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  • Aug. 1, 1876
  • Page 7
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The Masonic Magazine, Aug. 1, 1876: Page 7

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    Article AN EARLY MASONIC BOOK. ← Page 3 of 5 →
Page 7

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

An Early Masonic Book.

umbrage at those who believe the prime article of their ( that is , our ) holy faith . ( Page xi . ) The next few pages are occupied with a series of instructions to the Craft for their government in the conduct of life ,

which differ , not at all , from what are contained iu the " Old Charges , " which were published by Anderson in the succeeding year . Next follows a history of the progress of the true religion , which he claims to he that of Masonryfor the corruption of

, the antediluvian world , through the patriarchal world , and the times of the Jewish kings , until its final consummation and purification by the coming of Christ , whom he calls : Our great , our immortal Master , who

came into the world to do the will of our Father which is in Heaven and whose brethren we are ( as he says himself ) if we do so too . ( Page xxxiv . ) Having thus detailed the progress of religion , which he treats as if it were the

same thing as the progress of Masonry , he concludes by telling us what is the true Masonic profession of faith : You see now what is our profession ; it

is the law of nature , which being almost lost , was endeavoured to be retreived or at least somehow kept up by the shadows of Moses , but entirely restored by the law of grace , by Jesus Christ , the Son of God . ( Page xxxv . ) The theory advanced by Philalethes

, that the Universal Religion and Speculative Masonry are identical , and that the history of the progress of the one is that of the other , is the same as that which was advanced a century afterwards by Dr . Oliver in his " Theocratic Philosophy of

Masonry . " Unlike Anderson and the writers who followed him , Philalethes establishes no connection between Architecture and Masonry . Indeed , it is somewhat singular that although he names both David and

Solomon in the course of his narrative , it is with little respect , especially for the latter , and he does not refer , even by a single word , to the Temple of Jerusalem . Ihe Masonry of this writer is not architectural , but altogether theoseopic . It is evident that as a Hermetic philosopher he sought rather to identify the Freemasons with the disci ples of the Rosicrucian school

than with the Operative Masons of the Middle Ages . This is a point of much interest , considering that the work was published only five years after the " Revival . " It goes far to show that at that early period there was a school of Hermetic Masonry , very different in its historic theories from that established at the same

time by Desaguliers and Anderson . The following quotations , at near the close of the Dedication , will not , therefore , by its thoroughly Hermetic character , surprise the reader : And now , my Brethren , yon of the higher class , permit me a few wordssince

, you are but few ; and these few words I shall speak to you in riddles , because to you it is given to know those mysteries which are hidden from the unworthy . Have you not seen , then , my dearest Brethrenthat stupendous bath filled with

, most limpid water , than which no pure can be purer , of such admirable mechanism that makes even the greatest philosopher gaze with wonder and astonishment , and is the subject of the eternal contemplation of the wisest men . Its form is a quadrate

sublimely placed on six others , blazing all with celestial jewels , each angularly supported with four lions . Here repose our mighty King and Queen . ( I speak foolishly , I am not worthy to be of you , ) the

King shining in his glorious apparel oi transparent , incorruptible gold , beset with living sapphires : he is fair and ruddy , and feeds among the lilies ; his eyes , two carbuncles , the most brilliant , darting prolific , never-dying fires ; aud his large flowing

hair , blacker than the deepest black or plumage of the long-lived crow ; his royal consort vested in tissue of immortal silver , watered with emeralds , pearl and coral . 0 mystical union ! 0 admirable commerce ! Cast now your eyes to the basis of this

celestial structure , and you will discover just before it a large bason of porphyrian marble , receiving from the mouth of a large lion ' s head , to which two bodies displayed on each side of it are conjoined , a greenish fountain of liquid jasper . Ponder

this well and consider . Haunt no more the woods and forests ; ( I speak as a fool , ) haunt no more the fleet ; let the flying eagle fly unobserved ; busy yourselves no longer with the dancing idiot , swollen toads , and his own tail-devouring

“The Masonic Magazine: 1876-08-01, Page 7” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 6 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmg/issues/mmg_01081876/page/7/.
  • List
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Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
Untitled Article 2
Untitled Article 2
Monthly Masonic Summary. Article 3
THE DAFFODIL. Article 3
THE EARLY INDICIAE OF FREEMASONRY. Article 4
AN EARLY MASONIC BOOK. Article 5
SONNET. Article 9
MAY MASON. Article 9
SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND THEIR PEACEFUL SOLUTION. Article 14
SONNET. Article 19
AN OLD, OLD STORY. Article 19
THE WOMEN OF OUR TIME. Article 21
MASONIC AMATEUR PERFORMANCES AT PLYMOUTH. Article 23
NOTES ON THE OLD MINUTES OF BRITISH UNION LODGE, IPSWICH. Article 26
AMERICAN KNIGHTS TEMPLARS Article 27
ZOROASTRIANISM AND FREEMASONRY. Article 30
THE FALLING SNOW. Article 33
FAIRY TALES UTILISED FOR THE NEW GENERATION. Article 33
THE ORIGIN AND REFERENCES OF THE HERMESIAN SPURIOUS FREEMASONRY. Article 34
Our Archaological Corner. Article 37
MASONIC ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES AND QUERIES. Article 39
SERMON Article 41
REVIEW. Article 43
SOMEHOW OR OTHER. Article 45
NOTES ON LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART. Article 45
HYMN. Article 50
Untitled Article 51
Untitled Article 52
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

An Early Masonic Book.

umbrage at those who believe the prime article of their ( that is , our ) holy faith . ( Page xi . ) The next few pages are occupied with a series of instructions to the Craft for their government in the conduct of life ,

which differ , not at all , from what are contained iu the " Old Charges , " which were published by Anderson in the succeeding year . Next follows a history of the progress of the true religion , which he claims to he that of Masonryfor the corruption of

, the antediluvian world , through the patriarchal world , and the times of the Jewish kings , until its final consummation and purification by the coming of Christ , whom he calls : Our great , our immortal Master , who

came into the world to do the will of our Father which is in Heaven and whose brethren we are ( as he says himself ) if we do so too . ( Page xxxiv . ) Having thus detailed the progress of religion , which he treats as if it were the

same thing as the progress of Masonry , he concludes by telling us what is the true Masonic profession of faith : You see now what is our profession ; it

is the law of nature , which being almost lost , was endeavoured to be retreived or at least somehow kept up by the shadows of Moses , but entirely restored by the law of grace , by Jesus Christ , the Son of God . ( Page xxxv . ) The theory advanced by Philalethes

, that the Universal Religion and Speculative Masonry are identical , and that the history of the progress of the one is that of the other , is the same as that which was advanced a century afterwards by Dr . Oliver in his " Theocratic Philosophy of

Masonry . " Unlike Anderson and the writers who followed him , Philalethes establishes no connection between Architecture and Masonry . Indeed , it is somewhat singular that although he names both David and

Solomon in the course of his narrative , it is with little respect , especially for the latter , and he does not refer , even by a single word , to the Temple of Jerusalem . Ihe Masonry of this writer is not architectural , but altogether theoseopic . It is evident that as a Hermetic philosopher he sought rather to identify the Freemasons with the disci ples of the Rosicrucian school

than with the Operative Masons of the Middle Ages . This is a point of much interest , considering that the work was published only five years after the " Revival . " It goes far to show that at that early period there was a school of Hermetic Masonry , very different in its historic theories from that established at the same

time by Desaguliers and Anderson . The following quotations , at near the close of the Dedication , will not , therefore , by its thoroughly Hermetic character , surprise the reader : And now , my Brethren , yon of the higher class , permit me a few wordssince

, you are but few ; and these few words I shall speak to you in riddles , because to you it is given to know those mysteries which are hidden from the unworthy . Have you not seen , then , my dearest Brethrenthat stupendous bath filled with

, most limpid water , than which no pure can be purer , of such admirable mechanism that makes even the greatest philosopher gaze with wonder and astonishment , and is the subject of the eternal contemplation of the wisest men . Its form is a quadrate

sublimely placed on six others , blazing all with celestial jewels , each angularly supported with four lions . Here repose our mighty King and Queen . ( I speak foolishly , I am not worthy to be of you , ) the

King shining in his glorious apparel oi transparent , incorruptible gold , beset with living sapphires : he is fair and ruddy , and feeds among the lilies ; his eyes , two carbuncles , the most brilliant , darting prolific , never-dying fires ; aud his large flowing

hair , blacker than the deepest black or plumage of the long-lived crow ; his royal consort vested in tissue of immortal silver , watered with emeralds , pearl and coral . 0 mystical union ! 0 admirable commerce ! Cast now your eyes to the basis of this

celestial structure , and you will discover just before it a large bason of porphyrian marble , receiving from the mouth of a large lion ' s head , to which two bodies displayed on each side of it are conjoined , a greenish fountain of liquid jasper . Ponder

this well and consider . Haunt no more the woods and forests ; ( I speak as a fool , ) haunt no more the fleet ; let the flying eagle fly unobserved ; busy yourselves no longer with the dancing idiot , swollen toads , and his own tail-devouring

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