Solomon's Temple:

SOLOMON'S TEMPLE :

Mount Ararat : Eden : Zion . " We must study the past to understand the present . "—Confucius

OUR Manchester representative ( Brother E . Roberts ) has forwarded us the following sketch , intimating at the same time that he has received permission from the author to publish it in these columns :

A TEMPLE OR HOUSE OF SOLOMON . Solomon ' s Temple ! What a halo of mystery surrounds that wonderful House of God ! How often have we heard of its magnificence , its curious mode of construction—There was neither hammer nor axe , nor any tool of iron heard in

the house while it was in building ( i Kings vi . 7 ) , —its wealth of brazen and golden furniture and utensils , its remarkable pillars , Boaz and Jachin , products of the masterly workmanship of Hiram , the widow ' s son of Tyre , its interesting site—Mount Moriafa , at Jerusalem ( 2 Chron . iii . 1 )!

Where is it now ? The remains of ancient temples , monuments , royal tombs , pyramids , etc ., some dating back even so far as seven thousand years , are to be found in India

Assyria , Egypt , Greece , Italy , Mexico , and many other countries , but of Solomon ' s Temple , where is there a trace ? It is the object of this chapter to dispel the mystery , and introduce the reader to the real Temple of Solomon .

The word " temple" is from the Latin , tempus , time , or a portion of time , and the structures known as temples extend to the most remote antiquity . The earliest temples were open at the top , and formed by the setting up of roughhewn stones , which , by their number and arrangement ,

represented the twelve signs of the Zodiac , lunar cycles , years , lunisolar periods , or combinations of them . They were intended to do honour to these astronomical subjects , and to keep them in remembrance . Amongst the various remains still extant are to be found represented every cycle

known except that of 666 , the " Mark of the Beast" ( see Chap . ii . p . 641 ) . The temple was thus a microcosmic representation of the starry vault of heaven , the real Templum . These collections of stones , familiarly known as Druidical circles , were not , however , the only means employed to

indicate the plan of the universe . In Morier ' s " Travels in Persia" is depicted a curious structure of cyclopean architecture , i . e ., formed of largej rough-hewn stonesi , which could evidently be laid in position " without sound of

hammer , axe , or tool of iron . " It is of great antiquity , and attributed by the Persians to Solomon ; they call it " Madre Soleiman . " Seven flat towers , laid upon one another , forming steps at each side , are surmounted by a house of simple construction . ( See illustration . )

Each layer represents an orbit of one of the planets ; the house stands for the sun , the source of life and light , the highest or most perfect emblem then known to man of the divine energy to which all things owe their being . This fabric may fairly be regarded as the simplest form of

a ' Solomon ' s Temple . " On the north-west frontier of India is a range of mountains called Solyman or Suleman , i . e ., Solomon , amongst which is a snow-capped mount known as " Tukte Soleiman , " or Solomon ' s Throne ; the people of the district believe 1 that the Ark rested upon it after the

deluge . On the opposite side of the range from India is Afghanistan , whose natives claim descent from Saul , and bear an undeniable likeness to the Jews . Sir William Jones found their language very like the Chaldaic . Bernier , -in

his Travels , ' describes a Tucht Soliman , of Cashmere , which the Mohammedans declared to have been built by Solomon in very ancient times . Temples of Solomon are yet to be found in Tartary on the frontiers of China ; at Mewar , the great city of Oude , and at Telmessus , in Asia

Solomon's Temple:

Minor . They are simply , like other temples , types of the universe as observed by the ancients , depicting specifically the sun surrounded by the seven planets ( as known to the ancients ) , viz ., Mercury , Venus , Earth , Moon , Mars , jupiter , and Saturn .

Solomon ' s Temple was said to have been built on the sacred Mount Moriah . Most ancient countries had each a sacred mount , an Olympus , an Athos , etc ., all corresponding with the Sacred Mount Meru of the Hindus . In Egypt in lieu of a mount was the sacred island of Phylae or

Meroe . Meiroe and Moriah were evidently variants of Meru : The mystical Hindu Meru was a hill encircled by seven belts of land , all separated from one another by seven seas , and the whole surrounded by a greater sea called the Ocean ; here we have again the Sun and the seven planets

m the ocean of the firmament . Meru was also called the Mount of Saba or Sabha , the heavenly host or stars ; from this comes the expression Lord of Sabaoth , i . e ., Lord of the Starry Heavens . Another name was Il-avratta or Id-avratta ; the prefix signifies ' holy , ' while Avaratta is ' Ararat , '

the combination meaning Holy Ararat . On the top of Mount Meru was Brahmapore or Brahma-puri , the City of the Gods . There the Gods were said to assemble in consultation , ' on the side of the Mount of the North . ' Whether this last phrase refers to the North Pole , as some think , or

to the inaccessible heights of the mighty Himalaya at the North of India , it is certain that the sites of . the real Meru and Brahma-puri were regarded as far beyond the reach of man . The Hindu religion further teaches that the Garden of Eden is Mount Meru , and that out of it flowed four rivers ,

Brahmapouter , Ganges , Indus , and Oxus . According to the author of Nimrod , Babylon was built with a square tower in the middle of it , surrounded by seven concentric squares of houses . Troy , Rome , and Constantinople were each built

upon seven hills , evidently to resemble a Meru or a Tucht Soliman . Zion ( Heb ., Ziun ) means a stone mount ; it will be remembered that David chose Zion for his city ( 2 Sam . v . 7 ) .

Zion , Moriah , Meru , Eden , Solomon s Temple , whether represented by stone circles , stone mounds , temples , or the peculiar configuration of cities , are all one and the same ; the names are interchangeable , and refer to the

universethe starry vault , the circling planets , all produced without sound of hammer , axe , or tool of iron " by the action of the One Inscrutable , All-pervading Life Power , emblematically represented by the most brilliant , most powerful , most constant object known to man , KING SOL . VlNDEX VERI .

Freemasonry Grave And Gay.

FREEMASONRY GRAVE AND GAY .

THE following is the full report of Bishop Welldon ' s address on the " Grave and Gay Sides of Masonry . " [ In

view of our Brothers name being mentioned in connection with the vacant Bishopric of London , the Lecture , to which reference has been made in all parts of the world , will doubtless be specially interesting to our readers . —Ed . F . C . ] .

This address is a substitute for a sermon which it was at one time hoped that I should deliver in Christ Church . It was not my thought at first to address a large audience , many of whom are not Masons . In the presence of such an audience , I am debarred from dwelling upon some points

and aspects of Masonic doctrine or ritual . No doubt there is a great desire among persons who are not Masons to learn the secrets of Masonry . Nothing , says Bishop Warburton , excites our curiosity like that which retires from our observation and seems to forbid our search . The Masonic

Brotherhood is undoubtedly a secret society . Its members are bound to keep its secrets even from their wives , for although ladies have been admitted to Masonic Lodges , at least in France and perhaps in Scotland , yet Masonry has never become what its historian , Dr . Oliver , calls " an

androgynal institution . " There was at one time an Order of female Freemasons in France , who bore the eccentric name of Mopses , and the female Lodge instituted in France about the year 1 740 was called the Order of Perfect Happiness , but perfect happiness soon ceased to exist . I

cannot reveal to you the secrets of Masonry , but I can assure you that Masonry is an innocent and beneficent institution —I speak of Masonry as I know it in Great Britain and in India . It is remarkable how such an institution has brought down upon itself the vials of wrath from people who know little or nothing about it . Pope Clement XII fulminated a