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Article ENCYCLOPEDIA METROPOLITANA. ← Page 2 of 2 Article ENCYCLOPEDIA METROPOLITANA. Page 2 of 2 Article ENCYCLOPEDIA METROPOLITANA. Page 2 of 2 Article MASONIC LIFE-BOATS. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Encyclopedia Metropolitana.
institutions such symbols of the former brorherhood as were consistent with their purpose , modified only by change of time and place , and they would claim to be not only the representatives of the former
society , but to be such society itself existing from time immemorial . On the failure of this last incorporated body their mysteries with their love of ancient descent ( a desire inherent in the breast of man ) would
pass to other societies modified as before , and by such a progression might the Operative Masons have obtained symbols
similar to those used in the earliest Pagan rites . It has been said that the system of Freemasonry has been universally diffused , and that the various secret institutionsfound
throughout the world , even among the most uneducated are connected with it , and therefore prove that it must have originated at a very remote period . These institutions may , however , in some cases , be founded
on imperfect and corrupted traditions of Pagan idolatry , and in others , indeed in all the really Masonic customs the commencement can safely be fixed within a century and a half back , In order to give
some idea of Operative Masonry ( and from that Speculative Masonry ) may have derived indirectly some of its peculiar symbols from primitive sources it will be necessary to refer shortly to the nature of religious
rites in the first ages , when the priests or ministers of religion were in general the depositaries of science as well as of power , omitting the Masonic History of the world before the flood , ( The short note of which
I gave in No . 92 of THE FREEMASON ) of Enoch , the first R . A . Mason , and Tubal Cain , the First Grand Master . According to some brethren it will be sufficient to begin with Noah , he was doubtless well acquainted
with the antediluvian science and a perfect knowledge of the history of the world having lived for 600 years with Methuselah , who had been for nearly 250 years contemporary with Adam . Noah's information therefore
on the subject of the Creation , of the Temptation , of the Serpent , of the Fall of Man , and of the promised Redemption , was of the most accurate description , and could be scarcely called tradition . On the formation
of society after the Deluge , he as the father of the renovated world would be looked up to as the chief oracle and Minister of the Deity , and would inculcate the purest principles of religious instruction , introducing
particulars of the origin of sin and the future shadowy anticipations of atonements , while limits of population enabled his descendents to dwell in his vicinity . The religion of the earth would remain pure as taught by him ; but after
no great lapse oi time , we find his posterity gradually extending the limits of the habitable world , and as they receded from him , in most cases from ignorance or pride , they gradually confused or perverted the true religion .
Mistaking the attributes or symbols of God for the Deity himself , they began to worship them , and some daring characters , inlawed by any fear of Divine vengeance , seized the opportunity of aggrandisement by . declaring themselves the favourites of the new divinities . Thus the
lower of Babel—which is supposed to have been a temple to Bell or Ball , the sun—was erected by order of Nimrod at no great distance of time from the Flood . The worship of the sun , the most resplend jut of the symbols of the
Deity , and of the other heavenly bodies , seems to have been the earliest corruption of religion , and this species of idolatry spread over a great portion of the Eastern World , so that even at the present day traces of Zabianism , or fire
worship , are to be found among the Guebrcs or Persians , the Hindoos , the Chinese , and the Mexicans . After the dispersion of the Tower of Babel , the colonies which peopled different parts of the earth took with them in general
Encyclopedia Metropolitana.
corrupted principles of religion or rather idolatry , the true religion being fostered in Syria and its neighbourhood . We find , in the time of Abraham nd Melchisedee , the priest of the true God at Salem . As different kingdoms or states were established they would respectively frame their
own system of idolatrous worship—all having one common origin , but varied in detail according to climate , disposition of the founder , and other circumstances . In order to preserve a greater control over the minds of the people the priests concealed the tenets of their religion by
means of allegories and symbols , of which the true meaning was known to the initiated . Thus the existence and unity of the Deity is supposed to have been one of the secret doctrines , together with a prospect of a future state . The traditions of the Temptation and the fall of man and
his redemption , to which , after the dispersion , was added that of the Deluge and deliverance of the Ark , were probably before much time had elapsed so far corrupted that even the priests became ignorant of the true facts . As the priesthood possessed great privileges — the
sciences being in general fostered by them—and a knowledge of the mysteries being supposed to ensure future happiness , great anxiety was shown to be initiated among them . Severe tests were established before any candidate was admitted , and obligations were afterwards imposed , often
accompanied with the heaviest penalties if they divulged any of the secrets of the initiated to others . The striking similarity of pagan worship throughout the world has been commented on and strikingly exemplified by every writer on the subject . It will be necessary to refer to it only
cursorily in order to suggest why similar symbols and traditions may be traced almost universally . The worship of the sun and heavenly bodies has already been mentioned . Coeval with that appears that of the serpent , wherein the principles are said to have been typified—namely ,
1 ypho or the Dragon—as the evil principle Novs or the Serpent , as the Grace . In Babylonish or Persian antiquities we find the serpent , and in the Hindii mythology it is very prevalent , so also in China and Japan , being the emblem of royalty in the former ; in Whydah and Congo it
is worshipped with the grossest superstition , and several of the first English visitors on the coast of Guinea were massacred in consequence of having killed one of the sacred reptiles . On another , occasion all the hogs in the country were proscribed , and many of them destroyed
for the same reason . Traditions of the Deluge may be discovered throughout the world , and Mr . Fabcr , in his dissertation on the Cabiri , deduces the mysteries from a union of the rites commemorative of the Deluge with the adoration of the host of heaven , or the Zabian
superstitution introduced by Nimrod , and identifies Noah with Mercury , Aldous , Thammury , Annubis , Bacchus , and other great characters celebrated in the mysteries . The higher Egyptian mysteries represented allegorically the passage through death to renewed life , and an
introduction to the Deity , with a glimmering of the promised means of redemption , as unfolded in the assassination of Osiris , his death , burial , and descent into hell , and triumphant resurrection . Most of the mysteries commenced with
lamentation for the death of some great character , and ended with joy for his resurrection or recovery . Thus the rites respecting Osiris , Adonis , Apollo , Bacchus , Maneros , Manes , Balder , and perhaps Hussein in Persia , with others similar , would all originate from the same tradition . The
Brahmins who accompanied the Indian army to Egypt in 1 S 01 recognised their deities at Luxor , Thebes , and Dendera , and worshipped them , complaining of the Egyptians for not treating them with more respect . As the ceremonies were alike so were many of the symbols , among which some will be found in use among the
rreemasons of the present day , received or adopted by them in manner before-mentioned . The Crux Ansata or Egyptian Cross is considered by many to have been the emblem of the resurrection from the dead . The initiated in the mysteries of Osiris had the Egyptian Tail marked on their foreheads . The truncated oak among the Celts was considered the emblem of
Encyclopedia Metropolitana.
stability , while the Egyptians borrowed the pillars of Seth or Hermes for their attribute . By the ¦ square was represented matter . A figure of Dagon on an ancient Zodiac , holds in one hand an infant , the sign of renewed life , and in the other a square , possibly symbolising the great
Demiurgus or Machinator . By the triangle was was pourtrayed generating fire ; and from its junction with the square , as in the quadrangular pyramid , all things were considered to proceed . The interlaced or double triangle ( the Pentalpha of Antiochus ) , an emblem well known to Royal Arch Masons , is of frequent occurrence .
Masonic Life-Boats.
MASONIC LIFE-BOATS .
{ To the Editor of The Freemason . ) I receive the rebuke administered to me by by Bro . W . Mann not only without resentment , but with some self-reproach . I have doubtless been guilty of "lukewarmness , " not only in relation to life-boats , but in relation to other
commendable things , and Bro . Mann ' s reproof is not unmerited . Yet , let me say , in mitigation of punishment , that for several years , while successively editing . Lloyd ' s Weekly , the Court yournal , the Sunday Times , and sundry other journals , I was not : unmindful of the object on
behalf of winch Bro . Mann writes , but did what I could to promote the interest and increase the funds of the Royal National Life-Boat Society . May I add that I am not so young as I was half a century ago , and that at 74 I find many things which were then a pleasure to be now real
labour . I suppose that as we get old quietude and repose are n . iore and more sought for and indulged in . Nevertheless , I do not ask to be absolved from reproach . As to " remaining aloof" from the Life-Boat Committee , I hardly know what to sai ' . I have never been invited
either directly or indirectly , to do anything in the way of co-operation with it , and it has not been my habit to obtrude myself into the work which others hav ! e taken in hand . The Committee , as Bro . ! Mann says , have been printing the names of "t ! he eminent brethren who have
joined the Comi jiittee , " and of others who have promised to aid them in their good work , and I could not have presumed to imagine that my poor help would . have been of service . Let me disclaim all idei 1 or intention of " sneering" at the Committee ! i want of success . Such a thing
was far from r try thoughts . I merely quoted what THE FREE : MASON had said on their want of success . I might retort the " sneer" when Bro . Mann , who suggests that my " oratory and pen " and powerful ai d and personal influence" would
have enabled th e Committee to have " succeeded long ago in flo < iting at least one life-hoat . " But let that pass ; t hese little rubs are all fair in such such a case , an d should not be taken as evidence of peevishness or vexation .
I do not kn ow that I should have troubled you or your re ? iders just now had it not been for one sentence in Bro . Mann's communication which might < : reate a feeling which I am most desirous to pr < went . He says he fears there is some little je ; dousy , as well as rivalry , on the
part of the Cil y of London Committee . How can jealousy e xist in that Committee with regard to Bro . Mai in's Committee ? We are the younger Comi nittee ; how can we be jealous of those who we re at the work before us ? If there
be jealousy , : it must necessarily be on the part of the Londc m-street Committee . Of what can we be jealous ? Of the older Committee ' s success ? Why , Bro . Mann laments , as I do , that it has not be en successful in wiping away the reproach that : lies on the Craft , Nor can we be
jealous of it s non-success . AVe hope not to rival them ii 1 that . I can assure Bro . Mann and his fellow-coinmittcemen that we have no jealousy of them , . and that we intend no improper rivaly . As Bro . Henry ( not yantes , as reported in last week ' s FREEMASON ) Chapman ,
our indefatigi itble Secretary , said at our festival , " He wished it to be well understood that . this Life-Boat Fi ind had not been originated in rivalry to the other and older one . They rather hoped to stii nulate the brethren who were on that Committ ee to greater zeal and activity . He
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Encyclopedia Metropolitana.
institutions such symbols of the former brorherhood as were consistent with their purpose , modified only by change of time and place , and they would claim to be not only the representatives of the former
society , but to be such society itself existing from time immemorial . On the failure of this last incorporated body their mysteries with their love of ancient descent ( a desire inherent in the breast of man ) would
pass to other societies modified as before , and by such a progression might the Operative Masons have obtained symbols
similar to those used in the earliest Pagan rites . It has been said that the system of Freemasonry has been universally diffused , and that the various secret institutionsfound
throughout the world , even among the most uneducated are connected with it , and therefore prove that it must have originated at a very remote period . These institutions may , however , in some cases , be founded
on imperfect and corrupted traditions of Pagan idolatry , and in others , indeed in all the really Masonic customs the commencement can safely be fixed within a century and a half back , In order to give
some idea of Operative Masonry ( and from that Speculative Masonry ) may have derived indirectly some of its peculiar symbols from primitive sources it will be necessary to refer shortly to the nature of religious
rites in the first ages , when the priests or ministers of religion were in general the depositaries of science as well as of power , omitting the Masonic History of the world before the flood , ( The short note of which
I gave in No . 92 of THE FREEMASON ) of Enoch , the first R . A . Mason , and Tubal Cain , the First Grand Master . According to some brethren it will be sufficient to begin with Noah , he was doubtless well acquainted
with the antediluvian science and a perfect knowledge of the history of the world having lived for 600 years with Methuselah , who had been for nearly 250 years contemporary with Adam . Noah's information therefore
on the subject of the Creation , of the Temptation , of the Serpent , of the Fall of Man , and of the promised Redemption , was of the most accurate description , and could be scarcely called tradition . On the formation
of society after the Deluge , he as the father of the renovated world would be looked up to as the chief oracle and Minister of the Deity , and would inculcate the purest principles of religious instruction , introducing
particulars of the origin of sin and the future shadowy anticipations of atonements , while limits of population enabled his descendents to dwell in his vicinity . The religion of the earth would remain pure as taught by him ; but after
no great lapse oi time , we find his posterity gradually extending the limits of the habitable world , and as they receded from him , in most cases from ignorance or pride , they gradually confused or perverted the true religion .
Mistaking the attributes or symbols of God for the Deity himself , they began to worship them , and some daring characters , inlawed by any fear of Divine vengeance , seized the opportunity of aggrandisement by . declaring themselves the favourites of the new divinities . Thus the
lower of Babel—which is supposed to have been a temple to Bell or Ball , the sun—was erected by order of Nimrod at no great distance of time from the Flood . The worship of the sun , the most resplend jut of the symbols of the
Deity , and of the other heavenly bodies , seems to have been the earliest corruption of religion , and this species of idolatry spread over a great portion of the Eastern World , so that even at the present day traces of Zabianism , or fire
worship , are to be found among the Guebrcs or Persians , the Hindoos , the Chinese , and the Mexicans . After the dispersion of the Tower of Babel , the colonies which peopled different parts of the earth took with them in general
Encyclopedia Metropolitana.
corrupted principles of religion or rather idolatry , the true religion being fostered in Syria and its neighbourhood . We find , in the time of Abraham nd Melchisedee , the priest of the true God at Salem . As different kingdoms or states were established they would respectively frame their
own system of idolatrous worship—all having one common origin , but varied in detail according to climate , disposition of the founder , and other circumstances . In order to preserve a greater control over the minds of the people the priests concealed the tenets of their religion by
means of allegories and symbols , of which the true meaning was known to the initiated . Thus the existence and unity of the Deity is supposed to have been one of the secret doctrines , together with a prospect of a future state . The traditions of the Temptation and the fall of man and
his redemption , to which , after the dispersion , was added that of the Deluge and deliverance of the Ark , were probably before much time had elapsed so far corrupted that even the priests became ignorant of the true facts . As the priesthood possessed great privileges — the
sciences being in general fostered by them—and a knowledge of the mysteries being supposed to ensure future happiness , great anxiety was shown to be initiated among them . Severe tests were established before any candidate was admitted , and obligations were afterwards imposed , often
accompanied with the heaviest penalties if they divulged any of the secrets of the initiated to others . The striking similarity of pagan worship throughout the world has been commented on and strikingly exemplified by every writer on the subject . It will be necessary to refer to it only
cursorily in order to suggest why similar symbols and traditions may be traced almost universally . The worship of the sun and heavenly bodies has already been mentioned . Coeval with that appears that of the serpent , wherein the principles are said to have been typified—namely ,
1 ypho or the Dragon—as the evil principle Novs or the Serpent , as the Grace . In Babylonish or Persian antiquities we find the serpent , and in the Hindii mythology it is very prevalent , so also in China and Japan , being the emblem of royalty in the former ; in Whydah and Congo it
is worshipped with the grossest superstition , and several of the first English visitors on the coast of Guinea were massacred in consequence of having killed one of the sacred reptiles . On another , occasion all the hogs in the country were proscribed , and many of them destroyed
for the same reason . Traditions of the Deluge may be discovered throughout the world , and Mr . Fabcr , in his dissertation on the Cabiri , deduces the mysteries from a union of the rites commemorative of the Deluge with the adoration of the host of heaven , or the Zabian
superstitution introduced by Nimrod , and identifies Noah with Mercury , Aldous , Thammury , Annubis , Bacchus , and other great characters celebrated in the mysteries . The higher Egyptian mysteries represented allegorically the passage through death to renewed life , and an
introduction to the Deity , with a glimmering of the promised means of redemption , as unfolded in the assassination of Osiris , his death , burial , and descent into hell , and triumphant resurrection . Most of the mysteries commenced with
lamentation for the death of some great character , and ended with joy for his resurrection or recovery . Thus the rites respecting Osiris , Adonis , Apollo , Bacchus , Maneros , Manes , Balder , and perhaps Hussein in Persia , with others similar , would all originate from the same tradition . The
Brahmins who accompanied the Indian army to Egypt in 1 S 01 recognised their deities at Luxor , Thebes , and Dendera , and worshipped them , complaining of the Egyptians for not treating them with more respect . As the ceremonies were alike so were many of the symbols , among which some will be found in use among the
rreemasons of the present day , received or adopted by them in manner before-mentioned . The Crux Ansata or Egyptian Cross is considered by many to have been the emblem of the resurrection from the dead . The initiated in the mysteries of Osiris had the Egyptian Tail marked on their foreheads . The truncated oak among the Celts was considered the emblem of
Encyclopedia Metropolitana.
stability , while the Egyptians borrowed the pillars of Seth or Hermes for their attribute . By the ¦ square was represented matter . A figure of Dagon on an ancient Zodiac , holds in one hand an infant , the sign of renewed life , and in the other a square , possibly symbolising the great
Demiurgus or Machinator . By the triangle was was pourtrayed generating fire ; and from its junction with the square , as in the quadrangular pyramid , all things were considered to proceed . The interlaced or double triangle ( the Pentalpha of Antiochus ) , an emblem well known to Royal Arch Masons , is of frequent occurrence .
Masonic Life-Boats.
MASONIC LIFE-BOATS .
{ To the Editor of The Freemason . ) I receive the rebuke administered to me by by Bro . W . Mann not only without resentment , but with some self-reproach . I have doubtless been guilty of "lukewarmness , " not only in relation to life-boats , but in relation to other
commendable things , and Bro . Mann ' s reproof is not unmerited . Yet , let me say , in mitigation of punishment , that for several years , while successively editing . Lloyd ' s Weekly , the Court yournal , the Sunday Times , and sundry other journals , I was not : unmindful of the object on
behalf of winch Bro . Mann writes , but did what I could to promote the interest and increase the funds of the Royal National Life-Boat Society . May I add that I am not so young as I was half a century ago , and that at 74 I find many things which were then a pleasure to be now real
labour . I suppose that as we get old quietude and repose are n . iore and more sought for and indulged in . Nevertheless , I do not ask to be absolved from reproach . As to " remaining aloof" from the Life-Boat Committee , I hardly know what to sai ' . I have never been invited
either directly or indirectly , to do anything in the way of co-operation with it , and it has not been my habit to obtrude myself into the work which others hav ! e taken in hand . The Committee , as Bro . ! Mann says , have been printing the names of "t ! he eminent brethren who have
joined the Comi jiittee , " and of others who have promised to aid them in their good work , and I could not have presumed to imagine that my poor help would . have been of service . Let me disclaim all idei 1 or intention of " sneering" at the Committee ! i want of success . Such a thing
was far from r try thoughts . I merely quoted what THE FREE : MASON had said on their want of success . I might retort the " sneer" when Bro . Mann , who suggests that my " oratory and pen " and powerful ai d and personal influence" would
have enabled th e Committee to have " succeeded long ago in flo < iting at least one life-hoat . " But let that pass ; t hese little rubs are all fair in such such a case , an d should not be taken as evidence of peevishness or vexation .
I do not kn ow that I should have troubled you or your re ? iders just now had it not been for one sentence in Bro . Mann's communication which might < : reate a feeling which I am most desirous to pr < went . He says he fears there is some little je ; dousy , as well as rivalry , on the
part of the Cil y of London Committee . How can jealousy e xist in that Committee with regard to Bro . Mai in's Committee ? We are the younger Comi nittee ; how can we be jealous of those who we re at the work before us ? If there
be jealousy , : it must necessarily be on the part of the Londc m-street Committee . Of what can we be jealous ? Of the older Committee ' s success ? Why , Bro . Mann laments , as I do , that it has not be en successful in wiping away the reproach that : lies on the Craft , Nor can we be
jealous of it s non-success . AVe hope not to rival them ii 1 that . I can assure Bro . Mann and his fellow-coinmittcemen that we have no jealousy of them , . and that we intend no improper rivaly . As Bro . Henry ( not yantes , as reported in last week ' s FREEMASON ) Chapman ,
our indefatigi itble Secretary , said at our festival , " He wished it to be well understood that . this Life-Boat Fi ind had not been originated in rivalry to the other and older one . They rather hoped to stii nulate the brethren who were on that Committ ee to greater zeal and activity . He