Objections To Freemasonry.

OBJECTIONS TO FREEMASONRY .

FIRST , its secrecy consists in nothing more than methods by which the members are enabled to recognise each other ; and in certain , doctrines , symbols ,

or instractions , which can be obtained only after a process of initiation , and nnder a promise that they shall be made known to none who have not submitted to the same

initiation , but which , with the exception of these particulars , have no reservations from the public ; and secondly , of those societies which , in addition to their secret modes of recognition and secret doctrines , add

an entire secrecy as to the object of their association , the time of their meetings and even the very names of their members . To the first of these classes belong all those moral or religious secret societies whicb bave existed from

the earliest times . Such are the Ancient Mysteries , whose object was by tbeir initiation to cultivate a purer worship than the popular one ; such , too , the schools of tbe old philosophers liko Pythagoras and Plato , who in their

exoteric instructions taught a higher doctrine than that wbicb they communicated to their exoteric scbolars . Such , too , are , the modern secret societies which have adopted an exclusive form , only that they may restrict the social enjoyment whicb it is their object to cultivate , or the

system of benevolence for which they are organised to

the persons wbo are united with them by the tie of a common covenant and the possession of a common knowledge . Such , lastly , is Freemasonry , which is a secret society only as respects its signs , a few of its legends

and traditions , and its method of inculcating its mystical philosophy , but which , as to everything else—its design , its objects , its moral and religious tenets , and the great doctrine which it teaches—is as open a society as if it

met on the highways beneath the sun of day and not within the well-guarded portals of a Lodge . The great error of writers who have attacked Freemasonry on the

ground of its being a secret society , is that they confounded Freemasonry with political societies of revolutionary times whose object was the overthrow of governments . Masonry does nothing of the kind . —Detroit Freemason .

The Legend Of The Lost Word. (Continued From Page 67).

THE LEGEND OF THE LOST WORD .

( Continued from page 67 ) . IT will be of no use to trace any further the numerous superstitions and legends in relation to this fabled " grand omnific word . " Dr . Mackey very justly says , in the work before mentioned , that it is " no matter what this word

was , or how it was lost , " for we now know that no word can be at present of any use to a Mason , except to serve as a " password , " to prove his right to the honours and benefits of some particular Masonic body or degree ; and for that

purpose ( apart from considerations of a purely archceological and historical nature ) one word is just as good as another , so long as it is appropriate to the time and place , and has been established for that purpose either by ancient usages

or some competent authority . Much learning , however , as might be expected , together with persistent search , laborious study , and even the practice of magical arts , have been employed in past ages , and even down to a few years , o discover the ancient wonder-working word by those who

The Legend Of The Lost Word. (Continued From Page 67).

believed in its fabled power , or from a motive of historical curiosity desired to obtain it . According to some , the sacred

Tetragrammaton , or four-lettered name of God in Hebrew , incorrectly pronounced Jehovah , was the true word . Others thought that the Hebrew word was Jah , the Chaldic Rid or Bell , or tho Egyptian On or Om , tbe Hindoo Anm , together with various combinations of them all , constituted the " grand omnific word . " But as the possession of no one of them , nor any possible combination of them , seems

to confer any miraculous powers on the possessor , neither of them can be tbe correct one according to ancient traditions . If there ever was actually any such thing as a " grand omnific word" ( that is , all-powerful word , from

omnificus , all-creating ) , it certainly remains lost to this day , and " I fear it is for ever lost , " for certainly none of the words disclosed with so much solemn ceremony in certain Masonic degrees confer any supernatural powers on those to whom they are communicated .

As the Masonic legend of the deposit of the " word in a secure and secret place , and its consequent loss , has been already quite fully stated by Masonic writers , in works sanctioned by the highest Masonic authority , there can be no

sort of impropriety in relating it here , for the purpose of showing its primitive astronomical significance . The legend substantially is as follows : " Enoch , under the inspiration of the Most High , built a secret temple under ground , consisting of nine vaults , or arches , situated perpendicularly under each other . A triangular plate of gold , each side of which was a cubit long , and enriched with precious stones , was fixed to a stone of agate of the same form . On this plate was engraved the ' word , ' or true name of God ; and this was placed on a cubical stone , and deposited in the ninth or lowest arch . In consequence of the deluge , all knowledge of this secret

temple was lost , together with the sacred and ineffable or unutterable name , for ages . The lost word was subsequently found in this long forgotten subterranean temple by David , when digging the foundations for the temple , afterwards built by Solomon , his son . "

Other versions of this legend ascribe the building of tbe underground temple , and the deposit therein of the " word , " to Solomon , and its discovery to those " who dug the

foundations of the second temple on the same spot , and connect it with the ' substitute ark' deposited in the same place . " Both legends , however , agree in stating that the " word "

was buried deep under ground , and in the ninth arch , or lowest one of them all ; that it was there lost , and remained " buried in darkness " until it was subsequently found and brought to light . In ancient times , and according to the mystical theology of

those days , God and the sacred name of God were supposed to be one and the same . Tbe " word " was itself considered to be , in some sense , a living , creative power . Thus Plato taught that the divine logos , or word , was God . But , as we

bave shown , the sun was by the ancients universally adopted as the symbol of God , and subsequently confounded with God so that the various names of God became also solar names . The loss of the solar name , therefore , became but another expression of the loss of the sun , or sun-god , in the lower hemisphere . Now let us see how this will harmonize with

the legend ] ust related . Tho sun having reached the summit of the zodiacal arch at the summer solstice , begins to descend toward tho region of darkness . From Cancer he descends to Leo , from Leo to Virgo , from Virgo to Libra ,