Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
History Of Masonry.
with strong arches , upon which many beautiful piazzas were erected , with lofty colonades on each side . Between the columns a spacious walk led from Zion castle to the temple , where men of business met ; the house of the forest of Lebanon , built upon four rows of cedarpillars , being a summer-house to retire to from the fatigue of business ; with a watch-tower that looked on the road to Damascus :
several cities on the road between Jerusalem and Lebanon ; many storehouses west of the Jordan , and several store-cities east of that river , well fortified ; and last of all Tadmor , in the desart towards Syria * , one days journey from the Euphrates , and six from Babylon , called in later times by the Greeks Palmyra , with a lofty palace in it . All theseand many more public workswere finished in the short
, , space of thirteen j'ears after the temple , by the care of 550 Masters of works : for masonry was cultivated throughout all the kingdom of Israel , and many Lodges were constituted under Grand Master Solomon ; who , as the old constitutions relate , annually assembled a Grand Lodge at Jerusalem , to preserve the cement of the Fraternitj * , and transmit their affairs to the latest posterity .
Even during his idolatry , this prince built some curious temples to . Chem . och , Moloch , and Ashtaroth , the gods of his concubines , till about three years before he died , when he composed his penitential song , the Ecclesiastes ; and fixed the true motto on all earthly glory , viz . Vanity of vanities , all is vanity , without the fear of God , and the keeping of his commands ; which is tbe w / jo / e duty of man I and died aged 58 years .
Many of Solomon ' s Masons , before he died , began to travel ; and carried with them their skill and taste in architecture , with the secrets of the Fraternity , into Syria , Lesser Asia , Mesopotamia , Scythia , Assyria , ChaMa . a , Media , Bactria , India , Persia , Arabia , Egypt , and other parts of great Asia and Africa ; and probably also into Europe ; though we have no history early enough to assure us as yet of the transactions pf Greece and I taly . The tradition isthat they travelled to Hercules ' s
, p illars on the west , and to China on the east : and the old constitutions affirm , that one called Ninus , who had been at the building of Solomon ' s temple , carried the art into Germany and Gaul . In many places being highly esteemed , they obtained special privileges ; and because they taught their liberal art only to the free-born , they were called Free Masons ; constituting lodges in the places
where they built stately piles , by the encouragement of the great and wealthy , who soon requested to be accepted as Members of their Lodges , and Brothers of the Craft ; till by merit those free and accepted masons came to be Masters and Wardens . Even princes and potentates became Grand Masters , each in his own dominion , in imitation of King Solomon ; whose memory , as a mason , has been duly revered , and will be , till architecture shall be consumed in the general conflagration , ( To be continued . )
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
History Of Masonry.
with strong arches , upon which many beautiful piazzas were erected , with lofty colonades on each side . Between the columns a spacious walk led from Zion castle to the temple , where men of business met ; the house of the forest of Lebanon , built upon four rows of cedarpillars , being a summer-house to retire to from the fatigue of business ; with a watch-tower that looked on the road to Damascus :
several cities on the road between Jerusalem and Lebanon ; many storehouses west of the Jordan , and several store-cities east of that river , well fortified ; and last of all Tadmor , in the desart towards Syria * , one days journey from the Euphrates , and six from Babylon , called in later times by the Greeks Palmyra , with a lofty palace in it . All theseand many more public workswere finished in the short
, , space of thirteen j'ears after the temple , by the care of 550 Masters of works : for masonry was cultivated throughout all the kingdom of Israel , and many Lodges were constituted under Grand Master Solomon ; who , as the old constitutions relate , annually assembled a Grand Lodge at Jerusalem , to preserve the cement of the Fraternitj * , and transmit their affairs to the latest posterity .
Even during his idolatry , this prince built some curious temples to . Chem . och , Moloch , and Ashtaroth , the gods of his concubines , till about three years before he died , when he composed his penitential song , the Ecclesiastes ; and fixed the true motto on all earthly glory , viz . Vanity of vanities , all is vanity , without the fear of God , and the keeping of his commands ; which is tbe w / jo / e duty of man I and died aged 58 years .
Many of Solomon ' s Masons , before he died , began to travel ; and carried with them their skill and taste in architecture , with the secrets of the Fraternity , into Syria , Lesser Asia , Mesopotamia , Scythia , Assyria , ChaMa . a , Media , Bactria , India , Persia , Arabia , Egypt , and other parts of great Asia and Africa ; and probably also into Europe ; though we have no history early enough to assure us as yet of the transactions pf Greece and I taly . The tradition isthat they travelled to Hercules ' s
, p illars on the west , and to China on the east : and the old constitutions affirm , that one called Ninus , who had been at the building of Solomon ' s temple , carried the art into Germany and Gaul . In many places being highly esteemed , they obtained special privileges ; and because they taught their liberal art only to the free-born , they were called Free Masons ; constituting lodges in the places
where they built stately piles , by the encouragement of the great and wealthy , who soon requested to be accepted as Members of their Lodges , and Brothers of the Craft ; till by merit those free and accepted masons came to be Masters and Wardens . Even princes and potentates became Grand Masters , each in his own dominion , in imitation of King Solomon ; whose memory , as a mason , has been duly revered , and will be , till architecture shall be consumed in the general conflagration , ( To be continued . )