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Article PEEEMASONET ILLTJSTEATED. ← Page 4 of 10 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Peeemasonet Illtjsteated.
temple . Josephus tells us that the Grecian style of architecture was that adopted in building the temple ; and it may be inferred that these Dionysiac Masons assisted in raising that magnificent fabric .
The discoveries of Newton , and other followers in modern science , has proved the profound skill in astronomy of the an cient Egyptians . They had three degrees and three working tools , which they used as moral emblems . They were enabled to distinguish each other , by pass-words and signs , either by night or by day . They also particularly observed the duties of benevolence , and were distinguished by their spirit of fraternal union and brotherly love .
In the disastrous wars of the Jews , before and during the captivity , all social order must have been destroyed , and henee we have no distinct account of either the origin or organization of the community of the Essenes , whose life and practice present many similarities to Preemasonry . Some ancient writers conceive the Essenes to have descended from the Assideans , who figure rather
conspicuously in the history of the Maccabees ; they formed a religious community , who bound themselves to preserve the Temple ; and their charitable and peaceful disposition lead to the belief that it was a fraternity of a like character to Preemasonry . The Essenes , in spite of continued persecution , sustained an existence until the fifth century of the present era , in which age they fell , with other ancient institutions , on the subversion of the Roman empire by the Groths .
In the dark ages of history , and mid the rapid transitions of society , we have little to guide us , save what we can gather from a few isolated cases in our own land , and which would make it appear that the Druidical system was a Masonic institution . Until the era of the Crusades there are but slight traces of the continuance of the Order , and during the period when the incursions of the
barbarian hordes desolated the fair fields of Greece and Italy , and overthrew those glorious fabrics the ruined fragments of which alone remain to tell of their beauty and grandeur—the operations of so peaceful a society were buried in the dust with those monuments . But with the Crusades arose several communities , who united with the chivalrous duty of protecting the feeble , clothing the naked , and
feeding the hungry , a holy vow to wrest from the hands of the Moslem the Holy City of the Hebrew and the Christian , and also the Masonic practice of building temples , towers , and hospitals . These societies were , to serve their own purposes , fostered and protected by the Church of Home and the sovereigns of Europe , until their accumulated possessions tempted their holy and regal patrons to undertake their overthrow .
If we look to the Druses—a sect of Syrian Christians , established from time immemorial , —we find that there still exists amongst them a society which has a secret doctrine , the members of which are divided , into three classes : the first being admitted ; the second , partly initiated ; and the third , completely initiated . Those admitted into the second class may return to the first , but may not communi-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Peeemasonet Illtjsteated.
temple . Josephus tells us that the Grecian style of architecture was that adopted in building the temple ; and it may be inferred that these Dionysiac Masons assisted in raising that magnificent fabric .
The discoveries of Newton , and other followers in modern science , has proved the profound skill in astronomy of the an cient Egyptians . They had three degrees and three working tools , which they used as moral emblems . They were enabled to distinguish each other , by pass-words and signs , either by night or by day . They also particularly observed the duties of benevolence , and were distinguished by their spirit of fraternal union and brotherly love .
In the disastrous wars of the Jews , before and during the captivity , all social order must have been destroyed , and henee we have no distinct account of either the origin or organization of the community of the Essenes , whose life and practice present many similarities to Preemasonry . Some ancient writers conceive the Essenes to have descended from the Assideans , who figure rather
conspicuously in the history of the Maccabees ; they formed a religious community , who bound themselves to preserve the Temple ; and their charitable and peaceful disposition lead to the belief that it was a fraternity of a like character to Preemasonry . The Essenes , in spite of continued persecution , sustained an existence until the fifth century of the present era , in which age they fell , with other ancient institutions , on the subversion of the Roman empire by the Groths .
In the dark ages of history , and mid the rapid transitions of society , we have little to guide us , save what we can gather from a few isolated cases in our own land , and which would make it appear that the Druidical system was a Masonic institution . Until the era of the Crusades there are but slight traces of the continuance of the Order , and during the period when the incursions of the
barbarian hordes desolated the fair fields of Greece and Italy , and overthrew those glorious fabrics the ruined fragments of which alone remain to tell of their beauty and grandeur—the operations of so peaceful a society were buried in the dust with those monuments . But with the Crusades arose several communities , who united with the chivalrous duty of protecting the feeble , clothing the naked , and
feeding the hungry , a holy vow to wrest from the hands of the Moslem the Holy City of the Hebrew and the Christian , and also the Masonic practice of building temples , towers , and hospitals . These societies were , to serve their own purposes , fostered and protected by the Church of Home and the sovereigns of Europe , until their accumulated possessions tempted their holy and regal patrons to undertake their overthrow .
If we look to the Druses—a sect of Syrian Christians , established from time immemorial , —we find that there still exists amongst them a society which has a secret doctrine , the members of which are divided , into three classes : the first being admitted ; the second , partly initiated ; and the third , completely initiated . Those admitted into the second class may return to the first , but may not communi-