be very imperfectly understood, unless the tyro be well grounded in the hidden meaning of the types and emblems in which its occult principles are imbedded and concealed. Canons must be studied ere perfection can be attained. Every one must be an apprentice before he can entertain any pretensions of becoming a master. Without this preparation, no one will ever become an adept in the science of Freemasonry.

To supply this desideratum, the volume called SIGNS AND SYMBOLS was next offered to the masonic public; and it appears to have been fully appreciated by the fraternity, as the first edition of a thousand copies was sold off in a few months. In this work, I went fully into detail on all the acknowledged emblems by which the Order is distinguished, and explained them seriatim ; and a particular index enumerates upwards of two hundred Symbols which have been noticed in the twelve lectures which complete the volume. This publication opened a very extensive correspondence with brethren in every quarter of the globe where masonry flourishes, and the testimonies in its favour were so numerous and decisive as to constitute an unequivocal encouragement to proceed in my design, which I did not think it prudent to decline; particularly as H. R. H. the Grand Master, after the work had been submitted to his inspection in MS., kindly allowed it to be dedicated to him; and H. R. H. the Duke of York, the Duke of Leinster, Grand Master of Masonry in Ireland, and several of the nobility and Provincial Grand Masters extended their patronage to it.

The plan being now fairly opened, it appeared to me to be necessary, before proceeding further, to obviate an objection which had been raised against the antiquity and originality of the Order, by bringing forward a series of authentic evidences to prove that Freemasonry stands proudly on its own basis, without being indebted

to the religious mysteries of heathen nations; for it was confidently affirmed by some respectable authorities, that the death of Osiris, Adonis, or Bacchus, which was celebrated in those institutions, constituted the prototype of the mysteries of Freemasonry. And the identity of one with the other was alleged to be complete, not only from internal evidence, but from the supposed correspondence of facts and ceremonies with the Mithratic celebrations.

Voltaire had treated Osiris, Hiram, and Christ, as fabulous avatars of the same personage. Volney, Professor Robison, and others, had promulgated the same opinions. In answer to all which, Mr. Maurice remarks that, "in the pure and primitive theology, derived from the venerable patriarchs, there were certain grand and mysterious truths, the object of their fixed belief, which all the depravations brought into it by succeeding superstitions, were never able entirely to efface from the human mind. These truths, together with many of the symbols of that pure theology, were propagated and diffused by them in their various peregrinations through the higher Asia, where they have immemorially flourished; affording a most sublime and honourable testimony of such a refined and patriarchal religion having actually existed in the earliest ages of the world;" and this simple mode of faith was Freemasonry in its most primitive form.

Mr. Fellows, an American writer, promulgated the opinion that "the cenotaph, or mock coffin, used in the anniversaries, is typical of the death of the sun in the inferior hemisphere, under the name of Osiris, who is personated under the Hiram of masonry." And De Quincy, an eminent and clever writer of our own country, adds, "in the earlier records of Greece we meet with nothing which bears any resemblance to the masonic institution but the Orphic Eleusinian mysteries. Here, however,

the word mysteries implied not any occult problem or science sought for, but simple, sensuous and dramatic representations of religious ideas, which could not otherwise be communicated to the people in the existing state of intellectual culture. In the Grecian mysteries, there were degrees of initiation amongst it members," &c.

To combat these erroneous opinions, and to clear the way for future discussion, I published a complete view of the entire system of religious mysteries, as practised in every part of the idolatrous world, under the name of a HISTORY OF INITIATION; which, like the former, passed rapidly through the first edition; and a second was published before the expiration of the year. This work contains a detailed view of the Spurious Freemasonry of India, Egypt, Persia, Greece, Britain, Scandinavia, Mexico, and Peru; thus displaying in one point of view, all the principal mysteries which were practised over every part of the globe, noting their resemblances and peculiarities, to show that they had a common origin, which was dated at a period anterior to the general dispersion on the plains of Shinar, and entirely unconnected with the traditional origin of Freemasonry..

But notwithstanding the most complete demonstration of a case, and however its truth may be apparent to an impartial judge, there are those who are tardy to confess an error in any theory which they have once advocated. It seems on a par with an acknowledgment of mental imbecility, and an incapacity to determine & simple proposition when submitted to their unbiassed judgment; and they are cautious of admitting the least doubt of the soundness of their intellect, lest their literary credit, on which their future success appears to depend, should suffer any diminution; for every man is sensitively alive, and properly so, to the slightest shadow of a stain on his reputation. And hence arises

the anomaly of men persisting in error, even after their reason is convinced that they have advocated an unsound hypothesis, although the most honourable course would be to acknowledge it untenable, and candidly regret that a hastly formed opinion should have led them astray. But to return.

A progress thus signalized by unequivocal success was not likely to produce lassitude on my part. I therefore prepared to advance another step in my great design, by an endeavour to elucidate the true philosophy of the Order, to show it as it is, and not as it ought to be, according to the expressed opinions of some theorists; to describe its construction, to display its use and tendency, and to enquire whether it has any correspondence with practical religion, and the duties which are enjoined by the Most High, as the test of faith and purity of heart; for science, said the sage Iracagem," "may polish the manners, but virtue and religion only can animate with exalted notions, and dignify the mind of immortality; to neglect the first, is to turn our head from the light of day.; but to despise the last, is to grasp the earth when heaven is open to receive us. A wise and prudent spirit will so use the one as to improve the other, and make his science the handmaid of his virtue."

To enunciate the above particulars I now anxiously address myself. Serious doubts had been entertained by the unlearned in its mysteries, whether Freemasonry possessed any rational claims to the character of a Literary and Scientific Institution; and these surmises were strengthened by the consideration that no proofs of it were to be discovered in any authorized publication which was accessible to the general enquirer. The absence of these proofs being elevated into a cogent and unanswerable argument of their non-existence, the

3 Tales of the Genii, viii.

cowan triumphed in the imaginary abasement of a science (so called) below the level of the most common mechanical art; because they all, itself excepted, could produce abundant evidences of their utility, either in theoretical lectures, or the exquisite perfection of their manual productions; while nothing, as it was urged, appeared on the surface to recommend Freemasonry to public notice, but the external existence of the lodge room, decorated with symbols of a technical and speculative character, which, like the complicated diagrams of a necromancer, might bear an interpretation either puerile or fearful, no one knew which; with an occasional procession to assist at some operative ceremony, which terminated in a banquet; and there irregularities were sometimes exhibited, altogether incapable of extenuation or defence. While public lectures on Freemasonry were unknown, it was deduced that its utility and moral or scientific tendency were questionable, if not altogether imaginary.

Under such circumstances it became necessary to the well-being of the Order, that some attempt should be made to neutralize the effects, if it were found impracticable to defeat the existence of such unfounded assertions. And this could only be accomplished by placing within the reach of every enquirer, who would take the trouble to investigate the truth, some authentic treatise on the peculiar philosophy of the Masonic Order; and my previous publications having established for me an humble claim to the character of an authorized teacher of Freemasonry, it was suggested by several scientific brethren, for whose opinions I entertained considerable respect, that the fraternity looked up to me for some general undertaking which might silence the absurd cavils of our opponents, and place Freemasonry on the broad basis of an acknowledged literary institution.

For this purpose I published Twelve Lectures on the