Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. Evidences, Doctrines, And Traditions. *
applied to him ; or that an incautious step might precipitate him into some deep and hidden p itfall , where his cries would not be heard . Thus was he conducted through caverns slippery with half-congealed blood—damp , gloomy , and full of terror . His ears ai'e saluted with heavy groans;—his heart throbs as they seem to rise from beneath his feet;—his fears
are realized;—for here lay the quivering frame of a dying victim , whose heart lias been violentl y rent from its living sepulchre , and offered up in sacrifice to the sanguinary gods . Hurried on from one horror to another , it was onl y the rapidity of his movements that prevented him from sinking under the trial ; it was onl y the change of scene and
situation , which , dissipating reflection , supported him under the arduous ceremony . At length , they arrived at a narrow chasm , or stone fissure , at the termination of this extensive range of caverns , through which the aspirant was formall y protruded , and was received by a shouting multitude in the open ah - , as a person regenerated or born again . It will be unnecessary to adduce any further proofs to establish the fact , that the holy mountain and the sacred
valley of antiquity , used first b y the patriarchs , and perverted b y idolaters , were the original materials of the Masonic tradition , that " Our ancient Brethren held their Lodges on the highest of hills , or in the lowest of valleys . " The early Christians , during the hot persecutions to which they were frequently subjected , retired to these caves and
recesses of the mountains , conformably to the advice of our Saviour— " Let them that be in Judea flee to the mountains : " * and here they celebrated their rites in secresy and seclusion . Thus Fosbroke says : " The catacombs and crypts of the first Christians at Rome were ori ginall y excavations for finding puzzolana , supposed to form the best and
most lasting cement . They followed the direction of the vein of sand , and were abandoned when they were exhausted , and oftentimes totall y forgotten . Such lone unfrequented caverns afforded a most commodious retreat to the Christians , during the persecutions of the three first emperors . In them , therefore , they held their assemblies
, celebrated the holy mysteries , and deposited the remains of their martyred brethren . " f In speaking of the traditional hiil and valley , it may be remarked , as connected in some degree with our subject ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. Evidences, Doctrines, And Traditions. *
applied to him ; or that an incautious step might precipitate him into some deep and hidden p itfall , where his cries would not be heard . Thus was he conducted through caverns slippery with half-congealed blood—damp , gloomy , and full of terror . His ears ai'e saluted with heavy groans;—his heart throbs as they seem to rise from beneath his feet;—his fears
are realized;—for here lay the quivering frame of a dying victim , whose heart lias been violentl y rent from its living sepulchre , and offered up in sacrifice to the sanguinary gods . Hurried on from one horror to another , it was onl y the rapidity of his movements that prevented him from sinking under the trial ; it was onl y the change of scene and
situation , which , dissipating reflection , supported him under the arduous ceremony . At length , they arrived at a narrow chasm , or stone fissure , at the termination of this extensive range of caverns , through which the aspirant was formall y protruded , and was received by a shouting multitude in the open ah - , as a person regenerated or born again . It will be unnecessary to adduce any further proofs to establish the fact , that the holy mountain and the sacred
valley of antiquity , used first b y the patriarchs , and perverted b y idolaters , were the original materials of the Masonic tradition , that " Our ancient Brethren held their Lodges on the highest of hills , or in the lowest of valleys . " The early Christians , during the hot persecutions to which they were frequently subjected , retired to these caves and
recesses of the mountains , conformably to the advice of our Saviour— " Let them that be in Judea flee to the mountains : " * and here they celebrated their rites in secresy and seclusion . Thus Fosbroke says : " The catacombs and crypts of the first Christians at Rome were ori ginall y excavations for finding puzzolana , supposed to form the best and
most lasting cement . They followed the direction of the vein of sand , and were abandoned when they were exhausted , and oftentimes totall y forgotten . Such lone unfrequented caverns afforded a most commodious retreat to the Christians , during the persecutions of the three first emperors . In them , therefore , they held their assemblies
, celebrated the holy mysteries , and deposited the remains of their martyred brethren . " f In speaking of the traditional hiil and valley , it may be remarked , as connected in some degree with our subject ,