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LECTURE IV
The Nature of the Lodge
I now take upon me to prove my first proposition, and to show that the first state of a Mason is representative of the first stage of the worship of the true God.
The lodge, when revealed to an entering Mason, discovers to him a representation of the world;1 in which, from the wonders of nature, we are led to contemplate the Great Original, and worship Him for his mighty works; and we are thereby also moved to exercise those moral and social virtues, which become mankind as the servants of the Great Architect of the world, in whose image we were formed in the beginning.
1 In like manner, the cavern of initiation into the spurious Freemasonry of Persia, projected by Zoroaster, was intended to represent the universal system of nature. It was a dome, and the sun was placed in the centre of the roof, which, being by some process illuminated, exhibited an appearance so superb as to induce a candidate to exclaim, " Nocte medio vidi solem candido coruscantem lumine!" while around him the planets were arranged in their several spheres; the constellations were depicted on the walls; and the zodiac was conspicuously displayed on a broad belt encompassing the whole. (Porph. de Ant. Nymph. p.254; Apul. Metam. lib. 1.) In honor of these revolving luminaries, circular monuments were used by all nations for the celebration of their mysteries; for the circle was an emblem of the Divinity. -EDITOR.
The Creator, designing to bless man's estate on earth, opened the hand of his divine benevolence with good gifts. He hath spread over the world the illumined canopy of heaven. The covering of the tabernacle,1 and the veil of the temple at Jerusalem, were representations of the celestial hemisphere, and were "of blue, of crimson, and purple;" and such is the covering of the lodge.2 As an emblem of God's power, his goodness, omnipresence, and eternity, the lodge is adorned with the image of the sun,3 which he ordained to arise from the east, and open the day; thereby calling forth the people of the earth to their worship, and exercise in the walks of virtue.
1 "The proportion of the measures of the tabernacle proved it to be an imitation of the system of the world; for that third part thereof, which was within the four pillars to which the priests were not admitted, is as it were an heaven peculiar to God; but the space of the twenty cubits is as it were sea and land, on which men live; and so this part is peculiar to the priests only. When Moses distinguished the tabernacle into three parts, and allowed two of them to the priests, as a place accessible and common, he denoted the land and the sea; for these are accessible to all. But when he set apart the third division for God, it was because heaven is inaccessible to men. And when he ordered twelve loaves to be set on the table, he denoted the year, as distinguished into so many months. And when he made the candlesticks of seventy parts, he secretly intimated the decani or seventy divisions of the planets. And as to the seven lamps upon the candlesticks, they referred to the course of the planets, of which that is the number. And for the veils, which were composed of four things, they declared the four elements. For the fine linen was proper to signify the earth, because the flax grows out of the earth; the purple signified the sea, because that color is dyed by the blood of a sea shell-fish; the blue is fit to signify the air; and the scarlet will naturally be an indication of fire. Now the vestment of the high priest, being made of linen, signified the earth; the blue denoted the sky, being like lightning in its pomegranates, and in the noise of the bells resembling thunder. And for the ephod, it showed that God had made the universe of four elements; and as for the gold interwoven, I supposed it related to the splendor by which all things are enlightened. He also appointed the breast-plate to be placed in the middle of the ephod, to resemble the earth; and the girdle which encompassed the high priest round, signified the ocean. Each of the sardonyxes declares to us the sun and the moon; those, I mean, which were in the nature of buttons on the high priest's shoulders. And for the twelve stones, whether we understand by them the months, or whether we understand the like number of the signs of that circle, which the Greeks call the zodiac, we shall not be mistaken in their meaning. And for the mitre, which was of a blue color, it seems to me to mean heaven; for how otherwise could the name of God be inscribed upon it? That it was also illustrated with a crown, and that of gold also, is because of that splendor with which God is pleased." (Josephus's Antiq. c. vij.) In another place, Josephus says the candlestick was emblematical of the seven days of creation and rest." The tabernacle set up by the Israelites in the desert may, nevertheless, give some ideas of the manner in which, at that time, the Egyptian temples were constructed. I believe, really, that there must have been some relation between the taste which reigned in these edifices and the tabernacle. The tabernacle, though only a vast tent, had a great relation with architecture. We ought to look upon it as a representation of the temples and palaces of the East. Let us recollect what we have said before of the form of government of the Hebrews. The Supreme Being was equally their God and King. The tabernacle was erected with a view to answer to that double title. The Israelites went there, sometimes to adore the Almighty, and sometimes to receive the orders of their sovereign, present in a sensible manner in the presence of his people. I think, then, we ought to look upon the tabernacle as a work which God would have, that the structure should have relation with the edifices destined in the East, whether for the worship of the gods or the habitation of kings. The whole construction of the tabernacle presented, moreover, the model of an edifice, regular, and distributed with much skill. All the dimensions and proportions appeared to have been observed with care, and perfectly well adapted." (De Goguet.)
2 "And be made the veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon." (2 Chron. iii. 14.) See also Josephus.
3 Besides what is already noted, touching the Amonian rites and the worship of the sun, the doctrine of the Magians was, "The Original Intelligence, who is the first principle of all things, discovers himself to the mind and the understanding only; but he hath placed the sun as his image in the visible universe, and the beams of that bright luminary are but a faint copy of the glory that shines in the higher heavens." It appears to the man studying nature, that the sun is the most probable place in the universe for the throne of the Deity: from whence are diffused throughout creation light and heat -- a subtle essence, inexhausting and self-subsisting --conveying, or in themselves being, the operative spirits which conduct the works of God through all the field of nature. "Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord, my God, thou art very great, thou art clothed with honor and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment. Who maketh the clouds his chariot, who walketh upon the wings of the wind. Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flaming fire." (Psalm civ. l - 4.)
The great Author of all hath given the Moon to govern the night; a fit season for solemn meditation. When the labors of the day are ended, and man's mind is abstracted from the cares of life, then it is for our soul's recreation to walk forth, with contemplative mind, to read the great works of the Almighty in the starry firmament, and in the innumerable worlds which are governed by his will; and thence to meditate on his omnipotence.1 Our thoughts returning from this glorious scene towards ourselves, we discern the diminutiveness of man, and by a natural inference, confess the benevolence of that God, who regardeth us (such minute atoms) in the midst of his mighty works; whose universal love is thus divinely expressed, "That not a sparrow shall fall without your father; but the very hairs of your head are all numbered."
1.
. . . . . . " O majestic. night!
Nature's great ancestor! day's elder born!
And fated to survive the transient sun;
By mortals, and immortals, seen with awe!
A starry crown thy raven brow adorns,
Au azure zone thy waist: clouds in heaven's loom
Wrought thro' varieties of shape and shade,
In ample folds of drapery divine,
Thy flowing mantle form, and heaven throughout
Voluminously pour thy pompous train.
Thy gloomy grandeurs (Nature's most august
Inspiring aspect) claim a grateful verse.
And like a sable curtain starr'd with gold,
Drawn o'er my labors past shall close the scene!"
(Young's Night Thoughts.
When the world was under the hands of her great Architect, she remained dark, and without form; but the divine fiat was no sooner pronounced, than behold there was light;1 creation was delivered from darkness, and the sun shot forth instantaneous rays over the face of the earth. He gave that great constellation to the espousal of nature, and vegetation sprang from the embrace; the moon yielded her influence to the waters, and attraction begat the tides.
2 "Silence.
ye troubled waves, and thou deep, peace,
Said then th' omnific word, your discord end;
Nor stay'd, but, on the wings of cherubim,
Uplifted in paternal glory, rode
Far into Chaos, and the world unborn;
For Chaos heard his voice; him all his train
Follow'd in bright procession, td behold
Creation and the wonders of his might.
Then stay'd the fervid wheels, and, in his hand,
He took the golden compasses, prepar'd
In God's eternal store, to circumscribe
This universe and all created things
One foot he centr'd, and the other turn'd
Round thro' the vast profundity obscure,
And said, thus far extend, thus far thy bounds,
This be thy just circumference, O world.
"Let there be Light, said God, and forthwith light
Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure
Sprung from the deep, and from her native East
To journey thro' the aery gloom began.
Spher'd in a radiant cloud, for yet the Sun
Was not; she, in a cloudy tabernacle,
Sojourn'd the while.
-- "Thus was the first day ev'n and morn
Nor past uncelebrated, nor unsung
By the celestial quires, when orient Light
Exhaling first from darkness they beheld
Birth.day of heaven and earth; with joy and shout
The hollow universal orb they fill 'd,
And touch'd their golden harps, and hymning prais'd
God and his works, Creator, him they sung."
Milton's Paradise Lost.
Remembering the wonders in the beginning, we, claiming the auspicious countenance of heaven on our virtuous deeds, assume the figures of the sun and moon, as emblematical of the great Light of Truth discovered to the first men, and thereby implying that, as true Masons, we stand redeemed from darkness, and are become the sons of Light, acknowledging in our profession our adoration of him who gave light unto his works. Let us then, by our practice and conduct in life, show that we carry our emblems worthily; and, as the children of Light, that we have turned our backs on works of darkness, obscenity and drunkenness, hatred and malice, Satan and his dominions; preferring charity, benevolence,1 justice, temperance, chastity, and brotherly love, as the acceptable service on which the great Master of all, from his beatitude, looks down with approbation.
1 Appendix, B.
The same divine hand, pouring forth bounteous gifts, which hath blessed us with the sight of his glorious works in the heavens, hath also spread the earth with a beauteous carpet; he hath wrought it in various colors; fruits and flowers, pastures and meads; golden furrows of corn, and shady dells, mountains skirted by nodding forests, and valleys flowing with milk and honey: he hath wrought it " as it were in mosaic work," giving a pleasing variety to the man: he hath poured upon us his gifts in abundance, not only the necessaries of life, but also "wine to gladden the heart of man, and oil to give him a cheerful countenance:1 and that he might still add beauty to the scene of life wherein he hath placed us, his highly favored creatures, he hath skirted and bordered the earth with the ocean; for the wise Creator having made man in his own image, not meaning in the likeness of his person, but spiritually, by breathing into his nostrils the breath of life, and inspiring him with that resemblance of the Divinity, an intellectual spirit. He skirted the land with the ocean, not only for that salubrity which should be derived from its agitation, but also that to the genius of man, a communication should be opened to all the quarters of the earth; and that, by mutual intercourse, men might unite in mutual good works, and all become as members of one society. These subjects are represented in the flooring of the Lodge.
1 All this is genuine Masonry. Wherever we turn, - whether to contemplate the splendid lights of heaven, or the works of nature and art on earth, - every thing we behold is an illustration of our noble science. Whether a star in the sky, or a rough stone in the pavement, it is still a symbol of Masonic research. -EDITOR.
The universe is the temple of the Deity whom we serve: Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty are about his throne, as the pillars of his works; for his wisdom is infinite, his strength is in omnipotence, and beauty stands forth through all his creation in symmetry and order: he hath stretched forth the heavens as a canopy, and the earth he hath planted as his footstool: he crowns his temples with the stars, as with a diadem, and in his hand he extendeth the power and the glory: the sun and moon are messengers of his will, and all his law is concord. The pillars supporting the Lodge are representative of these divine powers. A lodge, where perfect masons are assembled, represents these works of the Deity.
We place the spiritual Lodge in the vale of Jehoshaphat, implying thereby, that the principles of Masonry are derived from the knowledge of God, and are established in the judgment of the Lord; the literal translation of the word Jehoshaphat,1 from the Hebrew tongue, being no other than those express words. The highest hills2 and lowest valleys3 were from the earliest times esteemed sacred, and it was supposed the spirit of God was peculiarly diffusive in those places. "Upon the top of the mountain, the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy." It is said, in the Old Testament, that the spirit of God buried Moses, a valley in the land of Moab, implying 'that from divine influence he was interred in such hallowed retirement. On Elijah's translation, the sons of the Prophets said to Elisha, "Behold now there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray. thee, and seek thy master, lest, peradventure, the spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley." Hence was derived the veneration paid to such places in the earliest ages, and hence the sacred groves of the Orientals and Druids. They chose those situations for their public worship, conceiving that the presence of the Deity would hallow them: they set up their altars there, and shadowed them with groves, that there, as it was with Adam, they might "hear the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden."'
1 There was a firm belief amongst the early Christians that the duration of this world would terminate in the year 1000 of our era, and that the valley of Jehoshaphat would be the Scene of the general judgment. -EDITOR.
2 " At length, to beautify those hills, the places of the idolatrous worship, they beset them with trees, and hence came the consecration of groves and woods, from which their idols many times were named. At last some choice arid select trees began to be consecrated. Those French Magi, termed Dryadæ worshipped the oak, in Greek ????, and thence had their names. The Etrurians worshipped an holm-tree and, amongst the Celtæ a tall oak was the idol or image of Jupiter. Among the Israelites, the idolatry began under the Judges Othniel and Ehud (Judges iii. 7,) and, at the last, became so common in Israel, that they had peculiar priests, whom they termed prophets of the grove (1 Kings xviii. 19), and idols of the grove; that is, peculiar idols, unto whom their groves were consecrated. (2 Kings xxi. 7; 2 Chron. xv. 16.") Godwyn's Moses and Aaron.
3 In the "Freemasons' Quarterly Review" for 1842, will be found a series of disquisitions, by the Editor of this work, on the right application of the traditional hill and valley of Freemasonry. -EDITOR.
In the corruption and ignorance of after ages those hallowed places were polluted with idolatry;1 the unenlightened mind mistook the type for the original, and could not discern the light from darkness; the sacred groves and hills became the objects of enthusiastic bigotry and superstition; the devotees bowed down to the oaken log2 and the graven image as being divine. Some preserved themselves from the corruptions of the times, and we find those sages and select men, to whom were committed, and who retained, the light of understanding and truth, unpolluted with the sins of the world, under the denomination of Magi among the Persians; wise men, soothsayers, and astrologers, among the Chaldeans; philosophers among the Greeks and Romans; bramins among the Indians; druids and bards among the Britons: and, with the chosen people of God, Solomon shone forth in the fullness of human wisdom.
1 "The vulgar losing sight of the emblematical signification, which was not readily understood but by poets and philosophers, took up with the plain figures as real divinities. Stones, erected as monuments of the dead, became the place where posterity paid their Venerations to the memory of the deceased. This increased into a peculiarity, and at length became an object of worship." (Lord Kame's Sketches of Man.)
2 The Druids worshipped rough stones, and many of these deified idols still remain in this country, and retain the names of abomination. In some districts they are called Drake Stones, from Draig (Br.) a serpent or dragon; the devil. In other places the name is less equivocal. " The devil's quoits;" "the devil's arrows;" "the devil's den;', &c. &c., are the appellations by which they are still distinguished. -EDITOR.
The Master of each lodge should found his government in concord and universal love;1 for, as the great Architect moves the system with his finger, and touches the spheres with harmony, so that the morning stars together sing the songs of gratitude, and the floods clap their hands, amidst the invariable beauties of order; so should we, rejoicing, be of one accord, and of one law, in unanimity, in charity, and in affection1 moving by one unchanging system, and actuated by one principle, in rectitude of manners.
1 Appendix, C.
A Mason, sitting the member of a lodge, claiming these emblems as the testimonies of his order, ought, at that instant, to transfer his thoughts to the august scene which is there imitated, and remember that he then appears professing himself a member of the great, temple of the universe, to obey the laws of the mighty Master of all, in whose presence he seeks to be approved. The ancient record which I have before quoted expresses that the first Masons received their knowledge from God; by which means they were endowed with the due understanding of what is pleasing to him, and the only true method of propagating their doctrines.
The few who remained uncorrupted with - the sins of nations, and who served the only and true God, despised the fables and follies of idolaters;1 others, who were emerging from the ignorance and blindness in which they had been overwhelmed, contemplated the wonders displayed in the face of Nature, and traced the Divinity through the walks of his power, and his mighty deeds. Contemplation at first went forth admiring, but yet without comprehension from whence all things had their existence; Contemplation returned, glowing with conviction, that one great Original, of infinite power, of infinite intelligence, and of benevolence without bounds, was the master of all. They beheld him in his works, they read his Majesty in the heavens, and discovered his miracles in the deep: every plant that painted the face of nature, and every thing having the breath of life, described his presence and his power. Such men were afterwards made known to the enlightened, and were united with them in the perfection of truth.2
1 These fables and follies were so gross and absurd that we cannot wonder that they excited the pain and disgust of the true Freemason. The heathen priests abused the credulity of the people to the gratification of their own sensual appetites. And so outrageous did these worthies become, fastu et altitudine turgent, as to persuade themselves that they were really the deities they personated. Thus the physician Menecrates assumed the tide of Jupiter; Nicostratus took that of Hercules; and Nicagoras actually constructed for himself a pair of wings, and would be called Mercury. -EDITOR.
2 " Thus," as our noble author says, "through a long maze of errors, man arrived at true religion, acknowledging but one Being, supreme in power, intelligence, and benevolence, who created all other beings, to whom all other beings are subjected, and who directs every event to answer the best purposes." (Lord Kame's Sketches of Man.)
As the servants of one God, our predecessors professed the temple, wherein the Deity approved to be served, was not of the work of men's hands. In this the Druids copied after them; the universe, they confessed, 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, whosesoever under the sun they worshipped, they regarded themselves as being in 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;1 when, in later ages, they built temples, they left them open to the heavens, and unroofed.
1The heathens gained a knowledge of one great superintending power from the light of nature, although they could neither define nor comprehend his attributes. The regularity of the solar system; the wondrous orbs moving in their several spheres with such admirable order; the propagation of plants and animals, and the general system of nature, convinced them that they were all under the governance of some superior and superintending power. It was in this sense that our G. M. David said, - "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork." -EDITOR.
The true believers, in order to withdraw and distinguish themselves from the rest of mankind, especially the idolaters with whom they were surrounded, adopted emblems and mystic devices, together with certain distinguishing principles, whereby they should be known to each other, and also certify that they were servants of that God in whose hands all creation existed. By these means they also protected themselves from persecution, and their faith from the ridicule of the incredulous vulgar. To this end, when they rehearsed the principles of their profession, they pronounced "that they were worshippers in that temple whose bounds were from the distant quarters of the universe; whose height was no otherwise limited than by the heavens, and whose depth was founded on that axis on which the revolutions of the starry zodiac were performed."
The Egyptians were the first people known to us who, in the early ages of the world - after the flood - advanced to any high degree of knowledge in astronomy, arts, and sciences; these were the means of discovering to them the existence of the Divinity; and they worshipped the author of those sublime works which they contemplated, but, through national prejudices, soon began to represent the attributes of the Deity in symbols; and, as the visible operations of his omnipotence were chiefly expressed in the powers of the sun and moon, whose influence they perceived through all the field of nature, they depicted the Deity by those heavenly bodies, and at length, under the names of Osiris and Isis,1 adored the God of Nature.1
1 A curious story is told by Dr. Kellet, (Tricæn. Christ., p.596,) about the worship of Isis: - "The image of Isis was on an ass's back; the people kneeled, and fell down to it. The ass grew proud, as if the honor had been done to him. The people (which was a greater ass) spake to his brother ass, "Non tibi, sed religioni," - we worship not thee, but Isis. And yet it -stood with more reason to worship the ass, which had sense rather than the image, which had none." -EDITOR
2 Dr. Owen divides the whole of idolatrous worship into Sabaism and Hellenism; the former consists in the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, and the host of heaven (which only is to my present purpose). which it is probable a few ages after the flood had its beginning. Dr. Prideaux says, " the true religion which Noah taught his posterity was that which Abraham practiced -- the worshipping of one God, the supreme governor of all things, through a Mediator. Men could not determine what essence contained this power of mediation, no clear revelation being then made of the Mediator whom God appointed, because as yet he had not been manifested in the world, they look upon them to address him by mediators of their own choosing; and their notion of the sun, moon, and stars being, that they were habitations of intelligences, which animated the orbs in the same manner as the soul animates the body of man, and were causes of their motion and that these intelligencies were of middle sort between God and them, they thought these the properest things to be the mediators between God and them; and therefore the planets, being the nearest of all the heavenly bodies, and generally looked oil to have the greatest influence on this world, they made choice of them, in the first place, as their gods' mediators, who were to mediate with the Supreme God for them, and to procure from him mercies and favors, which they prayed for." Herodotus says that Osiris and Isis were two great deities of the Egyptians, and almost the whole mythology of that ancient people is included in what their priests fabled of them. Plutarch conceives, that by Osiris the sun is to be understood; and this Macrobius confirms, adding that Osiris, in the Egyptian language, signifies many-eyed, and Isis the ancient, or the moon. Osiris, accord mg to Banier, is the same as Misraim, the son of Cham, who peopled Egypt some time after the deluge. And Dr. Cumber land, Bishop of Peterborough, says Misraim, the son of Cham grand-child of Noah, was the first king of Egypt, and founder of their monarchy; and that Osiris was an appropriated tide, signifying the prince, and Isis is Ishah, his wife. Diodorus Siculus, who has transmitted down to us with great care the most ancient traditions of the Egyptians, asserts this prince is the same with Menes, the first king of Egypt. Perhaps, at his apotheosis his name was changed to that of Isiris, according to some historians. As the images of Osiris were very resplendent to represent the beams of light from the sun, so in their hymns of praise they celebrate him as resting in the bosom of the sun. From the authority of Banier, and other historians, we learn, that the gods of the Egyptians were adopted by the Phænicians; that their theology was propagated by the Phoenicians into the East and in the West; and some traces of them are found in every island 6f the Mediterranean. In Syria we find the same theology, the sun under the name of Adonis, and the moon of Ashtaroth. The festival of Adonis is mentioned in Baruch, (chap. vii. 30, 81.) "The priests of the city sat in their temples uncovered and shaven, and mourning as at a feast for the dead." The Prophet complains that Solomon went after Ashtaroth, and after Melcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. The Chaldeans and Babylonians paid adoration to Fire, and held the Sabaism worship. The Persians worshipped the Sun and Fire. St. Cyril, writing on the Pythagorean principles, says, "We see plainly that Pythagoras maintained that there was but one God, the original and cause of all things, who enlightens every thing, animates every thing, and from whom every thing proceeds, who has given being to all things, and is the source of all motion." Pythagoras thus defines the Divinity: "God is neither the object of sense nor subject to passion; but invisible, purely intelligible, and supremely intelligent. In his body he is like the light, and in his soul he resembles truth. He is the universal spirit that pervades and diffuses itself over all nature. All beings receive their life from him. There is but one God, who is not, as some are apt to imagine, seated above the world, beyond the orb of the universe; but being all in himself, he sees all the beings that inhabit his immensity. He is the sole principle, the light of heaven, the Father of all; he produces every thing; he orders and disposes every thing; he is the reason, the life, and the motion of all beings." Plutarch says," Osiris is neither the sun, nor the water, nor the earth, nor the heaven; hut whatever there is in nature well disposed, well regulated, good and perfect, all that is the image of Osiris." Seneca the stoic says, "It is of very 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, He is called Jupiter Stator, not, as historians say, because he stopped the flying armies of the Romans, but because he is the constant support of all beings. They call him Fate, because he is the first cause on which all others depend. We stoics sometimes call him Father Bacchus, because he is the universal life that animates nature; Hercules, because his power is invincible; Mercury, because he is the eternal reason, order, and wisdom. You may give him as many names as you please, provided you allow but one sole principle, every where present."
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 Phænicians, who had received the Egyptian theology in an early age, it is not to be wondered that we should adopt Egyptian symbols1 to represent or express the attributes of the Divinity.
1 A dissertation on the Egyptian symbols will be found in the Theocratic Philosophy, lect. vi. -EDITOR.
The Pythagorean system of philosophy also points out to us a reason for the figure of the sun being introduced into the lodge, as being the centre of the planetary system which he taught, as well as the emblem of the Deity which he served. This grand [missing Greek] was a symbol expressing the first and greatest principle of his doctrines. This was also a representation of the Abrax which governed the stellary world and our diurnal revolutions.
In the books of Hermes Trismegistus, who was an Egyptian, and said to be contemporary with Abraham's grandfather, is this remarkable passage; speaking of the Deity, he says, "But if thou wilt see him, consider and understand the sun, consider the course of the moon, consider the order of the stars.1 Oh thou unspeakable, unutterable, to be praised with silence."
1 This was a more sensible practice than that of the Manichæns, who1 as we are told by Augustine, worshipped the sun and moon, under a supposition that God's virtue dwelt in the former, and his wisdom in the latter. They believed that God resided only in the light; forgetting that he had said he would dwell in the thick darkness, (2 Chron. vi. 1;) that darkness was under his feet; and that he made darkness his secret place; and his pavilion round about him. (Psalm xviii. 9, 11) -EDITOR.
From hence we are naturally led to perceive the origin of the Egyptian symbolization, and the reason for their adopting those objects as expressive of the might, majesty, and omnipresence of the Deity.2 Posterity, to record the wise doctrines and religious principles of the first professors of the true worship, have adopted these descriptions of the lodge in which they assemble; and maintain those religious tenets which nature dictates, gratitude to him under whom we exist; and working in the accept-able service of him, who rejoiceth in the upright man.
1 The learned Dr. Stukeley, speaking of Stonehenge, says he took his dimensions of this monument by the Hebrew, Phoenician, or Egyptian cubit, being twenty inches and three-fourths of an inch English measure. He dates this erection from the time of Cambyses's invasion of Egypt, before the time of building the second temple at Jerusalem, at an sera when the Phoenician trade was at its height; and he presumes that when the priests fled from Egypt under the cruelties committed by that invader, they dispersed themselves to distant parts of the world, and introduced their learning, arts, and religion, among the Druids of Britain.
As such it is to be a Freemason; as such is a lodge of Masons; as such are the principles of this society; as these were the original institutions of our Brotherhood, let the ignorant laugh on, and the wicked ones scoff. And that these are true solutions of our Emblems, I am convinced myself; and, with humble deference to the rest of my brethren, offer them for their atention.
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