so sacred a nature, that no less than death was the

penalty of discovery.

THERE was another great festival celebrated by the Greeks at Platea, in honour of Jupiter Eleutherius; the assembly was composed of delegates from almost all the cities of Greece; and the rites which were instituted in honour of Jupiter, as the guardian of Liberty, were performed with the utmost magnificence and solemn pomp.

In Balsara, and along the banks of Jordan, a sect of Christians are known, who call themselves Christians of St. John; but, as they profess no knowledge of the union of the third person in the Trinity, I am induced to believe no part of our profession was derived from

"sometimes the place they were in seemed to shake round them, some"times appeared bright and resplendent with light and radiant fire; and “then again covered with black darkness and horror-sometimes thun"der and lightning, sometimes frightful noises and bellowings, some

times terrible apparitions astonished the trembling spectators. The "garments in which they were initiated were accounted sacred, and of no "less efficacy to avert evils than charms and incantations.

"The chief person that attended at the initiation, was called

· IegoPavens, i. e. a revealer of boly things. The hierophantes had three "assistants, the first of which was called from his office Aadodos,

i. e. torch-bearer; the second was called Kngu, or the crier; the "third ministered at the altar, and was for that reason named O'd Βωμω.

"Hierophantes is said to have been a type of the great Creator of all things,

6 Διαδοδχος of the Sun,

"Kngu of Mercury,

Η And O' όπι τω Βωμω of the Moon

them. Their ceremonies and mysteries are founded on traditions, and they permit no canonical book to be received amongst them.

In the institution of the orders of knighthood, the eyes of the founders were fixed on various religious ceremonies, being the general mode of ancient times -Knights of the Bath had their hair cut and beards shaven, were shut up in the chapel alone all the night preceding their initiation, there to spend the solemn hours in fasting, meditation, and prayer: they offered their sword at the altar, as devotees to the will of Heaven, and assumed a motto expressive of their vow, "Tres in Uno," meaning the unity of the three theological virtues-Various orders of knights wear a cross on their cloaks: those of the order of Christ in Livonia, instituted in 1205, wore this ensign, and were denominated brothers of the sword; and those of the order of the Holy Ghost wear a golden cross.

An ancient writing, which is preserved amongst Masons with great veneration, requires my attention in this place, as it discovers to us what the ancient Masons regarded as the foundation of our profession. -See the Appendix.

THIS writing is said to have come from the handof King Henry the Sixth, who began his reign in 1422:: it is in the form of an inquisition for a discovery of the nature of Masonry.

FROM this ancient record we are told, "that the

"mystery of Masonry is a knowledge of nature and its " operations."-Appendix.

"THAT this science arose in the East."*-From the East, it is well known, learning first extended itself into the western world, and advanced into Europe.The East was an expression used by the ancients to imply Christ :-in this sense we find Avarov used in the prophets.

ส "THAT the Phoenicians first introduced this "science." Appendix.

* Ezekiel, ch. xliii. ver. 2.

"And behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the way "of the East and his voice was like the noise of many waters, and "the earth shined with his glory."

Ch. xliv. ver. 2-"The East gate shall be shut, it shall not be "opened, and no man shall enter in by it, because the glory of the God " of Israel hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut."

Ver. 3-" It is for the Prince.

eat bread before the Lord."

The Prince he shall sit in it to

:

It is the opinion of many great antiquaries, that the druids were established in Britain before they gained any footing in Gaul:-to quote the authorities for this, would render my work too prolix.

To shew how early the maxims and principles of the eastern nations might be communicated to this land, I must mention some observations of learned men.

Arthur Agard, Deputy Chamberlain of the Exchequer, 1570, (vide Bibl. Cotton. Faustina, E. V.) speaking of the admeasurement of lands in this country, fays" Our nation having their origin from the «Tyrians, brought from thence the same order as was observed in that ર country, our lands were measured by hides, the etymology whereof " is derived from Dido's act mentioned in Virgil, the word hyda not "being to be found in any other language but ours."

It is the opinion of the learned Dr. Stukely, “that there is no doubt our first British ancestors were of the progeny of Abraham, in

"THAT Pythagoras journeyed into Egypt and Syria, and brought with him these mysteries into "Greece."-Appendix.

Ir is known to all the learned, that Pythagoras travelled into Egypt, and was initiated there into several different orders of priests, who, in those days, kept all their learning secret from the vulgar. He made every geometrical theorem a secret, and admitted only such to the knowledge of them, as had first undergone a five-years silence. He is supposed to be the inventor of the 47th proposition of Euclid, for which, in the joy of his heart, it is said he sacrificed an hecatomb. He knew the true system of the world, revived by Copernicus.

THE record [appendix] also says, that Pythagoras framed a great lodge at Crotona, in Grecia Magna,

"the Arabian line, by Hagar and by Keturah, the Ishmaelites and "Midianites who came hither with the Tyrian Hercules to seek for "tin."-After naming many evidences and authorities to support this assertion, he adds,-" and these matters mutually prove one another, "both that they came hither by sea from the coast of Phoenicia, and "that they brought the arts mentioned with them from the East."

Admitting that there is merely a probability in these opinions, it will follow, that from thence the druids would at once derive their theological principles and their religious rites-the sacred groves, the unhewn altars, the stone pillars, the consecrated circles, emblematical of eternity, were adopted from the manners of the Hebrews and the eastern nations.

The 47th proposition of Euclid, which is attributed to Pythagoras, is contained in the first book, and is as follows:

THEOREM.

"In any right-angled triangle, the square which is described upon "the side subtending the right angle, is equal to the squares described "upon the sides which contain the right angle.”

and made many Masons; some of whom journeyed to France, and there made Masons; from whence, in process of time, the art passed into England.-From whence, it is to be understood, that the pupils of this philosopher, who had been initiated by him in the Crotonian school in the sciences and the study of nature, which he had acquired in his travels, dispersed themselves, and taught the doctrine of their pres ceptor.*

THE same record [appendix] says, that Masons teach mankind the arts of agriculture, architecture, astronomy, geometry, numbers, music, poesy, chemistry, government, and religion.

In geometrical solutions, and demonstrations of quantities, this proposition is of excellent use, and the example is held by us as a memorial of Pythagoras.

* From hence it would seem that our druids received their origin in Gaul; but antiquaries of late years have been of opinion that they originated in Britain,