Reviews.

REVIEWS .

All Books intended lor Review should be addressed to the Editor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , 23 Great Queen Street , W . C . Tl" Origin- of Mosonic Riti'nt and Tradition as manifested by the Gwiiictrirol Prsign and Symbolism of the Great Pyramid , the F . vcrlattiwi Pillar , or Tan vie , of Witness to the Most . High . A

Lecture by Pro . William Rowbottom , Royal Alfred Lodge , No . 102 S . Delivered , by request before th- Fermor Hesketh Lodge , No . l ; i " iO . in tle > Masonio Temple , Liverpool , lOrh February 1879 the Arboretnm bodge , Derby , No . 731 , tilth Angust 1879 ; and the Royal Alfred Lodge , Alfroton , No . 1028 , 25 th Febrnary 1880 With Notes and Appendix . Alfroton : Printed and Published by and for tlio Anthor , of whom only copies can bo obtained . 1880 .

IT wonld occupy too mnch of onr space if wo ontered on a long discussion of tho interesting matters which Bro . Rowbottom has considered in thoso pages . There has been always great diversity of opinion as to the objects which tho builders of tho Pyramids of Egypt had in view in tho erection of thoso stupendous structures . Many havo been wont to consider they were built , partly for religions

and partly for sepulchral purposes , others for sepulchral only , and others , again , havo held they wero raised for astronomical purposes . Tt is obvious that were we to express any opiuion on this dispute a well nigh endless controversy would follow , in which all who devoted any attention to tho subject wonld vory naturally claim a hearing . It is manifestly desirable , therefore , that wo should do no

moro than indicate tho many singular coincidences which have afforded a basis for Bro . Rowbottom's determination of certain important epochs in tho world ' s history , and tho numerous measure . ments of tho great Pyramid on which , in their turn , snch coimidences are based . It goes without saying that a study of the Pyramids and inquiries into their purposes will always find a

multitude of enthusiasts eager to support this or that theory , and Masons especially givo the most anxious attention to whatever may help to elncidnto their origin and purpose . Egypt , as ono of the earliest , if not tho earliest home of civilisation , plays a conspicuous part in our Masonic curriculum , for it is generally—we should say rightlyheld that Masonry and civilisation bavo always moved forward hand

in hand together . Thero is , indeed , a fascination about almost everything relating to ancient Egypt , as well as to tho mysterie .-connectetl with its government , and the inter-relations of its different castes , that it wonld have been pardonablo if tho formulators of our Ritual had connected Egypt and Freemasonry together without any show of reason . But tho connection is founded on

reason , as most , brethren will have no hesitation in admitting ; though thev may not show Bro . Rowbottom ' s enthusiasm to the extent of considering tho " Origin of Masonic Ritual and Tradition " as being " manifested by the Geometrical Design and Symbolism of the Great Pyramid . " Just as wo aro willing to soo a connection between Freemasonry and the teachings of Pythagoras and other philosophers ,

the objects of both being to iucnlcate tho principles of true morality , so , for the samo reason , bnt withont making certain measurements of a pyramid the bases of a now or newly elaborated theory , we are willing to see a connection between the speculative Masonry of to-daj and tho Egyptian cult of the earlier ages . However , let us turn withont further preface to the Lectnre , and describe , as set forth in

it , the very singular coincidences pointed out by Bro . Rowbottom as existing between the Great Pyramid and much that is familiar to our brethren generally . Passing over the earlier parallelisms Bro . Rowbottom considers he has established , we note the discovery in 1797 of a socket hole at the N . E . angle sunk in the rock on which the Great Pyramid stands for

the reception of the corner-stone , which was found to be larger than thoso at the other angles . Then the 24-in . gauge or ordinary twofoot mlo of the Gothic nations approaches the most nearly to the measures in common use to the sacred cubit , which was estimated by Sir Isaac Newton at nearly 25 inches in length . This 25-in . cubit is the ten-millionth part of the earth ' s radin 3—the line from its surface to

its centre—and is in the opinion of Sir John Herschel "the purest and most ideally perfect standard " measure imaginable . Moreover , 25 is " the perfect expression , or square , of the number 5 , " a number of infinite virtue among Jews and Masons . With this standard measure the architect of tho Pyramids "laid out its base lines on a square of such a size that it had for its side lengths jnst so many

cnbits as there are days in the year , viz .: 365 ' 242 . " Hence the sacred cubit ' s length " symbolised a day" and its use in this instance affords a perfect parallel with our symbolical application of the gauge in question . The height was then " determined at such an angle that it shonld be to the perimeter of the base as tho radius of a circle is to its circumference , " and " this height raised by 10 in

its ninth power gives the distance of the earth from the snn round which it revolves yearly . " Moreover , tho " sum of the diagonals of tbe base gives the number 25 , 827 " —which is also " given by the circuit measurement of the Pyramid at the King ' s Chamber level "—and " 25 , 827 solar years are required to make ono year of the heavens and to accomplish the precession of the equinoxes . " This " combination

of snch geometric truths aud the expression of now well-known , but long-forgotten natural laws , " is held by Bro . Rowbottom to prove not only " that the Master builder of the Pyramid had been instructed in deep mysteries , " but also to explain " why Masonry and Geometry were in early days synonymous terms , and why tho art of buiklim

was held peculiarly sacred by the Egyptian hierarchs . " Hence om -worthy Brother holds that no F . C . Freemason should regard " thi .-agreement between a geometrically-determined building and the universe itself as a matter of coincidence only . " He next takes into consideration the King ' s Chamber and the ante chamber leading to it . The floor length of the latter is " 116 -2

Reviews.

inches , 103-033 of which are of granite . Now the area of a square with 103033 for its side length is equal to the area of a circle whioh has 116-20 for its diameter . " Then tho length of tho King ' s Chamber is given as " 412-132 , " which , " as . the side of a square , represents an area equal to that of a circle with a radius of 232 52—the Great Pyramid ' s height in cubits , " while " 412 132 as tho diameter

represents also a circle eqnal in area to a square , having for its side lengths * G 5 242—tho Great Pyramid's baso lines in cubits . " Tho chamber itself is desciibable as an " oblong square , " and contains a cotter , chest , or sarcophagus , also " remarkable for its geometric properties mid its earth commonsurability ; and more particularly for the doublo solution therein givon of tho problem of tho ' duplication of tho

cube . '" Thus , as to "its exterior measures , " the " wholo cubical ( tnntonts aro double those of the interior , and the solid volume equals 'ts capacity , while tho solid contents of its side 3 aro doublo those of tho bottom . " It also " sots forth tho mean density of the earth as ¦ V 70—a scientific fact , ridiculed when first announced , but now con . firmed by independent scientific observation . " Its capacity measure

is 71 , 250 inches , eqnal to that of onr old and now disused " chaldron , " tho fonrth " or ' quarter' of whioh is still our standard measure for corn . " It equals also in capaoity " the Ark of the Covenant and tho brazen lavors of King Solomon's Temple , " from which Bro . Rowbottom deduces tho lesson that " all the works of wise and rightly instructed Masons aro in harmony with the Universe . " The form , too ,

of tho whole building , which is that of a perfect poutagon with its five sides and fivo points , is also hold to bo snggestivo . Tho next point on which the anthor lays stress is that this Pyramid is " on the contre . " Thus , " on its lino of longitude there is a greater extent of land surface than on any other line of longitude . . . . . On its parallel of latitude there is also a greater extent of land

surface than on any other . By eqnal surface projection , it is iu the centro of the habitable land surface of the globe , while politically and commercially it stands in the central land of Egypt , the birthplace of the nations , and the earliest home of civilisation . " But still more extraordinary is it that the " now accepted Great Pyramid date of 2170 B . C . " is , according to

Mr . Richard A . Proctor , the " beginning of exact astronomy , which that gentleman determines " by calculating the period at which the Southern Polo would bo central with regard to the old Southern Con . stellations . " It was , too , " in this year of the foundation of the Great Pyramid that at midnight of the Autumnal Equinox , when a Draconis was on the meridian below the Pole , that Alcyone , the

central star of the Pleiades group "—which in all ages "have been legarded as peculiarly connected with the fates of men "—" and , according to the Rev . Hugh Macmillan , who gives as his authority M . Miidler , of Dorpat , the centre of the whole Universe , was on the meridian above the Pole , and therefore in that year also coincident with the Vernal Equinox . Thns wo havo tho year 2 70 i ? . c .

speially marked by astronomical phenomena , which would not repeat themselves until 25 . 827 years had run their course . " And as the ancients associated the b ginning of tho year with these Pleiades , tad dated it from the Vernal Equinox , the origin of tho custom must have dated from the time " when the Spring Equinox was coincident with the noon-culmination of the seven stars—that is ,

when the sun and the seven stars were on the meridian at the pame moment ; " and " such was the noon-day of the Spring Equinox in he year of the bnilding of the Pyramid—when the centre of the Earth ; tho sun , the centre of our solar system ; and Alcyone , the reputed centre of the Universe , were on a line . " This important fact ' was ascertained by the architect of the Pyramid by reference to tho

heavens at midnight of the Autumnal Equinox , or , as the author , quoting Professor Piazzi Smith , puts it in a note , " by observing tho anti-sun , or the point of the heavens opposite the sun at midui ght . Wherefore , his time of the year foi making his observations of those Taurus stars ( the Pleiades ) , which the sua is amongst iu tho spring , is evidently in the autnmn . "

We have now sufficiently described the views of the author on tho subject of his interesting , yet abstruse , lecture . We wish we could have found space for carrying it further , and pointing out more clearly his parallelisms as they afFeot oar Ritual . Onr readers , however , do not need that we should be moro explicit , and had we pursued our sketch to the end , wo should have deprived them of the opportunity of discovering for themselves points of interest to

which they were entire strangers . For ourselves , we can only repeat what we havo stated at tho outset , th » t the Lecture ia well worth carefully studying by those who are versed in Masonio Symbolism . We trust Bro . Rowbottom will find a sufficient number of appreciative readers to justify his further pursuit of other abstruse questions , for tho unravelling of , or attempt to unravel which , he seems to possess a most commendable aptitude .

It is with great pleasure we beg to announce that , at an emergency meetiug , recently held , of the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Lancashire , the sum of Five Hundred Guineas Avas voted out of the Benevolent Fund of the Province towards the Festival of the Royal Masonic

Institution for Boys . As the sum of one hundred and fifty guineas had previously been voted from the General Fund towards the same purpose , the Province of West Lancashire has evidently determined on making the presidency

of its respected and popular Chief a grand success . A total of six hundred and fifty guineas out of Prov . Grand Lodge Funds looks like a " big thiug , " in aid of the Earl of [ jathom ' s powerful advocacy of the cause of " Our Boys , " on Thursday next .