A Spiritualist's Revelation On Ancient Masonry.

shall Aaron order it , & c . Surely , no one can suppose that the above refers to a kind of Masonic Order of Aaron , or a -ny kind of an organisation which is called " An Order . " And second . —Melchisedec is mentioned in the Old

Testament only twice , viz . in Genesis xiv . 18 , 1 find as follows " And Melchizedeck , King of Salem , brought forth bread and wine , and he was the priest of the most high God . " According to the above , Melchizedeck was not a spirit , but

a man , and no "Order of Melchisedec can be inferred from it . Abraham then was not acquainted with an Order of Melchisedec . In Psalm ex . 4 is the following : " The Lord hath sworn , and will not repent . Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek . " In order to

show that the word " order in the above verse is a mere blunder of the translator , I refer the reader to the Hebrew Dictionaries j of Gesenius and of Parkhursfc;—both were

orthodox Christians . The first makes it read : " after the manner of Melchisedec , " and the latter " after the matter , " & c . Such being the case , there is no evidence that David knew anything about an " Order of Melchisedec . " In the 7 th Epistle to the Hebrews , I find indeed both " Order of Aaron" and " Order of Melchizedeck"

mentioned ; and as the said Epistles are ascribed in the Bible to Paul , people imagine that Paul was the author of those Epistles , and as Paul was called " an Apostle , " he of course wrote by inspiration ; and hence Paul ' s inspired testimony

to a former existence of an Order of Aaron , & c . cannot be doubted by any one . The truth , however , is , no one knows who wrote the

Epistles to the Hebrews . Tho question puzzled the early Christian Fathers as much as it did the modern critics . The authorship of the said Epistles were ascribed to Clement of Rome , to Barnabas , to Luke , to Silas , and Paul ;

and as somebody must have written them , it was finally concluded that it would give the said Epistles greater importance if they were ascribed to Paul , and Paul remained

their unquestioned author for about a thousand years . Bat for some reason , Cardinal Cajetan , the opponent of Luther , was the first to disturb the old tradition of Paul ' s

authorship ; hence , Calvin and Beza also began to question the authorship of the said Epistles , and Luther demonstrated to his own satisfaction that Apollos was the author . In

short , no one knows by whom the Epistles to the Hebrews were written , where they were written , and to whom they were written . It is claimed , that internal evidence demonstrates that the writer to the Hebrews did not understand

the Hebrew language ; the probability therefore is , thafc he got his notion of the Order of Aaron , & c , from a corrupt copy of the Septuagint . But that is not all ; Abraham's host was neither named

at his christening or baptism " Melchisedec ; nor was he king of a country or town called Salem . Indeed , there seems to have been no such a place as Salem during Abraham ' s lifetime , ancl Biblical commentators have assigned as

many localities to old Salem as others did to the authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews . In short , " doctors differ " all round ; and as Mr . Colville had no doubt that the Orders

of Melchisedec and of Aaron are mentioned in the Old Testament , and that they were known to Abraham and to David , I must come to the conclusion that the spirit who inspired Mr . Colville was unreliable . *

The next question however is , have Masons been really foolish enough to have Masonised Messrs . Melchisedec and Aaron ? And I am sorry to answer they have . Thus , in 1824 the Cerneauites at New York chartered a Masonic

concern , called Aaron ' s band , a continuation of the old Order of Aaron most probably ; and Kenning ' s Cyclopaedia informs me that there is a Melchisedec in the fifth ( degree I suppose ) of the Asiatic Brothers . Also in the sixth of the

¦ Bavarian Illuminati ; and , if I understand right , Melchisedec v * vas au officer in the old degree of Templar Priests , and Melchisedec , of course , cuts a figure in the American high Masonic degrees .

I shall only add , that whenever I look iuto a Masonic ^ ycloptedia , and see in it the quantity of ridiculous stuff that -uas been foisted on Masonry , I cannot help exclaiming , after the manner of Madame Rowland : — - " * , Masonry ! How many tomfooleries are propagated in thy namo ! With regard to astrology , the reader will find , iu Roger

A Spiritualist's Revelation On Ancient Masonry.

De Hoveden s Annals , two letters by Christian astrologers , predicting disastrous events , even the destruction of the world , but a Mahommedan philosopher iu Spain ridiculed their predictions . BOSTON , 26 th May 1886 .

Reminiscences Of A Secretary.

REMINISCENCES OF A SECRETARY .

MASONKY does nofc always " take " with fche newly initiated , ib does not always strike in , that is to say the impressions given ancl received by fche candidate aro various ; sometimes the beantifu 1 lectures , the elaborate ritual , glides off the mind of the recipient aad ho thinks no more about the real meaning of the symbolism than he wonld had he been to some show or some minstrel performance .

Oftentimes the moral teaching of our work impresses fche neophyte more than aught else , and few there are , very few indeed , on whose mind the initiation , passing and raising make a lasting and deep impression , BO deep indeed thafc they take hold in earnest and become sincere and zealous workers in the Fraternity .

By these I mean the real workers , thosd who never tire , though they have received all the honours , have been through and through again , still they adhere to the then Masonio love , aud work for the love they boar the Craft . Often the virions impressions given and the result attained is due to the officer conferring the degree , often

to the kind of material the newly-made member finds in the Lodge . Sometimes this is congenial , other times not ; in the former case the new-comer will stay and become interested and be interwoven in the work of the Lodge , until he sees and appreciates its beauties ; some , times again a sudden enthusiasm is developed which is not always

lasting . Like a veritable straw-fire , a sadden flame bursts forth , spreading its lurid light far among friends and acquaintance- ? , and then as suddenly goes down and disappears , leaving nothing behind but a little heap of malodorous ashes . The cause of this is also various , disappointment , first in office , second in not attaining that

mercenary gain many expect , for it cannot be denied many do expect gain through the Fraternity ; the merchant expects customers , the newly-fledged physician expects patients , the lawyer clients , and BO on through the long list . One case I remember different from all the above : Bro . James A ;

Houdnaugh became a member of my Lodge about the year 13— , and was very enthusiastic . He studied the ritual carefully 5 he never missed a meeting of his own Lodge and was a constant visitor in sister Lodges , yet I could not say that he was ambitious for office . While he was capable and always ready to fill the place of any absent

officer , he never expressed a desire to hold office himself , fie was always very profuse in praise of the Fraternity , and I thought certainly that the impressive ceremony through which he had passed had made a deep and lasting impression upon him , yet I found very soon thab his enthusiasm was most emphatically of the straw-fire

kind , and was not lasting ; but tho cause of his falling off was the queerest I had overheard . Masonry was not pions enough for him ; there was not salvation enough in the ritual , aud the Craft was altogether too easy in the matter of admitting men of all creeds . He came to my desk one evening and told me he felt greatly

disappointed ; he thought Masonry ought to be remodelled , put upon a different basis , and built upon a better plan , so as to bring men nearer to everlasting salvation . I walked home with him that evening and questioned him abont bis religions beliefs—a subject I alwiys carefully avoided in and out of Lodge , believing , with

Frederick the Great , that every man ought to be allowed to go to heaven in his own way , and choose the road by which this all-desired gaol may be reached . But I had taken a liking to this Brother , and

thought by entering into his ways I could convince him that Masonry was all right , aud that we had better nofc remodel ifc , aud leave its grandest feature—universal tolerance aud charity—just as the fathers had handed it down to us .

I found that Bro . Houdnaugh s parents were of the highest of high church Episcopalians , and of course his early training was from that source , but like the famous Josiah Davidson , who tried to live the life of Christ in the nineteenth century , he had asked the rector manv unseemly and naughty questions , and incurred the displeasure

of that stiff and haughty dignitary . As soon as he was old enough he became a Dissenter , much to the disgust and chagrin of his old parents . He said he was a searcher after truth , and it seemed fco me he had been a good while searching . He attended the Presbyterian church awhile , but this hard and cold band was not congenial

fco oar kind-hearted Brother , and for a while he drifted along without any Church connection . Then some Methodist friends " converted " him , and he became a loud and earnest shouter in the " amen corner . " Bat the evangelical work of these good people did not exactly sait him . He thought ifc was low to go everywhere and preach , and

thereby allow everybody to become a minister ; and while li 3 believed iu teaching the Gospel fco every creatnre , he did not think ivcry creature should teach the Gospel . He had also tried all kinds > f Baptists—havd-sholl , soft-shell , total immersion , partial iram 3 rsion , md no immersion at all—only sprinkling . In fact , I founl this

earnest searcher after troth had almost boxed the religions compass . Yet , among all these people , he could nob find what he was so ¦ jarnesfc ' y seeking , and when he joined the Lodge he thought he would find among his Brethren only truth ancl honesty , and that comely

order" Which nothing early gives , or can destroy , The soul ' s calm sunshine , ancl the heartfelt joy . " But , alaa ! for p JOV weak human nature , there were flaws and

defects found even atno * ig Masons . Masonry was all right , as wore the various chnrcho * , bnt human nature is the same in the Lodge as in tho church , and is far from being perfect in either . And new Bro , James was drifting aud groping among Spiritualists , and