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Article CLASSICAL THEOLOGY.—VII. ← Page 2 of 2 Article CLASSICAL THEOLOGY.—VII. Page 2 of 2 Article CURSORY REMARKS ON FREEMASONY.-I. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Classical Theology.—Vii.
under heaps of rubbish of the old citadel , and hud bare to jiublic inspection under the name of the Arco di Giano Quadrifronte . " Sancto deo Solis" may have been the inscri ption on the superb temple which Heliogabalus erected at Home -. vud dedicated to the sun . ; at all events the words so a ] ipear on some
of the coinage of this imperially dissolute reign . A black stone , of a conical shape ,, said to have fallen from the clouds , had a distinguished place assigned it within his temple . Heliogabalus brought it out of Syria , where he had officiated as a priest of the god Algabalus , or Balus Aganippidus , one of the many names of Phoebus . ( The stone he named
Heliogabalus , enjoining all people to bow down before it and ivorshi p it . The real name of this emperor was Gabalus ; he led so disreputable a life that his subjects killed him , dragged him through the city of Rome * and heaved his mangled remains into the Tiber . He ivould insist on being called the sun , and on that account he added the " Helio" to his nameand was
, styled Helio Gabalus . It was not uncommon with ancient nations to apotheosize an animal and pay to it religious homage . Nor with the more classical world was it an unusual thins to consecrate a residence , a tower , or a town , by some name , or to some deity , and under this personification to construct
a temple and establish a form of worship to it . Even so late it is said as the time of Adrian , a graud edifice of this sort was raised to the patronal goddess of Rome ; jret long before , not only there but in Smyrna , a splendid building was inaugurated to the queenly Roma . It is plainly to be perceived that these people had no uniformity of worship ; every shrine or temple possessed its distinct priesthood ancl separate service conformable with tho ritual commemorative
of its deification . In those classic ages it ivould have been easy to convert a poker into a god , had it been instrumental in getting rid of a gigantic foe , or an unpopular tyrant . In tho Hebrew language , Noah , as an husbandman , is denominated a man of the earth ( vir terra . ) , in like maimer , as a prophet , is called a man of God ( vir Dei ) ; and , according
to scriptural phrases , a soldier , a " man of war " ; a murderer , a " man of blood "; a shepherd , a " . man of cattle " ; an orator , a " man of words "; and , by similar phraseology , Saturn , because he married Tellus , whose other names were Rhea , Ops , and Terra , was therefore also called Vir Terra :. Saturn , nevertheless , Plutarch informs us , has been esteemed by the
Romans an infernal god , " because thc phi . net Saturn was conceived by thorn to bo malignant ancl hurtful in its aspects towards mankind ;" ¦ yet with the Greeks lie was generally considered as a terrestrial deity . Bo it , however , hero observed that , as a postdiluvian prince , deified under thc name of Saturnif he was only a god of the earthstillas an
, , , antecedent planet , they classed him among tho celestial luminaries of the first order . We have explained how he forfeited his inherited right in the loss of his kingdom . On these grounds , it is said , he deli ghted in human blood , and gladiators were placed under his protection . Those who sacrificed to him had their heads uncovered , or , as some say ,
shaven ; his priests wore scarlet robes . On his , as upon Janus ' s altar , and for the same reason , lighted wax tapers were continually kept , to indicate that by Saturn ( Noah or Janus ) men were reclaimed from the darkness of baneful ignorance and error to the light of understanding and truth . Janus , by the name of Saturn , among some nations was so worshipped , and this will account for the confused intermixture of his ceremonies with those of the Babylonish and Carthagian Saturn , and their disunited identity ancl influences
* In the Palazzo Barberini there used to be , and may be still a remarkably fine old painting of the goddess Roma ; a statue of her also ' as representative of the city , in a sitting posture , may be seen in the Villa Medici ; ancl another in the Villa Albani . There was scarcely any material thing that the Humans did not deify in their state of idolatry . Afarinus says , the chief city of Latium ( ltoimi ) was built by the daughter of-Hsculapius , known as the divinity llomu , long before Ilomuliis who ook his name from i \\ e city : — ! , his Is aii hypostasis vesting on a chimera .
Classical Theology.—Vii.
both on the earth and in thc heavens . Thus Noah , in fact , is said tu be the Janus of the Latins , the Saturn of thc ; Phoenicians ancl Sidoniaus , '" ' the Ogyges of the Thebans and Athenians , and the Deucalion of the Thessalians . Of this last mentioned potentate , we find iu history , that when tho whole earth was deeply overflown , and all manner of beasts
and mankind were destroyed , excepting himself and his wife Pyrrha—those two , after a long voyage , were carried in a vessel they had provided with stores upon Mount Parnassus , aud left there till the waters were abated . After which they consulted thc very ancient oracle of Themis , regarding the means by wliich the human race mi ght be again restored .
She made answer in somewhat dubious phrase , that "If they cast the bones of their great mother ( Magna Mater ) behind them , what might be would be . " Whereupon they bethought them that the bones of Bona Dea , or Ceres , must signify the stones of the earth . The stones thrown behind by Deucalion were metamorphosed into men , aud those thrown backwards by Pyrrha , were transformed into women—or , in other words , they were the cause of there being men and women to succeed them .
Cursory Remarks On Freemasony.-I.
CURSORY REMARKS ON FREEMASONY .-I .
WE purpose , under tho above head , from time to time , to favour our "brothers of the mystic tyc" with a few random thoughts on the hi gh object of Freemasonry , and the manner in which its sublime precepts are sometimes neglected amongst us . Not in the proud spirit of the phariscc , who " thanked God that lie was not as this jxior publican , " do we
hope to do it ; but as English journalists , living in an age of searching inquiry , in which the eyes of all men are mora than ever directed to our beloved Order , which has long outlived persecution in this highly favoured island , and attained a popularity and a poiver for good , which can only be forfeited by the faithlessness of ourselves . Our object will not be to
ridicule the peculiarities of any brother , or to expose the bad working of any individual Lodge ; at the same time we wish to encourage a constant habit of self-examination on the part of ourselves and our readers ; and whenever we find shortcomings in our Masonic life hit at in the Magazine , let our consciences freely accuse us , like Nathan to David of old , with the emphatic words— "Thou art the man !" It is our most earnest desire to see the royal Craft faithfully supported by all those thousands who have freely and
voluntarily taken upon themselves its important obligations : for clid ive not all enter its portals unbiassed b y the improper solicitations of friends and acquaintances , and professedl y uninfluenced by mercenary or any other unworthy motives ' ? Did we not , when we humbl y presented ourselves as candidates for the mysteries aud privileges of antient
Preemasonry , solemnly declare that we were actuated to solicit those privileges from a favourable opinion preconceived of the institution , a general desire of knowledge , and a sincere wish to render ourselves more extensively useful to our fellow creatures 1 And yet do not we at times act as if we had been galley-slaves , or at least the sons of the
bondwoman , who had been reluctantly compelled to adopt a j ) rofession which we have no desire to practise 1 Let us ask ourselves candidly if it would not be well to live the sublime precepts which we are taught in our Lodges , which then cannot fail to distinguish us from those who are strangers to our Masonic art , ancl sufficiently demonstrate to the world that the term brother , made use of among Masons , is indeed something more than an empty name . One of the first Masonic duties , we ought to bear in mind ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Classical Theology.—Vii.
under heaps of rubbish of the old citadel , and hud bare to jiublic inspection under the name of the Arco di Giano Quadrifronte . " Sancto deo Solis" may have been the inscri ption on the superb temple which Heliogabalus erected at Home -. vud dedicated to the sun . ; at all events the words so a ] ipear on some
of the coinage of this imperially dissolute reign . A black stone , of a conical shape ,, said to have fallen from the clouds , had a distinguished place assigned it within his temple . Heliogabalus brought it out of Syria , where he had officiated as a priest of the god Algabalus , or Balus Aganippidus , one of the many names of Phoebus . ( The stone he named
Heliogabalus , enjoining all people to bow down before it and ivorshi p it . The real name of this emperor was Gabalus ; he led so disreputable a life that his subjects killed him , dragged him through the city of Rome * and heaved his mangled remains into the Tiber . He ivould insist on being called the sun , and on that account he added the " Helio" to his nameand was
, styled Helio Gabalus . It was not uncommon with ancient nations to apotheosize an animal and pay to it religious homage . Nor with the more classical world was it an unusual thins to consecrate a residence , a tower , or a town , by some name , or to some deity , and under this personification to construct
a temple and establish a form of worship to it . Even so late it is said as the time of Adrian , a graud edifice of this sort was raised to the patronal goddess of Rome ; jret long before , not only there but in Smyrna , a splendid building was inaugurated to the queenly Roma . It is plainly to be perceived that these people had no uniformity of worship ; every shrine or temple possessed its distinct priesthood ancl separate service conformable with tho ritual commemorative
of its deification . In those classic ages it ivould have been easy to convert a poker into a god , had it been instrumental in getting rid of a gigantic foe , or an unpopular tyrant . In tho Hebrew language , Noah , as an husbandman , is denominated a man of the earth ( vir terra . ) , in like maimer , as a prophet , is called a man of God ( vir Dei ) ; and , according
to scriptural phrases , a soldier , a " man of war " ; a murderer , a " man of blood "; a shepherd , a " . man of cattle " ; an orator , a " man of words "; and , by similar phraseology , Saturn , because he married Tellus , whose other names were Rhea , Ops , and Terra , was therefore also called Vir Terra :. Saturn , nevertheless , Plutarch informs us , has been esteemed by the
Romans an infernal god , " because thc phi . net Saturn was conceived by thorn to bo malignant ancl hurtful in its aspects towards mankind ;" ¦ yet with the Greeks lie was generally considered as a terrestrial deity . Bo it , however , hero observed that , as a postdiluvian prince , deified under thc name of Saturnif he was only a god of the earthstillas an
, , , antecedent planet , they classed him among tho celestial luminaries of the first order . We have explained how he forfeited his inherited right in the loss of his kingdom . On these grounds , it is said , he deli ghted in human blood , and gladiators were placed under his protection . Those who sacrificed to him had their heads uncovered , or , as some say ,
shaven ; his priests wore scarlet robes . On his , as upon Janus ' s altar , and for the same reason , lighted wax tapers were continually kept , to indicate that by Saturn ( Noah or Janus ) men were reclaimed from the darkness of baneful ignorance and error to the light of understanding and truth . Janus , by the name of Saturn , among some nations was so worshipped , and this will account for the confused intermixture of his ceremonies with those of the Babylonish and Carthagian Saturn , and their disunited identity ancl influences
* In the Palazzo Barberini there used to be , and may be still a remarkably fine old painting of the goddess Roma ; a statue of her also ' as representative of the city , in a sitting posture , may be seen in the Villa Medici ; ancl another in the Villa Albani . There was scarcely any material thing that the Humans did not deify in their state of idolatry . Afarinus says , the chief city of Latium ( ltoimi ) was built by the daughter of-Hsculapius , known as the divinity llomu , long before Ilomuliis who ook his name from i \\ e city : — ! , his Is aii hypostasis vesting on a chimera .
Classical Theology.—Vii.
both on the earth and in thc heavens . Thus Noah , in fact , is said tu be the Janus of the Latins , the Saturn of thc ; Phoenicians ancl Sidoniaus , '" ' the Ogyges of the Thebans and Athenians , and the Deucalion of the Thessalians . Of this last mentioned potentate , we find iu history , that when tho whole earth was deeply overflown , and all manner of beasts
and mankind were destroyed , excepting himself and his wife Pyrrha—those two , after a long voyage , were carried in a vessel they had provided with stores upon Mount Parnassus , aud left there till the waters were abated . After which they consulted thc very ancient oracle of Themis , regarding the means by wliich the human race mi ght be again restored .
She made answer in somewhat dubious phrase , that "If they cast the bones of their great mother ( Magna Mater ) behind them , what might be would be . " Whereupon they bethought them that the bones of Bona Dea , or Ceres , must signify the stones of the earth . The stones thrown behind by Deucalion were metamorphosed into men , aud those thrown backwards by Pyrrha , were transformed into women—or , in other words , they were the cause of there being men and women to succeed them .
Cursory Remarks On Freemasony.-I.
CURSORY REMARKS ON FREEMASONY .-I .
WE purpose , under tho above head , from time to time , to favour our "brothers of the mystic tyc" with a few random thoughts on the hi gh object of Freemasonry , and the manner in which its sublime precepts are sometimes neglected amongst us . Not in the proud spirit of the phariscc , who " thanked God that lie was not as this jxior publican , " do we
hope to do it ; but as English journalists , living in an age of searching inquiry , in which the eyes of all men are mora than ever directed to our beloved Order , which has long outlived persecution in this highly favoured island , and attained a popularity and a poiver for good , which can only be forfeited by the faithlessness of ourselves . Our object will not be to
ridicule the peculiarities of any brother , or to expose the bad working of any individual Lodge ; at the same time we wish to encourage a constant habit of self-examination on the part of ourselves and our readers ; and whenever we find shortcomings in our Masonic life hit at in the Magazine , let our consciences freely accuse us , like Nathan to David of old , with the emphatic words— "Thou art the man !" It is our most earnest desire to see the royal Craft faithfully supported by all those thousands who have freely and
voluntarily taken upon themselves its important obligations : for clid ive not all enter its portals unbiassed b y the improper solicitations of friends and acquaintances , and professedl y uninfluenced by mercenary or any other unworthy motives ' ? Did we not , when we humbl y presented ourselves as candidates for the mysteries aud privileges of antient
Preemasonry , solemnly declare that we were actuated to solicit those privileges from a favourable opinion preconceived of the institution , a general desire of knowledge , and a sincere wish to render ourselves more extensively useful to our fellow creatures 1 And yet do not we at times act as if we had been galley-slaves , or at least the sons of the
bondwoman , who had been reluctantly compelled to adopt a j ) rofession which we have no desire to practise 1 Let us ask ourselves candidly if it would not be well to live the sublime precepts which we are taught in our Lodges , which then cannot fail to distinguish us from those who are strangers to our Masonic art , ancl sufficiently demonstrate to the world that the term brother , made use of among Masons , is indeed something more than an empty name . One of the first Masonic duties , we ought to bear in mind ,