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Article EVER BENEFICENTLY ADVANCING. Page 1 of 2 Article EVER BENEFICENTLY ADVANCING. Page 1 of 2 →
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Ever Beneficently Advancing.
EVER BENEFICENTLY ADVANCING .
EE LIGION is the key of history , and the moro closely we investigate the course of Providence , the more distinctly shall wo comprehend the course of num . The three great revelations—I he Patriarchal , tho Jewish , and the Christian—will bo found to have been adapted to the
three great periods of society , and to Imvc been adapted with a foresight and a completeness which argno their origin divine . In each instance tho reli gion long preceded
the period—a pro-jf that it was not the work of human necessities ; and tho period was always the subject of both prophecy and miracle—a proof that it was also the operation of the will of heaven .
The first stage of human society , after the dispersion of the descendants of Noah , was clanship , an existence by small tribes widely separated , and roving over tho wastes of the world . That this form of society was by a divine ordinance , is evident from tho prophetic name of the
patriarch Peleg , which means , in the Hebrew language , dispersion , in whose time this extraordinary change was to be effected ; and from the miracle expressly wrought to counteract tho establishment of an empire of Babel , tho miracle , too , having the object of even increasing the
dispersion by breaking up the universal language . Tho tower of Babel , tho nucleus of the city of Babylon and nation of Chaldea , was to bc built as high ns th" heavens , in the vain hope of affording an escape , should another
flood visit the earth ; but , because the descendants of Noah were thus forgetful of God's covenant , sealed with the rainbow , their language became unintelligible to each other , and they were forced to separate into tribes and to settle tho different parts of the earth .
Tho relig ion had been given five hundred years before by the covenant with Noab , itself only a renewal of the religion given at tho gates of Paradise , its simple tenets being the existence of God , the sin of man , and tho hope of redemption ; its simple ritual being sacrifice , and its
only priest the father of the family—a religion whose simplicity , while it contained all the essential truths of revelation , was obviously suited to the narrow means and rude capacities of wanderers through the wilderness of the globe . This first and beautiful system had the desired
effect of fraternizing the good and worthy of the different tribes into one band or society , acknowledging as their creed , faith , hope and charity : Faith in that Supreme Power which had been so supornaturally manifested to them ; Hope , by that celestial arch or covenant of his
promise—a type of tho Redeemer ; and Charity , by that Divine lovo which had preserved their posterity , and whoso spirits had descended into their hearts . These were tho first principles of Masonry , which havo since been represented by that " theological ladder which Jacob , iu his
vision , saw ascending from earth to heaven . " Every Mason knows that tho "ladder , " with its three rounds or steps , is a significant emblem on the trestloboard , and refers to the Trinity of Freemasonry as exemplified in the three ancient degrees . It symbolically points , also , to the three great dispensations .
But another period was to come , when a new aud vast stimulant was to be given to tho progress of mankind , by a new system of society . The scattered clans wero to be gathered into condensed masses . Government was to begin , and the passions , powers , and enjoyments of
mankind were to be moulded , excited and elevated by the force , the fear and the splendour of tho sceptre . In this period the civilized world was to be placed under four successive great sovereignties ; and the singularity of this
system was , that , unlike tho perpetual compotitorships of later kingdoms , each was to be , for its time , without a rival , and the supreme guardian and governor ' of civilized mankind .
That this period was equally the work of tho Divine will is proved , as in the former instance , by both miracle and prophecy ; the miraculous vision of Nebuchadnezzar , revealing tho existence of the four successive and onl y empires , and the prophecies of Daniel giving the detail of
their origin , their objects , and their dissolution . To meet this period a religion had also been prepared nearly five hundred years before tho mosaic covenant . Although the
Jewish dispensation was local in its ordinances , it was universal in its principles ; and , although expressly devised to keep the Jew separate from the profanations of tho heathen , yet , in the " proselytes of tho gates , " it at onco
Ever Beneficently Advancing.
provided for the reception of the Gentile , and dispensed witli thoso ordinances which were dependent on locality . Hut tho code of Jndca , besides the purest religion , exhibited . to the surrounding nations au example of the purest government . In all conditions of mankind the two
chief elements ot public happiness are : the supremacy of law and the security of property . In the Jewish c , institution , the heathen saw theso two elements placed in the highest point of view—a law superior to all change , and binding king and people , and a succession of property
equally beyond the caprice of man . May it not have been with the direct purpose of impressing this example on mankind that tho Jewish kingdom was constantly
connected with tho four successive empires , tho lesson running parallel with them all , Judea surviving the three ( astern , and perishing only when tho " period of empire " was to fall with Rome ?
Every age has its religion , and although Freemasonry is not a sectarian Order yet it ia allied to the religion of every age by a series of moral links which bind them together ;
siio pledges herself , as the handmaid of religion , to co-operato and defend those sublime principles—tho suporstructure of all that is good and beautiful in social and moral government .
That Freemasonry flourished in great splendour during this second period wo have incontestible evidence . Solomon , king of Israel , was among tho greatest patrons of the Order , which he not only encouraged but perpetuated . It is generally conceded that he united aud blended
Operative and Speculative Masonry . The latter had been practiced by all the sages of ancient times , but symbolic language was but little understood by the operatives who worked in laying tho foundation of tho second temple . To
promote peace and good will among the large number of workmen in his employment , he conceived tho grand idea of uniting the two systems into one perfect and harmonious whole .
Without stopping to trace its existence among tho contemporary nations , we come at onco to the brilliant reign of Solomon , king of Israel . When that monarch was divinely assured that he shonld receive whatever blessing he should ask , he prudently and modestly desired , not
riches and honour , but a wise and understanding heart . The wisdom of our first Grand Master was no less distinguished in the government of his kingdom than in the many learned treatises which ho wrote upon the nature of plants and trees , and of beasts , birds and fishes . " All
the earth , " says the sacred historian , in the excess of his imagination , " sought Solomon , to hear his wisdom , which God had put into his heart . " Ho investigated the kingdoms of nature ; he described the vegetable world , from the cedar of Lebanon to tho smallest grasses that push their
way through the crevices between the stones ; ho described tho animal world , from the leviathan and the flying fowl , down to the fish and tho worm . His songs , wo are told , wero a thousand and five ; one of these , called tho " Cunticum , Cantlcorum , " as if it , were the best , has been
handed down to us . His Proverbs are a treasury of moral instruction , for tho most part in a sententious form , but sometimes molting into tenderness or rising into sublime conceptions . Peace and plenty were diffused throughout his dominions , and , by his extensive alliances and commerce ,
gold and silver were brought to him in such abundance that the riches of the world seem to have been gathered together in the city of Jerusalem . Having , by these means , added a vast quantity of materials to those which David had collected , he applied himself to the great work which
his father had so much at heart , and built a Temple to the Lord ; it was the most beautiful and magnificent edifice in fcho world , aud erected on Mount Moriah , where Abraham had offered up his son Isaac , and where God appeared to David when he stopped the pestilence . The grandeur and
richness of it exceeded all power of description ; and when the ark was deposited in it , a divine light filled the building . The fame of the wisdom and magnificence of this great monarch spread over tho whole earth , and drew many persons of wealth and learning from distant nations to his
court . Hiram , King of Tyre , had always been a friend of David , and when Solomon succeeded to his throne , he sent an embassy to congratulate him . Solomon soon after applied to him for cedar-wood , fir-wood , and stone , for the
construction of the temple , which Hiram sent down on floats from Lebanon to tho port nearest Jerusalem . No less than one hundred and fifty thousand of Solomon ' s people were employed in assisting Hiram ' s workmen to
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ever Beneficently Advancing.
EVER BENEFICENTLY ADVANCING .
EE LIGION is the key of history , and the moro closely we investigate the course of Providence , the more distinctly shall wo comprehend the course of num . The three great revelations—I he Patriarchal , tho Jewish , and the Christian—will bo found to have been adapted to the
three great periods of society , and to Imvc been adapted with a foresight and a completeness which argno their origin divine . In each instance tho reli gion long preceded
the period—a pro-jf that it was not the work of human necessities ; and tho period was always the subject of both prophecy and miracle—a proof that it was also the operation of the will of heaven .
The first stage of human society , after the dispersion of the descendants of Noah , was clanship , an existence by small tribes widely separated , and roving over tho wastes of the world . That this form of society was by a divine ordinance , is evident from tho prophetic name of the
patriarch Peleg , which means , in the Hebrew language , dispersion , in whose time this extraordinary change was to be effected ; and from the miracle expressly wrought to counteract tho establishment of an empire of Babel , tho miracle , too , having the object of even increasing the
dispersion by breaking up the universal language . Tho tower of Babel , tho nucleus of the city of Babylon and nation of Chaldea , was to bc built as high ns th" heavens , in the vain hope of affording an escape , should another
flood visit the earth ; but , because the descendants of Noah were thus forgetful of God's covenant , sealed with the rainbow , their language became unintelligible to each other , and they were forced to separate into tribes and to settle tho different parts of the earth .
Tho relig ion had been given five hundred years before by the covenant with Noab , itself only a renewal of the religion given at tho gates of Paradise , its simple tenets being the existence of God , the sin of man , and tho hope of redemption ; its simple ritual being sacrifice , and its
only priest the father of the family—a religion whose simplicity , while it contained all the essential truths of revelation , was obviously suited to the narrow means and rude capacities of wanderers through the wilderness of the globe . This first and beautiful system had the desired
effect of fraternizing the good and worthy of the different tribes into one band or society , acknowledging as their creed , faith , hope and charity : Faith in that Supreme Power which had been so supornaturally manifested to them ; Hope , by that celestial arch or covenant of his
promise—a type of tho Redeemer ; and Charity , by that Divine lovo which had preserved their posterity , and whoso spirits had descended into their hearts . These were tho first principles of Masonry , which havo since been represented by that " theological ladder which Jacob , iu his
vision , saw ascending from earth to heaven . " Every Mason knows that tho "ladder , " with its three rounds or steps , is a significant emblem on the trestloboard , and refers to the Trinity of Freemasonry as exemplified in the three ancient degrees . It symbolically points , also , to the three great dispensations .
But another period was to come , when a new aud vast stimulant was to be given to tho progress of mankind , by a new system of society . The scattered clans wero to be gathered into condensed masses . Government was to begin , and the passions , powers , and enjoyments of
mankind were to be moulded , excited and elevated by the force , the fear and the splendour of tho sceptre . In this period the civilized world was to be placed under four successive great sovereignties ; and the singularity of this
system was , that , unlike tho perpetual compotitorships of later kingdoms , each was to be , for its time , without a rival , and the supreme guardian and governor ' of civilized mankind .
That this period was equally the work of tho Divine will is proved , as in the former instance , by both miracle and prophecy ; the miraculous vision of Nebuchadnezzar , revealing tho existence of the four successive and onl y empires , and the prophecies of Daniel giving the detail of
their origin , their objects , and their dissolution . To meet this period a religion had also been prepared nearly five hundred years before tho mosaic covenant . Although the
Jewish dispensation was local in its ordinances , it was universal in its principles ; and , although expressly devised to keep the Jew separate from the profanations of tho heathen , yet , in the " proselytes of tho gates , " it at onco
Ever Beneficently Advancing.
provided for the reception of the Gentile , and dispensed witli thoso ordinances which were dependent on locality . Hut tho code of Jndca , besides the purest religion , exhibited . to the surrounding nations au example of the purest government . In all conditions of mankind the two
chief elements ot public happiness are : the supremacy of law and the security of property . In the Jewish c , institution , the heathen saw theso two elements placed in the highest point of view—a law superior to all change , and binding king and people , and a succession of property
equally beyond the caprice of man . May it not have been with the direct purpose of impressing this example on mankind that tho Jewish kingdom was constantly
connected with tho four successive empires , tho lesson running parallel with them all , Judea surviving the three ( astern , and perishing only when tho " period of empire " was to fall with Rome ?
Every age has its religion , and although Freemasonry is not a sectarian Order yet it ia allied to the religion of every age by a series of moral links which bind them together ;
siio pledges herself , as the handmaid of religion , to co-operato and defend those sublime principles—tho suporstructure of all that is good and beautiful in social and moral government .
That Freemasonry flourished in great splendour during this second period wo have incontestible evidence . Solomon , king of Israel , was among tho greatest patrons of the Order , which he not only encouraged but perpetuated . It is generally conceded that he united aud blended
Operative and Speculative Masonry . The latter had been practiced by all the sages of ancient times , but symbolic language was but little understood by the operatives who worked in laying tho foundation of tho second temple . To
promote peace and good will among the large number of workmen in his employment , he conceived tho grand idea of uniting the two systems into one perfect and harmonious whole .
Without stopping to trace its existence among tho contemporary nations , we come at onco to the brilliant reign of Solomon , king of Israel . When that monarch was divinely assured that he shonld receive whatever blessing he should ask , he prudently and modestly desired , not
riches and honour , but a wise and understanding heart . The wisdom of our first Grand Master was no less distinguished in the government of his kingdom than in the many learned treatises which ho wrote upon the nature of plants and trees , and of beasts , birds and fishes . " All
the earth , " says the sacred historian , in the excess of his imagination , " sought Solomon , to hear his wisdom , which God had put into his heart . " Ho investigated the kingdoms of nature ; he described the vegetable world , from the cedar of Lebanon to tho smallest grasses that push their
way through the crevices between the stones ; ho described tho animal world , from the leviathan and the flying fowl , down to the fish and tho worm . His songs , wo are told , wero a thousand and five ; one of these , called tho " Cunticum , Cantlcorum , " as if it , were the best , has been
handed down to us . His Proverbs are a treasury of moral instruction , for tho most part in a sententious form , but sometimes molting into tenderness or rising into sublime conceptions . Peace and plenty were diffused throughout his dominions , and , by his extensive alliances and commerce ,
gold and silver were brought to him in such abundance that the riches of the world seem to have been gathered together in the city of Jerusalem . Having , by these means , added a vast quantity of materials to those which David had collected , he applied himself to the great work which
his father had so much at heart , and built a Temple to the Lord ; it was the most beautiful and magnificent edifice in fcho world , aud erected on Mount Moriah , where Abraham had offered up his son Isaac , and where God appeared to David when he stopped the pestilence . The grandeur and
richness of it exceeded all power of description ; and when the ark was deposited in it , a divine light filled the building . The fame of the wisdom and magnificence of this great monarch spread over tho whole earth , and drew many persons of wealth and learning from distant nations to his
court . Hiram , King of Tyre , had always been a friend of David , and when Solomon succeeded to his throne , he sent an embassy to congratulate him . Solomon soon after applied to him for cedar-wood , fir-wood , and stone , for the
construction of the temple , which Hiram sent down on floats from Lebanon to tho port nearest Jerusalem . No less than one hundred and fifty thousand of Solomon ' s people were employed in assisting Hiram ' s workmen to