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Article MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. ← Page 2 of 4 →
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Masonic Notes And Queries.
the Haymarket was to ho seen , a few years since , a note from Dr . Dodcl , desiring that his dress perriwig should he sent him for his wretched exit . The shop is a few doors above Charles-street . —J . How . STEPHEN DIELX . Stephen Diily was a publisher in the Poultry . I
remember the shop ; his successor was Charles Dilly . Ton may find in the "European Magazine , " published h y Bro . James Asperne , Notices of Freemasons . —J . How .
A MASONIC SIGN SAVES A EUSSIAN OEEICEE ' S LIEE . AT THE BATTLE OF THE MOSKOWA . The ensuing anecdote is forwarded to the FEEEMASONS' MAGAZINE in compliance with the request of a brother who recently read it in one of my Commonplace Books . It was communicated
to me by the late Monsieur De Beaufort , Chef de Bataillon during the Russian campaign , with whom , by two intermarriages , I was very nearly connected . He greatly distinguished himself at the Moskowa , and received the Cross ofthe Legion of Honour from the Emperor Napoleon I . on the field of battle .
According to my Commonplace Book , M . De Beaufort told me that at the close of that bloody fight , in the general melee which ensued , two members of the Craft—a French Officer of Cavalry and a Eussian Officer of Infantry—engaged in a hand-to-hand combat . The former ' s sword had shivered that of the
latter , aud was already uplifted to cut him down , when he made a Masonic sign . The sign was recognised , aud although it was made too late to stop the descending blow altogether , yet it was not made too late to weaken its force . The Eussian officer w as only slightly wounded ; and instead of being killed , he became a prisoner , aud received such succour as , in the circumstances , it was possible for his captor to afford . —CHAELES PUETON COOPEE .
CHAELEMAGNE ' S SECEET SOOIETX . Johannes Trithemii , or John of Trittenheim , Abbot ¦ of the Monastery of Spanheim , wrote , about the year 1500 , a book , entitled Polygraphia , which was devoted to a consideration ofthe several arts of secret writing by hieroglyphicscyphersor otherwise . In the sixth
, , book of this work he gives an account of a society , ¦ established hy Charlemagne about the year 775 . As the organisation of this society , by means of secret signs , tokens , and modes of recognition , was very similar to that of Freemasonry , although its objects were entirely different—and as it thus shows that the
Masonic feature was familiar a thousand years ago , we have translated the whole paragraph from the original for the benefit of our readers , whom , we doubt not , it will interest . " King Charlemagne , the Most Christian Emperor , waged war for more than thirty years with the
¦ Saxons , whom , having at length conquered , he converted to the Christian faith . But fearing that they , like many others , would apostatize , he instituted certain secret inquisitors , upon whom he conferred a judicial power . He authorised them to travel throughout Saxony , and secretly to inquire into the religious helief and the manners of the people . Wherever they found apostates , thieves , adulterers , blasphemers , contemners of the mandates of the
Church and the prieshood , disturbers of Christianity hy notorious crimes , or persons inducing the people to relapse into Paganism , they were , by imperial and royal authority , to have them , or to put them to death in any w ay which was in their power . But that this society might forever remain unchanged , he gave to these men the power of appointing others
uuder certain conditions , who , with the above-mentioned power , might exercise the functions of inquisitors , and inflict death upon the accused . At the same time he prescribed for them secret laws ancl private signs , and a form of oath , hy which they miht proceed in juding and justly inflicting
punishg g ment ; and being mutually known to each other , might conceal themselves from others , and might more secretly preserve forever the necessary judicial authority in Saxony . They also used among themselves certain cyphers , or alp habets , which are now lost . "—Ex . Ex .
MASONIC GEOMETEX . A point may be represented by an Entered Apprentice ; aline by a Fellow-Craft ; a solid by a Master Mason ; a cube hy a Past Master . —? . ANCIENT SXMBOLISM .
Where can I learn what is intended to be conveyed by some of the popular Ancient Symbols ?—STUBENS . [ Take the following as a few of them . We extracted them from a printed paper , just as they are , some years ago : —•
A tongue and a hand enclosed in a square were considered capable of moving the gods—the tongue by prayers and the hand by offerings . Thus , the initiates saw at a glance the two faculties that place man above all other created beings—tact and speech . A serpent biting its tail , and killing itself , was the emblem of the wicked , sooner or later to become a victim to his crimes .
A serpent coiled up , and holding its tail in its mouth , symbolized the sun and eternity . Isis , fondling her son Horns on her knee , was one of the most true and ingenious symbols of the Egyptians . The group was a figurative representation of government and people . Could we , in fact , better paint the confidence of the latter in the authority
governing them , than by the security with which a child rests on the knee of its mother . The people resting on the sceptre of the law , was represented by a blind giant walking with the assistance of a staff surmounted by an open eye . A magpie tearing a laurel leaf was the symbol of
calumny persecuting the learned and the wise . A serpent holding an egg in its mouth was the symbol of the universe , containing within itself the germ of all things , vivified hy the sun . The sphinx , a symbolic figure of the Egyptians , teaches that , under all circumstances , the mysteries of
Masonry are to be kept secret , aud impenetrable to the profane . Fidelity was represented hy a figure extending the left hand . The phoenix was an emblem of the decay and resuscitation of nature . The rose represented the brilliant products of the imagination .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Notes And Queries.
the Haymarket was to ho seen , a few years since , a note from Dr . Dodcl , desiring that his dress perriwig should he sent him for his wretched exit . The shop is a few doors above Charles-street . —J . How . STEPHEN DIELX . Stephen Diily was a publisher in the Poultry . I
remember the shop ; his successor was Charles Dilly . Ton may find in the "European Magazine , " published h y Bro . James Asperne , Notices of Freemasons . —J . How .
A MASONIC SIGN SAVES A EUSSIAN OEEICEE ' S LIEE . AT THE BATTLE OF THE MOSKOWA . The ensuing anecdote is forwarded to the FEEEMASONS' MAGAZINE in compliance with the request of a brother who recently read it in one of my Commonplace Books . It was communicated
to me by the late Monsieur De Beaufort , Chef de Bataillon during the Russian campaign , with whom , by two intermarriages , I was very nearly connected . He greatly distinguished himself at the Moskowa , and received the Cross ofthe Legion of Honour from the Emperor Napoleon I . on the field of battle .
According to my Commonplace Book , M . De Beaufort told me that at the close of that bloody fight , in the general melee which ensued , two members of the Craft—a French Officer of Cavalry and a Eussian Officer of Infantry—engaged in a hand-to-hand combat . The former ' s sword had shivered that of the
latter , aud was already uplifted to cut him down , when he made a Masonic sign . The sign was recognised , aud although it was made too late to stop the descending blow altogether , yet it was not made too late to weaken its force . The Eussian officer w as only slightly wounded ; and instead of being killed , he became a prisoner , aud received such succour as , in the circumstances , it was possible for his captor to afford . —CHAELES PUETON COOPEE .
CHAELEMAGNE ' S SECEET SOOIETX . Johannes Trithemii , or John of Trittenheim , Abbot ¦ of the Monastery of Spanheim , wrote , about the year 1500 , a book , entitled Polygraphia , which was devoted to a consideration ofthe several arts of secret writing by hieroglyphicscyphersor otherwise . In the sixth
, , book of this work he gives an account of a society , ¦ established hy Charlemagne about the year 775 . As the organisation of this society , by means of secret signs , tokens , and modes of recognition , was very similar to that of Freemasonry , although its objects were entirely different—and as it thus shows that the
Masonic feature was familiar a thousand years ago , we have translated the whole paragraph from the original for the benefit of our readers , whom , we doubt not , it will interest . " King Charlemagne , the Most Christian Emperor , waged war for more than thirty years with the
¦ Saxons , whom , having at length conquered , he converted to the Christian faith . But fearing that they , like many others , would apostatize , he instituted certain secret inquisitors , upon whom he conferred a judicial power . He authorised them to travel throughout Saxony , and secretly to inquire into the religious helief and the manners of the people . Wherever they found apostates , thieves , adulterers , blasphemers , contemners of the mandates of the
Church and the prieshood , disturbers of Christianity hy notorious crimes , or persons inducing the people to relapse into Paganism , they were , by imperial and royal authority , to have them , or to put them to death in any w ay which was in their power . But that this society might forever remain unchanged , he gave to these men the power of appointing others
uuder certain conditions , who , with the above-mentioned power , might exercise the functions of inquisitors , and inflict death upon the accused . At the same time he prescribed for them secret laws ancl private signs , and a form of oath , hy which they miht proceed in juding and justly inflicting
punishg g ment ; and being mutually known to each other , might conceal themselves from others , and might more secretly preserve forever the necessary judicial authority in Saxony . They also used among themselves certain cyphers , or alp habets , which are now lost . "—Ex . Ex .
MASONIC GEOMETEX . A point may be represented by an Entered Apprentice ; aline by a Fellow-Craft ; a solid by a Master Mason ; a cube hy a Past Master . —? . ANCIENT SXMBOLISM .
Where can I learn what is intended to be conveyed by some of the popular Ancient Symbols ?—STUBENS . [ Take the following as a few of them . We extracted them from a printed paper , just as they are , some years ago : —•
A tongue and a hand enclosed in a square were considered capable of moving the gods—the tongue by prayers and the hand by offerings . Thus , the initiates saw at a glance the two faculties that place man above all other created beings—tact and speech . A serpent biting its tail , and killing itself , was the emblem of the wicked , sooner or later to become a victim to his crimes .
A serpent coiled up , and holding its tail in its mouth , symbolized the sun and eternity . Isis , fondling her son Horns on her knee , was one of the most true and ingenious symbols of the Egyptians . The group was a figurative representation of government and people . Could we , in fact , better paint the confidence of the latter in the authority
governing them , than by the security with which a child rests on the knee of its mother . The people resting on the sceptre of the law , was represented by a blind giant walking with the assistance of a staff surmounted by an open eye . A magpie tearing a laurel leaf was the symbol of
calumny persecuting the learned and the wise . A serpent holding an egg in its mouth was the symbol of the universe , containing within itself the germ of all things , vivified hy the sun . The sphinx , a symbolic figure of the Egyptians , teaches that , under all circumstances , the mysteries of
Masonry are to be kept secret , aud impenetrable to the profane . Fidelity was represented hy a figure extending the left hand . The phoenix was an emblem of the decay and resuscitation of nature . The rose represented the brilliant products of the imagination .