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Article DISTRIBUTION OF HONOURS IN THE GRAND LODGE OF SCOTLAND. ← Page 3 of 3 Article MASONIC CURIOSITIES, No. 1. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Distribution Of Honours In The Grand Lodge Of Scotland.
all parts of the country to maintain an intimacy of fellowship formerly unknown . Ifc would be for the advantage of fche interests of Freemasonry that full v . ' je were made of this , and that the mB-mi !>; smc-nt of the affairs of the Grand Lodge
were aerjon-odafed to it , instead of continuing to be wo . eh as it was when the whole state of things - : va , i ve-y different , ancl when the presence of a member from Stromness or Stornoway was hardly iu any oircuuistances to be expected .
Masonic Curiosities, No. 1.
MASONIC CURIOSITIES , No . 1 .
BY A MASON > C INQUIKER . Continued from page 482 . Vol . xxiii . The learned author of the Antiquity of Masonry
annexed to which are our Constitutions , has take i so much true pains to draw it out from the rubbish which the barbarous and ignorant Ages of the world have buried it in , as to justly merit the highest gratitude from the brethren .
That diligent antiquary has trae'd out to us those ~ 'pny stupendous Yv ' oi'ks of the Amfcienfcs which were certainly , ancl without doubt , infinitely superior to the Moderns . I shall not therefore follow his steps ; but since there ought
to be something said of antient Architecture , fo illustrate the real antiquity of Masonry in general ,. I shall begleaveto subjoin what an elegant modern author , the ever celebrated Mr . Addison , has
wrote upon this subject : "We find / ' says he , "in Architecture , the ancients much superior to the moderns . For not to mention the Tower of Babel , of which , an old author says , there were the foundations to be
seen in his time , which looked like a spacious Mc-mitfdn ; what could be more noble than the Walls cf Babylon , its Hanging Gardens , and its Tempi t- to Jupiter Belus , that rise a mile high by 8 several stories , each storey a furlong in height ,
? . TV ! on the top of which was a Babylonian Observatory , I might here likewise take notice of fche huge rock that was cut into the figure of Semiramis , with the smaller rocks that lay by it in the shape of tributary Kings ; the prodigious bason ,
which took in the whole Euphrates , until such a timo as ,-i new canal was formed for its reception , with iho several trenches through which that
river was conveyed . "I know /' adds our author , "them are persons who look upon some of these wonders of Art to be fabulous ; but I cannot find any grounds for such a suspicion , unless it be that we have no such works amongst us at present . "
There w ere , indeed , many greater advantages for building in those times , and in that part of the world , than have been met with ever since . The earth was extremely fruitful , men generally lived on pasturage , which requires a much smaller
number of hands than agriculture . There were few trades to employ the busy parfc of Mankind and fewer Arts and Sciences to give work to men of Speculative tempers , and what is more than all the rest , the Prince was absolute , so that when he
went to war , he put himself at the head of a whole people ; as we find Semiramis leading her three million to the field and yet overpowered by the number of her enemies .
It is no wonder then , when she was afc peace , and turned her thoughts on building , that she could accomplish so great works with such a prodigious multitude of labourers . Besides that , in her climate , there was small interruption of frost
and winters , which make the Northern workmen lie half the year idle . I might mention , amongst the benefits ofthe climate , whathistorianssay of fche Earth , thafc ifc sweated out a bitumen or natural kind of mortar which is doubtless the same with ,
that mentioned in Holy Writ , as contributing to the structure of the Tower of Babel . " Slime they used instead of mortar . " " In -ZEgypfc we still see the Pyramids which answer to the descrip - ion th afc have been given of them ; and I
question not but a stranger might find out some remains of the labyrinth that covered a whole province , and had a hundred temples dispos ed among its several quarters and divisions .
"The wall of China is one of these eastern pieces of magnificence which makes a figure even in the map of the world . Although an account of it would have been thought fabulous , were not tho wall itself extant .
"We are obliged to devotion for the noblest buildings thafc have adorned the several countries of the world . It is this which has set men afc work upon temples and publick places of worship , not only thafc they might , by the magnificence of the building , invite the deity to reside there ; but
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Distribution Of Honours In The Grand Lodge Of Scotland.
all parts of the country to maintain an intimacy of fellowship formerly unknown . Ifc would be for the advantage of fche interests of Freemasonry that full v . ' je were made of this , and that the mB-mi !>; smc-nt of the affairs of the Grand Lodge
were aerjon-odafed to it , instead of continuing to be wo . eh as it was when the whole state of things - : va , i ve-y different , ancl when the presence of a member from Stromness or Stornoway was hardly iu any oircuuistances to be expected .
Masonic Curiosities, No. 1.
MASONIC CURIOSITIES , No . 1 .
BY A MASON > C INQUIKER . Continued from page 482 . Vol . xxiii . The learned author of the Antiquity of Masonry
annexed to which are our Constitutions , has take i so much true pains to draw it out from the rubbish which the barbarous and ignorant Ages of the world have buried it in , as to justly merit the highest gratitude from the brethren .
That diligent antiquary has trae'd out to us those ~ 'pny stupendous Yv ' oi'ks of the Amfcienfcs which were certainly , ancl without doubt , infinitely superior to the Moderns . I shall not therefore follow his steps ; but since there ought
to be something said of antient Architecture , fo illustrate the real antiquity of Masonry in general ,. I shall begleaveto subjoin what an elegant modern author , the ever celebrated Mr . Addison , has
wrote upon this subject : "We find / ' says he , "in Architecture , the ancients much superior to the moderns . For not to mention the Tower of Babel , of which , an old author says , there were the foundations to be
seen in his time , which looked like a spacious Mc-mitfdn ; what could be more noble than the Walls cf Babylon , its Hanging Gardens , and its Tempi t- to Jupiter Belus , that rise a mile high by 8 several stories , each storey a furlong in height ,
? . TV ! on the top of which was a Babylonian Observatory , I might here likewise take notice of fche huge rock that was cut into the figure of Semiramis , with the smaller rocks that lay by it in the shape of tributary Kings ; the prodigious bason ,
which took in the whole Euphrates , until such a timo as ,-i new canal was formed for its reception , with iho several trenches through which that
river was conveyed . "I know /' adds our author , "them are persons who look upon some of these wonders of Art to be fabulous ; but I cannot find any grounds for such a suspicion , unless it be that we have no such works amongst us at present . "
There w ere , indeed , many greater advantages for building in those times , and in that part of the world , than have been met with ever since . The earth was extremely fruitful , men generally lived on pasturage , which requires a much smaller
number of hands than agriculture . There were few trades to employ the busy parfc of Mankind and fewer Arts and Sciences to give work to men of Speculative tempers , and what is more than all the rest , the Prince was absolute , so that when he
went to war , he put himself at the head of a whole people ; as we find Semiramis leading her three million to the field and yet overpowered by the number of her enemies .
It is no wonder then , when she was afc peace , and turned her thoughts on building , that she could accomplish so great works with such a prodigious multitude of labourers . Besides that , in her climate , there was small interruption of frost
and winters , which make the Northern workmen lie half the year idle . I might mention , amongst the benefits ofthe climate , whathistorianssay of fche Earth , thafc ifc sweated out a bitumen or natural kind of mortar which is doubtless the same with ,
that mentioned in Holy Writ , as contributing to the structure of the Tower of Babel . " Slime they used instead of mortar . " " In -ZEgypfc we still see the Pyramids which answer to the descrip - ion th afc have been given of them ; and I
question not but a stranger might find out some remains of the labyrinth that covered a whole province , and had a hundred temples dispos ed among its several quarters and divisions .
"The wall of China is one of these eastern pieces of magnificence which makes a figure even in the map of the world . Although an account of it would have been thought fabulous , were not tho wall itself extant .
"We are obliged to devotion for the noblest buildings thafc have adorned the several countries of the world . It is this which has set men afc work upon temples and publick places of worship , not only thafc they might , by the magnificence of the building , invite the deity to reside there ; but