Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. The History And Antiquities Of Freemasonry.
the accession of Darius ; for Smerdis or Artaxerxes the magian , who succeeded Cambyses to the throne , would not allow the Jews to proceed with the work . On the accession of Darius to the throne of Persia , the Prophet Haggai endeavoured to stimulate Zerubabel and
Joshua to recommence the work ; for the Edict of Cyrus had never been formally reversed , though the two preceding monarchs had issued counter proclamations to prevent its execution . The prophet threatened a continuance of judgments on their nation if they neglected to proceed . Zerubabel , therefore , who had been long in habits of intimacy
and strict friendship with Darius , made a journey to Babylon , and received the most flattering marks of distinction from that monarch . It happened that Darius , at the close of a sumptuous entertainment given to his nobles and tributaries , proposed certain questions , and decreed the hi ghest honours to the person who should answer them most
satisfactorily . The questions were these : — " Is there any thing stronger than wine ? What can exceed the strength of kings ? What is superior to the power of women ? Can any thing surpass truth ? " These questions Zerubabel
answered as follows— " Neither the force of wine , nor the power of princes who bind the multitude in a common bond of allegiance , can be denied ; but women have incontestibly the superiority . Before the king , the mother of the king existed ; kings are the gifts of women . The charms of women compel us to abandon our country ,
relations , and dearest friends , and to attach ourselves wholly to them . But neither women nor kings can be put in competition with the power of truth . Admitting the amazing magnitude of the earth , the elevation of the heavens , the astonishing rapidity of the sun's motion , and that the whole is influenced only by the Divine Providence , it must follow that the Almi ghty is just and true , and that the power of truth ,
against which nothing can ultimately prevail , supersedes every other power that can enter the conception of man . Truth alone is immutable and perfect : the advantages we derive from it are not subject to the vicissitudes of fortune , but are pure , irreproachable and eternal . " * This answer was so pleasing to the king , that he promised Zerubabel any thing he should desire ; who immediately referred him to a promise he had formerly made , in the warmth of friendship , that if he had ever the good fortune to be ad
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. The History And Antiquities Of Freemasonry.
the accession of Darius ; for Smerdis or Artaxerxes the magian , who succeeded Cambyses to the throne , would not allow the Jews to proceed with the work . On the accession of Darius to the throne of Persia , the Prophet Haggai endeavoured to stimulate Zerubabel and
Joshua to recommence the work ; for the Edict of Cyrus had never been formally reversed , though the two preceding monarchs had issued counter proclamations to prevent its execution . The prophet threatened a continuance of judgments on their nation if they neglected to proceed . Zerubabel , therefore , who had been long in habits of intimacy
and strict friendship with Darius , made a journey to Babylon , and received the most flattering marks of distinction from that monarch . It happened that Darius , at the close of a sumptuous entertainment given to his nobles and tributaries , proposed certain questions , and decreed the hi ghest honours to the person who should answer them most
satisfactorily . The questions were these : — " Is there any thing stronger than wine ? What can exceed the strength of kings ? What is superior to the power of women ? Can any thing surpass truth ? " These questions Zerubabel
answered as follows— " Neither the force of wine , nor the power of princes who bind the multitude in a common bond of allegiance , can be denied ; but women have incontestibly the superiority . Before the king , the mother of the king existed ; kings are the gifts of women . The charms of women compel us to abandon our country ,
relations , and dearest friends , and to attach ourselves wholly to them . But neither women nor kings can be put in competition with the power of truth . Admitting the amazing magnitude of the earth , the elevation of the heavens , the astonishing rapidity of the sun's motion , and that the whole is influenced only by the Divine Providence , it must follow that the Almi ghty is just and true , and that the power of truth ,
against which nothing can ultimately prevail , supersedes every other power that can enter the conception of man . Truth alone is immutable and perfect : the advantages we derive from it are not subject to the vicissitudes of fortune , but are pure , irreproachable and eternal . " * This answer was so pleasing to the king , that he promised Zerubabel any thing he should desire ; who immediately referred him to a promise he had formerly made , in the warmth of friendship , that if he had ever the good fortune to be ad