Freemasonry And The Great Pyramid.

More interesting , perhaps , is the pentacle , which occurs on old Greek coins , and is said upon good authority to have been used as a symbol of mystery , perfection , or of the universe , by Pythagoreans , Neo-Platonists , and Gnostics , and it has also formed the device of various secret societies , some of them Masonic , and hence appears in ecclesiastical architecture ( as at Rouen ) . Which last remark seems to afford corroboration of Mr .

I . angley ' s discovery that the Freemasons were concerned with Gothic church building during the middle ages . It is remarkable , however , that the chief illustration brought to bear by him upon this point should be a portion or the floor paving of Beverley Minster , Yorkshire , th = central device of which represents , I 12 says , the sun , drawn as an eight-pointed star . Now , an

eight-pointed star may be formed in two ways—either fixedly , by crossing two squares , or spirally , by interlacing eight lines after the manner of the pentacle ' s five lines , and it is this latter manner which has been chosen by the paviour of Beverley , and which is undoubtedly the more elegant way , since it conveys to the eye the appearance of rotation .

Now , when we turn to the Great Pyramid , we are unmistakably confronted wilh the source of all these emblems . The cross within Ihe circle is but a modification of the square and compasses , or circle-squaring problem , there found solved in birll masonry ; while the fact that the lines are crossed diagonally , like an X , relatively lo the figure of Printing-house-square , and absolutely as regards the points of the compass , gives us a well-found hint to

examine the hidden diagonals of the Pyramid ' s base , whose sum in earthderived inches counts for the number of years in U 13 Precessional period 25 , 827 to the nearest inch . No other inch and no other pyramid answers to ( his diagonal test . While , to place beyond all doubl th ; origin of this kind of cross , we may refer to Dr . Lepsius' book containing plates of the cartouches or oval signatures of all the rulers of Egypt from first to last , and we find thai

as soon as the sign of a pyramid appears , then also appears with il the sign of across delineated within a circle , exactly as al Blackfriars—so exactly that it might have furnished the copy for the London paviour . And this first pyramid and cross forms part of the signature of Cheops or Khufu , the first of the Rulers of Ihe fourth dynasty , and the universally accepted builder of the Great Pyramid ; while il may be added that the cros 3 and circle is so

placed upon the king ' s cartouche , underneath the pyramid , as to suggest the idea of an architectural plan and elevation for the same , and it can be no objection to this idea to say that the plan was drawn circular while the building rose four-square in shape . That the pentacle may be claimed as being purely Great Pyramid derived , no reader of Piazzi Smyth ' s "Our Inheritance" can fail to perceive .

In form it is endlessly Jive- ' ish , and such , in brief , is the description of the Pyramid , which has five faces and five corners when complete and undilapidated . . For the many other quinary details of the building , from its unit inch , which divides the earth ' s axis of rotation five hundred million times exactly , to its sacred cubit of five times five of these inches , we must now ,

for want of space , refer the reader to the work just mentioned , contenting ourselves with here remarking that its intense / ire-ishness , like Moses' Pentateuch , caused it to become as much an object of hatred to the ancient native Egyptians as the pentacle was long supposed to be to certain other evil spirits of the middle ages .

But the most noteworth y feature , from a British-Israelite point of view , in this Masonic garland in Printing House-square , is the grouping together of the pentagram and hexagram , as are called the five-pointed and six-pointed stars . The present writer has , in his " Egyptian Enigma , " and , further , in the pages of the Banner for five or six years past , shown first that the supposed modern British yard of six times six inches is really a very ancient

measure , found over and over again in the Great Pyramid in bolh very simple and very scientific manner , and also in combination or juxtaposition with the ancient and lost sacred cubit of five times five inches ; next , that these two distinct measures are found united in the step-measure of 61 inches , and its many multiples about the Great Pyramid , thereby typifying a future reunion of Britons and Tews as the two sticks of Ezekiel's prophecy ,

to the discomfiture of other European people , represented metrologically subordinate in the building by such measures as the French metre and Russian foot ; next , that the people owning these two measures , to the exclusion of all others , as do now the British and Americans , by means of the yard and the ordnance 2 . i ; -inch survey maps , must needs be a people

approved ( however unworthy ) , and therefore the people of ths Israelite Lord , Jehovah . Because these two measures , when in conjunction , are quinto-sextuple , and such was the character of the name and fame of Jehovah , as many Scriptural and sceintific facts are found to testify—the bare enumeration of these facts would fill a number of the Banner —bit our constant readers will readily recall them to mind .

A few points may perhaps bs mentioned ; the name J . H . V . H ., when written in its original Hebrew , counts 10 , 5 , 6 , 5 , because each letter may be used as a numeral , and Hebrew scholars aver that the numerals 5 and 6 lorm the root of this name . The most common form of animal and floral nature contains five digits , but there are many notable exceptions ; thus most simple flowers , including the wild rose , have five petals , and are spiral

11 growth , like the pentagram we have just been considering ; while endogens , including the lily , have six divisions of the blossom—they are scarcel y petals—and the growth of the plant is from the centre , like as is produced the hexagram . The days in the solar year , and the years in the precessional period , do by mathematical treatment , suggested indeed by the square base and diagonals of the Great Pyramid , but quite independent

therefrom , resolve themselves into the elementary factors of 5 and 6 respectivel y . Various extraordinary combinations of 5 and 6 .-ire observed among natural divisions of temperature and atmospheric pressure , when we "se inches for the barometer and Fahrenheit ' s scale of 180 degrees for the 'hermometer , or in the latter case even absolutely , without any scale whatever .

. As regards the Scripture revelation , it is truly remarkable how the Lord with the quinto-sextuple name deals with the world , through His people Israel , entirely in harmony with the fives and sixes ; the choice of patriarchal lr * struments to carrv out His riediteous will : the various calls of Abraham :

I e successive entails of the heirship of the world down to the present tenants , ost Israel , —all partake of this quinto-sextuple numbering ; while , oddly wough , the troublesome //;/ dc Steele critics , who would assure us that our tl t vr P eare . written by somebody else , have also come to the conclusion lat Moses did not write the Pentateuch , which was produced by authors as ¦ um ^[ and varied as a Banner New Year's number , but which ought to nciude the book of Joshuathus makiner it a Hextateuch !

, ° f * . e van ° us interesting discoveries made by the present writer of the ^ production ° . tne Great p yramid's ( or shall we say Printing-housequares ?) quinto-sextuple proportions in the various sacred Israelitish

Freemasonry And The Great Pyramid.

structures , viz ., the Ark and tabernacle of Moses , the temples of Solomon and Ezekiel , and the New Jerusalem of St . John , not to mention our own antiquity at Stonehenge , the reader must be referred to volumes of the Banner for 1 S 90 and 1891 , where it will be found that , not only do these buildings of untold antiquity lisp in numbers of five and six , but do measure these numbers accurately in inches such as are practically now found only upon British standard measures .

We must now conclude these researches amongst the symbols of Freemasonry—at any rate , for the present . Should any of our Masonic Anglo-Israelite Great Pyramid students feel interest in following up the clues we have endeavoured to place in their hands , we have no doubt they will be rewarded by finding many more symbols that have been derived from thc Great Pyramid , and which may strengthen the hands of those who contend for Our Identity with Lost Israel . —The Banner .

Masonry In America.

MASONRY IN AMERICA .

The establishment of the Masonic Institution in America furnishes a curious , interesting and instructive study . With the meetings of the Craft in the several colonies were contemporaneous , occasional gatherings of the colonists in early attempts at local legislation for mutual protection and the promotion of the welfare of the various communities .

Writing of those times , George Bancroft says : " The enfranchisement of the mind from religious despotism led directly to inquiries into the nature of civil government ; and the doctrines of popular liberty , which sheltered their infancy in the wilderness of the newly discovered continent , within the short space of two centuries , have infused themselves into the life blood of

every rising State from Labrador to Chili ; have erected outposts on the Oregon and in Siberia , and making a proselyte of enlighteneel France , have disturbed all the ancient governments of Europe , by awakening the public mind to resistless action , from the shores of Portugal to the palaces of the Czars . "

In 10 S 0 , one John Moore , a native of England , came to South Carolina ; then removed to Philadelphia ; and in a letter written by him , in 1715 , he alludes to his having " spent a few evenings in festivity with my Masonic Brethren . " This is the earliest written account of a meeting of members of the Fraternity in America . Meetings were held , but were informal and without the process of warrant or charter . In June , 1730 , the Grand Master

of Masons in England , the Duke of Norfolk , appointed Bro . Daniel Coxe Provincial Grand Master for New York , New Jersey and Pennsylvania . So far as is known , this was the first written authority for an assemblage of members of the Fraternity in America . Abiut this time many lodges sprang into existence , records of some of wbich still exist .

Aside from this official recognition of the Institution in America there is abundant proof that many Freemasons were among the early immigrants from England , and the appointment of Daniel Coxe was quickly followed by other appointments of Provincial Grand Masters for the several localities in America , and continued to 1774 .

Every Freemason who is acquainted with the ancient constitution , charges , landmarks , rules and regulations of the Fraternity , recognises familiar words and sentiments whsn lis reads the famous compact made in the cabin of the little ship by the fraternal Pilgrims , before they set foot upon the rock whereon a nation was to be founded : " In the name of God , Amen ! We , whose names are underwritten , . . . . do , by these presents , solemnly and

mutually , in the presence of God , and of one another , covenant and combine ourselves together .... to enact , constitute and frame such just and equal laws , ordinances , acts , constitutions and offi ; es , from time to time , as shall be thought most convenient for the general good of the colony . Unto which we promise all due submission and obedience . " Of this covenant the

historian Bancroft says : "In the cabin of the May Floixcy humanity recovered its rights , and instituted government on the basis of ' equal laws ' for ' the general good . ' John Carver was immediately and unanimously chosen governor for the year . " Here was a proceeding in purpose , sentiment and form which had been peculiar to the communities of Masons for

centuries . On these lines the several colonies strove to provide for protection and adequate government , until one of the royal " governors , " in 1 748 , bewailed the condition of his subjects , deploring the " leveling principles of the people

of New York and neighbouring colonies ; " "thc tendencies of American Legislatures to independence ; " "in declaring their own rights and privileges , " and how " the inhabitants of the plantations are generally educated in Republican principles , till little more than a shadow of royal authority remains in the Northern colonies . "

In the attractive field of American Masonry every lover of his country finds unceasing delight . He will find therein much of surprise and pleasure . He sees meetings of thc Fraternity , and presence of the members , throughout the colonies at all times from 1730 to the Revolution ; ever loyal to principles , pleading to government for equal rights , and insisting , as did the barons at Runnymede , th it good government should not be subverted by a vicious king or his cruel advisers . The names of nearly every signer of the

Declaration of Independence is on the roster of a lodge . Travelling lodges went with the army of patriots in their fierce and wonderful struggle . All the commissioned officers of that army were Masons . When they laid thc corner-stone of their republic—this nation of nations—they engraved thereon the legend of the Craft : " All men are equal . " The first paragraph of thc " Constitution " of that nation is a formula of principles practiced in thc " Mysterious Communities , " centuries before Columbus was born .

Each State of our nation , in declarations of rights , and mandatory terms of constitutions , rules , and edicts , repeats ths long-trea ured words . Beautifully und aptly is the sentiment phrased in the Constitution of our own State of Oregon : " We declare that all men , when they form a social compact , are equal in rights ; that all power is inherent in the people All men shall be secure in their natural right to worship Almighty God

according to the dictates of their own consciences All elections shall be free and equal . " To the little communities dispersed along the Atlantic coast others came , all operating on the same plan , until they have encompassed the continent . Brave , true men were those who , with singleness of purpose , on common

planes of fellowship , with mutual effort , and suffering and sacrifice beyond human comprehension , established this government of men by men . This governmental structure surpasses all that have gone before in grandeur , beauty , and beneficence . But the limit of " construction" is attained . There is little to add . We must , as a nation , pause for want of material with which to build . — Voice of Masonry .