Antiquity Of The Third Degree.

represented , and the god was personated by tbe candidate . . . . Osiris attempted by mild remonstrances to convince bis brother of some impropriety of conduct ; but he fell a sacrifice in the attempt ; for Typhon murdered him in a secret apartment , and cutting up the body , enclosed the pieces in a chest Avbich he committed to the waters of the Nile . Isissearching for the bod

, y , found it , and entrusted ib to the care of the priests , establishing at the same time the mysteries in commemoration of the foul deed . . . . The aspirant was made to pass fictibiously through the sufferings and death of Osiris . " *

Now , brethren , look Avith me at a very different country and scene—Scandinavia . Here we find that the mysteries consisted of the rehearsal , and representation by tbe candidate , of tbe untimely death , loss , and subsequent finding of the body of one Baldr , who Avas supposed thereupon to be restored to life and vigour . It appears that Baldr was invulnerable to everything but

mistletoe . The Evil One , ivbo thereabouts rejoiced in the name of Loke , found this exception out ; and one day Baldr , having jestingly offered himself as a target for the gods to shoot at , put into the hand of one Hodr , who Avas blind , a piece of mistletoe . With this Hodr sleAv Baldr . f His body Avas turned adrift in a boat , searched for , and found . Such was bhe legend , and

the candidate was made to figure prominently in its rehearsal . ^ Come with me now to Britain and Gaul among the old Druids , and there we find that initiation into three degrees Avas practised . In the first , " the candidate AA'as placed in the pastos , bed , or coffin , Avhere his symbolical death Avas represented ; and they terminated in the third by his regeneration or restoration to life from the womb of the giantess CeridAvin . § I will not weary you brethren , by particularizing all

the ancient mystcries . || Their connection Avith vrbab is now termed Freemasonry is , I think , more than obvious . Setting aside the identity of many of their ceremonies and symbols—and if you will hear me , perhaps I may try to lay this before you hereafter—overlooking the fact of tbe marks and signs to be seen to this day on buildings in England , beyond all doubt erected by

Freemasons , being fac-similes of those found in Egypt , in India , and in Herculaueum , and Pompeiif—carved and painted in the former countries three thousand years ago—setting all this for the moment aside , I beg your attention to this fact , and I give it in Dr . Oliver ' s own Avords : — "The mysteries of antiquity were all funereal . " ** Now , brethren , if Ave may , Avith any approach to truth , state that tbe strictl

y symbolical part of our Order is in any way related to , or to be identified Avitb , these ancient mysteries , may Ave not assume bhat the legendary part of the third degree is in like manner connected Avith tbe pagan traditions of old time ? That death and the " resurrection Avere taught in a legendary and dramatic ceremony , I do not belieA ^ e can be denied . If then , I repeat , one part of each be identical , why should nob the remainder , wherein , perhaps , the most striking resemblance of all exists , bear a close affinity ?

In supporting this theory , we must of course , at once disabuse our minds of any idea that the legend of our third degree is a true narrative of facts . It has been proved beyond all doubt that , as the funereal mysteries of old Avere allegorical and mystical , so is our legend . Ib follows that it must have been invented or adapted by

some person or persons . By whom ? Ah ! there is the difficulty . Solve that and you solve all . Leb us geb back again bo Egypt in the year of our Lord 1852 , or thereabouts . About that time a brother , a member of , and Past Master in , this Lodge , went up the Nile . One day , in the wilds of Upper Egypt , he encountered an old Arab Sheikh . Our

brotheren-, thusiastic in Masonic pursuits , threw out to bim the sign of a Fellow Craft . Tbe old man , who , mayhap , had not seen a dozen European feces in his lifetime , started and replied Avith bhe sign of iu the third degree . Brother replying , bhat old Arab Sheikh went bhrough bhe signs of the third degree as correctly as if he had been raised in a " crack" London lodge . Even

the word Avas correct . Look around yon here in Scinde brethren . Let the Master Mason Avatch the greeting of two Sindbees ; the embrace , bhe subsequent signs ! Go among bhe Beloochees , bhe supposed lost tribes of Israel : I have the authority of an old Mason for saying that bhe Mason ' s word is well knoAvn among the chiefs ! Can any of you read me these riddles ? After this can you believe that our noble third degree was manufactured fey any joyous crafts or any learned doctors in 1717 ?

Going back a little , and again referring to Dr . Oliver , I quote his own words against him . Talking of the mysteries of Isis and Osiris , he says , " I have collected all bhe principal interpretations of this extraordinary legend , and the evidence tends to establish an astronomical reference . Bub bhough this Avas doubtless true at a later period , I am persuaded that at its original

adaptation to the spurious Freemasonry , it had allusion to a real event Avhich happened in the earliest ages of the world ; and I also think that the legend of our third degree referred to the same transaction . Ib is impossible on such a subject to be explicit . " * Now here is a ray of light . This real event , which happened in bhe earliest ages of the world ( and I the learned

presume doctor refers to the murder of Abel by Cainf—there is a Avell known picture of the finding of Abel's body , with Eve in a remarkable posibion ) , I say this real event Avas of so marked a character , that the tradition of it , changed , mutilated , and perverted , though it might bo , spread

over the Avorld , and the mystagogues adopted it , from India to Scandinavia , as the climax of their initiatory rites . Please to follow tbe clue , brethren . In time , religions , manners , and nations rose aud sank . Freemasonry , being a progressive science , changed too . Christianity came—then Mahomedanism , Neither of these Avould tolerate idolatrous rites , any more bhan

Judaism of old would . While the moral emblems of bhe initiatory degrees might remain , the legendary ceremonies must be changed . Was it then , brethren , bhat a Jewish allegory was sought for and found as offending the religious prejudices of none ? I do not say yes , or no ; I leave you all to think this matber onb for yourselves . That abundant bime was given for bhe change jusb now

hinbed ab , may be understood Avhen I tell you that ib was nob bill the era of the Eestoration that the mysberies ceased altogether . During the Middle Ages , the mysteries of Diana were practised , although they ceased in Greece in 438 , 1800 years after their introduction . Two more remarks , brethren , and I have done . Not