whom an enterprising genius, joined to an ardent pursuit of know ledge, procured, though a stranger, initiation into the Egyptian mysteries, notwithstanding the painful rites of preparation, and the various obstacles which, to damp his ardour, the priests neglected no opportunity of casting in his way. It was this illustrious character who first rejecting the name of SAGE, SOPHIST, or WISE, which men of science had before his time with sufficient arrogance assumed, was satisfied with the more modest and humble appellation of PHILOSOPHER, that is, LOVER OF WISDOM. The probationary silence of five years which he imposed upon his disciples before they were admitted to the full knowledge of his doctrine is well known; and, whilst it amply justifies the less rigorous restrictions of our Order, must place the abilities of this wonderful man in a most respectable point of view, who could procure attention to his doctrines, notwithstanding their extraordinary severity of aspect, and attract such multitudes of followers, undeterred either by compliance with the difficult injunction just mentioned, or by the still harder observance of the previous discipline. But the most august and venerable institution in all antiquity of the symbolical kind, and which, nevertheless, encountered the most virulent abuse, was that celebrated every fifth year with the utmost solemnity at Eleusis, a city of Attica in Greece. There is no question that these Mysteries, termed Eleusinian from the place of their celebration, and sometimes The Mysteries, by way of eminence, did not always retain their primitive purity; and that they owed their declension to a cause which must ultimately prove destructive to any society the introduction of mean and dissolute members. It is equally certain, however, that at first they were admirably qualified, in an age "wholly given to idolatry" and vice, to check the torrent of impiety and licentiousness, by impressing the mind with sublime apprehensions of the Divine Nature, with gratitude for all his providential kindness, and with an ardent desire and emulation to excel in virtue, by the hopes which they inspired of a state of felicity as the reward of the virtuous beyond the grave*. Accordingly, from the time of Solon, the great Athenian lawgiver, to that of Cicero, a period of more than five hundred years, scarce a character distinguished for probity or wisdom, who became not an associate in this MASONRY, as I may term it, of the heathen world; and that Socrates anity. There is a pleasing account of this matter, and a full confutation of the writers just mentioned, as well as an excellent contrast betwixt the character, conduct, and mode of instruction of Christ and Pythagoras, in the first volume of the Observer, an agreeable collection of moral and literary essays lately published, and which is ascribed to Mr. Cumberland. * "Among many other advantages which we have derived from Athens," says Cicero, speaking of these mysteries, "this is the greatest-that it has not only taught us to live cheerfully, ut to die in the hope of a more happy futu rity."Illis mysteriis - -· neque solum cum letitia vivendi rationem accepimus, sed etiam cum spe meliore moriendi.ĈICERO de Legibus, lib, ii. furnished an exception was considered even by his friends as highly reproachful to the philosopher, and afforded his enemies abundant matter of accusation and triumph. Clean bands and a pure heart were indispensable requisites in all who aspired to the knowledge of the Sacred Mysteries *. The rites of initiation are described as having been splendid and awful in the highest degree. The Scenea large and magnificent temple.-The Time-to inspire veneration and religious dread-the hour of midnight.-The Action-a species of dramatic exhibition, in which, amongst other subjects of a sacred nature, were represented, in the most glowing colours, the happiness, and joys of the good in a future world; the distractions, horrors, and torments of the wicked †. One of the initiatory ceremonies was striking, and for its peculiarity deserves your attention. The candidate for admission, after vows of secresy, sanctioned by penalties 06 *Lampridius relates in his Alexander Severus, that, previous to the celebration of the rites, proclamation was made aloud by the herald, that "none should "enter the sacred inclosure, but such as knew themselves to be pure and upright, * in heart:” (4)—A prohibition which is said to have had such an effect, by the solemnity of its delivery, upon the heart of the cruel and relentless Nero, that, when in his journey to Greece he wished for admission to the Sacred Mysteries, and approached the temple for that purpose, he was stopped by a voice of reprehension, which reminded him of all his atrocious crimes, but in particular of the murder of his mother, and he voluntarily withdrew, not daring to profane an act of religion by the presence of a parricide. Suetonius's words are these: Peregrinatione quidem Græciæ, Eleusiniis sacris, quorum initiatione impii et scelerati voce præconis submoverentur, interesse non ausus est.-SUETON. in Neron. cap. xxxiv. †The learned Bishop. Warburton in his curious Dissertations on the Mysteries of the Ancients," has endeavoured to prove, that the sixth book of the Eneid of Virgil is an exact transcript of the dramas alluded to, and of the doctrines which they were intended to convey. This opinion has been ably combated, and, as some think, satisfactorily refuted, by the author of a treatise entitled, "Critical Observations on the sixth Book of the Æneid," who, though anonymous, is generally supposed to be the elegant historian of the "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." If in this question we were inclined to adopt the affirmative, and to believe that, in his beautiful description of the invisible world, the poet has betrayed the secrets of his order, we must at least allow that the reader of taste is highly indebted to him for the treachery; and that Masonry itself, however hostile to deceit, needs not disdain to acknowledge its obligations from the conviction thence afforded, that even the best and sublimest institutions may, by the united efforts of ignorance, prejudice, and malice, be traduced as the meanest and the worst. Whosoever revealed the mysteries, that is, disclosed them to the uninitiated, besides being for ever after deemed infamous, was subjected to capital punishment upon conviction. Alcibiades, as we learn from Plutarch and Nepos, being accused in his absence from Athens of having not only revealed but profaned them by a mock celebration at his house, was, upon his not appearing to the information, capitally condemned, had his goods confiscated, and by the priests of the ceremonies was solemnly devoted to the infernal gods. Nor was death the punishment of those only who published the sacred rites; the sentence was equally severe against all who either with design or through ignorance were present at their celebration without being previously initiated; and the historian Livy informs us, that Philip, King of Macedon, made war upon the Athenians, (a) Hence Virgil's ·Presul, & procul este profani, the strongest that could possibly be devised, was presented with a crown, on which he trampled. Then the HIEROPHANTES, or Grand Officiating Master, as we would term him, drawing the sacred knife, held it over the head of the initiated, who, feigning to be struck, fell to the ground as dead; and soon after reviving, was supposed to have entered on a new existence, and obliged himself to a thorough renovation both of temper and conduct. It is not, however, from Paganism alone that we can produce proofs of our position, that even the best institutions, when conducted with secresy, have generally excited calumny and abuse. The argument extends to Christianity itself. In the first ages of the church, the clandestine manner in which the Christians, from the persecuting spirit that prevailed, were obliged to celebrate their Agape or Love-feasts, and to commemorate the death of their Master in the ordinance of his appointment, afforded their enemies occasion of the vilest slander: and though Pliny the younger, who, at the desire of the emperor, had made the strictest inquisition in his province into the nature and design of their meetings, pronounced them in the most unreserved terms to be perfectly innocent, yet we are assured by one of the early fathers, that their eating the flesh, and drinking the blood of Christ, in a figurative sense, were converted by the malice of their adversaries into the actual devouring of children: nay, their charity and fraternal affection, however admirable, and even on account of two Acarnanian youths, who imprudently venturing into the temple with the crowd on the day of the celebration of the mysteries, without having been qualified to be present, paid for their rash curiosity with their lives. Of the infamy which attended those who divulged the mysteries, we may judge from that strong expression of Horace, Vetabo, qui Cereris sacrum Vulgarit arcana, sub iisdem Sit trabibus, fragilemque mecum And Ovid asks with emphasis, Quis Cereris ritus audet vulgare profanis ? Carm. lib. iii, od. 2. Suetonius relates in his life of Claudius Cæsar, that an attempt was made by that emperor to translate the solemnity in question from Attica to Rome. This, however, was not accomplished till the reign of Adrian, when the mysteries ceased to be Græcian, and soon after ceased likewise to be pure. They were not totally abolished till the reign of the elder Theodosius. For farther particulars respecting these celebrated ancient rites, which, as Diodorus Siculus assures us, were an exact representation of those of the Egyptian Isis, the curious reader is referred to a treatise of Meursius, entitled Eleusinia; to Clemens Alexandrinus's Cohortatio ad Gent.; Potter's Antiquities of Greece, Vol. I. Histoire du Ciel, par L'Abbé Pluche, tom I.; L' Antiquité devoileé par ses usages, par M. Boulanger, tom. II.; Warburton's Dissertations on the Mysteries of the Ancients, in his Divine Legation of Moses, book ii. section 4.; several papers in the Memoires de l' Academie des Belles Lettres; and The Religion of the Ancient Greeks illustrateda work just translated from the French of M. Le Clerc de Septchenes, and of which the author of this sermon regrets that he had not an opportunity of availing himself before he preached it, as it contains the fullest and best account he has seen of the Secret Worship of the ancients, its origin and object, and the spirit of the ceremonies by which it was accompanied. admired by those who traduced them, were, by the same malignity of disposition, construed into crimes, and occasioned imputations too gross to mention. II. Having said thus much in defence of the mystery and concealment which Masonry professes, I am now briefly, as I proposed, to appear the apologist of its morals, and evince that, both by its principles and practice, it is friendly to the best interests of mankind, and well adapted to meliorate the character, and adorn it with every natural, social, and religious virtue. (To be concluded in our next.) I SIR, TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. AM a man of genius, who, like many others of the same class, am sometimes in want of a little cash. It is possible, sir, you may be sometimes in need of a little of my assistance in my technical capacity; and, as I shall at all times be glad of your assistance in supplying my deficiencies, we may, if you please, establish a correspondence that may be advantageous to us both. With that view I make offer of my services, whenever you chuse to call for them. My genius, sir, is not confined to any particular line: it takes in the whole bounds of nature. I have already written, with the highest applause, on history, politics, astronomy, and ethics; on geography, law, physic, agriculture, and the military art: but my forte is poetry, and the belles lettres. What kind of poetry do you like best? Is it the elegiac? I give you a small specimen in that strain Breathe soft, ye breezes! gently breathe,' And scent with sweets the balmy gale; Suspend thy note, sweet Philomel, And listen to my tender tale But I must not give you the tale, till I receive you know what. Here follows a specimen of the pastoral strain, which perhaps may better suit your taste. When young, I was cheerful and gay, My spirits were lively and free; I studied not what I should say, Nor lov'd any but those that lov'd me. But now I am pensive and pale, Nysa heeds not my pitiful tale, And I die of chagrin and despair. Do you delight in classical inscriptions? Here is a specimen : Stranger, approach with reverence due Inspir'd thy bosom with th' expansive glow that answers to a husband's name, Is to rear those lovely plants thou seest, which she in life esteem'd, First planted. Or, if it please thee more to rest a while in this retir'd asylum, And harmonise thy soul to love and friendship. But if you love not these plaintive strains, and rather wish for bold, heroic measure, I am here also ready to answer your call, as you will find by the following specimen : O for a Muse, a muse of thunder! To fill th' astonish'd world with wonder While I recount the actions dire Of villains breathing blood and fire, Who mighty London threaten'd to consume, As Catiline of old did mightier Rome. But lyric measure is my chief delight; that sweetly-varied measure, in which the poet can display all the unbounded strength of his genius, unfettered by forms and trammels; in which he can make The clarion shrill That shake the pole, And rend the Welkin wild with loud affray; Or, in numbers trim and gay, Sing the sweets of blooming May! Or, in notes solemn and dull, To sweet repose the spirits lull. On a bed of roses, See, the nymph reposes! Be nature mute; "Or, in a dying, dying fall," Sink all to rest, men, women, children, brutes, and all. Hark! I hear the din of battle; Trumpets sound, and drums do rattle; Alas, he dies! he dies! the mighty hero dies! While, pale with fear, Bellona in the rear, The infantry in sad disorder fly, And in whole ranks beneath the victor's sword inglorious die. O, sir! I could write for ever in this strain-for ever could I write in praise of modern poetry, and of the immense improvements |