Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Origin And References Of The Hermesian Spurious Freemasonry.
earth and all that it contained , as a punishment for the sins of its inhabitants . To render the divine purpose complete , ib was requisite that all means of escape should be cut off , Avhich would be effected when the waters rose a few feet above the summit of the most lofty mountainsand
, beyond this it Avas unnecessary that the machinery should extend . The waters therefore gradually advanced till they attained the elevation of more than 20 feet
above the highest hills . By AvhateA'or cause this accumulation ivas occasioned , the consequence would be the breaking up of the fountains of the deep . The ivater contained in the atmosphere being left without support , would descend in impetuous rains ; while the waters of the ocean , those from ivhich fountains orig inate , and those contained in the solid earth
itself , would rise from the very centre and meet the waters which descended from above , Thus the breaking up of the fountains of the deep and opening the Avindows of heaven would accompany each other , as Moses tells us they actually did , foraccording to himthey both happened
, , on the same clay . In this manner the Flood Avould come on quietly and gradually , Avithout the violence to the globe ivhich some theorists are obliged to suppose . " * Mr . Tytler says , " we are persuaded that any person who will try the experiment
how much water a given quantity of earth contains , and from that experiment will make calculations with regard to the whole quantity contained in the boiYels of the earth , must be abundantly satisfied that , though all the water of the Deluge had
been thence derived , the diminution of the general store Avould , comparatively speaking , haA'e been next to nothing . But itwas not from the bowels of the earth only that the waters Avere discharged , but also from the air ; for Ave are assured by Moses
that it rained forty days and forty nights . By this arrangement not only were men and animals totally destroyed , but sufficient depth ivas allowed for the Ark to float in safety , free from all obstructions , even supposing it to have drawn half its
height , or fifteen cubits of ivater . Nor can we reasonably believe that it exceeded this point , for , after the ivaters had gradually progressed until the proposed result
was obtained , they remained stationery until the destruction was complete , aud then decreased Avith equal steadiness and precision . Count Bjornstjerna has advanced the startling hypothesis that all mankind were not destroyed at this period . He says :
* " It does not appear to agree either with the statements of Scripture , or history , or geology , that the human race , with the exception of the Noachidie , has been extirpated by that cataclysm , since the Scripture makes mention of the cities of
Babel and Ninevah already existing in the third generation of Noah ; the building and peopling of which , though never so small , could not possibly haA'e been accomplished in the short space of three generations , if there Avere no other men upon the
earth than the posterity of the eight persons who were saved . The oIiA'e leaf brought by the dove also proves that the flood did not reach the heights on ivhich the olive tree grows , because the latter , iii this casein the long space of 150 days
, , during which the Deluge prevailed , must necessarily have beeu destroyed . Thus men might also have saved themselves upon heights ivhich were not reached by the flood . ''
'this is but the revival of an old opinion , that all the hills were not covered , Cardinal Cajetan entertained an idea that one of the mountains of Paradise was not overfloAved . Bellarmine was persuaded that those mountains only were oi'erflown Avhere the wicked dwelt ; and Nicholas
Damascenus affirms , as we are informed by Josephus , that the hill Baris in Armenia , saved many who fled thither for succour . But these conjectures are at variance with Holy Scripture , and therefore cannot be entertained .
It will be unnecessary to cite Plautus , or Horace , or Macrobius , or Virgil , Martial , Statins , Pliny , or any other ancient author , heathen , or Christian , to prove the origin of the Roman custom of ablutions ; a single quotation from the great Latin epic poet Virgil , will be sufficient to my purpose :
corpusque recenti Spargit aqua ; because it refers to the bathings actually used when Eneas was initiated into the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Origin And References Of The Hermesian Spurious Freemasonry.
earth and all that it contained , as a punishment for the sins of its inhabitants . To render the divine purpose complete , ib was requisite that all means of escape should be cut off , Avhich would be effected when the waters rose a few feet above the summit of the most lofty mountainsand
, beyond this it Avas unnecessary that the machinery should extend . The waters therefore gradually advanced till they attained the elevation of more than 20 feet
above the highest hills . By AvhateA'or cause this accumulation ivas occasioned , the consequence would be the breaking up of the fountains of the deep . The ivater contained in the atmosphere being left without support , would descend in impetuous rains ; while the waters of the ocean , those from ivhich fountains orig inate , and those contained in the solid earth
itself , would rise from the very centre and meet the waters which descended from above , Thus the breaking up of the fountains of the deep and opening the Avindows of heaven would accompany each other , as Moses tells us they actually did , foraccording to himthey both happened
, , on the same clay . In this manner the Flood Avould come on quietly and gradually , Avithout the violence to the globe ivhich some theorists are obliged to suppose . " * Mr . Tytler says , " we are persuaded that any person who will try the experiment
how much water a given quantity of earth contains , and from that experiment will make calculations with regard to the whole quantity contained in the boiYels of the earth , must be abundantly satisfied that , though all the water of the Deluge had
been thence derived , the diminution of the general store Avould , comparatively speaking , haA'e been next to nothing . But itwas not from the bowels of the earth only that the waters Avere discharged , but also from the air ; for Ave are assured by Moses
that it rained forty days and forty nights . By this arrangement not only were men and animals totally destroyed , but sufficient depth ivas allowed for the Ark to float in safety , free from all obstructions , even supposing it to have drawn half its
height , or fifteen cubits of ivater . Nor can we reasonably believe that it exceeded this point , for , after the ivaters had gradually progressed until the proposed result
was obtained , they remained stationery until the destruction was complete , aud then decreased Avith equal steadiness and precision . Count Bjornstjerna has advanced the startling hypothesis that all mankind were not destroyed at this period . He says :
* " It does not appear to agree either with the statements of Scripture , or history , or geology , that the human race , with the exception of the Noachidie , has been extirpated by that cataclysm , since the Scripture makes mention of the cities of
Babel and Ninevah already existing in the third generation of Noah ; the building and peopling of which , though never so small , could not possibly haA'e been accomplished in the short space of three generations , if there Avere no other men upon the
earth than the posterity of the eight persons who were saved . The oIiA'e leaf brought by the dove also proves that the flood did not reach the heights on ivhich the olive tree grows , because the latter , iii this casein the long space of 150 days
, , during which the Deluge prevailed , must necessarily have beeu destroyed . Thus men might also have saved themselves upon heights ivhich were not reached by the flood . ''
'this is but the revival of an old opinion , that all the hills were not covered , Cardinal Cajetan entertained an idea that one of the mountains of Paradise was not overfloAved . Bellarmine was persuaded that those mountains only were oi'erflown Avhere the wicked dwelt ; and Nicholas
Damascenus affirms , as we are informed by Josephus , that the hill Baris in Armenia , saved many who fled thither for succour . But these conjectures are at variance with Holy Scripture , and therefore cannot be entertained .
It will be unnecessary to cite Plautus , or Horace , or Macrobius , or Virgil , Martial , Statins , Pliny , or any other ancient author , heathen , or Christian , to prove the origin of the Roman custom of ablutions ; a single quotation from the great Latin epic poet Virgil , will be sufficient to my purpose :
corpusque recenti Spargit aqua ; because it refers to the bathings actually used when Eneas was initiated into the