Reviews.

of an octavo A ohune the whole of Masonic history , so far as it can be gathered from prima fade evidence . Bro . Findcl ' s name is , doubtless , well known to all our readers ; he is ono of the heads of the most advanced " fraction " of our German liberal brethren , the organ of which ( the " Bauhiitte " ) he has founded and ably conducted for tho last eight yearsand altogether he is a

, man of mark amongst the German Masonic writers of the present clay . In writing the history of Freemasonry Bro . Findel has certainly chosen a field eminently adapted for his activity , aud acted np to the excellent advice that Horace tenders to rising authors : —

Sumitc niateriam vestris qui seribitis cequam Viribus—In his own country , the author ' s work has fully met with the success it deserved . The first edition appeared in 1861 , and at the end of last year a second edition became necessary . Bro . Findel , finding during a journey to England which he undertook in 1864 , in search of the "York Document" that "the ignorance of the English

, brethren concerning Masonic history was such as to make one ' s hair stand on end ( 7 iaarstrceuI > eiicZ ) , " as he expressed it in a letter to the editor , took care , on his return to Germany , to have an English translation of his work prepared forthwith , and this translation has been published simultaneously with the second German edition .

Doubtless the Avriting of a comprehensive and yet concise and compendious history of Freemasonry is one of the most arduous tasks that may be submitted to any pen . The author Avho attempts to write the history of a certain nation , province , city , or parish , will always have the whole of his materials confined within distinct limits ; he will have v . ne position donnee from which he

need not emerge , though he may trace the subject ah ovo , as did the author of " Knickerbocker ' s History of New York" jocularly in commencing his account from the creation of the world . XYhea Arago wrote the "History of the Steam Engine , " ho was at loss Avhether to start his monograph from Hero or from Popin , and his was decidedly a material topic . But the historian who treats

the rise and progress of a mere , ideal subject , labours under a still greater disadvantage as compared to the former . Though he may know where to end , he will never know where to begin . The greatest perplexity and confusion exists with reference to the origin of Freemasonry : —

Grammatici cortnnt , et adhuc sub juchce lis est . The compiler of a Masonic history has to contend with an infinity of conflicting theories , each of which is laid down as "indubitable and infallible . " Some ideologists , like Anderson , Preston , Olliver , will go as far back as the creation of the world , and contend that " the Great Architect of the Universe " must necessarily have

been the Originator of the Masonic art . Some will confer this honour on Tubal Gain , " an instructor of every artificer in brass aud iron , " while others consider Bezaleel , the designer of the tabernacle of Moses , as the father of Freemasonry . From a paper written by Bro . Town , and reproduced in theFftBEMASOSs' MAGAZINE , our readers will learn that the first lodge of instruction Avas

held in the building sheds inhabited by the workmen engaged in tho erection of Solomon ' s Temple . Other Avriters , on tho contrary , assert that the existence of Freemasonry can be reckoned only from tho period when it assumed its modem character , and thus , as Pallas sprang clad and armed out of the very hea . d of Jupiter , orto use a more modern simileas tho science of

, , political economy was created by Adam Smith , thus Freemasonry must have been originated by the heads of the English school , Anderson , Desaguilicrs , and others . Bi'O . Findel strikes the balance between all these conflicting theories , and adheres to the view first propounded by Abbe Grandidier , of Strasburg , iu 1782 , *

according to Avhich Freemasonry took its orig in m the BauMittan ou building sheds of the Kiddle Ages , aud that the modern Masonic rituals are identical with , or analogous to the ceremonies that were usual amongst the working Masons Avho were engaged in the erection of the various mediceval cathedrals in Germany , England , and Scotland . Thus , the naves of the metropolitan

churches of Magdeburg , York , and Kilwinning are considered as the " cradle of tho Royal Art iu each of the three countries . No theory is supported by stronger proofs , none by ' prima facie , contemporaneous evidence , like that endorsed by the author ; and some pieces justificatives appended to his volume , if genuine , which Ave are not in a position to verifydo certainly tend to

, strengthen the belief that the spiritual character of the German Ba-azihnfte of the Middle Ages coincides , to a certain extent , with that of modern Freemasonry . _ Bub in two very material points Ave must take exception to the views propounded by Bro . Findel ; first , as regards the secret sciences of the Ancients ; second , Arith reference to the specifically spiritual character of mediaeval

Masonry . Bro . Findel rejects all the circumstantial evidence tending to connect the ancient mysteries with those of the Graft , and admits only such facts as can be demonstrated in black and white , or by stone and mortar . Doubtless we have no precise knowledge of the character of the secrets that the of yore used to hide from

sages the glance of the multitude , which Avas kept aloof by the formula , Odi profanum vidgus et arceo , but history and psychology concur in teaching us that an elective affinity has at all times existed , and will continue to exist amongst men of an educated and cultivated mind , and

that certain signs , symbols , and watchwords are necessary as criteria , to distinguish the Avheat from the chaff , the initiated from the profane . These symbols were , at the various periods of history , borrowed from various professions and callings ; instead of the symbols taken from architecture now-a-days , the ancient Hellenes used those from agriculture—Mystcria , id est Gereris Sacra

arcana—as Justinus has it ; the spade and harrow were to them what the plummet and trowel are to us . _ It is historically averred that the profound and admirable mysteries drawn from the ivorship of Ceres did not only exist in Attica , but that it Avas a capital crime to divulge them , and an indictable offence to perform the ceremonies in but the buildings specially consecrated

any for that purpose . Alcibiades had to escape by immediate flight the wrath of the people called forth by his having held a private lodge in his own house . f The Eleusinia and Thesmophoria of the Athenians , though drawn from different sources , Avere akin to and partook of the character of our own mysteries ; in their essence and objects they coincided with them . And who would

deny at least tho affinity that exists between the doctrine of Pythagoras , as laid down iu the " golden precepts , " as Avell as St . John the Baptist's teachings and preachings in the desert , and the fundamental axioms and " platforms " . of modern Freemasonry ? And if there should be any uncertainty on this point , why not grant us the benefit of the doubt ? He who expunges the mysteries of

Eleusis and the names of the great philosopher and the precursor of Christianity from the history of Freemasonry , eradicates and destroys the whole of the spiritual element that has always surrounded the bare demonstrated facts with an ideal and poetical hue , Avithout Avhich our Institution is divested of moat of its charms and attrac-