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Article CliASSIOAL EEBEMASONRY, ← Page 3 of 11 →
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Cliassioal Eebemasonry,
from which they expected to be driven by the invasion of a foreign Qnemy . Even after they had begun to emerge from this state of absolute barbarism , and had built rude cities to restrain the encroachments of the neighbouring nations , the inland countries continued to be laid waste by the depredations of robbers , and the maritime towns were exposed to the incursions of pirates .
Ingenious as the Grecians were , the terror and suspense in which they lived for a considerable time , kept them unacquainted with the art & and sciences which were flourishing in other countries . . When , therefore , £ \ , genius capable of civilizing them started up , it is no wonder that they held him in the highest estimation , and concluded that he w & s either deseendeci from or inspired by some of those divinities whose praises he was employed in rehearsing .
Such was the situation of Greece when Iiinus , Orpheus , and Musaeus , the first poets whose names have reached posterity , made their appearance on the theatre of life , These writers undertook the difficult task of reforming their countrymen , and of establishing a theological and philosophical system .
Authors are not agreed as to the persons who introduced into Greece the principles of philosophy . Tatian will have it that the Greek philosophy came originally from Egypt ;* while Laertius , who certainly was no better informed , will allow foreigners to have had no share in it . He ascribes its origin to Linus , and says expressly
that Linus , the father of Grecian poetry , was the son of Mercury and the muse Urania ; and that he sung of the generation of the world , of the course of the sun and moon , of the origin of animals , and the principles of vegetation . He ; taught , says the same author , that all things were formed at one time , and that they were jumbled
together in a chaos . t But we are told * upon even better authority , that both Orpheus and Musseus travelled into Egypt , and infused the traditionary learning of a cultivated people into the minds of their own illiterate countryipen . J
The name of Orpheus , consecrated as it is by the veneration paid to it in all ages , from the remotest antiquity , bears the same relation to science in the earliest period of society , as that of Caesar or Alexander could be supposed to do to war . He is handed down to us as a , philosopher , who taught the knowledge of God , and laid down the
rudiments of science ; as a lawgiver , who reformed his countrymen , or rather who brought a horde of savages to live in society ; as a priest , who instituted the worship of the gods and the sacred rites of religion ;§ and , finally , as a poet , unequalled in harmony , sweetness , and energy-In these several points of view , we propose to consider him as the
* Oral " , con . Graec . f iroi iriTi Yoid a * id without shape , as in Gen . i . 2 . % Herod , liber L c , $ . § Thus Horace distinguishes him by the name of sacer interpresgue Deormn
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Cliassioal Eebemasonry,
from which they expected to be driven by the invasion of a foreign Qnemy . Even after they had begun to emerge from this state of absolute barbarism , and had built rude cities to restrain the encroachments of the neighbouring nations , the inland countries continued to be laid waste by the depredations of robbers , and the maritime towns were exposed to the incursions of pirates .
Ingenious as the Grecians were , the terror and suspense in which they lived for a considerable time , kept them unacquainted with the art & and sciences which were flourishing in other countries . . When , therefore , £ \ , genius capable of civilizing them started up , it is no wonder that they held him in the highest estimation , and concluded that he w & s either deseendeci from or inspired by some of those divinities whose praises he was employed in rehearsing .
Such was the situation of Greece when Iiinus , Orpheus , and Musaeus , the first poets whose names have reached posterity , made their appearance on the theatre of life , These writers undertook the difficult task of reforming their countrymen , and of establishing a theological and philosophical system .
Authors are not agreed as to the persons who introduced into Greece the principles of philosophy . Tatian will have it that the Greek philosophy came originally from Egypt ;* while Laertius , who certainly was no better informed , will allow foreigners to have had no share in it . He ascribes its origin to Linus , and says expressly
that Linus , the father of Grecian poetry , was the son of Mercury and the muse Urania ; and that he sung of the generation of the world , of the course of the sun and moon , of the origin of animals , and the principles of vegetation . He ; taught , says the same author , that all things were formed at one time , and that they were jumbled
together in a chaos . t But we are told * upon even better authority , that both Orpheus and Musseus travelled into Egypt , and infused the traditionary learning of a cultivated people into the minds of their own illiterate countryipen . J
The name of Orpheus , consecrated as it is by the veneration paid to it in all ages , from the remotest antiquity , bears the same relation to science in the earliest period of society , as that of Caesar or Alexander could be supposed to do to war . He is handed down to us as a , philosopher , who taught the knowledge of God , and laid down the
rudiments of science ; as a lawgiver , who reformed his countrymen , or rather who brought a horde of savages to live in society ; as a priest , who instituted the worship of the gods and the sacred rites of religion ;§ and , finally , as a poet , unequalled in harmony , sweetness , and energy-In these several points of view , we propose to consider him as the
* Oral " , con . Graec . f iroi iriTi Yoid a * id without shape , as in Gen . i . 2 . % Herod , liber L c , $ . § Thus Horace distinguishes him by the name of sacer interpresgue Deormn