Godfrey Higgins On Freemasonry.

literally knoAv nothing of the Craftsmen at the period Avhen the warlike Kni ghts Avere in the ascendancy , and certainly after the persecution of the latter , Ave have not apparently any evidence that their secret ceremonies were preserved by

the Freemasons . We give the author ' s vieAV as to the character of that celebrated military order : " In the persecutions of the Knights Templars , Avhich are knoAvn to everybody , a certain mystification and secrecy may be

observed , as if the ivhole of the charges against them Avere not brought publicly out . This arose from various causes . The persecuted were really very religious , and were bound by the most solemn masonic oaths ( and Masonry Avas intimatel

y connected with these matters ) not to divulge the secrets of the Order . This caused them to recant at the stake , when all hope had fled , what they had confessed when on the Avheel ; and by this means they endeavoured to make amends for the

secrets betrayed , and the oaths involuntary broken on the rack . " ( P . C 89 , vol . 1 . ) The author considers also that if the

secret mysteries of the Christian religion " were told by any traitor , so many other false stories Avere told along Avith the true ones , that their secrecy is by this means most effectually secured , . . . probably like those of the Freemasons . " His opinion is "that the cause of the

crusades , in Avhich the Knights Templar took such an active part , was the expectation of the Millenium , the desire to be present at Jerusalem at the grand day Avhen the Son of Man should eome in His glory—the great clay of God Almi ghty .

Here we have the real reason of the crusades . , . . It is very certain that the Ishmalians , or Society of Assassins , is a Mohammedan sect ; that it Avas at once both a military and relig i ous association , like the Templars and Teutonic

Knights ; and that , like the Jesuits , it had its members scattered over extensive countries . ItNvas a link Avhich connected ancient and modern Freemasonry . ( P . 700 , vol . 1 . ) The Templars Avere nothing but one branch of Masons ; perhaps a branch to Avhich the care of some peculiar part of Temples Avas entrusted , and I think that the name of Templars Avas only

another name for Casideans . ... In the very highest orders of Freemasons viz ., the Templars and Rosicrucians , as I imagine them to be , there is no emblem more sacred than the cross . Here I stop . Yerbum sapienti . Mr . Hammer has observed that the identity of the symbols of

the Templars and of the Architectonic ! , by Avhom he means the Freemasons , are demonstrated . ... In this I think he his perfectly correct . The Chaldeans and the Mathematicians , of whom we read in the Augustin age as being the

fortunetellers , or the magicians , or the judicial astrologers of the great men of the day in Rome , Avere , in fact , Freemasons , and of this the emblems above , copied from his Avork , in plate IV ., are a sufficient proof . I need not tell any one , whether Mason or

not , how large a space the history of the building of the Temple of Solomon occupies in the ceremonies of Masonry . " ( P . 712 , vol . 1 . ) Bro , Higgins says : " The Templars had no objection to tho

Jewish Temple , for the same reason that the Mohammedan , the Jew , and the Christian sit down together , as I have with great pleasure experienced at a lodge or chapter of Freemasons . ... If there be anything in their ceremonies to prevent this ( i . e . the Rosicrucians and Templars ) , it is a heresy , and contrary to the spirit o , their orders . Let them remember this '

Avithout JBAV , that is Judmte , there is no Christian ; Avithout both JBAV and Christian there is no Mohammedan . " ( P . 720 , vol . 1 , ) Bro . Higgins refrained from joining the Rosicrucians and Templars , that his tongue might not be tied or his liberty in writing

abridged . He considers that they are the " Culdees " of Iona and the Crypt of York Minster , where the Grand Masonic Lodge of England Avas held . Bro ,- Higg ins also considers Free-Mason is PH-RE-P . H ., the Coptic emphatic article and RE the sun , " Mason ot the Sun . These are peculiar ideas and require a careful examination . He tells us :

" The very essence of Freemasonry Equality . All , let their rank in life to Avhat it may , Avhen in the lodge , are brothers—brethren , Avith the Father at their head . No person can read the Evangelists and not see that this is correctly