Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

PAGE HIRAM ABIF 181 OBITUARY—Bro . James Alfred Moore 1 S 1 LEAVES FROM MV LIBRARY 182 POETRYThe Great Masonic Band ' 182

Opening Hymn ... ... ... ... ... 182 Masonic Maxim ... ¦ ... ... ... ... 182 THE CRAFTMetropolitan and Provincial 183 Scotland 18 3 ROYAL ARCH—Metropolitan 184

INSTRUCTION—Metropolitan 184 MARK MASONRY—Provincial 18 4 & 185 ORDERS OF CHIVALRYRed Cross of Rome and Constantine ... ... 185 Knights Templar 185 MASONIC MEETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK 185

THE FREEMASONS' LIFE BOAT 185 BIRTHS , MARRIAGES AND DEATHS 186 ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 186 FREEMASONRY AND J UDAISM 1 S 6 MULTUM IN PARVO 187 ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCEMasonic Working 188

Antiquity of Freemasonry ... ... ... 188 The "Masonic Tobacco-box" , ... 188 A Jewish Legend 188 The Freemasons' Life Boat ... ... ... 189 The 812 th Anniversary held at Glasgow ... 189 Constantine the Great ... 1 S 9 & 190 Bro . Stewart ' s proposed Motion ... ... iqo

Hiram Abif.

HIRAM ABIF .

A correspondent , signing himself " Pygmalion , " requests us to publish the following cutting from our esteemed contemporay the American Freemason , "for the benefit of your correspondent 'William Carpenter / and others of his mode of thought . "

A Contribution to the Antiquity of Masonry ( To the Editor of the American Freemason . ) Dear Brother , —Whether Masonry was or was not instituted by Solomon , Hiram King of Tyre , and Hiram thc Man of Tyre , I cannot for the present affirm . But as a simple contribution to the solution

of that question , I wish to offer the following for the consideration of Masonic archaeologists . A certain word in the legend , which every Master Mason is acquainted with , and whose acting persons are mentioned in the Bible , shows that that legend is older than the oldest translation of the

Bible , because it translates that word as indubitably correct , as that and all subscqucntjTtranslations translate it indubitably incorrect . ~ For a clearer understanding of what I say , I give here the original Hebrew , and parallel translations

of it , the Septuaginta ( Greek , in the beginning of the 2 d cent . B . C . ) and the Vulgate ( Latin , 4 th cent . A . C . ) For typographical reasons I give here the Hebrew in English letters . The important word to which I refer is given in italics :

ist Kings , Chap , vii , Verses 13 , 14 . HEBREW . 13 ) Vayckah eth Heerom Metsor ( 14 ) . . . Veaviv esh tsori lioresh'nhoslieth , etc ., etc .

GREEK . S 13 ) Kot e'Aa / Je rov X ¥ "V IK Tvpov ... 14 ) . . Kit ( 5 ira . Ti ) p dvTov < xvi ) p Tvptof ( and his father a man of Tyre ) .

LATIN . ( 13 ) . . . et tulit Hiram de Tyro . . . ( 14 ) , . patre Tyrio ( by a Tyrian father ) .

ENGLISH . ( 13 ) . . . and fetched Hiram out of Tyre . . ( 14 ) . . . and his father was a man of Tyre , etc ., etc 2 nd Chronicles , Chap ii . Verses 12 , 13 , and Chap , iv Verse 16 .

HEBREW . ( 12 ) Veatah sholahteejeesh haham yodeah bcenoh lliurom Avi ; ( 13 ) . . . Veaviv ccsh tsorcc , etc ., etc . ( iv : 16 ) Veeth kol'klahcm osah hurom Aviv , etc ., etc .

GREEK . ( 12 ) Kcu vvv airko-TiiXii crot uvSpa croajdv / cat ( iSora o-vvfo-iv xipip . TOV Trartpa p . ov . * ( 13 ) . . Kit 6 irarf / p avruvf avijp Tvpiof , etc ., etc . ( iv . 16 ) Kal irtivra , ri o-Kevi ] avrwv a arolp . cre X-7- "fy-- > etc , etc .

* = my father . += his father . LATIN . ( 12 ) Misi ergo libi virum prudentem et scienlissimum Hiram patrem meum ( my father ) . ( 13 ) . . . cuius pater fuit Tyrius , etc ., etc . ; ( whose father was a Tyrian ) . ( iv : 16 ) . . . Omnia vasa fecit Hiram pater ejus , ( his father ) , etc , etc . ENGLISH . ( 12 ) And now I have sent a cunning man , endued with

Hiram Abif.

understanding , of Huram my fathers . ( 13 ) . . . and his father was a man of Tyre , ( iv : 16 ) . . . and all their instruments did Huram his father make , etc ., etc . Let now the Masonic reader refer to the above passages , and let him substitute the Masonic

surname of "Hiram the man of Tyre , instead of the words "father , " "his father , " and " my father , " which are to be found , without any sense , in the Greek , Latin , and English versions , and he will then have a clear sense of those passages , true to the original . The cause of the mistake , into which

the versions fell , is clear to the Mason who knows the Hebrew language . I will endeavour to explain it , however , to the English reader . The Hebrew word for " Father " is " Ab " or " Av , " the letters " b " and " v" being the same in the ancient , and differing only in one point , " . " in the modern

Hebrew . Further , the Hebrew pronouns , when in connection with other words , are not separate words , but suffixes to those words ; e . q . "Av " = "Father ; " "Avi" - " my Father ; " ' •Aviv " = "his Father , " etc ., etc ., z ' = my , -tV = his . Hence the mistakes from the Septuaginta down to all modern

versions , with few exceptions . When raised to the sublime degree , I was astonished to hear then a name of a certain individual , mentioned in the Old Testament , of whom I had not the slightest recollection , and yet I was familiar with the original Old Testament Scriptures

from my childhood . I searched in the English Bible , and found no clue . I referred to the original Hebrew , and lo ! by the Masonic light which I received , I understood those passages as I never did before ; for I always read them and translated them as ignorantly as the authors of those versions

did . Now , the question in my mind is , Whence did Masons—if Masonry is post-Septuagintaderive this correct translation of the original , while the received versions had it so falsely ? Do these Masonic legendary traditions antedate the Septuaginta , and are they perhaps of the Solomonic

age ? I wish some Masonic archaeologist would give me some light . But in this connection , permit me the room to express certain reflections which crowd forcibly upon my mind . Observe the truly Masonic ideas and conduct of Solomon , in the building of the

Temple . Jehovah of old chose to separate one nation , and institute the monotheistic doctrine among its tribes . To preserve it in its purity from the prevailing polytheism of those times , that nation was kept in rigid distinction and separation from its neighbouring nations , who were entirely

excluded from contact with it . See Deut . xxiii : 4 : " There shall come no Ammonite and Moabite into the congregation of Jehovah ; nor shall even the tenth generation come unto them , into the congregation of Jehovah for ever ! " This was spoken when Israel was yet a nomadic horde . Time went

on , and Israel possessed at last thc Abrahamic land of Canaan . As the people were yet small , elders and priests ruled ; then came the judges and prophets . As it increased more and more in numbers and prosperity , centralization of administration became necessary . The people desired a king ;

Jehovah foresaw and provided for it . ( See Deut . vii : 14 , 15 . ) Saul reigned ; David superseded him . David saw the necessity of centralising the theocratic idea and administration still further . He resolved upon a national Temple , whither the tribes were to come thrice a year , for reunion and worship .

Solomon goes to the accomplishing of this grand design . But with whom do we find him associating himself in this grand work ? With the heathen king , Hiram of Tyre I Why ? Because that Hiram professes to be a Jehovic monotheist . Read his words in 2 nd Chron . ii : 10 , 11 : "In love to his

people , gave thee , Jehovah , a king over them . And said Hiram , Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel , who made the heavens and thc earth , " etc . This is a Masonically theistic confession of faith in one God , as the Creator , and this was sufficient for Solomon to keep fellowship . But , further , the

Temple is built , finished , and furnished . Thc ark of the covenant is brought into thc holy of holies . Israel is permeated to thc very core with Jehovah's presence . Tens of thousands of human hearts beat m unison with the great heart of their wise kingbeat in unison with the fostering manifestations of

Jehovah's love to them . Solomon falls upon his knees , and thc tribes of Israel fall down with him , before Jehovah ' s awful presence , who came down in clouds , and filled the Temple built unto his great name . Tens of thousands of hearts are now throbbing with prayer , but there is awful , sacred stillness ,

for they arc listening to their own hearts' throbbings in thc inspired petitions of their anointed King Solomon . But does this unequalled scene of national divine favor fill Solomon's heart with ancient Mosaic cxclusivcness ? Is he praying for Israel

alone ? No ! Hear him , ( see 2 nd Chron . vi : 32 , 33 ) : " And unto the stranger , too , who is not of thy people Israel , and yet cometh from a far-off land , for the sake of thy great name , and thy hand which is strong , and thy arm which is stretched out ; and

Hiram Abif.

they will come unto this house , and they will pray , and thou wilt hear from the heavens , thy dwellingplace , and thou wilt do according to all that the stranger shall call unto thee , for the sake that all the nations of the earth may know thy name , and that they may fear thee , as thy people Israel

does ; and that it may be known that thy name is called upon this house which I built 1 " Here again is true Masonic prayer , void of exclusive creeds , void of exclusive doctrinal tests for admission into the congregation of Israel . Here is the " Fatherhood of God , and the Brotherhood of Man !"

Whether , indeed , Solomon was the founder of Masonry technically or not , he is certainly the only monotheistic originator of Masonic ideas in all antiquity . EPH . M . EPSTEIN , M . D . Cincinnati , O ., May 15 , 1869 .

Obituary.

Obituary .

BRO . JAMES ALFRED MOORE , W . M . 140 . "To that bourne from whence no traveller returns , " were consigned all that was mortal of the late respected Bro . James Alfred Moore , of Greenwich , in the cemetery at Nunhead , on Friday last week , the spirit preceding it seven days before to those realms where the terrestial assumes

the celestial light of eternity . Our brother bore the honour , confidence , and dignity of a W . M ., conferred upon him by the brethren of his mother lodge , St . George ' s , Noj 140 , Greenwich . To the objects and aim of Masonry he devoted much time and great

energy , and evinced much skill , as may be instanced by his bearing also the title of M . E . Z . Union Waterloo Chapter , No . 13 , Greenwich . He was also a contributing and active member of the Pythagorean Lodge , No . 79 , Greenwich . His worth , and his beneficent disposition opened

up large fields of local development , and his name will be long revered by the rich and poor , and the parochial and public bodies . The charities of the Licensed Victuallers he liberally supported . When it became expedient for the Government of the day to give encouragement

to the volunteer movement , Bro . James Alfred Moore was the first patriotic citizen who enrolled his name in the 13 th Kent Rifle Volunteers . Here he manifested great zeal , coolness and precision , and great aptitude for military manuvceres , which brought him to the position

and rank of a colour-sergeant . His confreres in arms , commanded by Col . Jackson and Capt . Wm . Bristow , paid him the last tribute by forming part of the funeral cortege , which comprised the hearse , four mourning coaches , and a large number of private carriages containing friends , officers of the Licensed Victuallers'

Corporation , members of the Parochial Board , and brethren of the Craft numerously represented , viz ., St . George ' s 140 and Pythagorean 79 , Greenwich ; Union Waterloo 13 , Woolwich ; Wellington 548 , Justice 147 , Temperance 169 , Royal Oak 871 , and Star 1275 , Deptford ; Excelsior 1155 , Lewisham ; Beadon 619 , and Mount Lebanon 73 , London .

Independently of those who formed the mournful procession , some sixty or seventy brethren fell into the line on either side of the path leading to the Mortuary Chapel , anticipating the approach within the walls of the cemetery , and took their position prior to the body being received by the

officiating minister , the Rev . — Martin , Chaplain to the Licensed Victuallers' Asylum . Impressively , and with solemn articulation , the consoling service of the Church of England was delivered .

The brethren were distinguished , and in mournful silence at the conclusion of the ceremony , cast their emblem of hope in the bright and effulgent eternity which will bring all to that halo of brightness where trouble and sorrow are excluded . Our brother was in his 48 th year .