Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

PAGE S OLOMON ' TEMPLE 539 M ASONIC HISTORIANS , No . 2 . — Bros . John Sheville and James L . Gould ... 540 THE RELATION OF ST . J OHN THE EVANGELIST

TO FREEMASONRY 540 & 541 THE CRAFTMetropolitan 542 Middlesex 542 Provincial 542 & 543

ROYAL ARCHMetropolitan 543 Provincial 543 C ONSECRATION OF SPHINX LODGE , NO . 1329 ... 543 B IRTHS , MARRIAGES , AND DEATHS 544

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 544 THE ENGLISH MASONIC CHARITIES ... 544 & 545 MUXTUM IN PARVO 545 ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCEProv . G . L . of West Lancashire 545

O BITUARYThe R . W . Bro . William A . Laurie 546 Bro . Henry Morton , W . M . 228 546

MASONIC APPOINTMENTS 546 MARK MASONRYMark Masonry in West Lancashire 546 ROYAL ARK

MASONRYMetropolitan ... ... ... ... ... 54 6 ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS ... 547 INSTRUCTION 547 DISTRICT GRAND LODGE OF TURKEY ... 547 & 548

MASONIC MEETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK 549 POETRYThe Future Life 549 Masonic Hymn ( St . Hernias ) ... ... ... 549 ADVERTISEMENTS 537 , 53 S , 549 , 550 , & 551

Solomon's Temple.

SOLOMON'S TEMPLE .

BY BRO . WILLIAM CARPENTER , P . M . AND P . Z . The question asked by " W . M ., " in THE FREEMASON , page 498 , on " the three entrances " to the Temple ; and , not less , the answer of Bro . VV . II . Reed , on page 514 ,

afford proof that neither of those brothers possess a correct knowledge of the structure about which the one inquires and the other replies . Tin ' s defective knowledge is not peculiar to them . It is , as far as my

experience goes , very common among the members of the Craft , all of whom should certainly acquire as much knowledge as is obtainable touching a structure which occupies so prominent a place in our

rituals—Craft and Arch . Our only sources of information touching the sacred building are thc books of Kings and Chronicles , Josephus ' s Antiquities and Wars of the Jews , and thc Mishnah , Tract , Middoth .

It would no doubt be difficult for unprofessional persons to obtain a precise knowledge of thc details of such a building as the Jewish Temple from any mere verbal description , especially if uncertain , as in

this case , as to thc exact length of thc measure employed in thc description . Hut in regard to the Jewish Temple , the difficulty is increased by the circumstance , that the writers of thc Kings and the Chronicles

are very brief in their descriptions , and that Joscphus and thc Talmudists wrote long after thc destruction of thc sacred edifice raised by King Solomon , and described rather thc Temple raised by Zerubbabcl

than that which previously occupied its site . Thc only thing we can do , under thc circumstances , is to take the materials derivable from all the sources , and , comparing

them one with the other , get a general idea of the structure . Whatever may have been the differences in the Courts and their buildings in the two Temples , the Holy House

Solomon's Temple.

itself , which was built upon the model ofthe Tabernacle , shown to Moses on the Mount , was alike in both . It should always be borne in mind , that the Temple consisted of much more than is ,

in various passages of the Bible , called "the House ofthe Lord , " "the Sanctuary , " " the Tabernacle of the Lord , " & c . It was built upon an artificial platform , immense walls having been raised from the base of

Mount Sion , and the irregularities of the surfaces of the hill filled up with earth , until it was brought to such a level as was fitted to have the buildings raised upon it . First ; there was an enclosure which was nearly

square , being about a stadium ( 606 feet ) each way ( Josephus , Antiq ., xv . 11 , 3 , and the Misnhah , Middoth , ii . § 1 . ) This was surrounded on the four sides by cloisters , built against the outer walls . Here we

have the outer Court of the Temple , called by Christian writers , " The Court of the Gentiles ; " by Josephus , " The Outer Temple ; " in the Old Testament , " The Court ofthe Lord ' s House" ( Jer . xxvi . 2 ) , or"The

Great Court ( 2 Chron . iv . 9 ); but always by the Jewish writers of the Apocrypha and the Talmud , "The Mountain ofthe House . " The cloisters in this court , having flat roofs of pannelled cedar , were supported by double rows of white marble Corinthian

columns , except on the southern side , where was the magnificent Stoa Basilica , or Royal Porch , which was supported by four rows

of more lofty columns ; and as the one row was built into the outer wall , they formed a nave and two lower side aisles , which ran the whole width from the eastern to the western

valley . The cloisters on the east side were called " the Porch of Solomon , " no doubt from being built upon a portion of the embankment and wall raised by the Hebrew monarch from the Kedron Valley ( Comp .

Joseph . Antiq ., xx . 10 , 7 , and also xv . n , 3 ; viii . 3 , 9 ; Wars , v . 5 , 1 ) . Within this wide open space , or outer court , stood the innercourts . uponaraised platform . Around this more sacred portion , which " approached nearer to the name of the True and Livin-7

God , Most High , ' was a low ( three cubits ) marble screen or balustrade , having pillars at intervals , upon which were Greek and Latin inscriptions , forbidding any but Jews to enter , upon pain of death . Within the

screen a flight of steps led up to thc other courts ; first , fourteen steps , then a level space of ten cubits , called the chel ; and after this , five steps more through thc gates , except at thc great eastern gate—the " Gate

Beautiful , " probably—where these five became fifteen shallow steps ( Joseph . Wars , v ., S . 3 ) - The eastern portion of this grand platform was occupied by the square Court of thc Women , surrounded by a cloister

wall , and entered by several gates . To the west of thc Court of Women , still further raised , was the Court of Israel , to which thconly entrance , from the Court of Women , was on thc eastern side , up fifteen

semicircular steps , and through a brazen gate . In thc centre of this court , as regards north and south , was a raised platform , two and a half cubits high . Again , in thc centre of this platform , as regards north and south ,

stood the Holy House , the Sanctuary itself , thc entrance to which looked castward , and was reached by an ascent of twelve steps . Below , in front of thc entrance , stood thc great altar of burnt

offerings , while around the Sanctuary and the altars was an ornamental stone balustrade , one cubit high , separating them from thc Court of Israel , and forming the Court of thc Priests . The western wall of tlie Sanctuary came to thc edge ofthe Courts of the Priests . To thc north of thc altar were all

Solomon's Temple.

the arrangements for the sacrificial system of worship—the rows of rings at which the victims were slaughtered , the hooks on which they were hung to be flayed , and the marble tables on which the entrails were

washed and the offerings prepared . The Holy House , or Sanctuary , was reachedfrom hence , as we have said , by twelve steps , which led into the Sacred Porch , within , or at the entrance to which stood the two

pillars , Boaz and Jachin . When we say that Boaz stood on the left and J achin on the right , it should be noted that this describes their respective positions to one

coming ont of the building , and not , as we are apt to suppose , to one who was entering it . Josephus particularly describes the left hand to be on the side which was towards

the north wind ; so that , if we suppose ourselves to be going up towards the Temple , the entrance to which looked eastward , the pillar Jachin was on the south , against the left hand , and Boaz on the north ,

against the right hand . I believe the reverse of this is generally supposed to be the case . The sacred building itself consisted of three parts . Its first entrance , which had no doors , led into the vestibule ,

where everything was covered with gold ; a double gate led hence into the Holy Place , and in front of the gate was suspended a richly embroidered veil . Passing within the Holy Place , everything was gilt

over , or of gold ; and here were deposited the seven-branch candlestick , tlie table of shew-bread , and the altar of innocence . A second veil hung before the entrance to the Holy of Holies , in which was placed the

ark of the Covenant , crowned with the mercy-seat and Cherubim . Thc entire building was 70 cubits in length ; the Porch was 10 cubits ; the Holy Place , 40 cubits : and the Most Holy Place , 20 cubits : the

whole being 20 cubits inwidthand 30 cubits in height , excepting thc porch , perhaps , which , Josephus says , was I 20 cubits highthe statement probably arising out of a clerical error . The front of the building

was overlaid with plates of gold ; and the whole pile of white stone and gold , raised on the high platforms , it looked from a distance , as Joscphus says , " like a mountain covered with snow . "

Now , as to thc gales of the Temple—to which Bro . " W . M . ' s " question and Bro . Reed's answer pertain—it is to be observed that they were many . Thc Outer Court had two on the south , four on thc west , one

on the north , and one on tlie east , which was the principal gate of the Temple . Thc Court of the Women was entered by four gates , one on each side . Thc Court of thc Israelites had many gates — twelve or

fourteen , perhaps—with chambers above them ; and thc Israelites , when they entered the Court of the Priests , never retired by the gate through which they entered it . Thus , as we have said , these

Courts had many gates ; and as thc entire structure , including courts , porticos , and chambers , is designated " Tlie Temple , " these several gates are called " thc gates of the Temple . " But tiic only entrance to the

Temple , properly so called—that is , the House of the Lord , comprising thc Porch , thc Sanctuary , and the Alost Holy Placehacl but one gate or entrance , i . e ., by the Porch . Thc whole building was enclosed

by chambers , rising one above anotherthat is , on the north ancl south sides and the west end—from the back of the Porch on the north side , to the back of thc Porch on

thc south side . So that there was but this ONK entrance on thc east , and not , as Bro , Rccd supposes , TIIRKK—east , north , and south .