Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

PAGE ORIENTAL TRADITIONS—I . — King David 409 & 410 LETTER FROM A BROTHER IN ENGLAND TO A BROTHER IN SCOTLAND 410 & 411 CONSECRATION OF THE GRANITE LODGE ,

No . 1832 411 LODGE OF BENEVOLENCE 411 GRAND LODGE OF CANADA - ... 412 MASONRY IN

AMERICASemi-Centennial of Olive Branch Lodge , Leroy , New York 412 & 413 THE CRAFTMetropolitan 413 Provincial 413 ROYAL

ARCHProvincial 413 INSTRUCTIONMetropolitan .. 413 MASONIC MEETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK ... ... 413 BIRTHS , MARRIAGES , AND DEATHS 414 ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 414

HELP FOR THE VICTIMS OF WAR 414 MULTUM IN PARVO 415 THE RHODOCANAKIS CONTROVERSY ... ... 415 ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS ... 415 MARK MASONRY 415 ORIGINAL

CORRESPONDENCETemplar Commanderies . —Errors in Precedeice 416 Foreign Titles .. 416 & 417 Antiquity of Freemasonry 417 THE ST . CLAIR CHARTERS 418 PRESENTATION TO BRO WORLEY , ROYAL ALBERT LODGE , NO . 907 418

Oriental Traditions.—I

ORIENTAL TRADITIONS . —I

KING DAVID . Oriental traditions contain much that is interesting in the history of the " East , " and though they are far from possessing equal claims to our faith , in many cases they add weight to the details given in

Revelation . Indeed , many of them seem to elucidate what is sometimes dark in the latter , and show , at least , in what manner the people of the " East " understand the accounts existing among them , as so many

traditions of the lives and acts of the Prophets . It is , therefore , from this point of view , that the writer , who is somewhat acquainted with oriental languages and literature , offers the following sketches .

Some persons suppose that whatever the Prophet of Islamism did not procure from the Old and New Testaments , he must have invented , to suit his themes and purposes . Is it not more probable that he drew

largely upon the " Traditions extant amongst his people , in the absence of the written Holy Books ? Among the Arabian writers of the present time , or rather of the writings of the old Arabian authors , from

which D'Herbilas drew so largely , there are sketches on thc prophets , which must have come down to themselves , as so many

"Traditions . " These often contain just such inaccuracies in point of names , periods , and events , as are found in all oral traditions , handed down from father to son in a loner series of

ages . What is unwritten , we call trad tion ; and what is written , we chum to be history ; and when thc latter fails us , wc arc satisfied with the former , especially if it relates to an unlettcrred , uncivilised , or even a

semicivilised people . In the absence of any possible contradiction , or even of conflicting "Traditions , " we assume that the knowledge which we possess is truthful ; and many deeply interesting theories in Freemasonry

are built upon no more solid foundations than " Traditions . " With the early history of David , thc shepherd boy , who later in life , become one

of the greatest and most powerful of kings , any one who has perused thc Old Testament is familiar . We are also well acquainted with thc many vicissitudes of his early career . In them he had learned wisdom .

Oriental Traditions.—I

as well as developed the natural talents which he possessed for music and poetry . The theory of the " East" is that the Almighty has < - ; - > " : " r ' le expression is , " made to descend , " ) certain books of Revelation to

each of the inspired prophets . The earliest thus descended to Adam and Moses , and the Thaboor , or Psalms , to David . His book is the only instance , in which Revelation is positively in a versified form . The sweetness ,

and the sublimity of the psalms are beyond all parallel , and will , without any doubt , be so considered by mankind , in all times to come . They , however , contain dogmas , especially with relation to nature and the

animal creation , which are open to the criticisms of science , and calculated to elevate " animal life " to an equality with man , or to place the latter upon an equality in some respects with all other animals .

Oriental tradition states that David was possessed of an excessively sweet voice , and that all who heard it were captivated by it It had even a magical effect not only upon mankind , but even upon all animate and

inanimate nature . From his harp he could produce seventy-two notes . When he read or sang his psalms , savage animals and wild birds became enthralled , as it were , by the sweetness of his voice , and abandoned for

the time , their natural propensities for mutual harm . Through this gift of nature , or of the Almighty , he exercised an influence over all creation which has not been equalled by that of any other human being . The

celestial creatures , which it is held , occupy the vast space which we call the air , extending between this globe and the others , and known as Jinus , all mankind dwelling upon one earth and descended from Adam , as

well as all other ceratures thus came under his sway , and recognised him as their Sovereign or King . This wonderful power it is said aroused the envy and jealousy of lb / is , or the " Tempter ; " and seeing that

it was entirely due to the harmony of sounds , he made an effort of the same character , for the purpose of seducing the hearers of David ' s magical harp to himself . This evil " genius " however , it would seem , was not

aware that the great power of David , consisted not wholly in the rythm of his verses or the harmony of his strain , but also in the theme of his inspired verses or psalms ; all of which were , as they still are , the most

sublime adorations and praises of the Almighty . To make a diversion in his own favour—to gain , at least , a portion of the auditors to himself—to get up thus two parties in confliction with each , and so as to

disseminate strife , and evil passions among those who had become subdued by the magical strains ofthe harp ofthe Shepherd King , he invented certain other instruments of music , and played upon them airs

calculated to produce the desired effect . Their sweet strains , it is said , affected even David to tears , and knowing that they were only another of the means so pleasant and agreeable , though at tne same time so sinful

and productive of evil to mankind , which Satan spreads abroad , like thc spider docs its web to catch its victims ; he cast

himself upon the ground and closing his cars against thc seductive arts , implored God to preserve him from their sinful influence His tears and the fervor of his devout

invocations deeply affected thc spectators , and drew them away from the thraldom of thc music made by the instruments of Satan ' s invention . In this manner , it is related in

Oriental tradition , music , for thc first time , received two distinct powers ; thc one , that of captivating thc senses by its sweetness and rousing tlie faculties of its hearers , and the other , that of calming them into sub-

Oriental Traditions.—I

jection , of touching and penetrating the most obdurate of hearts , and reducing mankind to tears . Music , since then , has become

plaintive , and prone to exercise a salutary influence upon the affections of mankind ; and for this purpose it is used in connection with their devotions to the Creator .

Oriental writers say that though David in his youth cultivated the art of music as a means of gaining a subsistence , that the wonderful talent which he possessed was a Divine gift , and that its influence over nature was

so great , that even iron became softened by its influence ! When he played upon thc harp and sang his sublime psalms , in devout adoration of his Creator , all the wild beasts of the hills , the fishes of the depths of the

sea , and the birds which soared to the loftiest heights of mid-air , joined with him and responded to his calls to this effect . Even all vegetable nature which has an existence , between those breathing the breath

of life and the material mountains and hills , responded to his invocations and worshipped their Almighty Creator . This may be regarded as oriental hyberbole , and yet traces of the fact may be found in the invocations contained in the sublime psalms of David .

It is narrated that David , on becoming King , was in the habit of dividing his days in the following manner . One day he would spend in conversing with the most learned men of his time , and in learning something

from each one of them ; one he spent in acts of justice , basing his sentences upon tlie principles laid down in the Book of Divine Revelation ; another was devoted entirely to devout meditation , and

supplications to the Almighty ; one to his family , & c . ; one he offered up as a special supplication to God , that He should inspire him

with the greatest principle of human wisdom , and that which is the most confirmable lo the Divine Will . In reply to this prayer , he learned that to reach this he should never

cease to call upon the name of God , to love those who lived and feared Him , and to avoid all such as were ' rrel ' g-ousand forgetful of their Creator ; that he should judge all men in the same manner as he himself

would expect to be judged hereafter . In connection with the preceding , it is said ; probably in a metaphorical sense , that King David was miraculously favoured with a chain which extended from Heaven to his

throne of justice , and that the wisdom of his sentences came down on this from on high . This chain , though generally hidden from the sight of mankind , was ever visible to him , and is supposed to signify ,

allegorically , the pure and impartial dictates of his conscience . For a long time after the death of this wise king , this chain is said to have still existed among the people of Israel , and that it finally disappeared when his successors ceased to be just .

In connection with this so-called " Cham of Justice , " it is related , as a " tradition , " that an individual having deposited with another a valuable jewel , on its being

demanded by its owner , tlie recipient refused to restore it ; or rather , declared that he had already doneso . Thc case , consequently , was carried before the chain in question , and its decision wasawaitcd with uncommon

interest by thc public , as the transaction had taken place between the two parties without any witnesses who could sustain thc declaration of cither . He who received the jewel , placed it inside of his cane ;

thc owner of the jewel declared that he had deposited it with the defendant , and hr . d nevcr received it back , and having taken thc chain in his hands , it made no movement in demonstration of his falsity . When the defendant was called up to make his