Expatiation On The Mysteries Of Masonry In Malling Abbey Lodge,

EXPATIATION ON THE MYSTERIES OF MASONRY IN MALLING ABBEY LODGE ,

LONDON , SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 0 , 1867 .

" No . 1 , 003 . ( Continued from page 262 . ) We have little certain knowledge as to the earliest voyages of the Phoenicians to the west of Europe . There are traditions which place them

as early as the age of the Argonautic expedition . It is certain that they found their way to Ireland at a very early period . They introduced the form of Masonry which was afterwards cultivated by the Druids . From thence ifc passed into Britain ; and in the time of Caesar , the Gauls sent their young men there to be initiated .

The Masonry of Drmdisni was older than that of Solomon . ' No part of the symbolism of the present tracing-board of the E . G . degree could have had a place in Druidical Masonry . The Druids had no temples covered in , like that of

Jerusalem . They continued to use the three pillars shown on the tracing-board of the first degree , as representations of the deity ; some of which , as those forming the giants' graves at Penrith , may yet be seen . Saint Patrick illustrated

the doctrine of the Trinitj'' to the Irish , by the shamrock . The Druids had long before given a sacred signification to the triple leaves and tri ple berries of the inisletoe ; though they may possibly have lost the full meaning of the symbols which had come down to them by ancient tradition . The number three scarcely finds a place in the

Jewish Masonry of ' the F . C . degree . Solomon , Hiram , and Hiram Abiff are merely the three persons mentioned in biblical history in connection with the building of the Temple . The number of the pillars made by Hiram was only two , called

Boaz and Jachin in the Book of Chronicles . The perfect numbers of that period were five and seven . In the time of Abraham , the divine presence was signified by the appearance of three persons ; but the number three scarcely occurs in the entire

history of the Mosaic dispensation . During the whole of that period the traditions and symbols of the earliest ages were only preserved in Masonic lodges , and in those systems which had been derived from them , of which Druidism was one .

The philosophy of Pythagoras was essentially Masonic . It may be most properly considered in connection with the second degree , because ,

although he belonged to no one school of philo sophy , he is more parfciculaz-ly identified with the mathematical school . He called the Fellow Crafts " Mathematici , " because where the Entered ! . Apprentices , or " Hearers , " had gratified

themselves , by silent and patient attention , for higher teaching , he instructed them in mathematics , as being the subject of study which he considered most fit to draw their minds from corporeal and sensible thinsrs to those of an intellectual audi !

spiritual nature . The philosophic system of Pythagoras is represented in the floor of a Masonic lodge ; the meaning of which , however , is so little understood thafc ihe blazing- star in the centre has been

mistaken for a representation of the sun . It is , in truth , the symbol of the fire which Pythagoras supposed to be for ever burning on the great central altar of the "Universe , from whence all divine spirits proceeded , the principle and origin

of life , around which all celestial beings , all worlds and sj ^ stems of worlds moved . These all , and not merely the planets of our solar system , are represented by the tesselated border of the floor .. The Mosaic pavement refers to another

Pythagorean principle , which is , that every Mason should , in the whole course of his life , in thought , word , and deed , set before him and constantly

imitate , the beauty , order , and harmony , which prevail in the universe . The Freemasons of the middle ages transferred this symbolism to the churches built by them . Afc the east end , where the altar stood , they laid the

Mosaic pavement , and , round it , the tesselated border . The blazing star was omitted , because ic represented an altar , and the altar was already there . The entire symbolism was distinctly Masonic , though a more spiritual signification was

given to it . It did not point to the choral dance which Pythagoras supposed to be performed by celestial beings , around the central altar of the universe ; but it called upon the Christian worshipper , with angels , archangels , and all the

company of Heaven to laud and magnify the glorious name of Hiin who was the True Light and Life of the world .

The influence of the Freemasons appears to have been sufficient to introduce changes in the mediaaval ritual . In the earlier ages of the Churck there were two li ghts only on the altar , as appears by the frescoes lately discovered in the ruins of the ancient Church of S . Clementi . But in fche