Freemasoney And Its Institutes.—Iv.

FREEMASONEY AND ITS INSTITUTES . —IV .

{ Continued from page Hi ) . IN the life of every man , no matter what his station , or how circumscribed his sphere of action , there is some one event which causes an indelible impression on his mind ; and as with men so it is with nations , the old mythologies , says Hugh Miller , are filled with shadoivy traditions of this kind

—shadow's of the world ' s grey fathers—ivhich , like those shadoivs seen reflected on clouds by travellers who ascend lofty mountains , are exaggerated into the most gigantic proportions , and bear radiant glories around thei / heads . The tradition ivhich seems universal and more deeply impressed upon mankind than any other , is that of tlie Deluge . Humboldt says , "The belief in a great deluge is , not confined to one nation singly , it makes part of a system of historical tradition . When the Tamaiiacs are asked IIOAV the human race

survived this great deluge , the age of water of the Mexicans , they say a man and woman saved themselves on a high mountain called Tamanacn , situated ou the banks of the Asivern , and casting behind them , over their heads , tho fruit of the Mauritia palm tree , they saw the seeds contained in these fruits produce men and women who repeopled the

earth . Thus , " he adds , " wo find in all simplicity among nations now in a savage state , a tradition which the Greeks embellished with all the charms of imagination . " In all parts of the known world there are certain records and traditions of the flood ; ive find that the Americans have the tradition of itthe Chinese acknowledifcwho are the most

, ge , distant nation of Asia ; several nations of Africa tell various stories about it ; the story of the flood of Deucalion is coincident with that oli Noah . So that , says Stackhouse ,- we may trace the deluge quite round the globe ; and what is more remarkable still , every one of these people has a tale fco tellsome one waysome anotherconcerning the

resto-, , , ration of mankind . Part of the ceremony in most of the ancient mysteries consisted in carrying about a kind of ship or boat , which related to the Deluge and the Ark . The Ark , says Bryant , ( note to Ucrod , 2 cxlv ., ) according to the tradition of the Gentile world , was prophetic , and was looked upon as a kind of temple or place of residence ofthe Deity .

In the compass of ei ght persons is comprehended all mankind , who were thought so hi ghly favoured by heaven that they were looked up to by their posterity with such reverence that they ivere ultimately reputed deities . Hence , in the ancient mythology of Egypt , there were precisely eight gods . This shi p of Isis was called Bavis , which is remarkable

very , as it is , according to Nicolas Damascenus , the vory name of the mountain on ' which Noah ' s ark rested . The resemblance between the Egyptian , the Indians , and the Chinese , in many points is most striking , not only in respect to reli gion , but also in manners and customs . ' The early settlement of Egypt , before the tribes of men were widel

y separated , was probably the reason why the Egyptians had so much in common with the Indians , who are not supposed to have been the children of Ham . Among both , for example , prevailed the same permanence ' of manners , they were alike remarkable for the respect entertained by children to their parentsthey were averse to warthey weredivided

, , ; into castes , in the most ancient times they used hiero - glyphics , the E gyptians had a solemn festival called the feast of lights , the Chinese have their feast of lanterns , and the Greeks also had their Xaa-ahjfopm , or torch bearing , as Herodotus calls it ; the origin ' of these ; games must be sought iu the worshi p of the Titan Prometheus . Tho action of

carrying an unextinguished torch from the Cera miens to the Acropolis is a livel y symbol of the benefit conferred by tho Titan upon man , when he bore fire from the habitation of the gods ancl bestowed it upon man . At first , however , it appear , * , says Smith ( Bid . Gr . anil Horn . Ant . ) , to hay ,, been a symbolic representation in honour of the gods who gave and taught men the use of material moulding fire

Other writers , in their anxiety to get a common signification for all the times ancl modes of the . Lampacleforia , have endeavoured to prove that all who were honoured by it were connected with the heavenly bodies ; others that it always had an inner signification , alluding to the inward fire by which Prometheus put life iuto man . The real fact , howeverseems to be that ifc was both commemorative and

sym-, bolical , as indeed ivere all the ceremonies practised in the ancient mysteries , the commemorative being for the exoteric , the symbolical for the esoteric portion of the worshippers , their true signification being confided only to the esoteric or initiated . M . Bailly has , from a review of the manners , customsand reliions of the IndiansPersiansChinese ,

, g , , Chakte-ins and Egyptians , discovered many similarities between all these nations , and has thence formed the conclusion that the knoivledge common to the whole of those nations has been derived from the same original source . The custom of libation was common to the Tartars and Chinese , as ivell as the Greeks and Bomans . The tradition of the

deluge is common to them all . All the Asiatic nations had festivals of the nature of the Soman Saturnalia . They all placed their temples fronting the east , to receive the first rays of the sun which they worshipped ; their system of astronomy was tho same ; the long measure of the ancient nations had all one common origin . Purity in design and

accuracy in execution seem to characterize the genius of all fche orienfcalnations . Dr . Eussell , hilrisllistory of Ancient Europe , i . 117 , says , " The genius of the Egyptians was acute and steady , rather than liberal and elevated . They prosecuted works of expense and ingenuity with singular perseverance

and upon principles purely mathematical ; but they were totally destitute of taste , and never acquired a distinguished rank among the cultivators of the fine arts . Their architecture attempted to supply greatness of design by immensity of fabric , substituting altitude for sublimity , and ponderous solidity for stability . Their statuary , like their architecture ,

delighted in huge masses of stone nicely chiselled , but displaying neither elegance of figure , animation of expression , nor grace in altitude . Their painting , if we except brilliancy and durability of colouring , was devoid of every cxecllenc 3 belonging to that captivating art . They were totally ignorant ofthe magical effects of light and shade . "

In this picture we cannot but recognize the Indian , as well as the Egyptian genius , and also that of the Chinese at the present day ; aud if the stupendous monuments of antiquity seen at Elora , in the caves of Elephanta and Salsette , as well as the modern pagodas of Ch ilium brum and Seriugha-m , be compared with the ruins of Thebes , of Nineveh , the Sp hinx , and other celebrated monuments and marbles of ancient Egypt , the resemblance befciveeu the nations will appear most striking . It appears then that the religion and

mysteries ivere essentially the same among all nations , although perhaps in some , from difference of climate and situation , they slightly differed in some minute particulars . Among them all the ceremony of initiation was practised ; all these ceremonies were of a funereal character , they celebrated the death and resurrection of some cherished being , cither the object of esteem as a hero and benefactoror of

, devotion as a god . The candidates for initiation were not only expected to be of a clear unblemished character , but their future lives wore to bo examples of piety and virtue . " . "Remain , afar oflj ye workers of iniquity , " ivas the cry of the herald priest when the ceremony was about to be conferred . The degrees wore subordinate and the candidate subjected to

trials and probations proportionate to each ; the rites were practised in gloom and darkness , in caves and forests , on the summits of mountains and iu the depths of valleys ; and tho supreme knoivledge was not attained until the aspirant , after years of patient trial and preparation , had reached the place of wisdom and light . The system , of idolatry w .-u , founded upon the belief both of present and future rewards and punishments as dispensed