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Article HOW I SPENT MY FIVE WEEKS' LEAVE. ← Page 3 of 3 Article HOW I SPENT MY FIVE WEEKS' LEAVE. Page 3 of 3 Article MASONIC JOTTINGS.—No. 3. Page 1 of 2 →
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How I Spent My Five Weeks' Leave.
a long arched vault in the platform ; this vault is about 20 feet wide , 15 feet high , and 100 yards long ; the whole of the vast artificial glatform on which the temples stand is thus honey-combed with vaults . On emerging from this we go up a
steep ramp , and find ourselves in the great court of the temple . Here we encamp . At first we find ourselves so surrounded with ruins , columns , etc ., that we hardly know where to begin to explore . A few minutes study of the plan sets
us right , and we visit the vestibule , the hexagonal chapel , the exquisitely ornamented niches around the great court , the magnificent columns of the Temple of the Sun , 75 feet high , with the massive single stones which connect them at the top , each
about 20 feet long by 10 feet high and thick . The question naturally presents itself , " How were the stones got up there , and accurately fitted from one column to the other ? " This ternplo must have been splendid when all the columns
were standing ; there were 54 , now only six are standing . We next explore the Temple of Jupiter , which is exquisite in its way . It is 227 feet long by 117 feet broad . The peristyle is composed of 42 columns of the Corinthian order ; those on
the north side are are pretty perfect , those on the sonch have almost all been thrown down by an earthquake . One column is obserable on the south side which has fallen against the side of the temple , with such force as to displace some of the massive
stones of the building , and yet , though the column is made in three pices , it was so strongly made , that it remains in a slanting position , entire and quite straight . The interior of the temple is very beautiful , full of carvings of fruit , flowers ,
and Cupids , whilst the Cyclopean masonry gives an air of grandeur to it . At the west end is a sort of raised platform , where probably the great gold statue stood , with the sanctum behind it . On the wall at the back of this , as on all the
most prominent or beautiful stones here , may be seen painted or cut the names of many worthless snobs , who take this means of immortalising themselves . " Nomina stultorum parietibus hoerent . "
I notice written up here the verse , " And their idols he shall utterly abolish . " Truly the prediction has been accomplished here . We have a jovial evening , after which some of the fellows astonish the natives by forming a procession , headed by a man carrying a Chinese lantern , then a flute player giving the "British Grenadiers , " and
How I Spent My Five Weeks' Leave.
the rest beating tea trays , metal basins or any similar instrument that they could procure . This they called beating " tatoo roll call . " Some of the wretched inhabitants fled to the mountains , thinking that they would be murdered , or that the devil was upon them ! Robberies and midnight raids are common in this part of the world .
Next day I go to see the exterior and the three great stones , built into the wall of the platform , which gave the temple its of name P'AJ 0 OV or " the three stoned . " Mighty blocks they are ; the whole wall is composed of enormous ones , 14 to
20 feet long , but in comparison with these three they dwindle into insignificance . They are built into the wall , at a height of 20 feet from the ground , and the three occupy the whole length of this face of the wall , viz ., 190 feet 8 inches ,,
being in the same layer . The largest is 64 feet long . There is one similar stone in the quarry half a mile off , which was never finished nor moved . This stone is 68 feet long , 14 high , and
14 broad ! One feels almost disposed to believe in superhuman agency , for with all our modern , machinery , steam power , hydraulic rams , etc ., I do not think we could get such a huge mass moved half a mile , and then lifted up 20 feet
now . Verily " there were giants in these days . " It is not easy to realise the size of such blocks from mere figures ; many a country church toweris not 60 feet high , and yet one of these stones is 68 feet long—that is two feet longer than the
distance between the wickets at a cricket match l . As I rode up alongside of the one lying in the quarry I could not nearly touch its top , though on . horseback . ( To be continued . )
Masonic Jottings.—No. 3.
MASONIC JOTTINGS . —No . 3 .
BY A PAST PEOVINCIAL GRAND MASTER . AMJEETCS ITAGHfFS . The works of Albertus Magnus—whom foreign . Masons delight to call Albert of Strasburg—fill twenty-one folio volumes . They were published in
1651 , at Lyons . At the risk of striking with amazement and dismay some of the excellent brothers , contributors to the Freemasons' Magazine , it must be mentioned that a student of the history of Speculative Masonry will find in those volumes a great deal of curious and valuable information .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
How I Spent My Five Weeks' Leave.
a long arched vault in the platform ; this vault is about 20 feet wide , 15 feet high , and 100 yards long ; the whole of the vast artificial glatform on which the temples stand is thus honey-combed with vaults . On emerging from this we go up a
steep ramp , and find ourselves in the great court of the temple . Here we encamp . At first we find ourselves so surrounded with ruins , columns , etc ., that we hardly know where to begin to explore . A few minutes study of the plan sets
us right , and we visit the vestibule , the hexagonal chapel , the exquisitely ornamented niches around the great court , the magnificent columns of the Temple of the Sun , 75 feet high , with the massive single stones which connect them at the top , each
about 20 feet long by 10 feet high and thick . The question naturally presents itself , " How were the stones got up there , and accurately fitted from one column to the other ? " This ternplo must have been splendid when all the columns
were standing ; there were 54 , now only six are standing . We next explore the Temple of Jupiter , which is exquisite in its way . It is 227 feet long by 117 feet broad . The peristyle is composed of 42 columns of the Corinthian order ; those on
the north side are are pretty perfect , those on the sonch have almost all been thrown down by an earthquake . One column is obserable on the south side which has fallen against the side of the temple , with such force as to displace some of the massive
stones of the building , and yet , though the column is made in three pices , it was so strongly made , that it remains in a slanting position , entire and quite straight . The interior of the temple is very beautiful , full of carvings of fruit , flowers ,
and Cupids , whilst the Cyclopean masonry gives an air of grandeur to it . At the west end is a sort of raised platform , where probably the great gold statue stood , with the sanctum behind it . On the wall at the back of this , as on all the
most prominent or beautiful stones here , may be seen painted or cut the names of many worthless snobs , who take this means of immortalising themselves . " Nomina stultorum parietibus hoerent . "
I notice written up here the verse , " And their idols he shall utterly abolish . " Truly the prediction has been accomplished here . We have a jovial evening , after which some of the fellows astonish the natives by forming a procession , headed by a man carrying a Chinese lantern , then a flute player giving the "British Grenadiers , " and
How I Spent My Five Weeks' Leave.
the rest beating tea trays , metal basins or any similar instrument that they could procure . This they called beating " tatoo roll call . " Some of the wretched inhabitants fled to the mountains , thinking that they would be murdered , or that the devil was upon them ! Robberies and midnight raids are common in this part of the world .
Next day I go to see the exterior and the three great stones , built into the wall of the platform , which gave the temple its of name P'AJ 0 OV or " the three stoned . " Mighty blocks they are ; the whole wall is composed of enormous ones , 14 to
20 feet long , but in comparison with these three they dwindle into insignificance . They are built into the wall , at a height of 20 feet from the ground , and the three occupy the whole length of this face of the wall , viz ., 190 feet 8 inches ,,
being in the same layer . The largest is 64 feet long . There is one similar stone in the quarry half a mile off , which was never finished nor moved . This stone is 68 feet long , 14 high , and
14 broad ! One feels almost disposed to believe in superhuman agency , for with all our modern , machinery , steam power , hydraulic rams , etc ., I do not think we could get such a huge mass moved half a mile , and then lifted up 20 feet
now . Verily " there were giants in these days . " It is not easy to realise the size of such blocks from mere figures ; many a country church toweris not 60 feet high , and yet one of these stones is 68 feet long—that is two feet longer than the
distance between the wickets at a cricket match l . As I rode up alongside of the one lying in the quarry I could not nearly touch its top , though on . horseback . ( To be continued . )
Masonic Jottings.—No. 3.
MASONIC JOTTINGS . —No . 3 .
BY A PAST PEOVINCIAL GRAND MASTER . AMJEETCS ITAGHfFS . The works of Albertus Magnus—whom foreign . Masons delight to call Albert of Strasburg—fill twenty-one folio volumes . They were published in
1651 , at Lyons . At the risk of striking with amazement and dismay some of the excellent brothers , contributors to the Freemasons' Magazine , it must be mentioned that a student of the history of Speculative Masonry will find in those volumes a great deal of curious and valuable information .