"When he descends into the bowels of the earth, and explores the kingdom of ores, minerals, and fossils, he finds the same instances of divine wisdom and goodness displayed in their formation and structure; every gem and pebble proclaim the handiwork of an Almighty Creator. "When he surveys the watery element, and directs his attention to the wonders of the deep, with all the inhabitants of the mighty ocean, he perceives emblems of the same supreme intelligence. The scales of the largest whale, as well as the pencilled shell of the meanest fry, equally yield a theme for his contemplation, on which he fondly dwells, while the symmetry of their formation, and the delicacy of the tints, evince the wisdom of the Divine Artist. "When he exalts his view to the more noble and elevated parts of Nature, and surveys the celestial orbs, how much greater is his astonishment! If, on the principles of Geometry and true philosophy, he contemplate the sun, the moon, the stars, the whole concave of heaven, his pride is humbled, and he is lost in awful admiration. The immense magnitude of those bodies, the regularity and rapidity of their motions, and the vast extent of space through which they move, are equally inconceivable; and as far as they exceed human comprehension, baffle his most daring ambition, till, lost in the immensity of the theme, he sinks into his primitive insignificance. "By Geometry, then, we may curiously trace Nature, through her various windings, to her most concealed recesses. By it we may discover the power, the wisdom, and the goodness of the Grand Artificer of the Universe, and view with delight the proportions which connect this vast machine. By it we may discover how the planets move in their different orbits, and demonstrate their various revolutions. By it we may account for the return of seasons, and the variety of scenes which each season displays to the discerning eye. Numberless worlds are around us, all framed by the same Divine Artist, which roll through the vast expanse, and are all conducted by the same unerring laws of Nature. "A survey of Nature, and the observations of her beautiful proportions, first determined man to imitate the divine plan, and study symmetry and order. This gave rise to societies, and birth to every useful art. The architect began to design, and the plans which he laid down, improved by experience and time, produced works which have been the admiration of every age." Dr. Ash, in his celebrated "Masonic Manual," gives a much shorter and very different illustration of this science, and Hutchinson, in his "Spirit of Masonry,"* still another. That in present use by the Grand Lodge of England agrees with neither! Such is the case with most of the illustrations contained in the text-books. It is also true of the charges to the three degrees. There would, however, be no difficulty in settling upon uniformity in this respect; and perhaps this, in connection with the benefits which would be likely to result from an interchange of fraternal courtesies and kindnesses between the Brethren of the two countries, would be sufficient to authorize the proposed mission. We commend the subject to the deliberate consideration of the Grand Lodges, and would respectfully suggest that a special report from each would be most likely to ensure a wise and just decision. *Both of these works have recently been republished in England, under the editorial supervision of the learned Dr. Oliver. Past Master of Solomon's Lodge, No. 1, Charleston, South Carolina. [Written for the Freemasons' Monthly Magazine.] IT is somewhat surprising that although the indefatigable Oliver has devoted one of his most abstruse works to the consideration of the "Signs and Symbols" of our Order, he has not in the whole of that treatise made the slightest allusion to the POMEGRANATE, one of the most remarkable of our emblems. To fill up this hiatus in Masonic Science, is the object of the present paper. And I doubt not that to every Fellow-Craft Mason it will be interesting to discover that the Pomegranate, as an emblem, was known to and highly esteemed by the nations of antiquity, and that there is thus established another link in the great chain which connects the Ethnical Mysteries, or as they have very appropriately been called," Spurious Freemasonry," and the Order as it now exists among us, and as it doubtless was established at the building of King Solomon's Temple. In the description of the pillars which stood at the porch of the Temple, (see 1 Kings, vii. 15,) it is said that the artificer "made two chapiters of molten brass to set upon the tops of the pillars." Now the Hebrew word Dip (caphtorim) which has been translated "chapiters," and for which in Amos ix. 1, the word "lintel" has been incorrectly substituted, (though the marginal reading corrects the error,) signifies an artificial large Pomegranate, or globe.* It was customary to place such ornaments upon the tops or heads of columns, and in other situations. The skirt of Aaron's robe was ordered to be decorated with golden bells and pomegra nates, and they were among the ornaments fixed upon the golden candelabra. There seems therefore to have been attached to this fruit some mystic signification, to which it is indebted for the veneration thus paid to it. If so, this mystic meaning should be traced into spurious Freemasonry; for there, after all, if there be any antiquity in our Order, we shall find the parallel of all its rites and ceremonies. 1. The Syrians at Damascus, worshipped an idol which they called Rimmon. This was the same idol that was worshipped by Naman before his conversion, as recorded in the second book of Kings. The learned "Vid. Cumberland Origines Gent. Antiq. tract. II. §ii. p. 54. The original meaning is not preserved in the Septuagint which has oquiqwing, nor in the Vulgate which uses "sphærula," both meaning simply "a round ball." But Josephus in his Antiquities has kept to the literal Hebrew. have not been able to agree as to the nature of this idol, whether he was a representation of Helios, or the Sun, the God of the Phoenicians, or of Venus, or according to Grotius, in his commentary on the passage in Kings, of Saturn, or what according to Statius seems more probable, of Jupiter Cassius. But it is sufficient for our present purpose to know that Rimmon is the Hebrew and Syriac for Pomegranate. 2. Cumberland, the learned Bishop of Peterborough, quotes Achilles Statius, a converted pagan and Bishop of Alexandria, as saying that on Mount Cassius, (which Bochart places between Canaan and Egypt,) there was a temple wherein Jupiter's image held a Pomegranate in his hand, which Statius goes on to say, "had a mystical meaning."* Sanconiatho thinks this temple was built by the descendants of the Cabiri. Cumberland attempts to explain this mystery thus: "Agreeably hereunto I guess that the Pomegranate in the hand of Jupiter, or Juno (because when it is opened it discloses a great number of seeds) signified only that those deities were, being long-lived, the parents of a great many children, and families that soon grew into nations which they planted in large possessions, when the world was newly begun to be peopled, by giving then laws and other useful inventions to make their lives comfortable.” 3. Pausanias (Corinthiaca, p. 59) says, he saw not far from the ruins of Mycenæ, an image of Juno holding in one hand a sceptre, and in the other a Pomegranate; but he likewise declines assigning any explanation of the emblem, merely declaring that it was anogenτoregos hoyos" a forbidden mystery." That is, one which was forbidden by the Cabiri to be divulged. 4. In the festival of the Thesmophoria, observed in honor of the Goddess Ceres, it was held unlawful for the celebrants (who were women) to eat the Pomegranate. Clemens Alexandrinus assigns as a reason, that it was supposed that this fruit sprung from the blood of Bacchus. The coincidences in the Pagan mysteries with respect to this emblem, might doubtless be extended still further, but I have neither time nor opportunity to pursue the research. I am however content, if by these few illustrations, I have added another to the many already existing proofs of the antiquity, as well as the beauty of our beloved Order. *Cumberland Orig. Gent. Ant. p. 60. *The words of the prophetic Prior, who doubtless possessed the gift of second sight, would seem to have been actually fulfilled in the reception of Prince Charles Stuart as a Knight Templar at Edinburgh, in 1745, and his elevation to the Grand Mastership of the Order on the demission of Lord Mar.-Freemasons' Review. |