The Sun.
London, England, 1837-07-06 00:00:00

MAGAZINES.

TIIE FREEMASON'S QUARTERLY REVL

This is a very good Number, though less generally
interesting than the last. He speaks of tho interest
which it is likely to excite among the uninitiated in
the mysteries of the Masonic craft. Knowing nothing
ourselves of the secrets of the brotherhood, we can only
guess at the importance of articles which address
themselves mote exclusively to them ; but if we
may hazard an opinion, several of the Papers
in the Number for July will attract more atten-

tion among the members of the Masonic body than
any that have yet appeared. We copy from an article
on " Freemasonry" an extract, the perusal of which
will best convey our meaning to the reader. It com-
mences with the building of the second Temple, after
the expiration of the Babylonish captivity :
Well can imagination paint the joy of the restored Is-
raelites at again beholding the land of their inheritance, the
land endeared to them by so many miracles, hallowed by re-
peated blessings. The skill of the ancient Craft was called
into requisition, and the vast trenches prepared to receive
the foundations of a second Temple, sacred to the living
God. The following beautiful passage is from the book of
Ezra the scribe, whose records, whatever may be the opinion
of the world respecting their inspired character, must ever
be precious to the mason :—" And when the builders laid the
foundation of the Temple of the Lord, they set the priests
in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of
Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance
of David, king of Israel. And they sang together by course
in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord, because he is
good; for his mercy endureth for ever towards Israel. And
all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised
the Lord, because the foundations of the house of the Lord
were raised. But many of the priests, and Levites, and chief
of the fathers, who were ancient men that had seen the first
thhoeuisre,eywo'hs,ewn
wept
te
trdaatliooundoyfoitohoi,s
ahnodu
mseanwyaslaidbefore
shouted aloud
with joy. So that the people could not discern the shout of
joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the
people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard
afar off." To encourage them in their undertaking, a
peculiar instance of the divine favour was manifested. That
stupendous mystery, concealed before the flood by the wisdom
and piety of Enoch, preserved amid the strife of waters, the
wreck of a drowned world, and the revolution of ages, was
revealed to the builders of the second Temple, once more the
ineffable characters were unveiled, and the lost secret found.
As this important event will come more seriously under our
observation when treating of Royal Arch Masonry, we shall
for the present dismiss it from our pages. In sifting the
ashes of the past in search of the lost gems of truth, it is
singular to find so many evidences, not only of the high anti-
quity- of our order, but of its universality. Freemasonry is
the clue by which the mystic labyrinth of time can alone be
traced ; for reasons evident to the Mason, it will be par-
ticularly proper here, to notice one of the most ancient
tos subjoin
I;
traditions of the Arabians called the Ism Ablah, or science of
the name of God ; which, although disfigured by their pecu-
liar allegoryou our views
origin.ai
enls
and superstition,Toon t
he enable
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u rb
oaer
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prehend
jo
we
it in the words of our authority. " They pretend that Gad
is the lock of this science, and Mahomet the key ; that con-
sequently none but Nlahometans can attain it ; that it dis-
covers what passes in distant countries. A merchant of
Mecca who had learnt it in all its forms from Mahomet
El Dsjanadsjeni, at present so famous in that city, told me
that he had been saved in shipwreck by it ; he showed. me at
Bombay, a book containing all sorts of figures and arithme-
tical tables, with instructions how to arrange them, and the
appropriate prayers for every circumstance, but he would
neither suffer me to touch the book or copy its title."—
( Niebuhr.) No Brother versed in the antiquities of the Craft,
and the mysteries of the /Ilk Marker and Royal Arch de-
grees, can fail to recognize beneath the veil which Oriental
superstition has wove, the generic characters of his order.
In pursuing this question of the universality of Freemasonry,
similar traces may be found in the ancient mythology of the
Hindoos, of Brama, the supreme Deity. They have no idol ;
the reason assigned for it in their Veeda or sacred book, is as
follows :—" Of him whose glory is so great, there is no image.
He is the incomprehensible b,ing who illumines all, delights
all, and from whence all proceeds; that by which they live
when born, and that to which all must return." Their de-
sci iption of his heaven is even more remarkable, it is named
Moust Cassalry. " Round the mountain stand seven ladders,
by which you ascend to a spacious plain, in the middle whereof
is a bell of silver and a square table, surrounded with nine
precious stones; upon this table lies a rose called Tamara Pua,
in the centre of this rose is the Triangle of Quirelinga,-which
they say is the permanent residence of God."—(Balchrus.)
What, we would ask, are the seven ladders leading to this
heaven, but the virtues of which the seven liberal arts and
sciences arc amongst Masons the symbol of the mystic Tri-
angle of Quivelinga ? Would it were permitted to draw
aside the veil and inform the world why that symbol is so pe-
culiarly identified with Masonry—why it proves that in the
earlier ages the Ilindoos possessed a knowledge of the only
God, and why that knowledge could only have been derived
from a masonic source. This, however, must not be ; suffi-
cient for the uninitiated, that from time immemorial, even be-
fore the flood, the triangle consecrated by the mystery engra-
yen upon it by Enoch, has been sacred to our order. Let the
Royal Arch Mason inwardly adore that Providence which hath
to him confided a holy and peculiar key, and in whose sight
the veil of ages hath been drawn aside.

THE METROPOLITAN MAGAZINE.
Saunders and Otley.
" Reeve's Sketches of Bohemia and the Sclavonia
provinces of the Austrian Empire" are continued in the
Metropolitan for July. They are graphically vivid
and interesting—particularly the writer's contrast of
the past and present state of Cracow, with its old
reminiscences of feudal grandeur and glory. The
" Bench and the Bar," by the author of the
" Great Metropolis," contains sketches of Lord
Chief Justice Denman, Mr. Justice Littledale,
Mr. Justice Patteson, Mr. Justice Williams, and
Mr. Justice Coleridge. They are full of amusing
anecdote. The " Mariner's Daughter" by the
author of " Cavendish" opens well, but we must await
its conclusion before expressing our opinion upon it.
The other articles, with the exception of the " Back-
woods of America," from which we give an extract,
arc of the usual Magazine class—respectable, nothing
more. The following is a faithful picture of the ordi-
nary administration of the criminal law in the back
settlements of the New World :
The following day I attended the court-room, to hear what
might be going on in the " hall of justice,"—and certainly
never had I then seen so " homely-looking" an affair in my
life. The court-room, which was over a store, was but tempo-
rarily fitted up, and was therefore of the simplest order. The
judges (for there arc three in those county courts) sat with
their backs against the wall on something like a large common
table—and had a plank fixed in front on which to lean or
write. Immediately in front of their " honours" was placed
an oblong deal table, around which were placed some half.
score of common wooden-bottomed chairs, and this was under-
stood to constitute the " bar." Behind the "bar," on the
right and left, were two moderate-sized benches for
the juries—the grand jury to the right hand, and the
petit jury to the left; there was no particular ictand
or dock for prisoners to be placed in—and the remainder
of the room, was devoted to the public. When I en-
tered this court of justice I found it occupied with the trial of