Israelitish Origin Of The Anglo-Saxon Race.

already settled ? While on this point I , may mention that many of the prophets , when speaking of the restoration of Israel , speak of gathering them from the " Isles of the Sea . " Now it is an undoubted historical fact that the Asiatic Phenicians were well acquainted with the " Tin

islands" ( as the British isles were called ) and that tin was much used in Syria , Babylonia , Assyria and the adjoining countries , so that these " Isles of the Sea " would have a definite meaning in the mouths of the prophets who would of course know that many of the Israelites

had fled thither . Viewed in this light many of the prophesies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel become more intelligible to us , and the expression " Isles of the Sea" appears to have a definite meaning , and is not merely a general and vague

expression . It has been said that many of the Israelites escaped to Egypt , from whence the migration was easy down the Red Sea to the lower parts of Arabia . Dr . Woolf , in his " Narrative of a Mission to Bokhara , " says he found some of the descendants of the tribe of

Dan in the southern part of Arabia , that they called themselves " Beni Israel" ( children of Israel ) and had a . tradition that they are descended from the tribe of Dan . Dr . A . Grant ( who in 1844 was attached to an American Mission to the Nestorian inhabitants of the

mountainous district near Lake Van , S . E . of the Black Sea ) states that he is satisfied the Nestorians ( many of whom are now Christians ) are descended from the Israelites , who were placed there by the Assyrian kings . There is very little doubt of the correctness of this

statement , but as these people do not number more than 200 , 000 it is quite clear that they can at best only form a . small portion of the descendants of the ten tribes , who , it must be borne in mind , were to become a " multitude of nations . " In the book of Tobit and other books of the Apocrypha we learn that many of the Israelites

dwelt in much more easterly parts of Media than the region now accepted by the Nestorians . as for instance at Rhages , south of the Caspian Sea . We also know that this part of the country was frequently the scene of bloody and destructive wars , the effect of which would be to drive the Israelites still further cast or north

more probably the latter causing them to pass through the moderately level country to the east of the Caspian . Those who dwelt in the more mountainous parts of Media and Armenia would naturally retreat further north , between the Black and Caspian Seas . These two

migrating streams , when they had reached a point sulliciently far north to be clear of the two great inland seas , would probably settle down for a time , but ultimately they would , as population increased , turn westerly and pass over the fertile plains of Southern Russia . Here Bro . Carpenter

and I are on common ground , and as I have already occupied so much space I must not venture further west for the present . I must also with regret leave a further notice of Mr . Glover's interesting work on this subject to another occasion , although I fully intended to

fulfil the promise made 111 my former letter . As a resume of the previous observations , it may be briefly stated that a considerable emigration of Israelites in conjunction with their neighbours , the Phenicians , had been established for many years before the destruction of the

kingdom of Israel , and that this event increased the emigration , which ultimately reached our shores . That , although a large number of the ten tribes were placed in the cities of the Medes by the Assyrian kings ( where many of them still remain ) , there was a regular dispersion of

the nation in other directions , some remaining in Palestine to be absorbed by the new comers while others migrated to Egypt , Arabia and elsewhere . That many of the Median Israelites , especially those who dwelt in the flat country were forced to retreat before advancing enemies

and ultimately reached Southern Russia , from whence , we learn from Bro . Carpenter and other writers , they spread over Eastern and Northern Europe . I hope to have another opportunity of following them in their further travels . W . E . N ., No . 566 .

The Philosophy Of Freemasonry.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF FREEMASONRY .

CHAPTER THIRD .

OBEDIENCE . He is unfitted to command , who has not first learned to obey . Obedience is the true test of a Mason , as necessary to be cultivated as truth or charity . Without it

no lodge can exist , no Master conduct its business . No brother can presume to assert an independence of action , contrary to the voice of the Master and the lodge . He has his remedy , if aggrieved , by an appeal

to the Supreme Body ; but the Master ' s word in lodge assembled , must be held as law , otherwise the lodge would degenerate into a bear-garden , and the harmony of the Order be marred . A brother who may find

himself , or a body of brethren who may find themselves , outvoted on any point , should gracefully bow to the majority of the brethren , for any ebullition of wounded feeling , or attempt to revenge the defeat , is

alike unmanly and inconsistent with Masonic oaths ; and a brother , who , however unjustly he may have been dealt with , shows more conspicuously his qualities both as a man and a Mason when he accepts

without murmuring , the dictum of his brethren ; but he who endeavours rudely , or by means at variance with the spirit of the Order , to regain a position which he has lost , or to reverse a decision come to after

mature consideration , proves himself to be , however right he might have been originally , unworthy of attention , and unfit to be received into the fellowship of Masons . A brother who takes his case , decided in the

Masonic courts , out of them , and parades them to the neutral world , displays an ignorance of the principles of Freemasonry , a pettiness of spirit , and a mental bias to

the wrong , by obeying the sentence of his peers , he disarms the verdict of its sting , and lays the first stone towards rc-crecting his Masonic character .

We have too oltcn seen lodges , where harmony and peace used to reign , broken up , or if the evil did not go that length , the comfort marred , by factious brethren . There are men with a twist in their

character which will lead them to cavil at every remark , men who cannot agree with their very selves . It is a pity that no law exists by which such brethren could be ostracised , for it is very hard that other brethren

should suffer for their vagaries . Every right-minded brother , and such I honour and esteem , finding that he cannot agree with one or more brethren in lodgcassemblcd , who tenders his resignation and seeks a more

congenial society . acts up totheaproncharge , and byhisprudentconduct prevents scandal ; but a brother who remains in a lodge only to prove a nuisance , who attends meetings to raise , night after night , disturbance and

dispcacc , should have the effectual remedy applied to him—expulsion . Among a certain class of young Masons , it is often painful to see the anxiety they display to bring themselves into notoriety , and when

legitimate means fail , they do not scruple to adopt illegitimate . By them we would have the framework of Freemasonry taken down and altered to the style of modern

stucco palaces ; and they do not scruple to contradict the Master in the chair , and set up their juvenile ignorance against the experience of age . Many men mistake

The Philosophy Of Freemasonry.

novelty for wisdom , as they confound insolence with wit . I ' n the good old days , when the Hospitallers of St . John held Cyprus , a fearful serpent ravaged the land . Many

adventurous knights went out to attack the monster , but all fell victims to its fury . At last , the Grand Master forbade any knight thenceforward to attempt its destruction , and the island was given up as a prey to

the reptile . Its ravages in consequence became greater , the country people flocked into Limisso and other towns , to escape it , and every day the tale was told of fields destroyed and peasants slain by this pest .

A young knight , stung by these reports , and setting aside the command of the Master , constructed a model of the serpent , and , by certain contrivances , made it spit forth smoke and fire . With this model he

trained his warhorse , until , having overcome his fear of the resemblance , he went forth in search of the reality , found the serpent , and slew it . He returned in great pride of heart to Limisso , dragging the

serpent after him , and the people , in wonder and joy , received him with all honour , at the same time hastening forward to the preceptory of the Order , where the Grand Master of the Order resided , that they

might witness the victors reward for freeing the island of the pest . The Grand Master , attended by his officers and the brethren , received the young knight in the great hall . There he listened to the narrative of the

victor , and when he had described the battle with the serpent , the Grand Master asked him if he was aware of the command given , that no knight should venture to combat the reptile ? Receiving an answer

in the affirmative , he continued : " Obedience is the first duty of a knight ; by disobedience our first parents fell from their estate of bliss ; and by your disobedience , you have forfeited your place in our society .

True , you have shown discretion in the means you took to fight the serpent , valour in the combat , but without implicit obedience paid to the orders of your superiors , your experience is in vain , and your valour

worthless . Go ; you cease to belong to us . " The people would have supplicated the Grand Master to forgive him on account of the good deed done , and his brethren of the Order begged him to reconsider the

sentence , but the knight , craving liberty of speech , prayed his auditors to respect the decree , however harsh of the Master , which he had truly merited , and stepping up to the throne , he laid down his cloak , the red

cloak with the white cross , and , bowing to his chief , was slowly retiring . But everything was noticed by the experienced old soldier , who , as the youth crossed the hall to depart , bade him to return , and , clasping

him in his arms , said : " By disobedience you have merited expulsion , but by your obedience you have worked out your

redemption . A better fight than with the serpent have you fought this day , and a greater victory achieved , a victory over yourself . " ERROL .

Apropos of our Bro . Hughan s remarks upon our article , " A Body without a Head , " we find the following in the Philadelphia Keystone : — The official Bulletin of the Grand Orient of France informs us that at its last session , that

body , numerously attended , with only eighteen dissentient votes , abolished the office of Grand Master . This is neither more nor less than the worst kind of Communism or Vandalism , and places the Grand Orient entirely beyond the pale of all regularly constituted Lodges and Grand Lodges in the world .