PART I.

ANCIENT MASONRY. - THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES, COGNATE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY, AND THE "OLD CHARGES" OF FREEMASONS.

(Introductory to the Perfected Organization of Modern Times.)

INTRODUCTION.

THE SIX THEORIES OF "THE MYSTERIES."

PROFESSOR FISHER, of Yale University, says: "The subject of history is man. History has for its object to record his doings and experiences. It may then be concisely defined as a narrative of past events in which men have been concerned. . . . History has been called 'the biography of a society.' Biography has to do with the career of an individual. History is concerned with the successive actions and fortunes of a community; in its broadest extent, with the experiences of the human family. It is only when men are connected by the social bond, and remain so united for a greater or less period, that there is room for history."

This is emphatically true of Freemasonry, defined by Brother Rudolph Seydel (quoted by Findel), as a union of all unions, an association of men, bound together in their struggles to attain all that is noble, who desire only what is true and beautiful, who love and practise virtue for its own sake, — this is Freemasonry, the most comprehensive of all human confederacies. From whence came this unique society? It is one of the purposes of this work to give an intelligent reply to the question; and yet the way is beset with difficulty, because the truth of its history, the story of its growth to the present acknowledged grand proportions, is so mixed with legend, with dubious and contradictory statements, that even Chevalier de Bonneville contended that the lives of ten men were none too long a period in which to accomplish the undertaking. The labors of many talented authors, to which reference is made in the body of this book, have now paved the way so that in this evening of the nineteenth century it is possible to give a reasonable assurance of the truth of the facts quoted; in other words, the rich materials

accumulated by the earlier historians of Freemasonry have been so reduced to order as to bear the test of sound and sober criticism.

The relation which the Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons bears to the Ancient Mysteries has been classified by Dr. Mackey, in his Encyclopædia, into five principal theories, viz. :—

"The first [to quote his words] is that embraced and taught by Dr. Oliver, that they are but derivations from that common source, both of them and of Freemasonry, the patriarchal mode of worship established by God himself. With this pure system of truth, he supposes the science of Freemasonry to have been coëval and identified. But the truths thus revealed by divinity came at length to be doubted or rejected through the imperfection of human reason; and, though the visible symbols were retained in the mysteries of the Pagan world, their true interpretation was lost.

"There is a second theory, which, leaving the origin of the mysteries to be sought in the patriarchal doctrines, where Oliver has placed it, finds the connection between them and Freemasonry commencing at the building of King Solomon's Temple. Over the construction of this building, Hiram, the architect of Tyre, presided. At Tyre the mysteries of Bacchus had been introduced by the Dionysian Artificers, and into their fraternity, Hiram, in all probability, had, it is necessarily suggested, been admitted. Freemasonry, whose tenets had always existed in purity among the immediate descendants of the Patriarchs, added now to its doctrines the guard of secrecy, which, as Dr. Oliver remarks, was necessary to preserve them from perversion or pollution.

"A third theory has been advanced by the Abbé Robin, in which he connects Freemasonry indirectly with the mysteries, through the intervention of the Crusaders. In the work already cited, he attempts to deduce, from the ancient initiations, the orders of chivalry, whose branches, he says, produced the institution of Freemasonry.

"A fourth theory, and this has been recently [1873] advanced by the Rev. Mr. King in his treatise On the Agnostics,' is that as some of them, especially those of Mythras, were extended beyond the advent of Christianity, and even to the commencement of the Middle Ages, they were seized upon by the secret societies of that period as a model for their organization, and that through these latter they are to be traced to Freemasonry.

"But perhaps," continues Dr. Mackey, "after all, the truest theory is that which would discard all successive links in a supposed chain of descent from the mysteries to Freemasonry, and would attribute their close resemblance to a natural coincidence of human thought. The legend of the Third degree, and the legends of the Eleusinian, the Cabiric, the Dionysian, the Adonic, and all the other mysteries, are identical in their object to teach the reality of a future life; and this lesson is taught in all by the use of the same symbolism, and substantially the same scenic representation. And this, not because

the Masonic Rites are a lineal succession from the Ancient Mysteries, but because there has been at all times a proneness of the human heart to nourish the belief in a future life, and the proneness of the human mind is to clothe this belief in a symbolic dress. And if there is any other more direct connection between them, it must be sought for in the Roman Colleges of Artificers, who did, most probably, exercise some influence over the rising Freemasons of the early ages, and who, as the contemporaries of the mysteries, were, we may well suppose, imbued with something of their organization."

To these five theories we would add a sixth, unless, indeed, it may be said that ours is but an enlargement of Dr. Mackey's. Concisely stated it is this: The fundamental principle of Freemasonry is a belief in God. Those who believe in the Supreme Architect of heaven and earth, the Dispenser of all good gifts, and the Judge of the quick and the dead (as denominated in Masonic Monitors), trace, from the creation, a Divine Providence directing the destiny of man, both in the spiritual and secular domain. From a study of history, written as well as legendary, we are led to believe that in the latter, taking on the form of fraternity, this agency has exercised a most potent influence - following in temporal matters the guidance of the divine government in the spiritual affairs of the universe. The changes that have taken place since the creation of the world, whether we reckon time by the eras Patriarchal, the Jewish and the Christian, or by periods Prehistoric, Ancient, the Medieval and Modern, have all been under the direction of a Divine dispensation working out for humanity its noblest attainments, as well for "the life that now is, as for that which is to come." This great conservational force is well expressed as a recognition of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man. It was not the sole motive of man, in ages past, to seek the future life; there was brotherhood here, whether it existed as "mysteries," "societies," or, as later, fraternal organizations among men. In support of this theory, the late Dean Stanley said: "Whatever tended to break down the barriers of national and race antipathy, and to produce unity, and a sense of unity among men, paved the way for a just appreciation of enlightened civilization, and a highly cultured state of society, when they should appear, and would serve to help on their progress." It is evident, therefore, that in some form the fundamentals which we call fraternity have always existed in a more or less imperative organism.

If this is true, we account for or explain the theories of Anderson, Oliver, and other early historians, who claim Freemasonry to have been coeval with creation, and afford at the same time a reconciliatory foundation upon which to plant the Fraternity of modern times; for, this principle once admitted, the evolution of degrees in the English, American, Scottish, and other rites, proves that the mind of the Craft was in a transitionary stage until a very late date. Transitional, indeed, but natural and following the Divine impulse; for, to repeat, the Ancient Mysteries were aids to progress and civilization,

and sources of moral life.1 The ideal became actual, and, in process of time, the inception of the equality of man, his dignity and destiny, became incarnate and fixed and permanent institutions. The social idea, connected with religious ideas, became embodied in organisms, established for human instruction, for growth and development. The governments of nations have passed through all these phases until we now possess the English Constitutional Monarchy (placed first, because the oldest), and the American Republic, as examples of the most advanced and beneficent systems.

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An ethnological point of view will divide this subject into "Eastern" and Western," the Orient and the Occident, and the chronological arrangement will coincide with the epochs when extraordinary changes took place, by turning-points in the course of events, rather than to any definite quantities of time, to determine the dividing lines.

THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.

1 It will be seen that many of their customs are ours to-day in Church, State, and society.

DIVISION I.

THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES.

A Treatise on the Eastern European, African, and Asiatic Mysteries; the Occultism of the Orient; the Western European Architects and Operative Masons in Britain, commonly called the Antiquities, and Legendary Traditions of the Craft to the Close of the Operative Period in 1717.

BY WM. R. SINGLETON, 33°,

Grand Secretary, M. W:. Grand Lodge, District of Columbia.

Preface. The compiler of the following pages on the "Mysteries" has made free use of notes accumulated by him in the past twenty-five years, in connection with extracts from such authors as were within his reach for the last four months. Many extracts from his notes are not credited to their proper authors, because the writers consulted had neglected to mention the original authors, and, in many instances, their information had been derived

from very

ancient sources.

There is, therefore, no claim made for originality in these chapters; for, as has been well said by another, in archeology, "what is new is not true, and what is true is not new."

The compiler has endeavored to condense as much as possible all that is essential in the treatment of this subject, and yet he has far exceeded the limit assigned to him, and much valuable matter had to be omitted.

Our main purpose in complying with the invitation to write on the subject of the Ancient Mysteries has been to communicate such information as the writer had accumulated for himself, in the many years which he had devoted to this study; and to collate, as it were, the thoughts and conclusions of those who were best qualified to write upon the subject, and who had published many volumes, which are to be found in all of our public libraries.