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FELLOWCRAFT DEGREE
CHAPTER II
MASONIC TREATISE with
an ELUCIDATION
on
the RELIGIOUS
AND MORAL BEAUTIES
of
FREEMASONRY
W. Finch,
Canterbury
1. Bro. S. W. are you a F. C.
So taken and accepted among
F. Cs.
2. Where was you passed as such,
In a L. of F. Cs.
3. Consisting of how many,
F . . . e.
4. Under what denomination,
The Master, and Wardens, and
two F. Cs.
5. What enabled you to be
passed,
By taking a F. Cs. O.
6. After that great and solemn O.
what was then demanded of you,
To confirm the same in the
usual manner among Brethren in a L. of F. Cs.
7. What did the Master then do,
Friendly took me by the r .
. . h . . . and said, rise,
newly O., F. C.
8. Why the r . . . h . . .
To make a proper distinction
between that and the first degree.
9. Was you entrusted with
anything,
Certainly was.
10.
What was it,
The S., T. and W. of a F. C.
[Browne].
11. Give the S. in due form,
It’s complied with in due form.
12. The T. the same,
In nearly the same manner.
13. The W. with discretion,
With discretion.
14. In what part of the L. was you
then placed,
In the S. E.
15. Why so,
To convince me that Masonry
is a progressive Science, and that that was the p - - - p - - - [proper place?]
for the newly initiated F. Cs.
16. What did you there receive,
That excellent charge
peculiar to such a situation.
17. Please to repeat the charge,
Here follows the particulars relating to such situation and
circumstance.
18. What was you farther [sic]
exhorted to,
Representing at that time an
emblem of integrity, strongly enforced a due observance to its moral
precepts [sic].
1. Bro. S. W. for why was you made a
F. C.
For the letter G.
2. What does that denote,
Geometry.
3. What is Geometry.
A science which finds out
the contents of bodies unmeasured, by comparing them to those already
measured. [?]
4. What are its proper subjects,
Magnitude and
extension.
5. Where was Geometry first
founded.
At Alexandria in
Egypt.
6. Why there,
The River Nile having
overflowed its banks, caused the inhabitants to retire into the interior
part of the country;
when
the waters had subsided, they returned to their native homes, but the fury
of the waves having washed away most of their landmarks, caused many
disputes amongst them, which often terminated in war. At length, hearing
there was a Lodge of Masons held at Alexandria, in
Egypt, over which Euclid presided, they therefore went and
laid their complaints before him;
he,
with the assistance of his Wardens and Brethren, gathered together the
scattered fragments of Geometry, and brought them into a regular system,
by which means he taught them how to ascertain their different tracks
[sic]
of land, which put an end to their
disputes, and terminated their wars.
7. Did you ever travel,
My forefathers have.
8. Where did they travel, and what
for,
Those who went E, were for
instruction, and when W, to propagate the same to various parts of the
world.
9. Did you ever work as a Mason,
My antient Brethren
have.
10. Where did they work,
t the building of K. S. T.,
and many other stately edifices.
11. How long did they work,
Six days.
12. Why not on the seventh,
Because the Almighty has
strictly commanded that day to be kept holy.
13. Being by their work entitled to
receive wages where did they go to receive them,
Into the M. C. of K. S.
T.
14. How did they get there,
By the entrance of a P.
15. Did they see anything at the
entrance of that P. that particularly struck their attention,
They did: two g . . . t
Ps.
16. What called,
- - - -, - - - -, or - - - -. and - - - -.
17. What was that on the . . . .
.
- - - -.
18. What does it denote,
To establish.
19. What was that on the . . . .
- - - -.
20. What denote,
Strength.
21. When united what,
Stability, for God said in
my strength I establish this my House to stand firm.
22. How high were they,
35 Cubits.
23. How much in circumference,
12.
24. How much in Diameter,
4.
25. Where [were] they hollow or
solid,
Hollow.
26. Why so,
The better to serve as
Archives to Masonry, and to hold the Constitutional Rolls.
27. What substance [thickness?] was
the outer rim,
4 Inches, or a hand’s
breadth.
28. What made of,
Molten or cast brass.
29. Where Cast,
In the clayey ground, between Succoth
[and]
Zeredathah, where K. S. ordered
them and all his holy Vessels to be cast.
30. Who had the superintendance of
their Casting,
H. A. B. the widow’s son, of
the tribe of Nephtali.
31. What adorned with,
Two Chappiters, one on
each.
32. How high where [were] those
Chappiters,
5 Cubits.
33. What enriched them,
Lily-work, Net-work, and
Pomegranates.
34. How many rows of pomegranates were
there,
Two Rows.
35. How many upon each row,
100 on each.
36. Were they further adorned with any
thing.
Two spherical, or round
balls.
37. What was delineated thereon,
Maps of the Celestial and
Terrestrial Globes.
38. What do they point out to us,
Universal Masonry.
39. When were they finished,
When the Net Work was thrown
over.
40. Why were they place at the
entrance of the P., and what do they further represent,
The first represents that
remarkable cloud of fire, which proved a light and guide to the
Israelites in their
escape from their Egyptian
oppression;
the
other represents that cloud which proved the destruction of Pharoah
[sic]
and his host, in their attempt
to follow them. Our noble and illustrious G. M. thought he could not place
them in a more conspicuous place, whereby the Jews might ever have
that memorable event in recollection, both in going in and coming
out from divine worship.
41. After having passed them where did
they next arrive,
At the foot of a winding stair
case.
42. Did they meet with any farther
[sic] obstruction,
They did.
43. What was it,
The antient J. W., who
guarded the same.
44. What did he demand of them,
The secrets of a F. C.
45. After giving that wished for
satisfaction, what answer did they receive,
Pass Brother F. C.
46. Where did they then [pass]
to,
Up this winding stair
case.
47. Consisting of how many S . . .
s,
[Three, five, seven or eleven. -- Vancouver].
48. Why three,
Because that number R . . .
s a L.
49. Why five,
H . . . s a L.
50. Why seven,
Makes it perfect.
51. Why eleven,
In allusion to our Saviour’s
Aposles [sic], for when
Judas betrayed his Lord and Master, there were only eleven
remaining - - - [ The Vancouver MS. here adds: “and they held
their Lodge without him.” -- A. H.]
likewise a second reason, in allusion
to the antient Patriarchs, for when Joseph was sold by his brethren
to the Ishmaelites, there were only eleven remaining.
52. Who are the three that r . .
e a L.,
The Master and Wardens.
53. Why does three r . . . e a L.
In allusion to the three
grand Masters which bore sway at the building of K. S. T., which were
SKI HKT
HAB.
54. Who are five that h . . . d it,
[ Answer omitted, through a typographical error in numbering the
questions and answers. Emulation, Browne, and ,
Vancouver has: “The W.
M., two Ws., and two F. Cs.” ]
55. Why do five h . . . d a L.,
In allusion to the five
noble orders in Architecture.
56. Name them,
Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and
Composite, or Roman Order.
Architecture
is the art of building edifices proper for habitation or defence, etc. -
-
Architecture
is scarce inferior to any of the arts in point of antiquity;
nature
and necessity taught the first inhabitants of the earth to build
themselves huts, tents and cottages, from which, in stately habitations,
with a variety of ornaments, proportions, etc. --
Antient
writers represent the Tyrians as the first among whom
architecture was carried to any tolerable pitch, and hence it was
that our Grand Master, King Solomon, had recourse to them for
workmen to build his Temple. - -
The
three branches of architecture are denominated Civil,
Military, and Naval. --
Every
Freemason well knows the great utility of Naval
Architecture
at the building of King Solomon’s
Temple, in building Ships to traffic to Ophir for
gold, ivory, and jewels, to beautify and adorn the
Temple.
57. Explain the Tuscan,
The Tuscan, the first of the five orders in
Architecture, is the most simple and massive, and is seven
diameters high;
it
is called by Vitruvius the Rustic Order, to be used properly in
country houses and palaces;
in
Viagnola’s manner of composition it is a beauty even in its
simplicity, and as such should find place not only in private edifices,
but likewise in public ones, as in the piazzas of squares and markets, in
the magazines and granaries of cities, and even in the offices and lower
apartments of palaces.
The
Tuscan Order takes its name from an antient people of takes its name from an antient
people of Lydia, who coming out of Asia to people
Tuscany first executed it in some Temples which they built in their
new plantations.
58. The Doric,
The Doric is the
second of the five orders, and is that between the Tuscan and
Ionic. As for the invention of the Doric Order the tradition
is, the Dorus, king of Achaia, having first built a temple
of this order at Argos, which he dedicated to Juno,
occasioned it to be called Doric; though others derive its name
from its being invented or used by the Dorians.
It
is the most natural and best proportioned of all the orders, all its parts
being founded on the natural position of solid bodies:
at
the first invention it was more simple than at present, and when in
process of time they came to adorn and enrich it more, the appellation
Doric was restrained to its richer Manner, and the primitive simple
manner they called by a new name, the Tuscan Order. Some time after
its invention, they reduced it to the proportion, strength,
and beauty, of the body of a man;
hence
as the foot of a man was judged the sixth part of his height, they made
the Doric column, including the capital, six diameters high;
afterwards
they added another diameter to the height, and made it seven
diameters, with which augmentation it might be said to be near the
proportion of a man, the human foot, at least in our days, not being a
sixth, but nearly a seventh part of the body.
The
characters of the Doric Order, as now managed, are the height of
its column, which is eight diameters. The moderns, on account of
its solidity, use it in large strong buildings, as in the gates of cities
and citadels, the outsides of churches, and other massy work, where
delicacy of ornament would be unsuitable.
59. The Ionic,
The Ionic is the
third in order, and is distinguished from the Composite, in that it
has none of the leaves of the Acanthus in its capital;
from
the Tuscan, Doric, and Corinthian, by the volutes or
rams horns, which adorn its capital; and from the Tuscan too, by
the channels or flutings in its shaft.
The
Ionic Order owes its origin to Ionia, a province of
Asia; and, it is said, the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, the most
celebrated edifice of all antiquity, was of this order. The Ionic
has an advantage above any of the rest, and consists in this, that the
fore and hind parts of its capital are different from its sides;
but
this is attended with an inconvenience when the ordonnance [?] is to turn
from the front of the building to its sides; to obviate which, the capital
may be made angular, as is done in the Temple of Fortune Virilis.
This
column is a medium between the massive and delicate orders, the simple and
the rich. Its height is eighteen modules, and nine diameters of the
Column, taken at the bottom. Then it was first invented its height was
sixteen modules, but the ancients, to render it still more beautiful than
the Doric, augmented its height by adding a base to it, which was
unknown in the Doric. --
At
present the Ionic Order is properly used in churches and religious
houses, in courts of justice, and other places of supposed tranquility and
devotion, as well as Freemasons’ properly erected, well-formed,
regular constituted Lodges.
60. The Corinthian,
The Corinthian is the
noblest, richest, and most delicate of them all, and is ten diameters
high. This order is said to be invented by the antients, but
Callimachus, a Corinthian Sculptor, is thought by most of
the modern writers to have been the inventor of this order of
Architecture, and that passing by the tomb of a young lady,
over which her nurse had placed a basket with some of her toys, and
covered it up from the weather with a tile;
the
whole having been placed over a root of Acanthus, as the root
sprung up it encompassed the basket, till arriving at the tile it met with
an obstruction and bent downwards under the tile, forming a kind of
volutes, and the tile in the abachus of his order. --
Villanmandus
supposes the Corinthian capital to have taken its origin from an
order in Solomon’s Temple, the leaves whereof were those of the
palm tree.
61. The Composite, or roman
order,
The Composite (so
called from its capital being composed out of the other orders) is the
last of the five orders of Architecture;
it
borrows a quarter round from the Tuscan and Doric, a double
row of leaves from the Corinthian, and volutes from the
Ionic; its cornice has simple modillons or dentils.
The
Composite is also called the Roman and Italic Order,
as having been invented by the Romans conformable to the rest,
which are denominated from the people among whom they had their rise.
62. Explain the rise of the
Orders,
The antient and original
order of Architecture were no more than three. To these orders the
Romans added two others, the Tuscan, which they made plainer
that the Doric, and the Composite, which was more
ornamental, if not more beautiful, than the Corinthian.
We
have still, properly speaking, only three orders in Architecture
that shew invention and particular characters, and these are particularly
revered by Freemasons. They essentially differ from each other, the
other two having nothing but what is borrowed, differ only in an
accidental manner. The Tuscan is no other but the Doric in
its earliest state, gross and plain;
the
Composite is the Corinthian, enriched with the Ionic.
To the Greeks we are indebted for what is great, judicious, and
distinct. The Romans, though they have succeeded a little, have in
vain endeavoured to follow the steps of the Grecians in addition to
the number of orders.
63. There is a farther [sic] reason
why five h . . . d a L.,
In allusion to the five
external senses.
64. Name them,
Hearing, seeing, feeling, smelling,
tasting.
[ The last two are reversed in order, in the book, through a
typographical error.]
65. Explain them,
“Hearing is that
sense by which we are enabled to distinguish sounds, and are made capable
of all the perceptions of harmony and melody, with all the agreeable
charms of music;
by
it we are enabled to enjoy the pleasures of society, and reciprocally to
communicate to each other our thoughts and intentions, our purposes and
desires;
and
by means of this sense our reason is capable of exerting its utmost power
and energy. The wise and beneficent Author of Nature intended that we
should be social creatures, and that we should receive the greatest and
most important part of our knowledge, by the information of others;
for
these purposes we are endowed with hearing, that our happiness and
satisfaction may be promoted by a proper exertion of our rational
powers.
66. Explain Seeing,
“Seeing is that sense
by which we are enabled to distinguish objects of different kinds, and in
an instant of time, without change of place or situation, to view whole
armies in battle array, --
figures
of the most stately structures, and all the agreeable variety displayed in
the landscape of nature;
by
it we can find our way in the pathless ocean, traverse the globe of earth,
determine its figure and dimensions, and delineate any region or quarter
of it;
by
it we can measure the planetary orbs, and make new discoveries in the
spheres of the fixed stars;
nay
more, by this sense we can perceive the tempers and dispositions, the
passions and affections of our fellow creatures when they wish most to
conceal them;
so
that though the tongue may lie and dissemble, the countenance will display
the hypocrisy to the discerning eye;
in
fine, the rays of light which administer to this sense, are the most
astonishing parts of the inanimate creation, and render the eye a peculiar
object of admiration.
67. Explain Feeling,
“Feeling is that
sense by which we are enabled to distinguish the different qualities of
bodies, such as hardness and softness, heat and cold, roughness and
smoothness, figure, solidity, motion, and extension, all of which, by
means of certain corresponding sensations of touch, are presented to the
mind as real external qualities, and conception or belief of them
invariably connected with these corresponding sensations by an original
principle in nature which far transcends our inquiry.
68.
Explain Smelling,
“Smelling, with regard to the organ, is an impression made
on the nose by little particles continually exhaling from odorous
bodies;
with
regard to the object, it is the figure and disposition of odorous
effluvia, which sticking on the organ, excite the sense of smelling;
and
with regard to the soul, it is the perception of the impression of the
object on the organ, or the affection in the soul resulting
therefrom.
69. Explain Tasting,
“Tasting enables us
to make a proper distinction in the choice of our food. The organ of this
sense guards the entrance of the alimentary canal, as that of smell
the entrance of the canal for respiration.
From
the situation of both [of] these organs it is plain they were intended by
nature to distinguish wholesome food from that which is noxious. Every
thing which enters into the stomach must undergo the scrutiny of
tasting, and by it we are capable of discerning all the changes
which the same body undergoes in the different compositions of art.
By
the proper use of the five senses we can form just and accurate notions in
the operations of nature, and by reflecting on the objects with which our
senses are gratified, we become conscious of them , and are enabled to
attend to them till they become familiar objects of thought.” --
[Preston].
70. There is likewise a third
reason,
The birth,
life, death, resurrection, and ascension, of
our Saviour.
71. What do we learn by his
birth,
He being the day-star or mercy, hath risen to conduct our feet in
the paths of truth and peace.
72. What by his life,
All virtues requisite for us
to follow, He being the way, the truth, and the
life.
73. What by his death,
That our debt of nature is
fully paid, and the rigour of the law fully satisfied, wherein standeth
our redemption.
74. What by his resurrection,
A firm conquest over
sin, death, the devil, and hell, wherein
standeth our justification.
75. What by his glorious
ascension,
That He is gone before us to
open the gates of paradise that hath long been shut against us, for He
saith, in my Father’s house there are many mansions, if there were
not I would have told you, but I go to prepare a place for you, for where
I am, there shall my servants be also.
76. Why do seven make a L.
perfect,
Because K. S. was seven
years and upwards in building the Temple of Jerusalem.
77. There is a second reason,
In allusion to the seven
liberal Arts and Sciences.
78. Name them,
Grammar,
Rhetoric, Logic, Arithmetic, Geometry,
Music, and Astronomy.
79. Explain Grammar,
Grammar teaches us
the proper arrangement of words according to the idiom or dialect of any
particular kingdom or people, and is that excellency of pronunciation
which enables us to speak or write a language with accuracy and justness,
agreeable to reason, authority, and the strict laws of literature.
80. Explain Rhetoric,
Rhetoric is the art
of speaking copiously on any subject, with all the advantage of beauty and
force, and to fill the imagination with ideas and images which may assist
nature without oppressing it, for the delivery of a discourse in public it
ought to be with that decency and force as to strike the hearer.
81. Explain Logic,
Logic is the art of
thinking and reasoning justly, or it may be defined the science or history
of the human mind, in as much as it traces the progress of our knowledge
from our first and most simple ideas, through all their different
combinations, conceptions, and all those numerous deductions that result
from variously comparing them one with another.
The
precise business of Logic therefore is to explain the nature of the
human mind, and the proper manner of conducting its several powers ,in
order to the attainment of truth and knowledge;
it
lays open those errors and mistakes we are apt, through inattention, to
run into; and teaches us how to distinguish between truth, and what only
carries the appearance of it;
by
this means we grow acquainted with the nature and force of the
understanding, see what things lies
[sic] within its reach, where we may attain
certainty and demonstration, and when we must be contented with
probability;
these
considerations sufficiently evince the usefulness of this science, which
is divided into four parts, according to the number of the operations of
the mind in its search after knowledge; which are perception,
judgment, reasoning, and , method.
This
valuable art of ranging our ideas, connecting them closely together, and
consequently facilitating the transition from one to another, supplies us
with a means of rendering all men’s abilities nearly equal;
in
fact, all our knowledge is reducible to primitive sensations, which is
nearly alike in all men.
The
art of combining and
connecting our direct ideas only gives them a more or less exact
arrangement and denomination, whence they become more or less sensible to
others;
a
man who readily combines his ideas differs but little from him who
combines them slowly, as he who judges of a picture at sight differs but
little from him who requires to be made sensible of all its parts
both
at the first glance, have the same sensations, though they sink not so
deep in the second, who therefore dwells longer upon each to render them
strong and distinct, and by this means the reflex ideas of the first
observer become as easy to the second as direct ones, and hence perhaps
there is scarce an art or science that may not, by means of a well adapted
logic, be taught to a slow understanding, because there are few
arts or sciences whose precepts or rules may not be reduced to simple
notions, and disposed in so connected an order that the chain need never
be broken.
As
the mind is more or less slow in the operations it requires more or less
of this connected order. The advantage of a genius is that of having less
occasion for it, or rather of being able to form it quick and almost
imperceptibly.
82. Explain Arithmetic,
Arithmetic is the art
of numbering, or that part of mathematics which considers the powers and
properties of numbers, and teaches how to compute and calculate
truly, and with expedition and ease.
We
have very little intelligence with regard to the invention of this
inestimable science, history being silent both with regard to the author,
and fixing the time;
some
attribute it to Seth, others to Noah, and the Turks
to Enoch; many imagine it had its rise with the introduction of
commerce, and consequently fix its epochs with that of the
Tyranians, who did not begin to flourish till about a thousand
years after the flood.
Josephus
tells us, that Abraham taught the Egyptians Arithmetic,
during the time of his sojourning in their country; but it is generally
allowed among us as Masons, that the inundations of the Nile
gave occasion for its invention, as well as Geometry.
Be
that as it may, it is certain both these sciences were held in the highest
veneration, and committed to the care of their priests, who founded
their theology on them.
The
Greeks owed their knowledge of Arithmetic to the
Egyptians, and Pythagoras built his philosophical system
upon numbers, affirming that the nature of numbers extends through the
whole universe, and that the knowledge of numbers is the knowledge of the
Deity.
The
antient Arithmetic however fell far short of the modern, their
notation was very imperfect, consequently the operations abstruse and
tedious.
They
wanted the cypher, or a character that of itself signifies
nothing, to fill up a place and change the value of their numbers
in a decuple [ten-fold] progression, their series extending only to
nine.
We
owe our present notation to the genius of the Eastern nations, and
received it from the Arabians, who learned it from the
Indians, but when or by whom it was invented cannot be known:
It
was known in Europe before the year 1000, and in Britain,
before 1150.
83. Explain Geometry,
Geometry hath already been in part explained; its origin in
particular at Alexandria in Egypt. The usefulness of this
science extends to almost every art and science;
it
is by the help of it that Astronomers turn their observations to
advantage, regulate the duration of times, seasons,
years, and cycles, and epochs, and measure the
distance, motions, and magnitude of the heavenly
bodies.
It
is by this science that geographers determine the figure and
magnitude of the whole earth, and delineate the extent and bearings
of kingdoms, provinces, harbours, etc.;
it
is from this science too that Architects derive their just measures in the
construction of public edifices, as well as private houses.
It
is by the assistance of Geometry that Engineers conduct all their
works, take the situation and plans of towns, the distances of places, and
the measure of such things as are only accessible to the sight.
It
is not only an introduction to fortification, but highly necessary to most
mechanics, especially carpenters, joiners, mathematical instrument makers,
and all who profess designing.
84. Explain Music,
Music is the science of sound, considered as capable of
producing melody or harmony, or the art of disposing and conducting
sounds, considered as grave and acute, and of proportioning them among
themselves, and separating them by just intervals, pleasing to the sense,
and is never displayed to better advantage than while singing in praise of
the Grand Architect and Geometrician of the Universe.
85. Explain Astronomy,
Astronomy is by far
the noblest and most sublime of all the sciences, for a knowledge of which
we are mostly indebted to the immortal Newton, who discovered the
fountain and spring of all the celestial motions, and the law which the
great Author of Nature has infused through the whole system, that all the
particles of matter attract one another in a reciprocal duplicate
proportion of its distance.
This
law may be considered as the cement of nature, the principle of union,
which preserves every thing in its proper state and order;
it
detains not only the planets but even the comets, within due
bounds, and hinders them from making too great incursions into the immense
regions of space.
To
the same genius we are obliged for the discovery of the law that regulates
all the heavenly bodies, and sets bounds to the planet’s orbs.
He
hath shewn us the cause why such a constant and regular proportion is
observed by both primary and secondary planets, in their
circulation round their central bodies, in comparing their distances with
their periods, and why all the celestial motions are still
continued in such amazing regularity and order.
By
the Newtonian system, which is now generally received, the
Sun is supposed to be at rest in the centre of the Solar System,
and the planets with the earth to move in ellipses round
him.
The
Stars are likewise, as well as the Sun, supposed at rest,
and that diurnal motion which they appear to have from east to west, is
imputed to the earth’s motion from west to east, round its own axis.
The
Sun is supposed very near the center of gravity of the whole system, and
in the common focus of every one of the planetary orbits.
Mercury
is the first planet which performs his revolutions round the Sun;
next to him Venus, next to Venus [is] our Earth, with its
attendant or secondary the Moon, which performs a joint course with
the Earth, and in their revolution measuring out the annual
period;
next
[to] the Earth is Mars, next to him Saturn, and last
of all the planets in our Solar System, is the Georgian Sidus, so
called in honor of His present Majesty, by Br. Herschel, who
discovered it at Bath, in the year 1781.
[ The reference obviously is to Uranus. Neptune was not discovered and
identified till 1846. - A. H. ]
The
Sun is the first heavenly body, placed within our system, that
demands our attention; it is the centre of the system round which the
other planets revolve.
The
Sun, by its force and action, communicates all the
motion and strength to the other heavenly bodies;
the
heat and light of the Sun demonstrates the being of a
fiery nature, hence it follows that its surface is every where
fluid, that being the condition of flame.
The
Sun is the centre, not only of the planetary but the cometary
system, round which all the Planets, with our Earth among
the rest, revolve in different periods, according to their different
distances from the Sun, their Grand Master.
The
Sun is sufficient of itself to stamp a value on the Science of
Astronomy; day and night, summer and
winter, are among its surprizing effects.
The
whole vegetable creation subsists by its beams, and by its benign
influence our own lives are supported. When it reflects upon us its genial
warmth in the Spring, nature revives and resumes a new face, and
sinks into a temporary death, when it departs from us at the approach of
Winter.
The
Sun was, by the antients, called the Heart of Heaven,
for as the heart is the centre of the animal system, so is the Sun
the centre of our universe. An the heart is the fountain of blood, so is
the Sun the life, heat, and light of the
world, and the first mover of the mundane system.
This
glorious luminary is placed near the centre of the orbit of all the
planets, and is inclined to the ecliptic in an angle of eight degrees. It
is of an astonishing magnitude, though on account of its distance from us,
appears to the eye not much higher or larger than the
Moon, which is only an attendant on our Earth.
The
Sun is more than a million times larger than our Earth, and
more than five hundred times bigger than all the Planets of our
system put together. --
The
Moon, which next calls our situation, is a dark spherical body,
which has no light of itself, but only shines with that she receives from
the Sun, whence only that half turned towards him is illuminated,
the opposite one remaining in its native darkness.
The
face of the Moon visible on our Earth is that part of her
body turned towards the Earth, whence, according to the various
positions of the Moon, with regard to the Sun and
Earth, we observe different degrees of illumination, sometimes a
large and sometimes a less portion of the enlightened surface being
visible, which different degrees of illumination proceed also from the
superfices of the Moon being rough and uneven.
The
Comets are generally supposed to be solid, fixed, and durable
bodies, a kind of planets which move in very oblique orbits every way with
the greatest freedom, preserving their motions even again [against?] the
course and direction of the planets, their tails being very thin, slender
vapour, emitted by the head or nucleus of the Comet, ignited or
heated by the Sun.
There
is no certain time fixed for the appearance of the Comets;
the duration of their appearance is also very uncertain, for some
are seen for a few days only, others for several months.
The
next thing in Astronomy which calls forth our attention is the
fixed Stars, which are generally supposed to be of the same nature
with our Sun, and to shine with their own light, each of them
attended by Planets, which are inhabited with rational
creatures like this our earth.
Instead,
therefore, of one Sun, and one World, we find that the
region of unbounded space is people with Suns and Stars, and
Worlds !!
This
opinion of a plurality of Worlds has been held and taught by many
of the most celebrated Philosophers and Astronomers, both in
antient and modern times.
In
this view of things our system resembles a single individual of some one
species of beings in outward nature diversified from all its fellow
individuals, by differences unessential to the kinds and species, but
which constitute that beauty which will ever result from uniformity amidst
a variety of pleasing and well-disposed objects.
By
comparing the apparent diameter of objects at different distances, it is
clear our Sun would appear like a Star, were he removed to
the distance at which they are placed, and that therefore it is perfectly
reasonable to conclude, that the fixed Stars are equal, it not
superior in magnitude to that which is the centre of our system,
and that they are made for the same purposes with our Sun, namely,
to bestow light, heat, and operations, on a certain
number of planets revolving around them.
Here
we may form some idea of their immense distance from us, and the vastness
of the space they occupy, when we recollect that numbers amongst them are
at too great a distance to be adequately expressed by figures, and beyond
the reach of admeasurement;
and
this idea will be heightened if we consider that many of the small
stars visible to the eye are far more remote than the larger ones, and
that the telescope discovers stars, which are at too great a
distance to be perceptible to the naked eye;
that
the instrument, like our eyes, has its bounds, but the extent of the
Heavens have none, but is unbounded.
Since
then, the fixed Stars are far removed from, and for the most part
invisible to us, it can scarcely be conceived by the narrowest
mind, that they form any part of our system, or were created only
to give a faint glimmering light to the inhabitants of this our globe, for
one additional Moon would afford us more light than the whole host
of Stars;
such
an opinion is unworthy of our reason, and inadequate to our conceptions of
the Deity.
It
would be also absurd to suppose, that the Author of Nature had made so
many Suns without Planets, to be enlightened by their
light, and vivified by their heat, but more so to imagine so
many habitable Worlds, enlightened by Suns, without
inhabitants, we may therefore safely infer, that all the
Planets of every system are inhabited. We learn from
Revelation that the ultimate end of creation is the peopling of
Heaven with men. These resplendent Suns are clearly then the
modiums of existence by so many Earths, and of Men upon
them, created to be eternally happy with their God. Upon the whole
it, it cannot be supposed that the Almighty, who has not left with
us a drop of water unpeopled, who has, in every instance, multiplied the
bound of life, should leave such immense bodies destitute of
inhabitants;
it
is certainly much more rational to suppose then the residences of
human beings, formed with capacities for loving, knowing, and serving
their Almighty Creator;
blest
and provided with every object conductive to their happiness, and many of
them perhaps in a far greater state of purity than the inhabitants of our
Earth, and therefore in possession of higher degrees of bliss, and
placed in situations, furnishing them with scenes of joy, equal to all
that poetry can paint, or religion promise, all under the
direction, indulgence, and protection, of Definite
Wisdom and Goodness, to whom is treasured us an infinite and inexhaustible
fullness, to render them completely and eternally happy.
86.
After
having ascended those stairs where did they next arrive,
At the door of the M.
chamber of K.S.T.
87.
In
what state did they find it,
Opened but close t . . .
d.
88.
Who
by,
The antient S.W.
89.
Who
t . . . d against,
All under the degree of a
F.C.
90.
What
did he demand of our Brethren before he permitted them to enter,
The Sn., T., and W. of a
F.C.
91.
Did
they comply to his demand,
They did.
92.
Please
to give the Sn. [and] W. in due form,
They are complied with in due form.
93.
Give
the P.W. with discretion,
Its here with discretion likewise complied with.
94.
What
does that denote,
P . . . . y.
95.
How
was it depicted in a Mason’s L.,
By an E. of C., near a F. of
W.
96.
Explain
the origin of this P.W.,
It dates its origin from the
time that the half tribe of Ephramites crossed the river Jordan in order
to quarrel with Jephthah. – The reason they assigned for this unfriendly
visit was, because they had not been called out to partake of the honors
of the Amonitish wars;
but
the real reason was, because they had not shared the rich spoils which
generally accompanied these wars;
they
had long been a noisy and clamorous people, but had now broke out in open
rebellion, and threatened to destroy Jephthah and his house by fire.
Jephthah on his part strove to appease them by mild and gentle means,
which proving ineffectual, he was obliged to have recourse to rigorous
measures;
he
therefore drew forth his army, arranged them for battle, and put them
totally to flight, and in order to secure himself from the like
molestations in future, he sent detachment to secure the passages of the
river Jordan (over which he was sure they must pass to return to their
native country) with strong injunctions that should an Ephramite approach
and own himself to be such he was to be immediately slain if he denied it,
a test W. was to be put to him which was to pronounce the W. . . . - - - -
-, but they for the want of the asparation
[aspiration]
peculiar to their country could not
pronounce it but called it . . . ., which small variation cost them their
lives and we find by sacred history that there fell on that day in the
field oe [of] battle and on the
banks of the Jordan forty two thousand Ephramites and as that w . . . d
was then adopted as a test to distinguish friend from foe it has ever
since been adopted in a F.C.L. to distinguish all under that degree.
97.
Where
was this battle fought,
In a field of standing corn,
and by a falling cascade.
1.
After
given [giving] those convincing proofs to our ancient B.S.W. at the place
just mentioned, where did they then Pass,
Into the M.C. of K.S.T.
2.
What
there to do,
Receive their wages.
3.
How
and on what did they receive their [them],
On the square without
diffidence or scruple.
4.
Why
in so careless a manner.
From the good opinion they
entertained of their employers.
5.
Did
they see anything there that principally struck their attention,
They did.
6.
What
was it,
The representative of our
Supreme Grand Master.
7.
What
does it denote,
One greater than your
worship, or Sir Peter Parker.
8.
Who
is that who is greater than Sir Peter Parker,
Earl Moria.
9.
Is
there any in the Masonic Order greater than him,
His Royal Highness George
Prince of Wales.
10.
Is
there any greater than his Royal Highness George Prince of Wales, Grand
Master of the Masonic Order --,
GOD, the Grand Geometrician
of the Universe, to whom we ought at all times cheerfully to submit and
obey.
11.
So
mote it be, can you my friend define this letter G,
In the M.C. of this temple there stood a letter G to be by true
F.C.s. farther defined.*
12.
What
is farther meant by that letter G,
By letters four and science
fifth this G has a right to stand, it means the God we all adore, you have
your Answer friend.**
13.
Please
to give a farther reference,
Your science fifth hath well
composed a noble structure vast, a point, a line, a superfice . . . but
solid is last.
14.
What
is a Point,
Beginning of a [all?]
geometrical matter.
15.
What
is a Line,
Continuation of the
same.
16.
What
is a Superfice,
Length and breadth without a
given thickness.
17.
What
is a Solid or Cube,
Length and breadth with a
given thickness, which forms a cube and comprehends the the [sic] whole of geometry. [Note: the
first Solid is the Tetrahedron, not the Cube. -- G. L. H.]
*[This reading give the
impression of some error or omission, but the Vancouver MS. Gives
the reading of 11-13 in exactly the some form, with the sole exception
that the last three words read “in
the last.”]
**
[In a series of doggerel verses on “The Repeating of the Letter G,”
Prichard (Masonry Dissected, 1730) gives it in this form:
By Letters Four and Science Five
This G aright doth stand,
In a due Art and Proportion,
You have your Answer, Friend.
Prichard
indicates that “Letter Four” refers to the name of Boaz, but in this he
must be mistaken; it obviously refers to the Tetragrammaton. “Science
Five” or fifth obviously refers to the fifth of the Seven Liberal Arts and
Sciences. -- A. H.]
18.
How
many sorts of Masons are there,
Two, free and accepted and
operative.
19.
Which
of them are you,
Free and accepted.
20.
What
do you learn as such,
Secrecy, morality, and good fellowship.
21.
What
do operative Masons learn,
To hew, square, lay stones,
and prove horizontals.
22.
What
by both and frequenting different Ls.,
Genteel behavior and to
abstain from vice.
23.
Having
already named the Lewis as it respects speculative Masons, please to
inform me how it is depicted in a Mason’s L.,
By a cramp of mettle
[sic] fixed in a styne
[stone], which enable Mason’s
to raise great weights to certain heights, without which they could not so
conveniently do.
24.
How
many Israelites were employed in this building for the worship of
God,
30,000, besides 3,600
overseers, and 150,000 Bondsmen.
25.
What
did the 30,000 consist of,
The Levy of Jerusalem.
26.
Who
was appointed the superintendant,
The noble Prince
Adonhiram.
27.
Who
were the 150,000,
The remains of the old
Canaanites.
28.
What
was their employ,
To prepare the materials for
the building, except the inferior workmen, who were the bearers of
burthen.
29.
Who
were the 3,600 and what was their employ,
3,300 were overseers in the
work and expert Master-masons, the other 300 were the principle Rulers
over the whole.
30.
Where
were the materials for this magnificent building prepared,
In the Quarries of Tyre, the
Forest of Lebanon, and in the clayey grounds between Succoth [and]
Zaradatha.
31.
Where
was the gold obtained that ornamented the inner part of the Temple,
From Ophir.
32.
When
was this magnificent Temple finished and how long in building,
1012 years before our
Saviour and seven years in building.
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