The Origin And References Of The Hermesian Spurious Freemasonry.

p hilosophy of each sect was revealed from heaven by the ministry of inferior angels . To the same effect Socrates sa 3 s in Plato , " that which is observable in the Mysteries is also to be found in philosophy . Many bear the Tlyrsus , but few are truly inspired with the spirit of the Dionysiaca . I proceed , therefore , to show that the doctrine of a Mediator , who should purify mankind by the shedding of blood , formed a prominent feature in the Spurious

Freemasonry or religious mysteries of all ancient nations . Even the Chinese books , which treat of the most sacred rites , speak of a time when everything is to he restored to its primitive splendour 03 ' the advent of a hero called . Kium-Tse , which signifies Shepherd and Prince ; to whom they likewise give the names of the Most Holy , the Universal Teacher , and the Supreme Truth . This being corresponds exactly with the Mithras of the Persians , the Orus , or second Osiris of the Egyptians , the Apollo , or Mercury of the Greeks , and the Brahma of the Indians . And both Zoroaster and Confucius left on record a prediction that the universal Saviour should appear in the AVesb .

It seems , from indisputable evidence , that a belief in a MIDBLE GOD , emanating from the Creator or Father , ivho shoidd make atonement for sin , formed a constituent part of the system of the Spurious Freemasonry ; implying an idea of crimes that merited punishment , which man of himself was unable to expiate . In pagan cosmogonies , as in the book of Genesis , the world is said to be created bj' the Sp irit of God ; but the Holy Ghost is the Sauctifier of man . It is evidentthereforethat these

, , cosmogonies are a symbol of the formation of the universe , treating of the regeneration of man . The confirmation of this fact is seen in the initiation to the Mysteries , whose aim was the spiritual birth of the neophyte , and whose rites typified the creation of the world *

The doctrine originated , most ' probablj * , from a tradition of the fall of man by the pollution of his nature . Some think , however , that this knowledge was acquired from the Jewish Scriptures ; but , I am persuaded , erroneously , and I do not stand alone in this opinion . Bishop Stiilingfleet sa 3 'S , " I do not see any reason to aver with so much confidence as some do , that those philosophers who spake anything consonantly with Moses must presently converse with the Jews , transcribe their opinions out of the

Scriptures , or hai'e them conveyed to them iu some secret cabala of the creation , as it is affirmed of P ythagoras ancl Plato , and ma 3 ' , with no less reason , of Thales . But this , I suppose , may be made evident to any considerate person , that the philosophers of Greece , AVIIO conversed most abroad in fhe world , did speak far more agreeably to the true account of things than such who onl y endeavoured by their OAATI wits to improve or correct those principles which ivere delivered hy the other philosophers ; which I impute not so much to their converse with the Mosaic writings as to that universal tradition of the first ages of the ivorld , which ivas preserved far better among the Phoaiicians , Egyptians , Chaldeans , and others than among the Greeks . "f

Lord Bacon says that they were delivered and related " as things formerly believed and received , ancl not as newly invented and offered to us . Besides , seeing they are diversel y related by writers that lived nearly about one and the same time , ive may easil y perceive that they were common things derived from precedent memorials , and that they became various b y reason of divers ornaments bestowed on them by particular relators . " The process , before the flood , of transmission was exceedingly simple though absolutel

y certain ; for before the Dispersion there would scarcel y be any error or variation in the events and predictions which took place in the first ages of ' the ivorld . fhe length of life with which it pleased God to eneloiv the antediluvian patriarchs , for the coinrdetion of His purposes , rendered fhe communication natural ancl easy ; for Adam lived with Lamech if not with Noah , according to the Samaritan Pentateuch : ancl his sons were in existence at the building of Babel ; and consequently the fads coidd not have received much corruption at that time , however accident or policy might contribute to their deterioration at a subsequent period .