LECTURE XII. CONCLUSION OF THE COURSE. -VIRTUE thus Sets forth and magnifies herself, thus feeds From the incumbrances of mortal life, Wordsworth. HAVING now arrived at the conclusion of my labours, I flatter myself that the results of the whole investigation will be apparent and intelligible. The antiquity of Freemasonry may be deduced from the similarity of our rites to those of the mysteries; and we can only account for the resemblance which the ceremonies and doctrines of distant nations bear to each other, by supposing that they were all derived from some great primitive system which was practised when mankind lived together as a single family. It is morally impossible on any other principle, that the same events, perpetuated by the same ceremonies and symbols, and the same secret system of communication, could subsist in nations so widely separated as to preclude all possibility of intercourse between the inhabitants. But the antiquity of these mysterious institutions falls before the superior claims of Masonry, as the idols of Memphis were precipitated from their pedestals at the appearance of the infant Saviour. The deductions of reason produce a result absolutely asserted in the sacred volume, that all modes of false worship emanated from Vid. a prophecy of this remarkable event in Isaiah xix. 1. Shinar, where genuine Masonry was originally practised by the descendants of Noah. The reasons of that variety which diversified the practice of religion amongst different nations may be reduced within a very narrow compass. The apostacy began on these extensive plains, and the seed of every new religion was here scattered. Each ambitious and enterprising individual, whose abilities enabled him to collect a party, would set off with his followers, east, or west, as his inclinations might lead, and, forming a colony at no great distance from the place of departure, would, as its ostensible king and priest, deliver, ex cathedra, his own speculative opinions on the subject of religion, which would of course be adopted as the system of the newly planted tribe. When the population of a colony thus formed became too abundant for the settlement, new migrations would take place, moving to a greater distance from Shinar, each family under its respective leader, whose religious tenets would doubtless possess some peculiarity. Thus the sentiments of mankind as they separated more widely from each other, would diverge by insensible degrees from the true mode of worship, until at length great nations would be formed in every part of the world by the union of many small tribes, as policy or conquest might prevail, each practising a religion of its own, which, though differing essentially from the rest of the world, would still retain many characteristic marks which unequivocally point out a common derivation. The great and important truths which I have collected in these Lectures, necessarily proceeded from a system of theology more ancient, and were derived from a source of greater purity than the mysteries in which they were preserved. In point of fact they could scarcely be obliterated, as they were fundamental principles from which all religious obedience radiated, and naturally refer to the patriarchal mode of worship instituted by God himself, to preserve men from the paths of error in this world, and to produce their eternal salvation in the With this pure system of truth our science was coeval, and in these primitive times was usually identified. But human reason was too weak to retain just impressions of the sublime truths revealed by the divinity, when that revelation was either doubted or finally next. rejected; and, therefore, though the visible symbols were retained in every mysterious institution which flourished throughout the heathen world, the true interpretation was entirely lost. The idolatrous mysteries, then, emanated from that pure fountain of Light, which is now denominated Freemasonry; because they contain innumerable references to some system more ancient than idolatry itself, which could be nothing but an institution of unequivocal purity attached to the true and only acceptable mode of paying divine worship to the supreme and invisible God. I rejoice, however, in the hope that I have accomplished a still more useful object than merely proving the antiquity of Freemasonry. I have drawn forth and illustrated some of the moral beauties of our science, which may shed a lustre over it in the estimation of the uninitiated, and also tend to make my Brethren wiser Masons and better men. This has occupied my most anxious attention, and if I have been unsuccessful, the failure must not be attributed to a want of diligence and assiduity in the pursuit to which some portion of my leisure has been, for many years, devoted. Before I take a final leave, however, I will offer a few brief observations on some of the ceremonies, emblems, and jewels, which have not been comprehended within the general design of these Lectures; and, by so doing, I hope to furnish an epitome of the science, which, though wholly incomprehensible to the uninitiated, may be useful to the young Mason, while grounding himself in the mysteries of symbolical knowledge. The institution of Freemasonry is founded on silence, and the mind is instructed and improved by meditating on a variety of visible objects. They are all invested with a moral reference, and read him a lecture by which he is made a wiser, and, consequently, a better man. The true Mason, wherever he may be, finds himself always surrounded by objects which forcibly draw his attention to the science into which he has been initiated. If he survey the heavens-the sun, in his apparent motion, majestically rolling through the expanse-the moon and the planets, performing their accustomed courses with order and regularity-the golden stars, thickly studded in the blue vault of liquid ether-all are included in his system of Freemasonry, whence he is directed by his speculation on the glorious works of nature up to the Great First Cause, the bountiful Creator of immeasurable space and all that it contains. If he take a view of the productions of nature and art on the face of the planet which we inhabit, the same result follows. All is Freemasonry-all is replete with the divine principles of the Order. There is not a mountain or valley, a tree, a shrub, or a blade of grass-there is not a magnificent structure of polished marble, rich in the splendid decorations of gorgeous architecture, or a refuse stone rejected from the quarry-there is not an object, animate or inanimate, in universal nature, but it is instinct with the genius of Freemasonry; and the learned Brother may find an instructive masonic lecture in the wing of a moth, as well as in the motions of the august lights of heaven. As the Deity is the first and most important object of our attention, I shall commence this interesting disquisition with a few observations on the custom of uncovering the feet and bending the knee while offering up devotions to this august and beneficent Being. In the early ages of the world, one important indication of pure worship consisted in taking off the shoes, when about to enter a temple dedicated to God. This custom was of very ancient observance, as we may infer from the interview with which Moses was favoured at the burning bush. The heathen nations used the same method of expressing the humility of their devotion. Not only did the wise and judicious Pythagoras command his disciples to worship with bare feet,' as an expressive symbol of humility and contrition of the heart, but even the grosser worship of the Greeks and Romans enjoined the same practice. In public religious processions, the priests walked barefooted; the highborn Roman ladies did not dare to enter the temple of Vesta with covered feet; and, in Greece, the female votaries walked barefooted in the processions of Ceres. The same usage prevailed equally in India, and the islands to the west of Europe; and even the American savages Jambl. vit. Pyth. c. xxviii. thought that uncovering the feet, while in the act of devotion, was a sublime method of paying honour to the Deity. Going barefoot, says Killet, was a sign of much sorrow, assumed by David to express his woeful expulsion from his own country, by his rebellious son; and distressed captives used it in their bondage, in another country.5 Allied to this reasonable practice, we find another custom, which appears to have been enforced in ancient times. The devout worshipper was obliged to enter his temple with the right foot placed first over the threshold; and Vitruvius, in reference to this ceremony, tells us that the steps which lead to any hallowed fane should be composed of an odd number, that the right foot, being used for the first step, might necessarily first enter the building. Genuflection was used in the infancy of the world, as an act of devout homage to God; for it is, in reality, a just expression of humility and reverence from a created mortal to the Great Author of his existence. Pliny says, that "in the knees of man there is reposed a certain religious reverence, observed even in all the nations of the world. For humble suppliants creep and crouch to the knees of their superiors; their knees they touch; to their knees they reach forth their hands; their knees they worship and adore as religiously as the very altars of the gods." In the system of Christianity, this custom is universally prevalent, in obedience to the repeated injunctions of Christ and his Apostles. Here it is described as a proper and approved act of devotion; and one of the Fathers of the Church has conferred a still higher character upon it. He says: "when we bow the knee, it represents our fall in Adam; and when we rise, having received the benefit of prayer addressed to the throne of grace, it is a type of our restoration in Christ by the grace of God, through whom we are able to lift up our hearts to heaven." The candidate for Masonry is directed to bend his knee, with a similar reference. " Isaiah xx. 2, 3, 4.. * Trican. p. 38. 42 Samuel xv. 30. "Nat. Hist. 1. xi. c. 45. Luke xxii. 41.-Philippians ii. 10.-Romans xiv. 11.-Ephesians iii. 14. Acts ix. 40, &c., &c. |