Ancient Symbolism. Illustrated.

arkite ancestors . This veneration was by the degenerate Nimrod soon perverted into gross idolatry , and blended with the antediluvian worship of the host of heaven . Noah and the sun were henceforth regarded as one divine object . Eaber states , however , that Noah was not the only patriarch worshipped along with the sun ; in subsequent ages Ham obtaiued the same honour ; and I may here with propriety

notice a singular sort of confusion which will be found very generally to pervade the mythology of the heathens . Noah and his triple offspring are continually represented to us under the character of an ancient deity and his three sous , and yet every one of these three sons is upon various occasions confounded with the father . Eaber states that Saturn ,

Jupiter , Neptune , and Pluto taken conjointly , are evidently Noah , Ham , Japhet , audShem ; nevertheless , Saturn , Jupiter , and Pluto , when considered separately , are all equally the solar Noah , as I have before shown , worshipped conjointly with the sun , while Neptune very frequently seems to be the same patriarch adored as a dilnvian god . This remark will equally apply to the Chronos of Sanchoniatho and his three sons—Chronos the younger , Jupiter , Belus and Apollo ; to the Brahme of Hindoostan and his children . —Brahma , Vishnu ,

and Siva ; also to the Bore of Scandinavia and his tri ple offspring—Odin , Yile , and Ye . This is indeed the onl y key that can unlock the hidden meaning of the mysterious polytheism of the ancients . Osiris , Bacchus , Chronos , Pluto , Adonis , and Hercules , taken in one point of view , all equally typify the sun ; but if we examine their respective legends

and attentively consider the actions ascribed to them , we shall be convinced that in their human capacity each can be no other than the great patriarch Noah . From the union of two primitive superstitions—the worshi p of their arkite ancestors and their reverence to the host of heaven—ori ginated the custom , of bestowing the names of the

hero gods upon the stars . Modern astronomy still retains the names of Jupiter , Saturn , Mars , Yenus , and others ; Nimrod himself , the founder of this compound idolatry , still holds a conspicuous place in the spheres and overlooks the affairs of mortals from the brilliant constellation of Orion , surroundedbe it rememberedwith a belt or circle . The

, , antediluvian idolatry , or worship of the heavenly host having been again established by Nimrod , the old mythologists invented a variety of sacred emblems expressive of the objects of their worship ) . The most usual symbol of the sun was a serpent , and the resemblance of the reptile to a circle when

EMBLEM ( IE THE SEX . coiled ( both representing a disk ) , is sufficiently apparent , and both have ever been considered by the heathen as symbols of the same divinity .

Cursory Remarks On Freemasonry—Iv.

CURSORY REMARKS ON FREEMASONRY—IV .

. WE have pointed out the necessity of every Freemason making himself acquainted with the royal art , which can only be achieved by labour , for , as Aristotle said to Alexander , " There is no royal road to learning . " It was indeed said that a man must be born a poet , for he cannot be made one ; but Horace only meant by this , that a peculiar oi'ganization

is requisite for a true bard ; that he must be naturally adapted for his vocation , just as the merchant , the warrior , the statesman , and the philosopher to attain to proficiency must all be naturally adapted to , or born fit for , theirs . The Iliad of Homer , the iEneid of Virgil , the Metamorphoses of Ovid , the Divine Comedy of Dante , the Orlando Furioso of

Ariostothe Faery Queen of Spenser , the Lusiad of Camoens , the Paradise Lost of Milton , and the Excursion of Wordsworth —those mig hty monuments of poetic power — do you imagine , reader , that they were built up without the labour of years ? The greatest genius which the world has yet seen , William Shakspearewho is said never to have blotted aline

, , is not supposed to have written more than two or three plays a year , even after his retirement from the bustle of the stage , when his unequalled intellect was in its fullest vigour . Dryden ' s "Ode on Alexander ' s Feast , or the Power of Music , " is said to have cost the labour of a fortnight , and nowhere is the labour bestowed upon poems more conspicuous than in

the odes of Quintus Horatius Flaecus himself . Burns , whom the ignorant imagine to have been a ready rhymer , flinging off his sweet songs at random , at any time and on any subject , could only write on such subjects as he really felt , aiid then spared no pains to perfect even the shortest of his poems . It is the same with the philosopher

, the painter , the sculptor , the architect , the engineer , and even the domestic servant ; all , to become properly qualified for their respective callings , have had , like players , to study their parts and to take lessons from any one whom they could

find able and willing to teach them . No man can become a master tailor , a master shoemaker , or a master blacksmith without first serving a proper apprenticeship under competent instructors ; without this he cannot become a poor journeyman even . And yet we have men in our midst who are foolish enough to fancy that they can become Master Masons without ever devoting a portion of their leisure and attention

to the workings of the Craft . Though as a body we are no longer called upon to take a part in the erection of the intended structures which are to adorn our land—save that honorary one still accorded us of laying the foundation stone with Masonic honours—yet ought we ever to have in mind that Freemasonry is the sublimest of all sciences , teaching us

to build up ourselves into temples , compared with which even that of Solomon sinks into significance . Of that , as was prophecied b y Christ , no two stones are left one upon the other ; but we , for good or for ill , are destined to endure for ever , and if we but act in conformity with the principles of the Craftnot only shall we be united hand in hand and foot to

, foot , as brothers here on earth , but—Freemasonry being the handmaid of religion — we shall , at the last great day of accompt , hear the welcome words— " Come , ye blessed of my Father , inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world ; for I was an hungered , and ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty , and ye gave me drink ; I was a stranger

, and ye took me in ; naked , and ye clothed me ; I was sick , and ye visited me ; I was in prison , and ye came unto me Verily I say unto you , inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren , ye have done it unto me . " Duly initiated in some regular Lodge of the Order , it is for ourselves to determine whether we will be a drag on the

chariot wheels of Masonry , or use our best efforts to speed her onward progress . Appropriate to us as Masons are the words of Charles Swain" Attend , oh man ! Uplift the banner of thy kind , Advance the ministry of mind :