Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Gossip About Freemasonry; Itshistory And Traditions.
tented bacau e he was old enough to regret the Paradise that had been lost , and to attribute that loss to his mother ' s er . or . That Evo apparently had no great love for Cain we may infer fiom Genesis iv . 25 , " and she bare a son , and cilled his name Seth : For God , said she . hath appointed
me another seed instead of Abel , whom Cain slew . " Her fioughts here are wholly for dead Abel—not one for the then wandering outcast Cain . With an unhappy home , as Gain ' s may have been , I can imagine that his mind may havo dwelled on the endeavour to earn from God his love
and favonr , until he became filled with a religious fanaticism and fear , that goaded him into a morbid state npproaching insanity lest God ' s favonr had departed from him and been given , as Eve ' s love had been given , to his brother . Had Cain not loved God , and had wilfully
insulted him by offering the worst of his produce , it could havo mattered but little to him as to whether his offering were accepted or rejected ; nor , in alluding to the terrible denunciation against him , would ha have placed foremost
of its dreaded evils , " And from Thy face shall I be hid . " Those wero the words of a wretched but not thoroughly wicked and impious man . God is merciful , "And the Lord set a maik npon Cain , lest anyone finding him should kill him . " *
I cannot bnt think that some important portion of our ceremonies substantially took their rise from allusions to this event in some ceremony or mystery established commemorative of the death of Abel , either by Cain when his wanderings had cessation , or by Enoch .
Common and all but universal opinion has determined , and I think ri ghtly , that the mark was placed by God on the forehead of Cain , that part on which the fatal blow probably fell npon Abel ; but , according to Dr . Oliver , this
conclusion has not been quite unanimous , for as he writes ! , " Some think he had a mark on his forehead , others that he was blasted hy lightning , others that he was consigned to perpetual drunkenness and tumbling about—a butt , for the mirth and derision of all beholders . Some believe that
he was haunted by his brother ' s ghost , and hence it has been a uniform opinion throughout all antiquity , and is not yet extinguished , that all murderers are haunted by the ghosts of their victims . " I have expressed my belief in tbe mark having been placed on the forehead of Cain ,
but I also believe that such mark was the Tan , a mark apparently considered of no great import at the present time as regards Craft Masonry . I say apparently , because tho squnies worn ou tho aprons of every W . M . and P . M . are not only squares , but are absolutely Taus inverted .
Respecting tho Tau , I again quote Dr . Oliver ( though I had formed my opinion long before I read his ) , " I have seen , " says he , " as I find by a memorandum made many years ngo , an account of a monumental stone which Adam erected to the memory of Abel , covered with geometrical
figures and Masonic Hieroglyphics together with an explanation of the Tau , which was then said was the mark God placed on the forehead of Cain lest any one should destroy him . " Josephus states the mark was put upon him lest wild beasts should devour him . I find that among
tho Ancient Egyptians the Tau was an object of reverence . It was carried by their Priests in their sacred processions . At the Temple , at Luxor , there are a row of Sphinxes , each of which has between its forelegs a mummy-shaped
figure , with its hands crossed on its breast , and in each hand the Tau . In a Pictorial Bible there is a representation of the several Egyptian deities , and almost all of them have tho Tau in their hands . The Tau has also been
found in Egypt supporting a circle , the Tau simblifying life , tho circle eternity , and together symbolising eternal life . Tho Gods'Araabis and Horus also hold the squares and compasses . Mitzraim , the first monarch of Egyptian Chronology , and
there named Menas , was son of Ham , and consequently grandson of Noah ; he may have made this mark familiar to tho Egyptian people . He has been claimed by early Masonic writers as a Grand Master of the Craft , noticing that he built numerous edifices—the colossal statues of the
Sphynxes , and many famous pyramids . Mitzraim , like his nephew Nimrod , must have deserted the religion of the Noachidaa for idolatry , for according to Herodotus he erected a Temple to Vulcan , who was said to have been Tnbal-Cain deified . Mitzraim , in these early days , must
Gossip About Freemasonry; Itshistory And Traditions.
have been of more importance to their history than would appear from the slight notice of him in the Bible , and to this day Egypt is found in the Hebrew set down as the " Land of Mitzraim . " But , resuming , in respect to the placing a mark on the
forehead , we notice that in Exodus xxviii . 36 , 38 it is written , " And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold , and grave upon it , like the engravings of a signet , ' Holiness to tho Lord . ' And it shall he upon Aaron ' s forehead , that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things , which tho
children of Israel shall hallow m all their holy gifts ; and it shall bo always upon his forehead , that they may be accepted before the Lord . " I see in theso injunctions a connection between the Cain and Abel sacrifice ; Cain ' s was rejected , because his impure thoughts while
sacrificing destroyed the purity of the sacrifice , there was no intercessor for Cain that his offering might be accepted , his jealous thoughts ( though that jealousy may have arisen from the fear that God ' s love had been taken from him and given to another ) mingled with the savour of his
offering , and it was rejected . God now decreed , as I humbly imagine , that the plate on the forehead of Aaron should in remembrance of this event , and with Aaron ' s prayers , hallow tho sacrifice even of the sinner , and render it holy and acceptable to the merciful Lord . This idea
pervading me , I am confirmed in my belief that the mark was one of mercy and not of punishment . In Ezekiel ix . 4 , the man with the writer ' s inkhorn is directed to set a mark upon the foreheads of those who were to be saved .
Revelations vii . 3 says , " Hurt not the earth , neither the sea , nor the trees , till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads . " In Deuteronomy vi . 8 , the commandments " shall be as frontlets between thine eyes , " an injunction that is obeyed by all Israelites to this day .
It has sometimes occurred to me that even in antedilu
vian times the form of the Tau had a certain influence . Children are imitative , and the intelligence of man was in its childhood and he was imitative rather than original . It is an admitted belief that the man who built the first
ship adopted his principal ideas from tho formation of tho breast bone of the aquatic bird . So do I think man took many hints for the formation of his instruments of labour from the form of the Tau . The smith ' s hammer is an
adaptation of it , and the hammer itself was accepted as emblematic of power , and as authority is generally derived from power a small form of this instrument may have been used to mark that of the rulers of those assemblies from which afterwards Masonic Lodges sprang . The emblem of
the Scandinavian deity Thor was a hammer , and Charles Martel was said to have derived his cognomen not from the " Martel de-fer" he wielded so vigorously but from a small hammer he wore in token of authority . The pick-axe is an adaptation of the Tau ; the handle of the spade , in its
old form called the crutch-handle , would be a type of the Tau ; the skirrett is suggestive of tho Tau ; the T square is a perfect resemblance ; the level is an inverted Tau ; and , as I have remarked , the squares on tho Masons' aprons are inverted Taus ; the Niloraeter , an instrument for recording
the rise and fall of the Nile was Tau-sbaped . In Genesis , iv . 17 , we read Cain's wife conceived and bare Enoch , and that Cain "buildedacity , and called the name of tbe city after the name of his son Enoch . " This city he dedicated to God , and , I believe , within this city , such as it was , the principles
of Freemasonry came forth ; in the first instance , perhaps , simply the worship of God as God , and faithfulness to their fellow men as brothers . Cain , in his repentance , and surely he gives evidence of his repentance by the dedication of the city called " by his son ' s name , " looked upon every man
that owed allegiance to the Supreme Being that had been so merciful to him as his brother , and by his aid and protection of those whom he had so adopted , he may have hoped in some measure to atone for his great crime . The city , in all probability , was the first city of refuge , and
therein , I suggest , that Cain established , under Enoch ' s ruling , a periodical commemoration of Abel ' s death , thus keeping before him , and also before his followers , his heinous guilt and his deep and continued repentance . Even thus early in the world ' s history , idolatry would
appear to have been practised to no small extent . Maimonides writes— "In the days of Enos" ( I think Euos or Enosh the son of Seth was cotemporary with Enoch
the son of Cain ) " men fell into grievous errors , and even Enos himself partook of their infatuation . Their language was that since God had placed on high the heavenly bodies and used them . as his ministers , it was evidently his will
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Gossip About Freemasonry; Itshistory And Traditions.
tented bacau e he was old enough to regret the Paradise that had been lost , and to attribute that loss to his mother ' s er . or . That Evo apparently had no great love for Cain we may infer fiom Genesis iv . 25 , " and she bare a son , and cilled his name Seth : For God , said she . hath appointed
me another seed instead of Abel , whom Cain slew . " Her fioughts here are wholly for dead Abel—not one for the then wandering outcast Cain . With an unhappy home , as Gain ' s may have been , I can imagine that his mind may havo dwelled on the endeavour to earn from God his love
and favonr , until he became filled with a religious fanaticism and fear , that goaded him into a morbid state npproaching insanity lest God ' s favonr had departed from him and been given , as Eve ' s love had been given , to his brother . Had Cain not loved God , and had wilfully
insulted him by offering the worst of his produce , it could havo mattered but little to him as to whether his offering were accepted or rejected ; nor , in alluding to the terrible denunciation against him , would ha have placed foremost
of its dreaded evils , " And from Thy face shall I be hid . " Those wero the words of a wretched but not thoroughly wicked and impious man . God is merciful , "And the Lord set a maik npon Cain , lest anyone finding him should kill him . " *
I cannot bnt think that some important portion of our ceremonies substantially took their rise from allusions to this event in some ceremony or mystery established commemorative of the death of Abel , either by Cain when his wanderings had cessation , or by Enoch .
Common and all but universal opinion has determined , and I think ri ghtly , that the mark was placed by God on the forehead of Cain , that part on which the fatal blow probably fell npon Abel ; but , according to Dr . Oliver , this
conclusion has not been quite unanimous , for as he writes ! , " Some think he had a mark on his forehead , others that he was blasted hy lightning , others that he was consigned to perpetual drunkenness and tumbling about—a butt , for the mirth and derision of all beholders . Some believe that
he was haunted by his brother ' s ghost , and hence it has been a uniform opinion throughout all antiquity , and is not yet extinguished , that all murderers are haunted by the ghosts of their victims . " I have expressed my belief in tbe mark having been placed on the forehead of Cain ,
but I also believe that such mark was the Tan , a mark apparently considered of no great import at the present time as regards Craft Masonry . I say apparently , because tho squnies worn ou tho aprons of every W . M . and P . M . are not only squares , but are absolutely Taus inverted .
Respecting tho Tau , I again quote Dr . Oliver ( though I had formed my opinion long before I read his ) , " I have seen , " says he , " as I find by a memorandum made many years ngo , an account of a monumental stone which Adam erected to the memory of Abel , covered with geometrical
figures and Masonic Hieroglyphics together with an explanation of the Tau , which was then said was the mark God placed on the forehead of Cain lest any one should destroy him . " Josephus states the mark was put upon him lest wild beasts should devour him . I find that among
tho Ancient Egyptians the Tau was an object of reverence . It was carried by their Priests in their sacred processions . At the Temple , at Luxor , there are a row of Sphinxes , each of which has between its forelegs a mummy-shaped
figure , with its hands crossed on its breast , and in each hand the Tau . In a Pictorial Bible there is a representation of the several Egyptian deities , and almost all of them have tho Tau in their hands . The Tau has also been
found in Egypt supporting a circle , the Tau simblifying life , tho circle eternity , and together symbolising eternal life . Tho Gods'Araabis and Horus also hold the squares and compasses . Mitzraim , the first monarch of Egyptian Chronology , and
there named Menas , was son of Ham , and consequently grandson of Noah ; he may have made this mark familiar to tho Egyptian people . He has been claimed by early Masonic writers as a Grand Master of the Craft , noticing that he built numerous edifices—the colossal statues of the
Sphynxes , and many famous pyramids . Mitzraim , like his nephew Nimrod , must have deserted the religion of the Noachidaa for idolatry , for according to Herodotus he erected a Temple to Vulcan , who was said to have been Tnbal-Cain deified . Mitzraim , in these early days , must
Gossip About Freemasonry; Itshistory And Traditions.
have been of more importance to their history than would appear from the slight notice of him in the Bible , and to this day Egypt is found in the Hebrew set down as the " Land of Mitzraim . " But , resuming , in respect to the placing a mark on the
forehead , we notice that in Exodus xxviii . 36 , 38 it is written , " And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold , and grave upon it , like the engravings of a signet , ' Holiness to tho Lord . ' And it shall he upon Aaron ' s forehead , that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things , which tho
children of Israel shall hallow m all their holy gifts ; and it shall bo always upon his forehead , that they may be accepted before the Lord . " I see in theso injunctions a connection between the Cain and Abel sacrifice ; Cain ' s was rejected , because his impure thoughts while
sacrificing destroyed the purity of the sacrifice , there was no intercessor for Cain that his offering might be accepted , his jealous thoughts ( though that jealousy may have arisen from the fear that God ' s love had been taken from him and given to another ) mingled with the savour of his
offering , and it was rejected . God now decreed , as I humbly imagine , that the plate on the forehead of Aaron should in remembrance of this event , and with Aaron ' s prayers , hallow tho sacrifice even of the sinner , and render it holy and acceptable to the merciful Lord . This idea
pervading me , I am confirmed in my belief that the mark was one of mercy and not of punishment . In Ezekiel ix . 4 , the man with the writer ' s inkhorn is directed to set a mark upon the foreheads of those who were to be saved .
Revelations vii . 3 says , " Hurt not the earth , neither the sea , nor the trees , till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads . " In Deuteronomy vi . 8 , the commandments " shall be as frontlets between thine eyes , " an injunction that is obeyed by all Israelites to this day .
It has sometimes occurred to me that even in antedilu
vian times the form of the Tau had a certain influence . Children are imitative , and the intelligence of man was in its childhood and he was imitative rather than original . It is an admitted belief that the man who built the first
ship adopted his principal ideas from tho formation of tho breast bone of the aquatic bird . So do I think man took many hints for the formation of his instruments of labour from the form of the Tau . The smith ' s hammer is an
adaptation of it , and the hammer itself was accepted as emblematic of power , and as authority is generally derived from power a small form of this instrument may have been used to mark that of the rulers of those assemblies from which afterwards Masonic Lodges sprang . The emblem of
the Scandinavian deity Thor was a hammer , and Charles Martel was said to have derived his cognomen not from the " Martel de-fer" he wielded so vigorously but from a small hammer he wore in token of authority . The pick-axe is an adaptation of the Tau ; the handle of the spade , in its
old form called the crutch-handle , would be a type of the Tau ; the skirrett is suggestive of tho Tau ; the T square is a perfect resemblance ; the level is an inverted Tau ; and , as I have remarked , the squares on tho Masons' aprons are inverted Taus ; the Niloraeter , an instrument for recording
the rise and fall of the Nile was Tau-sbaped . In Genesis , iv . 17 , we read Cain's wife conceived and bare Enoch , and that Cain "buildedacity , and called the name of tbe city after the name of his son Enoch . " This city he dedicated to God , and , I believe , within this city , such as it was , the principles
of Freemasonry came forth ; in the first instance , perhaps , simply the worship of God as God , and faithfulness to their fellow men as brothers . Cain , in his repentance , and surely he gives evidence of his repentance by the dedication of the city called " by his son ' s name , " looked upon every man
that owed allegiance to the Supreme Being that had been so merciful to him as his brother , and by his aid and protection of those whom he had so adopted , he may have hoped in some measure to atone for his great crime . The city , in all probability , was the first city of refuge , and
therein , I suggest , that Cain established , under Enoch ' s ruling , a periodical commemoration of Abel ' s death , thus keeping before him , and also before his followers , his heinous guilt and his deep and continued repentance . Even thus early in the world ' s history , idolatry would
appear to have been practised to no small extent . Maimonides writes— "In the days of Enos" ( I think Euos or Enosh the son of Seth was cotemporary with Enoch
the son of Cain ) " men fell into grievous errors , and even Enos himself partook of their infatuation . Their language was that since God had placed on high the heavenly bodies and used them . as his ministers , it was evidently his will