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Article ON FREEMASONRY. ← Page 3 of 10 →
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On Freemasonry.
clear atmosphere , at the distance of 100 miles . Sostratus the Cnidian , who received an accurate knowledge of Operative Masonry from his father Deriphancs , was the architect , and his name is remembered with honour .
As a work of the same reign may be mentioned the Serapeum , or Temple of Serapis , at Alexandria , which is described by Ammianus Marcellinus as a stately edifice , exceeding , in splendour of ornament and magnificence of decoration , all the buildings at that time existing in the world . It was elevated on the summit of a mountain ,
ascended by 100 steps , and formed into a series of caverns and subterraneous passages , constructed artificially . One wing of the temple was arranged as a library ; and , in process of time , it became celebrated for its numerous and valuable manuscripts , which contained almost all the literature then existing in the world , —to the amount of
700 , 000 volumes . It was partially destroyed during the war which Julius Cassar waged against the Alexandrians , and , finally and completely , by the bigoted Saracens , in the year of our Lord 642 . In the caverns beneath this temple , the rites of initiation into fhe spurious Freemasonry were celebrated with magnificence and solemnity ; to which fact , Cave , in his " Lives of the Fathers , " quoting Ruffinus , whom Gibbon
acknowledges " may deserve the credit of an original witness , " gives this remarkable testimony : — " There was , " says he , " at Alexandria , an ancient and famous temple , dedicated to Serapis , and affirmed by a geographer of that age to have been a piece of exquisite architecture ; and , for the stateliness of the building , contrivance of the structure ,
and solemnity of the worship , to have carried away the glory from all other places , and to have been the almost only admirable spectacle in the whole world . This place , Theophilus , the Bishop , had begged of the Emperor , designing to enlarge it into a church . Workmen were set on to clear the rubbish , who found many dark vaults and cellars ,
the secret receptacles ofthe - pagani most hidden rites and mysteries , out of which they brought many detestable and obscene images and utensils , which they publicly exposed to the scorn and derision of the people . " If we turn to Chares , of Lindus , an eminent brother Mason , we are struck with amazement at the immensity of his genius , and the grandeur of that conception which dictated the erection of a brazen statue of Apollo , at Rhodes , more than one hundred feet in height , which , being placed
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry.
clear atmosphere , at the distance of 100 miles . Sostratus the Cnidian , who received an accurate knowledge of Operative Masonry from his father Deriphancs , was the architect , and his name is remembered with honour .
As a work of the same reign may be mentioned the Serapeum , or Temple of Serapis , at Alexandria , which is described by Ammianus Marcellinus as a stately edifice , exceeding , in splendour of ornament and magnificence of decoration , all the buildings at that time existing in the world . It was elevated on the summit of a mountain ,
ascended by 100 steps , and formed into a series of caverns and subterraneous passages , constructed artificially . One wing of the temple was arranged as a library ; and , in process of time , it became celebrated for its numerous and valuable manuscripts , which contained almost all the literature then existing in the world , —to the amount of
700 , 000 volumes . It was partially destroyed during the war which Julius Cassar waged against the Alexandrians , and , finally and completely , by the bigoted Saracens , in the year of our Lord 642 . In the caverns beneath this temple , the rites of initiation into fhe spurious Freemasonry were celebrated with magnificence and solemnity ; to which fact , Cave , in his " Lives of the Fathers , " quoting Ruffinus , whom Gibbon
acknowledges " may deserve the credit of an original witness , " gives this remarkable testimony : — " There was , " says he , " at Alexandria , an ancient and famous temple , dedicated to Serapis , and affirmed by a geographer of that age to have been a piece of exquisite architecture ; and , for the stateliness of the building , contrivance of the structure ,
and solemnity of the worship , to have carried away the glory from all other places , and to have been the almost only admirable spectacle in the whole world . This place , Theophilus , the Bishop , had begged of the Emperor , designing to enlarge it into a church . Workmen were set on to clear the rubbish , who found many dark vaults and cellars ,
the secret receptacles ofthe - pagani most hidden rites and mysteries , out of which they brought many detestable and obscene images and utensils , which they publicly exposed to the scorn and derision of the people . " If we turn to Chares , of Lindus , an eminent brother Mason , we are struck with amazement at the immensity of his genius , and the grandeur of that conception which dictated the erection of a brazen statue of Apollo , at Rhodes , more than one hundred feet in height , which , being placed