Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

PAGES F REEMASONRY AND IsRAEi . msM , 4 S 3 & 484 B RO . THE REV . G . R . PORTAT 484 " ORIGIN' OF FREEMASONRY , " & c . ... 4 S 4 & 485

M ASONIC "DAMES" 485 THE " G OOD OLD DAYS " OI- UNIVERSAL FREEMASONRY IN ENGLAND 4 R 6 THE S UPREME GRAND CHAPTER OF ENGLAND ... 4 S 6 PROV . GRAND LODGE OF SOMERSET 4 S 6 MARK

MASONRYFestival at the Crystal Palace 4 S 7 THE C RAFTMetropolitan 487 Provincial ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 S 7 ROYAL ARCHMetropolitan 4 S 7 B IRTHS , MARRIAGES , AND DEATHS o . S'i

THE ANTAGONISM OF MASONIC RITES ... S 8 & 4 8 9 II . R . II . THE PRINCE OF WALES , ... 489 MHI . TUM IN PARVO .. ... 4 89 A SHORT ANALYSIS , & c 4 89 , . | oo , & 491 SUMMER EXCURSION' TO SEVENOAKS 491 ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCECommittee of Inquiry 491 Subordination in the Higher Degrees 491

THE PLAIN OF PHILISTIA ... 492 FOREIGN MASONIC INTELI . IGF . NCEBombay ... ... ... ... ... ... 492 West Indies ... ... 492 & 493 South America ... ... ... ... ... 493 -, POETRYRamblers Round Glasgow 494 Burns ' s Lodge , T . irbolton 494 ORDERS OF

CHIVALRYFormation of a Priory of Malta at Liverpool ... 494 SCOTLANDGlasgow 494 MASONIC MEETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK .. ; ... 494 THEATRICAL 494 ADVERTISEMENTS 4 S 1 , 482 , 495 , & 40 S

Freemasonry & Israelitism.

FREEMASONRY & ISRAELITISM .

BY BRO . WILLIAM CARPENTER , P . M . & P . Z . 177 . [ I have to apologise for a very stupid blunder in last week's FREEMASON , in the substitution of one article for another . 1 generally manage to have one paper a-head , and by some inconceivable

mishap I sent No . xi . instead of No . x . I now give this , however , as 1 deem it a necessary introduction to what will follow . My readers will therefore be good enough to ignore last week ' s paper , for a time , and accept this in place of it . ]

X . I believe I have exhausted , as far as a brief glance at the evidences can do so , the historical enquiry as to the origin of the Gette , and of those great branches of thc race known as Saxons and Angles , who

peopled North Germany , with the Cimbrian Chersoncsus ( the peninsula of Denmark—Dan-mark ?) Holstein , & c , and who , when united in this our land , were denominated Anglo-Saxons—the favoured race which

has carried its colonies into almost every part of the world , and , through those colonies , has extended the blessings of civilization and religion . Whether I have succeeded in making out a case in favour

of this people being a portion—a considerable portion- —of thc long-lost Tribes , who , be it remembered , were never to be utterly lost , but were , like seed cast into the ground , to seem for a time lost , and then

under the influence of the early and the latter rain , and the vivifying influence of thc sun of righteousness , were to spring forth , bloom , and bear abundant fruit , filling with it the face of the earth ( Isa . xxvii . 6 ) , and

thus to be employed for great and glorious things in blessing the world , I must leave my readers to determine . If any have followed me through thc evidences I have adduced in favour of that proposition , I

venture to think that some impression must have been made on their minds ; , although I am far from thinking it has produced conviction . Tlie proposition is of so novel and startling a character , and can scarcely

fail of being so antagonistic to the minds and feelings of those who , for the first time , have been asked to look at it , that I expect comparatively few will , at this stage of our enquiry , admit that there is anything conclusive towards establishing the identity of

Freemasonry & Israelitism.

the Anglo-Saxons with the ten tribes . Be that as it may , T must ask the further attention and patience of my brethren , who should certainly feel an interest in an enquiry tbat gives even a faint promise of

throwing light upon an historical question that has perplexed men ' s minds for centuries , and which promises , furthermore , to identify us and our fathers with a portion of the people whom thc Great Architect of

the Universe selected from amongst all other peoples , to maintain the great truth ofthe existence ofthe Divine Unity , of-His moral government of thc world , and of His gracious purpose to bring about and establish an universal reirm of

rhrhtcousncss and happiness for tine human race . Dean Stanley truly remarks , that " The sons of Israel arc literally our spiritual ancestors ; their imagery , their poetry ,

their very names have descended to us ; their hopes , their prayers , their psalms are ours . " I hope to show that the sons of Israel are not only our spiritual ancestors , but out natural ancestors , also .

Leaving the historical ground of testimony , and such proofs as it affords of the soundness of my proposition , I now turn to another species of proof , not less conclusive , I believe , than that furnished bv

the records of history , or by those marks of descent which the Anglo-Saxons exhibit in their language , institutions , and manners . To my own mind , indeed , this species of proof carries greater weight than either , or

of all combined , of those I have passed under review—I mean the proofs furnished by the sure word of prophecy , which involves the sure promises of God ; for most of the prophecies of the future Nof Israel

take the form of Divine promises—promises of grace and mercy towards thc house of Israel , and , through Israel , to the world at large , including Jews and Gentiles— " The Lord shall arise upon thee [ Israel ] , and His

glory shall be seen upon thee . And thc Gentiles shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising . . . The abundance of thc sea shall be converted unto thee . Thc multitudes of camels shall

cover thee ; the dromedaries of 'Midian and Ephah ; all they front Shcba shall come ; they shall bring gold and incense ; and they shall show forth thc praises of the Lord .... Surely thc isles shall

wait for me , ancl the ships of Tarshish first , to bring thy sons from far , their silver and their gold with them , unto tlic name of the Lord thy God , and to the

Holy One of Israel . And tlic sons of strangers shall build up thy walls , and their kings shall minister unto thee ( Isa . 1 . x . 2-10 ) .

I know that many persons not only have a great distaste for the study of prophecy , but a strong repugnance to it , having on their minds an impression that it is impossible to derive anv cood therefrom . This

arises , no doubt , in great measure , from tiie diversity of interpretation that has been given of unfulfilled prophecy , some interpretationsbeing quite antagonistic to others , so that all prophecy seems to them not only

obscure and uncertain , but defiant of all interpretation . I believe there are prophecies which never will be thoroughly understood until after their accomplishment . They appear as if intended to

furnish proofs of thc Divine prescience , after they shall have received their fulfilment , rather than as predictions plainly to fix thc . time and circumstances of the

things which are to occur , and in such manner that wc may assuredly anticipate the precise occurrence and its set time . There are many prophecies , however , that

Freemasonry & Israelitism.

obvious !} ' invite consideration and inquiry , so that the mind may be prepared for the coming event , and are so plain and explicit in their form , that the event may be clearly foreseen , although the time at which it will

occur may be left in darkness . Now , _ of this description of prophecy is that which I have just quoted as to the future of Israel , and its relation to the world at large , with manv more of the like kind . If words bave

any meaning , wc cannot , without doing great violence to them , set aside their literal meaning , and interpret them metaphorically or spiritually . It is an universally admitted canon of' interpretation , approved by one ' s

common sense , that the literal meaning is to be given to all words , unless there be an obvious reason for departing from it . The simplest and most natural meaning that flows from words may be relied upon

as the sense in whicb they are to be understood . Symbols and metaphors , no doubt , abound in the prophetic writings . In many of the most magnificent prophecies they are obvious enough , as , when Isaiah ,

speaking in thc name of the Mighty One of Israel , and depicting the future prosperity and glory of His restored people , says : "The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun ; and the light of the sun

shall be sevenfold . " ' No one can take that for a literal description of what shall occur ; but in such predictions as several I have quoted , the language is plain and the literal meaning obvious . Take another : "Audit

shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again , a second time , to recover thc rem mint of His pcoplc . which shall be left from Assyria , and from Egypt , and from Pathros , and from Cush , ancl fromElam ,

and from Shinah , and from ilamath , ancl from the islands of thc sea . And he shall set up an ensign for the nations , and shall assemble thc outcasts of Israel , and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the

four corners of thc earth . The envy also of Ephraim shall depart , and thc adversaries of Judah shall be cut off ; Ephraim shall not envy Judah , and Judah shall not vex Ephraim . And there shall be a

highway for the remnant of His people , which shall be left from Assyria ; like as it was to Israel in thc day that he came up out of the land of Egypt" ( Isaiah xl . H-16 ) . Many mistakes have , I believe , been made

through interpreting such predictions as these metaphorically or spiritually ; that is , in taking them in a spiritual sense , Israel standing , not for thc literal Israel , but for the spiritual Israel , the church—the seed of

Abraham by faith . As a Christian , I , of course , am satisfied that all who believe in the Redeemer are the spiritual seed of Abraham , and therefore that they arc heirs according to the promise . At the same

time , I as firmly beiicve , and with as good reason , that thc promises and predictions which refer to thc restoration and future glory of Israel will be literally fulfilled . Under thc law , tiie promises were all of

temporal good ; under thc Gospel , they are all of spiritual good ; and a careful review of the Old Testament , by the light of the New Testament , leads to thc conclusion ,

thatbothlitcraland spiritual Israel are to be blessed in temporal and spiritual things , and that there will be an union ofthe two , when thc time of the fulfilment comes .

Here , however , I must observe that it is most important in the consideration of this subject , to note , in thc prophetic writings , the distinction made between Israel and

Judah ; as in Isaiah xi . 12 , among many other passages : " He shall assemble the outcasts of Israel , and gather together the dispersed of fitdah , from thc four corners