Literature.

ANCIENT SYMBOLISM ILLUSTRATED—HI . BV BKO . HOB . JIABTIX , M . D ., PAST DEPUTY 1 'lIOV . GRAND MASTEB OF SUFFOLK ; AXD r . E . COM . or KXIUIITS TEMPI . AU , rac ; THE MYSTIC TKIAKCtLE . IN the first part of my treatise upon the mystic triangle , I commenced by showing thatimmediately after the flood

, , the triangle was received by the first Phoenicians as a symbol allusive to that great event , ancl to the subsequent division of the world by Noah among his three sons , Shem , Ham , and -Japhet , of which three founders of nations it formed an

appropriate emblem ; that in the land of Ham ( Africa ) commenced the custom of paying divine honours to ancestors , a custom which lias since become general throughout the globe . I shewed you that Ham was deified and worshipped by his descendants under the title of Jupiter ; and that with reference to his third share of the world , the equilateral triangle was received not only as a symbolof the flood and its

conse-. quences , but of Ham individually . I explained that by the Phoenicians this emblem was carried into Greece , where , together with the ilpha , the circle , and many other symbols , it was appropriated . to the use of alphabetical characters 3 that it ( the triangle ) was adopted as the letter delta , corresponding to our . Dthat it was used as the ital of

; cap , and frequently substituted for the word Amc , which being the genitive case of Zevc , ( Jove or Jupiter ) means " of , or belonging to the supreme God ; " that the same word , Aloe , equally represented by a triangle or delta , and enjoyed as an adjective , was translated "Most High ; " and thus the elevation of the symbol from the mere representative of the

flood to that of the Deit y himself was rendered easy . Having , with this more important signification attached to it , traced the triangle from Phoenicia into Greece , I continued to follow it through the Isiac worship and ceremonial observances of Phrygia , where the three personifications and attributes of deity were invariably emblematized b y figures l triad

impying a , among which were exhibited the Emblematical Hand , the Hippa Triceps of Corinth , the Hi-ppa perfected by the tail of a fish ; the Modius of Egypt , the lotus of the Nile , and many others . Having traversed Africa , and Europe , we considered the tanga-tanga of the South Americans , thus tracing the mystic triangle and its sacred import throughout the two divisions of the world allotted to Ham

and Japhet ; nor were convincing proofs of its not having been confined to idolaters , but of its existence as a symbol ° f c } yme signification among the ancient Jews of both these divisions , wanting to our subject . The mystic import of the number three , as derived from the equilateral triangle , was also explained , and instances of its

application quoted in every quarter of the globe as well as from every class of authors , sacred and profane . Nor were instances wanting to prove the application of the figure , both to geometrical and architectural purposes . And now—having thus briefly referred to the heads of my former chapters—I proceed to trace the symbol through the

remaining third division of the world , the land of the virtuous Shem , in whose seed was the promise , and from whom , though now sunk in gross idolatry , historians assert , first emanated the most valuable of our arts and sciences , proving that not only the li ght of day , but the li ght of knowledge , first dawned upon us from the east .

_ Escaped from the horrors of the general deluge , the immediate descendants of Noah in the lino of Shem , who settled in Asia , inhabited the regions nearest the great range of Taurus in the Median mountains , and . near the hei ghts of Caucasus . They established their first schools in caverns , in opposition to the practice of the sons of Hamwho erected

, the tower of Babe ] , and in after days the jiyramids of Egypt , with other temples to Belus , or the sun ; but as this point will form a subject for future consideration , I will not in this place anticipate it . From the hei ghts of Caucasus the Shemites emigrated into

Tartary , and with them successive colonies of priests , professing the religion of Buddha or Boodh , gradually dispersed themselves over Asia , throughout which country , although symbolical worship eventually effaced the pure patriarchal religion , traces are still left of their having once received the doctrine of the covenant . According to the Hindoos , with

whose modification of it we aro best acquainted , the supreme , ineffable Gocl , called Branie , or " the Great One ; " first produced Brahma the creator , from whom proceeded Yishnu the preserver , and Seeva the destroyer , who is also the regenerator ; for according to the Indian philosophy , nothing is destroyed or annihilated , but only transmuted , so the

destruction of one thing is only the regeneration of another . Now Brame , producing Brahma , Yishnu , and Seeva , has so strong a similitude to the patriarch Noah and his . three sons , Shem , Ham and Japhet as to need no comment . Postellus states , however , and so does the learned Doctor Hyde , that Brahma must have been Abraham ; the former adds that the tribe of Brahmins were the descendants of that

patriarch , by his wife Keturah , ( Genesis xxv . 1 ) , and were so called quasi "Abrahmanes . " The Arabs—who are descended from Abraham , by Ishinaol , and are jealous of the invaded honours of that great patriarch , their progenitor —contend that Brahma and Abraham are the same . - If so , however , the trinity of Brahma , Vishnu , ancl Seeva , instead ,

of being Ham , Shem , and Japheth , is the three with whom the covenant was made , Abraham Isaac , ancl Jacob . Leaving this to the learned , I see no difficulty in supposing that to the righteous Noah and to Shem , as in after clays to Moses , Daniel , and Isaiah , a clear definition of the Holy Trinity—the Father , Son , and Holy Ghost—had been vouchsafed , and that all . subsequent triads were mere symbols of that divine union .

The antiquity of the Hindoo sacred writings is extreme ; Sir William Jones assigns the date of one thousand five hundred and eighty years before Christ to the Yajush Veda , one of the three sacred Yedas—which period is nine years prior to the birth of Moses , ninety before his departure from Egypt with the Israelites , and three thousand four hundred ancl twenty-one from the present time . In the caves of

Elephanta , near Bombay , supposed . to have been excavated shortly after the flood , the presiding deity was represented with three heads . On the opposite page is a drawing of it by the Bev . Mr . Maurice . In this cavern or temple there were also three original Yedas , or books of holy writ . Their Geeta contains the following remarkable passage—

confirmation strong of their worship of a Trinity in Unity , or Deity of triple attribute : — " They who serve even other gods ( says this holy book ) with a firm belief , in doing so , involuntarily , worship me . I am He who partaketh of all worship . I am their reward . I am the ineffable , infinite , and eternal Gocl . " In the Elephanta caverns just noticed , according to

Bryant , one thousand years before Plato , or one thousand four hundred and twenty-nine years before Christ , a trinity of gods was not only taught but symbolized by a triangle-. The Indian history of the Mahabbarat also alludes to and designates a plain triad of divinity . The three personifications of tho Deity—BrahmaYishnu

, , and Seeva—are only one in essence , and were , as shown in the engraving , anciently worshipped collectively under the title Trimourti . Though the followers of the two latter , namely Vishnu ancl Seeva , now constitute two opposite and hostile sects , they nevertheless join on some occasions in the worship of the universal triad , expressed by the mystic word 0-m , or

On , or more frequently by the triliteral word A H M . AVith the Brahmins the number three lias , as already shown in the other divisions of the world , a mystic import . They offer up their devotion three times a day ; during their religious ablutions they immerse the body three times in the purifying wave . They wear next their skin the sacred zmnar or cord of three threads : this sacred cord can be