Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Original And Supplementary Freemasonry.
derivative origin from that system of which they are said to have been mere imitations . Though firmly convinced that Freemasonry is the genuine descendant of the Mysteries of the Ancients , I shall , for the moment , adopt Dr . Oliver ' s view of the existence of two systems , that I may endeavour to show that the evidences of high antiquity and priority of origin , are in favour of the Spurious Freemasonry ; to show that the Mysteries do not
altogether deserve obloquy , and finally to demonstrate the direct ori gin of the ceremonies of modern Freemasonry from those of the ancient Mysteries . The circumstances from which the evidences of priority of origin are to be derived , are doctrines and principles , rites and ceremonies , emblems , and symbols * I must here remark that Dr . Oliver has already so deeply drawn upon the stores of antiquity , and has collected such a vast amount of facts from
the various sources of classic lore , in support of his opinions , that it is impossible , in writing on the Antiquities of Freemasonry , to avoid quoting many passages which have appeared in his own works , for the purpose of applying those passages and historical evidences in a different way , and to the controversion of the opinions in whose support he has brought them forward . Firstthenfor the doctrines and princiles taught in the ancient
, , p Mysteries . The Mysteries of the ancient world , by whatever appellation known , and wherever practised , —whether the Osiric of Egypt , the Mithraic of Persia , the Cabiric of Samothrace , the Eleusinian of Greece , or the Druidic of the Celtic tribes , had for their object the communication of high and important truths relative to the divine nature , to cosmogony , and natural hilosophy . In them were taughtunder the most solemn
p , oaths of secrecy , those esoteric doctrines respecting the nature of the gods , and the origin of things , which it was considered dangerous and impolitic to reveal to the uninitiated and unprepared multitude . The arts and sciences , as then known , were imparted in the shape of dogmatic formula ; and the alluring researches of magic and divination were occasionally cultivated by the half-enlightened sages of those early times .
The main truths taught by these secret societies were the unity and eternity of the Deity , the immortality of the soul , the resurrection from the dead , and the reward in a future state of good or evil committed in this life , together with the indestructibility of matter , and certain hypotheses associated with these great truths , resulting in a great measure from the limited condition of their physical knowledge , which did not , however , essentially interfere with the enunciation of these leading principles . The avowed end and object of initiation into the Mysteries was
the regeneration of the soul , the illumination of the natural darkness of the human mind by the light of divine truth and pure philosophy , the exaltation of the intellect from the obscure and grovelling paths of ignorance and superstition to the contemplation of the glorious sunshine of knowledge and virtue . The fragments preserved to us in the writings of Eusebius , Proclus , and others of the Orphic hymns , many of which cerlainly relate to the doctrines of the Mysteries and the ceremonies of initiation ; all tend to show the nature of the instruction conveyed , and
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Original And Supplementary Freemasonry.
derivative origin from that system of which they are said to have been mere imitations . Though firmly convinced that Freemasonry is the genuine descendant of the Mysteries of the Ancients , I shall , for the moment , adopt Dr . Oliver ' s view of the existence of two systems , that I may endeavour to show that the evidences of high antiquity and priority of origin , are in favour of the Spurious Freemasonry ; to show that the Mysteries do not
altogether deserve obloquy , and finally to demonstrate the direct ori gin of the ceremonies of modern Freemasonry from those of the ancient Mysteries . The circumstances from which the evidences of priority of origin are to be derived , are doctrines and principles , rites and ceremonies , emblems , and symbols * I must here remark that Dr . Oliver has already so deeply drawn upon the stores of antiquity , and has collected such a vast amount of facts from
the various sources of classic lore , in support of his opinions , that it is impossible , in writing on the Antiquities of Freemasonry , to avoid quoting many passages which have appeared in his own works , for the purpose of applying those passages and historical evidences in a different way , and to the controversion of the opinions in whose support he has brought them forward . Firstthenfor the doctrines and princiles taught in the ancient
, , p Mysteries . The Mysteries of the ancient world , by whatever appellation known , and wherever practised , —whether the Osiric of Egypt , the Mithraic of Persia , the Cabiric of Samothrace , the Eleusinian of Greece , or the Druidic of the Celtic tribes , had for their object the communication of high and important truths relative to the divine nature , to cosmogony , and natural hilosophy . In them were taughtunder the most solemn
p , oaths of secrecy , those esoteric doctrines respecting the nature of the gods , and the origin of things , which it was considered dangerous and impolitic to reveal to the uninitiated and unprepared multitude . The arts and sciences , as then known , were imparted in the shape of dogmatic formula ; and the alluring researches of magic and divination were occasionally cultivated by the half-enlightened sages of those early times .
The main truths taught by these secret societies were the unity and eternity of the Deity , the immortality of the soul , the resurrection from the dead , and the reward in a future state of good or evil committed in this life , together with the indestructibility of matter , and certain hypotheses associated with these great truths , resulting in a great measure from the limited condition of their physical knowledge , which did not , however , essentially interfere with the enunciation of these leading principles . The avowed end and object of initiation into the Mysteries was
the regeneration of the soul , the illumination of the natural darkness of the human mind by the light of divine truth and pure philosophy , the exaltation of the intellect from the obscure and grovelling paths of ignorance and superstition to the contemplation of the glorious sunshine of knowledge and virtue . The fragments preserved to us in the writings of Eusebius , Proclus , and others of the Orphic hymns , many of which cerlainly relate to the doctrines of the Mysteries and the ceremonies of initiation ; all tend to show the nature of the instruction conveyed , and