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Article MAS ONIC L E GENDS. Page 1 of 6 →
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Mas Onic L E Gends.
MAS ONIC L E GENDS .
BIG , F . YATES . " Apples of gold in pictures of silver . "—Solomon ' , Ir certain legends which are pure inventions are invested with a
sublimity and a fascination which render them popular vehicles of instruction , surely truth , which is often " stranger than fiction , '' cannot he devoid of the like sublimity and fascination , when properly presented under the guise of instructive legend , allegory , or parable ! Lord Bacon ' s opinion is doubtless correct , that the fables related by Homer , Hesiod , and other writers of antiquity , are not the inventions of those authors . They merely reproduced and perpetuated in immortal verse , legends handed down from earlier ages , reaching far back beyond that " dim point where records fail , obscured and corrupted it is true , yet received and cherished by the people . The reason he gives for esteeming them is most worthy of note . " I receive them , " says he , " not ; as the product of the age or inventions of the poets , but as sacred relics , gentle whispers , and the breath of better times , that from the traditions of more ancient nations came at length into the flutes and trumpets of the G-reeks . "
It must be clear to every reflecting mind , that many of the fables which superficial investigators hold up to ridicule , have , notwithstanding their apparent absurdity , a hidden , yet important meaning , and " proclaim an allegory even afar off , " of most edifying moral . Instance the fiction of Saturn devouring his own children ; of Jupiter
eating up his wife Metis when he found her pregnant , whereby he himself conceived , and out of his head brought forth Pallas in full armour . When the legend of the Golden Ass of Apuleius , which has been denounced a ^ ridiculous , receives its proper explanation , it will be found to embody truths most sublime ; and the figure of the same animal made of massive gold , preserved in the temple of Jerusalem by the Jews , * has connected with it a legend of equal sublimity .
Apparent inconsistencies and anachronisms at times occur in these legends ; such for example , as those in which Moses and Solomon , Euclid and Pythagoras , figure in the same narration . Events which occurred , as well as persons who appeared at different and distant times and places , are brought together , as if cotemporaneous . The hyperergic who would condemn this should bear in mind , that the ( rod of the true Freemason is identical with the God of the true
Christian . " He is not the God of the dead , but of the living " The sacred personages of our Order , who lived centuries apart , and occurrences furnishing a portion of our landmarks , which took place
* Josephus against Apion , J . acitua , Plutarch , Suidas , & c
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Mas Onic L E Gends.
MAS ONIC L E GENDS .
BIG , F . YATES . " Apples of gold in pictures of silver . "—Solomon ' , Ir certain legends which are pure inventions are invested with a
sublimity and a fascination which render them popular vehicles of instruction , surely truth , which is often " stranger than fiction , '' cannot he devoid of the like sublimity and fascination , when properly presented under the guise of instructive legend , allegory , or parable ! Lord Bacon ' s opinion is doubtless correct , that the fables related by Homer , Hesiod , and other writers of antiquity , are not the inventions of those authors . They merely reproduced and perpetuated in immortal verse , legends handed down from earlier ages , reaching far back beyond that " dim point where records fail , obscured and corrupted it is true , yet received and cherished by the people . The reason he gives for esteeming them is most worthy of note . " I receive them , " says he , " not ; as the product of the age or inventions of the poets , but as sacred relics , gentle whispers , and the breath of better times , that from the traditions of more ancient nations came at length into the flutes and trumpets of the G-reeks . "
It must be clear to every reflecting mind , that many of the fables which superficial investigators hold up to ridicule , have , notwithstanding their apparent absurdity , a hidden , yet important meaning , and " proclaim an allegory even afar off , " of most edifying moral . Instance the fiction of Saturn devouring his own children ; of Jupiter
eating up his wife Metis when he found her pregnant , whereby he himself conceived , and out of his head brought forth Pallas in full armour . When the legend of the Golden Ass of Apuleius , which has been denounced a ^ ridiculous , receives its proper explanation , it will be found to embody truths most sublime ; and the figure of the same animal made of massive gold , preserved in the temple of Jerusalem by the Jews , * has connected with it a legend of equal sublimity .
Apparent inconsistencies and anachronisms at times occur in these legends ; such for example , as those in which Moses and Solomon , Euclid and Pythagoras , figure in the same narration . Events which occurred , as well as persons who appeared at different and distant times and places , are brought together , as if cotemporaneous . The hyperergic who would condemn this should bear in mind , that the ( rod of the true Freemason is identical with the God of the true
Christian . " He is not the God of the dead , but of the living " The sacred personages of our Order , who lived centuries apart , and occurrences furnishing a portion of our landmarks , which took place
* Josephus against Apion , J . acitua , Plutarch , Suidas , & c