The Anacalypsis Of Godfrey Higgins.

secrets of Masonry are concealed in the Hebrew or Chaldeo language ; that is , in tho language of the Brahmin of Ur and Colida , where Mr . Ellis was poisoned for being known to possess them ( p . 790 , vol . I . )" On this , Bro . Hughan remarks : — "In our Masonic Investigations we have always been most anxious to separate fact

from fiction , actual occurrences from simple traditions , and whilst not at all desirous to undervalue the importance of our traditions , yet we have always maintained they should not be invested with the character of being actual realities , when they are not , but that they should be just regarded simply

as traditions and nothing more . " On the other hand Bro . Higgins " apparently seizes hold of every tradition—no matter how absurd or unlikely — as if he had unequivocal evidence before him . " Hence Bro . Hughan declines

to accept sundry of his statements , " unless supported by positive proof . " Hence , too , he regards the foregoing statements not as the narration of facts , but only as curious fancies put into words .

Then comes a passage from Bro . Higgins , in which is recorded " a curious incident not without food for

consideration . " " After I had , from various sources and by various means , added to reasoning , nearly arrived at a conviction , that the ancient order of Freemasons arose in India , and was established there , as a mystery , in tho earliest periods , my conviction acquired wonderful strength

from a knowledge of tho fact which I shall now mention . I shall be censured for stating facts in this way ; but I write truly and for tho truth , and for this purpose alono . The style or order in such a work as this is not worth naming . At the time that I learned from Captain , the gentleman who was named in my last chapter , tho

particulars respecting the tomb of St . Thomas , I was also told by him that ho was on the strictest intimacy with tho lato — Ellis , Esq ., of the Madras Establishment : that Mr . Ellis told him that the password and forms used by the Master Masons in their Lodgo would pass a person into tho sanctum sanctorum of an Indian Templo ; thai he ,

Mr . Ellis , had , by means of his knowledge as a Master Mason , actually passed himself into the sacred part or ady turn of ono of them . Soon after Mr . Ellis told this to my informant , ho was taken suddenly ill , and died , ancl my informant stated that ho had no doubt , notwithstanding tho mistake which his friends called it * * * * in

giving some medicine , that ho was poisoned by his servants for having done this very act , or for being known to possess this knowledge Now , when this is coupled with tho fact of the Masonic emblems

found on tho Cyclopean ruins of Agra and Mnndore , I think , without fear of contradiction , ! may venture to assume , that tho oriental origin of Freemasonry cannot bo disputed , —and that I may reason upon it accordingly . "

Bro . Hughan thinks it unlikely that any , having the fate of this Mr . Ellis before him , will voluntarily encounter the risk of a similar fate , in which case he asks , " how are such statements to bo tested ? It falls in with tho popular

notion of the universal character and powers of Masonic signs , but certainly does not agree with our facts , which have been laboriously accumulated aud examined time after time without tbeir testimony being shaken . "

The opinion of the American Masonic Bibliographer , Bro . Enoch T Carson , is quoted as to the two works , the Celtic Druids and tho Anacalypsis , by Bro . Higgins , but while Bro . Hughan expresses a very favourable judgment of their merits , he very properly points ont that the views

expressed in them must be most rigidly examined before they are accepted " as correct , " and that " while we cannot fail to admire the diligence of the author , we must also

admit that his inferences aro frequently not justified by the evidence he submits . " We are then invited to a consideration of the following passage bearing on the Royal Arch Degree . Says Bro . Higgins : —

" Tho Temple at Elensis had a very largo dome , which was of great antiquity , long before the time usually allotted to the invention of the arch , with radiated stones . * * * * I request my brother Masons of the Royal Arch to place themselves in the middle of tho new room at Freemasons' Tavern , when lighted up , and then to reflect

npon all their ceremonies , on which of course I cannot enlarge , and I suspect they will find themselves both at Elensis and atBitchem , and in India . # * * * Wo know very well that there were no arches in tho Temple of Jerusalem , that is , radiated arches ; but wo also know that there were vaults in which there were great treasures . # # # #

These arches , I apprehend , were of tho nature of that of the Treasury of Atreus at Messina , and of the Cupola of Komilar , described by Col . Tod . If a person wanted to open such an arch , he would use a rope , putting it round tho cap , and pulling it inside ; if he wanted to open a key-stone arch he would not use a ropebut a

, hammer ( p . 719 , vol . I . ) " The persons called Eoyal Arch Masons were the Archi-tect-onici , before the invention of key-stoned or radiated arches tbe Cycloprean builders of the only stone edifices , at that time , in the world ,

which were temples . * * * * The Archi-tect-onici , the Chalctei , the Gnostici , the Mathematici , the Dionisiaci , constituted a MYSTERY , and erected Gothic buildings , the ruins of which now remain in India , thousands of years before they existed in Europe . * * * I beg to repeat to such of my readers as are Eoyal Arch Masons , that Solomon

The Anacalypsis Of Godfrey Higgins.

was a Eas or wise man , and that a Mason in Eajapoutana is called a Raz , which also means mystery ; and now I take the liberty of observing to my brethren , that they are called Eoyal Arch Masons , not because they havo anything to do with kings , but because they are Raia-Pont-an Masons ( p . 770 . " )

On this , Brother Hughan remarks that he has " never been able to trace the Royal Arch of Freemasonry long before 1740 ; " that he believes his experience agrees with that" of the editors of the VOICE , particularly of Dr . Mackey , who has made the Ritual and History of that degree his

special subject , " and that he has " had more than one friendly discussion with our esteemed and learned brother , the Rev . A . F . A . Woodford , M . A ., who rather leans to a much older origin than we can ascribe to Royal Arch Masonry . " Ho further bestows a word of just praise on

the late Dr . Oliver ' s Origin of the English Boyal Arch ( London : R . Spencer & Co . ) He further states he is pretty sure " that nothing has yet been published to prove the existence of such a degree prior to A . D ., 1738 , " and he knows that " Rituals about the period mentioned , as well

as those of later dates , clearly point out tho fact that for some years afer the Revival of Freemasonry in London , A . D ., 1717 , the real and distinctive ceremonies of Royal Arch Masonry' were worked in the Master Mason ' s Degree . If such , " ho says " wero not the case , what means the

frequent reference to the fact that Master Masons journeyed to tho West' in search of that which was lost , but is now found , ' which subsequently is declared to be tho ' Master Mason ' s word , ' and which word is then exchanged for the substituted word communicated in the

former part of the ceremony ? If the Royal Arch Degree in its separate and distinct form existed prior to 1738 , and indeed , was as old as the Third Degree , how comes it that the regular Grand Lodge of England persistently refused to recognise it until 1813 , but the body of Masons which

seceded from this original and premier Grand Lodge , made much of the degree , and by it we may truly say , succeeded in making their numerical position in a few years , almost equal to the regular Grand Lodge itself ? " Bro . Higgins , however , it is pointed out , " distances all of

us , in his belief in the antiquity of Royal Arch Masonry , for he considers the society existed and its members flourished hefore the invention of hey-sbned or radiated

arches . Bro . Hughan thinks this must be intended "in a figurative sense ; " otherwise , he cannot follow him in his faith , " as he has failed to afford us tho necessary evidence !"

Respecting the Masonic Societies of Germany , Bro Higgins , we are told , says : —

" About tho middle of the last century , tho Masonic societies showed themselves in Germany in a more prominent way than they had done for many generations , and , under the guidance of several able and philanthropic men , both Catholic and Protestant priests and laymen , it is probable , gave encouragement to resistance to tho

united despotism of the Eoman Pontiffs and tho Eoyal tyrants of Europe , which , in France and Germany , had risen to such a pitch as to be no longer tolerable . Tho activity of the Masons being discovered , it produced the persecution of their Order all over the Continent , and it was much increased in consequence of several

publications of three persons , called Zimmerman , Baruel , and Eobinson . The first was decidedly insane , and the other two were operated upon by groundless fears in such a manner as to be in a state very little better , and which rendered them totally incapable of distinguishing between the destruction of religion , and the destruction of tho base system

to which the professors of religion had made it subservient . They all admit that the British Masons had nothing to do with these hydraheaded conspiracies , and endeavour to draw a line between them aud

their continental brethren , being unable to see that the difference was not in tho Societies , which wero tho same , but in the countries—Britain being comparatively free and happy , the other countries enslaved and miserable .

Bro . Hughan applauds this view of the subject . He points also that " Freemasonry , of course , is entirely neutral as a Society , both as respects religion and politics and so it has always been claimed to be since the revival of 1717 . " Before then , however , it had not been " neutral as regards religion

for nearly all the copies of its Regulations and traditionary History commence with an Invocation to the Trinity , and contain many references to the Scripture and the Church which clearly illustrated the intimate connection subsisting between the Priesthood " of past centuries and Operative

Masonry , an intimacy not wholly severed in some countries during the last century , and even now preserved in some Lodges , where the Chaplain will conclude a prayer

with the words , ' through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour / even when Jews and Turks are sitting side by side with Christians . " Bro . Hughan further expresses his opinion that it is impossible to " obliterate all traces of