Freemasonry & Israelitism.

Let us now take a few Hebrew names , and note their resemblance to the Saxon ; I mean , as to their expressiveness—Abednego ... Servant of light . Abagtha ... Father of the wine-press . Abihail ... Father of praise .

Abram ... Father of the sea . Abiram ... Father of beauty . Benjamin ... Son of the right hand ; or of strength . Baruch ... Who is blessed . Jochebed ... Glorious , or honourable . Timeus ... Admirable .

Zebedee ... Abundant portion . Zibiah " ... Honourable and fine . These appellations or names , alike Saxon and Israelitish , are all significant . Amongst the Israelites they were sometimes given by a Divine command , as in the case of

Ishmael" The angel of the Lord said [ to Hngar ] , thou shalt call his name Ishmael ; " that is , " God shall hear , " " because the Lord hath heard thy affliction" ( Gen . xvi . n ) . In like maimer , Isaiah was directed to call one of his children Maher-shalal-hash-bas * that is , making speed lo

the spoil . So , also , Hossa was to call one of his sons Lo-ammi—that is , not my people ; and another Lo-ruhamah , not having obtained mercy ( Hos . i . 6-9 ) . But whether thus given or not , they were expressive of some sentiment , circumstance , hope , aspiration , or assumed character ,

as' they also were among tlie ancient Saxons , and as they are to this day in Syria and Arabia . I have neither space nor time to enter into a consideration of the political and social institutions of the ancient Israelites , and to exhibit the striking resemblance they hear to those of the

Saxons . These German tribes , as they are often called , have usually been regarded as a set of barbarians , animated by little other than a ferocious purpose to destroy everything that was of a humanising and refining character , and their conquests as having carried with them misery ,

darkness , and rum—a replungmg of society into the savage chaos from which it had slowly escaped , and from which , through increased evils and obstacles , it had again to emerge . Nothing could be further from . the truth—nothing * more unlike the state of things which ( lie Goths

introduced wherever they settled . As Sharon Turner observes , their invasions destroyed tiie ancient governments and political and legal systems of the Roman Empire , and of the Provinces in which they established themselves ; but , as he also observes , the institutions which they introduced cannot but have been superior tothose they

swept away , since—notwithstanding tlie discouragement of new languages a : ; c ! msiinuions , and ruder habits—many of the Romans joined ihe "barbarians . " leaving the country which was their birthplace , which had been so long consecrated by deserved fame , and whose ' feeling , mind , and social manners were congenial to their

own . Thc conquest and put ; lion of tlie AVestern Roman Empire by tlie "' ¦ ' om . idii- ; i :: liosi : ; of (' ermany was , in fact , as Turner remarks , " a new and beneficial re-casting oi" human sociefv in all its classes , functions , manners , and i- 'iivuihs .

The civilisation of mankind had been carried in the previous Roman world to the fullest extent to which the then existing means of human improvement could be urged . That this had long been stationary , and f , r some time retrograding , the philosophical examiner into the

government , literature , religion , public habits , and private morals of the Roman empire will , if he make his research-.- *; i . iiliiciently minute and extensive , be satisfacloiil y convinced , ller . ee , either the progress of mankind mn ; l have been

stopped , and their corrupting civilisation have stagnated or feebly rolled on towards its own barb . irization , or some extensive revolution must have broken up the existing system of universal degeneracy , and begun a new career of moral agency and social melioration . The fact is

meontestible , that this latter state lias been the result of the irruptions and established kingdoms of the Teutonic tribes A new set of landowners was diffused over every country , wilh new forms of government , new principles , and new laws , new religion *; disciplines ami hierarchies , with many new tenets ami practices

Freemasonry & Israelitism.

A new literature and new manners , all productive of great improvements , in every part superseded the old , and gave to Europe a new face , and to ever }* - class of society a new life and spirit . In the Anglo-Saxon settlements in Britain all these effects were displayed with the most

beneficial consequences . Elsewhere he says : " They introduced a form of monarchy nnder the name of kings , with powers so great , yet so limited * so superior ancl independent , and yet so subordinate to the law , and so governed by it ; so majestic , yet so popular * so powerful , yet

so contracted ; so honoured , yet so counselled ; so wealthy , yet so dependent—that all the good which sovereignty can impart was largely enjoyed , with as few as possible of the evils which concentrated power must always tend to occasion , while the executing instruments arc

imperfect mortals . Such an institution was the Anglo-Saxon cyning ; and such , with all the improvements a free-spirited nation has at various times added to it , is thc British monarchy under which we are now living . " ( Turner , iii . 141 . ) I may not venture to go into any detail as to

other Saxon institutions * indeed , throughout these papers , I have merely glanced at facts without enlarging or dwelling upon them—that being all I feel I am at liberty to do in these columns . I must observe , however , that all the Saxon institutions were adapted to insure the

liberty and advancement of ihe people . We see in all of them the principle of self-government ; and , what is somewhat remarkable , ten was an adopted number . They chose one from every ten men amongst them to act in the council of their little community , generally consisting often

compartments , or wards . Ten of these wards formed a Tything , or Parish . Ten of these Tylhings formed a Hundred , the Elders of which , thus chosen , met for the management of matters belonging to the Hundred , while each Tything took charge of the affairs especially pertaining to

Usc'f . It will bc remembered , that , by the Mosaic institutions , the people were placed under rulers of thousands , of hundreds , of fifties , and of tens . A Jewish Synagogue , corresponding to a modern Parish , appears , at a subsequent

period , to have been put under the direction of ten elders , of whom one became the chief ruler of that ecclesiastical division . The Saxon counl ) r , which was more , extensive than , the Hundred , corresponded to the Tribe in Israel .

The Saxons had three orders of men amongst them—the nobles , the freemen , and the slaves ; and their Wiltenagemot was composed of the princes , or elders , and prelates , wilh certain of the free men . Courts of justice were established in the Decennary , the Hundred , and theCountv .

Thus , as it has been observed , " the Saxons became somewhat like the Jews , distinct from all other people : their laws honourable for the king , easy for the subject . " It seems to me almost impossible for any one to read the history of these Anglo-Saxons

without having present to his mind the early history of the Israelites . Amongst them , each tribe managed its own affairs , but the whole of the tribes formed a federative body , or a single kingdom , until after the time of Solomon , when they were separated into two kingdoms . They

had a deliberative assembly , even while they dwelt in their encampments in the wilderness of Arabia , composed of the representatives of all the tribe . ; , indeed , there were two assemblies : the one composed of the * 1 Vinces of Tribes and lleail .-i of Thousands , which formed the senate ; tlie other , ol' live representatives ofthe people at

large . These assemblies exercised all the ri ghts ul ' sovereignly ; ihey declared war , made peace , firmed alliances , chose general .- * , judges , leaders , and kings . They prescribed lo the rulers whom they elected the principles by which they were lo govern , tendered to them the oath of ollice , and rendered them homage .

Nor should we overlook the fact , that the Savins bad the l .-. r . ielilish division of the day . Their day did not reckon from morning' lo evening , but from evening 10 morning—not at all

such a reckoning of the dav as anv people wnnld l * iluiaily ad .. pi , but w ' . / v h Mo--es had pres-Tilvd i Lev . : ; . \ iii . 32 ) . The ancient i- ' . jyptians , Babylonians , Persians , Syrians , and other E . u . icm

Freemasonry & Israelitism.

nations , reckoned then * clay , as we do , from sunrise to sunset . The Saxons , however , retained the Israelitish reckoning . In common with the Israelites , too , the Saxons had three great festivals : The first , Easter , exactly corresponded to the Passover ; the second , Whitsuntide ,

corresponded to Pentecost , or the feast of weeks , upon the fiftieth day after the Passover ; the third was a general gathering at the Wiltenagemot , at which all the males were supposed to be present —as , indeed , they were at the other two festivals . So , in Israel , all their males were to present themselves before the Lord three times

in the year ( Dent . xvi . 16 ) . The priesthood among the Saxons was confined to certain families , and descended from father to son , as in ancient Israel ; ancl like the Israelitish priesthood , the Saxon priests were supported by tythes , or tenths , with the possession of certain lands . These similarities between the ancient

and tlie more modern people , or between Israel as we know them through the Old Testament and Israel as we know them after theirdispersion and assumption of the name of Getse—or rather that great branch of the family known as

Anglo-Saxons—might be pursued much further , but space forbids . I have said enough , I think , to show that history and customs agree in exhibiting them as one people . Further evidences remain to be considered .

Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS .

ANNUAL SUMMER FETE . The cause of education is one which has ever preferred a peculiar—wc mig ht almost sav a sacred—claim to the support and

assistance of the iiasonic Body . Recognising , as wc do , the advantages of training in the various degrees of the Order—symbolising , as wc do , by the rough and perfect ashlars of our Craft , tlie moral benefits of

mental culture—it cannot be disputed that Freemasons are pre-eminently the friends of education and enlightenment . Examp les drawn from thc history of the ancient world are not wanting to confirm these

views—the labours of Euclid , of Pythagoras , and other primitive worthies , are remembered with respect in our lodges , and the knowledge and wisdom of King Solomon are still staple subjectsfor Masonic

dissertations . It has , however , been well said that " some individuals arc not so much good men , as thc friends of goodness ; " and in like manner , it may be suggested that a theoretical desire for intellectual progress is

not always tlie herald of practical results . This is not the case , wc are happy to say , so far as thc Freemasons of England are concerned . For manv vears the children

of indigent or deceased brethren have enjoyed the advantages of education under the auspices of the Craft , and of late really rd ^ - . tntic efforts have been made to extend

those advantages to still greater numbers , as well as to elevate tlie standard of "thc instruction imparted . The Royal Masonic Institution for Girls possesses a fine schoolbuilding at Battersea Rise , while the

Institution fur Boys is even more handsomely housed at Wood Green ; and a visit to

cither of thc schools is a treat which no earnest brother should miss . It has been customary for some years past to have a !/ ala clav at these Institutions ou the

occasion of the annual distribution of prizes to tlie most successful students , and the growing popularity of these pleasant reunions may be estimated when we add that more than three hundred ladies and brethren

were present at the ISoys' School I'cte , which took place on Saturday , thc 8 th inst . The proceedings commenced at 12 o ' clock in the dining-iiall of the Institution , where the officers " of the Institution , the