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Article PROVINCIAL. ← Page 14 of 20 →
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Provincial.
and Pythagoras , tho ordeals oflsis ancl Osiris , the Eleusiuian mysteries , & c , and Masonry ; and contended that it Avas impossible to believe those numerous coincidences should be merely accidental . ) It then became a question Avhether the religions of the East and of Africa , ivere the orig in of Masonry , or Masonry of those religions . That question must be determined by other facts . He had traced in the dim and shadoAvy lineaments that Avere left us of the mythology of Egypta striking
, resemblance to Masonry , ancl here it is most probable Masonry had its orig in . There Avas one fact that told most poAverfully upon the subject —most of those mythologies Avent no further than the Avorship of the emblems of Masonrv , —the su ? i Avas their divinity— -the moon and stars Avere lesser gods—they ivorshipped the temple , but they saw not the builder . The EYE—that sleepless , luminous , omniscient , omnipresent , EYE , that AA-e adore , they kneAV not . The Grand Architect of the
universe , — Whose temple is all space , Whose altar , earth , sea , sky , — tvho lives through all life , extends through all extent—of Avhom thengreat founder ancl philosopher , Zoroaster , had but a faint glimmering , Avhen he taught the " one universal soul , " but of ivhich they speedily lost all trace , —that EYE was to them invisible—the great lights of masonry they understood not . ( Cheers . ) Herethenivas a proof that
, , masonry Avas not borroAved from them—the greater could not be borroAved from the lesser—the lesser must have been borroAved from the greater . ( Cheers . ) There ivas , however , a much stronger proof—a proof that to him Avas irresistible . The early philosopher studied astr 6-nomy in caves , ivith altars overtopped by an arch . How Avas this ? To go into the boAvels of the earth to study the wonders of the heavens Was astronomy prohibited ? No . Were its teachers proscribed ? No .
HOAV then Avas this strange anomaly accounted for ? Masonry alone could account for it . I have already said that we can trace the ceremonies of Masonry as imitated in the ordeals of Isis and Osiris in Egypt . Now in Egypt , though astronomy ivas not prohibited , there ivas something else that AA'as prohibited—though astronomers Avere not proscribed ,
there Avas a people AVIIO Avere proscribed;—that something Avas the Avorship of the God of Abraham , of Isaac , and Jacob , —that people were the Hebrews in captivity . Their religion ii'as denounced—themselves sought to be extirpated—their children murdered . No ivonder that they made caves in the earth—no wonder that they erected altars in the desert- —no Avonder that they resorted to mystical ivords and signs , to enable them to worship in secrecy and in safety , the God of their fathers . The philosophers of Egypt seeing their faiththeir
for-, titude , their greatness , their glory , Avhen they departed , entered theneaves , observed their emblematic devices ; some connected them Avith astronomy , others with reli g ion , and hence the mythologies of Egypt and the East , and hence the practice of studying astronomy in the caves of the earth . Here , brethren , behold the probable orig in of Masonry , —a bond of self protection and mutual support for the children of Israel , Avhile worshiing the " grand architect of the universe . " ( Great
pp cheering . ) l ' rom various circumstances that exist , it is probable that Masonry Avas not formed into a system until the building of Solomon ' s Temple . When it ivas no longer necessary for the purposes of religion , it mi g ht fake the form and exist for the objects we see at present . Ancient tyrants might Avax wroth against it in its infancy , as theii
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Provincial.
and Pythagoras , tho ordeals oflsis ancl Osiris , the Eleusiuian mysteries , & c , and Masonry ; and contended that it Avas impossible to believe those numerous coincidences should be merely accidental . ) It then became a question Avhether the religions of the East and of Africa , ivere the orig in of Masonry , or Masonry of those religions . That question must be determined by other facts . He had traced in the dim and shadoAvy lineaments that Avere left us of the mythology of Egypta striking
, resemblance to Masonry , ancl here it is most probable Masonry had its orig in . There Avas one fact that told most poAverfully upon the subject —most of those mythologies Avent no further than the Avorship of the emblems of Masonrv , —the su ? i Avas their divinity— -the moon and stars Avere lesser gods—they ivorshipped the temple , but they saw not the builder . The EYE—that sleepless , luminous , omniscient , omnipresent , EYE , that AA-e adore , they kneAV not . The Grand Architect of the
universe , — Whose temple is all space , Whose altar , earth , sea , sky , — tvho lives through all life , extends through all extent—of Avhom thengreat founder ancl philosopher , Zoroaster , had but a faint glimmering , Avhen he taught the " one universal soul , " but of ivhich they speedily lost all trace , —that EYE was to them invisible—the great lights of masonry they understood not . ( Cheers . ) Herethenivas a proof that
, , masonry Avas not borroAved from them—the greater could not be borroAved from the lesser—the lesser must have been borroAved from the greater . ( Cheers . ) There ivas , however , a much stronger proof—a proof that to him Avas irresistible . The early philosopher studied astr 6-nomy in caves , ivith altars overtopped by an arch . How Avas this ? To go into the boAvels of the earth to study the wonders of the heavens Was astronomy prohibited ? No . Were its teachers proscribed ? No .
HOAV then Avas this strange anomaly accounted for ? Masonry alone could account for it . I have already said that we can trace the ceremonies of Masonry as imitated in the ordeals of Isis and Osiris in Egypt . Now in Egypt , though astronomy ivas not prohibited , there ivas something else that AA'as prohibited—though astronomers Avere not proscribed ,
there Avas a people AVIIO Avere proscribed;—that something Avas the Avorship of the God of Abraham , of Isaac , and Jacob , —that people were the Hebrews in captivity . Their religion ii'as denounced—themselves sought to be extirpated—their children murdered . No ivonder that they made caves in the earth—no wonder that they erected altars in the desert- —no Avonder that they resorted to mystical ivords and signs , to enable them to worship in secrecy and in safety , the God of their fathers . The philosophers of Egypt seeing their faiththeir
for-, titude , their greatness , their glory , Avhen they departed , entered theneaves , observed their emblematic devices ; some connected them Avith astronomy , others with reli g ion , and hence the mythologies of Egypt and the East , and hence the practice of studying astronomy in the caves of the earth . Here , brethren , behold the probable orig in of Masonry , —a bond of self protection and mutual support for the children of Israel , Avhile worshiing the " grand architect of the universe . " ( Great
pp cheering . ) l ' rom various circumstances that exist , it is probable that Masonry Avas not formed into a system until the building of Solomon ' s Temple . When it ivas no longer necessary for the purposes of religion , it mi g ht fake the form and exist for the objects we see at present . Ancient tyrants might Avax wroth against it in its infancy , as theii