Freemasonry & Israelitism.

the reference to the land of Canaan , for winch reference there seems to be no good reason , v , * . ? get , I think , something like the genuine sense oi the passage . The prescience here ascribed to the Lord , by Moses , is an idea that would seem impossible to enter into the mind of one who

had not been enlightened by a Divine revelation . We look in vain for anything like it in all the systems ( if systems they may be called ) of ancient Oriental Theosophy . But in the sacred writing it is always recognised as one of the incommunicable attributes of the Divine Being .

Wonderful , indeed , it is—so wonderful that any one contemplating it must feel with the psalmist that it is incomprehensible , and exclaim , "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me ; it is high , I cannot , attain unto it . " What is here ascribed to the Almighty is , that He foresaw the future

progress and history of nations ; how some would grow into mighty peoples , and then cease to be—how , and in what way , the earth would become subjected to the dominion of mankind , located in different regions , and under totally dissimilar circumstances ; and foreseeing all this ,

that He so determined the boundaries of thenhabitations as to make them subservient to His great design of rendering Israel the encompasser of the earth . Bishop Horsley translates thus : "When the Most Hig h assigned thc heathen their inheritance , when He separated the sons of

Adam , He set the bounds of His own people , according to the number of the sons of Israel , for the portion of Jehovah is Jacob , the peoples are the measured lot of / it ' s [ Israel ' s ] inheritance . " Thus , without altering a tittle in the Hebrew text , except in making a transposition

of two words , he brings out the sense above given—/ lis inheritance , that is , Jacob ' s ; according to the constant strain of prophecy , that , ultimately , Jacob is to inherit all the nations . "Thus , " he says , " the passage describes the call of the Gentiles , and their incorporation with

Israel , not without an implied allusion to the exaltation of the natural Israel , above all the na ' tions of the earth , in the last ages . " But what is the " lot" or cord ? Chcbcl signifies a cord , or rope , by which things are bound ; and with which , also , they arc measured , and the

boundaries determined . In Zechariah it . 1 , 2 , we read ofa man with a measuring line in his hand , with which to determine the length and width of Jerusalem ; and the psalmist says ( 2 Sam . viii . 2 ) , " He smote Moab , and measured them witb a line , casting them down to the ground : even

with two lines measured he to put to death , and with one full line to keep alive ; and so tlie Moabites became David ' s servants , and brought gifts ; " that is , he divided the country of the Moabites into several parts , that he might better know what towns it was proper to

demolish and what to preserve . In this sense , the descendants of Jacob were to he the measuring line — they who encompassed the inheritance their posterity were to possess . Thus , Jeremiah says ( x . 16 ) , "The portion of Jacob is not like them [ thc Gentiles ] , for he is the former of all things ; and Israel is the rod

[ cord ] of his inheritance , " and so the prophet prays in his distress , in the midst of thc desolation of his people * . " Remember thy congregation whicli thou has purchased of old , the rod of thine inheritance which thou hast redeemed " ( li . 19 ) . In accordance with the interpretation of the declaration of Moses which I have

adopted , the Lord says ( Ps . lxxiv . 2 ) , " I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth , and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob , thy father , for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it . " Who , indeed , could make such a

promise but " lie who worketh all things according to the counsel of Mis own will ? " " Who doeth as He will in the army of Heaven nnd among the inhabitants ofthe earth ? " Who could even conceive such a thintr . or into whose mind would it enter to disclose it ?

Look , again , upon a map of the world , ami see how the descendants of Jacob , as preserved in the ten tribes ( called by various names in history , the first known after their captivity being that of Getce , or the bruised ones , and now the best known , that of AngloSaxons ) by the multiplicity of their possessions , and in that

Freemasonry & Israelitism.

introduction into countries and lands which they do not absolutely possess , but the people of which they influence , if they do not control , with their presence , have fulfilled the great lawgiver ' s words , wonderful and improbable as the declaration seemed to be . They have measured ,

or encompassed , if they have not occupied , nearly the whole earth , and are everywhere accomplishing , more or less , the beneficent purposes ofthe God of Jacob . There is no prodigy , wonderful as it is , in a woman encompassing a man , but Jeremiah speaks of it as a prodigy- —a

new thing in the earth ( xxxi . 22 ) . The Hebrew word Gebcr . a man , as distinguished from a woman , is sometimes used to denote the whole of mankind . Is it true that Queen Victoria , alone , of all the sovereigns of thecal th , as the head of the Anglo-Saxon race , has a dominion on which the sun never sets ? Once more look

upon tlie map , and beginning with The ( British ) Islands , cast your eyes northward to Heligoland , then return southward , and you have the Channel Islands , Gibraltar , Malta , Gambia , Sierra Leone , the Gold Coast , Lagos , St . Helena , the Cape of Good Hope , Natal , Mauritius , the Straits

Settlements , India , Ceylon , Labuan , Sarawak , 1 long-Kong , Western Australia , South Australia , Victoria , Queensland , Tasmania , and New Zealand , thus completing the circle of the eastern hemisphere . Then take the western hemisphere , and beginning with Hudson ' s

Territory , proceed to Canada , Newfoundland , St . John ' s , Prince Edward's Island , New Brunswick , Cape Breton , Nova Scotia , the Burmudas , the West India Island , the Bahamas , Turk ' s Island , Jamaica , Antigua , St . Christopher . Nevis , St . Lucia , Barbadoes , St . Vincent ,

Grenada , Tobago , Trinidad , British Honduras , British Guiana , the Falklands , and British Columbia , which completes the second circle . What a dominion ! What a realisation of ancient prophecy ! " Let them know that God ru ' . eth in Jacob unto the ends ofthe earth " ( l's . lix . 13 ) . * ' These shall lift up their voice , they shall sing

the waters shall resound with the exaltation of the Lord . Therefore in the distant coasts , glorify ye the Lord ; in the distant coasts of the sea , the name of the Lord , thc God of Israel . From the uttermost parts of the land , we have heard songs . Glory to the righteous" ( Isaiah xxiv . 14-16 ) .

Mui-. riv . um-s F 01 . 1 . Y . —Yesterday morning Mr . Walter Shrimpton , for many years stntioninastcr at Exmouth , Devonshire , died from tlie effects of a pistol-shot . The facts are as follows : — -On Wednesday evening Mr . . Sliriniptom had been out fur a siroll with his Iriends , Mi . J . T . Hick ford , chvmisl ;

Mr . Naiikive'I , draper ; and Mr . George Maynard , watchmaker . As they were reluming home together , shortly before 12 o'clock , they went wit !) Mr . Maynard into his shop , and stayed there while he took his watches and jewellery out of his window , and placed the articles , according to custom , in a

box , preparatory lo removing them to his bedroom for the night * . After the valuables were ail placed in the box Mr . Shrimpton rem . irk . 'il jocularly . ' * Let's garotte him , and lake away his watches . " Mr . Maynard , entering into the joke , went into a room adjoining the shop , and returned with a

breechloading revolver in hi- ; hand , and , pointing the pistol at Mi . . Shrimpton , said , ** This is the thing that settles garoitcrs ; ' * Mr . 1 Sick fori ) exclaimed , * " Don ' t point it . it may be loaded ;* ' * and Mr . Maynard , replied ** Oh , it is not loaded ; " but the words had no sooner escaped from his lips than the pistol went off

and Mr . Shrimpton ejaculated , " Oh George , you ' ve shot me ! " It was quickly ascertained that a ball from tlie pistol had entered Mr . Shrii-. ip ' . on ' s hotly , near the right shoulder . The services of two surgeons were hnmedially procured , and tlie wounded man was conveyed to his residence adjoining the

railway station . The ball , it was found , had traversed the Kings , and lhe sufferer had to be informed that there was little or no hope of his recovery . The dociors remained with their patient until his death , which occurred at 2 o ' clock yesterday morning . Deceased was 25 years of age , a married man , and

his wife happens to be absent on a visit to some friends al a distance , lie was Mastcrofthe Masonic Lodge at Kxmoulh , and greatly esteemed on account of his genial and obliging disposition . The police constable who took possession of thc revolver—a

six-chamber one—yesterday morning , found that four other of the chambers were loaded . An inquest has been held on tlie body , and the Coroner's jury have returned a verdict of " Homicide by misadventure . "— Times , August iS .

Masonic Historians.—No. 3.

MASONIC HISTORIANS . —No . 3 .

BY BRO . W . J AMES HUGHA . IT , P . M . 131 , Prov . Grand Secretary , Cornwall , d-V .

BRO . SAMUEL BESWICK . Bro . Beswick has endeavoured to write the Masonic history of Bro . Emanuel Swedenborg with perfect independence , freedom of opinion , originality of conception , and an entire avoidance

of the beaten paths , and , I believe , in many respects , he has succeeded . In the . first place , few have ever treated the career of Swedenborg as it deserved , and fewer still have succeeded in

presenting anything like a sketch of the Masonic life of this great man . The work is entitled , "Swedenborg Eite , and the Great Masonic Leaders of the Eighteenth Century " ( New York : Masonic Publishing Company , * 1 S 70 ) .

In the preface it is declared to be " The only hook which treats of the Swedenborg Rite , the Masonic career of Swedenborg and his followers , and the relation which the symbolic system of

Swedenborgianism has held with Freemasonry . " Part 1 is entitled " Swedenborg ' s Initiation at Lund , 1706 . " Emanuel Swedenborg was born at Stockholm in Januarv , 16 SS . When about

eighteen years of age ( thus in the year 1706 ) , and whilst on a ' visit to his home at Brunsbo , West Gothland , he went to see the university at Lund . Of this period Bro . Beswick remarks

" Here he was initiated for the first time into the mysteries of Ficemasonry , taking the chapter degrees of the Scottish Rite , which formed a part of the series . On his return , he joined or

affiliated with the Stockholm Chapter , Lund , where he took his degrees in the capital of Sconen , the extreme southern province of Sweden . . . If it be objected that Swedenborg was then only

eighteen years of age , in 1706 , and that he must have falsified his age in order to gain admission , we reply that it was customary to initiate in the Continental chapters and lodges at anage so low

as seventeen . " To make sure of the meaning of the writer , we again quote from his work " Siccdenborg ' s initiation mas in the year 1706 , and the order is that known as the Scottish Rite , '

p . 18 . We challenge these statements , because we believe them to be unequivocally wrong . No evidence is given to justify such a statement , and the whole chapter is based upon hearsay and most improbable stories .

The "Scottish Rite" never existed so early as 170 C , or even 1720 , and it is most absurd in the present era of Freemasonry , to attempt to foist upon the Fraternity such a ridiculous and

unfounded series of assumptions . We declare emphatically that no reference to the " Scottish Rite " ( so-called , or the " Hautes Grades " ) can be pointed out in any record , minute , or other

document , either for 1706 , 01 * for several years later ; that no chapters for Masonic purposes were ever hehl before the " Revival of 1716 , " as meetings superior to , or beyond , the regular

assemblies of lodges ; and , finally , that , were Emanuel Swedenborg initiated in 1706 , it must have been in an ordinary Masonic lodge of a similar character to those wc know of through

the records of that period . We give credit to Bro . Beswick for the ingenuity he has shown in weaving chapter No . 1 out of nothing , but beyond that we cannot say he has afforded the reader any evidence of his ability . Even the assertion