Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-01-13
MASONIC.
II address 70 the W. h., Wsrscns aad Aea-
hers Of Dsdgeville Ledge, Ne. 1854

hers Of Dedgeyilie Ledge, Ne. llSs
BRETHREN Having been permitted by
| the Great Architect of the Universe to
see the end of one year more, and to CON-
memorate once more the festival of one
of our patron saints. St John the Evan
| gelist, who was an eminent Mason as we'll
as a Christian, we feel thankful to Him
| in whom I'VE put our trust, for his mans
1 fold blessings, and His protecting care
over rs and ours; that we feel like re-
hersing the words of David" Behold,
I how good and how pleasant it is for
brethren to dwell together in unity" -
May the same prosperity, unity and
| brotherly love. follow US to the end Of
life; thereby fitting our minds, liv-
ing stones, for that spiritual building :.
that house not made with hands-eter-
nal in the Heavens"
| After these Introductory remarks, we
propose to go into details and history of
our ancient and hcnoratle order, accord
| ing to traditions, as recorded by histori>
ans, sacred and profane. Now, it is nee.
| essary for US to commence in the Begin
ing of the worlds history. ''ln the
beginning Gcd created the heavens and
the earth; and the earth was without
| form and void; and darkness was upon
the face of the deep" (This ia the first
day. And the spirit of God m rved up-
on the face of the water. And Cod said
Let there be light and there was
light" We now direct attention to few
Of those notices Of creation which pro-
fame history has, in various detached
fragments, handed down to US. The first
/ writer, to whom we refer, is Sanchonia-
tho He is supposed to have lived before
IL.
/ beginning of all things was dark and con
densed windy air, or breeze of thi k
air, and chaos turbid and black as
"Erebus, and that these were unhound-
ed and, for long series of ages, destitute
of form (See Lib. l, Cap. 100 We
next adduce the account of the origin Of
all things, furnished by Berasus. He
wrote from records preserved in the Ten
pie OF of Belus, ut Babylon, "rhere WAS
o time" he SAYS, "in which there exist
| ed nothing but darkness and an abvss of
| water, wherein existed most hideous be
| ings which were produced of a two fold
princlp e. aE
Now, for fear that eur article may be
too long and weary some, we will pass en-
by remarking, on the presumption that
the scripture account is correct, it is
clear that the sons of man must have
known the history of creation, and trans
| mitted 1t to their descendants; and there
fore while the narrative of Moses, dictat-
cd by divine revelation, gives the simple
truth, the other accounts while preserv-
ing the principal elements of primitive
| history, are severallv found according to
the common law Of all traditionary infor-
nation, corrupted and dis6gured in
| agreement with the taste and character
of the people among whom they exist
We must not omit here to mention an
opinion which has obtained considerable
credit among ancient authors, namely:
that Tubal Cain was the first king in the
list Of Berosus. jackson labors to show
that Chrysor and Alorus are the
same name and Were applied TO the same
person, as Tubal Cain 1t is further
probable that this same person was wor-
shipped by some of the most ancient ma
lions, under different names, and invest
| ed with various attributes. Then it ap-
| peared that Tubai Cain is the same who
was afterward worshiped by the Greeks
| and Romans, as Vulcan. This is proba,
bic from the name which, by the omis-
sion of the "Tu" and turning the 81" in
to w. change frequently made among
Hebrews, Greeks and Romans, makes
| VaIcain or Vulcan. This is confirmed by
the sameness of character sustained by
| the two. Jsckson asserts that Hephas-
tus and Chrysor are, the one Pheni-
elan and the other 4 Chaldec word, and
are denominatsd from fire" Chry-or
is an artifcer in fire, and Hephastus is
the father or inventor of fire, which is
the known character of Vulcan (See
Smith, Annes., Vol ~
ba Of
ry-wheu and where it was started-we
| are not satisfied. We are inclined to be
lieve that it was first founded in Egypt
And, if we 90 SO far back in the Egyp-
| tan history as the time Of the Patriarchs,
we find them acquainted with some OF
the arts and rehnements of luxury
Fine stuffs, embroidery, and rich vases,
proclaimed the genius of the Egyptians
But, in a more particular manner. they
were nous for their architecture all |
though 1t was in bad taste What the
ancients have told US of their works
would seem excessively exaggerated, If
some monuments did not remain of them
| to this day. The famous pyramids, some
| leagues from Cairo, have resisted the raw
ages of time, which have destroyed en-
pires. The largest Of them makes Il
square of $3.50 feet, each side being 6 40
feet, and the perpendicular height, 500
feet, terminated by a platform Of about
l6 feet Many stones OF this enormous
ediice are thirty feet ong. four feet high |
and three feet broad But the most mag
nifcent remains of ancient splendor are
those of Thpbes, built by Cadmus, 493
wears before Christ This city, in Upper
Egypt, is now called Luxor (See Hoy
lands Epitome of the Hist of the World,
Book lst Chap. "a
Now, it seems evident, by these facts,
that the ancient craft once had strong
hold IN Egypt, and still remains there in
its purity. And, as we are under dis
advantage to follow Masonic history, we
will lay our foundation upon traditions
Of all nations, as they are handed down
to us by profane historians.
Sacred and profane history informs u
that the world was without any means Of
| conveying inteliigence-that is during
the first period of mankind, from Adam
TO Noah-only by tradition, tradition he
ing the only way for 1906 years-from
the creation to the flood According to
the best chronoiogers, Moses was born
about the year of the world 243 and
was sent to bring Israel out of Egypt,
| abous 25l3 Thus were the world and
| the church $500 years without any ofthe