Pythagorean Freemasonry.

as the basis of all existence , and interpenetrates all things . Mcsic .

The second preparatory step in the pursuit of wisdom was music . As it raised the mind above the dominion of passion , it was considered as the most proper exercise to fit the mind for contemplation . Pythagoras considered music not only as an art , to be judged of by the ear , but as

a science to be reduced to mathematical maxims and relations , and allied to astronomy . He believed that the heavenly spheres , in which the planets move , dividing the ether in their course , produced tones , and that the tones must be different according to their size , velocity , and

distance . That these relations were in concord , that these tones produced the most perfect harmony , he necessarily believed , in consequence of his notions of the supreme perfection of the universe . Here we have that sublime conception of the music of the spheres , so poetical , so lofty ,

and so beautiful ! To the initiate of the Pythagorean Mysteries the universe overflowed with melody and song The whole system of worlds swam in a celestial harmony . Around the central throne , where He , the All-beautiful and Mighty , sits in unspeakable majesty , hidden from mortal

eyes by the golden drapery of innumerable suns and stars , swells , from age nto age , this ineffable chorus of the spheres . .. In the midst' of such contemplations was the mind of the'Pythagoreau disciple exalted and refined . To him *^

" The eanh and sea , those orbs of fire , Whioh sweep the clear serene along , . Were parts of one stupendous lyre , That wrapped tbe worlds in mighty song . "

ASTRONOMY . The astronomical idea of the Pythagorean Mysteries was , that heaven denotes' either the spheres of the fixed stars , or the whole space between the fixed stars and the moon , or the whole world , including both the heavenly

spheres and the earth . Agreeably to the arithmetical hypothesis , there are ten heavenly spheres , of which nine are visible to us , viz .: the sphere of the fixed stars ; the seven spheres of the seven planets , including the sun and moon , and the sphere of the earth . The tenth earth ,

called b y Pythagoras anticthon—anti-earth—is invisible , but necessary to the perfection of the harmony of nature , since the decad is the perfection of the numerical harmony . By this anti-earth he explains the eclipses of the moon . In the middle of the universe is the central fire , the

principle of warmth and life . The earth is one of tho planets moving around the sphere of fire . The atmosphere of the earth is a gross immovable mass , but the ether ia pure , clear , always in motion , and tbo region of all the divine and immortal natures . His moon and stars are divine intelligences , or inhabited by such .

OF PHILOSOPHY The Pythagorean Mysteries tanghfc that true knowledge embraced those subjects which aro iu their nature immutable , eturnal aud indestructible , and of which alone it can be properly predicated that they exist . The object of philosophy is , by contemplation , to render the human mind

similar to the divine , and make it fit to enter the assembly of superior and purer intelligences . For this purpose ifc is necessary to invoke , in prayer , the assistance of the Divinity and of good angels . Contemplative wisdom

cannot be fully attained without entire abstraction from common things—without entire tranquillity and freedom of mind . Hence the necessity of societies , separate from the world , for contemplation and study .

OF GOD . Pythagoras taught that God was a universal spirit , diffused in all directions from the centre , the source of all animal life , the actual and inward cause of all motion ; in substance similar to light—tho first principle of the universe , incapable of suffering , invisible , indestructible , aud to bo

comprehended by the mind alone . To the Deity there were threo kinds of subordinate intelligences—gods , demons * and heroes—emanations from the Supreme God , varying w dignity and perfection , in proportion as thoy were more or less removed from their source . The heroes he believer ! to bw clothed with bodies of subtle matter . As God is one , and the origin of all variety , he was rcprescufced as a monad , aud tho subordinate spirits as

Pythagorean Freemasonry.

number , derived from and contained in unity . In the organisation of his secret society this idea was displayed . The regions of the air he thonght filled with spirits , demons and heroes , who were the cause of health or sickness to

men and animals , and by means of dreams and other kinds of divinations , imparted the knowledge of future events . The soul was likewise a number , an emanation of the central fire , and consequently always in motion and indestruotible .

OF MAN . In the mystic science of Pythagoras , man consisted of an elementary nature , of a divine and rational principle . His soul was a self-moving power , and consisted of two partsthe rational , which was a portion of the universal soul * an emanation of the central fire , and had its Beat in the brain ;

and irrational , which comprised the passions , and lived in the heart . The sensitive soul ( ihumos ) was supposed to perish ; but the rational mind ( phrenes , nous ) was believed to be immortal , because it had its origin in an immortal source . When the latter was freed from the fetters of tbe

body , it assumed an ethereal vehicle , and passed to tho habitations of the dead , where it remained till it returned to the world , to dwelt in some other body . This transmigration of the spirit was continued , until it was purified of all taint of sin , when it was received to everlasting beatitude in the bosom of Him from whom it proceeded .

Snch was the sublime and lofty character of that ancient system of Freemasonry—if we may call it so—which was so celebrated in the ancient world , and exercised so mighty an influence on subsequent ages . It had its errors , both in its organisation and the ideas it sought to propagate ,

yet its results were eminently advantageous to the human race . Many of its teachings were profoundly philosophical , and are accepted by the most critical systems of the present age . Its idea of association around the secret principle ,

for mutual aid , social enjoyment , intellectual culture , is still the ideal of earnest , positive spirits , who believe in the everlasting progress of tbe race , and look forward , with a sublime hope , to " a good time coming . "—Voice of Masonry .

The Jubilee Of The Benevolent Institution.

THE JUBILEE OF THE BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

WE are very pleased to see among tho notices of motion for next Wednesday ' s meeting of United Grand Lodge , a proposition to give fivo hundred guineas in support of next year ' s Festival of tho R . M . Benevolent Institution , which will mark the Jubilee of that Charity

and are further gratified that a Brother occupying a high position in the City of London should be selected to bring tbe subject under the notice of tho Craft , for tbe reason that in such matters the Metropolitan district is very

often more in need of encouragement than the Provincial districts , where voting organisations and other means of easy communication exist , which can be put into use with the certainty of fulfilling their object . If Sir John

Monckton succeeds with his proposition—and the only quarter from which he may be opposed is from those who would rather vote a thousand guineas—there will be a further incentive for London Lodges to support the Jubilee

than already exists . Stewards of the Metropolitan Lodges will be able to point to the action of the Town Clerk of London , whose advocacy of the cause of the Benevolent Institution in Grand Lodge has secured this grant , and

urge their listeners to make an additional effort solely for the purpose of endorsing the action of this official , while the Lodges which actually meet in the City of London might bo specially appealed to for a similar purpose . On

tho other hand , if the proposition had been placed in the care of a Provincial dignitary , a certain amount of jealousy might have resulted , for in the question of who shall do fcho most good Freemasons do actually strive to rival each

other , and one or more of those now actively working for the Festival might have thought it was their place to make tbe appeal to Grand Lodge , and as a consequence a grievance might have been created . We hope it will , next

week , be necessary for us to record the addition ot this handsome sum to the Jubilee Festival , and further that it will attract other large amounts for what we hope will prove one of the greatest successes of modern Freemasonry .