Freemasonry Among The Jews.

it is supposed , is Spain , in the ships which Solomon sent out , ancl settled there . When , after Solomon's death , his son and successor , Eehoboam , lost ten parts of his kingdom by the imprudent answer which he gave to the people , when they appealed for relief from the heavy taxes ; he sent , not-Avithstanding , his collector , Adoram , into the provinces to enforce paymentand also to the newl-lanted colonies in

, yp Spain . There , howeA'er , the people , who it is supposed were not of the tribe of Judah , stoned him to death . It is a fact that there axe numerous tombstones , with old HebreAV or Samaritan inscriptions , in Seville or Toledo—we cannot positively say in Avhich of these two places—and among tbem is one which bears the name of Adoram , the collector of Solomon and his son Eehoboam .

Another tradition , and probably nearer to the truth than the former , is , that Jews emigrated to Spain in Phoenician ships , at the time when the land of Israel ivas groaning under the tyrannical yoke of the successors of Alexander the Great . This seems to he confirmed by a great many coins , which were recently dug from some ruins in the ancient city of Tarragona ; and also by another very

important circumstance , namely , that in the days of Herod and Pontius Pilate , the Jeivish community in Toledo wrote a letter to the high-priest Eliezer , and the high council , or Sanhedrim , to the effect , to beware of condemning Jesus of Nazareth to the penalty of death . HOAV much truth may be in any of these traditions , it would be A * ery hard , or perhaps altogether impossible , to ascertain ; this much ,

however , is certain , that JBAVS were the founders and builders of most of the ancient cities ol Spain , as Toledo , Seville , Barcelona , and others ; and also , that Jews were the inhabitants of those places at the time Avhen the Ostrogoths invaded the Peninsula , and planted , Avith the cross , oppression , persecution , and cruelty against all who Avouldnot bow their knees to it , and especially the Jews . Before Ave go further in the history of the Spanish and

Portuguese Jeivs , ivhich induced us to think that there are traces of Masonry having existed among them , we must mention another tradition , which lives in the mouth of almost every Jew in Bohemia , and particularly in Prague , the capital of that country . There is scarcely a traveller who goes to see the Avorld , and to study the different customs and habits of the nations , and see the rarities of

their cities , who on stopping a feAV days in Prague , Avould not also go to see the antiquities in the JeAvish quarter , and particularly the " Al-Tenai " * synagogue . It is a remarkable building , and pecviliar in its structure , which is neither altogether the Greek style nor the Gothic . No visitor over crossed tbe threshold of this building without feeling , as it were , nn ice-cold stream running through his veins , and

an involuntary A'eneration for a temple with AA'hich so many wonderful events are connected . The most ancient chronicle of Bohemia says , that this building Avas found there , ivhen tbe founder of the city of Prague laid the firstcomer-stone of it , and that he felt such a veneration for that strange edifice , that he suffered not his people to use it for any purpose . Soon after this , Jews came to settle there , and

claimed that building as a synagogue , which had been erected by their ancestors for a house of Avorship . The tradition of the origin of this synagogue is this : — The Jewish colonies—and perhaps also Israelitish , from the ten tribes—in several parts of the then inhabited parts of Europe , especially in Spain and France , known in the Scriptures as " Sephorod , " and " Tserophoth , " during the second le and

temp , were numerous wealthy , and often made pilgrimages to Jerusalem , in obedience to the command of God . Here , in the pleasant valley on the shores of the beautiful river Moldau , at that time the extreme point of habitation , they chose to meet at a place appointed , where they waited until all Avere gathered who intended to go , and then pursued their ivay eastwards , in a large body , without fear of the savage hordes who made those regions unsafe . As they had often to tarry for weeks and

even months , they agreed to build a substantial building , which should serve them not only for a house of worship , but also for a fort , in which a thousand people could be protected , should the savages of the forest at auy time dare to attack them , f There is , no doubt , a great deal of truth in this tradition , inasmuchas it is partly confirmed bytheBohemian chronicles .

This however , is evident , that Jews erected that building , and that they did it without the assistance of other hands than their OAVU . If this was the case , there must have been indeed skilful masters in the art of architecture among them , Avho formed an association like those of other nations . We now return to the Jews in Spain and Portugal . After

the downfall of the Ostro-Gothic empire , under the reign of the Onajades , or Moors , the Jews regained their former positions hi those countrie ts ; hey enjoyed perfect liberty , and had time , means , and opportunity to extend their knowledge and Avisdom in all branches of science and art .. "We find them in the highest stations at the courts , as ivell as in the institutes of learning . Even after the golden ago of Spain had passed away , —after the expulsion of the

Moors by popish kings , the Jews , though oppressed and often persecuted again , enjoyed high stations at the different courts of the Spanish monarchs for nearly a hundred years . In the middle of the fourteenth century , hoAvever , the sufferings of the despised race became intolerable ; and tens of thousands professed publicly a- religion which , in their hearts , they hated and abhorred to the uttermost . These

were called "Novos Christianos , " or New Christians ; or ; together with the new converts from the Moors , "Maranos ; " J and this latter name was more common among the people than the first . It is a well-knOAvn fact , that the Maranos , who were Jews in their hearts , held secret meetings on certain days ancl at certain places , to worship God according to their oivn

convict-ion . To these meetings none could obtain admission except members of a similar association , and this only after strict examinations . Generally they met in public houses , as taverns , hotels , & c ., kept by one for their own people , in order that their coming and going might not excite the attention and suspicion of their enemies , the spies of the devil ' s tribunal , the Inquisition . The room where they men had two entrances : one for the brethren of the same

congregation , which was never known to a visitor , although he gave satisfactory evidences that he was a member of the brotherhood ,, and in consequence of which he obtained admission . The other door was for the entrance of visitors . They appeared in a peculiar dress , mostly in monks' cowles . ; and the last rule of precaution which they employed was , that whenever visitors from other communities were

introduced among them , they appeared all masked , while the visitors were obliged to show their faces . In examining visitors who were not known to them personally , they used , like Freemasons , certain signs , grips , pass-words , which , together with the facts of their being skilled in geometry and architecture , makes it most probable that these communites practised a kind of Freemasonry

among themselves . But there are other circumstances which confirm us in that idea . The history of that persecuted race , thousands of ivhich ended in an "Auto da fe , " records of innumerable cases where brethren were delivered when in great distress ; from the most cruel death , even from the foot of the scaffold ; at once , a party of several hundred personsmenAvomenand childrenwho were

, , , , already sentenced to be burnt alive on the next morning , were carried out from the prison of the Inquisition in Lisbon , brought on board of two vessels which were waiting for them , and safely landed at Amsterdam . One fact more we ivill mention . There were often traitors among them , in spite of all the means of precaution which