to the

eye of man." Smith.

The blazing star in the center, indicates that prudence which ought
to appear conspicuous in the conduct of every mason. The indented
or tesseled border refers us to the planets which in their various revolu-
tions, form a beautiful border of skirt-work round that grand luminary
the sun. The furniture of the lodge is the volume of the sacred law,
the compass, and the square.
The origin of what is called mosaic work, as well as the term by
which designated, appears to be lost through the lapse of time.
it is

"The ancients, especially the Greeks, says Bailey, adorned their

floors, pavements of temples, palaces, etc., with mosaic, or rather musaic
work. A work composed of many stones, or other matters of differ-
ent colors, so disposed as to represent divers shapes of ornaments, birds,
"
etc." Dr. Rees observes, The critics are divided as to the
origin and reason of the name mosaic." He then gives unsatisfac-
tory hypotheses of several writers on the subject, and coucludes by say-
"
ing, Mosaic appears to have taken its origin from paving :" leaving
the question as to the propriety of thus denominating any kind of paving
unsolved. This matter having eluded the researches of the learned for
so many ages, that it is with diffidence I offer the following remarks
" The rural
works, says Pluche, not being resumed in Egypt till
after the Nile had quitted the plain, they for this reason, gave the pub-
lic sign of husbandry the name
Moses or Museus, saved from the
of
waters ; and on the same account, the nine moons during which Horus,

Apollo, or husbandry continued his exercises, went by the same name."

" Isis
Hence, as we have seen, originated the fable of the nine muses.
 289

says the same writer,was so far the proclamation of the year, that she
put on such clothes and dresses as were agreeable to the four'seasons.
To announce the beginning of spring that overspreads atid enamels
the earth with flowers and verdure, she wore
carpets of different
colors," etc.
Now, whatcould be more appropriate than to denominate the vari-
egated and beautiful face of the earth in Egypt, during the nine months
that bore the name of Moses or Museus, mosaic or musaic work, and
to give the same appellation to its imitation ?
The Egyptians and other ancient nations held high hills, groves,
etc.in superstitious veneration; and although when more civilized, in
order to shelter themselves from the weather, they quitted these favorite
retreats, and worshipped their gods in temples ;
still it was natural that

they should endeavor to imitate the scenes which they venerated, and
had been accustomed to contemplate in their former devotions. With
this view then, they decorated their temples so as, in some mea-
sure, to resemble the works of creation as exhibited in the places where

they before assembled for religious worship. And the name Mosaic
or Musaic would naturally occur to them as proper to be given to this

ornamental work, intended to represent the face of the earth during the
nine mosaic months.
How many principles are there in masonry ? Four :
point, line,
superfices, and solid. Point the center, round which the master can-
not err; line, length without breadth solid comprehends the whole,
;

(Prichard.) This as before observed, is the definition of the science of

geometry.
A point within a Circle.

" In
all regular, well
constituted lodges, there is a point \vithin a

circle, which bounded between north and south by two parallel lines
is

one representing Moses, the other king Solomon. On the upper part
of this circle rests the volume of the sacred law, \vhich supports Jacob's

ladder, the top of which reaches to heaven* In going round this circle

* " In the factitious

caves, which priests every where constructed, they celebrated
mysteries which consisted, says Origen against Celsus, in imitating the motion of the
stars, the planets, and the heavens. The initiated took the name of constellations, and
assumed the figure of animals. In the cave of Mithra was a ladder of seven steps.
representing the seven spheres of the planets, by means of which souls ascended and
descended this is precisely the ladder in Jacob's vision; which shows that at that
;

epoch, the whole system was formed. There is in the royal library a superb volume of
pictures of the Indian gods, in which the ladder is represented with the souls of men
ascending it. See Bailey's ancient astronomy." (Ruins, p. 239.)
I apprehend that the author is mistaken in regard to the steps of this allegorical lad-

37
290 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY

we must necessarily touch on both these parallel lines, and on the

sacred volume, and while a mason keeps himself thus circumscribed,
he cannot err." Carlile.

Although our ancient brethren dedicated their lodges to king Solo-

mon, yet masons professing Christianity, dedicate theirs to St. John the
Baptist, and St. John the Evangelist, who were eminent patrons of
masonry and since their time there
;
is represented in
every regular and
well governed lodge, a point within a circle ; the point representing
an individual brother, the circle representing the boundary line of his
duty to God and man, beyond which he is never to suffer his passions,

prejudices, or interest, to betray him on any occasion. This circle is

embroidered by two perpendicular parallel lines, representing St.
John the Baptist, and St. John the Evangelist, who were perfect paral-
lels inChristianity as well as masonry; and upon the vertex rests
the book of Holy Scriptures, which point out the whole duty of man.
In going round the circle, we necessarily touch upon these two lines,
as well as upon the Holy Scriptures ;
and while a mason keeps him-
self thus circumscribed, it is impossible that he should materially err.
(Webb.)

That expositors of masonry should differ in their interpretation of

It is an astronomical
this figure, is not surprising. enigma, the sense
of which was probably lost sight of during the centuries in which the

der. The spheres of the planets being mere imaginary lines, and not so well adapted
as the permanent constellations. And, in order to imitate the sun, the principal object
of the pagan religious ceremonies, these would'naturally be fixed upon for the
purpose.
The actors, in the scenical representations in the cave of Mithra, by taking the name of
constellations, and assuming the figure of animals, corroborate this opinion.
 FREEMASONRY. 291

affairs of the lodge, with very few exceptions, were in the hands of

ignorant craftsmen.
The solution of the symbol I take to be as follows The point in :

the center represents the Supreme Being; the circle indicates the
annual circuit of the sun ;
and the parallel lines mark out the solstices
within which that circuit is limited. The mason by subjecting himself
to due bounds, in imitation of that glorious luminary, will not wander
from the path of duty. The device is ingenious, and its meaning ought
to be restored in the lodge to its original intention.

The assertion that lodges were formerly dedicated to Solomon, is

gratuitous, and I believe will not admit of proof. I am not sensible of

any historical document that substantiates the fact. We know very

little of masonry prior to the revival of the order in 1717. And we
learn by the earliest report of its practices, that the old masons hailed
from the holy lodge of St. John. It is evident, as before observed, that
the Druids adopted the names of their solstitial festivals, which had been
assumed for them by the them St. Johns' days and
Christians, calling ;

it is
highly probable that they resorted same finess to delude
to the
their enemies, as well as those of the fraternity who were not fully ini-
tiated into their mysteries, in dedicating their lodges to these saints.
This artifice of introducing the St. Johns among the symbols of

masonry, has put the craft to their wits to invent a plausible story to

meet the case, and they have come, it is presumed, to an erroneous con-
clusion, that this was done by Christian masons.
What do you learn by being a gentleman mason ? Secrecy, morality,
and good fellowship. What do you learn by being an operative
mason ? To hew, square, and mould stone lay a level and raise a ;

perpendicular. Have you seen your master to-day? Yes. How was
he clothed ? In a yellow jacket and blue pair of breeches. (The mas-
ter is the compasses, the yellow jacket is the brass body, and the blue
breeches are the steel points.) How old are you? Under seven.
(" Denoting he had not passed master.") Or rather that he had not
passed to the fellow-craft's degree, seven years being formerly the term
of an apprenticeship in freemasonry as in other trades.
The five last questions and answers are from Prichard and from ;

the simplicity of the dialogue, it may be concluded the original lan-

guage and facts have not been perverted, and consequently that
there were accepted, gentlemen masons, that is not of the craft, from the
foundation of the institution.
292 ANALYLIS OF FREEMASONRY :

Fellow-Graffs Degree.

Are you a fellow-craft ? I am. Why were you made a fellow-

craft? For the sake of the letter G. What does the letter G denote?

Geometry, or the fifth science. In another part of the same degree, G

is said to denote "the grand architect and contriver of the universe."*

On being further questioned, the respondent replies, by letters four and

science five this G
aright doth stand, in a due art and proportion. You
have your answer, friend. (N. B. Four letters are Boaz, fifth science,

geometry.) (Prichard.) The importance bestowed upon geometry, the

fifth science, according to masonic classification, may' be another reason
why five should compose a lodge.
How did you degree ? -By the benefit of a grip and
attain to this

pass-word. The name

of the grip is Jachin that of the pass-word ;

Shibboleth, which denotes plenty, and is represented by a sheaf of wheat

suspended near a water-ford. (Allyn.) Did you ever work ? Yes, in

the building of the temple. Where did you receive your wages? In
the middle chamber, which I entered through the porch, by seven

winding stairs, where I discovered two great columns or pillars. The

name of the one on the left hand is Boaz, and denotes strength ; that on
the right, Jachin, which denotes to establish ; and when combined, sta-

bility; for God said, in strength will I establish this mine house, to

stand firm forever. The house of God is the universe, which is doubt-
less establishedupon principles that will sustain it forever. The pil-
larsBoaz and Jachin are imaginary props, standing at the two equi-
noxes east and west, to support the world. Here it may be remarked,
that the pillar representing Boaz, or the sun, is properly said to denote

strength, whereas in the apprentice's degree it is made to denote wis-

dom. Jachin signifying Isis the moon, was a necessary appendage to
the creation, and perhaps may be applied metaphorically, to establish.

It has been seen, that by the doctrine of the Pythagoreans, as well as that of
masonry, the Supreme Being is often confounded with geometry as containing the
principles of the material world. This is in conformity to the source from which
both derive their origin.
" The secret doctrine of the
Egyptian priests, like that of the Brahmins of
India and the Magi of Persia, presents itself under the double form of a Theologi-
cal and Cosmogonical system. It had for a basis, a species of pantheism, at one
moment more physical, at another ^more intellectual in its character, and at times,
again combining both of these attributes a personification of the powers of nature
;

more or less identified with the powers of mind, and conceived in a point of view
having reference to a mysterious unity in which the Deity and the universe were
blended together," (Professor Anthon's Class. Diet.)
 FELLOW-CRAFT'S DEGREE. 293

"The sun is the creator and father, the moon the mother of all

things. These two and nourish every thing

deities govern, produce,

connected with the visible universe. The sun is the third Demiurgus,
the supreme creative intelligence under the third form incarnate he:

becomes Osiris, the author of all good, and it is he that completes the
Egyptian trinity." (Anthon's Class. Diet.)
by his genial influence in the spring season, pre-
Osiris, the sun,

pares the earth for cultivation, gives life to its various productions, and
consequently enables the husbandman to commence his labors. Isis,

the teeming mother, who personifies the earth as well as moon, nour-
ishes during the summer, the seeds committed to her bosom, and in the
fall season rewards the laborer.
The
pillars of Boaz and Jachin, are described to be eighteen cubits
high, twelve in circumference, and four in diameter.
The eighteen cubits refer to the inundation of the Nile, being the
highest elevation it is known to have attained. The twelve cubits
relate to the twelve signs of the zodiac, through which the sun passes ;

a nd the four cubits have reference to the

tetractys, which comprehends
the principles of geometry, point, line, superfices, and solid.
The pillars are adorned with two large chapiters, which are orna-
mented with net- work, denoting unity; lily-work, denoting peace; and
pomegranatevS, which from the exuberance of their seeds, denote plenty.
It is only the pillar of Jachin, which represents Isis, the emblem of

harvest, that is decorated with pomegranates in the figures of these

columns among the masonic symbols. They are further adorned with
two globes, one celestial, the other terrestrial.
This display of globes, like most of the customs of masonry, may
be traced to Egypt. Dr. Richardson, as recorded in a former part of
this work, in describing the
gateway or porch, leading to the temple of
Isis,in Tentyra, says " Immediately over the centre of the doorway, is
the beautiful Egyptian ornament usually called the globe, with ser-

pents and wings, emblematical of the glorious sun poised in the airy
firmament of heaven, supported and directed in his course by the eter-
nal wisdom of the Deity."
however, is of opinion that this globe indicated the
Voltaire,
"
Supreme Being; he says, It maybe remarked, that the globe placed
over the door of the temple of Memphis, represented the unity of the
divine nature, under the name of Knef." (Oeuvres T. 16, p. 100.)
Thecandidate having learned the grip, token, and pass-word (Shib-
boleth, plenty,) of the fellow-craft, receives his wages, and passes the
294 EXPLANATION OF THE TRAVELS OF

pillar of Jachin. He is then placed in the south-east part of the lodge,

and thus addressed by the master ;

Brother, masonry being a progressive science, when you were made

an entered apprentice, you were placed in the north-east part of the
lodge, to show that you were newly admitted. You are now placed in
the south-east part, to mark the progress you have made in the science.
Thus the candidate commences his labors at that point where the
sun is supposed first to have risen at the period of the creation, and by
pursuing the course of that luminary till he has completed the circuit,
becomes then worthy of the master's degree.

Master Mason's Degree.

The degree of master mason follows that of fellow-craft. And as it

contains the story of the murder of Hiram upon which the entire fabric
of masonry is erected; the very gist of the order, to which all other
considerations are subordinate ; which meets us at every turn through
all the varied scenes of the institution, it becomes necessary to possess
a due knowledge of the original upon which it is founded. This is
the fable of Osiris and Isis which I, therefore, place as an introductory
;

preface to the master's degree. I take the fable fromL'Origine de tous

les Cultes, par Dupuis.

Explanation of the Travels of Isis, or the Moon.

The moon was associated, by the ancient Egyptians, with the sun
in the general administration of the world, and it is she who represents
the character of Isis in the sacred fable, known by the title of the his-

tory of Osiris and Isis. The first men who inhabited Egypt, says Dio-
dorus of Sicily, struck with the grandeur of the heavens, and the
admirable order of the universe, thought they perceived two primary
and eternal causes, or two grand divinities, and they called one of them j

or the sun, Osiris and the other, or moon, Isis.

;

The denomination of Isis, given to the moon, is confirmed by Por-

phyry, and other authors ;
whence we draw a necessary conclusion,
that the courses or journeying of Isis are no other than the courses of
the moon ;
and as the regions of the heavens are those she traverses
in her monthly revolutions, we will there fix the scene of her adventures.
This conclusion is justified by the passage from Cheremon, where
this learned Egyptian tella us, that the Egyptians explained the fable of
Oiiris and Isis, as well as all other sacred fables, by the celestial bodies*
 ISIS, OR THE MOON. 295

by the phases of the moon, by the increase and diminution of her light,
by the division of time and of the heavens into two parts, by the para,
natellons or the stars which rise and set in aspect with the signs. It is

upon this principle we have explained the poem of the Twelve Labors
of Hercules ;
we shall follow the same principle in the explication of
the Legend of Isis ;
of which we shall give also a comparative table,
with those presented by the heavens, at the moment when the sun has

departed from our hemisphere, and left to the moon, then at her full, the

empire over long nights, up to the moment when he returns again to

our regions.
Let us take then Isis at the epoch of the death of Osiris, her husband,
and us follow her steps, from the moment when she is deprived of
let

him, up to that when he returns to her from hell or, to drop the figure, ;

from the moment when the sun has passed into the southern or inferior
regions of the world, up to that when he repasses conqueror into the
northern or superior hemisphere.
Plutarch supposes that Osiris, after his travels, being on his return
through Egypt, was invited to a repast by Typhon, his brother and
rival. The latter put him to death and threw his body into the Nile.
The sun, says Plutarch, then occupied the sign Scorpio, and the moon
was full she was then in the sign opposite to Scorpio, that is to say, to
;

Taurus, which lent its forms to the sun ol the spring equinox or to
Osiris for at that distant period, Taurus was the sign which answered
;

to the spring equinox. As soon as Isis was informed of the death of

the unfortunate Osiris, whom all the ancients had denominated the
same god as the sun, when she learned that the genius of darkness had
shut him up in a coffin, she commenced a search after his body. Uncer-
tain of the route she ought to pursue, uneasy, agitated, her heart lacer-
ated with grief, in
mourning garb, she interrogates every one she meets.
She is informed by some young children that the coffin which contains
the body of her husband, had been carried by the waters out to sea and
thence to Biblos, where it was stopped and was now reposing upon a
;

plant, which had immediately put forth a supei b stalk. The coffin was
so enveloped, as to bear the appearance of being but a part of it. The
king of the country, astonished at the beauty of the bush, had it cut, and
made of it a column for his palace without
perceiving the coffin which
had become incorporated with the trunk. Isis actuated
by a divine
impulse, arrives at Biblos, bathed in tears, she seats herself near a
;

fountain, where she remained overwhelmed with grief, speaking to no

one until the arrival of some of the She
queen's women. salutes
296 EXPLANATION OF THE TRAVELS OF

them politely, and commences dressing their hair in such a manner as

1

to spread in it, as well as over their whole body, the odour of an exqui-
site purfume.
The queenlearning from her women what had happened, and per-
ceiving the exquisite odour of the ambrosia, desired to know this stran-
ger. She invites Isis to her palace, attached her to her household and ;

placed her as nurse to her son. The goddess then made herself known
and demanded that the precious column should be given to her.
She drew from it
easily thebody of her husband, by disengaging
the coffin from the branches which covered it these she found to be of
;

light texture, which she perfumed with essences she sent to the ;

king and queen this envelope of strange boughs, which was depos-
ited at Biblos, in the temple of Isis. She then embarked and returned
to Egypt, to Orus her son and deposited the body in a secluded
;

place. Typhon having gone that night to the chase, finds the coffin

recognized the corpse, and cuts it into fourteen pieces* which he scat-

tered here and there.

The goddess seeing this, returned to collect these dispersed frag-
ments ;
she interred each part in the place where it was found. Of all
the parts of the body of Osiris, those of propagation were the only ones
Isis could not find. She substituted for them the phallus, which was
the image of them, and which was consecrated in the mysteries.
This is the precise Egyptian legend concerning Isis, which has not
been handed down to us without much mutilation, and which make part

of a sacred poem upon Osiris, Isis, and Typhon, their enemy.

Notwithstanding the immense deficiencies discoverable in this alle-
gorical history, it will not be difficult for us to trace a perfect corres-
pondence between the principal features of this sacred fable which
remain to us, and the representations which the heavens offer, at the

* That
is, into as many parts as there are days between
the full moon and the new-
This circumstance, says Plutarch, has reference to the gradual diminution of the lunary
light, during the fourteen days that follow the full moon. The moon at the end of
fourteen days, enters Taurus and becomes united to the sun, from whom she collects
fire upon her disk, during the fourteen days which follow. She is then found every
month in conjunction with him in the superior parts of the signs.
The equinoctial year finishes at the moment when the sun and moon are found united
with Orion, or the star of Orus, a constellation placed under Taurus, which unites itself
to the Neomenia of Spring.
The moon renews herself in Taurus, and a few days after, is seen in the form of a
crescent, in the following sign, that is, Gemini, the home of Mercury. Then Orion,
united to the sun, in the attitude of a formidable warrior, precipitates Scorpio, his rival,
into the shades of night; for he sets every time Orion appears above the horizon.
The day becomes lengthened, and the germs of evil are by degrees destroyed. Jt i."
thus that the poet Nonnus pictures to us Typhon conquered at the end of winter, when
the sun arrives in Taurus, and when Orion mounts into the heavens with him.
 OF ISIS, OR THE MOON. 297

different epochs of the movements of the two great stars which regulate
the course of the seasons; the periodical march of vegetation, the divi-
sion of time, and the succession of days and nights. will now We
proceed as in the poem on I! to bring together thes<-

representations, those which are presented by the liible, as well as those

exhibited by the heavens. We
will divide them into twelve parts.

[Here follows a critical comparison between the wanderings of Isis

in search of the dead body of Osiris, and the courses of the moon in

the heavens but as the fable alone answers the purpose here intended,
;

I omit the comparative representations. The foregoing note, how-

ever, is drawn from the part omitted. The author concludes as folr
lows :]

Aconformity so complete, and one which bears so many points of

resemblance between the representations of the legend and those of the
heavens, and which, mutilated as the legend or this sacred history may
be, is so well sustained from one end to the other, as not to permit us to

doubt that the astronomical priest who composed it, did nothing more
than write down the courses of the moon in the heavens, under the title
of the wanderings of Isis especially
;
when it is known that Isis is the
name given to the moon in Egypt. We have, in our explanation, only
made use of the method laid down for us by Cheremon to analyse these

sacred fables, and especially that of Osiris and Isis, which he said was
relative to the increases and diminutions of the light of the moon at the

superior and inferior hemispheres, and to the stars in aspect with the
signs, otherwise called paranatellons. The learned men of Egypt have
themselves traced out the plan which we have adopted.
Here we have then an ancient queen of Egypt and an ancient king,
whose imaginary adventures have been described in the form of his-
tory, but who, however, as the Hercules of the Greeks, are only physi-
cal beings, and the two principal agents of nature. We are led to
these examples, of the allegoric character of antiquity, and to
judge, by
consider how much we should be on our guard against traditions which
place physical beings as characters in history.
It is important not to lose
sight of the fact, that formerly the history
of the heavens and particularly of the sun, was written under the form
of a history of men, and that the people, almost universally, received it

as such, and lookedupon the hero as a man. The tombs

of the gods
were shown, as if they had really existed ;
feasts were celebrated, the

object of which seemed to be to renew every year the grief which had
been occasioned by their loss.
38
298 EXPLANATION OF THE TRAVELS

Such was the tomb of Osiris, covered under those enormous masses,
known by the name
of Pyramids; which the Egyptians raised to the
star which gives us light. One of these has its four fronts facing- the
four cardinal points of the world. Each of these fronts, is one hundred
and ten fathoms wide at its base, and the four form as many equila-
teral triangles. The perpendicular height is
seventy-seven fathoms,
according to the measurement given by Chazelles, of the Academy of
Sciences. It results from these dimensions, and the latitude under

which this is erected, thai fourteen days before the spring equi-
pyramid
nox, the precise period at \vhich the Persians celebrated the revival of
nature, the sun would cease to cast a shade at midday, and would not
again cast it till fourteen days after the fall equinox. Then the day or
the sun would be found in the parallel or circle of southern declension,
which answers to five degrees fifteen minutes this would happen twice ;

a year, once before the spring equinox, and once after the fall equinox.
The sun would then appear exactly at mid-day upon the summit of this
pyramid. Then would appear for some moments,
his majestic disk

placed upon this immense

pedestal and to rest upon it, while his wor-
on their knees at its base, extending their view along the
shippers,
inclined plane of the northern side of the pyramid, would contemplate
the great Osiris, as well when he descended into the darkness of the tomb,
as when he arose from it triumphant * The same might be said of the
full moon of the equinoxes, when it takes place in this parallel.
would seem that the Egyptians, always grand in their concep-
It

tions, had executed a project the boldest that was ever imagined, of giving
a pedestal to the sun and moon, or to Osiris and Isis, at midday for the
one, and at midnight for the other, when they arrived in that part of the
heavens near to which passes the line which separates the northern from
the southern hemisphere, the empire of good from that of evil, the

region of light from that of darkness. They wished that the shade
should disappear from all the fronts of the pyramid at mid-day, during
the whole time that the sun sojourned in the luminous hemisphere,
and that the northern front should be again covered with shade when
night began to attain her supremacy in our hemisphere, that is, at the
moment when Osiris descended into the tomb or into hell. The tomb

* Here we find an explanation of the time that it is said the body of trrand master
Hiram reposed in the tomb before it was discovered, and raised by king Solomon.
Which, says Bernard, "it is said, had lain there fourteen days; some say fifteen." To
have suffered the body of Hiram to have remained in this tomb fifteen days, would have
marred the original design it : would have entirely destroyed the astronomical allusion
intended by the incarceration. Edit.
 OF ISIS, OR THK MOON.

of Osiris was covered with shade nearly six months; after which light
surrounded it
entirely at mid-day, as soon as Osiris, returning from hell,
regained his empire in passing into the luminous hemisphere. Then
he had returned to Isis and to the god of spring, Orus, who had at
length conquered the genius of darkness and of winter. What a sub-_
lime idea ! In the centre of the pyramid it a vault, which is said to

be the tomb of an ancient king. This king is the husband of Isis,

1

the famous Osiris, this beneficent king whom the people believed to
have reigned formerly over Egypt, while the priests and learned men
saw in him the powerful planet whjch governs the world and enriches
it with his benefits. And, in fact, would they have ever gone to so
great an expense if this tomb had not been reputed to contain the pre-
cious remains of Osiris, which his wife had collected, and which she
confided, say they, to the priests, to be interred at the same time
that they decreed to him divine honors ? Can we suppose that there
was any other object
among a people
spared nothing who
give all to

pomp and magnificence to their worship, and whose greatest luxury

was a religious luxury?* It is thus that the Babylonians, who wor-
shipped the sun under the name of Belus, raised him a tomb which
was hid by an immense pyramid; for as soon as the powerful planet
which animates nature, became personified, and in the sacred fictions
was made to be born, to die and to rise again, imitative worship, which
sought to retrace his adventures, placed tombs beside their temples.
Thus is shown that of Jupiter, in Crete; of Mithra, in Persia; of

Hercules, in Cadis ;
of the Coachman, the Celestial Bear, of Medusa,
of the Pleaides, etc., in Greece. These various tombs prove nothing
for the historical existence of the feigned personages to whom the mys-
tic spirit of the ancients had consecrated them.

They show, also, the place where Hercules burned himself up, and
we have shown Hercules was no other than the sun personified in
that
the sacred allegories at the same time that we have proved that the
;

* This seems to me to be the most reasonable conjecture that has appeared, respec-
the motives which caused the erection of those stupendous monuments, the pyra-
ting
mids.
On the subject of the Sphynx, which has also caused great speculation in regard to
"
itsorigin and purport, the author of the Identity of the Druidical and Hebrew reli-
gions," gives the following solution :

The Sphynx was a representation of the signs Leo and Virgo joined together, in com-
memoration of the inundation of the Nile, which occurs when the sun is in those signs.
The Egyptians had always a sort of astronomical mystic reverence for the three signs,
Cancer, Leo, and Virgo." M. MaiUet is of the same opinion. (See Anthon's Class.
Diet.) Thegreat utility of the overflowing of the Nile to Egypt, which was considered
a providential occurrence, was sufficient, among a superstitious people, to cause its com-
memoration in this manner. Edit.
 300 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY.'

adventures of the queen Isis were those of the moon, sung by her wor-
shippers.
I now proceed with 'the

Master Mason 1
s Degree.

This degree, as hefcre observed, is

chiefly occupied in the pretended
assassination of Hiram A-biff*
The Temple of Solomon, like the temples of the Egyptians and
other nations of the eiLst, is said to have been constructed with a view

to a representation of the world in miniature; thereby the better to

it to the
adapt popular prejudice in favor of performing religions rites
in places where the operations of nature were exhibited before the
worshippers. This temple, therefore, was well adapted for those jwtro-
nomical allusions which composed the mystic rites of the ancients ;

and was for this reason probably selected, by the Druids, as an appro-
priate place in which to lay the scene of masonic mysteries.
The equinoxes and solstices are called the gates of heaven through
which the sun passes. It was only at the latter, however, that any
obstructions were believed to occur to his free egress and regress-
The scene, therefore, of the death of Hiram, who takes the part of
Osiris, as now acted in the lodges, is not a close imitation of the origi-
nal,which has been lost sight of, but is sufficiently so to show from
whence the copy is derived.
Are you a master mason? lam; try me; prove me; disprove
me, if
you Where were you passed master 1 In a perfect lodge
can.
of masters. What makes a perfect lodge of masters ? Three. Why
do three make a lodge ? Because there were three grand Masons
in building the world. (Master Key, and Jachin and Boaz.)
Here the Kneph, Osiris, and Isis of the Egyptians the Agathon,
;

Logos, and Psyche of the Platonists ;

and the Wisdom, Strength, and
Beauty of masonry, are too clearly indicated to admit of misinterpret
tation.

From whence came you? From the east. Where are you
going? -To the west. For what purpose? To search for that which

* There propriety in the addition of AbifT or Abbif to the name of Hiram. In

is ;.o
the original Hebrew from which it is taken, the affix is Abbi, the possessive case of

Abba; which signifies father, and figuratively, a superior. His proper address, there-
fore is my father, or, in court style, my lord. In this sense, it is equivalent to Adonis,
Baal, or Osiris, all names of the sun. And as Solomon's temple was built so as to
imitate the world, the grand architect was very properly entitled.
 MASTER MASON'S DEGREE 301

was lost. What was that which was lost? The master mason's
word. How was it lost ?
By three great knocks, or the death of our
master Hiram. Where do you hope to find it? Wifh a center.
What is a center? A point within a circle, fnom which every part
of the circumference is
equally distant. Whywith a center?
Because, from that point, no marter mason can err.
The allusion here to Osiris the sun is very plain :
and, when found,
it isevident he must be on the imaginary circle made by hL- annual
course, unless he should deviate from the order of nature. And the
point in the center of that circle, according- to the meaning e\ide tly
intended, it is
equally certain, wonld be found in its
proper place.
The story of Hiram is as follows :

At the building of Solomon's temple, fifteen fellow-crafts, perceiving

that the work was nearly finished, and not having received the master's

word, grew impatient, and agreed to extort it from their master Hiram
the first
opportunity they could find of meeting him alone, that they
might pass for masters in other countries, and receive wages as such ;

but before they could accomplish their scheme, twelve of them recanted.
The other three, being of a more determined character, persisted in
their design: their names were Jubela, Jubelo, and Jubelum.
Hiram having entered the temple at twelve at noon, as was his
custom, to pay his devotion to God, the three assassins placed them-
selves at the east, west, and south doors Hiram having finished his
;

prayer, came to the east door, which was guarded by Jubela, who
demanded of him the master's grip and word in a resolute manner ;
he received for answer from Hiram, that it was not customary to ask
it in such a strain; that he himself did not receive it so. He told him
farther, that it was not in his power alone to reveal it, except in the

presence of Solomon, and Hiram, king of Tyre. Jubela being dissa-

tisfiedwith this answer, struck him across the throat with a twenty-
four inch guage. Hiram then flew to the south door, where he received
similar treatment from Jubelo ;
and thence to the west door, where he
was struck on his head by Jubelum, with a gavel or setting maul,
which occasioned his death. (Jachin and Boaz.)
Carlile places the conspirators at the east, north, and south entrances
of the temple and makes Hiram receive the finishing stroke at the
;

east door. Whereas, to render the parallel in strict accordance as an

allegory of the death of Osiris, Hiram should expire at the north of
south gate or door. The story is badly conceived, as there is no
3CU ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY:

pretext for confining the word to Solomon and the two Hirams, nor for

requiring that it should not be communicated except in the presence of

the three. Besides, according to masonic tradition, there were at the
same time 3,30Q master masons employed on the temple, who must of
course have been furnished with the master's word. To make out the

parody, however, it was necessary that Hiram be put to death, and a

cause must be invented to procure it and altho the one fixed upon for
;

the purpose, appears very mal a propos, it seems to be satisfactory to

the craft.

It may be remarked, however, that Solomon and the two Hirams

are here intended to represent the trinity in unity, and therefore, it

jnay be supposed, could not act separately.

Howdid the ruffians dispose of the body? They carried it out at
the west door (according to the apparent course of the sun) and hid it
till twelve o'clock the next night, when they met by agreement, and

buried it on the side of a hill, in a grave six feet perpendicular, dug

due east and west ;
and stuck down a sprig of cassia,* to mark the

place-
Master Hiram not coming to view the workmen as usual, king
Solomon caused search to be made for him in and about the temple ;

which proving ineffectual, he ordered the roll of workmen to be called ;

when it was found that three were^ missing, namely, Jubela, Jubelo, and
Jubelum. The twelve fellow-crafts who had recanted, then went to
Solomon with white aprons and gloves, emblems of their innocence,
and informed him of every thing relating to the affair, as far as they
knew, and offered their assistance to discover the three others who
had absconded.
Solomon then ordered twelve trusty fellow-crafts to be selected,
and sent three east, three west, three north, and three south, in search
of Hiram. Elder Bernard gives fifteen as the number selected for this
purpose, and adds, "In some lodges they send only twelve, when their
own lectures say fifteen were sent." The Elder was not aware of the
vast importance of confining the number to precisely twelve. Those
who were the
deputed for this service represented the twelve signs of
zodiac ;
one of whom would be sure to find their grand master Hiram,
the personification of Osiris the sun.
The party that took a westerly course, fell in with a way-faring

* "Cassia, not grow about Jerusalem."

my friends, did (Dr. Dalcho.)
 MASTER MASON'S DEGREE. 303

man, near the coast of Joppa, who, on being interrogated, informed

them that ho had seen three men pass that morning, whom from their
appearance, he took to be workmen from the temple. They had been
seeking for a passage to Ethiopia, and not being able to obtain it, had
turned back into the country. This party then returned, and made
their report to Solomon. Of the three who steered an easterly course,
one, being weary, sat down at the brow of a hill to rest and refresh
himself; and in rising, he caught hold of a twig, which coming easily

up, excited his suspicions; and perceiving the ground to have been
recently broken, he hailed his companions, and on searching, they
found the body of their grand master Hiram,- decently buried in a
handsome grave, six feet east and west, and six feet perpendicular and ;

itscovering was green moss and turf, which surprised them where- :

upon they exclaimed, muscus domus Dei gratia,* Avhich, according to

masonry, is, thanks be unto God, our master has got a mossy house.
So they covered him closely, and went and acquainted king Solomon.
In regard to the conspirators, it shall suffice here to say, that

according to the story, they were discovered, arrested, and executed.

"Jubelum's body was severed in two, and scattered in south and
north." (Jachin and Boaz.)
which Solomon ordered twelve crafts to take up the body of
After
Hiram, in order that it might be interred in a solemn manner in the
sanctum sanctorum ; he also told them, if
they could not find a key-
word about him, it was lost for there were only three in the world to
;

whom it was known and unless they were present it could not be
;

delivered; and Hiram being dead, it consequently was lost. But the
first sign and word that were made and spoken at his raising should

be the master's word ever after. The twelve crafts went and cleared
the rubbish, and found their master in a mangled condition, having
lainfourteen days ; upon which they lifted xip their hands above their
heads and exclaimed, O Lord my God They failed in their attempts
!

to raise the body, either by the grip of the apprentice, or that of the
fellow-craft, the flesh cleaving from the bone: upon which they all
raised their hands, and exclaimed,O Lord my God I fear the master's !

word is was there no help for the widow's son?

forever lost ;

King Solomon then ordered a lodge of master masons to be sum-

moned, and said, I will go myself in person, and try to raise the body
by the master's grip or lion's paid. Some say, by the strong grip or
* The Latin tongue seems to have been familiar to the Hebrew masons of king
Solomon's temple.
304 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY:

lion's paw. (Bernard.) By means of this grip the body of grand

master Hiram was raised.*

The raising of Osiris, the prototype of Hiram. (Seepage 15.)

would admit of serious criticism, upon the supposition

If this affair
word was a mere name, term, or phrase, it might be asked
that this
what was the use in seeking for that which when found, could not be
made use of, unless the finders turned traitors, and exposed it unlaw-
fully. The story, as before observed, wants plausibility.
This word, however, is not a name, it is the personified Logos, the

key stone of the arch, the absence of which rendered the structure

incomplete.
That Solomon and the two Hirams are made to personate the pagan
trinity is evident from the following :

Master Whatsupports our lodge? Ans. Three pillars. Pray

what are names, brother?
their Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty.
What do they represent? Three grand masters; Solomon, king of

* The author of the Secret Discipline, &c. before noticed, remarks on the pass-
word of this degree that, "By a singular lapsus linguae, the 'moderns have substituted
Tubal Cain in the third degree for Tymboxein, to be entombed. This in the ancient
Cateche.?is Arcani, was the pass-word, from the symbolical representation of the state
of death, to the restored and undying existelice."
 MASTER MASON'S DEGREE. 305

Israel; Hiram, king of Tyre; and Hiram Abiff; the three grand
masters concerned in the building of Solomon's temple. And we
were before told, there were three grand Masons in building the
world; of which Solomon's temple was an epitome.
The names Jubela, Jubelo, Jubelum, given to the pretended assas-
sins of Hiram,. I take to be a play upon the word Jubilum, the Latin
term answering to Jubilee. They were of course formed at the time

freemasonry was first established. The inflections of this word will

give Jubili, Jubilo, Jubilum. slight variation should have

That a
taken place in their pronunciation, will not appear surprising, when it
is considered that they have been handed down orally, by illiterate
men, through many ages. Jubilum is derived from jubeo, to appoint ;

it also signifies to bid, order, charge, or command. Now, these reputed

assassins are represented as demanding, in an imperious and authori-
tative tone, of grand master Hiram, the master's grip and word and ;

their names were probably given in allusion to this circumstance'

being appropriate to the character assumed for them.
Besides the relation which the story of Hiram bears to that of
Osiris, there is a singular fancy set forth in ancient astronomy in
regard the reputed murderers of Chrisna, which contains a strict
to

analogy to the supposed assassination of Hiram. Chrisna, among the

Hindoos, is the same as Osiris with the Egyptians, and is worshipped
by them in like manner. Nothing could be more explanatory of the
fable of Hiram than this astronomical notion; which is given in

Mackey's mythological astronomy, as follows :

"
The stories which have been the result of the particular method
made use of by ancient historians to express the various changes of
the constellations and seasons of the year and the causes of those
;

changes, may be worth our while to examine.

"
The Elohim,
the Decans, or the Symbols which presided over the

thirty-six subdivisions of the zodiac, or more properly speaking, of the

year, each month having three, were those gods, whose care it was to
regulate the weather in the different seasons, and who were supposed
to vary it
according to their will.
"
These Decans or Elohim are the gods, of whom it is said, the

Almighty created the universe. They arranged the order of the zodiac.
The Elohim of the summer were gods of a benevolent disposition :

they made the days long, and loaded the sun's head with topaz. While
the three wretches that presided in the winter, at the extreme end of the

year, hid in the realms below, were, with the constellation to which
they belong, cut off from the rest of the zodiac ;
and, as they were
39
306 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY '.

missing, would consequently be accused of bringing Chrisna into those

troubles which at last ended in his death.*"
Eleven is one of the numbers singled out to make a lodge, which
like the rest, must have an astronomical allusion and there is little ;

doubt that it refers to the fanciful notion just detailed in regard to the
defection of one of the great gods composing the zodiaz, with his
attendant satellites, the Decans or Elohim. In consequence of this
treachery, but eleven of these great chiefs remained faithful to their
lord, the supreme ruler, the sun. This circumstance would be suffi-
commemoration of that number, in the manner it
cient to causa the is

done in masonry.
v
It
may be remarked, that the lamentations uttered for the death of

grand master Hiram, is in exact accordance with the customs of the

Egyptians in their celebrations of the fabled death of Osiris the sun j

of the Phenicians for the loss of Adonis and of the Greeks, in their
j

mystic rites o-f the Eleusinian Ceres.

Itthrough the instrumentality of Leo, that Osiris, the sun, is
is

relieved from his perilous condition. The strong paw of the lion
wrests him from the clutches of Typhon, and places him in his wonted
course. Anubis, the dog-star, is the herald of this event. Here we
"
see the archetype of the raising of grand master Hiram, by the strong.

gripe or ZzWs paw"

In short, the attentive reader must have perceived, that tlie story of
Hiram, is only another version, like those of Adonis and Astarte, and

of Ceres and Proserpine, of the fable of Osiris and Isis. The likeness
throughout is so exact as not to admit of doubt. The search for the
body of Hiram; the inquiries made of a wayfaring man, and the

intelligence received the sitting down of one of the party to rest

;

and refresh himself, and the hint conveyed by the sprig over the-
g rave the body of Hiram remaining fourteen days in the grave pre-

pared by the assasssins, before it was discovered,

all have allusion to,
and comport with the allegory of Osiris and Isis. The condition even
in which the grave of Hiram is found, covered with green moss and
turf, corresponds very much with that in which Isis found the coffin of
Osiris.

Again, the cutting up and scattering the parts of the body of

Jubelum, is a fac simile of the treatment which the body of Osiris is
said to have received. By the way, the oath imposed upon the master
* This is a sketch of the life of the sun, who, finishing his career at the winter sol-
when Typhon and the
stice, rebel angels gain the dominion, seems to be put to death
is born again, and rises into the vault of heaven where
by them but who soon after
;

he reigns. Ruins, p. 165. Edit.

 SELECT MASTER'S DEGREE. 307

mason very likely grew out of the fable of Typhon's murder of Osi-
and afterwards cutting up the body into fourteen
ris, pieces, and scatter-
ing them hither and thither on the plains of Egypt.

Select Master's Degree.

" "
Mr. Cole, Editor of The Freemasons'
Library," says, There are,
I am bold to assert, but four degrees in ancient This
freemasonry.
opinion accords, not only with the sentiments of the oldest and best
informed masons, with whom I have conversed, but is also agreeable to'
written and printed documents some of the latter of which are almost
;

as old as the art of printing itself.'"' The intermediate degrees between

the master's and that of royal arch, which he considers the fourth,
which have, he says, within a few years past, been manufactured
into degrees, are merely elucidatory of the second, third, and fourth.

Why, Mr. Cole need not have gone farther back into antiquity than to
1750, to learn that, at that time, but three degrees of masonry were
known to the world. The party who styled themselves ancient
masons, about this time, discovered the royal arch among the archives
of the order, as has been shown above; but which those called mod-
erns were strangers to, and did not then acknowledge.
The division of masonry into degrees is
entirely arbitrary, and since
operative masonry is no longer taught in the lodge, unnecessary. The
reasons which governed in the administration of the pagan rites, which
concealed from the initiates of the lesser mysteries the aporreta or
grand secret, which was communicated to those of the greater, are
inapplicable to masonry. For that secret, the existence of one Supreme
God, and the error of polytheism, is now openly taught amongst all
nations where freemasonry is established. The affectation, therefore,
of confining this knowledge to the companions of the royal arch, is at
this time extremely absurd.
What Mr. Cole advances, however, in regard to the connection in
the matter of the several degrees which he notices, is evidently very
correct and the same might be. said of the two first degrees, which
;

are merely preparatory to the third. Still, I am inclined to believe

that the founders of the order divided its secrets or ceremonies origi-

nally into seven grades. It was incumbent upon them to move

slowly,
and to manage the subjects, with whom they had to deal, with much
caution, for fear of a disclosure. Besides seven steps seem necessary
to complete the rounds of the holy royal arch, the grand desideratum
of masonry.
308 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY:

Of the mark and pass-masters' degrees there is nothing worthy of

notice, excepting one circumstance in that of the latter; which is, the

electing of a newly initiated member, on the night of his admission, to

preside, pro tempore, as master of the lodge, And then for the breth-
ren to exercise their wit at his expence, by exposing his ignorance of
the duties of the office imposed upon him finally knocking off his hat,
;

and dragging him from the master's chair.

This, as has been noticed above, is in perfect accord with the cus-
toms of the Pythagorean school, which treated novitiates in like manner.
In regard to the select master's degree, Mr. Cole observes, " We
know of no degree in masonry, that has a more needful, or more

important connection with another, than the select with the royal arch.
It fills up a chasm, which every intelligent mason has observed, and

without it, it seems difficult, if not impossible, to comprehend clearly

some of the mysteries that belong to the august degree of royal arch.

Indeed, such is the nature of the degree, that we cannot feel freedom to
allude remotely to its secrets." And Mr. Cross remarks, " Without
this degree, the history of the royal arch cannot be complete. It ration-

ally accounts for the concealment and preservation t)f those essentials
of the craft, which were brought to light at. the erection of the second
temple, and which lay concealed from the masonic eye, 470 years."
The fact is, the grand omnific (all- creating] lost word, it will be seen
in the sequel, was eventually found in a vault under the ruins of Solo-
mon's temple; and the difficulty was rationally to account for the
manner in which it got there. This, therefore, is the grand object
of the select master's degree and at the same time so to locate the
;

word as symbolically to represent its

archetype, the sun lost in the
inferiorhemisphere. For this purpose, a history of the order was
manufactured by its founders, of which the following is a sketch :

The three grand masters, at the building of the temple, entered into
a solemn agreement not to confer the master's degree until the temple
should be completed, that all three must be present when it should be
conferred, and if either should be taken away by death prior to the fin-
ishing of the temple, the 'master's degree should be lost.
After this wise arrangement, lest the knowledge of the arts and sci-

ences, together with the patterns and valuable models which were con-
tained in the temple, should be lost, they agreed to build a secret vault
ander ground, leading from Solomon's most retired apartment, a ihm
west course, and ending under the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, to
bs divided into nine separate arches. The ninth arch was to be the
 SELECT MASTER'S DEGREE. . 309

place for holding the grand council, and also for a deposit of a true
copy of all those things which were contained in the sanctum sancto-
rum above.
After the ninth arch was completed, the three grand masters depos-
ited therein those things which were important to the craft, such as the

ark of the covenant, a pot of manna, the rod of Aaron, the book of the
law, etc.

Prior to the completion of the temple, grand master Hiram AbifF

was assassinated, and by his death, the master's word was lost. The
two kings were willing to do all in their power to preserve the sacred
Word, and as they could not communicate it to any, by reason of the
death of Hiram, they agreed to place it in the secret vault, that if the
other treasures were ever brought to light, the Word might be found
also.

The all-creating or omnific Word was deposited in the royal vault,

(the term used in this degree,) as is said, in three languages, Jah, Bel,
On, which are all names of the sun. The direction of the arches, from
east to west, is following the apparent course of that luminary ;
the

royal vault therefore, a symbol of the lower regions, in which the

is

sun, the fangSBoA governor of the world, was supposed to be lost. Who
"
under the name of Osiris, persecuted by Typhon and the tyrants of
the air, was put to death, shut up in a dark tomb, emblem of the hemis-

phere of winter; and aftewards, ascending from the inferior zone

towards the zenith of heaven, arose again from the dead triumphant over
the giants and the angels of destruction." [Ruins, p. 139.]
The nine arches have an astronomical allusion in regard to the lati-

tude of the place where the scene is intended to be laid.

Mackey accounts for the origin of the mysterious numbers among

different nations in the following manner "
In the Asiatic Researches
:

(vol. 8, p. 289,) we was formerly a favorite and

are told, that '
seven
fortunate number among Hindus eight among the Baudhists and
the ; ;

nine formerly in the west, and in the north of Asia. Nine was held a
sacred and mystical number in the northern parts of the continent, from
China to the extremity of the west.' And whjr? Because the people
there lived under the same elevation of the pole. They all saw the
great Dial of the Deity from the same point of view they all saw ;

the pole from the ninth stage of the world, that is, the ninth climate,
from which, it would be seen as a pyramid with nine steps; while
from the lattitude of 32, the eighth stage of the world, it would be seen
as a cone or pyramid with eight steps. At Delhi, in latitude 28, which
310 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY.

is in the seventh stage, or climate, the pole was represented by a cone

of seven steps. Hence, we find, the cause which induced the ancients,
in the above latitudes, to venerate the numbers 7-89, was astro-geo-
graphical; and hence also we see the impossibility of making the
astronomical numbers of a large empire agree with one capital.
"
According to Herodotus, the Tower of Babel, which was in the
latitude of 32 degrees, had a road-way up on the outside, which went

eight times round in its whole the appear-

ascent, so as to give the
ance of eight towers, one above another. These were no doubt intended
to commemorate the eight revolutions of the pole, which represented a
serpent coiled eight times round a mountain. Besides the eight volved
Tower of Babel, in the latitude of 32 degrees, we find at Pekin, a
Tower of Porcelain ten stories high, thereby indicating its latitude to
be 40 degrees for in that situation, the north pole is so
;
far elevated

above the horizon as to admit ten volves of the serpent.

"
Again, in Egypt, we find the statue of Pluto with a serpent coiled
six times round him, which represents the six volves of the pole of the
round the south pole of the earth which shows that the statue
ecliptic ;

must have been erected at or near Thebes or Elephantine. Thus we

see, that from Pekin to Elephantine, the men of learning agree in

coupling the histories of their countries with that of the heavens."

[Mytho. Astro, part 1st, p. 68. J
I am induced to add the following curious remarks of the same

writer, as, insome measure, explanatory of the preceding.

"
The stories of the
Pagans concerning the ascension of their gods
into heaven, and their descent into hell, have produced in the minds of

modern Europeans the most absurd notions, such as never entered

the minds of the first astronomers, who divided the heavens into three

grand divisions, in the most simple manner imaginable. They observed

towards the north, that a circuit in the heavens always appeared above
the horizon this they denominated one great empire
: and as there is
;

a point in the middle of it

always stationary, this they made
which is

the seat of that empire, and subjected it to the government of a mon-

arch, who could from his throne, that is the pole, behold all the nations
of the earth, both by night and by day.*
"
They could not but be sensible of that part of the vast concave that
is forever hid from our sight, surrounding the south pole this was dis-
;

tinguished as another grand division, and called the pit, in contra-dis-

* This notion doubtles

gave rise to the custom of symbolizing the Deity by a circle
with a dot in its centei. Edit.
 MOST EXCELLENT MASTER'S DEGREE. 311

tinction from the opposite, which was called the mountain.! Hence
the ancients, arose the epithets of Htlion and Acheron,
which
1

among
meant nearly the same as Hdi-on is the sun in his highest, which the
;

Greeks pronounce Heli-os, that is, JSlios, the most high. Acheron is
generally translated hell. It is compounded of Achar, the last state
or condition, and On, the suri. Achar-on, therefore, signifies the last

state or condition of the sun, alluding to his annual disappearance in

those constellations which were in the neighborhood of the south pole.
"
We
see, by the precession of the equinoctial points, that while one

sign is sinking into the bottomless pit, another sign is ascending into

heaven, that is, rising up towards the pole. And as the inhabitants of
the earth are insensible of
its motion,
they thought the pole of heaven
revolved round that of the eartE, describing a figure like a serpent
coiled eight times; which would seem like a ladder with eight rounds,

reaching from the earth up to the pole, that is, the throne of Jove. Up
this ladder then the gods, that is, the signs of the zodiac, ascended and
descended." [Myth. Astr. p'art 1, p. 55.]

Most Excellent Master's Degree.

This degree is introduced in masonic books as follows :

"
None but the meritorious and praiseworthy, none but those who
through diligence and industry have advanced far towards perfection,
none but those who have been seated in the oriental chair by the unan-
imous suffrages ,of their brethren, can be admitted to this degree of

masonry.
"
In its original establishment, wHen the temple of Jerusalem was
finished, and the fraternity celebrated the cope-stone with great joy, it is
demonstrable that none but those, who had proved themselves to be
complete masters of their profession, were admitted to this honor and ;

indeed the duties incumbent on every mason, who is accepted and

acknowledged as a most excellent master, are such as render it indis
pensable that he should have a correct knowledge of all the preceding

degrees."
This degree contains a detail of the ceremony in the celebration of
the passage of the sun through the first celestial gate, the winter sol-

stice, that is the twenty-fifth day of December, which, as we have seen,

was commemorated as the birth day of the god Sol. The sun was
t An allusion to this idea seems to be made in the expression, " Who/shall ascend to
the hill of the Lord Tor as Cole, in his Freemasons' Library, has it,
"
scale the mount
of God."
312 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY!

the key or cope-stone required complete (or rather

to to form) the arch ;

and by masons, is a symbol of that made by the sun in the

this raised

heavens, and is commemorative of the commencement of his return to

the upper hemisphere, in which that arch is formed. This degree, in
some measure, anticipates the subject of the royal arch, in which the
1

story of the finding of the lost sun, logos or word, is consummated.

For the purpose of opening the lodge, the brethren assemble round
the altar, and form a circle, leaving a space for the master. All then
kneel and join hands, and the master reads the following passages from

scripture :

"
Psalm xxiv. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the
world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the
seas, and established it upon the floods. Who shall ascend into the
hill of the Lord ? or who shall stand in his holy place ? He that hath
clean hands, and a pure heart who hath not lifted up his soul unto
;

vanity, nor sworn He shall receive the blessing from the

deceitfully.
Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the
generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates, arid be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors,
and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty.; the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up
your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up ye everlasting doors, and the
King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord
of Hosts, he is the King of Glory. Selah."
"
2 Chron. vi. Then said Solomon, the Lord hath said that he would
dwell in the thick darkness. But I have built a house of habitation for
thee, and a place for thy dwelling forever. And the king turned his
face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel."
As the master reads the words, "lift up your heads, O ye gates,"
each brother raises his head and as he continues, " and the king of
;

glory shall come in," he steps along a few steps towards the space left
for him in the circle.
The foregoing passage from the Psalms very appropriate to the
is

object of commemoration
in this ceremony. For, although the Psalm-
ist alluded to the true God, the language made use of, would equally
apply to the Pagan god, the sun. The Abbe Pluche observes, as before
noticed, that the tongue and religion of the Hebrews, were originally the
same as the Egyptians: and, notwithstanding the variations which
afterwards took place between them, "the forms of prayer remained the
same." So in this case, the expressions, the hill of the Lord ; the king
 MOST EXCELLENT MASTER'S DEGREE. 313

of glory ;Lord mighty in battle, may be applied to the course of

the
the sun ;
which he was held, and his wars and victo-
the veneration in
ries over Typhon, the genius of evil. King, moreover, was one of tha
peculiar titles bestowed upon Osiris the sun. He was denominated^
says Pluche, "the leader, the king, the moderator of the stars, the soul
of the world, the governor of nature." Besides, the term made use of
above, Hazis or Hesus, and translated Lord, is a pagan name of the

Deity, and answers, says the same author, to the Warts or Mars of the
Sabines and Latins.
So the idea in Chronicles, of the Lord's dwelling in darkness, might
anciently, among the pagans, have alluded to the sun, in the lower
hemisphere, or enveloped in clouds for a time, in the tropic of Cancer.
The reading being ended, the master kneels, and joins hands with
the others,which closes the circle. They then rise, disengage their
hands, and lift them up above their heads; cast up their eyes, and then
suffer their hands to fall by their sides.
This sign, it
may be presumed, is intended to express admiration
and gratitude for the return of the sun.
After some further ceremonies, the senior warden demands of the
most excellent, if this be not the day set apart for the celebration of the

cope-stone ? Which being ascertained to be the fact, the brethren form

a procession double file, and march six limes round the lodge, against
the course of the sun, singing the following song:

All hail to the morning, that bids us rejoice;

The temple's completed, exalt high each voice;
The cope-stone is finished our labor is o'er,

*'******
The sound of the gavel shall hail us no more.

Companions, assemble on
The occasion
this joyful day,
is glorious, the key-stone to lay;
Fulfilled is the promise, by the ancient of days,*
To bring forth the cope-stone, with shouting and praise.

Thy wisdom inspired the great Institution;

Thy strength shall support it till nature expire;
And when the creation shall fall into ruin,
Its beauty shall rise through the midst of the fire.

The key-stone is now brought forward, and two pillars or columns

are set up, and an arch placed on them, made of plank, in imitation of
block work in the center of which is a mortice left for the reception of
;

akey-sf.one, which the master takes, and, placing it in the arch, drives
it down, by giving it six raps with his gavel.

* This is a title given to Lsis.

40
314 ANALYSIS OP rREfc'-MABONRY :

The ark, which all this time had been carried round by four of the
brethren, is now
put upon the altar, and a pot of incense placed on it.
The members all kneel, and while in this attitude the master reads
the following passage of scripture: 2 Chron. vii. 1, 4. when Solo- Now
mon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and
consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices and the glory of the
;

Lord filled the house, and the priests could not enter into the house of
the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house.
And when all- the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and
the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their
faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped and praised the

Lord, saying, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever.

As the master reads the last clause of the above extract, a brother
gum camphor to a candle, and throws it into the pot
touches a piece of
same combustible matter, which stands on the altar
of incense, of the
before the kneeling brethren, which immediately ignites and makes a

very brilliant light.

Here the emblem of the restoration of the lost sun, is too plain to

be mistaken. The reader may recollect the account, given in a former

in the ancient mysteries
part of this work, of a similar ceremony ;
in

which, after great lamentation for the loss of Adonis or Osiris, the
"
sun, there w as
r
also great joy at his finding. It is said, that this

lamentation was performed over an image and

in the night season ;

when they had sufficiently lamented, candle

a was brought into the
 MOST EXCELLENT MASTER'S DEGREE. 315

room, which ceremony might mystically denote the return of the sun,
then the priest with a soft voice, muttered this form of words, Trust ye *

"
in God, for out of pains salvation is come unto us.'

After the above, the brethren all repeat in concert the words, For
he is good, for his mercy e?idureth forever, six times, each time bowing
their heads low towards the floor.*
The members then balance six times as in opening rise and bal-
1

ance six times more, and the lodge is closed.

Ancient freemasonry could have no connection with the Hebrew
Scriptures, any farther than they contained sentiments and expressions
in common use among ether nations. Or if the founders of the institution

adopted passages of scripture, they perverted them to suit their own

peculiar views. We
have seen that the prospect of the return of the
sun the northern hemisphere, caused great rejoicings among the
to
"
ancient pagan nations and the expression,
;
For he is good, for his
mercy endureth is
peculiarly applicable to that circumstance.
forever,"
The
sentiment conveyed in the first verse of the foregoing song,

calling upon the brotherhood to rejoice in consequence of having

arrived at the end of their labors, is well illustrated in the following
extract from Bryant's mythology, (vol. iii.
p. 38.) which alludes to a
fact noticed above.

"Part of the ceremony in the Eleusinian mysteries was a night

scene, attended with tears and lamentations, on account ofsome person
who was supposed to have been lost but at the close a priest used to
;

present himself to the people who were mourning, and bid them to be
of good courage, for the Deity whom they lamented as lost, was pre-

served; and that they would now have some comfort, some respit after
all their labor. To which was added, I have escaped a calamity, and
*
The companions of royal arch, previously to giving the grand omnijic word, bal-
ance three times three, with their hands joined, bringing them down on their knees nine
times, making a pause between each three. Similar customs prevail in China at this
day, which no doubt are derived from the same source as those of masonry. The fol-
lowing extract from the Chinese Courier, published at Canton, Nov. 1832, establishes
this fact.
" His Majesty, a few days ago, when worshipping and offering sacri-
Peking
fice on the altar of Hwang Te, the Yellow Emperor, and divine originator of agricul-
ture, drank the 'cup of bliss,' and performed the grand ceremony of thrice kneeling, and
nine times putting his forehead to the ground.
It seems he did not much like it, for he has censured the master of the ceremonies
for giving the words, kneel knock ; kneel knock f kneel knock, too slowly. He
complains also, that the man who read the prayer, had but a poor voice, and commands
that another be chosen who has a strong, clear voice, and is perfectly acquainted with
the detail of rites and ceremonies.
On the 13th of May, the Emperor went in person to the altar of the Slack Dragon
topray for rain ; and appointed select Budh priests, with several princes and kings, to
form two parties, and alternately lodge at the temple, to continue their supplication* till
rain should be granted.
316 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY :

met with a better portion. This is the same rite as that which was
called in Canaan, the death and revival of Adonis or Thamuz, who was
the Osiris and Thamas of Egypt."

Again the same author observes, (vol. 3. p. 179.) "The principal

rites inEgypt were confessedly, for a person lost, and consigned for a
time to darkness ; who was at last found. This person I have men-
tioned to have been described under the character of Osiris. Hence
these exclamations at the feast of Isis :
Eurekame?i, Sugcharomen. [We
have found him, and we rejoice together.l
"After Osiris had been reputed for some time lost, it was a custom
among the Egyptians to go in quest of him ;
and the process, as
described by Plutarch, was very remarkable upon the nineteenth of the ;

month, the Egyptians go down at night to the sea: at which time the
priests and supporters (the Patera:-) carry
the sacred vehicle. In this
is a golden vessel in the form of a ship, or boat, into which they

pour some of the river water. Upon this being performed a shout of
joy is raised, and Osiris is
supposed to be found."
The blaze of the gum-camphor of masonry seems more appropri-
ate than the above, to typify the restoration of the lost sun.
The last verse of the song cited above, contains a beautiful allusion to
the masonic trinity; and at the same time forcibly conveys the idea that
the writer meant by the establishment of the great institution, the cre-
ation of the world, planned by infinite wisdom, supported by strength,
and adorned by beauty.

Jubilee at Rome.
The church of Rome practices a rite very similar to that of the

masonic order in laying the cope-stone. It is called the Jubilee, and

the manner of performing it, says Bailey, is as follows:
"
The Pope goes to St. Peter's church, to open what they call the

holy gate, knocking at it three times with a golden hammer, repeating

the 19th verse of the 118th psalm, " Open to me the gates of righte-
ousness, and I will go unto them and praise the Lord." At this time
the masons break down the wall, and the pope kneels before it, while
the penatentiaries of St Peter wash him with holy water, then taking
up the cross, he begins to sing the Te Deum, and enters the church,
the clergy following him.
" In the mean time the
cardinal legates are sent to open three other

holy gates, with the same ceremonies, in the churches of St. John of
Late ran, St. Paul, and St. Mary the greater. This is performed at the
 MOST EXCELLENT MASTER'S DEGREE. 317

vespers of Christmas eve, and the next morning

first the pope gives his

benediction to the people, in the Jubilee form. When the holy year is
ending, they shut the gates again in the following manner
the pope :

after he has blessed the stones and mortar, lays the first stone, and

leaves there twelve boxes of gold and silver medals.

"
Formerly muck people resorted from all parts to Rome, to enjoy
the benefits of the jubilee, but now-a-days but few, except those who

pope allowing them

7
dwell in Italy, the
to observe the Jubilee in their
own country, granting the benefits as if they came to Rome."
same
There can be no possible meaning in this ceremony, unless an
astronomical bearing be attributed to it, by considering the four gates
as symbols of the equinoctial and solstitial points, which by the pagans
were denominated gates of heaven and through which souls were
;

supposed to pass to arrive at the mansions of bliss. And as the popes

hold the keys of these gates, it is kind in them occasionally to open
them, in order to admit a few at least of their own flock.
The twelve boxes of medals deposited by his holiness, are emblem-
atical of thetwelve signs of the zodiac ; which he, perhaps considers,
as resting places on his celestial turnpike.
This farce is still continued at Rome, of which a late traveler in
Italy, gives the following account :

Closing the holy door.

At four o'clock on the day of the Jubilee, the sound of trumpets

was heard ;
in the midst of a procession which issued from the church
passing through the holy door, was his holiness the pope, clothed
in white robes, and wearing a golden mitre. He seated himself on his
white throne, and remained quiet for a minute or two. He then descended
from his throne and performed some ceremonies or mummeries. I sin-
cerely pitied the poor old man, he looked the picture of death, and had
been raised from his bed to personate St. Peter he appeared to sink ;

under the weight of his robes his cumbrous mitre oppressed his
;

aching head he raised his heavy eyes and held up his skinny fingers
;
4

and seemed to say, " How painful are hypocrisy, folly, and fraud, to
a sick and dying man." The cardinals came about him in a fawning
manner, and changed for him a part of his dress. At the closing of the
holy door, we were somewhat disappointed. beheld only the feeble We
pattering of an impotent old man he blessed the golden trowel and its
:

handle of mother-of-pearl he blessed the mortar and the bricks.

;
He
contrived to lay three bricks in the
holy door-way, using his holy mor-
tar sparingly as though it were
lip-salve. The door-way being then
318 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY:

closed, a white satin curtain, decorated with a cross in golden embroi*

dery, was drawn over it. The holy father, with as much theatrical
jesticulation as he was capable of, gave his blessing, which concluded
the farce of closing the holy door.
The opening and closing of the holy gates or doors, must be an
annual ceremony, and therefore differs from what is generally called
the Jubilee.
Jubilees were formerly celebrated, by the Jews, every fiftieth year.

Pope Sextus IV. in 1475, appointed it to be held every twenty-fifth

year, to give a greater chance for every person to receive the benefit of
it once in his life.
They afterwards became more frequent, and the
popes granted them as often as the church, or themselves, had occasion
forthem. There is usually one at the inauguration of a new pope.
At these Jubilees, the pope grants full pardon to all sinners who are
present at their celebration. See Rees' Cycl.
Wehave seen in the masonic ceremonies a constant reiteration of
the number three, and sometimes thrice repeated, which is called giv-

ing the grand honors of masonry. There must have been some cause
or reason for this custom, now unknown. And I will venture to say that,

(as suggested by the author of the Defence of Freemasonry, before

noticed,)its original intention was in honor and out of reverence to the

ancient trinity. The practice seems to be kept up by the church of

Rome, which goes to corroborate this opinion. One of the rules estab-
lished by the reverend mother abbess of the Ursuline Convent at

Charlestown, as reported by Miss Reed, one of the novices in that insti-

"
tution, is, before entering the room to give three knocks on the door,

accompanied with some religious ejaculation, and wait until they are
answered by three from within." The mason will see that this is an
exact copy of his rules and practice.
The reader has observed, that the number six, in the degree under

consideration, is
particularly respected. In the opening scene of ini-
tiations, not noticed above, the candidate is
prepared with a rope wound
six timesround his body, and is then conducted to the door of the lodge,
against which he gives six distinct knocks, which are answered by the
same number from within and when admitted, he is walked six times
;

round the lodge, moving with the sun. On the contrary, the brethren
more advanced, form a procession, as above stated, and march six times
round the lodge, against the course of the sun. Masons from habit

pass through these ceremonies, without stopping to examine into their

meaning and original intention.

The Druids also paid great veneration to the number six. "As to
 819

what remains, says Mayo, vol. ii.

p. 239, respecting the superstitions
of the Druids, I know not what was the foundation of the religious
respect which they had for the number six but it is certain they pre-
;

ferred it to all other numbers. It was the sixth day of the moon, that

they performed their principal ceremonies of religion, and that they

began the year. They went six in number to gather the Misseltoe;
and in monuments now extant, we often find six of these priests
together."
In every movement of the masonic order we discover traits of its

derivation from a religion founded on astronomy. The Egyptians wor-

shiped astronomy. They were the first people known to have

acquired a knowledge of it. Their priests, shut up in the labyrinth,
had nothing else to do but to study the movements of the heavenly bodies,
and they communicated their discoveries in such a manner as to be
incomprehensible to the common people.
So in masonry, the novice is marched round the lodge in conform,
ity to the apparent movement of the sun ;
but afterwards the direction
of the procession is reversed, showing that this appearance is produced

by the actual movement of the earth, from west to east, round the sun.
But and consequently the purport of the
this explanation is not given,

ceremony not understood

is
by the brethren.

Making the processions six times round the lodge, is in honor of

the six benevolent divinities of the upper hemisphere. Volney, in
treating of the notion the Persians had of the future world, and that
paradise is placed under the equator, with this singular attribute, that
"
in it the blessed cast no shade, observes, There is on this subject a
passage in Plutarch so interesting and explanatory of the whole of this
system, that we shall cite it entire having observed that the theory of
;

good and evil had at all times occupied the attention of naturalists and
theologians, he adds: 'Many suppose there are two gods of opposite
inclinations, one delighting in good, the other in evil the first of these
;

is called particularly by the name of God, the second by that of Genius

or Demon. Zoroaster has denominated them Oromaze and Ahri-
manes, and has said that of whatever falls under the cognizance of our
senses, light the best representative of the one, and darkness and
is

ignorance of the other. He adds that Mithra is an intermediate being,

and it is for this reason that the Persians call Mithra the Mediator or
intercessor.
'
The
Persians also say that Oromaze was born or formed out of the
purest light Ahrimanes on the contrary, out of the thickest darkness,
;

I TIE SIT 3
320 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY:

that Oromaze made six gods as good as himself, and Ahrimanes

opposed to them six wicked ones. That afterwards Oromaze trebled

himself (Hermes tris-megistus,) and removed to a distance remote from
the earth ;
that stars, and among others, Syrius, which
he there formed
he placed in the heavens as a guard and sentinel. He made also
twenty-four other gods whom he inclosed in an egg; but Ahrimanes
created an equal number who cracked the egg, and from that moment

good and evil were mixed, (in the universe.) But Ahrimanes is one
day to be conquered, and the earth to be made equal and smooth, that
all men may live happy."

Royal Arch Degree.

The
royal arch degree seems not to have been known to what are
calledmodern masons as late as about 1750. That portion of the old
freemasons who met at the famous Apple Tree tavern, in 1717, and
formed the society upon somewhat new principles that is, so far as to ;

admit into fellowship indiscriminately respectable individuals of all

professions, were denominated by the non-adherents to this plan, mod-
ern masons. This affair caused the division of the masonic society
into two parties, which continued till 1813,
nearly one hundred years.
To the rivalry occasioned by this schism, masonry, it is presumed, is

mainly indebted for the great celebrity it has obtained in the world.

It appears, that the non-conformists to this new scheme, who con-

sidered themselves the orthodox party, by rummaging among the old

records of the order, first discovered the royal arch degree, which had

probably lain dormant for centuries. During which time, it would

appear, the society had been confined almost exclusively to operative
masons; who continued the ceremonies only of the appr|ptice, fellow-
craft or journeyman, and master mason, these being deemed appropri-

ate to their occupation.

This fact Dermott proves, by the production of an answer of a Mr-
Spencer, one of the grand secretaries of a lodge of modern masons, to
an application of W. C., a petitioner from Ireland which is as fol- ;

lows :

"
Your being an ancient mason, you are not entitled to any of our
charity. The ancient masons have a lodge at the Five Bells in the
Strand, and their secretary's name is Dermott. Our society is neither
arch, royal arch, nor ancient, so that you have no right to partake of
our charity."
"
Such (says Dermott) was the character given of them by their own
 ROYAL ARCH DEGREE. 821

grand secretary, about fourteen years ago." Dermott published his

book in 1764.
If the knowledge communicated in this degree had not been recov-
ered, the loss to the society would have been incalculable, provided its
value be not overrated in the following estimation of it by masonic
writers :

"
Webb This degree is indescribably more august, sublime, and
says,
important, than all which precede it and is the summit and perfet,'
;

tion of ancient masonry. It

impresses on our minds a belief of the
being and existence of a Supreme Deity, without beginning of days or
end of years and reminds us of the reverence due to his holy name."
;

Dermott calls it the root, heart, and marrow of masonry.

"
Cole adopts the following sentiment of a brother mason : In the R.
A. [royal arch] mnson's degree I beheld myself exalted to the top of

Pisgah, an extensive scene opened to

my view of the glory and
goodness
of the M. E. H. high priest] of our salvation. I dug
P. [most excellent
1

deep for hidden treasures, found them, and regained the omnific word.
"
If we pass on to the royal arch,
(says the Rev. G. Oliver, in his
Lvctures on Freemasonry,) we receive a wonderful accession of know-
ledge, and every thing made perfect for this is the ne plus ultra of
find ;

masonry, and can never be exceeded by any human institution."

By the manner in which this subject is treated, it would seem that a
mason is to be ignorant of the existence of the one Supreme
supposed
Being admitted into the royal arch. This arises from copying after
till

an institution established when this doctrine was not taught to the

common people. Polytheism was the prevailing religion. The one
Supreme was revealed only to a select number who were initiated

into the
greater mysteries, the royal arcrr of the ancients.
The members of this degree are denominated companions, and are
"entitled to a full explanation of the mysteries of the order;" whereas,
in the former degrees they are recognized by the common, familiar
appellation of brothers, and kept in a state of profound ignorance of the
sublime secret which is disclosed in this chapter. This accords with
the custom of Pythagoras;- who thus distinguished his After a
puj ils.
probation of five years, as before stated, they were admiited in'o the

piesence of the preceptor, called his companions, and permitted freely

converse with him. Previously to the expiration of that term, he
to

delivered his instructions to them from behind a screen.

The royal arch degree owes the imaginary arch made in the
its title to

heavens by the course of king Osiris, the sun, from the vernal to the
41
322 ANALYSIS Of TKEEMASONilV .

autumnal equinox. The signs through which he passes in forming

this semicircle,including those of the equinoxes, being seven, the
number of grades or steps required to be taken by the mason, to entitle
him to the honors of this degree.
This order is called a chapter, which requires nine officers ;
the

principal of which are three, who compose what is called the grand
council, and one denominated captain of the host.
There is, or should be, when convenient, an organ in the room in
which the chapter is held. The companions enter the chapter in pro-
cession. At the entrance each gives the sign of sorrow, which is done
by bowing the head and body, placing the right hand on the forehead-
This sign is repeated as they approach the altar. They then place
their scepters in their left hands, with the right on the left breast, and
make the following declaration In the beginning was the word : and
:

the word was with Gad : and the word was God. The sign of sorrow
isnow given the third time/ and. each advances to his proper place-
They are so arranged as to form an arch or semicircle. [Carlile.]
The sorrow here expressed, is an imitation of that of the ancients

for the loss of the word, logos, or Osiris, personated by Hiram. The
use of the organ agrees with the ancient manner of celebrating the
orgies, and is in accordance with the custom of the Pythagorean
school.

The semicircle formed by the companions, confirms my opinion in

regard to the name of this degree.
TJie grand council consists of the most excellent high priest, king,
and holy scribe. The high priest is dressed in a white robe, with a
breast-plate of cut glass, consisting of twelve pieces, [to represent
the

twelve signs of the zodiac,] an apron and a miter. The king wears a
scarlet robe, apron and crown. The miter and crown are generally
made of pasteboard ;
sometimes they are made of most splendid materi-
als,gold and silver velvet but these are kept for public occasions.
;

1 he miter has the words Holiness to the Lord, in gold letters, across
the forehead, The scribe wears a purple robe, apron and turban,

The worn by the respective members .of the grand council, the
color of the robes
reader be assured, has not been fixed upon through the mere fancy of the masonic
may
order. There must be a mythological authority to sanction it. The ancient astrologers,
gays the most learned of the Jews, (Maimouides,) having consecrated to each planet a
color, an animal, a tree, a metal, a fruit, a plant, formed from them all a figure or repre- -

sentation of the star, taking care to select for the purpose a proper moment, a fortunate
day, such as the conjunction or gome other favorable aspect they conceived;
that by
their (magic) ceremonies they could introduce into those figures or idols the influences
of the superior beings after which they were modelled. These were the idols that the
 ROYAL ARCH DEGREE. 123

Chaldean Sabeans adored; and in the performance of their worship they were obliged
to be dressed in the proper color .
Thus, the astrologers, by their practices
introduced idolatry, desirous of being regarded as the dispensers of the favors of
heaven.
"The Egyptians, says Porphyry, call Kncph, the intelligence or efficient "cause (of
the universe.) They represent him under the form of a man in deep blue, (the color of
the sky,) having iu his hand a sceptre, a belt round his body, and a small bonnet royal
of light feathers on his head, to denote how very subtile and fugacious the idea of that
being is." Upon which I shall observe that Kneph in Hebrew signifies a wing, a feather,
and that this color of sky blue is to be found in the majority of the Indian gods, and is,
under the name of narayan, one of their most distinguished epithets. See Ruins, p.
230-234,
Porphyry, I presume, is mistaken in supposing this god dressed in blue, to be Kneph ;
for as he was the Supreme God of the Egyptians, his proper dress would be white.
"The Roman Catholic cardinals, (says Mr. Buck, in his Theol. Diet.) dress in scar-
let, to signify, that they ought to be ready to shed their blood for tine faith and church,
When the defence and honor of either require it." This, I imagine, is a mere conjec-
ture, and not founded in fact. The custom, has, doubtless, an astronomical bearing.
The pope, on gala days, is clothed in a white robe, wearing a golden miter, and is
seated on hrs white throne; and as the cardinals are second in rank, like the king in
the royal arch, their appropriate color is, no doubt, scarlet.

The habit required for the person representing the sunj in the Dyonisian mysteries,
says Taylor, is thus described in the Orphic verses preserved by Macrobeus in the first
book of his Saturnalia, cap. 18.
He who desires in pomp of sacred dress
The sun's resplendent body to express,
Should first a veil assume of purple bright,
Like fair white beams combin'd with fiery light :
On his right shoulder, next, a mule's broad hide,
Widely diversifi'd with spotted pride
Should hang, an image of the pole divine,
And daedal stars, whose orbs eternal shine.
A golden splendid zone, then, o'er the vest
He next should throw, and bind it round his breast;
In mighty token, how with golden light,
The rising sun, from earth's last bounds and night
Sudden emerges, and, with matchless force,
Darts through old Ocean's billows in his course.
A boundless splendor hence, enshrin'd in dew,
Plays on his whirlpools, glorious to the view ;
While his circumfluent waters spread abroad,
Full in the presence of the radiant god :

But Ocean's circle, like a zone of light.

The sun's wide bosom girds, and charms the wond'ring sight.
Eleus. and Bac. Myst. p. 160.

The officers and companions of the chapter being stationed, the

high priest says, companions, I am about to open a chapter of royal
arch masons, and will thank you for your attention and assistance. If
there is
any person present who is not a royal arch mason, he is
to retire.
requested Companion captain of the host, the first care of
congregated masons? Captain. To see the tabernacle duly guarded.
High priest. Attend to that part of your duty. The captain of the
host stations the
guard at the outside of the door, gives him his orders,
closes the door, and makes an alarm of three times
three, on the inside,
to ascertain that the is on his post; the guard answers by nine
guard
324 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY :

corresponding- raps ; the captain then gives one, and the guard doe
the same. He then reports that the chapter is duly guarded, by a
companion of this degree at the outer avenue, with a drawn svvoid in
his hand. The high priest then gives t\\o raps with his gavel, and
asks the following qiuslions: Captain of the host, are
you a royal arch
mason ? I am, that I am. How shall I know you to be a royal arch
mason? By three times three. He thus proceeds, as is done in the
other degrees, to demand the stations and duties of the officers of the

chapter which are as follows

; :

The captain of the host is stationed at the right hand of the grand

council, to receive their orders, and see them duly executed.

The station of the principal sojourner is ,at the left hand of the

grand council, to bring the blind, by a way, they know not, to lead
them in paths they have not known, to make darkness light before
them, and crooked things straight*
The duties of the two last mentioned officers, in the ancient myste-
ries,appertain to one character, Mercury, who was the messenger of
the gods, and the conductor of souls to the other world, through the
dark regions below.
The royal arch, like the greater mysteries, contains a scenical
representation of a journey from this world to the next. In the way
are four guarded passes, called vails, emblematical of the equinoxes
and solstices, allegorically denominated gales of heaven, through
which lies the sun's course.
Three of the officeis stationed at these pcssrs, are called grand
masters of the first, second, and third vail ;
\\ho inquire certain loktns
at.d pi-ss-words cf the candidates on their admission through them.
The fourth officer is styled royal arch captain. He is statiomd at the
inner vail, or entrance of the sanctum sanctorum, to guard the tame,
and see none pass but such as are duly qualified, and have the
that

proper pass- words and signet of truth. The colors of their several
banners are, the first blue, the second purple, the third red, and the

* In the lower
degrees, ihe duty of messenger, as well as that of regulating and
conducting the ceremonies, is performed by two officers who are denominated deacons."
These, like the rest of the masonic drama, I find to be astronomical characters. The
ancient Egyptian*, says the astrologer Julius Firmicns, (Astron. Lib. 2, c. 4,) divide
rat h sign f ihe zodiac into three sections; and each section was under
< the direction of
an imaginary being whom they called Dtcan, or chief of ten so that there were three
:

decans in a month, and thiity-six in a year. Now, these decans, who were also called
gods. (Throi,) regUA" d the destinies of mankind, and were placed particularly in cer-
ain stars." (Ruins p, 237.)
In the c< urse of time, a trifling variation in the orthography of the name of these
officers, admitting of little OT none in the pronunciation, has taken place. The duties
of the decans anc those of the deacons are sufficiently allied to identify them.
"
Among the Greeks, those youths who served the tables were called diaconoi, dea-
cons; that 13 ministers, attendants." (Calmet'a Diet.)
 ROYAL ARCH DEGREE. 325

fourth white; which have the same astronomical reference as the

dresses of the grand council. The white banner, as masonry asserts, is

emblematical of ihat purity of heart, and rectitude of conduct, which is

essential to obtain admission into the divine sanctum sanctorum above.

In the duty assigned to the royal arch captain, there is evidently an
allusion to that required of the "severe and incorruptible boatman,
Charon ;" who was prohibited from transporting souls across the lake
or river Acheron to the Elysian fields, the heaven of the ancients,
without the signet of the judges, who were appointed to examine into
the characters of the deceased, and to allow or withhold their permis-
"
sion accordingly. To arrive at Tartarus, or Elysium, souls were
obliged to cross the rivers Styx and Acheron, in the boat of the ferry-
man Charon, and to pass through the gates of horn or ivory, guarded

by the dog Cerberus." (Ruins p. 148.)

Nine companions must be present at the opening of a royal arch
chapter. Not more nor less than three are permitted to take this
degree the same time.
at The candidates are prepared by tying a
bandage over their eyes, and 'coiling a rope seven times round the body
of each, which unites them tpgether, with three feet of slack
rope
between them.
Thus prepared, they are led into the royal arch chapter ; which,
they are told, isdedicated to enlighten those that are in darkness, and
to show forth the way, the truth, and the life.
On entering the chapter they pass under what is called a
living
arch, which is formed by a number of companions arranging them-
selves on both sides of the door, each joining hands with the one oppo-
site to himself. The conductor says, stoop low, brothers; remember
that he that humbleth himself shall be exalted stoop low, brothers,
;

stoop low; we are about to enter the arch; which is raised up for
him, but lowered when the candidates come under it. They seldom
pass the first pair of hands without being obliged to support themselves
on their hands and knees. Their progress may well be imagined to
be very slow notwithstanding their humble condition, they are
; for,

under the necessity of sustaining on their backs, nearly the whole

weight of the living arch above. The conductor, to encourage them,
calls out' occasionally, stoop low, brothers, stoop low! If they go too
slow to suit the companions, it is not unusual for
apply a some one to

sharp point to their bodies, to urge them on after they have endured
;

this humiliating exercise as long as suits the convenience of the com-

panions, they pass from under the living arch.

326 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY.

The reader will readily perceive, that this scene is an imitation of

the trials of the greater mysteries and although a faint one, the like-:

ness is too apparent to be mistaken. It was

anciently a religious rite*
and the ceremony has outlived the principle that produced it.

Havinggot through the arch, the candidates are conducted once

round the chapter, and directed to kneel at the altar to receive the obli-
gation. The principal sojourner then thus addresses them :
Brethren,
asyou advance in masonry, your obligation becomes more binding.
You are now kneeling at the altar for the seventh time, and about to
take a solemn oath or obligation: if you are willing to proceed, say
after me :

I, A. B., of my own and accord, in presence of Almighty

free will

God, and arch masons, erected to God, and dedi-

this chapter of royal

cated to Zerubbabel, do hereby, etc. At the conclusion of the oath, the

candidates kiss the book seven times.
Here the farce of dedication to St. John, which was originally
intended as a sheer hoax upon the mystics of the minor degress, is no
1 shall hereafter endeavor to analyze the name of
-

longer continued.
Zerubbabel.
The candidates are now conducted once round the chapter, and
directed to kneel ; while the sojourner reads a prayer. (See Webb's
Monitor, p. 134.)
After prayer, the principal sojourner says, '

Companions, arise, and

follow me.'
He conducts them once round the chapter, during which time he
reads from Exodus, iii. 1 6.
'
Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of
Midian ;
and he led the flock to the back side of the desert, arid came to
the God, even Horeb. And the angel of the Lord
mountain of
appeared unto him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of the bush and ;

he looked, and behold the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not
consumed.'
By the time this reading is ended, the candidates have arrived in
front of a representation of the burning bush, placed in a corner of the

chapter: when the principal sojourner directs them to halt, and slips
up the bandage from their eyes.
A companion who performs this part of the scene, viz :
personating
Deity, steps behind the burning bush, and calls out vehemently,
*
Moses Moses !' The principal sojourner answers for the candidates,
! !

Here am I.'
 ROYAL ARCH DEGREE. 3^

The companion behind the bush exclaims still more vehemently,

'
Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place
where thou staiulest is holy ground. [Their shoes are now taken off]
I am the God of
thy fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob.'
The principal sojourner then directs them to kneel down and cover
their faces, and says, And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid o
'
t.

look upon God.'

The principal sojourner then says to the candidates, Arise and fol- '

low me,' and leads them three times ,rotmd the chapter, during which
time he reads from 2 Chorn. c. 36 v. 11 20.

The terror in which the mysteries were

initiated into the ancient

thrown, by the counterfeiting of thunder, lightning, etc., is here imita-

ted. This occurs after the words, "and brake down the walls of Jeru.
salem;" the companions then make a tremendous noise, by firing
pistols, clashing swords, overturning chairs, rolling cannon balls
across the floor, etc. The candidates being blindfolded, must of course
be surprised and terrified at such a scene.
In the meantime, the candidates are thrown down, bound, and

dragged out into the preparation room, and the door closed. On being
brought again into the chapter, they pass under the living arch.
This is formed on one side of the hall or chapter on the other side ;

~is what is called the rugged road, which is

generally made of blocks of
wood, old chairs, benches, etc. The conductor consoles the candi-
dates, by observing, this is the way many great arid good men have
traveled before you ;
never deeming it
derogatory to their dignity to
level themselves with the fraternity. I have often traveled this road
from Babylon to Jerusalem, and generally find it rough and rugged.
However, I think I never saw it much smoother than it is 'at the pres-
ent time.

By this time, the candidates have stumbled over the rugged road
and arrived again the entrance of the living arch.
at The conductor
says, companions there is a very difficult and dangerous pass ahead,
which lies directly in our way. Before we attempt to pass it, we must
kneel down and pray.
Sundry prayers and passages of scripture are recited before the
rugged path is got rid of. There are clauses in one of them, which
make it appear that it was originally addressed to the sun when in the
lower hemis>phere, imploring his return to the upper regions, as fol-

lows :
 328 ANALYSIS OF FREEM ASO.NK .

"
my prayer, O Lord give ear to my supplications for the
Hear ! :

enemy hath persecuted my soul he hath made me to dwell in dark-

:

ness. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me my heart within ;

me is desolate. Hear me speedily, Lord O my

spirit faileth
! hide :

not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the
pit. Cause me to hear thy loving' kindness in the morning ; for in
thee do 1 trust. Bring my soul out of trouble. And of thy mercy cut
off my enemies ; for I am thy servant."
The most appropriate prayer, as regards the mysteries of masonry,
is,perhaps, that recorded by Dermott, which is used in the
lodge of
Jewish freemasons.
"
O Lord, excellent art thou in thy truth, and there is
nothing great
in comparison to thee ;
for thine is the praise, from all the works of thy
hands, forevermore.
"Enlighten us, we beseech thee, in the true knowledge of masonry ;
the sorrows of Adam, thy first made man ;
by by the blood of Abel, the
holy one; by the righteousness of Sethi, in whom thou art well pleased ;
and by thy covenant with Noah, in whose architecture thou was
pleased to save the seed of thy beloved ; number us not among those
that know not thy statutes, nor the divine mysteries of the secret
Cabala*
"
But grant, we beseech thee, that the ruler of this lodge may be
endued with knowledge and wisdom, to instruct us and explain his
secret mysteries, as our holy brother Moses^ did, in his lodge, to Aaron,
to Eleazar, and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron, and the seventy elders of

Israel.
" we may
And grant that understand, learn, and keep all the stat-

* Cabal or Cabala is a secret science, professed by the Hebrew Rabbins,

concerning
the allegorical interpretation of the bible. Edit.
t In the preface to the Mishna, we find this tradition of the Jews, explained as
follows :

God not only delivered the law to Moses on Mount Sinai, but the explanation of it
likewise: when Moses came down from the mount, and entered into his tent, Aaron
went to visit him and Moses acquainted Aaron with the laws he had received from
;

God, together with the explanation of them ; after this Aaron placed himself at the right
hand of Moses, and Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron, were admitted, to whom
Moses repeated what he had just before told to Aaron these being seated, the one on
:

the right hand, the other on the left hand of Moses ; the seventy elders of Israel, who
composed the Sanhedrim, came in; and Moses a'gain declared the same laws to them,
with the interpretation of them, as he had done before to A'aron and his sons. Lastly,
all who pleased of the common people were invited to enter, and Moses instructed them
likewise in the same manner as the rest so that Aaron heard four times what Moses
:

had been taught by God upon Mount Sinai, Eleazar and Ithamar three times, the
seventy elders twice, and the people once. Moses afterwards reduced the laws which
he had received into writing, but not the explanations of them ; these he thought it suf-
ficient to trust to the memories of the above-mentioned persons, who, being perfectly
instructed in them, delivered them to their children, and these again to theirs from age
to age.
 ROYAL ARCH DKGRPIE. 329

utes and commandments of the Lord, and this holy mystery, pure and
undefiled unto our lives end. Amen, Lord."
The candidates after having passed the four vails, by giving the
signs and pass-words appropriated to each, are admitted into the pres-
ence of the grand council, by means of a signet, being a triangular
piece of metal with the word Zer-ubba-bel engraved upon it.
I have had the curiosity to look into the derivation and meaning of

the word Zer-ubba-bel. As it is a compounded word, some of its com.

pounds are of course abbreviated. Zer, it is likely, is a contraction of
zerah, which means east, brightness : ubba is probably a corruption of
abba, father, which the Deity is sometimes styled and bel is well
;

known to mean the sun, or lord. Zerubbabel is defined dispersion of

confusion.
What cculd more clearly point out the glorious luminary of day,
rising in the east, and dispersing the clouds and darkness? His seal
ought, of course, to entitle the bearer to admittance into the sanctum
sanctorum.
Finally, the grand council, being satisfied as to the pretensions of
the candidates, directs them to repair to the north-west corner of the
ruins of the old temple, and commence removing the rubbish, to lay
the foundation of the new. (The reader will remember, that it was in
the north-west that the Deity was supposed to have commenced his

operations in the erection of the world.) While thus- engaged, they

discover a secret vault,in which is found the key stone of the arch ;

which, by the by, had already been put in its place, in the preceding
degree.* On a second descen_t of one of the party, he discovers a
small box or chest, standing on a pedestal, curiously wrought and over-
laid with gold: he involuntarily found his hand raised to guard his

eyes from the intense light and heat reflected from it. This proved to
be the ark, containing the lost word, logos, or sun ; which accounts for
the intense light and heat reflected from it.^ It contained also, the

book of the law Aaron's rod a pot of manna, and a key to the inef-
able characters of this degree.

* This
circumstance, as well as that of the pass-word, Rabboni, being the same in
the most excellent master's degree as in this, shows, as noticed by Mr. Cole, the inti-
mate connection between the two degrees.
t " The god of day, personified in the sacred allegories, was subjected to all the des-
tinies of man ; he had his cradle and his tomb, under the names of Hercules, Bacchus,
Osiris, etc. He was an infant at the winter solstice, at the mornent when the day
began to increase: it was under this form that his image was exposed in the ancient
temples, there to receive the homage of his adorers. 'Because then, says Macrobeus,
the day being the shortest, this god seemed to be but a feeble child. This is the child
of the mysteries, he whose image the Egyptians drew from the bottom of their sanctua-
"
ries every year on a fixed day.' (Origine de tous les Cultes, p. 313.)
Here is the original of the drawing up, from beneath the foundation of Solomon'*
temple, of the omnific (all-creating) word, logos, or sun.
42
 330 ANAL18I6 OF FREEMASONRY

The. candidates passing under the living arch ; also, the descent of

a companion into the vault of nine arches.

This ark of masonry is but a copy of the old mysterious chest of the
ancient Egyptians ; which, among other monuments of the ancient
"
state of mankind, contained acorns, heads of poppies, bay-berries,
branches of fig-tree," etc, ; which, like the manna of the Jews, are
 ROYAL ARCH DEGREE. 381

said to have eerved as their main sustenance, In the early ages of the
world.
Although the masons pretend to inheritin their hands
Aaron's rod ;

it has lost its miraculous powers. And

book of the law, by
as to the
which modern masons at least, mean the law of Moses, it was not in
the Jewish ark for, according to 1 Kings c. 8, v. 9, " There was
;

nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone."

The following questions and answers occur, in what is called lec-
tures, after the ceremonies of initiation are passed which a^e, in fact,
;

statements of what had been before detailed. I have endeavored to

avoid repetitions, by previously omitting part of what takes place at
initiations.

After receiving the obligation, what was said to you? were told We
that we were now obligated and received as royal arch masons, but as
was infinitely more important than any of the preceding, it
this degree
was necessary for us to pass through many trials, and to travel in
rough and rugged ways, to prove our fidelity, before we could be entrus-
ted with the more important secrets of this degree. We were further
though we could not discover the path we were to travel, we
told, that,
were under the direction of a. faithful guide, who would bring the blind
by a way they know not, and lead them in paths they had not known;
who would make darkness light before them, and crooked things
straight; who would do these things, and not forsake them, (See Isa.
42, v.
16.) Follow your leader and fear no danger. Let your advance
be by seven solemn steps, and at each step, you must halt and make
obeisance, with the awe and reverence suited to this grand and solemn
occasion; for every step brings you nearer to the sacred name of
God.
"
The
following remarks of Plato, in his Phoedon, or Dialogue on
the immortality of the soul," will lend to explain the inference intended
tobe drawn from the above passage, by showing the idea entertained
by the ancients in regard to the difficulties to be encountered in the
fourney to the other world; to which the extract from Isaiah is here
made to apply.
"
If the soul is immortal, it stands in need of cultivation and improve-
ment, not only in the time that we call the time of life.; but for the
future, or what we call the time of eternity. For if you think justly
upon this point, will find it to neglect the soul.
you very dangerous
Were death the dissolution of the whole man, it would be a great advan-
tage to the wicked after death, to be rid at once of their body, their
soul, and their vices. But forasmuch as the soul is immortal, the only
 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY

way to avoid those evils and obtain salvation, is to become good arid
wise. For it carries nothing along with it, but its good or bad actions,
and its virtues or vices,which are the cause of its eternal happiness or

misery, commencing from the first minute of its arrival in the other
world. And it is death of every individual person,
said, that after the

the demon or genius that was partner with it, and conducted it during
life, leads it to a certain place, where all the dead are obliged to appear

in order to be judged, and from thence are conducted by a guide to the

world below. And afterthey have there received their good or bad
deserts, and continued there their appointed time, another conductor
brings them back to this life, after several revolutions of ages. Now this
road is not a plain road, else there would be no occasion for guides, and

nobody miss their way. But there are several by-ways, and crossways, as
I conjecture from the method of their sacrifices and religious ceremonies.
So that a temperate wise soul follows its guide, and is not ignorant of
what happens to it
;
but the soul that is nailed to its
body, that is

inflamed with the love of it, and has been long its slave, after much
struggling and suffering in this visible world, is at last dragged along
against its will by the demon allotted for its
guide. And when it arrives
at that fatal rendezvous of all souls, if it has been guilty of any impurity,

or polluted with murder, or has committed any of those atrocious crimes

that desperate and lost souls are commonly guilty of, the other souls
abhor it and avoid its
company. It finds neither companion nor guide^
but wanders in a fearful solitude and horrible desert ;
till after a certain

time, necessity drags it into the mansions it deserves. Whereas the

temperate and pure soul has the gods themselves for its guides and
Conductors, and goes to cohabit with them in the mansions of pleasure
prepared for it."

What further was said to you ? The high priest first read the fol-
"
lowing passage, (Exodus vi. 2,
3.) And God spake unto Moses, and
said unto him, I am the Lord, and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac,
and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jeho-
vah, was I not known to them."
He then informed us that the name of Deity, the divine Logos, or
word, which reference is had in John, (1, v. 1, 5.) "In the begin-
to

ning was the word, [Logos] and the word was with God, and the word
was God ; the same was in the beginning with Gdd all things were :

made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made; in
him was life, and the life was the light of men : and the light shineth
in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not." That this Logos,
or word, was anciently written only in these sacred characters, (showing
 KUYAL ATvCII UEGREK. 333

them,) and thus preserved from one generation to another. That this
was the true masonic word, which was lost in the death of Hiram Abiff,
and was restored at the building of the temple, in the manner we had
at that time assisted to represent.

Here whole mystery of masonry is unveiled here is a candid

the ;

confession of what the masons had heen so long in search of, which

proves to he the lost Logos, the second person in the pagan trinity.

Logos is the same as Osiris, the sun, considered as the Demiurgus, the
maker of the world, under the direction of the Supreme Being.
It has been asserted by Dr. Priestly and others, that the above pas-

sage in John, is an interpolation and the use here made of it, by an

:

institution derived from paganism, corroborates the fact.

"Those who believe that the Logos was the

personification of the
divine intellect, or of the divine attributes of wisdom, power, etc., trace
this doctrine to the ancient Platonists from whom, as they conceive, it
;

was adopted by the Christian fathers." * *. * "In the writings of

Plato, Logos has two acceptations, viz. those of speech, and of reason,
such as is found in man. But when this philosopher speaks of nous or
Logus, as something distinct from the Divine Being himself, as a power
or property belonging to him, and all divine powers and properties being
substance, it would be very natural and easy to transform this divine

power into a substantial person and this we shall find to have been the
;

case with respect to the latter Platonists, agreeably to one of the Pla-
tonic maxims, viz* that being and energy are the same thing."

(Rees' Cycl.)
"
Never any philosophy was so fashionable, as that of Plato during
the first
ages of the church the
:
Pagans interested themselves amongst
all the different sects of philosophers, but the conformity which Platds

was found to religion, made almost all the knowing Chris-

have with
Thence came the mighty esteem they had of Plato:
tians of that sect.

they looked upon him as a sort of prophet "who had foretold many
important points 'of Christianity, especially that of the holy Trinty :
nay, they went so far as to take his works for comments on the scrip-
ture; and to conceive the nature of the Word, as he conceived it. He
represented God so elevated above his creatures, that he did not believe
that they were immediately made by his hands and therefore he put
;

between them and him this Word, as a degree by which the actions of
God might pass down to them; the Christians had the like idea of
Jesus Christ : and this may perhaps be the reason why no heresy has
been more generally received and maintained with greater heat than
Arrianism.
334 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY :

This Platonism then (which seems to honor the Christian reli-

gion by countenancing it) was very full of notions about Demons: and
thence they easily passed into that opinion which the old Christians
had of oracles.
Plato said, that Demons were of a middle nature, between God and
man ;
that they were the aerial genii appointed to hold a commerce
between God and us that although they were near us, yet we could
;

not see them that they penetrated into all our thoughts; that they had
;

a love for the good, and a hatred for the bad and that it was for their ;

honor that such variety of sacrifices, and so many different ceremonies

were appointed but it does not at all appear, that Plato acknowledged
:

any evil demons, to which might be attributed the management of the

illusions of oracles. Plutarch, notwithstanding, assures us, that Plato
was not ignorant of them and amongst the Platonic philosophers, the
;

thing is out of doubt. Eusebius, in his Evangelical Preparations,

recites a great number of passages out of Porphyrius, where that

Pagan philosopher assures us, that evil demons are the authors of
enchantments, philtres and witch-crafts ; that they cheat our eyes with

phantoms, and apparitions ; that lying is essential to their

spectres,
nature; that they raise in us the greatest part of our passions; and that
they have an ambition to pass with us for gods that their aerial and ;

spiritual bodies are nourished with suffumigations, and with the blood
and fat of sacrifices ;
and that it
only these that employ themselves in
is

giving oracles, and to whom this task so full of fraud is assigned in :

short, at the head of the troop of evil demons he places Hecate and
Serapis.
Jamblichus, another Platonist, has said as much. And the greatest

part of these things being true, the Christians received them all with
joy, and have added to them besides a little of their own: as for
exam,
demons stole from the writings of the prophets some know-
pie, that the

ledge of things tocome and so got honor by it in their oracles.

;

This system of the ancient Christians had this advantage, that it dis-
covered to the Pagans,. by their own principles, the original of their
false worship, and the source of those errors which they ahvays
embraced. that there was something superna-
They were persuaded
tural in their oracles and the Christians, who were always disputing
;

against them, did not desire to confute this opinion. Thus by demons
(which both parties believed to be concerned in the oracles,) they

explicated all that was supernatural in them. They acknowledged

indeed that this sort of ordinary miracles were wrought in the Pagan
religion but then they ruined this advantage again, by imputing
: them
 ROYAL ARCH DEGREE. 335

to such authors as evil spirits. And this way of convincing, was

more short and easy, than to contradict the miracle itself, by a long
train of inquiries and arguments. Thus I have given you the manner
how which the first ages of the church had of the Pagan
that opinion

oracles, was grounded, I might, to the three reasons which I have

already brought, add a fourth of no less authority perhaps than those:
that is, that in the supposition of oracles being given by demons, there
is something miraculous and if we consider the humor of mankind a
:

little, we shall find how much we are taken with any thing that is

miraculous. But I do not intend enlarge myself on this reflection

to ;

for those that think upon it, will easily believe me, and those that do

not, will perhaps give it no credit, notwithstanding all my arguments."

The
physical properties of the sun are plainly set forth in the
extract from John. The language is in the mystic style of the Platonic
school, and not of the gospel writers
in the plain, simple but manner ;

"
notwithstanding, shapeifof put in the
interrogatory, What is that
which contains the principles that produce life, and is at the same time,
the light of men ?" It would not form a conundrum difficult of solu-
"
tion. The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended
it not," alludes toa time past, when the sun was enveloped with
clouds in either of the tropics and his extrication, and triumph over
;

Typhon, the prince of darkness, was the very cause of the celebration
here imitated by the masons.
"
Besides, it is said, That was the true light,which lighteth every
man that cometh into the world." Now, this could not properly be
said of Christ, as it would not apply to those who never heard of his
name ;
but is very applicable to the sun, which lighteth every one in
all parts of the earth.

Mr. Dupuis, taking above passages are genuine,

for granted that the

that is, actually written by John, makes

St. great account of them, as
well he might, to prove that Christ and the sun are the same, and con-

sequently that Christianity is sun-worship. He says,

"
The
theology of Orpheus taught that light, the most ancient and
the most sublime of all beings, is God, that inaccessible God, who

envelopes things in his substance, and who is called reason, (con-

all

seil) light life. These theological ideas have been copied by the
and
evangelist John, when he said That the life was the light, and that
'

the light was the life, and that the light was the Word, or the reason,
and the wisdom of God.' "
"
Again, The Guebres still at this day reverence the light as the
336 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY I

most beautiful attribute of the divinity.

Fire, say they, produced the

light, and the light

god." This is the ethereal fire, in which ancient
is

theology placed the substance of the divinity, or universal soul of the

world, from whence emanates light and life, or, to use the expressions
of the Christians, the Logos, or the word, which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world, and givclh life to all beings"
But, admitting the passages above quoted from St. John's gospel, to
be interpolations, as I believe has been made evident, the argument of
Dupuis on this head, falls to the ground.
There is much confusion, after all, in regard to the omnific word,
Whether this was created by the original founders of the order, for the
purpose of deception, or has been introduced by modern masons, is
unknown. After declaring the Logos to be the recovered long lost
word, another compound name, intended to bear the same import, is
substituted in its
place.
This the English masons call Jao-Bul-On, and the American masons,
Jah-Buh-Lun. They both say the word is compounded of the names
of Deity in three languages, Hebrew, Chaldean, and Syriac; leaving

Egypt, the mother of the mysteries, from which masonry is derived,

out of the question, although On, which composes part of the compound
word, used by English masons, w as one of the names of the Deity,
r

peculiar to that country.

Neither Buh nor Lun,
it is believed, was ever the name of a
Deity
in any language and although the sun was worshipped under the
;

symbolical figure of the bull, either on account of his great use in agri-
culture, or because the celestial sign of the bull was formerly in the
vernal equinox at the opening of the year; yet it is evident that the bull
was looked upon merely as a symbol, and not as actually constituting
the name of the Supreme Being. Whereas Jah-Bel-On, were perma-
nent names, universally, and at all times bestowed upon the Deity, by
one or other of the nations above mentioned.
"
The chief varieties of this sacred name [of God] amongst the
inhabitants of different nations
(says Oliver,) were Jah-Bel or Baal, and
On or Om."
"Bel or Baal, (says Mayo,) was the same god with Moloch. Their
names, both of which signify the king, the lord, are titles applicable to
the sun."
It is not permitted to utter this omnific word above the breath, and

three companions are required to perform it, each pronouncing a sylla-

ble alternately. And admitting Jah-bel-on to be the word, one would
 ROYAL ARCH DEGREE. 33?

say Jah, another Bel, and the third On; and then interchangeably until
each had pronounced the whole compound. A similar superstition
prevails among the Jews, in regard to what is called the Tetragam-
maton, or word of four letters, which, in Hebrew, compose the name
Jehovah. The Jews, however, are not permitted to pronounce this
name, even by dividing the syllables in the manner of the companions
of royal arch masonry.
The very attribute given to the lost word, omnific, (all-creating,)
indicates the Demiurgus, the Creator of the world, which as before
observed,was believed by the ancients to be the sun.
was of no importance to investigate the composition of the omnijic
It

word of masonry, any further than to show, that in all the movements
of the order, the sun is
kept constantly in view; and that the lost
master mason's word meant nothing but the lost influence of that lumi-
nary, when in his greatest northern, or southern declination.
But to return to the lecture: it is stated by the candidates, that the
high crowns upon their heads, and told them they were
priest placed
now invested with all the important secrets of this degree, crowned
and received as worthy companions, royal arch masons.
This custom, it has been shown, is not without authority, or prece-

dent, in the ancient mysteries.

I will repeat, from Dupuis, the purport and end of the mysteries :

"
The mystagogues make darkness and light successively to appear
before the eyes of the Night the most obscure, accompanied
initiates.

with frightful spectres, is replaced by a brilliant day, whose light envi-

rons the statue of the divinity. This sanctuary is approached with
trembling, where all was prepared to exhibit the spectacle of Tartarus
and Elysium. It is in this last stage that the initiated, being ulti-

mately inducted, perceives the picture of beautiful prairies enlightened

by a clear sky there he hears harmonious voices, and the charming
;

songs of the sacred choirs. It is then that, become absolutely free and
disfranchised from all evil, he mixes with the crowd of the initiates,
and when, his head being crowned with flowers, he cebbrates the
holy
orgies with them.
"
Thus the ancients represented here below, in their initiations,
that which would, they said, one day happen to souls when they should
be disengaged from bodies, and drawn from the obscure prison in
which destiny had enchained them in uniting them to terrestrial
matter." (Orig. de tous les Cultes, p. 501.)
43
338 ANALYSIS OF FR CEMASONRY .'

As this crowning is the closing ceremony of initiations into the

mysteries, so is its imitation in the royal arch included in the last act
of the drama of ancient freemasonry.
The following address, copied from Webb's Freemason's Monitor,
is delivered to the newly initiated companion :

"
Worthy companion, by the consent and assistance of the members
of this chapter, you are now exalted to the sublime and honorable

degree of a royal arch mason. Having attained this degree, you have
arrived at the summit and perfection of ancient masonry, and are con-

sequently entitled to a full explanation of the mysteries of the order.

"
The and mysteries developed in this degree have been handed
rites

down through a chosen few, unchanged by time, and uncontrolled by

prejudice; and we expect and trust they will be regarded by you with
the same veneration, and transmitted with the same scrupulous purity
to your successors.
"
No one can reflect on the ceremonies of gaining admission into
this place, without being forcibly struck with the important lessons

which they teach.

"
Here we are necessarily led to contemplate with gratitude and
admiration the sacred source from whence all earthly comforts flow
here we find additional inducements to continue steadfast and immove-
able in the discharge of our respective duties and here we are bound, ;

by the most solemn ties, to promote each other's welfare, and correct
each other's failings, by advice, admonition, and reproof."
I shall conclude the notice of this chapter, with a few remarks on
the Jewel and Badge of the order. The following is an abridgment
of a description given by Carlile:
The jewel is composed of two intersecting triangles, surrounding
another triangle, with the sun in the center, an emblem of the Deity.*

Under these is the compound character, the Triple Tan, (triple

|_!_|,

T,) which is the royal arch mason's badge by which the wearer ;

acknowledges himself the servant of the true god.

The T, it has been seen, is the figure of the old Egyptian Milometer,
used to ascertain the height of the inundation, on which depended the
subsistence, the life of the inhabitants. The Nilometer, in conse-
quence, became the symbol of life, health, and prosperity ; and was

* Or rather a itself.
deity
 ROYAL ARCH DEGREE. 339

supposed to possess the power of averting evil. It was, therefore, in

an abbreviated form, to the necks of the sick as an amulet

suspended
or charm*
Thus has originated the badge of royal arch masonry : its triple
form, as usual, relates to the Egyptian trinity.
It is
generally conceded by masonic writers, that ancient masonry
closes with the royal arch. In an edition of " The Illustrations
of Masonry," by the late Mr. Preston, published in London, 1829,
the editor, Mr. Oliver, author of the lectures from which
quotations
have been made above, observes :

"Ail degrees beyond the royal arch ought to be carefully separated

from genuine masonry, as they are mostly founded on vague and
uncertain traditions, which possess not the shadow of authority to
recommend them to our notice."
The additional degrees, including those considered legitimate,
amount toupwards of fifty. These are founded, partly upon astrono-
mical principles, agreeing with the ancient worship of the Egyptians ;

and partly upon the Hebrew and Christian doctrines of two or three ;

of which a slight notice will be taken.

It may be remarked in general, that many of the degrees of knights

are founded on the Christian knighthoods, got up in the time of the

crusades, in the twelfth century and that the ceremonies theieof are
;

an imitation of those superstitious establishments. former grand A

high priest of the chapters in the state of New- York, informs me, that
he initiated a French gentleman into the degree of knight of Malta,
who told him he was a member of the ancient order of that name, and
that the ceremonies were very similar.
"
At the time those old knighthoods were founded, Superstition
mingled and private action of life; in the holy wars,
in every public
it sanctified the profession of arms and the order of chivalry was
;

assimilated in rights and privileges to the sacred orders of priest-

its

hood. The bath and the white garment of the novice were an inde-
cent copy of the regeneration of baptism; his sword, which he offered
on the altar, was blessed by the ministers of religion his solemn ;

reception was preceded by fasts and vigils and he was created a

;

knight in the name of God, of St. George, and of St. Michael the

archangel." (Rees's Cycl.)

* The letter T (Tau) was used by captains and heralds, and signed on their names,
who remained alive after a battle ; as the letter Theta ( @ ) was used as a mark of
death, so was T of life. (Bailey.
340 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY

Order of High Priesthood.

The ancient priests of Egypt, and the Druids of Gaul and Britain,
of course, officiated in the administration of the mysteries. Soon after
Druidism was extinct, it is probable, the royal arch was neglected, and
lay dormant for several centuries. On its revival, about the middle of
the eighteenth century, it was found that priests, or persons to officiate
as such, were necessary to preside in this chapter. Accordingly they
were chosen from the laity among the brethren, or from such clergymen
as had joined themselves to the order and there were doctors of divinity
;

among the first promoters of the revival, or revolution of the society.

Here the English clergy had an opportunity, which they did not

iveglect, to mould the ceremonies connected with the order of priest-

hood, to suit their purpose. The odious tithes-system is openly advo-
cated, and the awful fate of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, held out as
the due punishment of all those who should dare to resist it.

The following remarks upon his subject are abstracted from Cross
and Webb :

This order appertains to the office of high priest of a royal arch,

chapter : it should not be conferred when a less number than ihr-te high
priests are present. Whenever the ceremony is performed in due and*
ample form, the assistance of at least nine high priests^ are requisite.
A convention notified to meet at the time of any communication of the
grand chapter, will afford he best opportunity of conferring this impor-
tant and exalted degree of masonry, with appropriate solemnity.
Thereading of the following passages of scripture composes a part
of the ceremonies appertaining to this order.
The first passage i<ead is the 14th chapter of Genesis, relating to

the successful expedition "of Abram against certain kings, and on his
return, giving to- Melchisedec thirties' of aril he had obtained. A refer-
"
ence is then made to Hebrew 7, v. 1-6 ;
wherein it is said, This
Melchisedec, king of Salem, which is king- of peace, was without
father, without mother, without descent ; having neither beginning of
days, nor end of life; but abideth a priest continually. Now consider
how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham
gave the tenth of the spoils. And verily they that are of the sons of
Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to
take tithes of the people, according to the law, that is, of their brethren."
Now,this 'alludes particularly to the Levitical law, and had a spe-

$ial reference to that portion of the tribe of Levi whip were admitted
 HIGH PRIESTHOOD 341

into the sacerdotal order, and is inapplicable to the Christian

totally

dispensation. It was a peace-offering- of St. Paul, the author of the

book of Hebrews, to the Jewish priests, to prevent their persecution :

for surely the apostle did not pretend to the right of demanding tithes

of the Christian laity of his day ;

for he boasts of having been of no
charge to them, laboring for his own support. The English clergy,
however, claim the benefit of this law, and have duped the masons
into an acknowledgement of their pretensions.

The next passage cited is Numbers 16, v. 1 33 which gives the ;

horrid catastrophe of Koran and company, for resisting Moses and

Aaron. This example evidently adduced to deter the laity of
is

England from opposing the tithes-claimers, the would-be legitimate

heirs of the sons of Levi, icho receive the office of the priesthood.
Moses here accuses the body of the Levites of seeking the priest-
hood,and asks, " What is Aaron, that ye murmur against him .?"
Which shows that tithes were the bone of contention, even in the time
of Moses, the priesthood obtaining a greater share, in proportion to
their numbers, than the rest of the tribe. The passage concludes as
follows: "And it came, to pass, as he (Moses) had made an end of
speaking these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under
all

them and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and
:

the houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their

goods. They, and all that appertained to them; went down alive into
the pit, and the earth closed upon them and they perished from:

among the congregation."

The American masons ought, at least, to have so modified the
ordination of priests into the order, as to render it consistent with our

republican institutions, and not given the least countenance to the

iniquitous exaction of clerical tithes.
It
may be said, that there is no immediate cause of alarm on this
head ; yet the reiterated admission of such a claim, by a numerous,
respectable society, may in time be the means of rendering it popular
It
may be remarked, that Christian clergymen who are inducted into
this ordfer, assume the of pagan priests, and of course per-
duties
form ceremonies appropriate to the worship of the heavenly bodies, all
the host of heaven. This, to be sure, may be done very innocently
as they are not necessarily diverted from the integrity of their faith ;

and moreover, are probably not aware of the real import of the rites
and ceremonies in which they participate.
After the election of a candidate to the office of high priest, he is
"
thus addressed by the grand high priest : You are appointed chap-
 342 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY :

lain to this chapter, and I now invest you with this circular jewel, the

badge of your isvemblematical of eternity, and reminds us

office. It

that here is not our abiding place," etc. Now, we have seen, that a
circle, owing to its figure, was esteemed by the ancients, a symbol of
their god, the sun.
"
Let the mitre, with which you are invested, remind you of the
dignity of the office you sustain, and its inscription impress upon your
mind a sense of your dependence upon God," etc. The inscription
upon it is holiness to the Lord ; the same as that which surrounds the
mitre of the hierophant of the mysteries, and also that of the Roman
pontiff
"
The breast-plate, with which you are decorated, is in imitation of
that upon which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes, and
worn by the high priest of Israel," etc. The breast plate is the same
as that worn by the hierophants of Egypt, which had described upon it
the twelve signs of the zodiac.*
"
The various colors of the robes you wear, are emblematical of
every grace and virtue, which can adorn and beautify the human
mind." The various colors of the robes of the high priest are sym-
bolical of the seasons, when the sun is in the different constellations o^
"
the zodiac. Ye priests! (says Vo-lney, alluding to Catholic priests,)

you wear his [the sun's] emblems all over you-r bodies ; your tonsure is

the disk of the sun, your stole is his zodiac, your rosaries are symbols
of the stars and planets. Ye pontiffs and prelates your mitre, your !

crosier, your mantle, are those of Osiris." (Ruins, p. 139.)

Although, after the extinction of Druidism, it was necessary for
masonry to create an order of priests to officiate in the royal arch chap-
ter as representatives of the deity, still it is evident that the English

clergy, who undoubtedly took a principal part in arranging the cere-

monies appropriated to initiations into' the order, have managed the

own sinister purposes. They made up a medley,

affair to suit their

compounded of Paganism, Jewism, and Christianity. Little of ancient

is to be seen in it, excepting the dress of the high priest,
masonry
which is purely of pagan origin. And here it may be proper to
remark, that although it has been shown, that the prayers of the ancient
pagans and those of the Jews were couched in the same terms, the
a

*
Volney, in taking notice of some customs of the Hebrews, which are also strictly
"
masonic, observes In vain did Moses proscribe the worship of the symbols which
:

prevailed in lower Egypt and

Phenicia ; in vain did he wish to blot from his religion
every thing which had relation to the stars many traits call them to mind in spite of
;

all he has done." He cites instances, " The seven luminaries or planets of the great
as
candlestick; the twelve stones or signs in the urim of the high priest, and the feast of
the two equinoxes^ entrances and gate* of the two hemisphere*"
 KNIGHT OF THE IAGLE. 343

objects to whom they were addressed only being changed, neverthe-

less it
may be doubted that the frequent introduction of texts of scrip-
ture in the ceremonies, is in strict conformity to original masonry-
Two doctors of divinity, Dissanguliers and Anderson, were engaged
in the collection, or forming anew, of the ceremonies, and had it in
their power to mould them at will.

Whether innovations, in this respect, were made or not upon this

occasion, of no consequence any farther than thereby to give an

is

impression that masonry might have some connection with the Jew-
ish religion. These observations are, therefore, made to guard against
such a conclusion.

Knight of the Eagle and Sovereign Prince of Rose-Croix de Heroden.

This degree is a parody on the royal arch and, as such, tends to ;

confirm our interpretation of the purport of that chapter. Here the

lout word is Jesus of Nazareth, instead of Hiram.

The time and circumstances attending the losing of the word, are
thus stated :

The moment when the vail of the temple was rent ;

when darkness
and consternation covered the earth ;
when the stars disappeared, and
the lamp of day was darkened when ;
the implements of masonry were
lost, and the cubic stone sweated blood and water ; thaticas the moment
when the great Masoriic Word was lost.

Nevertheless, says the master, we will endeavor to recover it, and,

addressing the candidate for initiation, says, are you disposed to follow
us? Answer. Yes, I am. Master, Brother wardens, make the candi-
date travel for thirty-three years, to learn the beauties of the new law.
The junior warden then conducts the candidate thirty-three times round
the lodge without stopping. (Bernard reduces the number to seven.)
The candidate is now conducted to the darkest of places, from which
the word must come forth triumphant, to the glory and advantage of

masonry. He is then ordered to parade the room three times, in mem-

ory of the mysterious descent, which lasted three days.
After some further ceremony, the master questions the candidate as
follows :

From whence came you? From Judea. Which way did you
come ? By Nazareth. Who conducted you ? Raphael Of what
tribe are you descended? The tribe of Judah.
What do these four initial letters,N. R. I, signify? Jesus Naz-
I.

arenus, Rex Judaeorum. (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.)

344 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY.'

Master. My brethren, what happiness ! the word is recovered ;

give him the light. The vail is taken off, and all the brethren clap
their hands three times, and give three huzzas. (Carlile.)
The master says to the candidate, approach, my brother, I will
communicate you our perfect mysteries. I congratulate you on the
to

recovery of the word, which entitles you to this degree of perfect

masonry. I shall make no comment or eulogium on it. Its sublimity

will be duly appreciated by you. The impression which, no doubt, it

has made on your mind, will convince you that you were not deceived
when you were informed that the ultimatum of masonic perfection was
to be acquired by this degree. It certainly will be a source of very
considerable satisfaction to you, that your merit alone has entitled you
to it.

The above is a mere sketch of this degree its scenery, some parts
:

of which has already been noticed, is very imposing. In the repre-

sentation of the infernal regions, the awful sights of the greater myste-
ries are more closely copied than is done in the royal arch. Whether
the inventors of the order expected any serious effects to be produced

by it or whether it was got up for amusement, and to show the inge-

;

nuity of its projectors, is uncertain. But it is pretty evident that

such exhibitions, introduced a midst scenes of merriment and recreation,
would not tend to make a very strong impression.

Knight of Kadosh.

Chapter of the grand Inspectors of Lodges, grand elected Knights of

Kadosh, or the White and Black Eagle. The chief is entitled Grand
Commander.
Althothis degree is not recognized in ancient masonry, it has never-
theless, such a decided astronomical bearing as to render it probable that
is derived from the
it
Egyptian rites. I will, therefore, attempt to give
an explication of its enigmatical allusions.
Whena reception into this degree is made, the grand commander
remains alone in the chamber, and must be so situated that the candi-
date cannot see him, as he is not to know who initiated him. part A
of this obligation is, that he never will declare to anyone who received
him or assisted at his reception to this sublime degree. This is sheer
affectation, and intended for no other purpose than to impress upon the
candidate the awfulncss of the mysteries in which he is about to be
instructed. It is, however, an imitation of an ancient custom. Warbur-
l
on says, "A passage in Eunapius seems to say, that it was unlawful to
 KNIGHT OF KADOSH. 345

reveal the name of the hierophant." And Pythagoras, it has been

seen, gave his lessons from behind a screen to his newly entered pupils
The saluting sign of Knights of Kadosh is, to hold the sword in
the left hand, and place the right hand on the red cross which covers
the heart. The question, Are you Kadosh ? is answered by placing
the right hand on the forehead,* and saying, Yes, I am.
The mounting of what is called the mysterious ladder, is the most
distinguished ceremony in this degree. It is thus represented :

This ladder is an astronomical riddle, founded on the progress of

the sun through seven signs of the zodiac, namely from Aries to Libra
inclusive.
In expounding this riddle, I shall avail myself of the solution, by

*In the East, any person preferred to honors, bore a scepter or staff of honor, and
sometimes a plate of gold on the fcrehead, called Cadosh, or Caduceus> signifying a
sacred person. (Sea supra.)
44
346 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY:

Dupuis, of the fable of Hercules, one of the names of the sun, whose
pretended labors are shown to be a mere allegory of the course of that
luminary.
Whether the names given to the steps of the ladder, have a mean-
ing in any language, or are here used arbitrarily, I know not. I give
them as published by Bernard, with the significations annexed.
Previously to the candidates mounting the ladder, he is taught to
pronounce the names of the seven steps, and is sworn to observe the
injunctions pretended to be indicated thereby. After he has pro-
nounced the last word, in the seventh step, the Grand Commander says,
by the seven conditions, and by the power that is transmitted to me,
which I have acquired by my discretion, my unlired travels, zeal, fer-
vor and constancy, I receive you Grand Inspector of all lodges, Grand
Elect Knight Templar, and to take rank among the Knights of
Kadosh, or White and Black Eagle, which we bear the name of I :

desire you not to forget indispensable for you, my brother, to

it. It is

mount the mysterious ladder, which you see there it will serve to ;

instruct you in the mysteries of our order, and it is absolutely necessary

that you should have a true knowledge of it. The candidate then
ascends the ladder. When he is on the seventh or highest step, and
has pronounced the three last words, the ladder is lowered and the
candidate passes over it, because he cannot retire the same way, as he
would in such case be obliged to go back, against which he has taken
an obligation. He then reads the words at the bottom of the ladder,
ne plus ultra.
It has been the custom of the manufacturers of masonic degrees to
entitle the last, for the time being, the ne plus ultra which being suc- ;

ceeded by others, the latter, like more of the last words of Mr. Baxter^
throw the former into the back ground. So, the Grand Commander,
in addressing the candidate, calls "This order the last degree of
masonry." The attention, therefore, of the candidate, when arrived
at the top of the ladder, is directed to the ne plus ultra below.
The candidate's retiring by a different way from that by which he
ascended, is in imitation of the course of the sun. The following
fanciful description of the laws which govern the stellary system, is

given by Mackey, (p. 139.)

" In the
oblong zodiac of Tentyra, each of the twelve signs is divided
into three parts of ten degrees, and each part is represented by a human

figure, (with attributes expressive of his functions,) called a Decan;

and as each sign of the zodiac has three of these, the first of each was
 KNIGHT OF KADOSTT. 347

called a powerful leader of three. To this company of thirty-six Decans

they attributed the management of the seasons. These were the pow-
ers whose functions were more durable than those of the twelve zodi-
acal constellations, which are still found to alter their position
evory
2,000 years, relative to the season : and to move, in that time, through
a space of thirty degrees from the equinoctial points. Not so the more
powerful and constant gods, called the Decans, or Eloim ; those of that
rank which are fixed at the equator, are still supposed to compel the
sun shine twelve hours a day all the world over ; and those at the
to

opposite parts of the equator, constantly propel the sun the same way
through their dominions, that is, those at the spring node will not
suffer the sun to pass out of their palace the same way by which he
entered ;
but order him to move on to the sign more northward.
This is known to be the constant order of the sun, moon, and planets."

First Step of the Mysterious Ladder.

The name designating the first step, is Isedakah, which is defined

righteousness.
This, I apprehend, has an allusion to the sun in the vernal equi-
nox, in the month of March, when the days and nights are equal all
over the world, and when the sun, after having been long in the
southern hemisphere, passes the line, in order to dispense his favors

equally to the north which is doing justice to all, agreeably to the

;

above definition.

Second Step.

The second step is Shor-laban, (white ox, figuratively.) This is

the only step, the definition of which is literally true which, as it ;

might lead to an interpretation of the meaning of the mysterious lad-

der, is thus falsely denominated figurative.
Taurus, the bull, the second sign of the zodiac, into which the
is

sun enters on the 21st of April. His entry into this sign is marked
by the setting of Orion, who, in mythological language, is said to be in
love with the Pleiades ;
and by the rising of the latter.

Third Step.

The third step is called Mathok, (sweetness.)

The third sign of the zodiac is Jemini, into which the sun enters
"
in the mild, pleasant month of May. *
Canst thou hinder the sweet
348 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY I

influences of Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion.' (Job.) No\v,

the Pleiades were denominated, by the Romans, Vergilia, from their
formerly rising- when the spring commenced and their sweet influ-
;

ences blessed the year by the beginning of spring." (Identity of the

Hebrew and Druidical religions.)

Fourth Step.

The fourth step is Emunah, (truth in disguise.)

The fourth Cancer, into which the sun enters in the month
sign is

of June. Egypt, at this period, is enveloped in clouds and dust, by

which means the sun is obscured or disguised and which figuratively
;

may be denominated truth.

Fifth Step.

The "
fifth step is Hamal saggi, (great labor,) advancement to the
practice of Heaven."
The fifth sign is Leo, or that of the celestial lion, called the lion of
Nemea, under which the sun passes in July. The great labor and
difficulties to which the sun was
supposed to be subjected in passing
this sign, have before come under notice: which, also, is in perfect

accord with the fable of the eminent exploit of Hercules, in killing

the lion of Nfimea.
The sun, when in the sign Leo, is on his advance towards the
equator, where the ancients supposed heaven to be situated.

Sixth Step.

Thfi aiTth step is Sahbal, (a burden, or patience.)

The sixth sign through which the sun passes
is Virgo, marked by

the total disappearance of the celestial Hydra, called the hydra of

Lerna, from whose head springs up the great dog and the crab.
Hercules destroys the hydra of Lerna, but is annoyed in his opera-

tion by a sea-crab which bit him in the foot.

Appolodorus says, that
whenever Hercules lopped off one of the monster's heads, two others
sprang up in the place of it, so that this labor would have been endless,
had he not ordered his companion lolas to sear the blood with fire,
and thereby put a stop to their reproduction; and thus was that event
actually represented in a fine picture in the temple of Delphi.
(Mayo.)
 KNIGHT OF KADOSH. 349

Seventh Step.

The seventh step is named Gemulah, Binah, Tebunah, (retribution,

intelligence, prudence.)
The seventh sign is Libra, into which the sun enters at the com-
mencement of autumn, indicated by the rising of the celestial Centaur,
the same that treated Hercules with hospitality. This constellation is
represented in the heavens with a flask full of wine, and a thyrsus,
ornamented with branches of leaves and grapes, the symbol of the
productions of the season.
The sun has now arrived at the autumnal equinox, bringing in his
train the fruits of the earth and retribution is made to the husband-
;

man, and prudence.

in proportion to his intelligence
The
allegory is certainly beautiful, and the mysterious ladder is
well worthy to be called the ne plus ultra of masonry.
Since preparing the above, my attention has been drawn to a
learned article on the same subject, in a work, before noticed, by the Rev.
G. Oliver which confirms my conjecture that the ladder composed a
;

machinery of the mysteries, and consequently has a legiti.

part of the
mate standing in masonry. It probably constituted a component part
of the royal arch degree, illustrating the seven steps required to con-
summate that exalted grade. The following is a sketch of this article :

The ladder with seven steps, was used in the Indian mysteries to

designate the approach of the soul to perfection. The steps were usu-
ally denominated gates. The meaning is undoubtedly the same for ;

observable that Jacob, in referring to

it is the lower stave of his ladder,
"
exclaimed, this is the house of God, and the gate of heaven." Here
we find the notion of ascending to heaven by means of the practice of
moral virtue, depicted by the Hebrew patriarchs, and by a remote idol-
atrous nation, under the idea of a ladder. These gates were said to
be composed of different metals of gradually increasing purity the :

uppermost stave, which constituted the summit of perfection, and opened

a way to the residence of the celestial deities, was composed of the
pure and imperishable substance of gold, and was under the protection
of their most high god, the sun.
The ascent to the summit of the paridisaical mount of God, by
means pyramid consisting of seven steps, was an old notion, cer-
of a

tainly entertained before the vision of Jacob for it prevailed amongst

;

the Mexican savages* and the original settlers on the vast continent
;

* See Humboldt'e Researches in America, vol. 1, p, 86.

350 ANLYSIS OF FREEMASONRY :

of America could have no knowledge of this vision, either by tradition

or personal experience.
In these mysteries, during- the ceremony of initiation, the candidate
was passed successively through seven dark and winding cavern;
which progress was mystically denominated, the ascent of the ladder.
Each cavern terminated in a narrow stone orifice, which formed an
entrance into its successor. Through these gates of purification, the
mortified aspirant wr as compelled to squeeze his
body with considera-
ble labor and when he had attained the summit, he was said to have
;

passed through the transmigration of the spheres, to have accomplished

the ascent of the soul, and to merit the favor of the celestial deities.
In the Persian mysteries, the candidate, by a similar process, was
passed through seven spacious caverns, connected by winding pas-
sages, each opening with a narrow portal, and each the scene of some
perilous adventure, to try his courage and fortitude before he was admit-
ted into the splendid Sacellum, which being illuminated with a thou-
sand torches, reflected every shade of color, from rich gems and amulets,
with which the walls were copiously bedecked. The dangerous pro-
gress was denominated, ascending the ladder of perfection.
. From this doctrine has arisen the tale of Rustam, who was the
Persian Hercules, and Dive Sepid, or the White Giant. (Fab. Pag.
Idol. v. iii, p. 328.)
"Cai-Caus, the successor of Cai-Cobab, the first monarch of the
Caianian dynasty, is instigated by the song of a minstrel to attempt the
conquest of Mazenderaun, which is celebrated as a perfect earthly
Paradise."
This celestial abode refers to the splendid saeellum of the Persian
Epopta, which was an emblematical representation of heaven.
" Cai-Caus fails
in his enterprize for the sacred
; country is guarded
by the White Giant, who smites him and all his troops with blindness,
and makes them his prisoners."
This is a literal account of the first stage of initiation, which in the
mysteries always commences with darkness. In those of Britain, the
candidate is designated as a blind man. And the captivity of Cai-
Caus and his Persians in the cavern, under the rigid guardianship of
the Dive, is but a figurative representation of the candidate's inclosure
under the Pastes ;
and this place of penance in the Celtic mysteries,
which had many ceremonies in common with those of Persia, (Borl*
Ant. of Corn., b. ii. c. 22,) was said to be guarded by the gigantic deity
Buanawr, armed with a drawn sword, who is represented as a most
 KNIGHT OF KADOSH. 351

his fury of making heaven,

powerful and vindictive being, capable in
earth, and hell to tremble. (Dav. Notes on Taliein's Cad Goddeu.)
In the Gothic mysteries, the same place of captivity and penance is
fabled to be guarded by Heimdall, whose trumpet emits so loud a
the sound is heard through all the worlds.
blast, that (Edda Fab.)
"
In this emergency the king sends a messenger to Zaul, the father
of the hero Rustam, begging his immediate assistance. For the
greater despatch, Rustam takes the shorter, though more dangerous
road, and departs alone, mounted on his charger Rakesh."
Here Rustam enters upon the dreadful and dangerous business of
initiation, mounted, says the legend, upon the charger Rakesh, or more

properly Rakshi. This was a horrible winged animal, whose com-

mon food is said to have been serpents and dragons. Now these rep-
tiles, together with monsters compounded of two or more animals, were

the ordinary machinery used in the mysteries to prove the courage

and fortitude of the aspirant, during his progress through the seven
stages of regeneration.
"
The
course which he chooses is styled, the road of the, seven
stages and at each of the first six he meets with a different adventure,
;

by which his persevering courage is severely tried."

At each of the seven stages the candidate really encountered many
dangers and vanquished a multitude of Dives, dragons, and enchanters,
;

who in succession opposed his progress to perfection. (Shah name, in

Richardson's Dissert.
Nat.) Being pantomimically enacted
East.

during the process of initiation, and the reiterated attacks prosecuted

with unrelenting severity, instances have occurred where the poor
affrighted wretch has absolutely expired through excess of fear.
"
Having at length however fought his way to the seventh, he dis-
covers his prince and the captive Persians when he learns from Cai-
;

Caus, that nothing will restore his sight but the application of three
drops of blood from the heart of the White Giant."
Thesymbolical three drops of blood, had its counterpart in all the
mysteries of the ancient world ; for the number three was ineffable, and
the conservator of many virtues. In Britain, the emblem was three
drops of water in Mexico, as in this legend, three
;
drops of blood in ;

India, it was a
composed belt of three triple threads in China, the
;

three strokes of the letter Y, etc. etc.

"
Upon he attacks his formidable enemy in the Cavern where
this,
he was accustomed to dwell and
having ^torn out his heart, after an
;

obstinate combat, he infuses the

prescribed three drops into the oyes of
Cai-Caus, who immediately regains his -powers of vision"
352 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY:

In this tale we have the theological ladder connected with the system
of Persian initiation transferred from
mythology to romance and the ;

coincidence is
striking to impress the
sufficiently most ordinary
observer with the strict propriety of the application. The candidate
comes and is regularly restored to light, after having
off conqueror,

given full
proof of his courage and fortitude, by surmounting all oppos-
ing dangers. Father Angelo, who went out as a missionary into the
East about 1663, says, that in the midst of a vast plain between Shiraz
and Shuster, he saw a quadrangular monument of stupendous size,
which was said to have been erected in memory of this great enter-

prize of the hero Rustam. The fact is, that this quadrangular inclosure
was an ancient place of initiation and from a confused remembrance
;

of the scenes of mimic adventure which were reprepresented within

its seven secret caverns, the fabulous labors of Rustam had doubtless

their origin.
Here the author has evidently mistaken the copy for the arche-
type. The scenes of mimic adventure, alluded to, undoubtedly origi-
nated from the fabulous labors of Rustam, the Persian Hercules. It

has been shown that Hercules was one of the names by which the sun
was designated,* and that the perilous adventures attributed to a fabu-
lous character to whom
the name was given, was a mere allegory on
the progress of that luminary through the signs of the zodiac of ;

which the tale of Rustam is another version.

The order of Noachites, or Chevaliers Prussian.

This order, there is reason to believe, was instituted by the ancient

Prussians. claims priority over that of the freemasons of England.
It

The author of an expose of the ritual of that institution, which will be

noticed below, gives just fifty-three years between the periods of the
two establishments and says, " This tradition is firmly believed." In
;

"
corroboration of this fact, Dr. Anderson observes, The first name of
Masons, according to some old traditions, was Noachidoe."
The ceremonies of the Noachites seem to have served in some
measure, as a model upon which those of freemasonry are founded.
Although the scene of the establishment of this order is laid at the
Tower of Babel, instead of the Temple of Solomon, the craft of masonry,
as in the freemasons' society, ismade use of to cover the real design of

*
Osiris, Bacchus, Cronus, Pluto, and Hercules, are all equally the sun, (Faber Dis.
on the Myet, of the Cabiri, v. 1, p, 17.)
 ORDER OF NOACHITES. 353

the institution, the maintaining of religious dogmas, if not the recovery

of independence.
the history of
The following remarks, in Guthrie's sketch of
ancient Prussia and Poland, will tend to show at what time this insti-
tution was probably formed.
" some
Speaking of Poland, he says, From this period [830] for
centuries we have no certain records of the history of Poland.
very
The title of duke was retained till the year 999, when Boleslaus (the I.)
assumed the title of king, and conquered Moravia r Prussia, and Bohe-
mia, making them tributary to Poland."
"
Of Prussia. The ancient history of Prussia, like that of other

kingdoms, it lost in the clouds ot fiction and romance. The inhabi-

tants appear to have been a brave and warlike people. They were
descended from the Sclavonians, and refused to submit to the neigh-
boring princes, who, on pretence of converting them to Christianity?
wanted to reduce them to slavery. They made a noble stand against
the kings of Poland one of whom, Boleslaus IV. they defeated and
;

killed in 1163. They continued Pagans, till the time of the latter
crusades, about the year 1227."
From the foregoing statements, it
appears that the sway of Poland
over Prussia, obtained in 999, was not of long duration and it i s ;

reasonable to conjecture, that soon after the conquest, the people of

Prussia established the order of Noachites. It was evidently a military

institution, and undoubtedly intended as a rallying point, to operate as

occasions might occur, for the recovery of the civil and religious
liberties of the nation.

Admitting that the society of Noachites was founded in the year

1000, which is highly probable, and provided the foregoing tradition
be correct, the establishment of freemasonry in England, would have
occurred about the middle of the eleventh century, which is as late as
it is
likely to have been neglected, after the edict of Canute prohibiting
the open worship of the Druids.
"
Bernard, in his account of this order, says, The grand master,
general of the order, whose title is chevalier grand commander, is
Frederic William, king of Prussia. His ancestors, for three hundred
years, have been protectors of this order. The knights were formerly
known by the name of Noachites.
"
The Noachites, now called Prussian Chevaliers, are descended
from Peleg, the grand architect of the tower of Babel, their origin
being more ancient than that of the masons descended from Hiram.
45
354 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY:

The knights assemble on the night of the full moon in the month of
March, [the vernal equinox] in a secret place, to hold their lodges ;

and they cannot initiate a candidate into the mysteries of this order
unless by the light of the moon."
Great innovations have been introduced into the ceremonies of this
order. I have a copy
of its ritual, which, from its antiquity and
Druidical style, may be presumed genuine. It was reprinted from a
London copy, by John Holt, New-York, 1768. As a curiosity, and as
bearing a relationship to the ancient mysteries, I will give an abstract
of it.

The order consists of two degrees, called Minor and Major ; and
the officers form what masonically may be termed a Chapter, to which
the other members are not admitted. This chapter comports with the
royal arch of freemasonry for here the secret word, Belus, is revealed,
;

which, the reader is aware, is the same as Osiris, personated by

Hiram. The expounder of the order appears to have committed an
error, in giving this word at the opening of the minor's degree j

because it is
expressly said afterwards, that it was unknown to all but
officers.

Minor's Degree.
I

Examiner. [
When did Masonry begin ?
Respondent. About one
hundred and fifty four years after Noah's flood, at the building of
Babel's tower. Who was grandmaster there? Nimrod,* called by
masons Belus. [Not Peleg, as modern masons have it.] Where was
the first lodge held ? In a pleasant plain of Babylon, called Shinar,
on the banks of the river Tygris.
In what manner were you made ? I was led to a door, where a

man stood with a drawn sword in his hand, who asked my friend what
he wanted. What did your friend reply ? To have me made a
mason. Did he admit you? Yes, he struck the door with his sword,
upon which instantly flew open
it
my friend then led me by the hand
;

into a very dark room, and then the door was shut. What succeeded
this ? My
friend then said with a loud voice,

Here stands a candidate for masonry,

Who fain would know our art and mystery :

Shew him the light by which we work, and then

Perhaps he'll learn the art, like other men.

*
Nimrod, which signifies a rebel in the Jewish and Chaldean language, was the
name given him by Moses but i'n Chaldea he was called Belus, which signified lord ;
;

and afterwards was worshiped as a god by many nations, under the name of Bel, or
Baal, and became the Bacchus of the ancients, or Bar-Chus, the son of Chus.
 ORDER OF NOACHITES. 355

Upon this a door flew open, and discovered a room extremely light,
out of which came three men, with drawn swords, one of whom said,
deliver your friend to us. Upon this my friend delivered me into their

care, and I was ushered the lodge, one walking before, and one
into
on each side, and my friend in the rear. Thus was I brought out of
darkness into light.
What was doneafter this ? I was stripped naked, in order that

all the
lodge might be well assured they were not imposed upon by a
woman.*' What was then done ? The master clothed me with the
badge of innocence. (This is a loose white garment, generally made
of fine linen, and sometimes of silk.) He then took me by the right
hand, and placed me in the centre of the brethren he then ordered me ;

tokneel down on both my knees, and held to my throat the point of a

sword which he had in his hand, and then addressed me as follows :

"
SIR, You are now going to be admitted a member of this ancient
and honorable fraternity, and it is
expected that you will lay yourself
under the subsequent obligation.
"
You shall not reveal to any person or persons, either by word of
mouth, or your own hand-writing, or cause to be revealed in any man-
ner whatever, any part or parts, point or points, or any traditions,
which have been, are now, or shall hereafter be held as a secret among
masons, unless to an honest man, who you know is a mason, or to
the master or wardens of any regular Lodge.
"
And as it was always esteemed by the masons of old, that to swear
by the sword was the most binding of all obligations, so we do insist
and require you solemnly to kiss the edge of this sword presented to
your throat, as a signification of your full consent to, and approbation
of, the above particulars.
" make you
Your well performing this injunction, will ever
esteemed by this venerable body, as the contrary will render you guilty
of a breach of the most sacred band of human society, and consequently

degrade you from the character of a man of honor, which every mason
ought to preserve more carefully than his life."*
Are you desirous of knowing the Major's secrets? Yes. Ex.
Your good behaviour alone will not obtain them.

* This is a sheer hoax upon the order. The real intention, as in the mysteries and
freemasonry, is to represent man in a state of nature, hefore the arts,
and particularly
that of making clothing, were invented. The candidate before initiation, is lo :>ked upon
as an uncultivated savage; his initiation civilizes and regenerates him. Edit.
well to have
* The
freemasons, at the revival of the order in 1717, would have done
adopted this oath, instead of those of Hiram-masonry. Edit.
356 ANALYSIS OF FREEMASONRY, ETC.

R. By that alone they could not be obtain' d,

ButI by that a Golden Signet gain'd ;

Which will admit me into that degree,

That I may work among the Majors Free.

What is that signet? A ring. Ex. Produce it? R. Behold it

here. (Shewing the ring.)

Ex. Attend, my brethren, all that round me stand,
While I obey great Belus' dread command.
Our brother here, upon examination,
Desires I'll place him in a higher station ;

A Minor's character has well maintain' d,

And answer' d all things well by which ; he's gain'd
The Signet rare, which Belus did ordain
For such as could the Minor's art attain,
That they may to the tow'r repair, and be
Receiv'd to work among the Majors Free.
'Tis then my will and pleasure that he may
Begin to workj and enter into pay.

Ceremony of Installment of Officers.

Where were you installed ? In the observatory. How high was

it ? On the top of the tower. How got you there ? By a winding-
ascent. In what manner were you installed? I first
passed the
Minor's examination, and then the Major's ;
after which Belus informed
me, the brethren had unanimously agreed to elect me into the office of
which he invested me with the badge. Have the officers a secret
word ? Yes. How did you receive it ?

On my two knees he ordered me to kneel,

Before he could the secret ircrd reveal ;
A word to all but officers unknown,
Because we give it when we are alone ;
The word is Bdus, be it known to thee,
'
Twas that great man gave birth to Masonry.
 CHAPTER VIIL

MISELLANEOUS ARTICLES.

Ceremonies observed in laying the foundation stone of Freemason's- Halt,

London, 1775; and its dedication, in 1776.

The similarity of practices in masonry and the ancient rites of Bac-

chus, is fully exemplified in these ceremonies. The Caduceus or magi-

cal wandof Mercury, the mysterious chest, and the three pitchers, con-

taining corn, wine, and oil, are appropriately used. This will appear
by the following short abstract of the transactions on those occasions!
as published by Smith :

"
The first stone of mason's hall was laid by the Rt. Hon. Robert
Edward Lord Peter, baron of Writtle, grand master of the masons of
England, accompanied by the worshipful Rowland Holt, etc.
About twelve o'clock the procession arrived, and continued three
times round the ground, where the hall was to be erected. The grand
master then deposited the foundation stone with the usual formalities.
After which the deputy grand master presented the square to the grand
master, when his lordship tried the corners of the stone, and then
returned it to the deputy, who gave it to the architect. The senior
grand warden next presented the level to the grand master, who there-
with tried the stone horizontally, and returned it as before. The
junior grand warden then presented the plumb-rule to the grand master,
who applied it properly, and returned it as before. His lordship then
struck the stone three times with a mallet, on which the grand treasurer
waved his wand, and the brethren joined in the grand honors of masdhry-
(This is done by clapping hands three times three.)* The following
anthem was then sung :

To Heaven's high Architect all praise,

All praise, gratitude be given,
all
Who deigned the human soul to raise,
By
mystic secrets sprung from heaven.
Chorus. Tkrice repeated.
Sound aloud the great Jehovah's praise,
To him the dome, the temple raise.

*On laying the foundation of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, in 1738, each of tho
brethren in their turns gave three strokes upon the corner stone with an iron mallet,
which was succeeded by three clarions of the trumpet, three huzzas, and three claps of
hands. (See Lawrie, p. 155.) Edit.
 358 DEDICATION OF

An
oration was then pronounced. At the conclusion of which, the
grand treasurer again waved his wand, and the grand honors wer e
given as before. A
grand piece of music was then performed by the
instruments, and an ode on masonry rehearsed after which the pro-
;

cession was resumed, and continued three times round as before.

The whole ceremony was conducted with the greatest order and
decorum. The grand master and the rest of the brethren then pro-
ceeded through the city in procession in their carriages, without expos-
ing any of the ensignia of the order, to Leathersellers hall, where an
elegant entertainment was provided, and the evening concluded with
great joy and festivity."

Dedication of the Hall, in 1776.

At half past twelve the procession entered the hall in the following

order :

Grand Tiler, with a drawn sword four tilers,carrying the lodge

[the mysterious chest,] covered with white satin master of the seventh

lodge, carrying two silver pitchers, containing wine

and oil the master
of the sixth lodge, carrying a gold pitcher, containing corn the first

light carried by the master of the fifth lodge architect, carrying square,

level, and plumb-rule master of the fourth lodge, carrying the bible*
compasses, and square, on a velvet cushion grand chaplain, grand sec-
contain
retary, with the bag, [purporting to private papers appertaining
to the affairs of the lodge a mere formality] grand treasurer, with
the staff [wand,] second light, carried by the master of the third
of the second lodge
lodge the third light, carried by the master
master of the senior lodge, carrying the book of constitutions grand
sword-bearer, carrying the sword of state grand master.
On the procession reaching the grand master's chair, the brethren
who formed it were proclaimed, and from that station walked round the
ha\f three times. The lodge was then placed in the center of the hall,
and the three with one gold and two silver pitchers, con-
lights,
tainincr corn, wine, and oil, were placed thereon; the bible, com-

passes, square,
'and book of constitutions, on a velvet cushion, being

placed on pedestal, the foundation stone anthem was sung.

a
His lordship then expressed his approbation of the architect's con-
to receive back the implements
duct, and commanded the proper officers
which had been delivered him at laying the foundation stone. A sol-
emn piece of music was next performed, during which the ladies, and
those who were not masons, retired. The grand master then ordered
the hall to be tiled, on which the lodge [the little chest,] was uncov
 FREEMASONS' HALL. 859

ered, and the grand secretary informed the grand master, that it was
the desire of the society to have the hall dedicated to masonry ; on
which the grand master commanded the grand officers to assist in that
ceremony, during which the organ kept playing solemn music. The
grand officers then walked round the lodge, in procession three times,
stopping each time for the ceremony of dedication; when the grand
master in solemn form declared the hall dedicated to masonry, to virtue,
and to universal charity and benevolence ; which being proclaimed,
the grand honors were given as before the lodge was then covered,
:

and the ladies introduced amidst the acclamation of the brethren : next
a grand anthem was sung. An oration on masonry was then deliv-
ered by William Dodd, L. L. D. grand chaplain."
As the method of disposing of the corn, wine, and oil, is not stated
in the foregoing account, I will subjoin the custom in this respect, which
is observed laying the foundation stone of public structures, and at
at

the dedication of mason's halls, as given by Webb and others.

"
The gold and silver vessels are presented to the grand master ;

and he, according to ancient ceremony, pours the corn, the wine, and
the which they contain, on the stone, saying,
oil,

"May the all bounteous Author of Nature bless the inhabitants of

this place with all the necessaries, conveniencies, and comforts of life;

assist in the erection and completion of this building; protect the work-

men against every accident, and long preserve this structure from
decay; and grant to us all, in needed- supply, the corn of nourishment,
the wine of refreshment, and the oil of joy.
'
Amen ! So mote it be ! Amen /'

"
He
then strikes the stone thrice with the mallet, ani the public
honors of masonry are given."
In the dedication of mason's halls, the corn, wine, and oil, are poured

upon the lodge, that is, as before observed, the little mysterious chest,
Aaron, or ark.
The processions three times round the foundation, and the hall
when finished the three lights the clapping hands three times strik-
; ; ;

ing the stone thrice, etc. are in conformity to the customs of the ancients ;

which was done by them in reverence of the deity, and in acknowledg*

ment of their belief in the triplicity of his nature or attributes.
"
The Druid priests, in their worship, looked towards the sun
they retained many of the Ammonian rites, they are said to have
made mystical processions round their consecrated firts sunwise before
they proceeded to sacrifice." [Hutchinson, p. 69.]
360 DEDICATION OF

In short, the agreement of the foregoing customs of masons with

the observances of the ancients on similar occasions, will appear evi-
dent from the following historical facts :
"
We learn from Festus, that the Etrurians had books concerning
the ceremonies observed at the founding of cities, altars, temples, ivalls,
and gates. Plutarch tells us, that Romulus, before he laid the founda-
tion of Rome, sent for men from Etruria, who informed him in all the

punctilios of ceremony which he was to observe. According to Dio-

nysius, they began with offering a sacrifice. They then dug a ditch,
into which they threw the first fruits of all things that served for human

nourishment; at the same time they consulted the gods, to know if

the enterprise would be acceptable to them, and if they approved of the

day chosen to begin the work. They then chalked out the bounda-
ries by a score of white earth, which they called Terr a* pur a. While
they were forming the boundary, they slopped at certain intervals to

renew the sacrifices. In these sacrifices they invoked, besides the gods
of the country, the gods to whose protection the new city was recom-
mended, which was done secretly, because it was necessary that the
tutelar gods should be unknown to the vulgar. In fine, so much re-

garded was the day on which a city was founded, that they kept up
the memory of it by an anniversary festival.

Among the Romans, when they were to build a temple, the Aurus-

pices were employed to choose the place where, and time when, they
should begin the work. This place was purified with great care they ;

even encircled it with fillets and garlands. The Vestals accompanied

with young boys and girls, washed this spot of ground with water,
pure and clean, and the priest expiated it by a solemn sacrifice. Then
he touched the stone that was to be first laid in the foundation, which
was bound with a fillet; when the people, animated with enthusiastic

zeal, threw it in with some

pieces of money or metal which had never
passed through the furnace. When the edifice was finished, there
was also a consecration of it, with grand ceremonies, wherein the priest,
or, in his absence, some of his college presided. (Mayo's Myth. vol.

1, p. 141 and 297. )

"
The same author, in treating of the festivals and processions of the
Egyptians, observes: "The Hebrews, who derived from the Egyp-
tians that fatal propensitywhich they had towards idolatry, imitated
them buttoo often, not only in the solmnity of the golden calf, but also
in the ceremony of their processions. The prophet Amos upbraids
them for having led about in the wilderness, the tabernacle of the god
 FREEMASONS HALL, 361

Moloch, the image of their idol, and the star of the

god Rempham.
St. them with the same piece
Stephen, in the acts of the apostles, taxes
of idolatry. -Several other people practised the same ceremonies,
whether they had learned them from the Egyptians, as is very proba-
ble, or had invented them themselves." (Vol. 1, p. 303.)
In regard to sacrifices, Harvvood, in his Grecian Antiquities, says,
"
When the fruits of the earth were the only food of men, care was
taken to reserve a certain portion for the gods. The same custom
was observed when they began to feed upon the flesh of animals.

Sometimes water was poured on the altar or the head of the victims,
sometimes honey or oil ; but in general they were sprinkled with
wine, and then the wood of the fig tree, the myrtle, or the vine, were
burnt upon the altar. There was scarce any sacrifice without corn or
bread, and more particularly barley, as it was the first sort of corn used
by the Greeks, after the diet of acorns was given up." (p. 146.)

Although masonry copies the customs of the ancient nations, it

must not be supposed that there is any idolatry connected with it. It
is
merely an idle imitation of their rites and ceremonies, without any
reference to the original import of them.

Antimasonic Writers,

The Abbs' Barruel and Professor Robison, by their malignant and

false allegations against the masonic society, have so far prejudiced the
minds of a portion of the reading public, as to cause a belief that free-
masonry was hostile to Christianity, to good order, and to civil govern-
ment. This calumny was founded solely upon the aid given by the
freemasons of France to the revolution of government in that country.
A revolution which certainly in its commencement, met with the appro-
bation of every friend of liberty throughout the civilized world.
Both these writers were ultra royalists. Barruel was a French
who, on the breaking out of the revolution in France fled
Jesuit priest,
to Eno-land, where he published his phillipic against republicanism
and freemasonry, under the title of " Memoirs, illustrating the history
of Jacobinism." Robinson was Professor of natural philosophy, and
secretary to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His attack on masonry
"
and free governments, isProofs of Conspiracy against all the
entitled

religions and governments of Europe, carried

on in the secret meet-
ings of Freemasons, Illuminati and Reading Societies."

These writers pursue the common, hackneyed course of aristocracy

against liberty, by calumniating and vilifying its supporters.
No
46
362 ANTIMASONIC WIRTERS.

crime is too infamous to be laid to the charge of the most talented and
virtuous of men. This disengenuous course shows the turpitude of the
cause they espouse. It is most base to divert the reader from
princi-
ples to men, and by false allegations against them, to prejudice him
against their principles. Many an unsuspecting reader has suffered
his mind to be perverted, by this flagitious mode of argument.
Barruel makes the following charge against the order of masons:
"
I saw masons, till then the most reserved, who freely and openly

declared, 'Yes, at length the grand object of freemasonry is accom-

plished, equality and ; all men are equal and brothers ; all men
liberty
are free. [Monstrous.] That was the whole substance of our doctrine,
the object of our wishes, the ichole of our grand secret. Sach was the
language I heard fall from the most zealous masons, from those whom
I have seen decorated with all the insignia of the deepest masonry, and

who enjoyed the rights of venerable, to preside over lodges. I have

heard them express themselves in this manner before those whom,
masons could call the profane (uninitiated,) without re quiring the small-
est secrecy, either from the men or women present. They said it in a
tone as they wished all France should be acquainted with this glori-
if

ous achievement of masonry. (Vol. ii. p. 149. Hartford ed. 1799.)

Barruel also extracts the following sentiment, from Condorcet's
" human mind," as worthy of reprobation. Condorcet*
Progress of the
speaking of the secret associations which existed in France, previously
"
to the revolution, says, They were the associations of those generous
men who dare examine the foundations of all power or authority, and
who revealed to the people the great truths, that their liberty is inal-
ienable ; no prescription can exist in behalf of tyranny; that no
that
convention can irrevocably sublect a nation to any particular family :

that magistrates, whatever may be their

titles, functions or powers, are

only the officers, and not the masters of the people: that the people

always preserve the right of revoking those powers emanating from

them alone, whether they judge it has been abused, or consider it to be
useless to continue them. In short, that the people have the right of
punishing the abuse as well as well as of revoking the power."
"
Thus we see (says Barruel,) Condorcet tracing back the germ at
least of all the French revolution, to these secret asso-
principles of the
ciations, which he represents as the benefactors of nations."
Had not masons a right equally with other citizens, to take part in
the glorious cause of freeing their country from despotism? Was it not
their duty, and would they not been infamous not to have done so ?
 BARRUEL AND ROBISON. 863

The American masons were as zealous, I believe, in the cause of their

country in our revolution as other men, and have never, to my knowl-

edge, as a distinct class, been reproached for it.
The French however objectionable its course in some
revolution,
stages of progress, and however unfortunate its termination, was
its

holy and just. Its projectors and the French people as a nation, are

no more responsible for the atrocities of Robespierre, than are the soci-
ety of masons for the murder of Morgan.
But how were the enormities complained of, produced ? By the

combination of the despots of Europe for the purpose of reducing the

French nation to its former state of bondage. Among the means
employed, a civil war was fomented in La Vendee, comprehending
three departments of the republic, and money was furnished to the
rebels against their country, by England, to prosecute this nefarious
warfare.
Besides, almost all the nobility and clergy of France, were in oppo-
sition to the cause of liberty, and carrying on every possible intrigue
to reinstate the monarchy. They were sensible of the benefits resul-
ting to them from the services of an enslaved people, and they wished
to bring them back to their former debased state.

Thus was the French nation

surrounded by external foes,
situated:
and harrassed by those within; to kill or be killed became the only
alternative, and acts were committed, under the sway of Robespierre,
that tarnished the glorious cause in which they were engaged.
But, after all, a pretty well ascertained fact, that Robespierre
it is

was in the interest of the powers combined against France, which

caused him to disgrace the revolution in the manner he did.
If any country ever had cause to revolutionize its government, it
was France, under the ancient regime. Where America had one just
complaint against the abuses of government, France had a hundred: it
would require a volume to enumerate them. I have not a list before
me, but one was so degrading to the character of man, that it made a
strong impression upon my mind when examining the
catalogue. It

was this in some places, in certain seasons of the year, the peasants,
:

by the law called the Gabelle, were obliged in turn, to beat the ponds
and brooks all night, to prevent the seigneur or lord of the manor and
family's being disturbed by the croaking of the frogs.
By this single example the debased state of the
people of France
may easily be imagined.
The horrors of the Bastile, the famous prison at Paris, is pretty
well understood. A Mr. Caritat, well known in the city of New
 364 ANTIMA6ONIC WRITERS.

York, as a bookseller, informed me, that he had been employed as a

clerk in one of the offices of government in Paris, and that he had filled

up hundreds of letters de cachet, signed in blank by the king. These

were orders to the keeper of the Bastile, to receive under his
letters

charge the persons named in them and which might be obtained for
;

a few guineas, by any influential character. Thus were persons

thrown into this dismal place, without trial and without any charge of
crime. One man released from it, on its demolition, had suffered con-
finement for forty years, and was entirely ignorant of the cause of his

imprisonment.
In the mean time the king, good easy soul, was enjoying the plea*
sures of the table and the chase, unmindful of the sufferings o-f his fel-
low men, inflicted through his instrumentality. In fact, whatever may
be said of Louis XVI, it is very evident, that he was a complete gour-
mand, and very little endowed with the active virtues.
Thomas Paine, in his " Rights of Man," in answer to Edmond
Burke's attack on the French revolution, observes, " Through the
whole of Mr. Burke's book, I do not observe that the Bastile is men-
tioned more than once, and that with a kind of implication as if he was
sorry pulled down, and wished it was built up again.
it is
'
We have
rebuilt Newgate, says he, and tenanted the mansion and ;
we have
prisons almost as strong as the Bastile for those who dare to belie the
1

Queen of France."
"
Not one glance of compassion, not one commiserating reflection,

that I can throughout his book, has he bestowed on those that

find

lingered out the most wretched of lives, a life without hope, in the
most miserable of prisons. It is painful to behold a man employing
his talents to corrupt himself. Nature has been kinder to Mr. Burke
than he has been to her. He isnot affected by the reality of distress

touching his heart, but by the showy resemblance of it striking his

imagination. He pities the plumage, but forgets the dying bird.

Accustomed to kiss the aristocratical hand that hath purloined him
from himself, he degenerates into a composition of art, and the genuine
soul of nature forsakes him. His hero or his heroine must be a tra~
gidy-victem, expiring in show, and not the real prisoner of misery,
sliding into death in the silence of a dungeon."
Mr. Burke for his apostacy from the whig cause, and writing his
the French revolution, received from the
philippic against British king
of the people's money, a pension of fifteen hundred pounds sterling":
Six thousand, six hundred and sixty dollars.
this work, says Joel Barlow, in a note to his " Conspiracy c/
By
 BARRUEt AND ROBISON. 365

"
Kings," He (Burke) conjured up a war, in which at least two mil.
lions of his fellow creatures must be sacrificed to his unaccountable

passion. Such is the condition of human nature, that the greatest

crimes have usually gone unpunished. It appears to me that
history
does not furnish a greater one than this of Mr. Burke and yet all the ;

consolation that can draw from the detection, is to leave the man to
we
his own reflections, and expose his conduct to the execration of pos-

terity."

Many misstatements have been published, charging the legislatures

of France in the time of the revolution, with an open avowal of infi-

delity to the Christian religion, and with persecuting the clergy, with
a view of prejudicing mankind against their cause. All this has been
grounded upon a single expression of Anacharsis Cloots, one of the
assembly, which received, however, no countenance from the other
members. Robespierre, who, above all others, deserves the severest
censure, professed the greatest regard for religion, and introduced to
the assembly a long report, expressly upon that subject, which was
received with approbation.
The following extract from the History of the Revolution, by M.
Rabaut de St. Elienne, will correct the errors that have been circula.

ted respecting the treatment of the priests. Rabaut was a protestant

clergyman, a member of the National Assembly, and a man of first
rate character and talents. He says,
"
oath required of the clergy was one of the pretexts used for
The
endeavoring to create one of those quarrels which are termed schisms,
and in which men separate into parties, and then fight, for the sake of
abstract questions which they do not understand. The National

Assembly had given the title of Civil Constitution of the Clergy, to

what was nothing but its organization. It should seem that the Assem-
in this affair, since each
bly would have done better, in not engaging
profession and each professor can arrange themselves agreeably to
their own mode of proceeding, saving the superintending power of the
It ran the hazard of reviving, under one form, a body
government.
which it had destroyed under another. But priests maintain such a.
fast hold of all temporal affairs, and attach themselves so closely to the

interests of the government, that it is difficult to separate them from

these affairs and these interests ; and, take the matter up in what shape
will, the the still at every corner
meets you this cre-
you priesthood
:

ates a degree of embarrassment in every country, where the sove-

reign, be it what it
may, hath a serious inclination to be master.

*
36G ANTIMABONIC WRITERS.
"
The National Assembly, then, having organized the clergy,
according to the principles of the French constitution, required of the

priests the oath, which had been taken by every citizen, to support the
constitution ;
it
required, at the same time, that they should swear
but
to maintain the civil constitution of the clergy. Of all the military
men who have taken, and broken, the civic oath, not one ever thought
of saying, that Heaven was injured by the military organization, their

pretext hath been, that they had already taken an oath to the king,
which rendered the latter null and of no effect. But priests are in the
habit of identifying themselves with God, and whoever offends them,
offends heaven. Accordingly, certain subtle minds soon discovered
the means of creating a schism, in asserting, that this constitution wa
a spiritual affair, nay more, that it was another religion that to require ;

such an oath was a restraint of the freedom of conscience, that it was

putting priests to the torture, and exposing them to suffer martyrdom.
They even desired death, and that they might be led to execution, well
assured that the national convention would never do any such thing.
"
There was found in the Kingdom a considerable number of well-
meaning persons, who imagined, that their consciences had received a
material injury by this new organization of the clergy for what men :

most believe, is very often, what they least understand. Meanwhile

the nonjuring priests were obliged to quit their parishes, and pensions
were allotted to them but they endeavored to preserve their influence
:

over their parishioners, and to interest them in their favor, by all those
means which continually lie within reach of those, to whom men have
committed the government of their reason. This division inspired the
enemies of the constitution with the hope, that the French might be
seduced into a civil war for the sake of the priesthood, since they
would not go to war for the sake of the nobility, which, in truth, had
no abstract ideas to present to the subtle minds of the discontented.
The courtiers and the friends of privileges, on a sudden became devout ;

they were devout even at court nay, they were devout even at Worms
;

and at Coblentz. But the citizens of Paris, even such as were least
enlightened, did not become the dupes of this mummery ;
now without
Paris, there can be no civil war." (Lond. ed. p. 20O.)
Mr. Robison maintains the same tyrannical doctrines as Barruel 5

in support ofwhich he quotes the arguments of one of the kings of

France in vindication of his claims to power.
"
Hear, says he, what opinion was entertained of the sages of
France by their Prince, the father of Louis XVI. the unfortunate
 BARRUEL AND ROBISOX. 367

By the principles of our new philosophers the

*

martyr of monarchy.
throne no longer wears the splendor of divinity. They maintain that
it arose from violence, and that by the same justice that force erected
it, force may again shake it, and overturn it. The people can never
give up their power. They only let it out for their own advantage,
and always retain the right to rescind the contract, and resume it
whenever their personal advantage, their only rule of conduct, require s
it. Our philosophers teach in public what our passions suggest only
in secret.'" Then follows the reasoning of Louis, intended to show
this doctrine to be heretical and absurd and Robison adds,
;
'
This
opinion of a prince is
unpolished indeed, and homely, but it is just."
(p. 343.)
The author attempts, without a shadow of proof, to connect free-

masonry with the Order of Illuminati ;

and then, by calumniating the
latter, to disparage the former. But in this he has miserably failed :

for, after all that has been said against the society of Illuminati, it

appears to have been instituted for the sole purpose of lessening the
evils which result from the want of information, by enlightening the
public mind, and diffusing useful knowledge among all classes of the

community.
To suppose, as the author pretends, that this society, composed of
men of the first respectability and standing, wished to destroy all order
and government, is too preposterous for a moments consideration.
The order is said to have been founded in Germany about the
year 1777; and Dr. Weishaupt, professor of Canon Law in the
Adam
university of Ingolstadt, was the projector.
The author gives Dr. Weishaupt's prospectus of his views, by
which the reader may form his own opinion of the merits of his
scheme.
"
The order of ILLUMINATI appears as an accessory to freemasonry.
It is in the lodges of freemasons that the Minervals are found, and there

they are prepared for Illumination. They must have previously

obtained the three English degrees. The founder says more. That
his doctrines are the
only true freemasonry. He was the chief promo-
ter of the Eclectic System. This he urged as the best method for
getting information of all the explanations which have been given of
the masonic mysteries. He was also a Strict Observanz, and an adept
Rosycrucian. The result of all his knowledge is worthy of particular
remark, and shall therefore be given at large.
368 ANTIMASONIC WRITERS.
4
1 declare, says he, and
I challenge all mankind to contradict
my
declaration, that no man
can give any account of the order of freema-

sonry, of its origin, of its history, of its object, nor any explanation of
its
mysteries and symbols, which does not leave the mind in total
uncertainty on all these points. Every man is entitled, therefore, to
give an explanation of the symbols, and any system of the doctrines,
that he can render palatable. Hence have sprung up that variety of
systems, which, for twenty years have divided the order. The simple
tale of theEnglish, and the fifty degrees of the French, and the knights
of Baron Hunde, are equally authentic, and have equally had the sup-
port of intelligent and zealous brethren. These systems are in fact
but one. They have all sprung from the blue lodge of three degrees ;

take these for their standard, and found on these all the improvements
by which each system is afterwards suited to the particular object
which it keeps in view. There
no man, nor system, in the world,
is

which can show by undoubted succession that it should stand at the

head of the order. Our ignorance in this particular frets me. Do but
consider our short history of one hundred and twenty years. Who
will show me the mother lodge? Those of London we have disco-
vered to be self-erected in 1716. [1717.] Ask for their archives. They
tell you they were burnt. They have nothing but the wretched
sophistications of the Englishman Anderson, and the Frenchman
Desaguiliers. Where is the lodge of York, which pretends to the
priority, with their king Bouden, and the archives that he brought
from the East? These too are all burnt. What is the chapter of Old
Aberdeen, and holy clericate? Did we not find it unknown, and
its

the mason lodges therethe most ignorant of all the ignorant, gaping
for instruction from our deputies? Did we not find the same thing at
London ? And have not their missionaries been among us, prying
into our mysteries, and eager from us what
true freemasonry ?
to learn is

It is in vain, therefore, to
appeal to judges they are no where to be ;

found all claim for themselves the sceptre of the order all indeed are
; ;

on an equal footing. They obtained followers, not from their authen-

ticity, but from their conduciveness to the end which they proposed,
and from the importance of that end. It is by this scale that we must
measure the mad and wicked explanations of the Rosycrucians, the
Exorcists, and Cabalists. These are rejected by all good masons,
because incompatible with social happiness. Only such systems as
promote this are retained. But alas, they are all sadly deficient,
 BARRUEL AND ROBISON. 369

because they leave us under the dominion of political and religious

prejudices; and they are as inefficient as the sleepy dose of an ordi-
nary sermon.*
But I have contrived an explanation which has every advantage;
'

is inviting to Christians of every communion

gradually frees them ;

from all religious prejudice?; cultivates the social virtues; and ani-
mates them by a great, a feasible, and speedy prospect of universal hap-
and moral equality, freed from the obstacles
piness, in a state of liberty
which subordination, rank, and riches, continually throw in our way.
My explanation is accurate, and com; lete, my means are effectual, and
irresistible.Our secret association works in a way that nothing can
withstand, and man shall soon be free and happy.
4
This is the great object held out by this association and the ;

means of attaining it is Illumination, enlightening the understanding

by the sun of reason, which will dispel the clouds of superstition and
of prejudice. The proficients in this order are therefore justly named
the Illuminated. And of all Illumination which human reason can
give,none is comparable to the discovery of what we are, our nnture,
our obligations, what happiness we are capable of, arid what are the
means In comparison with this, the most brilliant sci-
of attaining it.

ences are but amusements for the idle and luxurious. To fit man by
Illumination for active virtue, to engage him to it
by the strongest
motives, to render the attainment of it
easy and certain, by finding
employment for every talent, and by placing every talent in its
proper
sphere of iiction, so that all, without feeling any extraordinary effort,

and and completion of ordinary business, shall urge

in conjunction with

forward, with united powers, the general task. This indeed will be
an employment suited to noble natures, grand in its views, and delight-
ful in its exercise.
'And what is this general object? THE HAPPINESS or THB
HUMAN RACE. Is it not distressing to a generous mind, after contem-

plating what human nature is capable of, to see how little we enjoy
T

When we look at this goodly world, and see that every man may be
happy, but that the happiness of one depends on the conduct of another ;

* Dr.
Weishaupt has made a declaration rather too bold irv, the opening of his views,
in respect to
freemasonry.
He might possibly be justifiable in saying that the origin of
the order had not been discovered but that it can not be, remains to be proved. He,
;

however, had not, perhaps, perused the German work, noticed in the introduction of
this volume the author of which, I will venture to say, had found the right cluo
;

to lead to a development of the secret Whetherit conducted him to a result satisfac-

"
tory to his readers, or whether his book fell into the hands of thosa who can under-
*tand" I know not.
 370 ANTIMASONIC WRITERS.'

when we see the wicked so powerful, and the good so weak and that ;

it vain to strive, singly and alone, against the general current of vice
is

and oppression ; the wish naturally arises in the mind, that it were
possible to form a- durable combination of the most worthy persons,
who should work together in removing the obstacles to human happi-
ness,become terrible to the wicked, and give their aid to all the good
without distinction, and should by the most powerful means, first fetter,
and by fettering, lessen vice means which at the same time should
;

promote by rendering the inclination to rectitude, hitherto too

virtue,

feeble, more powerful and engaging. Would not such an association

be a blessing to the world 1'

'But where are the proper persons, the good, the generous, and
the accomplished, to be found ? and how, and by what strong motives,
are they to be induced to engage in a task so vast, so incessant, so dif-
ficult, and so laborious This association must be gradual. There
?-

are some such persons to be found in every society. Such noble

minds will be engaged by the heart-warming object. The first task of
the association must therefore be to form the young members. As
these multiply and advance, they become the apostles of beneficence,
and the work is now on foot, and advances with a speed increasing
every day. The slightest observation shows that nothing will so much
contribute to increase the zeal of the members as secret union. We
see with what keenness and zeal the frivolous business of freemasonry
is conducted, by persons knit together by the secrecy of their union,
It isneedless to inquire into the causes of this zeal which secrecy pro-
duces. It is an universal fact, confirmed by the history of
every age.
Let thte circumstance of our constitution therefore be directed to this

noble purpose, and then the objections urged against it by jealous

all

tyranny and affrighted superstition will vanish. The order will thus
work silently, and securely and though the generous benefactors of
;

the human
race are thus deprived of the applause of the world, they
have the noble pleasure of seeing their work prosper in their hands.'
"
The candidate, before his admission, is required to peruse and sign
the following oath :"
'
I, N. N hereby bind myself, by
,
my honor and good name, for.

swearing all mental reservation, never to reveal, by hint, word, writing,

or in any manner whatever, even to my most trusted
friend, any thing
that shall now be said or done me
respecting my wished-for recep-
to

tion, and this whether my reception shall follow or not I being

previ- ;

ously assured that it shall contain nothing contrary to religion, the

 BARRUEL AND ROBISON. 371

state, nor good manners. I promise, that I shall make no intelligible

extract from any papers which shall be shewn me now or during my
noviciate. All this I swear, as I am, and as I hope to continue, a man
of honor.'
"
The urbanity of this protestation must agreeably impress the
mind of a person who recollects the dreadful imprecations which he
snade at his reception into the different ranks of freemasonry."
The difference in the style of the oath, administered in the two
orders, must be attributed to the customs of the times in which they
were formed.
Mr. Robison, after bestowing the most vulgar abuse upon the
learned and amiable Dr. Priestly, adds, " But I do not suppose that he
has yet attained his acme of illuminatism. His genius has been
cramped by British prejudices. These need not sway his mind any
longer. He is now in that rara temporis (et loci) felicitate, ubi sen-
'

"
tire qua. velis, etqua sentias dicer e licit} That is, he now enjoys
the rare felicity of time and place (America) where it is lawful to think
what one pleases, and to speak what one thinks.
The liberty of speech which we claim in this country, must be very
grating to the feelings of a man possessing the principles of Robison.
He would have no person, except the mean eulogists of power, like
himself, permitted to utter his sentiments.
" Does
Dr. Priestly think (says he) that the British will part more

easily than their neighbors in France with their property ar.d honors^
secured by ages of peaceable possession, protected by law., and acqui-
esced in by all who wish and hope that their own descendants may
reap
the fruits of their honest industry." (p. 367.)
The following -deed of the ferocious robber, William of Normandy
will serve as a general example of the manner in which the British

nobility obtained their property.It is taken from the National Portrait

Gallery, London, 1829:

Francis Rawdon Hastings, Marquis of Hastings, K. B. The fam-
ily of Rawdon is of great antiquity, and of Norman extraction. But
the English pedigree is deduced from Paulin, or Paulinus Roydon, who
commanded a body of archers, in the army of William, at the battle of
Hastings. For this service he received from the Conqueror a grant
of lands in the West Ridings of Yorkshire, near JLeeds. The tenure
was by grand sergeantry and the condition, that of presenting to the
;

king and his successors a cross-bow and arrow, whenever any of them
should come to hunt there. Of the title deed conveying the*! rnano-
372 ANTIMASONIC WRITER! I

"
rial rights, Weever, in his Funeral Momuments," gives the following
as a faithful transcript :

I, William Kyns;, the thurd yere of my reign,

Give to thee Paulyn Roydon, Hope and Hopetowne,
With all the bounds both up and downe;
From heaven to yerthe, from yerthe to hel,
For thee and thyne there to dwel,
As truly as this king-right is myn :

For a crosse-bow and an arrow,

When I sal come to hunt on yarrow.
And in token that this thing is sooth,
whyt wax with my tooth,
I bit the
Before Meg, Maud, and Margery,
And my third sonne Henry.

Thearmorial bearing is that of fess between three pheons, or

arrow-heads, with this motto, Et nos quoque tela sparsimus: We
too have scattered our arrows.
The following statement exhibits the amount drawn annually from
the hard earnings of the people, to support the profligate luxury of the

nobility and clergy of Great Britain.

Nice British Pickings, Expressed in British Pounds.

399 Peers sitting in Parliament, and their families, receive from the
taxes 2,754,336
309 Peers not sitting in Parliament,
and their families, receive 978,000

3,732,336

The Marquis of Bute and family receive 65,81 1

Lord Eldon 50,400

The Duke of Beauforti 48,600
The Earl of Lauderdale 33,600
Lord Baresford 29,000
The Duke of Newcastle 19,900
Archbishop of Canterbury 41, 100 and 176 livings
Bishop of Durham 61,700 livings unknown
Bishop of London 10,200 with 95 livings
Bishop of Litchfield 12,590 with 48 livings
Bishop of St. Asaph 7,000 with 90 livings
Bishop of Bath and Wells 7,330 with 27 livings
Bishop of Chester 4,700 with 30 livings
Bishop of Chichester 6,770 with 36 livings
Bishop of Ely 1 1,340 with 108 liringi
 BARRUEL AND ROBISON. 373

Bishop of Lincoln 8,280 with 36 livings

Bishop of Norwich 8,370 with 40 livings

Bishop of Oxford 3,5CO with 1 1 livings

Bishop of Rochester 5,400 with 21 livings

Bishop of Salisbury 14,420 with 40 livings

Bishop of Cloyne 7,500 and great patron-

, age.
467,511
Which added to the aforesaid sum of 3,732,336

Amounts to the sum of 4,199,847

Which will maintain 83,997 families, at 50 a year and upwards
each family.
Here we see the honest industry by which the privileged orders
acquire their property. By livings are to be understood parishes, in
which curates are located by the bishops, and from which the latter
receive every tenth animal, sheaf of wheat, etc., which are raised
therein whilst the famished curates, who actually do all the service,
;

in reading prayers, sermons, etc., receive but sixty or seventy pounds a

year. This is it is not the

English Christianity, but religion of Christ.
I will add these notable instcinces of acquring wealth, in Eng-
to

land, by honest industry, a late communication from a writer in Liver-

pool loan editor of a paper in New- York. After giving a list of the
"
present Cabinet and other officers of state, he says : American
notions of economy will be shocked, when I add that for the privilege
of being ms-governed by these gentlemen, the tax-ridden, church-rate,
and tythe-stricken people of England, Scotland, and Ireland must pay
the enormous yearly sum of six hundred thousand dollars Yes, the \

mere salaries to the members of the government I say nothing of the

peculation and patronage
fees, perquisites, amount to this sum. Nor
supposing the members of the government remain in office
is this all:

only a week a day an hour nearly every one of them is entitled to

a retiring pension varying from one-half to one-third of his salary.
Thus Lord Brougham, after a Chancellorship of four years, receives
a pension of twenty-five thousand dollars a year for life ! The Duke
of Wellington, who has obtained grants, amounting to upwards of five
millions of dollars, allows his mother to draw a small pension from the
country.
"
These things are worth knowing, in case any attempt should be
made as made it one day will be to trammel the free institutions of
America with the trappings of royalty. If you are wise, remain aa
374 ANTJMASONIC WRITERS:

you are blessed with a cheap government, and a corrective control

over it."

For opposing these outrageous impositions, is Dr. Priestly abused*

by this defender of the oppressions and degradation to which the people

of European monarchies are subjected.

"
The Assembly, says Robison, had given the illumination war-
whoop 'Peace with cottages, but war with palaces.' pouvoir revolu- A
tionaire is mentioned, which supercedes all narrow thoughts, all ties

of morality. Lequinio publishes the most detestable bonk that ever

issued from a printing press, Les Pejuges vaincus, containing all the

principles, and expressed in the very words of llluminatism" (p.317.)

Any pretence of regard for the ties of morality, by Mr, Robison,
after havin'g vindicated the most tyrannical and pernicious doctrines, is

adding insult to injury.

There was never a more moral and humane sentiment proclaimed

by any government in the world, than that quoted above. What ani-
mosity existed between the people of France and those of other coun-
tries ? None at all. The crowned heads supported by the privileged
orders of Europe, had combined against France, with a view of

destroying her free institutions, and thereby secure their own ill-gotten
power and emoluments. They alone were her enemies.
Lequinio and Robison were antipodes to each other in principle.
While the one wished to destroy prejudices, the other endeavored to
cultivate and support them.

Lequinio was a member of the National Convention of France, and

published the book in question, Prejudices Vanquished or Destroyed,
in 1794. has not, to my knowledge, been translated into English,
It

nor have a copy of the original before me. It was, however, favora-
I

bly noticed by a British Review, at the time of its publication from ;

which the following sentiments are extracted. These will show the
tenor of the work, and enable the reader to determine which book, that
of Robison or Lequinio, is entitled to the epithet detestable.
"
Of Prejudices. Prejudices arise out of ignorance and the want of
reflection these are the basis on which the system of despotism is
;

erected, and it is the master piece of art in a tyrant, to perpetuate the

stupidity of a nation, in order to perpetuate its

slavery and his ow n
dominion. If the multitude knew how to think, would they be dupes
to phantoms, ghosts, hobgoblins, spirits, etc., as they have been at all

times, and in all nations 1 What is nobility t for example, to a man who
Chinks ? What are all those abstract beings, children of an exalted
 BARRUEL AND ROBISON. 75

imagination, which have no existence but in vulgar credulity, and who

cease to have being as soon as we cease to believe in them*
"
The greatest, the most absurd, and the most foolish of all preju-
dices, is that very prejudice which induces men to believe that they are

necessary for their happiness, and for the very existence of society.
"
Of Kings. Kings have ever been tyrants, more or less despotic,
more or less cruel, more or less unjust, but equally smitten with a love
of power, intoxicated by the spirit of domination, forgetful that they
were men, anxious to place themselves on a level with gods, and averse
to recollect that all their power and authority was derived from the
very nations whom they oppressed.
"
It may easily be perceived, that by the word tyrant, I do not mean
solely those monsters of the human race, such as Nero, Caligula,
Charles IX., etc., my definition extends to almost all kings, past and
present I do not even except that king of France so often vaunted as
;

the 'good Henry;' (Henry IV.) although less cruel than most of his

predecessors, he was assuredly no less despotic, and thought no less

than they, that all France was destined for his pleasure and his glory ;

if an innovator during his reign had dared to have recalled the memory

of their unalienable rights to the minds of the people, he would have

been crushed under the weight of the royal authority. Let any one
recollect the game laws enacted by this monarch, and then ask himself
if he were really a good king. By an article of his ordonance on this
subject, it was decreed, that every peasant, found with a gun in his
hand, near a thicket, should be stripped naked, and beaten with rods
around it. It was thus that the life of man was sacrificed to the repose

and the existence of hares and patridges, destined for the pleasures of a
prince, more
culpable, perhaps, in respect to this barbarous law, than
any of his predecessors, because, educated among the indigent and

unfortunate, he ought never to have permitted any other sentiments

than those of gentleness and humanity to penetrate into his mind.
"
What should a king be, if he were as he ought ? man covered A
with a paper jacket, on which is written, (De par la nation < la loi.)
By order of the people and the law the herald of the nation, the pro-
;'

claimer of its orders, and nothing more. It is ridiculous enough to see

loyalty propagated from father to son, like the king's evil ;

it is still

more ridiculous to see nations so deceived by being accustomed to

slavery, as to become the servile idolaters of that power by which they

are oppressed, without once recollecting that it is their own.
" Who who
Of War. is that perverse, and ever execrable man, first
476 ANTIMASONIC WRITERS!

invented the murderous art of war, and that famous science of tactics,

which consists in the best means of massacreing whole nations? One

creature may assassinate another in a moment of passion, and, how-
ever barbarous this act really is, and however much it may be repug-
nant to the sensibility of a good man, yet he can conceive it but for :

two men, one another, or thou-

in cool blood, to think of assassinating

sands of men of assassinating other thousands, with whom they are

utterly unconnected, and can have no quarrel or even difference with ;

of this he can form no idea.

"
O shame to the human species !Nations, blind, and asleep, will

you never awake ? What? shall not an individual whom you have

placed upon the throne, and whom you have overwhelmed with your
bounties, be satisfied with consuming the fruit of your sweat and of
your bosom of indolence and voluptuousness, and with lay-
toils, in the

ing your industry and your fortune under contribution And shall he !

wish to dispose of your very existence? must you be the instruments

of his anger and his vengeance, of his ambition and his mad desires?
"
He wishes to conquer a province, that is to say, to usurp the domin-
ion over a country, and pillage the inhabitants ;
and it is to assist this

audacious robbery, of which you will enjoy no lucrative portion, that

you are about to desolate the territories of a people who never offended
you, to burn their villages, and to spread death and desolation over
their fields; while in this attempt you expose yourselves to excessive
fatigues, to continual privations, and even to death itself; or, what is
still worse, to wounds, which but prolong a miserable existence!"
A philanthropist, a man who wishes to promote the general happi-
ness of his fellow men, can see nothing detestable in the foregoing senti-
ments of Lequinio. But professor Robison, as well as the' Abbe Bar.
ruel, had his own private interests to subserve. He possessed a lucra-
tive office in the university of Edinburgh which he could neither have
;

obtained nor held, had he advocated the cause of oppressed humanity.

Thus, unhappily for mankind, it becomes the interest of the learned in
monarchies, to support the power of tyrants.
Barruel held a place, perhaps, equally lucrative in the church; and

although the republic, as has been seen, exercised much forbearance

and generosity towards the nonjuring priests, he did not possess suffi-
cient liberality of soul to make the least sacrifice for the benefit of the
nation under its embarrassed situation. He would neither take the
oath of allegiance to the republic, nor retire upon a moderate pen-
sion.
 BARRTJEL AND ROBISON. 377

I shall now make some remarks on the calumnies that have been

industriously spread throughout the world against the French revolu-

tion. And
although none can reflect without detestation on the tyranny
and cruelties of Robespierre, and some others who obtained power in the
course of that revolution, I shall be able to show that these are inferior
in atrocity to the barbarities which took place in the American revolu-
tionary war.
It should be remembered, also, that a great
part of the enormities
which occurred in France, were perpetrated by mobs. The people,
driven to madness by the intrigues of their internal foes, gave a loose
to their fury, which the government could not control.
It was the policy of kings and their adherents, to stigmatize the
actors in the French revolution, as well as the just principles upon
which it was founded. Hence the cry of awful, horrible, detestable,
revolution, was echoed from court to court throughout Europe ; and,
without correct information, relying upon the reports of the corrupt
presses of the enemies of France, the same cry, I am sorry to say, was
reverberated by a portion of the press, from the republican shores of
America.
The same course was pursued to scandalize the American revolu-
tion : and Europe was
filled with the lies which were
daily issued from
"
Rivi ngton's lying Gazette," printed in New- York when in posses-
sion of the British.
Which is most criminal, it may be asked, to rebel against one's
country, against a nation, or to rebel against one man, a king, who
arrogantly claims the right to govern a country, because one of his
ancestors, in a former age, like William, the Norman, or Canute, the
Dane, compelled the people of that country by force of arms, to submit
to his authority?
The grand and ultimate object of these writers was to bring the
French revolution into disrepute among the people of Europe, in order
to check its progress in other countries. And to effect this, no means
were thought too vile to be resorted to. The principle of liberty itself,
as though mankind were unworthy of enjoying it, was to be calumnia-
"
ted and denounced. The French officers and soldiers, says Robison,
who returned from America, imported the American principles, and in
every company found fond hearers who listened with delight and
regret to their fascinating tale of American independence. During the
war, the minister was obliged to allow the Parisians to amuse them-
selves with theatrical entertainments, where every extravagance of tha
48
378 ANTIMASONIC WRITERS :

Americans was applauded as a noble struggle for native freedom. All

wished for a taste of that liberty and equality which they were allowed
to applaud on the stage but as soon as they came from the theatre into
;

the street, they found themselves under all their former restraints.

The sweet charm had found its

wayinto their hearts, and all the luxu-
ries of France became as dull as common life does to a fond girl when
she lays down her novel.
"
In this irritable state of mind a spark was sufficient for kindling a
flarne. To import this dangerous delicacy of American growth,
France had expended many millions, and n~as drowned in debts."
The author then states sundry circumstances, either true or false,
to prove that the Illuminati and Freemasons took a part in the revolu-
tion of France; and says, " After all these particulars, can any person
have a doubt that the order of Illuminati formerly interfered in the
French revolution, and contributed greatly to its progress?" He at the
same time acknowledges that r " There is no denying the insolence and
oppression of the crown, and the nobles, nor the misery and slavery of
the people, nor that there were sufficient provocation and cause for a
total change of measures and of principles."

But he finds fault with "

The rapidity with which one opinion was
declared in every corner, and that opinion as quickly changed ;" as

though it were to be expected that a whole people, who had just burst
the bonds which had held them enchained for centuries, should simul-

taneously adopt the same opinions in regard to the manner of securing

ikeir future liberties.
"In 1789, or the beginning of 1790, a manifest was sent from the
grand National Lodge of Freemasons (so it is entitled) at Paris, signed
by the duke of Orleans as grand Master, addressed and sent to the
Lodges in all the respectable cities of Europe, exerting them to unite
for the support of the French Revolution, to gain it friends, defenders,
and dependents and according to their opportunities, and the practica-
;

bility of the thing, to kindle and propagate the spirit of revolution

through all lands. This is a most important article, and deserves a

very serious attention. I got it first of all in a work written by L. A.

Hoffmann, Vienna, 1795.

"
The author says, That every thing he advances in these memo-
*

randums is consistent with his own personal knowledge, and that he is

ready to give convincing proofs of them to any respectable person who
will apply to him personally. He has already given such convincing
documents Jo the Emperor, and to several Princes, that many of the
 BARRUEL AND ROBISON. 379

machinations occasioned by this manifesto have been detected and

stopped and he would have no scruple at laying the whole before the
;

public, did it not unavoidably involve several worthy persons who had
1
suffered themselves to be misled, and heartily repented of their errors.
He is naturally (being a Catholic) very severe on the Protestants (and
indeed he has much reason) and by this has drawn on himself many
bitter retorts. He has however defended himself against all that are
of any consequence to his good name 'and veracity, in a manner that
fully convinces any impartial reader, and turns to the confusion of the
slanderers.
" he saw some of those manifests; that they
Hoffmann says, that
*

were not all some being addressed to friends, of whose

of one tenor,

support they were already assured.' One very important article of

their contents is earnest exhortations to establish in every quarter
secret schools of political education, and schools for the public educa-
tion of the children of the people, under the direction of well-principled
masters and offers of pecuniary assistance for this purpose, and for the
;

encouragement of writers in favor of the Revolution, and for indemni-

fying the patriotic booksellers who suffer by their endeavors to sup-
press publications which have an opposite tendency."
There is nothing in all this but what common prudence would
dictate. Shall monarchs and their satellites be applauded for exerting

every means to secure their power, and to prevent the spread of liberal
political opinions and shall the friends of liberty be reproached for
;

using the same means for the support and security of free govern-

ments ?
From what is said of Hoffmann, here spoken of, it is probable he
was a worthless character, on whose word no reliance could be placed.
His complaints against the Protestants were, doubtless, that they
favored the revolution, which, in the eyes of Professor Robison, would
be sufficient to justify every abuse. He was, no doubt, rewarded for
his base officiousness.
"
I conclude, says Mr. Robison, this article (on the French revolu-

tion)with an extract or two from the proceedings of the National

Assembly and Convention, which make it evident that their principles
and their practice are precisely those of the Illuminati, on a great
scale.
"On November, 1792, it was decreed, That the Con-
the 19th of
*

vention, in the name of the French nation, tenders help and fraternity
1
to all people who would recover their liberty.
380 ANTIMASONIC WRITERS:

"On the 21st of November, the President of the Convention said to

the pretended deputies of the
Duchy of Savoy, Representatives of an
independent people, important to mankind was the day when the
National Convention of France pronounced its sentence, Royal dignity
is abolished. From that day many nations will in future reckon the
era of their political existence. From the beginning of civil establish-
ments Kings have been in opposition to their nations but now they
rise up to annihilate Kings. Reason, when she darts her rays into
every corner, lays open eternal truths she alone enables us to pass
sentence on despots, hitherto the scare-crow of other nations.'
"
But the most distinct exhibition of principle is to be seen in a
report from the diplomatic committee, who were commissioned to delibe-
rate on the conduct which France was to hold with other nations.
O-i this report was founded the decree of the 15th of December 1793.
The reporter addresses the Convention as follows :

"'The Committees of Finance and War ask in the 'beginning,

What is the object of the war which we have taken in hand ? With-
out all doubt the object is the annihilation of all privileges, war with
the palaces,and peace with the cottages. These are the principles on
which your declaration of war is founded. All tyranny, all privilege*
must be treated as an enemy in the countries where we set our foot.
This is the genuine result of our principles. But it is not with Kings
alone that we wage war were these our sole enemies, we should only
have to bring down ten or twelve heads. We have to fight with all

their accomplices, with the privileged orders, who devour and have
oppressed the people during many centuries.
" 'We
must therefore declare ourselves for a revolutionary power
in all the countries into which we enter, (loud applauses from the

Assembly) nor need we put on the cloak of humanity, we disdain

such little arts. We must clothe ourselves with all the brilliancy of
reason, and all the force of the nation. We need not mask our princi-
ples the despots know them already. The first thing we must do is
to ring the alarm bell, for insurrection. We must, in a solemn man-
ner, let the people see the banishment of their tyrants and privileged
casts otherwise, the people, accustomed to their fetters, will not be
able to break their bonds. It will effect nothing, merely to excite a
rising of the people this would only be giving them words instead of

standing by them.
" '
And since, in this manner, we ourselves are the Revolutionary
Administration, all that is against the rights of the people must be
 BARRUEL AND ROBISON. 381

overthrown, at our entry we must display our principles by actually

destroying tyranny and our generals, after having chased away
all ;

the tyrants and their satellites, must proclaim to the people that they
have brought them happiness and then, on the spot, they must sup-
;

press tithes, feudal rights, and every species of servitude.

" if we stop here.
'
But we shall have done nothing Aristocracy
still domineers we must
therefore suppress all authorities existing in
the hands of the upper classes. When the revolutionary authority
appears, there must nothing of the old establishment remain. popu- A
lar system must be introduced every office must be occupied by new
functionaries and the Sansculottes* must every where have a share
in the administration.
"
Still nothing is done, till we declare aloud the precision of our
'

principles to such as want only a half freedom. We

must say to
them if you think of compromising with the priviledged casts, we
cannot suffer such dealing with tyrants they are our enemies, and we
must treat them as enemies, because they are neither for liberty nor
equality. Show yourselves disposed to receive a free constitution
and the Convention will not only stand by you, but will give you per-
manent support; we you will defend against the vengeance of
your
tyrants, against their attacks, and against their return. Therefore
abolish from, among you the Nobles and every ecclesiastical and
military incorporation. They are incompatible with equality. Hence-
forward you are citizens, all equal in rights
equally called upon to
rule, to defend, and
serve your country.
to The agents of the French
Republic will instruct and assist you in forming a free constitution,
and assure you of happiness and fraternity.'
"
This report was loudly applauded, and a decree formed in pre-
cise conformity to its
principles. Both were ordered to be translated
into alllanguages, and copies to be furnished to their generals, with
orders to have them carefully dispersed in the countries which they
invaded."

* Sansculotte
literally means without small clothes. It was bestowed in derision
by the well dressed royalists upon the republicans of France; who acknowledged its
applicability, and assumed the term saying our condition is the result of the iniquitous
;

system of government, which hitherto has been conducted for the benefit of a few, to
the degradation and bebasement of the great mass of the people. The French republi-
cans were also styled Jacobins, which arose merely from the circumstance of their
meetings being held in a monastery formerly belonging to an order of monks thus
denominated. And this name, in foreign countries, has been made to mean something
awfully atrocious. The apostate, Cheetham. attempted to play this pitiful game, by
styling the republicans of New-York, Martlingmen, in consequence of their meeting at
a house kept by Abraham Martling. Such contemptible resorts show the baseness of
the cause intended to be benefited by them.
382 ANTIMASONIC WRITERS!

The reader is aware, that the principal powers of Europe had com-
bined for the purpose of putting down the French Republic, and resto-

ring the ancient regime; and still

they complained of these retaliatory
measures.
What course did the American revolutionists take, under similar
circumstances? in the confederation of the American States, in 1781,
"
the llth article says, Canada acceding to the confederation, and join-
ing the measures of the United States, shall be admitted into the
Union." An army was sent into Canada, for the purpose of inducing

and aiding the people of that province to assert and maintain their
independence.
Let us see how
the government of the United States treated this

revolutionary principle in latter times. The following is an extract of

aspeech delivered by Henry Clay, in the House of Representatives,
in 1818, in favor of acknowledging the independence of the provinces
of La Plata, in South America :

" I
maintain, said he, that an oppressed people are authorized, when-
ever can, to rise and break their fetters.
they This was the great prin-
It was the great principle of our own.
ciple of the English revolution.
We must, therefore, pass sentence of condemnation upon the founders

of our liberty say that they were rebels, traitors, and that we are,
;

moment, legislating without competent powers, before we can

at this

condemn the cause of Spanish America. Our revolution was mainly

directed against the theory of tyranny.
We
had suffered compara-
but little, we had in some respects been kindly treated, but
tively
our intrepid intelligent fathers saw, in the usurpations of the power to
the long train of oppressive acts that was to
levy an inconsiderable tax,
and left
follow. They rose they breasted the storm they conquered,
freedom. America, for centuries,
us the glorious legacy of Spanish
has been doomed to the practical effects of an odious tyranny. If we
were justified,
she is more than justified."
The sentiments of Mr. Clay were responded to by Congress, and
La Plata was decfared by our government free and independent.
The French revolution was hailed with joy by the friends of lib-
in England, as appears by the following document. Mr. Robi-
erty,
son states, that while his book was printing, he obtained a work then

in Paris. It confirms, says he, all that I have said

just published
the use made of the freemason lodges. It gives a particular
respecting
account of the formation of the Jacobin Club, by the Club
Breton. The
author writes : We
may judge of what the duke of Orleans could do
 BARRUE1 AND ROB1SON. 383

in other by what he did during his stay in England, He

places,
gained over Lord Stanhope and Dr. Price, two of the
to his interest

most respectable members of the Revolution Society. This society

even sent to the Assembly an ostensible letter, in which are the fpllovv-
ing passages :
x
"
The Society congratulates the National Assembly of France on
the Revolution which has taken place in that country. It cannot but
earnestly wish for the happy conclusion of so important a Revolution
and, at the same time, express the extreme satisfaction which it feels in
reflecting on the glorious example which France has given to the
world.
"TheSociety resolves unanimously to invite all the people of Eng-
land through the kingdom, to support the princi-
to establish Societies

ples of the Revolution, to form correspondences between themselves,

and by these means to establish a great concerted, Union of all the
true Friends of Liberty."

Accordingly (says the French author) this was executed, and

Jacobin Clubs were established in several cities of England, Scotland,
and Ireland.
Thefollowing passages are quoted by Mr. Robison from a vindica-
tion published by Professor Weishaupt, against the charges brought
against him, by those who wished to retain the mass of the people in a
state of vassalage :

'
All men, says he, are subject to errors, and the best man is he
who best conceals them. I have never been guilty of such vices or

follies: (as he had been accused of) for proof, I appeal to the whole
tenor of my life, whichstruggles with hostile
my reputation, and my
cabals, had brought completely into public view long before the insti-
tution of thjs Order, without abating any thing of that flattering regard
which was paid to me by the first persons of my country and its neigh-
borhood ;
a regard well evinced by their confidence in me as the best
instructor of their children.
'
It is well known that I have made the chair which I occupied in
the University of Ingolstadt, the resort of the first class of the Ger-
man youth.
4
The tenor of my life has been the opposite of every thing that is

vile and no man can lay any such thing to my charge. I have rea-
;

son to rejoice that these writings have appeared they are a vindication ;

of the order and of my conduct. I can, and must declare to God, and

I do it now in the most solemn manner, that in my whole life I never

 384 ANTIMASONIC WRITERS!

saw or heard of the so much condemned secret writings and in particu- ;

lar, respecting these abominable means, such as poisoning, abortion,

etc., was it ever known to me in any case, that any of my friends or
acquaintances ever even thought of them, advised them, or made any
use of them.
It was the full conviction of what could be done, if
every man
'

were placed in the office for which he was fitted by nature and a
proper education, which first suggested to me the plan of illumination.
'
I am proud to be known to the world as the founder of the Order
of Illuminati :and I repeat my wish to have for my epitaph,
N
'
Hie situs est Phaethon, currus auriga paterni,
1
Qaem si non tenuit^ magnis tamen excidit arm's."

This is the resting place of Phaeton, son of Apollo; he failed to

guide the chariot of the sun, and fell yet nobly fell, so lofty the
attempt.
reproachful to human nature, that men respectable for their
It is

acquirements, and of good standing in society, should be induced

through self-interest, to use every possible means by calumny and false-
hood to destroy the character and usefulness of persons like professor
Weishaupt, who exert their talents with a view of bettering the condi-
tion of their fellow men. And it is to be lamented that many of those
for whose benefit such philanthropists labor, join in- the hue and cry

against them.
The following appropriate language is applied to the writings of
Messrs. Barruel and Robison, in an address of De Witt Clinton, past

grand master of the State of New York, at the installation of Stephen

Van Rensselaer, as grand master of the lodges of this State, September,
1825.
" under the treatment of well-meaning
Our fraternity has suffered
friends,who have undesignedly inflicted more injuries upon it than its

most virulent enemies. The absurd accounts of its origin and history,
in most of the books that treat of it, have proceeded from enthusiasm

operating on credulity and the love of the marvellous.

An imbecile
friend often does more injury than an avowed foe. The calumnies of
Barruel and Robison, who labored to connect our society with the
tiluminati and to represent it "as inimical to social order and good

government, have been consigned to everlasting contempt, while exag-

gerated and extravagant friendly accounts and representations continu-

ally stare us in the face,

and mortify our intellectual discrimination, by
ridiculous claims to unlimited antiquity. Nor ought it to be forgotten,
 BARRUEL AND ROBISON. 385

that genuine masonry is adulterated by sophistications and interpola-

tions foreignfrom the simplicity and snblimily of Us nature. To this
magnificent Temple of the Corinthian order, there have been added
Gothic erections, which disfigure its
beauty and derange its
symmetry.
The adoption in some cases of frivolous pageantry and fantastic mum-
mery, equally revolting good to taste and genuine masonry, has
exposed us to much animadversion : but our institution, clothed with
and armed with the panoply of truth, has defied all
celestial virtue,

the storms of open violence, and resisted all the attacks of insidious

imposture; and it will equally triumph over the errors of misguided

friendship, which, like the transit of a planet over the disk of the sun,
may produce a momentary obscuration, but will instantly leave it ia
1
the full radiance of its glory} (Freemason's Library, p. 338.)

Horrors of the American Revolution, etc.

The revolution of France was agreeable to the will, doubtless, of

ninety-nine out of a hundred of its inhabitants. The republic was the

rule of the people the French citizens, therefore,
;
who resisted it, were
rebels, were And although the severities
traitors to their country.

exercised towards them in can by no means be justified, yet

many cases,

reproaches against the republic, on the score of cruelty, come with a

very ill grace from its enemies.
In proof of which, I will call to remembrance some of the appalling
scenes of the American revolutionary war, showing how rebels to a

king were treated by his myrmidons which ought to be often recur-

;

red to, and held up to the eternal execration of posterity. This would
be more becoming Americans than to dwell upon the horrors of the
French revolution, relying on the garbled accounts of its domestic and
foreign foes. For this purpose I shall give the following indubitable
facts.

The policy of the British government evidently was to waste away

the small number of troops which America had raised, and to dete r
others from entering into the war, by the inhuman means here detailed-
Extracts from Mrs. Warner's History of the American Revolu-
tion, (v. iii, p. 34.)
"
Many of the captured Americans were sent to Great Britain'
where they were for a time treated with almost every severity short o
death. Some of them were transported to the East Indies others pu ;

to menial services on board their ships: but after some time had

elapsed, those in general who were conveyed to England, m ight be

49
386 HORRORS OF THE

deemed happy, when their sufferings were compared with those of

their countrymen who perished on board the
prison ships in America,
under the eye of British commanders of renown, and who in many
respects, were civilized and polite.
"
No time will wipe off the stigma that is left on the names of Clin-
ton and Howe, when posterity look over the calculations, and find that
during six years of their command in New- York, eleven thousand
Americans died on board the Jersey, a single prison ship, stationed
before that city for the reception of those victims of
despair. Nor was
the proportion smaller of those who
perished in their jails, dungeons*
and prison hulks.
"
true that in England, the language of government held up
It is

all the American prisoners

as rebels, traitors, insurgents, and pirates;
this did not
"yet prevent the compassionate heart from the exercise of
the benign virtues of
charity and brotherly kindness. The lenient
hand of many individuals was stretched out for their relief. While
their sorrows were thus softened, their brethren in America, in the

neighborhood of parents, children, and the most affectionat3 partners,

not being permitted to receive from them the
necessary relief, were
dying by thousands, amidst famine, filth and disease"
In speaking of the ravages of the British on the borders of the
state of Connecticut, under the command of the traitor Arnold, Mrs.

Warren observes :

" New London was more seriously attacked ;

and after a short and
brave resistance, plundered and burnt. As soon as the town had sur-
rendered, a number of soldiers entered the garrison : the officer who
headed the party inquired who commanded it? The valiant Colonel
Ledyard stepped forward, and replied with ease and gallantry, I did,
*

but you do now and at the same time delivered his sword to a Bri-
;'

tish officer. The barbarous ruffian, instead of receiving his submission

like the generous victor, immediately stabbed the brave American.
Nor was his death the only sacrifice made in that place, to the wanton
vengeance of the foes of America : several other officers of merit were
assassinated, after the surrender of the town ;
while their more help-
less connexions experienced the usual cruel fate of cities captured by
inhuman conquerors." (Vol. iii, p. 90.)
Fort Griswold, above alluded to, was probably defended with as much
bravery as was exhibited on any occasion during our revolutionary
war. The whole garrison, with the exception of one who secreted
himself, were inhumanly butchered. Those who had been wounded
 AMERICAN REVOLUTION, ETC. 887

during the action, were crammed into carts, and precipitated down the
steep hill on which the fort stands among the rocks below where those ;

who were not instantly killed, were left to perish. l his is the mari-
r

ner in which British officers reward bravery in an enemy. The state"

merit here made I have from an eye witness, Thomas Herttell, Esq.i
who will substantiate the facts, if denied. Mr. Herttell was in sight of

the fort at the time of the action, and learnt all the particulars soon
after.

The following account of the treatment and sufferings of the Amer-

ican prisoners on board of the Jersey prison ship, is taken from the

recently published Narrative of the Rev. Mr. Andros, of Berkley

Massachusetts :

"
We
were captured, on the 27th of August, by the Solebay Frigatei
and safely stowed away in the old Jersey prison ship at New- York'
This was an old 64 gun ship, which through age had become unfit for
further actual service. Her dark and filthy external appearance per-
fectly corresponded with the death and despair that reigned within j

and nothing could be more foreign from the truth than to paint her
with colors flying, or any circumstance or appendage to please the eye t

She was moored about three quarters of a mile to the eastward of

Brooklyn Ferry, near a tide mill on the Long Island shore. The
nearest distance to land was about twenty rods. And doubtless no
other .ship in the British navy ever proved the means of the destruc-
tion of so many humanbeings. It is computed that no less than eleven

thousand American seamen perished in her But after it was known

!

that it was next to certain death to confine a prisoner there, the inhu-

manity and wickedness of doing it was about the same as if he had

been taken into the city and deliberately shot on some public square.
But as if mercy had fled from the earth, here we were doomed to dwell
And never, while I was on board,
any Howard, or angel of pity, ap-
did

pear to inquire into, or alleviate Once or twice, by the order

our woes.
of a stranger on the quarter deck, a bag of apples were hurled promis.

cuously into the midst of hundreds of prisoners crowed together thick

as they could stand; life and limbs were endangered by the scramble.
This, instead of compassion, was a cruel sport. When I saw it about
to commence, I fled to the most distant part of the ship. On the com.
mencement of the first evening, we were driven down to darkness
between decks secured by iron gratings, and armed soldiery. And
now a scene of horror, which baffles all description, presented itself.

On every side wretched, desponding shapes of men could be seen.

883 HOBRORS OF THE

Around the well room an armed guard were forcing up the prisoners to
the winches, to clear the ship of water and prevent her sinking, and little

else could be heard but mutual execrations, reproaches and insults.

During this operation there was a small dim light admitted below, but
it served to make darkness more visible, and horror more terrific.
"
When
became an inmate of this span abode of suffering, despair,
I

and death, there were about four hundred prisoners on board, but in a
short time they amounted to twelve hundred. And in proportion to
our numbers, the mortality increased. All the most deadly diseases
were pressed into the service of the king of terrors, but his prime min-
isters were
dysentery, small pox, and yellow fever. There were two
hospital ships near the Old Jersey, but these were soon so crowded
with the sick, that they could receive no more. The consequence was,
that the diseased and the healthy were mingled together in the main
ship. In a short time we had two hundred or more sick and dying t

lodged in the forepart of the lower gun deck, w-here all the prisoners were
confined at night. Utter derangement was a common symptom of yel-
low fever, and to increase the horror of the darkness that shrouded us,
(forwe were allowed no lights betwixt decks,) the voice of warning
would be heard, Take heed to yourselves. There is a mad-man
'

I sometimes found
stalking through the ship with a knife in his hand.'
the man a corpse in the morning, by whose side I lay down ad night.
At another time he would become deranged, and attempt in darkness
to rise, and stumble over the bodies that every where covered the deck,

In this case I had to hold him in his place by main strength. In spite of

my efforts he would sometimes rise, and then I had to close in with him,

trip up and lay him again upon the deck. While so many were
his heels

sick with raging fever, there was a loud cry for water, but none could be
had except on the upper deck, and but one allowed to ascend at a time.
The suffering then from the rage of thirst, during the night, was very
great. Nor was it at all times safe to go up. Provoked by the contin-
ual cry for leave to ascend, when there was already one on deck, the
sentry would push them back with his bayonet. By one of these
thrusts, which was more and violent than common, I had a
spiteful
narrow escape of my life. In the morning the hatchways were
thrown open and we were allowed to ascend, all at once, and remain
on the upper deck during the day. But the first object that met our
view in the morning was a most appalling spectacle. A boat loaded
with dead bodies, conveyed them to the Long Island shore, where
with sand. I sometimes used to stand to
they were slightly covered
 AMERICAN REVOLUTION, ETC. 389

count the number of times the shovel was filled with sand to cover a
dead body. And certain I am that a few high tides or torrents of rain
must have disinterred them. And had they not been removed, I should
suppose the shore, even now, would be covered with huge piles of bones
of American seamen. There were probably four hundred on board,
who had never had the small pox, some, perhaps, might have been
saved by inoculation. But humanity was wanting to try even this
experiment. Let our disease be what it would, we were abandoned to
our fate.
"
Now and then an American physician was brought in as a cap-
tive, but if he could obtain his parole he left the ship, nor could we
much blame him for this. For his own death was next to certain, and
his success in saving others by medicine in our situation, was small.
I remember only two American physicians who tarried on board a few
days. No English physicians, or any one from the city, ever, to my
knowledge, came near us. There were thirteen of the crew, to which
I belonged, but in a short time all but three or four were dead. The
most healthy and vigorous were seized first with the fever, and died in
a few hours. For them there seemed to be no mercy. My constitu-
tion was less muscular and plethoric, and I escaped the fever longer
than any of the thirteen, except one, and the first onset was less violent.
There is one palliating circumstance as to the inhumanity of the
British, which ought to be mentioned. The prisoners were furnished
with buckets and brushes to cleanse the ship, and with vinegar to

sprinkle her inside. But their indolence and their despair was such
that they would not use them, or but rarely. And, indeed, at this time t

the encouragement to do it was small. For the whole ship, from her
keel to the tafferel, was equally affected, and contained pestilence suffi-
cient to desolate a world; disease and death were wrought into her
timbers. At the time I left her, it be presumed a more filthy, con-
is to

tagious, and deadly abode for human beings, never existed among

Christianized people."
The following is extracted from an account of the war, by an Eng-
lish historian,William Gordon, D. D.
"
Great complaints are made of the horrid usage the Americans
met with after they were captured. The garrison of Fort Washington
surrendered by capitulation to general Howe, the 16th of November.
The terms were, that the fort should be surrendered, the troops be
considered prisoners of war, and that the American officers should

keep their baggage and side arms. These articles were signed
390 HORRORS OF THK

afterwards published in the New- York papers. Major Williams, of

Raw-ling's ritle regiment, in doing his duty that day, fell into the hands
of the enemy. The haughty, imperious deportment of the officers, and
the insolent scurrility of the soldiers of the British army, soon dispelled
his hopes of being treated with lenity. Many of the American officers
were plundered of their baggage, and robbed of their side arms, hats,
cockades, etc., and otherwise grossly ill-treated. The fourth day of
Rawlings, Mclntire and himself, all wounded officers,
their captivity,
were put one common dirt cart, and dragged through the city of
into

New-York, as objects of derision, reviled as rebels, and treated with

the utmost contempt. From the cart they were set down at the door of
an old waste house, the remains of Hamden Hall, near Bridewell.
The privates in the coldest season of the year were closely confined in
churches, sugar houses, and other open buildings, which admitted all
kind of weather, and were subjected to the severest kind of persecution
that ever unfortunate captives suffered. Officers were insulted and
often struck for attempting to afford the miserable privates some relief.
"
Major Williams verily believed, that not less than fifteen hundred
prisoners perished in the course
of a few weeks in the city of New-
York, and that this dreadful mortality was principally owing to the
want of provisions and extreme cold. (Vol. ii. p. 427.)
An extract from Gen. Ethan Allen's narrative of his capture and
treatment by the British, in the American revolutionary war :

" I next invite the reader to a

retrospective sight and consideration
of the doleful scene of inhumanity, exercised by Gen. Sir William
Howe, and the army under his command, towards the prisoners taken
on Long Island, on the 27th of August, 1776 sundry of whom were
; f

in an inhuman and barbarous manner, murdered after they had surren-

dered their arms ; particularly a Gen. Woodhull, of the militia, who
was hacked with cutlasses, by the light horsemen, and a Capl.
to pieces

Fellows of the Continental army, who was thrust through with a bayo-
net, of which wound he died instantly.
"
Sundry others were hanged up by the neck till they were dead,
five on the limb of a white oak tree, and without any reason nssigned
except that they were fighting in defence of the only blessing worth
preserving and, indeed, those who had the misfortune to /all into
:

their hands at Fort Washington, in the month of November following,

met with but very little better usage, except that they were reserved
from immediate death to famish and die with hunger ;
in fine, the word
rebel, was thought, by the enemy, sufficient to sanctify whatever cruel-
 AMERICAN REVOLUTION, ETC. 391

tiesthey were pleased to inflict, death itself not excepted; but to pass
over particulars, which would swell my narrative far beyond my
design.
"
The private soldiers who were brought to New- York, wer e
crowded into churches, and environed with slavish Hessian guards, a
people of a strange language, who were sent to America, for no other
design but cruelty and desolation. I have gone into the churches, and

seen sundry of the prisoners in the agonies of death, in consequence of

very hunger, and others speechless, and near death, biting pieces of
chips ;
others pleading for God's sake, for something to eat, and at the
same time, shivering with cold. Hollow groans saluted my ears, and
despair seemed to be imprinted on every of their countenances. The
of these churches, in consequence of the fluxes, was almost beyond
filth

description. I have seen in one of them, seven dead, at the same time,

lying among the excrements of their bodies.

" was a common
It practice of the enemy, to convey the dead from
these filthy places, in carts, to be slightly buried ;
and I have seen
whole gangs of making derision, and exulting over the dead,
tories

'there goes another load of d d rebels.' I have observed the

saying,
British soldiers to be full of their insulting jokes, and vaunting on those

occasions; but they appeared to me less malignant than tories.

"
The provisions dealt out to the prisoners, were by no means suffi-
cient for the support of life It was deficient in
quantity, and much
:

more so in quality. The prisoners often presented me with a sample

of their bread, which was damaged
degree, that it was loath- to that

some, and unfit to be eaten. Their allowance of meat (as they told me)
was quite trifling, and of the basest sort. I never saw any of it, but
was informed, bad was swallowed almost as quick as they
as it was, it

got hold of it. I saw some

them sucking bones after they were
of

speechless; others who could yet speak, and had the use of their rea-
son, urged me in the strongest and most pathetic manner, to use my
interest in their behalf; 'for you plainly see,' said they, 'that we are

devoted to death and destruction ;' and, after I had examined more par-
ticularly into their truly deplorable condition, and had become more
fully apprized of the essential facts, I was persuaded that it was a pre-
meditated and systematical plan of the British council, to destroy the

youths of our land, with a view thereby to deter the country, and make it
submit to their but that I could not do them any material ser-
despotism ;

vice, andby any public attempt for that purpose, I might endanger
that,

myself by frequenting places the most nauseous and contagious that

392 HORRORS OF TH1

could be conceived of. I refrained going into the churches, but fre-

quently conversed with such of the prisoners as were admitted to come

out into the yard, and found that the systematical usage still continued.
The guard would often drive me away, with their fixed bayonets.
"
The integrity of these suffering prisoners, is hardly credible.
Many hundreds, I am confident, submitted to death, rather than enlist
in the British service,which, I am informed, they most generally were
pressed to do."
"
The success of the American arms at Princeton, had a mighty
effect on Gen. Howe and his council. Their obduracy and death-
designing malevolence, in some measure, abated or was msrcnded.
The prisoners who were condemned to the most wretched and cruelest
of deaths, and who survived to this period, were immediately ordered
tobe sent within the American lines for exchange. Several of them,

however, fell dead in the streets of New York, as they attempted to

walk to the vessels in the harbor for their intended embarkation. Most
of the residue, who reached their homes, having received their death
wound, could not be restored by the assistance of physicians and friends ;

but, like their brother prisoners, fell a sacrifice to the relentless and
scientific barbarity of Britain. I took as much pains as my circum-
stances would admit inform myself not only of matters of fact,
of, to

but likewise of the very design and aims of Gen. Howe and his coun-
cil The latter of which I predicated on the former, and submit it to
:

the candid public." (See Moore's Memoir, p. 157.)

Journals of Congress.

The following is an abstract of a report made to Congress, by the

Board of War, January, 1778 :

" for each pri-

appears that the general allowance of provisions
It

soner per day, does not exceed four ounces of meat and the same quan-

tityof bread *and ofttimes much less, and frequently so damaged as not
to ten
to be eatable although the professed allowance is from eight
;

ounces and that the have been treated in general, officers no 1

; prisoners
excepted, with a cruelty scarce to be paralleled, and with the most
studied and illiberal insult.
"
That it has been a common practice with
the enemy, on a pri-
soner's being first captured, to keep him three, four, and even five day s
without a morsel of provisions of any kind, and then to tempt him
to enlist with^the new levies, in order to save his life : that there are

numerous instances of prisoners of war perishing in all the agonies o

 AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 893

hunger :
that, being generally stript of what clothes they have when
taken, they have suffered greatly for want thereof during their confine-
ment."
The British prisoners, on the contrary, were treated with the
greatest humanity, as appears by the following resolution of Congress,
passed January 27, 1776 :

44
Resolved, That the committee of inspection of Esopus, or Kings-
ton, be directed to supply the prisoners there with necessary clothing,
and also provide them with lodgings and provisions, not exceeding the
rations allowed to privates in the continental
army, on the most reason-
able terms they can."
But the worst isnot yet told. The most most appal-
horrible, the
ling to civilized humanity, is the
employment of savag'es as auxiliaries
in war, and then them
paying a stipulated price for the scalps of men,
Women and children. This was done in the American revolutionary
war. A graduated price was fixed upon by British commanders for
the scalps of soldiers, farmers, women and children.
The late Col. Willet, who was second in command, at a period of
the war, of a
body of American troops stationed at Fort Stanwicks, at
the head of the Mohawk river, and
hearing one day the firirig of muskets
1

in the woods to the he issued out with a party of the garri-

adjacent fort,
son and soon met a little girl running with a basket of blackberries in
her hand, on advancing further he found her companion tomahawked
and scalped. He afterwards overtook a party of Indians, some of
whom he killed, and made prisoners of others on one of whom he
;

found an official paper, signed by a British officer, stating the amount

that was paid for the various scalps as above enumerated.
He sent this to Gov. Livingston of Jersey, who then
document
contemplated a history of the war
to write but which he did not
;

accomplish, and the paper, perhaps, has never been published.

This statement was made by Col. Willet, a short time before his
Recorder of this city, in the presence of Mr.
death, in the office of the
Riker the Recorder, Gen. Lamb, and several others, among whom
was myself.
Even in war of America with England, at the taking of
the last
Little York, in Upper Canada, a woman's scalp, with long hair, was
found in the council chamber, hanging behind the Speaker's chair

along side the mace. This must have been a signal to the Indians to
prepare for profitable employment.
50
S94 HORRORS OF THfi

This fact is officially stated by Gen. Dearborn and Commodore

Chauncey.
The scalp agent in this war resided at Maiden, and was well known
to a friend of mine, the late Dr. LeBaron, United States' apothecary

general ;
who told me
and duty of its incumbent, were
that the office

notorious, and admitted of no doubt. After, however, the American

government had taken into pay some Indian tribes, and a retaliation
was apprehended, a council of war of British officers was convened at
Kingston, when it was determined to pay the Indians in future for

prisoners brought to the camp alive, instead of scalps.

The legislature of New- York passed an act granting a bounty on
wolves' heads, on account of the depredations made by them on the

sheep of the farmers. This was a justifiable mode of warfare against

wolves but the British government, it is believed, stands pre-eminent,
;

without a parallel among nations, in paying a bounty on human scalps.

And, however barbarous were the native executioners of its ven-

geance, they never violated the chastity of females that fell into their
power, as the British soldiers were permitted to do, at sundry places
during the last war and they were led also to expect an opportunity
;

to commit the same outrage at New-Orleans, as appears by the watclt-

word, beauty and booty, given out on the night of the attack.
I will make a short extract from the Memoirs of William Sampson,

Esq., as an example of the manner in which kings treat rebels to their

assumed authority, in case they do not succeed in ridding themselves
of it,

" until the 16th of April, when the terror

I remained in Dublin
became so atrocious that humanity could no longer endure it. In

every quarter of the metropolis, the shrieks and groans of the tortured
were to be heard, and that, through all hours of the day and night
Men were taken at random without process or accusation, and tortured
at the pleasure of the lowest dregs of the community. Bloody theatres
were opened by these self-constituted inquisitors, and new and unheard
of machines were invented for their diabolical purposes. Unhappily,
jin every country, history is but the record of black crimes
but if ever ;

this history comes to be fairly written, whatever has yet been held up
to the execration of mankind, will fade before it. For it had not hap-
pened before, in
any country or in any age, to inflict torture and to
offer bribes at thesame moment. In this bloody reign, the coward and
the traitor were sure of wealth and power the brave and the loyal to ;

suffer death or torture* The very mansion of the viceroy was peo-
 AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1TC. 395

pled with salaried denouncers, kept in secret, and led out only for pur-
poses of death. Some of them, struck with remorse, have since pub-
lished their own crimes, and some have been hanged by their
employers. Men were hung up until their tongues started from their
mouths, and let down to receive fresh offers of bribe to betray their

neighbor or discover themselves. If they neither knew nor would

discover any thing, these intervals of relaxation were followed by new

and more poignant inflictions. And when that courage, which is the
noble attribute of countrymen, spurned in the midst of
my unhappy
agony at the
tempter and the bribe ; the nearest and the tenderest rela-
tives were often brought to witness these horrors that out of their ;

feelings might be extorted some denunciation, true or false, which the

virtue of the sufferer had withheld."

Among other means of torture made use of for the above purpose,
I am told by an Irish gentleman, who now holds a respectable office in
our republic, that caps made of pitch mixed with powder were not
unfrequently placed upon the heads of these unfortunate victims, and
then set on fire.

Unfortunate Poland, like Ireland, made a brave but ineffectual

effort to shake off the despotism with which it is
oppressed j
and the
following statement shows the humanity of its conquerors :

"
Poland fell, neither from the valour nor from the number of her
enemies; she fell from their all-pervading intrigues and the
power of
their gold. There was treachery in the midst of her camp, and in the
bosom of her councils and to this foe, no citadel was ever impregna-
;

ble. Her fall was followed by greater outrages upon civilization and
humanity than have ever been perpetrated in modern ages. Warsaw
immediately became a pandemonium of massacre, rapine, and cruelty*
of which not half the horrors have been breathed or written. The
Russian prisoners were liberated, and revenge added its fury to the tide
of their passions. Fathers and husbands, pinioned for the dungeon
and the gallows, witnessed the dishonor of their daughters and wives.
The sleeping infant attracted no compassion, and kneeling- children
were not spared. Similar scenes occurred in all the principal cities of
the kingdom, Of the military and civil officers, great numbers were
shot or hundreds of others were chained together and
hanged:
marched off to the mines of Siberia. Some, however, escaped, and are
fugitives in England, France, and the United
States. An English
traveller who has very recently passed through Poland, met on its
northern frontier, some hundreds of Poles, many of them apparently
396 HORRORS OF THE

of the higher class of the population, chained five abreast, to an iron

bar, and marching to hard labor for life, in mines where the light of

day never enters. But one of the latest means employed for the
destruction of the Polish people, is the exportation of children. The
imperial ukases for this measure spread terror and desolation through-
out the kingdom. Entire schools of children have been seized, and
hurried off in caravans to the interior of Russia, without being allowed
a sight of their parents and parents, whose natural yearnings over
;

their little ones impelled them to attempt their rescue, were immedi-

ately delivered over to the military tribunal, to be tried for insubordina-

tion. But a peculiarly diabolical feature of this ukase remains to be
developed. It only mentions orphan children yet it defines these to
;

be either children without fathers, though having fortunes, or those

having fathers but in indigent circumstances. Thus the two branches
of this definition are made to embrace nearly the whole youthful popu-
lation. The commissaries of police, in the cities, and the commissaires
arrondissmens in the provinces, were ordered to invite all parents
'

d?

having families in distress, to send in declarations to that effect, that

they might obtain relief from the government. Many, suffering from
the prevailing misery of the country, were seduced by this apparently
benevolent offer, to do so. The children of all these came within the

regulation of the ukase, and were speedily torn from their arms. An
eye witness has assured us that out of 450 children of the first division

transported, scarcely 115 reached Bobruysk alive. They were com-

pelled to walk the moment they crossed the frontiers ;
and when any
were unable, from sickness or fatigue, to proceed further, they were
abandoned, with a portion of bread and water. Several persons
recently arrived from Siberia, have fallen in with the corpses of many
of these unfortunate innocents, stretched beside the bread of which they
could not avail themselves. The next step was to seize all the male chil-
c[ren of the parochial schools ;
and by this means, and that of the recent
military conscription, the population of brave but unhappy Poland has
already been reduced to half its former number."

Extracts from Foreign Papers.

The whole province of Lithuania was, traversed in different direc-

tions by the Russian troops, who burnt the towns arid villages, mas-
sacred the prisoners, and killed even the women and children.
" Three of the confederates of
Dziewicki, who has poisoned him*
%lff have been shot at Warsaw, in the public place of execution, with.*
 AMERICAN REVOLUTION, ETC. 397

out the walls. They all died with a display of courage and firmness,
hoping- that their deaths might be useful to their unhappy country.
Olkowski, in particular, showed great self-command. While on his
way to execution, he gathered up a handful of the soil, and exclaimed,
'For this we have fought, and for this we are willing to die!' The
tombs of these young heroes have become objects of veneration to the
people, who strew flowers and garlands upon them. Many women
have compromised themselves. A young lady, named Helen Nowa-
kowska, has received 200 stripes, for having sent provisions to some
unfortunate insurgents who were dying of hunger in the woods. The
horrible punishment was inflicted in one of the barracks of Lublin, to
the sound of military music and to render it more severe, they after-
;

wards shaved her head, and confined her in a convent, and no one can
when she will be released. The wife of Orlowska had been con.
tell

demned to receive 500 stripes for having sheltered one of her relations.
She entreated that her punishment might be inflicted publicly at War.
saw, in order that might inflame the courage of the patriots. This
it

favor, however, being denied her, on the day her sentence was to have
been executed, she was found dead in her prison, having forced pins
into her bosom." (The Polonaise.)
" seems be suffering
Gallicia, of all the provinces of Poland, to

under the most cruel persecutions, and that at the hands of the cold-
blooded diplomate, Metternich. Count George Tyskievviez, though an
old man, has been confined in a subterranean cell for more than a year;
his wife, who went to Vienna to supplicate the late emperor, was
received by him just before his death, but repulsed by Metternich.
Colonel Lariski is attached to a wall by an iron bar in another dun-
geon; etc."

We see nothing in revolutionary France, like the cruelties I have

detailed. Many rebels and traitors to the republic were executed, but
there was no torture, no protracted sufferings.
And shall the autocrat of Russia, and his miserable slaves, the
instruments of his vengeance : shall the government of England, and
those who approve and support it, exclaim against the horrors of the
French revolution ? And will the present generation in America,
forgetful of the consideration
due to themselves, and the toils and suf-
ferings of their virtuous fathers in purchasing their liberties at so dear
a rate, bestow all their sympathies upon the sufferings of a few crowned

heads, and others impudently styling themselves noble, who are the
enemies of freedom, and whose sole aim is to support rank and privi-
398 AN ABSTRACT OF

leges, at the expense of the degradation and misery of the rest of man.
kind, with whom they have no feelings in common.
Above all, while irreligion is urged against France as the cause of
cruelties in her revolutionary struggle, let not the profession of piety in
other nations sanctify the commission of deeds infinitely more atro-
cious for well might the French exclaim, in the language of a Scotch
;

"
marshal, If we are sinners, our enemies are na saints"
It is, moreover, worthy of remark, that the atrocities imputable to

France, were committed during the sway of Robespierre, who pro-

fessed as great regard to religion, as did the monarchs that combined
against the republic, under a pretence of preserving it. He denounced
the Moderates, commonly called the Geronde party, for want of faith
in Christianity : the most prominent characters of which were Condor-
cet, Brissot, Lafayette, Thomas Paine, etc. Religion, in fact, has
been the hobby-horse of tyrants in all ages and in all countries and ;

mankind have too easily been gulled by their hollow pretensions. In

the of monarchs professing Christianity, we do not perceive
practice
the humble, charitable, forgiving spirit recommended by its benevolent
founder. These virtues, they seem to think, do not properly belong to
them. They must be arrogant, proud, and vindictive and the most ;

appropriate ensigns of their escutcheon would be a bloody cross, sup-

and cross-bones.
ported by deaths-heads

"
An Abstract of
"
A Defence of Masonry ;

Occasioned by a Pamphlet called Masonry Dissected." London, 1730.

This pamphlet is that written by Samuel Prichard, and made use

of in this volume. The Defence was published by Dr. Anderson, and
of the Constitutions of freemasons. The
appended to his History
of the masonic society, would wish
author, though probably a member
to make it appear, that he drew all his information of it from the work

he pretends to answer.
was exceedingly pleased (says he) to find the Dissector lay the
I

original
scene of masonry in the East, a country always famous for
I could not avoid immedi-
symbolical learning supported by
secrecy.
of the Egyptians, who concealed the chief mysteries of
ately thinking
their religion under signs
and symbols, called hieroglyphics.
" travelling into Egypt, became instructed in the
Pythagoras, by
of that nation and here he laid the foundation of all his
;
mysteries
The several writers that have mentioned this
symbolical learning.
and given an account of his sect and institutions, have
philosopher,
 A DEFENCE OF MASOflRY. 399

convinced me fully, that freemasonry, as published by the Dissector,

is
very nearly allied to the old Pythagorean discipline ;
from whence^
I am persuaded, some circumstances, very justly claim its
it
may in
descent." Here the author details some of the leading doctrines and
customs of the Pythagoreans, in proof of his opinion which have ;

been before noticed. After mentioning some other sects whose prac-
tices corresponded, he says, in many particulars with those of the
"
fraternity, he adds, The last instance I shall mention, is that of the
Druids of our own nation, who were the only priests of the ancient
Britons. In their solemnities they were clothed in white; and their
ceremonies always ended with a good feast."
"
The number three is frequently mentioned in the Dissection ;

and I find that the ancients, both Greeks and Latins, professed a great
veneration for that number. Theocritus thus introduces a person who
dealt in secret arts :

"
Thrice, thrice I pour, and thrice repeat my charms !
'

Verbaque ter dixit Thrice he repeats the words. (Ovid,)

:

Three colors in three knots unite.' (Virg.)

"
Whether this fancy owes its
original to the esteem the Pythagore-
ans and other philosophers had for the number three, on account of
their triad or trinity ; or to its aptness to
signify the power of all the
gods, who were divided into three classes, celestial, terrestrial and
infernal ;
I shall leave to be determined by others.
"
The gods had a particular esteem for this number, as Virgil
asserts :

"
Numero Deus impare gaudet.' Unequal numbers please the
'

gods. The sons of Saturn, among whom the world was divided, were
three : and for the same reason we read of
Jupiter's Fulmen trifidum,
or three-forked thunderbolt and Neptune's trident, with several other
;

tokens of the veneration they bore to this particular number.

"
A particular ceremony belonging to the oath, as declared by the
Dissector, bears a near relation to a form of swearing among the
ancients, mentioned by a learned author. The person who took the
oath was to be upon his bare knees, with a naked sword pointed to his
throat, invoking the sun, moon, and stars to be witnesses to the truth
of what he swore." (Alex, ab Alexandro, Lib. V. cap, 10.)
"
The accident, by which the body of Master Hiram was found
after his death, seems to allude in some circumstances, to a beautiful

passage in the sixth book of Virgil's Eneid." The author here recites
the story of the golden bough, as being a necessary passport for Eneas's
descent into the infernal regions, and adds :
400 ROSYCRUCIAN DEGREE.
"
Anchises, the great preserver of the Trojan name, could not have
been discovered but by the help of a bough, which was plucked with
great ease from the tree; nor, it seems, could Hiram, the grand Master
of masonry, have been found but by the direction of a shrub, which,

says the Dissector, came easily up. The principal cause of Eneas's
descent into the shades, was to inquire of his father the secrets of the

fates, which should sometime be fulfilled among his posterity: the

occasion of the brethren's searching so diligently for their master was,
it seems, to receive from him the secret word of masonry, which
should be delivered down to their fraternity in after ages. This
remarkable verse follows :

"The body of your friend lies neat you dead, Alas, you know not
how !This was Misenus, that was murdered and buried, Monte sub
aerio, under a high hill as, says the Dissector, master Hiram was.
;

" Bat there is another story in Virgil, that stands in a nearer rela-
tion to the case of Hiram, and the accident by which he is said to have
been discovered; which is this: Priamus, king of Troy, in the begin-
ning of the Trojan war, committed his son Polydorus to the care of
Polymnestor, king of Thrace, and sent with him a great sum of
money; but after Troy was taken, the Thracian, for the sake of the

money, killed the young prince, and privately buried him. Eneas
coming into that country, and accidentally plucking up a shrub that
was near him on the side of a hill, discovered the murdered body of
Polyctorus. Eneid, III.

"By Dry den" :

'Not far a rising hillock stood in view,

Sharp myrtles on the sides and cornels grew ;

There while I went to crop the Sylvan scenes,

And shade our altars with the leafy greens,
I pull'd a plant with horror I relate
:

A prodigy so strange and full of fate!

Scarce dare I tell the sequel from the womb
!

Of wounded earth, and caverns of the tomb,

A groan, as of a troubled ghost, renew'd
and then these dreadful words ensued
My fright ;

dost thou thus my buried body rend '?

:

Why
O spare the corpse of thy unhappy friend !'
" The agreement between these two relations is so exact, that there
wants no further illustration."

Rosy crucian Degree.

I have lately noticed that some writers, (and particularly William

L. Stone, Esq., who is the author of a very interesting work on free-
 ROSYCRUCIAN DEGREE. 401

masonry,) have conjectured that this institution sprung from the

1

famous society of Rosycrucians, I will, therefore, here add a short

account of that association, as well as of the masonic degree founded
upon it.

11
The
Rosycrucians, that is to say, brothers of the Rosy-Cross,
were, says Bailey, a sect or cabal of hermetical philosophers who bound ;

themselves together by a solemn secret, which they swore inviolably to

observe, and obliged themselves, at their admission into the order, to a
strict observance of certain established rules. Their chief was a Ger-
man gentleman educated in a monastery, where, having learned the

languages, he travelled to the holy land, Anno 1378, and being at

Damascus, and falling sick, he had the conversation of some Arabs and
other oriental philosophers, by whom he is supposed to be initiated into
this mysterious art. At his return into Germany, he formed a society,
and communicated to them the secrets he had brought with him out of
the East.
" to know all sciences, and especially medicine, of
They pretended
which they published themselves the restorers ; they also pretended to
be masters of abundance of important secrets and among others that ;

of the philosopher's stone all which they affirmed they had received
;

by tradition from the ancient Egyptians, Chaldeans, the Magi, and

Gymnosophists. They pretended to protract the period of human life

by means of certain nostrums, and even to restore youth. They pre-

tended to know all things ; they are also called the invisible Brothers,
because they have made no appearance, but have kept themselves
incognito for many years.
"
This society is frequently signified by the letters F. R. C., Fra-
tres Roris Cocti, it being pretended that the matter of the philosopher's

stone is dew, concocted and exhaled."

The mystical importance which this society had obtained, rendered
it a fit
subject for the manufacturers of masonic degrees to found an
order upon, which, therefore, was not neglected.
The Rosycrucian degree seems, in Carlile's report, to be confounded
with that of the Knights of the Eagle, and Sovereign Prince of Rose-
Cross, before noticed. The subject of both is the death and
resurrection of the Saviour. The master bears the same title in each
In the latter he is said allegorically to represent the person of Wisdom
and Perfection, which gives him the title of most wise and perfect mas-
ter. The wardens are styled most excellent and perfect. The other
officers most puissant and perfctt brothers. The brethren arc called
51
402 ROSYCRT7CIAN DEGREE.

most respectable and perfect masons. The allegory of the pelican

forms a part of both degrees: The Jewel of that of the Rosycrucian is
a triangle formed by a compass and a quarter of a circle. In the cen-
ter is a cross, upon which is a rose, and upon the quarter of the circle
is a pelican, bleeding to feed her young. The Jewel is tied to a black
rose, and pendant to a black collar, in the first
point, and to a crimson in
the second.
The decorations of the lodge, in the principal apartment, are first, a
triangular altar on seven
steps. Behind
a large transparency,
it is

with a cross and a rose painted on its middle, and this inscription over
"
it, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Broken columns are
visible on one side of the transparency, and a tomb on the other in the

east, with three large lights in the west. Jam satis.

The Rosycrucian society is of a very different cast from that of

ancient freemasonry, which bears the most palpable marks of a descent

from an institution established anterior to the Christian era.
In concluding my work, I repeat that the freemasons' society was
founded for the purpose of concealing the rites of the ancient pagan
religion, under the cover of operative masonry and that, although the
;

religion is extinct, its ceremonials remain, and clearly develope the

origin of the institution. Sabeism, or the worship of the stars, is con-
spicuous in every grade of the order: the frequent quotations from the
bible betray its
religious cast, and, moreover, confirm, what has before
been advanced, that the forms of prayer, and consequently other acts ol
devotion among the Pagans and Hebrews, were delivered in the same
terms, tho applied to different objects.
The ceremonies of masonry, however, by no means impeach the
morality it which
inculcates, is unexceptionable, whatever
may have
been the conduct of some of its deluded members, impelled by a fanati-
cal zeal for the preservation of its
supposed secrets, or whatever inno-
vations may have been
introduced by aspiring, political demagogues,
adverse to the established principles of the order. But at the same
time, it must be confessed,
that its moral precepts are conveyed in a

style mal a propos present day. Moral action can now be taught
at the

without the aid of the Mosaic or Musajc pavement, the tesseled bor
der, the square, the compass, the bee-hive, the plumb-line, etc. And
as to any useful art or science, about which great parade is still made
in masonic books, nothing of the kind is now practised in lodges.

Among the ancient ignorant, operative masons, a little instruction in

the rudiments of learning, including rough architecture, were, no doubt'
 ROSYCRUCIAN DEGREE. 403

given but operative freemasonry has been abandoned for upwards of

;

one hundred years, and no more of it remains to the order than the
record of its former practice.
I will close the volume with the following apposite remarks of
Dupius, applied from which masonry received
to the original school,

its lessons.
The
author, after giving a specimen of the extravagant and absur4
cosmogonies of different nations, observes:
"
We will not pursue farther the parallel of all the philosophical
opinions which each of the mystagogues has delivered in his own
manner. We confine ourselves to this example, which is sufficient tq

give an idea of the allegorical genius of the ancient sages of the east,
and to justify the use which we have made of the
philosophical dogmas
that are known to us, to discover the sense of these monstrous fictions
of oriental mysticism. This manner of instructing men, or rather of
imposing upon them under the pretext of instruction, is as far removed
from our customs as hieroglyphics are from our writing, and as the
style of the sacred science is from the philosophy of our days. But
such was the language that was held to the initiates, says the author of
the Phenician cosmogony, in order to excite in mortals astonishment
and admiration."

THE END
'"N
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RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT

TOaifr 202 Main Library 642-3403
LOAN PERIOD 1

HOME USE

ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS

-month loans may be renewed by calling 642-3405 \
1

6-month loans may be recharged by bringing books to Circulation Desk

Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due flate
DUE AS STAMPED BELOW
riff, 10 MS
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