Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Reviews.
REVIEWS .
All Books intended for Eeview should be addressed to the Editor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , 67 Barbican , E . C . — : o : — The Three Heavens— By tho Eev . JOSIAH CRAMFTOX , M . A ., rector of Killisher , author of " The Lunar World . " London : William Hunt aud Company , Holies-street , Cavendish-square , and Avo Marialane , Paternoster-row . 1876 .
THERE is no science so intimately associated with Freemasonry as the science of astronomy , which , to quote the ancient manuscript , edited a few years since by Bro . Matthew Cooke , " teacheth man the course of the sun , and of tho moon , and of the stars and planets of heaven . " Wo may add , too , that the study of no other science is so interesting , nor do we find as strong evidence in any other of that
wondrous power of the Great Architect of all things . It is hardly possible for any ono who has given his mind to tho contemplation of tho heavens not to believe in tho existence of one Supremo Being to whom tho who ^ universe in indebted for its existence . Masons may or may not havo time or inclination for scientific research , but their leading principle is a recognition of and reverence for God , and
sundry of their most significant emblems are deduced from this particular science of astronomy . Whatever then confirms their belief in , and enhances their respect for the G . A . O . T . U ., whatever throws additional light on the marvels of tho aerial world must necessarily exercise a great influence over the mind of the earnest Mason . Astronomy , however , is an abstruse subject , aud its study
is , or till lately was , almost wholly confined to men of great scientific attainments . Thanks , however , to the efforts of these latter , wo possess nowadays many a simple key to tho inner mysteries of science . Hardly a year passes but some popular treatise ou one or other of its branches makes its appearance , and all the world may know in part what till now has been hidden from all but savants .
Such a work is the one now before us , the Three Heavens , in which the writer explains to ns , in clear and simple language , the most remarkable phenomena of the worlds of air and stars , and demonstrates , both from astronomical and scriptural evidence , the existence of a third , or heaven of heavens . In reading it , we shall not find ourselves troubled with expositions more difficult of comprehension than tho
subjects they are meant to expound . Wo experience little or no difficulty in gathering the author ' s meaning , nor is there the slightest mystery as to the object with which the book is written . This , indeed , is plainly set forth in tho introductory chapter . There we are told the purpose of tho work is threefold . " First , from among the first and second heavens , the region of sky and stars , to trace the design and
purpose of their Maker , to see the band that is Divme through ad , and further , believing , as he does , that ono God is tho author alike of Nature and Revelation , to exhibit the wonderful analogy which exists between them , and to show that if tho heavens be described in the Bible , tho groat truths of tho Bible are written equally in the heavens as well as on the earth ; that the mighty agencies unfolded
in nature present symbols and illustrations innumerable of tho great spiritual truths taught in the scriptures and illustrated with a force and felicity of expression that no mere statement of doctrine could give , and an aptness aud intentional fitness for each other that would bo well represented by the fitness of a key for a clock and a clock for a key . " Thus tho reader will not only gain an insight into a number
of important scientific truths , but will learn how those truths aro so many illustrations of the Creator ' s power . The author shows that science ancl religion go hand iu hand , that cacli boars undeniable witness to tho truth of the other , and that the teachings of tho materialist . who sees no trace whatever of a Divine agency in the wonderful operations of nature , aro utterlv false .
The work , as mav bo judged from its title , is m three parts . The first treats of the World of Air , the second of the World of Stars , tho third of the Heaven of Heavens , the abode of God himself . In the first of these parts wo have described the Air , Clouds , Miraculous Clouds , Thunder-storms , Thunder-storms in their moral aspect , and the inhabitants of tho air . The second deals with Infinite Space ,
Infinity of Space , the Stars , the Planets , Mercnry , Venus , Mars , & c , & c , the Asteroids or Minor Planets and Meteors , the Moon , the association of Comets and Star-showers , Nebula ? , and the system of tho Universe . Under the third head , two classes of evidenceastronomical and scriptural—are offered , with a view to prove tho reality of the cxisfenco of the third Heaven , or Heaven of Heavens .
Where the ground travelled over is so extensive , it is somewhat difficult to select a passage or passages for the purpose of illustrating the author ' s treatment . Wo are persuaded there is no portion of the w ork which is likely to induce in tho reader a sense of weariness . He is far more likely , indeed , to devour tho book hastily than cast it aside from a feeling that it bores him . However , as space forbids us
following Mr . Crampton through the whole of his admirable treatise , we cannot do better , perhaps , than select his chapter on "Clouds , " as exhibiting the author ' s style of handling his subject . After some preliminary observations ou the nature and wonders of the Cloudworld , Mr . Crampton considers them , in the first place , from a scientific view , and then , in reference to the miraculous part thev
have " performed iu tho history of the Old nnd New Testament , where we find them connected so frequently and so directly with the power and presence of Jehovah , and as instrument ? in his hand for the preservation of His people . " Meteorologists , we are told , havo classified them with a considerable degree of success . Brit though they aro ever changing in appearance , thongh their composition is
found to vary , " the substance of which every cloud is composed is mainly or essentially the same , water being the chief ingredient , though existing in them in a great variety of modification and quality from the light and apparently dry and filmy gauze vapour to the blackest and densest thunder-cloud oi' watery shower bith ; from the apparently solid white mountains of stainless snow or wool , that seem
Reviews.
motionless as the terrestrial giants beneath them , to the light drifting mist that hangs midway between the craggy hill top and its bases , or the flying send that hurries by on the wings of tho wind at 50 or 100 miles an hour . All these havo their owndifl ' erpiit densities and ingredients , electricity forming a most frecpient and essential ono ; but all are of water iu some form or other as their basis , iu a condition called
aqueous vapour , —not altogether yet understood , and quite distinct from its usual and simple condition of water . " How clouds aro formed , what mysterious power "first forms and then keeps a cloud suspended in a distinct and definite shape in the clear sky , " this ever has been , and , in spite of the wonderful strides we have made , still remains tho great problem of the day . Tho cause of their formation
is in part known , but " the actual transition from clear vapour to the cloud condition cannot bo followed or traced by any human being nor thoroughly understood ; while tho assuming and maintaining a definite form for the same reason is , in a great measure , an equal mystery . " And so , too , with their change of shape , which even now cannot be satisfactorily accounted for . Another mystery only partially
solved by modern science is tho formation of a rain-cloud . "In attempting to follow tho process from water to vapour , and vapour to cloud , and cloud to rain , electricity and temperature are stated to bo the causes , which doubtless thoy aro in some way ; bnt how it is effected cannot bo so easily explained . " Tho general principle is affirmed with confidence , but "tho secret power that effects those
wondrous transformations cannot bo understood nor fully followed ; notwithstanding the fact that , by a beautiful experiment , artificial clouds have been formed recently , in tho lecture room , upou tho principles wo have remarked ; but , having done it , the fact is elicited , but tho mystery remains . " Then tho writer proceeds to show , as far as ho can , what are clouds and how they aro formed , and to explain
" their motion , by which they distribute and disperse their benefits over tho globe . " As regards tho motive power , tho wind is their chief agent ; bnt other causes arc at work , among them " electricity , which had a hand iu their formation , " and tho " alteration of temperature which is continually occurring in tlie atmosphere , and by which , in their transformation from vapour to cloud
and cloud to vapour again , they aro alternately made to ascend or descend like balloons , or to move forward to a more ratified portion of the atmosphere . " Then we advance a stage further and consider " tho general and obvious purpose fulfilled in clouds as prognostics of tho weather . " In relation to this wo aro told the various kinds of clouds and what they severally indicate . Thus , there is the cirrus
or cim-cicmd , seemingly " a beautifnl snowy , ubrons-looking , delicate cloud , generally at a great elevation , " thongh " it descends near the earth when it is about to predict a storm ; and is then clearer than when it is at its usual height . " This is called tho Proteus of the sky , and is generally indicative of variable weather , with wind or rain . Next wo have tho Cumulus or mountain-cloud , which is " considercd to prognosticate tho approach of fine weather . " Tho next
" division of clouds is stratus , " a " terrestrial rather than a celestial cloud , and includes those creeping mists that -ire seen lo rise , especially in summer , from low fields and valleys and marshes . " Then we havo the Cirro Ciunnlns , usually , but not always so , the forerunner of fine weather ; the Cnmulo stratus , commonly known as tho mackerel sky , the sure fore-runner of wind and unsettled weather ; and the nimbus or storm-cloud .
Such , in outline , is Mr . Crampton s chapter on Clouds , ami o ir readers may judge for themselves of the kind of method ho employs in his long and elaborate account of the Thnu Heavens . It is a fair specimen of his writing and of his simple lluent style of treatment . Had we time or space wo might dip farther into his interesting volume . In snch case , however , wo should he , to some extent , robbing the reader of tho pleasure of satislVing his o . vn curiositv . Wo
therefore take leave of 3 fr . Cramphm ' s work in the belief I hat it wdl find that degree of favour with the public to which it is certainl y entitled . We may note , moreover , that scattered here and there throughout the work aro a number of i'lustratiens , which add considerably to its value , while Parts I . and If . each have an appendix . The Contents Tables , too , arc somewhat more than a bare enumeration of the different sections and sub-seetiens of the work , and maybe regarded rather in the light of synopses , describing the arguments followed in the several chapters .
Ad00702
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS . All Letters and , communications mud be addressed to the Tlditor of THE FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE , ( 57 Tlarhiatn , Lv . vlrn , E . C . We cannot undertake to return rejected ce , ; nrn \ t . ; ii < -ot . vins . W . J . S . —The Portrait shall appear in two or three weuks . Many thanks fur the facts you have so kindly supp ' . io ! . W . M . —Wc will treat on the subject next week . F . J . —The number you refer to has since been reprintc 1 .
Ad00703
" A suitable- t jijl from a Master to Itix LoJf / e . " NEATLY BOUND IN CLOTIf , PRICK 8 s ( M LAC / I , TaBw 5 " nrrm $ ^^?( q ? A , 1 ir % : nm * , ^& P imZ rV ? F ? te . ^ V $ fi \ - . ^ ii-r- - !^ -i ii { 'iM ; i ^ =, ' , a u 2 fc > & siiKCT ^ asiii syv ? sd y * yi .--2 d ^ i > 'H-j ; j * Jtaiul VOLUMES I . and II . Sent , Carriage Paid , to : wiy address in ilio United ivingduin , ou recei p t of Cirque or L' . O . O . London : — "W . W . MORGAN- 67 L ' arbica ' . i , K . C . Cloth Cases for Binding can be had from the Offices , price Is fid each .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Reviews.
REVIEWS .
All Books intended for Eeview should be addressed to the Editor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , 67 Barbican , E . C . — : o : — The Three Heavens— By tho Eev . JOSIAH CRAMFTOX , M . A ., rector of Killisher , author of " The Lunar World . " London : William Hunt aud Company , Holies-street , Cavendish-square , and Avo Marialane , Paternoster-row . 1876 .
THERE is no science so intimately associated with Freemasonry as the science of astronomy , which , to quote the ancient manuscript , edited a few years since by Bro . Matthew Cooke , " teacheth man the course of the sun , and of tho moon , and of the stars and planets of heaven . " Wo may add , too , that the study of no other science is so interesting , nor do we find as strong evidence in any other of that
wondrous power of the Great Architect of all things . It is hardly possible for any ono who has given his mind to tho contemplation of tho heavens not to believe in tho existence of one Supremo Being to whom tho who ^ universe in indebted for its existence . Masons may or may not havo time or inclination for scientific research , but their leading principle is a recognition of and reverence for God , and
sundry of their most significant emblems are deduced from this particular science of astronomy . Whatever then confirms their belief in , and enhances their respect for the G . A . O . T . U ., whatever throws additional light on the marvels of tho aerial world must necessarily exercise a great influence over the mind of the earnest Mason . Astronomy , however , is an abstruse subject , aud its study
is , or till lately was , almost wholly confined to men of great scientific attainments . Thanks , however , to the efforts of these latter , wo possess nowadays many a simple key to tho inner mysteries of science . Hardly a year passes but some popular treatise ou one or other of its branches makes its appearance , and all the world may know in part what till now has been hidden from all but savants .
Such a work is the one now before us , the Three Heavens , in which the writer explains to ns , in clear and simple language , the most remarkable phenomena of the worlds of air and stars , and demonstrates , both from astronomical and scriptural evidence , the existence of a third , or heaven of heavens . In reading it , we shall not find ourselves troubled with expositions more difficult of comprehension than tho
subjects they are meant to expound . Wo experience little or no difficulty in gathering the author ' s meaning , nor is there the slightest mystery as to the object with which the book is written . This , indeed , is plainly set forth in tho introductory chapter . There we are told the purpose of tho work is threefold . " First , from among the first and second heavens , the region of sky and stars , to trace the design and
purpose of their Maker , to see the band that is Divme through ad , and further , believing , as he does , that ono God is tho author alike of Nature and Revelation , to exhibit the wonderful analogy which exists between them , and to show that if tho heavens be described in the Bible , tho groat truths of tho Bible are written equally in the heavens as well as on the earth ; that the mighty agencies unfolded
in nature present symbols and illustrations innumerable of tho great spiritual truths taught in the scriptures and illustrated with a force and felicity of expression that no mere statement of doctrine could give , and an aptness aud intentional fitness for each other that would bo well represented by the fitness of a key for a clock and a clock for a key . " Thus tho reader will not only gain an insight into a number
of important scientific truths , but will learn how those truths aro so many illustrations of the Creator ' s power . The author shows that science ancl religion go hand iu hand , that cacli boars undeniable witness to tho truth of the other , and that the teachings of tho materialist . who sees no trace whatever of a Divine agency in the wonderful operations of nature , aro utterlv false .
The work , as mav bo judged from its title , is m three parts . The first treats of the World of Air , the second of the World of Stars , tho third of the Heaven of Heavens , the abode of God himself . In the first of these parts wo have described the Air , Clouds , Miraculous Clouds , Thunder-storms , Thunder-storms in their moral aspect , and the inhabitants of tho air . The second deals with Infinite Space ,
Infinity of Space , the Stars , the Planets , Mercnry , Venus , Mars , & c , & c , the Asteroids or Minor Planets and Meteors , the Moon , the association of Comets and Star-showers , Nebula ? , and the system of tho Universe . Under the third head , two classes of evidenceastronomical and scriptural—are offered , with a view to prove tho reality of the cxisfenco of the third Heaven , or Heaven of Heavens .
Where the ground travelled over is so extensive , it is somewhat difficult to select a passage or passages for the purpose of illustrating the author ' s treatment . Wo are persuaded there is no portion of the w ork which is likely to induce in tho reader a sense of weariness . He is far more likely , indeed , to devour tho book hastily than cast it aside from a feeling that it bores him . However , as space forbids us
following Mr . Crampton through the whole of his admirable treatise , we cannot do better , perhaps , than select his chapter on "Clouds , " as exhibiting the author ' s style of handling his subject . After some preliminary observations ou the nature and wonders of the Cloudworld , Mr . Crampton considers them , in the first place , from a scientific view , and then , in reference to the miraculous part thev
have " performed iu tho history of the Old nnd New Testament , where we find them connected so frequently and so directly with the power and presence of Jehovah , and as instrument ? in his hand for the preservation of His people . " Meteorologists , we are told , havo classified them with a considerable degree of success . Brit though they aro ever changing in appearance , thongh their composition is
found to vary , " the substance of which every cloud is composed is mainly or essentially the same , water being the chief ingredient , though existing in them in a great variety of modification and quality from the light and apparently dry and filmy gauze vapour to the blackest and densest thunder-cloud oi' watery shower bith ; from the apparently solid white mountains of stainless snow or wool , that seem
Reviews.
motionless as the terrestrial giants beneath them , to the light drifting mist that hangs midway between the craggy hill top and its bases , or the flying send that hurries by on the wings of tho wind at 50 or 100 miles an hour . All these havo their owndifl ' erpiit densities and ingredients , electricity forming a most frecpient and essential ono ; but all are of water iu some form or other as their basis , iu a condition called
aqueous vapour , —not altogether yet understood , and quite distinct from its usual and simple condition of water . " How clouds aro formed , what mysterious power "first forms and then keeps a cloud suspended in a distinct and definite shape in the clear sky , " this ever has been , and , in spite of the wonderful strides we have made , still remains tho great problem of the day . Tho cause of their formation
is in part known , but " the actual transition from clear vapour to the cloud condition cannot bo followed or traced by any human being nor thoroughly understood ; while tho assuming and maintaining a definite form for the same reason is , in a great measure , an equal mystery . " And so , too , with their change of shape , which even now cannot be satisfactorily accounted for . Another mystery only partially
solved by modern science is tho formation of a rain-cloud . "In attempting to follow tho process from water to vapour , and vapour to cloud , and cloud to rain , electricity and temperature are stated to bo the causes , which doubtless thoy aro in some way ; bnt how it is effected cannot bo so easily explained . " Tho general principle is affirmed with confidence , but "tho secret power that effects those
wondrous transformations cannot bo understood nor fully followed ; notwithstanding the fact that , by a beautiful experiment , artificial clouds have been formed recently , in tho lecture room , upou tho principles wo have remarked ; but , having done it , the fact is elicited , but tho mystery remains . " Then tho writer proceeds to show , as far as ho can , what are clouds and how they aro formed , and to explain
" their motion , by which they distribute and disperse their benefits over tho globe . " As regards tho motive power , tho wind is their chief agent ; bnt other causes arc at work , among them " electricity , which had a hand iu their formation , " and tho " alteration of temperature which is continually occurring in tlie atmosphere , and by which , in their transformation from vapour to cloud
and cloud to vapour again , they aro alternately made to ascend or descend like balloons , or to move forward to a more ratified portion of the atmosphere . " Then we advance a stage further and consider " tho general and obvious purpose fulfilled in clouds as prognostics of tho weather . " In relation to this wo aro told the various kinds of clouds and what they severally indicate . Thus , there is the cirrus
or cim-cicmd , seemingly " a beautifnl snowy , ubrons-looking , delicate cloud , generally at a great elevation , " thongh " it descends near the earth when it is about to predict a storm ; and is then clearer than when it is at its usual height . " This is called tho Proteus of the sky , and is generally indicative of variable weather , with wind or rain . Next wo have tho Cumulus or mountain-cloud , which is " considercd to prognosticate tho approach of fine weather . " Tho next
" division of clouds is stratus , " a " terrestrial rather than a celestial cloud , and includes those creeping mists that -ire seen lo rise , especially in summer , from low fields and valleys and marshes . " Then we havo the Cirro Ciunnlns , usually , but not always so , the forerunner of fine weather ; the Cnmulo stratus , commonly known as tho mackerel sky , the sure fore-runner of wind and unsettled weather ; and the nimbus or storm-cloud .
Such , in outline , is Mr . Crampton s chapter on Clouds , ami o ir readers may judge for themselves of the kind of method ho employs in his long and elaborate account of the Thnu Heavens . It is a fair specimen of his writing and of his simple lluent style of treatment . Had we time or space wo might dip farther into his interesting volume . In snch case , however , wo should he , to some extent , robbing the reader of tho pleasure of satislVing his o . vn curiositv . Wo
therefore take leave of 3 fr . Cramphm ' s work in the belief I hat it wdl find that degree of favour with the public to which it is certainl y entitled . We may note , moreover , that scattered here and there throughout the work aro a number of i'lustratiens , which add considerably to its value , while Parts I . and If . each have an appendix . The Contents Tables , too , arc somewhat more than a bare enumeration of the different sections and sub-seetiens of the work , and maybe regarded rather in the light of synopses , describing the arguments followed in the several chapters .
Ad00702
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS . All Letters and , communications mud be addressed to the Tlditor of THE FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE , ( 57 Tlarhiatn , Lv . vlrn , E . C . We cannot undertake to return rejected ce , ; nrn \ t . ; ii < -ot . vins . W . J . S . —The Portrait shall appear in two or three weuks . Many thanks fur the facts you have so kindly supp ' . io ! . W . M . —Wc will treat on the subject next week . F . J . —The number you refer to has since been reprintc 1 .
Ad00703
" A suitable- t jijl from a Master to Itix LoJf / e . " NEATLY BOUND IN CLOTIf , PRICK 8 s ( M LAC / I , TaBw 5 " nrrm $ ^^?( q ? A , 1 ir % : nm * , ^& P imZ rV ? F ? te . ^ V $ fi \ - . ^ ii-r- - !^ -i ii { 'iM ; i ^ =, ' , a u 2 fc > & siiKCT ^ asiii syv ? sd y * yi .--2 d ^ i > 'H-j ; j * Jtaiul VOLUMES I . and II . Sent , Carriage Paid , to : wiy address in ilio United ivingduin , ou recei p t of Cirque or L' . O . O . London : — "W . W . MORGAN- 67 L ' arbica ' . i , K . C . Cloth Cases for Binding can be had from the Offices , price Is fid each .