Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

PAGE ANCIENT AND MODERN MYSTERIES 133 THE TEMPLARS 134 THE CRAFTMetropolitan and Provincial 134 & 135 ROYAL

ARCHMetropolitan and Provincial 136 SCOTLANDMasonic Bali at Motherwell 137 Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland 137 IRELANDMasonic Orphan Boys' School , Dublin ... ... 137

MASONIC M EETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK 137 BIRTHS , MARRIAGES , AND DEATHS , 13 S MASONS AND ANTI-MASONS 138 ORDERS OF CHIVALRYKnights Templar 13 8 INSTRUCTION 138 MULTUM IN PARVO 139

ORIGINAL C ORRESPONDENCEThe York Lodge 139 The Grand Master and the Grand Master-Elect ... 139 Uniformity of Working ... ... ... 139 & 140 Freemasons'Life Boat Fund ... ... ... 140 Hiram Abif 140 & 141 True Freemasonry as an Example ... ... ... 141 LEAVES FROM MY LIBRARY 141

Ancient And Modern Mysteries.

ANCIENT AND MODERN MYSTERIES .

BY BRO . ROBERT WENTWORTH LITTLE , Provincial Grand Secretary , Middlesex ; President of tin ; London Literary Union ; Editor of " The Kesicrucian , " & c . ( Continued from page \ 22 . ) When Hassan left Isfahan , in the year 1078 , the khalif Mostanser , a man of some energy ,

occupied the throne of Egypt , and considerable exertions were made \> y the missionaries of the society of Cairo to gain proselytes throughout Asia . Among these proselytes was Hassan Sabah , and the following account of his conversion , which has fortunately been preserved in his

own words , is interesting , as affording a proof that , like Cromwell , and , as we have supposed , Mohammed , and all who have attained to temporal power by means of religion , he commenced in sincerity , and was deceived himself before he deceived others . " From my childhood , " says he , " even from

the age of seven years , my sole endeavour was to acquire knowledge and capacity . I had been reared up , like my fathers , in the doctrine of the twelve imams , and I made acquaintance with an Ismai'lite companion ( Refeek ) , named Emir Dhareb , with whom I knit fast the bonds of friendship . My opinion was that the tenets of the Ismailites resembled those of the

Philosophers , and that the ruler of Egypt was a man who was initiated in them . As often , therefore , as Emir said anything in favour of these doctrines I fell into strife with him , and many controversies on points of faith ensued between him and me . I gave not in to anything that Emir said in

disparagement of our sect , though it left a strong impression on my mind . Meanwhile Emir parted from me , and I fell into a severe fit of sickness , during which I reproached myself , saying , that the doctrine of the Ismailites was assuredly the true one , and that yet out of obstinacy I had not

gone over to it , and that should death ( which God avert !) overtake me , I should die without having attained to the truth . At length I recovered of that sickness , and I now met with another Ismai'lite , named Aboo Nejm Zaraj , of whom I enquired touching the truth of his

doctrine . Aboo Xejm explained it to me in tlie fullest manner , so that I saw quite through the depths of it . Finally I met a dai , named Moomin , to whom the sheikh Abd-al-Melik ( servant ofthe King , / . c . of God ) Hen Attash , the director of the missions of Irak , had given permission to

exercise this office . I besought that he would accept my homage ( in the name ofthe Fnt ; .: iitc khalif ) , but this he at the first refused to do , because I had been in higher dignities than he : but , when I pressed him thereto beyond all

measure , he yielded his consent . When now the sheikh Abd-al-Melik came to Rei , and through intercourse learned to know me , my behaviour was pleasing unto him , and he bestowed on me tlie office of a dei . He said unto me , 'Thou must go unto Egypt , to be a . sharer in the felicity

Ancient And Modern Mysteries.

of serving the imam Mostanser . ' When the sheikh Abd-al-Melik went from Rei to Isfahan I set forth for Egypt . " There is something highly interesting in this account of his thoughts and feelings given by Hassan Sabah , particularly when we recollect

that this was the man who afterwards organised the society of the Assassins , so long the scourge of the East . ' We here find him , according to his own statement , dreading the idea of dying without having openly made profession of the truth , yet afterwards , if we are to credit the Oriental

historians , he inculcated the doctrine of the indifference of all human actions . Unfortunately this declension from virtue to vice has been too often exhibited to allow of our doubting that it may have happened in the case of Hassan Sabah . A further reflection which presents itself is this Can anything be more absurd than those points

which have split the Moslems into sects ? and yet how deeply has conscience been engaged in them , and with what sincerity have they not been embraced and maintained ! Will not this apply in some measure to the dissensions among Christians , who divide into , parties , not for the essential doctrines of their religion , but for some merely accessary parts ?

Hassan , on his arrival in Egypt , whither his fame had preceded him , was received with every demonstration of respect . His known talents , and the knowledge of the high favour and consideration which he had enjoyed at the court of Malek Shah , made the khalif esteem him a most important acquisition to the cause of the

Ismailites , and no means were omitted to soothe and flatter him . He was met on the frontiers by the Dei-al-Doat , the sherif Taher Casvini , and several other persons of high consideration ; the great officers of state and court waited on him as soon as he had entered Cairo , where the khalif assigned him a suitable abode , and loaded him with honours and tokens of favour . But such was the

state of seclusion which the l'atunite khaifs had adopted , that during the eighteen months which Hassan is said to have passed at Cairo he never once beheld the face of Mostanser , though that monarch always evinced the utmost solicitude about him , and never spoke of him but in terms

of the highest praise . While Hassan abode in Egypt the question of the succession to the throne ( always a matter of dispute in Oriental monarchies ) became a subject of dissension and angry debate at court . The khalif had declared his eldest san , Nesar , to be

his legitimate successor ; but Bedr-al-Jemali , the Emir-al-Juvoosh , or commander-in-chief of the army , who enjoyed almost unlimited power under the Fatimites , asserted the superior right of Musteiili , the klialif ' s second son , which right his power afterwards made good . Hassan Sabah , not very wisely , as it would seem , took the side

of Prince Nesar , and thereby drew on himself the hostility of Bedr-al-Jemali , who resolved on his destruction . In vain the reluctant khalif struggled against the might of the powerful Emiral-Juvoosh ; he was obliged to surrender Hassan to his vengeance , and to issue an order for committing him to close custody in the castle of Damietta .

u hue Hassan lay in confinement at Damietta one of the towers of that city fell down without any apparent cause . This being looked upon in the light of a miracle by the partisans of Hassan and the khalif , his enemies , to prevent his deriving any advantage from it , hurried him on

board a ship which was on the point of sailing for Africa . Scarcely had tlie vessel put to sea when a violent tempest came on . The sea rolled mountains high , the thunder roared , and the lightning flamed . Terror laid hold on all who were aboard , save Hassan Sabah , who looked

calm and undisturbed on the commotion of the elements , while others gazed with agony on the prospect of instant death . On being asked the cause of his tranquillity he made answer , in imitation probably of St . Paul , "Our Lord ( Seydna )

has promised me that no evil shall befall me . " Shortly afterwards the storm fell and the sea grew calm . The crew and passengers now regarded him as a man under the especial favour of Heaven , and when a strong west wind sprung up , and drove them to the coast of Svria , thev

Ancient And Modern Mysteries.

offered no opposition to his leaving the vessel and going on shore . Hassan proceeded to Aleppo , where he stayed some time , and thence directed his course to Bagdad . Leaving that city he entered Persia , traversed the province of Khuzistan , and , visiting

the cities of Isfahan and Yezd , went on to the eastern province of Kerman , everywhere making proselytes to his opinions . He then returned to Isfahan , where he made a stay of four months . He next spent three months in Khuzistan . Having fixed his view on Damaghan and the

surrounding country in Irak as a distnet well calcuto be the seat of the power which he meditated establishing , he devoted three entire" years to the task of gaining disciples among its inhabitants . For this purpose he employed the most eloquent dais he could find , and directed them to win over

by all means the inhabitants of the numerous hill-forts which were in that region . While his dais were thus engaged he himself traversed the more northerly districts of Jorjan and Dilem , and when he deemed the time fit returned to the province of Irak , where Hussein Kai ' ni , one of the

most zealous of his missionaries , had been long since engaged in persuading the peoj : > le of the strong hill-fort of Alamoot to swear obedience to the khalif Mostanser . The arguments of the dai had proved convincing to the great majority of the inhabitants , but the governor , Ali Mehdi ,

an upright and worthy man , whose ancestors had built the fort , remained , with a few others , faithful to his duty , and would acknowledge no spiritual head but the Abbaside khalif of Bagdad ; no temporal chief but the Seljookian Malek Shah . Mehdi , when he first perceived the

progress of Ismaflism among his people , expelled those who had embraced it , but afterwards permitted them to return . Sure ofthe aid of a strong party within the fort , Hassan is said to have employed against the governor the same artifice

by which Dido is related to have deceived the Lybians . He offered him 3 , 000 ducats for as much ground as he could compass with an oxhide . The guileless Mehdi consented , and Hassan instantly cutting the hide into thongs surrounded with it tlie fortress of Alamoot .

Mehdi , seeing himself thus tricked , refused to stand to the agreement . Hassan appealed to justice , and to the arms of his partisans within the fortress , and by their aid compelled the governor to depart from Alamoot . As Mehdi was setting out for Damaghan , whither he

proposed to retire , Hassan placed in his hand an order on the rcis Mozaffer , the governor of the castle of Kirdkoh , couched in these terms : "Let the reis Mozaffer pay to Mehdi , the descendant of Ali , 3 , 000 ducats , as the price of the fortress of Alamoot . Peace be upon the prophet and

his family ! God , the best of directors , sufficelh us . " Mehdi could hardly believe that a man of the consequence of the reis Mozaffer , who held an important government under the Seljookian sultans , would pay the slightest attention to the order of a mere adventurer like Hassan Sabah

he however resolved , out of curiosity , or rather , as we are told , pressed by his want ofthe money , to try how lie would act . He accordingly presented the order , and to his infinite surprise was forthwith paid the 3000 ducats . The reis had

111 fact been long in secret one of the most zealous disciples of Hassan Sabah . Historians are careful to inform us that it was on the night of Wednesday , the sixth of the month Rejeb , in the 483 rd year of the Hejira that the Hassan Sabah made himself master ol

Alamoot , which was to become the chief seat ut the power of the sect of the Ismailites . This year answers to the year 1090 ofthe Christian era , and thus tlie dominion of the Assassins was founded only nine years before the Christians of the west established their empire in the Holy Land . ( To he continued . )

AT the sale of the Countess of Deiwentwatei ' -j effects a portrait of the Pretender sold for ^ 1000 . MASONIC STATIONERY is supplied advantageously hy Bin . T . 111 : 1 : in . I' ., Jligh-sirect , Wcston-super * mare , . Somerset , who executes Relief and Cameo stamping on his own premises , liro . ISccdlc ' s S ' . ccl Pen is a really good pen , and he send . ; 12 dozen , p ; T pot , fur twen ;; . - stamp * . — fAdvl . l