Antiquity Of Masonry.

ancient Avriters " The Fraternity of Dionysian Architects ; " and to this society Avas exclusively confined the privilege of erecting temples and other public buildings . The fraternity of Dionysian Architects Avere linked together by the secret ties of the Dionysian

Mysteries , into which they had all been initiated . Thus constituted , the fraternity was distinguished by many peculiarities that strikingly assimilate it to onr Order . In the exercise of charity , the " more opulent were sacredly bound to provide for the exgencies of the poorer brethren . " For

the facilities of labour and government , theyAvere divided into lodges , each of which Avas governed by a Master and Wardens . They employed in their ceremonial observances many of the implements which are still to be found among Freemasons , and used , like them , a universal language by which one brother could distinguished another in the dark , as well as in the li ght , and which served

to unite the members scattered over India , Persia , and Syria , into one common brotherhood . The existence of this Order in Tyre , at the time of building the Temple , is universally admitted ; and Hiram , the widoAv ' s son , to whom Solomon intrusted the superintendence cf the Avorkmen , as

an inhabitant of Tyre , and a skilful architect , and cunning and curious workman , Avas doubtless one of its members . Hence we are scarcely claiming too much for our Order when we suppose that the Dionysians were sent by Hiram , King of Tyre , to assist King Solomon iu the construction

of the house he was about to dedicate to Jehovah , and that they communicated to their Jewish felloAvlabourers a knowledge of the advantages of their fraternity , and invited them to a participation in its mysteries and privileges . In this union , however , the apocryphal legend of the Dionysians gave Avay to the true legend of the Masons , which was unhappily furnished by a melanchly incident that occurred at the time .

Upon the completion of the Temple , the Avorkmen who had been engaged in its construction necessarily dispersed , to extend their knowledge and to renew their labours in other lands . But we do not lose si ght of the Order . We find it still existing in Judea , under the name of the

Essenian Fraternity . ' This was rather a society of philosophers than of architects , and in this respect it approached still nearer to the character of modern speculative Masonry . The Essenians were , however , undoubtedly connected Avith the Templeas their origin is derived by the learned

, Scaliger , with every appearance of truth , from the Kassideans , a fraternity of Jewish devotees , vrho , in the language of Lawrie , had associated together as " Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem , to adorn the porches of that magnificent structure , and to preserve it from injury and decay . " The

Essenians were peculiarly strict in scrutinising the characters of all those who applied for admission into their fraternity . The successful candidate ,

at the termination of his probationary novitiate , Avas presented by the elders of the society Avith a Avhite garment , as an emblem of the purity of life to which he Avas to aspire , and which , like the unsullied apron , the first gift that we bestow upon an Entered Apprentice , Avas esteemed more

honourable than aught that any earthly prince could give . An oath was administered to him , by Avhich he bound himself not to divulge the secrets with which he should be entrusted , and not tomake any innovations upon the settled usages of society . He Avas thou made acquainted \ yith

certain modes of recognition , and Avas instructed in the traditionary knowledge of the Order . They admitted no women into their fraternity , abolished all distinctions of rank , and devoted themselves to the acquisition of knoAvledge ancl the dispensation of charity . From the Essenians , Pythagoras derived much , if not all , of the knowledge and the ceremonies with which he clothed the esoteric school of his

philosophy ; and while this identity of doctrines and ceremonies is universally admitted by profane historians , many of the most competent of our own writers have attributed the propagation of Masonry into Europe to the efforts of the Grecian sage . It is certain that such an opinion was

prevalent not less than four centuries ago ; for in the ancient manuscript , UOAV Avell known to Masons , which Avas discovered by the celebrated Locke among the papers in the Bodleian Library , and which is said to be a copy of an original in the handwriting of King Henry VI . himself a Mason

, , it is expressly said that Pythagoras brought Masonry from Egypt and Syria into Greece , from whence , in process of time , it passed into England .

I shall not vouch for the truth of this assumption ; for , notwithstanding the celebrity of Pythagoras even at this day among our fraternity , and the adoption into our lodges of his well-known problem , I am rather inclined to attribute the extension of Masonry into Europe to the frequent

and continued communications with Palestine , in the earlier ages of the Christian dispensation . A-bout this period we shall find that associations oft-ravelling architects existed in all the countries of the Continent ; that they journeyed from city to city , and Avere actively engaged in the

construction of religious edifices ancl regal palaces . The government of these fraternities of Freemasonsfor they hal already begun to assume that distinctive appellation—was even then extremely regular . They Jived in huts or lodges ( a name which our places of meeting still retain ) ,

temporarily erected for their accommodation , near the buildiug on which they were employed . Every tenth man received the title of Warden , and was occupied in superintending the labours of those placed under him , while the direction and supervision of the whole was intrusted to a Master chosen by the fraternity .