The Origin And References Of The Hermesian Spurious Freemasonry.

THE ORIGIN AND REFERENCES OF THE HERMESIAN SPURIOUS FREEMASONRY .

BY REV . GEO . OLIVER , D . D . CHAPTER II .

And of such mystic fancies , in the range Of these deep covered sepulchres are found The wildest images , unheard of , strange , Striking , uncouth , odd , picturesque , profound , That ever puzzled antiquarian ' s brain ; Prisoners of different nations , bound and slain , Genii with heads of birds , hawks , ibis , drakes , Of lions , foxes , cats , fish , frogs and snakes ,

Bulls , rams , and monkeys , hippopotami , AVith knife in pan , suspended from the sky , Gods germinating men , and men turn'd gods . Seated in lv nour with gilt crooks and rods ; Vast sciiraboei , globes by hands upheld , From chaos springing , mid an endless field 0 / forms grotesque—the sphyux , the crocodile , And other reptiles from the slime of Nile . TCavPT .

MUCH has been written both in ancient and modern times , on the hieroglyphics ! learning of Egypt ; ivhich is a convincing proof of the great interest that has been uniformly excited on this curious and intricate subject in all ages of the world , and amongst all people . The means adopted

by the hierophant for the concealment of his mysteries from the penetration even of the most acute philosophers of the ancient world , were eminently calculated to effect that purpose , * Origen says" the Eejyptian hilosophers

, p have sublime notions with regard to the divine nature , ivhich they keep secret , and never discover to the people but under the veil of symbols and hieroglyphics . Celsus is like a man who has travelled into that country ; and though he has conversed

with none but the uninformed , yet is induced to believe that he understands their hieroglyphics , the knowledge of which is hidden from all but those who have been initiated . The rest of the world see indeed the symbol , but are unable to

understand its meaning . } Sir William Drummond thinks that the theory , "which supposes the universe to be governed by a being , who can only he defined by abstraction , as infinite , immaterial , invisible and immortal ; and who

guides nature in all her ways by the intervention of spiritual effluences and divine emanations , as difficult to be comprehended by human understanding , as the source whence they spring , was not easily intelliible to the peopleand was not

g , , perhaps , as it stood alone , entirely suited to the views of their rulers . Symbols were soon sought and found , ivhich , it was thought , might help to explain to the vulgar and illiterate the abstruse language , and the metaphysical doctrines of the wise

and the learned . The Sun , the most g lorious object which the material world presents to our admiration , as the source of heat and lig ht ; and as the apparent cause of many of the blessings which this earth enjoys , was considered as the visible

type of the invisible God . The Moon became the symbol of the passive principle ; and represented material nature acted upon by the Divine Mind , Matter being considered as inert iu itself , and in its orig inal state as void of form and of motion , was supposed to have received its primary as well as its present impulses , with all its qualities , forms and

organizations , from energies communicated to it by the spiritual Demigurgos . This doctrine ivas illustrated by a reference to the lunar orb , which shines only by the light that it receives from the sun . The five great planets were selected to represent the

principal and most brilliant of the ethereal spirits that stand iu the presence of the deity . The multitude of fixed stars was compared to a mighty host ; and according to their different magnitudes , degrees of rank were assigned to these celestial bodies ,

which were considered as the types of the immaterial agents , who in countless myriads , perform the will and execute the mandates of the supreme Governor of the universe . " * Some think that the Israeliteswhen they

, were in Egypt , preserved in hieroglyphical characters , a history of the world from the Creation to their own time , and that it was from this document that Moses compiled the hook of Genesis . Indeed , without some such method of preserving aud

transmitting the truth , it is incredible tbat this persecuted people should have continued to practice the patriarchal worship for four