Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

PAGE ANCIENT AND MODERN MYSTERIES 37 LEAVES FROM MY LIBRARY 37 THE CRAFTMetropolitan 38 Provincial 38 , 39 and 40 Scotland 40 and 41 ROYAL

ARCHMetropolitan ... ... ... ... ... 41 ORDERS OF CHIVALRYRed Cross of Rome and Constantine 41 ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS ... 41 PRESENTATION TO GRAND CHAPLAIN OF ENGLAND 41 BIRTHS , MARRIAGES , AND DEATHS 42 THE MARK DEGREE 42 and 43

MULTUM IN PARVO 43 THE BIBLE 44 ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE 44 UNIFORMITY OF WORKING ... - 44 MASONIC BALL AT LIVERPOOL 44 PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF WEST LANCASHIRE 45 FOREIGN MASONIC

INTELLIGENCEConstantinople and Holland 46 EARL DE GREY AND RIPON AT ROTHERAM ... 46 MASONIC MEETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK 47

Ancient And Modern Mysteries.

ANCIENT AND MODERN MYSTERIES .

BY BRO . ROBERT WENTWORTH LITTLE , President of ihe London Literary Union , Editor of " The Rosicrucian" & e . ( Continued from page 26 . ) " The architects , with their assistants and pupils , formed associations , called Hiitten , or

lodges . At an assembly held at Ratisbon , in 1459 , it was agreed that a grand lodge should be formed at Strasburg , as the place of general asssembly , and that the architect of that cathedral , for the time being , should be the Grand Master . The society was composed of Masters ,

Companions , and Apprentices , who had a secret word , with signs of recognition . In 1464 and 1469 , there were general assemblies at Strasburg ; but they were afterward neglected for some time , until the emperor Maximilian I ., being at that city in 149 S , granted them certain privileges ,

by charter or diploma , which were renewed and confirmed by subsequent emperors . These diplomas together with the regulations and statutes , were kept in the house of the architect of the cathedral , in a chest with triple locks , of which the two oldest Masons kept the keys , so

that it required the presence of all before the chest could be opened . These documents were in existence until the French revolution , when they were destroyed , with many other papers , to prevent their falling into the hands of the Jacobin commissioners . Their rules inculcated the

necessity of leading moral lives ; submission to the masters , whom the companions served for five or seven years ; attention to their reli gious duties ; and charity to the poorer brethren , & c . Among the symbols were the square , the plumbrule , and the compasses , which are distinguishing

marks of the officers of a Freemasons' Lodge at this clay . "The great importance which architecture assumed in those times , is to be accounted for from the enthusiasm for splendid houses of worship , in which the religious spirit of those

times displayed itself to an unparalleled degree . The history of these corporations , as here given , and their connexion with the present society of Freemasons , appears from what we know of antiquity , from the history of England , and from the agreement of the constitutions , symbols , and customs of the present Freemasons with those of

the above corporations . Three documents have also been preserved which further prove that historical connexion , as well as the doctrines and customs of those corporations of the middle ages , in great perfection , and which must be considered as valuable portions of the history of that period .

" Many writers speak of the Culdees as having formed a Christian church in England for some centuries before the Saxon Conquest , in 449 , and sent bishops to the most ancient councils . This church was , together with the various effects of Roman civilisation , suppressed by the Saxons . The Culdees were obliged to seek refuge in the wildernesses of Wales and Scotland , in Ireland ,

Ancient And Modern Mysteries.

and m the small islands between Great Britain and Ireland , chiefly in Anglesey and Mona , where they continued their apostolic institutions and usages , which related to those ofthe Oriental church . They tried in vain to convert the rude Saxon kings , but they had not the same means

as Augustin , who was sent by the pope , with forty monks , in 597 , to Britain . The Culdees were now again persecuted by the adherents of the pope ; but in their persecution , they maintained the spirit of Christianity , and studied in solitude . At last they found access to Alfred

and Athelstan , the latter of whom gave employment to many architects , in building convents , castles , & c , and the Culdees made use of their organisation , and the independence guaranteed by the king , to teach them their truly apostolic principles . Usher , Ledwich , and Grose , treat

of this subject . The old writers on the papal side of the question , are said to have purposely avoided making mention of the Culdees . A further cause is thus assigned for the superior morals which distinguished the architectural

societies in the middle ages . The oldest of the documents above mentioned , is the constitution confirmed , in 926 , to all the corporations of architects , by king Athelstan , through his brother Edwin , at York , the original of which , in Anglo-Saxon , is still preserved in York .

" The beginning reminds the reader immediately of the most ancient Oriental church . Then follows a history of architecture , beginning with Adam , and comprising quotations from some rabbinical tales , respecting the building of Babel , the temple of Solomon , with mention of

Hiram , limited , however , to the information contained in the Bible ; then passing over to the Greeks and Romans ,- mentioning particularl y Pythagoras , Euclid , and Vitruvius . Then the history of architecture , and the oldest

corporations , in Britain , is told , agreeably to the accounts of the best historians , and , among other things , is mentioned , that St . Albanus , an honourable Roman knight , patronised the art about A . D . 300 , settled the fundamental institutions of the

Masons , procured them employment , wages , and a charter from the emperor Carausius , according to which they should form a society in Britain , tinder tlie government of architects . The devastation of the country , and the destruction of the edifices by the northern tribes and the Angles

and Saxons , is related , and how the pious Athelstan had resolved to restore the ancient and venerable society . After this follow the sixteen most ancient laws , which agree exactly with everything that careful investigation can find in the corpus fur is relating to tiie college of

architects . This constitution was preserved in England and Scotland , in its essential features , until the fourteenth century , when the societies passed over into the stationary corporations in cities . It is proved by historical documents ,

that in Scotland and England , lodges , labouring according to these constitutions , existed in an uninterrupted series , and often admitted as members learned and influential men , who were not architects , including even kings . " ( To he continued . )

Leaves From My Library.

LEAVES FROM MY LIBRARY .

BY MAUMADUKE MAKEPEACE . ( Continued from page 26 . ) Having thus minutely examined the form and import of the Tctractys , we come next to consider some of the principal geometrical diagrams by which we are surrounded .

Let us begin with the properties of the most simple geometrical principle , the point , and proceed gradually to the relations of lines , tlie generation of superfices , and the construction of regular solids ; but confining our enquiry to those symbols which alone have any aptitude to mystical geometry , as being either perfect or proportional in their several relations .

Of all geometrical points , the centre , from which a circle is generated , is the most perfect , as bearing an equal relation to every part of the circumference . Of straight lines , the most perfect relation is that of

the parallel extension ; because it is by its nature immutable and interminable . Of curved lines , the circle is the most perfect , as being in itself complete , without visible beginning or end , bearing an equal relation throughout all its parts to the generating point , and containing the largest possible

Leaves From My Library.

superfices within the most simple boundary of any given extent . From the combination of the circle and right line is derived the right-angled triangle , the most simple of all rectilinear superficies . For if a straight line be drawn through the centre of any circle , so

extended as to touch the circumference at both extremities , and the extreme points thereof be both joined to another point of the circle , the angle formed by their division will invariably be a rightangled triangle , and will either be isosceles ( i . e ., having the sides which include the right angle equal ) ,

or scalene ( i . e ., having all its sides and angles unequal ) . The former of these possesses the capacity of infinite reduplication and may also be infinitely divided into similar triangles equal to each other , observing in both respects the geometrical progression founded on the Duad , or number two , and in

every such operation the whole , as well as the parts , still retaining its original characters , fonn and relation . In its scalene conformation it is in like manner divisible , and its divisions retain their former proportions and relations ; but if multiplied , it becomes the bases of the trilateral forms , which

vary according to the proportions of its angles and the combinations of its lines . When two scalene right-angled triangles of equal dimensions are united by the smallest of the lines which include the right angle , they form an obtuseangled triangle of the isosceles order ; when by the

larger of these two lines , an acute-angled triangle of the same description . But in the latter case , their angles are to each other in the arithmetical proportion of one , two and three . They form an equilateral triangle , which may be justly considered as the most perfect of all trilateral forms , for the

following reasons : —First , because it is equal in all its relations ; secondly , because it is capable of being reduced into right-angled scalene and obtuse isosceles ; thirdly , because it is infinitely divisible , or maybe infinitely multiplied , into similar triangles , equal to each other , without alteration of its form

or relations ; fourthly , because in every such division or augmentation , it observes the geometrical progression founded on the Tetrad , or number four ; and therefore it may be considered a symbolical representation of that species of proportion . le is

Of quadrilateral superficies , the most simp the square , formed by uniting the hypothenuse , or side subtending to the right angle , of two rightangled isosceles triangles containing equal . It is also most perfect on account of the equality of its

relations in the same manner . The rectangular parallelogram is founded by the similar union of two scalene triangles of the same description . A rhomb is the union of two equilateral triangles . A rhomboid , of two right-angled triangles , conjoined

by the larger of those sides which contain the right angle , but in an inverted position . Of trilateral and quadrilateral figures , it is to be observed that none arc admissible into symbolic geometry but those which in their respective lines and angles bear the relation of equality , or such

integral proportions as may be adequately expressed by some of the numerical terms of the Tetractys , i . e ., the numbers I , 2 , 3 , 4 . We next proceed to the construction of multilateral figures having their sides and angles equal . These are invariably formed by the combination of

as many acute-angled triangles as the figure has sides . This class of forms may be sufficiently illustrated by the pentagon , which resolves itself into five isosceles acute-angled triangles . But there is one which requires particular notice—that is , the hexagonwhich being composed of six equilateral

, triangles , is equal in all its relations , and retains the quality of being infinitely divisible into similar triangles , according to the geometrical projection observed in the divisions of that trilateral figure , and may therefore be considered as the most perfect of all multilateral forms .

From this enquiry it results that the three most perfect of all geometrical diagrams are the equilateral triangle , the square , and the equal hexagon . To this may be added an observation—for which wc are indebted to our Grand Master Pythagoras , that there exist no other regular equilateral forms

whose multiples are competent to fill up and occupy the whole space about a given centre . This can only be effected by six equilateral triangles , four squares , and three equal hexagons . There arc but five regular solids contained under a certain number of equal and similar superfices ,

which , from the use made of them in the Platonic philosophy , are usually denominated the five Platonic bodics . namcly—The Tetrahedron , or pyramid , contained under four equ al and equilateral triangles , representing , according to the Platonists , t ! ie element of fire ; the Octahedron , contained under eight such Icosahedronunder

triangles , representing air ; the , twenty such triangles , representing water ; the Hexahedron , or cube , contained under six squares , representing the earth ; and the Dodecahedron , under twelve equal and equilateral pentagons , representing the whole system of the universe . ( To be continued . )