Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

PAGE F REEMASONRY AND ISRAELITISH 435 & 43 6 R OYAL M ASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYSSummer FSte 436 & 437 R OYAL M ASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .. 437 PROV . GRAND LODGE OF CORNWALL 437 , 43 S , & 439 THE FIRST DISTRICT GRAND LODGE OF N EWFOUNDLAND 439 MASONIC

FESTIVITIESPicnic at Sunderland .. ... ... ... 439 THE FREEMASONS' LIFE BOAT 439 B IRTHS , MARRIAGES , AND DEATHS 440 A NSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS ... 440 A MERICAN AND BRITISH MASONRY ... 440 & 441 MULTUM IN PARVO 441 & 442

O RIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE 442 ABERDEEN RECORDS 442 & 443 S COTLANDThe American Knights Templar in Glasgow 443 & 444 Dundee OAA

Kelso 444 LAYING THE FOUNDATION-STONE OF A MASONIC HALL AT SWANSEA 445 THE CRAFTProvincial ... ... ... ... 445

MARK MASONRY 445 THE NATIONAL UNION FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF INTEMPERANCE 445 MASONIC MEETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK 44 6 ADVERTISEMENTS 433 , 434 , 446 , 447 & 44 S

Freemasonry & Israelitism.

FREEMASONRY & ISRAELITISM .

BY BRO . WILLIAM CARPENTER , P . M . & P . Z . 177 .

VIII . Having traced the progress of Israel from the western borders of the Caspian to the west of the Euxine , through tlie Ukraine aud Bessarabia , whence they

pushed on further north and west , colonising parts of Roumainia , Transylvania , Hungary , Poland , and Bohemia , we are necessarily led again to think of the people ( Getaj ) found on the south-western border of the Euxine , when Darius invaded the

country , B . C . 507 : that is , about 215 years after the tribes had been carried captive by the Assyrians into the countries southwest of the Caspian . And the question

forces itself upon us—where they the same people ? That is , were the Gelas identical with the Israelites ? In attempting to answer this question , I shall briefly call attention to those external evidences of

their identity which incidentally occur in the writings of the old historians ; and to those internal evidences which are to bc found in the literature , usages , and institutions ofthe people themselves .

Of the former class , is the description which Herodotus , the father of history , gives of the Geta ? in his Melpomene ( par . xciii . iv . ) . They believed , he states , in an immortal life and in one Supreme God , into

whose presence they should go after death . They deplored the loss of thc sacred books [ Seeking the word of the Lord but not finding it , Amos viii . 12 ?] which they said were left to them by Zamoxes—literally ,

that Moses . He describes them as having been first found in Asia , east ofthe Araxcs , in ^ the seventh or eighth century B . C . Diodorus , in like manner , describes them as possessing a narrow region on the Araxcs ,

hut , by degrees , becoming more powerful in numbers , and extending their boundaries , till , at last , they raised themselves to be a great nation , subduing , iu the course of time , many peoples between thc Caspian

and Maeotis , and beyond the Tanais ; and he then speaks of them as having taken a westerly direction . Strabo , Pliny , and Ptolemy all speak of them as occupying the same region , but they arc all silent as to

their origin ; and , in fact , they evidently ¦ knew nothing about it . Herodotus , however , states that the Scythians—this same people , sometimes called

Scythians—declared their nations to be more recent than any other , and that they reckoned only t . ooo years between their first king and tne invasion of Darius , Now . tlie invasion

Freemasonry & Israelitism.

of Darius was in the year 507 B . C ., and , if we go hack a thousand years from this period , we are brought to that of the mission of Moses , who , in Deut . xxxiii . 5 , is said to have been " King in Jeshurun ( that

is Israel ) , when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together" ( see Gen . xviii . 13—27 ) . This I take to be a most remarkable fact , which should not he lightly estimated . But to

proceed . 'The authors to whom I have referred , evidently knew very little about this people , but they all concur in finding them about the Araxes—that is , between

the Caspian and the Euxine—soon after the time that Israel was carried thither , and they describe them as afterwards becoming numerous , and pushing westward , as we have seen that the ten tribes did . I

do not know that any further information touching the Geta *** , at this early period , is obtainable . I have noticed the testimonies borne to their probity , chastity , hospitality ,

. and other moral qualities , showing that their religion and their morals distinguished them from the other peoples or tribes in their neighbourhood . I do not insist that the historical incidents I have adverted to .

striking as they are , are sufficient in themselves to convince us of the identity of the two peoples—the Goths and the Israelites —but I think they furnish at least some evidence of that identity .

I now turn to the other class of evidence , which I call internal , which helps us to identify the Getas , or that branch of them known as Anglo-Saxons , with the Israelites , or the lost ten tribes . What evidence of I

this description have we in the literature , usages , and institutions of the Anglo-Saxons ? The remains of early Anglo-Saxon literature are very scant , nor have we any that date back to a time when this

people was in Asia or in the east of Europe . Nor is it at all to be expected that wc should . Their migrations and their almost continuous wars of defence and of aggression , down to a comparatively recent period

in their history , rendered the cultivation of literature almost impossible . When we first meet witli them , therefore , they were as illiterate , apparently , as any of the barbarous tribes who find a place in history .

Wc might expect , however , to find preserved amongst them some of tlie traditions of their fathers , for far as they had departed from the good old ways , forgetting

the law , and joining themselves to idols , as Ephraim , that is , Israel , is said to have done , they could scarcely havcfailed toretain some remembrance of the older narratives

originally recorded in their lost sacred books . And it seems to have been with the special design of collecting some of these , that the oldest composition of theirs known , namely , the Voluspa—the spae , or

prophecy of Vola—was written . It is an extraordinary mixture of fact and fable , blending traditions of the creation with , apparently , some of the earliest incidents in Israel's history , and of their being cast

out into the north country—the descent upon them of the fierce barbarians of tlie north , thc Huns—the ravages of the Roman wolf , to which they were subjected—the renovation of their land , " in which virtuous

people shall dwell , and for ages enjoy every good" —followed by the ravages of thc " obscene dragon " and the " infernal serpent , " preparatory to the final rest and continued peace and happiness of the

people" The Asae will dwell without evils ; Do you yet understand ? Ancl the sons ofthe two brothers 'Inhabit the vast mansion of thc winds ; Do you knuv more f "

Freemasonry & Israelitism.

Then , there is the promised glory of Jerusalem : Israel and Judah have come out of the north country to Mount Zion , the glory of which covers the earth"A hall stands brighter than the sun , Covered in gold , in Gimle .

There virtuous people will dwell , ¦ And for ages enjoy every good . " No one , I think , can read this extraordinary poem , extravagant as , upon the whole , it seems to be , without seeing

evidences of Israelitish traditions in it ; and the notion once entertained ; that the people to whom it owes its origin obtained the knowledge of those traditions through the medium of Christianity is , at last , nhanrlnnprl

I now invite attention to another subject connected with the Saxon literature . The English language , as everybody knows , is a collection of words from many languages , ancient and modern ; but there are very

few words in it that are recognised as being drawn from Oriental languages or dialects . Anglo-Saxon , Greek , Latin , and French words abound , as may be seen by running through the pages of any dictionary that

gives the derivation of words . But though thus compounded , our language is Anglo-Saxon at heart—its life-blood is Teutonic ; all its other elements are adventitious , compared with this . Take them away , and

the English remains , but take away the Teutonic or Saxon , and the mere sweepings of the granary are left . But what of the Saxon words ? Whence have they come ? Undoubtedly , many of them from

the Hebrew , Arabic , and other Semitic tongues . Sharon Turner ( Ang . Sax . vol . ii . ) has collected no fewer than 247 Saxon words that are undoubtedly derived from the Hebrew and the Cognate Arabic ,

regretting that health and other adverse circumstances had not permitted him to extend his investigations in this interesting field of enquiry . Had he done so , he would , no doubt , have found many more .

That he should have found so many , is a very noticeable circumstance connected with our enquiry as to the origin of this people , and one that will help to prove their affinity , or identity , with the

Israelitish race ; for the Hebrew language is so unlike any comparatively modern language , and seems so incapable of being melted down into it , that its existence in the Anglo-Saxon is , at least , remarkable .

Another very striking circumstance is , that the Saxon names of persons arc obviously given after the Hebrew fashion . They do not appear to have used surnames , although wc occasionally find un

appellation added to the original name . This was in conformity with the Israelitish custom . Sometimes the paternal person assumed the name of the first-born son , as is still the custom in Syria and Arabia . Thus ,

Abu-Michael is the father of Michael ; Om-Suleyman is the mother of Solomon . It is the same in Abu-Beker , Abu-Talcb , & c . Our present custom of permanent surnames in particular families was not

established until after the Norman conquest . But the names given by the Saxons bear so striking a resemblance to the mode of giving names by thc Israelites that I must take permission to give a few of each .

The following are Saxon : — / Ethelrcd ... Noble in Council . Kadbuhr Happy \ : ledge , ¦ / "Ethelwyn ... Noble joy . Eadgi fer H appy gi ft .

Eadward Prosperous Guardian . Editha Blessed gift . Ethclst . in ... Noble rock .

Ethclbcrt ... Noble and illuslrio'is . Lionrie Lion of tiie kingdom . Sigcrcd Victorious counsel , Wynfreda ... Peace of man ,