Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected: theyare listed at the end of the text. 

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MYSTICISM

AND ITS RESULTS;

BEING AN INQUIRY INTO

THE USES AND ABUSES OF SECRECY, AS DEVELOPED IN THE INSTRUCTION AND ACTS OF SECRET SOCIETIES, ASSOCIATIONS, OR CONFRATERNITIES, WHETHER SOCIAL, RELIGIOUS, OR POLITICAL, FROM THE BEGINNING OF HISTORYTO THE PRESENT DAY, AND THEIR EFFECTS ONTHE MASSES OF MANKIND, THEN AND NOW. 

BY JOHN DELAFIELD, ESQ. , OF MISSOURI, AUTHOR OF "AN INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN OF THE ANTIQUITIES OF AMERICA. "

SAINT LOUIS:PUBLISHED BY EDWARDS & BUSHNELL, NO. 97 FOURTH STREET, TEN BUILDINGS. 

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1857. 

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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, BY JOHN DELAFIELD, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in andfor theDistrict of Missouri. 

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SAVAGE & McCREA, STEREOTYPERS, 13 Chambers Street, N. Y. 

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TO MY ALMA MATER, COLUMBIA COLLEGE, NEW YORK, This Essay is respectfully Inscribed, BY THE WRITER. 

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{5}

PREFACE. 

"THE WORD WAS GOD. " That "WORD IS TRUTH. " Truth can never change, or itwould contradict itself. Past, present, and future, must be governed byimmutable laws. Experience is acquired by the careful study of history, andthe present condition of all things. All is governed now by that same lawof truth, which was from the beginning of the world, and ever shall be. What serious lessons, then, may be learned by a careful examination of pastages; and how useful may they not be to us and our children for futureages? We can only judge of that which is to come hereafter, by studying thepast, and carefully noting the present. 

This little book has collated some facts, perhaps, somewhat out of theusual range of reading; but which it is sincerely trusted may be ofpractical {6} utility. If it only induces thought, study, or research, byintellectual and honest minds, its object will have been attained. Thewriter can only claim the indulgence of the reader to consider the essaysuggestive--not didactic. Many a far abler pen may enlarge upon and carryout the ideas presented. May it be

J. D. 

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{7}

CONTENTS. 

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CHAPTER I. 

Secrecy; its Uses and Abuses. --Mystery; its Definition. --Mysticism, and itsDefinition. ... PAGE 9

CHAPTER II. 

The Distinction between the Early Elohistic and Jehovahstic Ages ofPrimeval Patriarchal Times. --The Secrecy of Original Worship on MountainTops. --The Collation and Reconciliation of the Patriarchal Traditionsbrought together by Moses. --The Commencement of the Jehovahstic Age. --TheOrigin of Mythology. --The Magi; their Organization and Modes ofWorship. --The Deification of Nimrod, and the Source of Political Power atits Beginning. --The Secret Writings they adopted. --The Dead Invokers. --TheMysteries of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. ... 16

CHAPTER III. 

The Origin of the Cabbalistæ; the Chaldeans, and their Antagonism toPatriarchal Tradition. --The Hand-Writing on Belshazzar's Wall. --The SecretWritings of the Cabbalistæ. --How Daniel read the Same. --Ezra. --The Originof the Masoretic Text. --Zoroaster. --His Reformation and Reconstruction ofthe Religion of the Magi. --Pythagoras, and his "League. "--The Thugs. --TheDruids. ... 41

{8} CHAPTER IV. 

The Discipline of the Secret in the Origin of the Christian Church. --TheInquisition. --The Mystics. --The Rise of Monachism. --The MendicantOrders. --The Orders of Knighthood. --The Jesuits, their Organization andHistory. --The Rosicrucians, &c. ... 71

CHAPTER V. 

The Struggle between an alleged _Jus Divinum Regum_, and PopularSovereignty. --And the Efforts now attempted to destroy our Grand Experimentof Self-Government. --Practical Results. ... 104

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{9} MYSTICISM, AND ITS RESULTS. 

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CHAPTER I. 

 Secrecy; its Uses and Abuses. --Mystery; its Definition. --Mysticism, and its Definition. 

It is not true, as has been sometimes said, that wherever there is secrecythere is error. 

Secrecy, like most all else, hath its uses and abuses: its uses, asdeveloped in modesty and domestic virtue, in religious meditation, self-examination, and prayer, and in prudence in the affairs of life: itsabuses, in prudery, asceticism, superstitious awe, undue veneration ofpower, and when used as a cloud to conceal crime so hideous that nothingbut the truth of God, vindicated by human laws founded thereon, directed bywisdom, can dispel it. 

Virtue and modesty shrink from public gaze. Each looks alone to its innatesense, the gift of God, and to the sole approval of the great "I AM. "

The hidden sincere aspirations of the heart are known only to Him who"breathed into man the {10} breath of life, and he became a living soul. "These are a secret between the created being and its Almighty Father. Atthe lonely hour, when the burdened soul, knowing no earthly refuge fromoverwhelming troubles, but a mightier Hand than that of man, seeks onbended knee and with penitential tear, a blessing from on high, no word isspoken, no sound uttered save the sob from a contrite heart. The aspirationhas gone forth inaudibly to Him who said to all mankind, then and forfuture ages, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I willgive you rest. "[1]

 "Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, Uttered or unexpressed, The motion of a hidden fire That trembles in the breast. It is the burden of a sigh, The falling of a tear, The upward glancing of an eye When none but God is near. "[2]

What knoweth the outer world of this? Yet wrong can not exist in suchsecret communion between a penitent heart and its Maker. Pure religiousmeditation, leading us from earth to heaven, is only promoted by secretstudy and reflection in solitude. Neither philosophy nor religion can becultivated in the midst of the vortices of commerce or other businessrequiring constant intercourse with hundreds of {11} men during the day, nor in the whirl of fashion in the evening. 

Thus, then, do we trace one of the uses of secrecy. Both its use and itsabuse we shall hereinafter find exemplified in marked effects not only onindividual minds, but also on the masses of mankind in past history: itsuse, in the development of true piety: its abuse, in asceticism, superstition, and overweening spiritual power resulting in crimes, whichwere "a sin unto death. " Another abuse of secrecy has been manifested inmeans heretofore employed in the constant effort to obtain and maintainworldly power. This was by affecting the imagination and blinding thereason of the masses. Some time ago, an ephemeral work was published, eventhe name of which is not recollected by this writer, wherein was a pictureshowing the section of a handsome tent with curtains closely drawn. Within, is a man eating and feasting like other mortals. Without, is a stand onwhich are exposed to view the usual emblems and insignia of royalty, beforewhich there is a kneeling crowd. An admirable illustration! True it is, that "no man is a hero to his valet-de-chambre. " Fashionable wealth andpower depend upon exclusiveness to accomplish their usual attendantinfluences. Royalty hides every hour in secrecy from public gaze, exceptwhen it occasionally becomes necessary to treat the subjects to a merepageant or show of military costume and outside appearances. When LolaMontes displayed to {12} the world the mere humanity of the old king ofBavaria, where had he any _prestige_ left? Schamyl has attained hisextraordinary influence and power by his seclusion, asceticism, andpretended revelations; and bravery having crowned his efforts, he is afavorite of fortune, and the idol of a superstitious veneration. What didnot Mohammed accomplish in the same manner? But, in illustration of theopposite effect, so well known to the sad experience of all, hath not amightier One testified that, "a prophet hath no honor in his owncountry?"[3]

But doth not also common prudence in worldly affairs demand the use ofsecrecy?

What good general will detail, even to his own forces, and still less makepublic for the use of his adversary, his plans and intentions for anensuing campaign?--what business man communicate to the public or to hisrivals his hard thought and well-planned speculation?--what inventorpublish his new machine or discovery until he has secured his patent-right?

In what follows, then, let us discriminate between the use and abuse ofsecrecy; so that, by the lessons of the past and the present, we may besafely guided in our course through the future. 

Before going into matters of historic detail, it were well to understandthe definition of the word "mystery. " {13}

Many suppose it to mean "something which is incomprehensible. " This is alla mistake. 

"[Greek: Mustêrion]" means simply "a revealed secret. " In other words, "mystery, " which we derive from the Greek word quoted, means neither morenor less than a secret revealed and explained to us. A man of mature yearsand finished education knows that which no school-boy can comprehend. Tothe elder a secret has been revealed. He is in possession of the mystery. To the younger it is yet a secret, not incomprehensible, but which can onlybe attained in the progress of learning. To the scientific many of themysteries of nature are unfolded, but they are a secret to the world atlarge. To those Christians in the earlier days of the church, who hadattained its highest instruction, and after the "Ite, missa est" haddismissed the rest of the congregation, remained to participate in the"pure offering" (or "clean oblation") prophesied by Malachi[4] to bethereafter offered in every place to Him whose name thenceforth should begreat among the Gentiles--to them "it was given to know the mysteries ofGod:"[5] not to understand things incomprehensible. That would be acontradiction in terms: a thing impossible. How can a person comprehendthat which passeth all understanding? But it may be said, there are thingswhich are incomprehensible. Not so. They may be a secret to us while, inthis school-house, the earth, the {14} pedagogue Necessity is teaching usonly the rudiments of the laws of God as developed in nature or in mind;but, when the _scintilla divinitatis_, hidden in these "earthenvessels, "[6] shall have been set free, and (while "the dust returns to theearth as it was") rises unto Him that breathed into us that "spiritus" or"breath of life"--when we shall hereafter have been "newly born" into aspiritual state of higher existence--then may we hope that what is secretto us now, may become a mystery or revealed secret to us hereafter. It isnot all of life to terminate our existence on this earth. This is but theschool-house in the commencement of eternity. These mysteries, now secretsto us, are created and maintained by the fixed laws of Him "who is withoutvariableness or shadow of turning. " The revelations thereof belong to ahigher kingdom, which "flesh and blood can not inherit, " yet in which everysoul "shall be made alive. "[7] Then shall these secrets be unfolded inproportion to the cultivation of the mind and talents here: for theunchangeable laws of God have placed all matter in constant and regularmutation; and whether of matter or of mind, all is governed by a certainlaw of progress, compelling us to attain excellence and strength only byconstant endeavors to surmount difficulties: and it is thus alone we can, by severe study and deep meditation, in investigating these laws ofmutation and progress in things physical and {15} moral, bring the mind, even in this life, to a nearer approximation to, and capability of, appreciating the wonderful truths we must hereafter learn. As in all otherlaws of God, the cultivation of our talents must then carry itsproportionate reward hereafter. [8]

Let us then examine into the uses and abuses of secrecy in past history, and at the present day--but more particularly will these be manifested by"MYSTICISM;" by which is meant, _the revelation of learning, social, religious, and political, the teaching of which has been, and is, preservedsecret from the world, by societies, associations, and confraternities_. [9]

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{16}

CHAPTER II. 

 The Distinction between the Early Elohistic and Jehovahstic Ages of Primeval Patriarchal Times. --The Secrecy of Original Worship on Mountain Tops. --The Collation and Reconciliation of the patriarchal Traditions brought together by Moses. --The Commencement of the Jehovahstic Age. --The Origin of Mythology. --The Magi; their Organization and Modes of Worship. --The Deification of Nimrod, and the Source of Political Power at its Beginning. --The Secret Writings they adopted. --The Dead Invokers. --The Mysteries of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. 

In a critical study of the books of Moses two eras seem to be discernible. The earlier, the Elohistic, when God was only known by the name, "Elohim. "The latter, the "Jehovahstic, " beginning at a later period. [10]

Though not altogether germain to our subject, may we here be permitted toinquire--_par parenthese_--whether this simple rule does not furnish to usthe means of reconciliation of apparent contradictions?

All instruction originally was traditional alone. The patriarch was priestand teacher, as well as ruler of his tribe. Each handed down to hissuccessor the {17} traditions he had received from his ancestors orally. Astribes became nomadic, or else sought permanently new settlements andhomes, traditions in course of time necessarily became variant. Moses seemshonestly to have collated these traditions, and has, no doubt, given themin their respective versions as he received them from Jethro, hisfather-in-law, and from the patriarchal instruction among the elders of hispeople in Egypt. Thus we can recognize those in which the name Elohim isused as being of much earlier date than the same tradition differentlytold, where the word Jehovah indicates the name of Deity. For instance, wefind in one place[11] the command of God to Noah to take the beasts andfowls, &c. , into the ark by sevens. But again, in the same chapter, [12] wefind them taken only by pairs. Are these not variant traditions of oneevent? So, of the story of Abraham passing off his wife for his sisterbefore Pharaoh, king of Egypt, [13] and also before Abimelech, king ofGerar, [14] and the farther tradition of Isaac and Rebecca having done thesame thing before Abimelech, king of Gerar. [15] Are not these varianttraditions of one fact? The legal experience of the writer for many years, convinces him that no two persons without collusion view a transactiongenerally exactly alike. Frequently--and each equally sincere andhonest--they widely vary in their testimony. {18} Collusion may produce astory without contradiction. Slight discrepancies show there is no fraud, only that the witnesses occupied different stand points, or gave more orless attention to what was the subject matter. 

But, asking pardon for this digression, let us return to our theme. 

We know little or nothing about the teaching of the patriarchs in theElohistic age. Neither writing nor sculpture thereof existed in the time ofMoses, except, perhaps, the lost book of Enoch, or, unless--which we areinclined to doubt--the book of Job had just before his era been reduced towriting by the Idumean, Assyrian, or Chaldean priesthood. We find at thatperiod that sacrifices were offered on mountain tops. Why? Abraham went tosuch a place to offer up his son. Was it not for secrecy in the religiousrite? If the earliest instruction was from God, whose truth is unchangeableand eternal, were not the earliest sacrifices offered in secret by reasonof the same command which subsequently obliged the high priest of hischosen people to offer the great sacrifice in secret within the veils, first of the Tabernacle, afterward of the Temple? The Elohistic age endedwith the first official act of Moses, after he, also, had met with Aaron on"the mount of God. "[16]

A new era then commenced. As men dispersed {19} themselves over the earth, the original belief in the one true God (Monotheism) was lost, and peoplefell into the worship of many deities (Polytheism), adoring the visibleworks of creation, more particularly the sun and the stars of heaven, orelse reverencing the operative powers of nature as divine beings. Faith inthe one Great JEHOVAH was preserved by the children of Israel alone. Idolswere erected within gorgeous temples. With the Chaldean, Phoenician, andAssyrian, Moloch began the dreadful cruelty of human sacrifices, chiefly ofchildren. If, at first, the image of the idol was only a visible symbol ofa spiritual conception, or of an invisible power, this higher meaning waslost in progress of time in the minds of most nations, and they came atlength to pay worship to the lifeless image itself. The priests alone wereacquainted with any deeper meaning, but refused to share it with thepeople; they reserved it under the veil of esoteric (secret) doctrines, asthe peculiar appanage of their own class. They invented endless fableswhich gave rise to Mythology. They ruled the people by the might ofsuperstition, and acquired wealth, honor, and power, for themselves. [17] Wearrive then at nearly the culminating point of Egyptian priestcraft, thedays of "wise men, " "sorcerers, " and "magicians. "[18] Such men ever {20}have, and we presume ever will employ secrecy as the chief element of theirclever jugglery. Mankind love to be deceived. Let an Adrian, Blitz, orAlexander--while they tell you, and you well know it, that their tricks area deception--put forth notices of an exhibition, and they will attractcrowds, where an Arago, or a Faraday, would not be listened to. Maelzel'sautomata, or Vaucanson's duck, will attract the world, when Bacon's, orNewton's, or Laplace's works may remain in dust on the book-shelves. Humannature is always the same, and thus it was in the days of Moses andPharaoh. The wise men, sorcerers, and magicians, held undisputed sway, notonly over the superstitions of the people, but over their educated monarchsand princes. Egypt possessed, at an inconceivably early period, numberlesstowns and villages, and a high amount of civilization. Arts, sciences, andcivil professions, were cherished there, so that the Nile-land hasgenerally been regarded as the mysterious cradle of human culture; but thesystem of castes checked free development and continuous improvement. Everything subserved a gloomy religion and a powerful priesthood, who heldthe people in terror and superstition. Their doctrine, that, after thedeath of man, the soul could not enter into her everlasting repose unlessthe body were preserved, occasioned the singular custom of embalming thecorpses of the departed to preserve them from decay, and of treasuring themup in the shape of {21} mummies in shaft-like passages and mortuarychambers. Through this belief, the priests, who, as judges of the dead, possessed the power of giving up the bodies of the sinful to corruption, and by this means occasioning the transmigration of their souls into thebodies of animals, obtained immense authority. Notwithstanding themagnificence of their architectural productions, and the vast technicalskill and dexterity in sculpture and mechanical appliances which theydisplay, the Egyptians have produced but little in literature or thesciences; and even this little was locked up from the people in themysterious hieroglyphical writing, which was understood by the priestsalone. [19] The following translation is a quotation from a Latin work:"Among the ancient Egyptians, from whom we learn the rudiments of speech, besides the three common kinds of letters, other descriptions of charactersare used which have been generally consecrated to their peculiar mysteries. In a dissertation on this subject, that celebrated antiquarian (_conditorstromatum_), Clement, of Alexandria, teaches in his writings, thus: 'Thosewho are taught Egyptian, first, indeed, learn the grammar and chirographycalled letter-writing, that is, which is apt for ordinary correspondence;secondly, however, that used by the priests, called sacred writing, tocommemorate sacred things; the last also, hieroglyphic, meaning sacredsculpture, one of the first elements of which is {22} cyriologism, meaning, properly speaking, enunciating truth by one or another symbol, or in otherwords, portraying the meaning by significant emblems. ' With Clement agreesthe Arabian, Abenephi, who uses this language: (This Arabic writing ispreserved in the Vatican library, but not as yet printed: it is oftenquoted by Athanasius Kircher, in his Treatise on the Pamphilian Obelisk, whence these and other matters stated by us have been taken. ) 'But therewere four kinds of writing among the Egyptians: First, that in use amongthe populace and the ignorant; secondly, that in vogue among thephilosophers and the educated; thirdly, one compounded of letters andsymbols, without drawn figures or representations of things; the fourth wasconfined solely to the priesthood, the figures or letters of which werethose of birds, by which they represented the sacred things of Deity. ' Fromwhich last testimony we learn that erudite Egyptians used a peculiar anddifferent system of writing from that of the populace, and it was for thepurpose of teaching their peculiar doctrines. For example, they show thatthis writing consisted of symbols, partly of opinions and ideas, partly ofhistoric fables accommodated to a more secret method of teaching. ButClement, of Alexandria, went further. In book v. Of Antiquities(_stromata_, 'foundation of things'), he says: 'All who controlledtheological matters, Barbarian as well as Greek, have concealed theirprinciples, hiding the truth in enigmas, signs, symbols, as {23} well asallegories, and also in tropes, and have handed them down in varioussymbols and methods. '"[20] This passage led subsequently to the brilliantdiscoveries of Champollion. 

Who, then, were the "erudite Egyptians" who used a peculiar system ofwriting" for the purpose of teaching their peculiar doctrines?" Who were{24} these "magi, " "wise men, " "sorcerers, " and "magicians"? Nowhere do wefind Pharaoh in the midst of his troubles calling for a priest. It isalways for the wise men, magicians, and sorcerers. Were they not thepriests?--were they not those who controlled the mysteries--who practiseddivination? When Moses and Aaron cast down their rods, the magicians ofEgypt "also did in like manner with their enchantments, " and the result wasthe same. [21] When Moses smote the waters that they became blood, theacuteness of the priests, or magi, in their mysteries taught them a lessonwhereby they were able to do the same. [22] When the frogs came up onPharaoh and on all his people, and on all his servants, and covered theland of Egypt, we learn "the magicians did so with their enchantments, andbrought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. "[23] If the ancient Egyptians werelike their descendants, it is singular the magi could not accomplish thenext plague, that is, of lice. But here their power ended. The magioriginated in Media. According to oriental custom, to them was intrustedthe preservation of scientific knowledge, and the performance of the holyexercises of Religion. Afterward, in a special sense, the magi were a casteof priests of the Medes and Persians, deriving the name of Pehlvi; Mag, orMog, generally signifies in that language, _a priest_. They are expresslymentioned by Herodotus as a Median tribe. Zoroaster was not their founder, {25} but was their reformer, and the purifier of their doctrines. The Magiof his time were opposed to his innovations; and they, therefore, werecondemned by him. When afterward, however, they adopted his reforms, heeffected their thorough organization, dividing them into APPRENTICES, MASTERS, and PERFECT MASTERS. Their study and science consisted inobservation of their holy rites, in the knowledge of their sacred forms ofprayer, and liturgies by which Ormuzd was worshipped, and in the ceremoniesattendant on their prayers and sacrifices. They only were permitted to actas mediators between God and man. To them alone was the will of Goddeclared. They only could penetrate the future. And they alone predictedthe future to those who sought of them therefor. In later days the nameMagi became synonymous with sorcerer, magician, alchemist, &c. [24]

{26}

The magi of Egypt were the priests, the founders and preservers of themysteries of the secret grades of instruction, and of the hieratic andhieroglyphic writings and sculptures. In secret they were the priesthood. In public, in religious matters, the same. But in public secular affairsthey seem to be recognised as Magi. 

When mythology was invented, most of the gods, if not all of them, werereceived as symbolical, physical beings, the poets made of them moralagents; and as such they appear in the religions of the people of earlierdays. The symbolical meaning would have been lost, if no means had beenprovided to insure its preservation. The MYSTERIES, it seems, afforded suchmeans. Their great end, therefore, was to preserve the knowledge of thepeculiar attributes of those divinities which had been incorparated intothe popular religion under new forms; what powers and objects of naturethey represented; how these, and how the universe came into being; in aword, cosmogonies, like those contained in the Orphic instructions. Butthis knowledge, though it was preserved by oral instruction, wasperpetuated no less by {27} symbolic representations and usages; which, atleast in part, consisted of sacred traditions and fables. "In the sanctuaryof Sais, " says Herodotus (l. C. ), "representations are given by night of theadventures of the goddess; and these are called by the Egyptians_mysteries_; of which, however, I will relate no more. It was thence thatthese mysteries were introduced into Greece. "[25] The temples of India andof Egypt seem to be identical in architecture and in sculpture. [26] Bothnations seem to have sprung from the old Assyrian stock. [27] The magi ofboth countries appear to have had a common origin; and their teachings musthave been, therefore, traditionally the same. We may, then, presume thatthere were three grades in the instructions of these mysteries, by whatevername they may have been called--whether Apprentices, Masters, and PerfectMasters, or otherwise; that they were sacred in their character; and thattheir symbolic meanings were revealed in these MYSTERIES, and in no othermanner, while they were kept a secret from the world at large. But this wasnot all. They spread, with emigration and commerce, into all then knowncountries. Their common origin, or at least that of most of them, is stillperceptible. CERES had long wandered over the earth, before she wasreceived at Eleusis, and erected there her {28} sanctuary. (Isocrat. Paneg. Op. , p. 46, ed. Steph. , and many other places in Meursii Eleusin. , cap. 1. )Her secret service in the Thesmophoria, according to the account ofHerodotus (iv. 172), was first introduced by Danaus; who brought it fromEgypt to the Peloponnesus. [28] One writer says that mysteries were, amongthe Greeks, and afterward also among the Romans, secret religiousassemblies, which no uninitiated person was permitted to approach. Theyoriginated at a very early period. They were designed to interpret thosemythological fables and religious rites, the true meaning of which it wasthought expedient to conceal from the people. They were perhaps necessaryin those times, in which the superstitions, the errors, and the prejudicesof the people, could not be openly exposed without danger to the publicpeace. Upon this ground they were tolerated and protected by the state. Their first and fundamental law was a profound secrecy. In all mysteriesthere were dramatic exhibitions, relating to the exploits of the deities inwhose honor they were celebrated. [29] We may thus trace all ancient paganreligion to a common origin, with similarity of human means to accomplish ageneral result, variant in name, or in practice, as to the deity, or formof its worship, but resting on a unity as to its commencement and itsobject. 

{29}

We can hardly penetrate the veil which hides from us the pagan worship ofthat early human stock the race of Ham, which--without the divine lightgranted only to the Israelites--was the origin of false worship. We canonly arrive at conclusions, but these are the result of strong presumptionsarising from undisputed historical facts. What are they?

One of the principal chiefs of the earliest race, whence came the magi, &c. , was Nimrod, afterward deified by the name of Bel to the Chaldeans, Baal to the Hebrews, [Greek: Bêlos] to the Greeks, and Belus to the Romans;and when, in later days, statues received adoration (which at first wasonly accorded to the being of whom the statue was a type), he becameworshipped under a multiplication of statues, they were in the Hebrewlanguage called "Baalim, " or the plural of Baal. Nimrod was the son ofCush, grandson of Ham, and great-grandson of Noah. "And Cush begat Nimrod:he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before theLord: wherefore it is said, 'Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before theLord. ' And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. And out of that land he went forth toAssyria, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resenbetween Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city. "[30] While, then, {30}the children of Shem and Japheth pursued the patriarchal course, andpreserved the ancient traditions subsequently handed down, the descendantsof Ham, suffering under the patriarchal malediction of Noah, built citiescomposed of families, and a great kingdom composed of cities and nations. This kingdom was the origin of pagan worship. They lost the patriarchaltraditions, and were the first to establish on this earth the concentrationof power in a political system. That power once attained, the daring energyof the king became in the hand of the priesthood a subject of deificationfor two reasons. 1. The king was mortal, and must die. 2. The power must bepreserved. When afterward, under Peleg, this race, at their {31} buildingof Ba-Bel--their temple of Bel--became dispersed, and left to us only theirruin of that temple, now called _Birs Nimroud_, the magi, or priests, preserved the power he attained to themselves, by means of secrecy in theirmysteries, and which were dispersed subsequently through the earth indifferent languages and forms, varying with the poetry and climate of thecountry or countries thereafter occupied, and adapted from time to time tothe existing exigencies of the times. Thence sprang the origin ofmythologies, or, in other words, fabulous histories of the fructifyingenergies of Nature, whether developed in the germination of the vegetablekingdom, or in an occasional poetical version of some heroic act of one inpower. 

This nation, the old Assyrian, became dispersed at the destruction of theirgreat temple. But their political power everywhere was mysteriouslypreserved. When the magi became organized in Media, they spread in everydirection. From earliest days we find their worship amid the nationsconquered by Joshua. We see them in the traces of the [Greek: Oi Poimenes], or shepherd-kings of Egypt, and in the sorcerers of the days of Moses. We, find them reformed by Zoroaster in Persia. They are conspicuous among theGreeks, who derived their mysteries from Egypt; and in the worship of Isisat Rome, never indigenous there. And even in later days (those of Darius, Belshazzar, and Cyrus), they seem to be thoroughly {32} re-established intheir original birthplace. And, strange as it may appear, we find theirpower over kings, generals, nations, and people, in the hands of thepriesthood, by means of their mysteries, from all early history, untilaffected by the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

Regarding, then, the off-shoot from patriarchal tradition to be the originof pagan worship; referring also to the first formation of cities, and ofone immense kingdom, by the descendants of Ham (accursed by his propheticancestor), by whom an empire was first established; to Nimrod'sdeification; to the preservation in the priesthood of future politicalpower; to the fact that after his death they would and might therebyperpetuate the same; that wherever thereafter dispersed, they did so bytheir revelations by mysteries, in which they controlled not only themasses of the people, but those who governed them, in whatsoever nationthen known--we arrive at the conclusion that the mysteries were theelements of religious and consequently of political power. 

The important Greek mysteries, of the details whereof we know most, were--1. The _Eleusinian_. 2. The _Samothracian_, which originated in Creteand Phrygia, and were celebrated in the former country in honor of Jupiter. From these countries they were introduced among the Thracians or Pelasgiansin the island of Samothrace, and extended thence into Greece. They weresometimes celebrated in honor {33} of Jupiter, sometimes of Bacchus, andsometimes of Ceres. 3. The _Dionysia_, which were brought from Thrace toThebes, and were very similar to the former. They were celebrated everysecond year. The transition of men from barbarism to civilization waslikewise represented in them. The women were clothed in skins of beasts. With a spear (_thyrsus_), bound with ivy, in their hands, they ascendedMount Cithæron; when, after the religious ceremonies, wild dances wereperformed, which ended with the dispersion of the priestesses and theinitiated in the neighboring woods. They had also symbols, chiefly relatingto Bacchus, who was the hero of these mysteries. These celebrations wereforbidden in Thebes, even in the time of Epaminondas, and afterward in allGreece, as prejudicial to the public peace and morals. 4. The _Orphic_, chiefly deserving mention as the probable foundation of the Eleusinian. 5. The mysteries of Isis, not in vogue in Greece, but very popular inRome. [31] The offspring of Egyptian priestcraft, they were instituted witha view to aggrandize that order of men, to extend their influence, andenlarge their revenues. To accomplish these selfish projects, they appliedevery engine toward besotting the multitude with superstition andenthusiasm. They taught them to believe that they were the distinguishedfavorites of Heaven; that celestial doctrines had been revealed to them, too holy to be communicated to the profane {34} rabble, and too sublime tobe comprehended by vulgar capacities. Princes and legislators, who foundtheir advantage in overawing and humbling the multitude, readily adopted aplan so artfully fabricated to answer these purposes. The views of those inpower were congenial with those of the priests, and both united in the samespirit to thus control the respect, admiration, and dependence, of themillion. 

They made their disciples believe that in the next world the souls of theuninitiated should roll in mire and dirt, and with difficulty reach theirdestined mansion. Hence, Plato introduces Socrates as observing that "thesages who introduced the Teletæ had positively affirmed that whatever soulshould arrive in the infernal mansions _unhouselled_ and _unannealed_should lie there immersed in mire and filth. "--"And as to a future state, "says Aristides, "the initiated shall not roll in mire and grope indarkness, a fate which awaits the unholy and uninitiated. " When theAthenians advised Diogenes to be initiated, "It will be pretty enough, "replied he, "to see Agesilaus and Epaminondas wallowing in the mire, whilethe most contemptible rascals who have been initiated are strolling in theislands of bliss!" When Antisthenes was to be initiated, and the priestswere boasting of the wonderful benefit to ensue, "Why, forsooth, 'tiswonder your reverence don't hang yourself, in order to come at it sooner, "was his remark. When, however, such benefits were expected to be derivedfrom the {35} mysteries, it is no wonder the world crowded to theEleusinian standard. Initiation was, in reality, a consecration to Ceresand Proserpine. Its result was, honor and reverence from the masses. Theybelieved all virtue to be inspired by these goddesses. Pericles says: "I amconvinced that the deities of Eleusis inspired me with this sentiment, andthat this stratagem was suggested by the principle of the mystic rites. " Soalso Aristophanes makes the chorus of the initiated, in his Ranæ, tosing:--

 "Let us to flowery mead repair, With deathless roses blooming, Whose balmy sweets impregn the air, Both hills and dales perfuming. Since fate benign one choir has joined, We'll trip in mystic measure; In sweetest harmony combined, We'll quaff full draughts of pleasure. For us alone the power of day A milder light dispenses, And sheds benign a mellow ray To cheer our ravished senses. For we beheld the mystic show, And braved Eleusis' dangers; We do and know the deeds we owe To neighbors, friends, and strangers. "

It is believed that the higher orders of magi went further, and pretendedto hold intercourse with, and cause to appear, the very [Greek: eidôlon] ofthe dead. In the days of Moses it was practised. "There shall not be foundamong you ... A charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. "[32] {36} Diodorus Siculus mentions an oracle near LakeAvernus, where the dead were raised, as having been in existence before theage of Hercules. [33] Plutarch, in his life of Cimon, relates thatPausanias, in his distress, applied to the Psychagogi, or dead-evokers, atHeraclea, to call up the spirit of Cleonice (whose injured apparitionhaunted him incessantly), in order that he might entreat her forgiveness. She appeared accordingly, and informed him that, on his return to Sparta, he would be delivered from all his sorrows--meaning, by death. This wasfive hundred years before Christ. The story resembles that of theapparition of Samuel before Saul: "To-morrow shalt thou and thy sons bewith me. "[34] The appearance of Samuel was regarded as a real transactionby the writer of Ecclesiasticus, for he says: "By his faithfulness he wasfound a true prophet, and by his word he was known to be faithful invision; for after his death he showed the king his end, and lift up hisvoice from the earth in prophecy. "[35] The rabbins say that the woman wasthe mother of Abner; she is said to have had the spirit of _Ob_, which DeanMilman has remarked is singularly similar in sound to the name of the_Obeah_ women in Africa and the West Indies. Herodotus also mentions_Thesprotia_, in Epirus, as the place where Periander evoked the spirit ofhis wife Melissa, whom he had murdered. [36]

{37}

It was a very general opinion, in later days, that demons had power overthe souls of the dead, until Christ descended into Hades and delivered themfrom the thrall of the "Prince of Darkness. " The dead were sometimes raisedby those who did not possess a familiar spirit. These consulters repairedto the grave at night, and there lying down, repeated certain words in alow, muttering tone, and the spirit thus summoned appeared. "And thou shaltbe brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall below out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiarspirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of thedust. "[37]

Euripides also refers to necromancy. [38]

 ADMETUS. [Greek: hora ge mê ti phasma nerterôn tod ê]? HERCULES. [Greek: ou psuchagôgon tond' epoiêsô xenon]. 

 ADM. See! is not this some spectre from the dead?

 HER. No dead-invoker for thy guest hast thou. 

Seneca describes the spirits of the dead as being evoked by the Psychagogusin a cave rendered gloomy and as dark as night by the cypress, laurel, andother like trees. [39] Claudian refers to the same superstition. [40] AndLucan, [41] where Erictho recalls a spirit to animate {38} the body it hadleft, by horrid ceremonies. So Tibullus:[42]--

 "Hæc cantu finditque solum, manesque sepulchris, Elicit, et tepido devocat ossa toro. "

The celebrated Heeren, in his "Politics of Ancient Greece" (ch. Iii. , p. 67, Am. Ed. ), remarks, in reference to the mysteries of Eleusis, that theyexhibited the superiority of civilized over savage life, and gaveinstructions respecting a future life and its nature. For what was thismore than an interpretation of the sacred traditions which were told of thegoddess as the instructress in agriculture, of the forced descent of herdaughter to the lower world, etc. ? And we need not be more astonished if, in some of their sacred rites, we perceive an excitement carried to adegree of enthusiastic madness which belonged peculiarly to the East, butwhich the Hellenes were very willing to receive. For we must not neglect tobear in mind that they shared the spirit of the East; and did they not liveon the very boundary-line between the East and the West? As thoseinstitutions were propagated farther to the west, they lost their originalcharacter. We know what the Bacchanalian rites became at Rome; and had theybeen introduced north of the Alps, what form would they have there assumed?But to those countries it was possible to {39} transplant the vine, not theservice of the god to whom the vine was sacred. The orgies of Bacchussuited the cold soil and inclement forests of the North as little as thecharacter of its inhabitants. 

Without going further into detail (the minutiæ of which are thus opened toevery scholar), we must presume that the mythology of the children of Ham, the origin of pagan worship, fostered by variant mysteries to obtain andmaintain temporal power, spread itself through the then known world. So faras we know, the secret doctrines which were taught in the mysteries mayhave finally degenerated into mere forms and an unmeaning ritual. And yetthe mysteries exercised a great influence on the spirit of the nation, notof the initiated only, but also on the great mass of the people; andperhaps they influenced the latter still more than the former. Theypreserved the reverence for sacred things, and this gave them theirpolitical importance. They produced that effect better than any modernsecret societies have been able to do. The mysteries had their secrets, butnot everything connected with them was secret. They had, like those ofEleusis, their public festivals, processions, and pilgrimages, in whichnone but the initiated took a part, but of which no one was prohibited frombeing a spectator. While the multitude was permitted to gaze at them, itlearned to believe that there was something sublimer than anything withwhich it was acquainted, revealed only to the initiated; and {40} while theworth of that sublimer knowledge did not consist in secrecy alone, it didnot lose any of its value by being concealed. Thus the popular religion andthe secret doctrines, although always distinguished from each other, unitedin serving to curb the people. The condition and the influence of religionon a nation were always closely connected with the situation of thosepersons who were particularly appointed for the service of the gods, thepriests. The scholar will readily call to mind a Calchas, a Chryses, andothers. The leaders and commanders themselves, in those days, offered theirsacrifices (see the description which Nestor makes to Pallas, Od. Iii. , 430, &c. ), performed the prayers, and observed the signs which indicatedthe result of an undertaking. In a word, kings and leaders were at the sametime PRIESTS. [43]

How far may this have been a reason why Pharaoh did not call on a priestfor help, but rely on the supposed superior knowledge of the Magi? a highergrade of secret instruction, perhaps, than he had received. 

 * * * * *

{41}

CHAPTER III. 

 The Origin of the Cabbalistæ; the Chaldeans, and their Antagonism to Patriarchal Tradition. --The Hand-writing on Belshazzar's Wall. --The Secret Writings of the Cabbalistæ. --How Daniel read the Same. --Ezra. --The Origin of the Masoretic Text. --Zoroaster. --His Reformation and Reconstruction of the Religion of the Magi. --Pythagoras, and his "League. "--The Thugs. --The Druids. 

So far as the children of Shem and Japheth are concerned, it is believedtrue religion was preserved, except where tradition became adulterated withextraneous matter. And for the preservation of that religion, Almighty God, in his mercy, established of that lineage a certain race, with rules, partly signifying his truth, partly merely political, which shouldthereafter shine as a moral light to the world, no matter how dim the lightmight be, through the imperfection of human nature under peculiarcircumstances of temptation or otherwise. 

Here, at once, was an antagonism with the pagan religion, which was of thechildren of Ham, under his father's patriarchal curse. 

When Moses, the servant with the watchword, "I AM THAT I AM, " presentedhimself to the Shemitic and {42} Japhetic races, he was everywhere receivedand acknowledged by them as their leader, in opposition to both thetemporal and theological power of the Magi and of Pharaoh. 

Here came the clashing between pagan and traditional theology preserved bythe patriarchs. And Almighty God, to show the truth of his laws, sanctionedtheir promulgation by signs and miracles, which the Magi could not equalnor counteract. 

Pass by the Israelitish history until the loss and destruction of the firsttemple, when we find this religious race, although imbued with theprinciples of truth, fallen from their high estate, and led captive into astrange land, subject to the very people that insisted on the opposite oftheir own religion. They were then under the control of a monarch who wasgoverned by the laws of the Medes and Persians, that is, of the Magi; andwho, in turn, relied upon their emperor, who trusted only to his magicians, sorcerers, and Chaldeans. They were in BABYLON itself. 

To confirm what has been said, and to elucidate what is to follow, we willpause a moment to learn what is meant by "the Chaldeans. "

The accounts that have been transmitted to us by the Chaldeans themselvesof the antiquity of their learning, are blended with fable, and involved inconsiderable uncertainty. At the time when Callisthenes was requested byAristotle to gain information concerning the origin of science in Chaldea, he was {43} informed that the ancestors of the Chaldeans had continuedtheir astronomical observations through a period of 470, 000 years; but uponexamining the ground of this report, he found that the Chaldean observationreached no further backward than 1, 903 years, or that, of course (addingthis number to 331, B. C. , the year in which Babylon was taken byAlexander), they had commenced in the year 2, 234, B. C. Besides, Ptolemymentions no Chaldean observations prior to the era of Nabonassar, whichcommenced 747 years B. C. Aristotle, however, on the credit of the mostancient records, speaks of the Chaldean Magi as prior to the Egyptianpriests, who, it is well known, cultivated learning before the time ofMoses. It appears probable that the philosophers of Chaldea were thepriests of the Babylonian nation, who instructed the people in theprinciples of religion, interpreted its laws, and conducted its ceremonies. Their character was similar to that of the Persian Magi, and they are oftenconfounded by the Greek historians. Like the priests in most other nations, they employed religion in subserviency to the ruling powers, and made useof imposture to serve the purposes of civil policy. Accordingly DiodorusSiculus relates (lib. Ii. , p. 31, compared with Daniel ii. 1, &c. , Eccles. Xliv. 3) that they pretended to predict future events by divination, toexplain prodigies, interpret dreams, and avert evils or confer benefits bymeans of augury and incantations. For many ages they {44} retained aprincipal place among diviners. In the reign of Marcus Antoninus, when theemperor and his army, who were perishing with thirst, were suddenlyrelieved by a shower, the prodigy was ascribed to the power and skill ofthe Chaldean soothsayers. Thus accredited for their miraculous powers, theymaintained their consequence in the courts of princes. (See Cic. De Divin. L. I. , Strabo l. Xv. --Sext. Emp. Adv. Matt. L. V. § 2, Aul. Gell. L. Xiv. S. 1, Strabo l. C. ) The mysteries of Chaldean philosophy were revealed onlyto a select few, and studiously concealed from the multitude; and thus aveil of sanctity was cast over their doctrine, so that it might more easilybe employed in the support of civil and religious tyranny. The sum of theChaldean cosmogony, as it is given in Syncellus (Chronic. P. 28), divestedof allegory is, that in the beginning all things consisted of darkness andwater; that BELUS, or a divine power, dividing this humid mass formed theworld, and that the human mind is an emanation from the divine nature. (Perizon. In Orig. Bab. Voss. De Scient. Math. C. Xxx. § 5. Hottinger Hist. Or. P. 365. Herbelot Bib. Or. Voc. Zor. Anc. Un. Hist. Vol. Iii. Prid. Conn. B. Iv. Shuckford, b. Viii. Burnet Archæol. Phil. L. I. C. 4. Brucker's Hist. Phil. , by Enfield, vol. I. B. I, c. 3. )[44]

Now, we read that, "in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed {45} dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, andhis sleep brake from him. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show theking his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. "[45] But when bythe king required not only to interpret but to reveal the very phantasmitself, they declared it beyond the power of their own or human art. Daniel, however, of the captive race, revealed it by supernal influence. Then did the monarch admit as to Deity, that God (JAH, Ps. Lxviii. V. 4)was God of gods (_Baalim_, the representations of Baal). [46] His seconddream was again only understood by the inspired representative of theHebrews. But when, finally, appeared the stupendous handwriting on thewall, and when Belshazzar and his court were overwhelmed with amazement, sothat "the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, sothat the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one againstanother, the king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. "[47] They came; but all in vain. Daniel interpretedthe hand-writing at sight, and his reading proved true. Some theoriesprevail about this, which, whether correct or not, are entitled to beunderstood and considered. They have, at least, direct reference to oursubject of secret instruction and writing. 

{46}

The wonderful miracles of God at the exodus did not prevent that nationfrom repeated lapse into paganism, and acts of open disobedience to theTheocratic law. Still less were they debarred thereby the mere orientalcustoms of imparting moral instruction in secret associations, or thepursuit of science in hidden confraternities. But the train of thought andinstruction in the Hebrew societies was singularly pure, and directly atvariance with the mysteries of paganism. While the whole result of theteaching of the heathen mysteries was to represent, symbolically, thefructifying energies of nature (which they supposed to be the sum of bothscience and theology), that of the Israelites was the inculcation alone ofvirtue, the acquisition of science, and the preservation of the name ofDeity under peculiar forms and ceremonies, the recognition of which bymembers of the initiated, opened from one to the other every heart inperfect confidence, constantly reminding them of their duty to him as wellas to each other. The whole system of oriental instruction, save thatproclaimed in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, was secret. Even the name of Deitycould not be pronounced except at low breath, or in a whisper, underprescribed forms. Has the reader ever asked himself the meaning of thepassage in the Lord's Prayer, "_Hallowed be thy name_?" The Hebrews had avisible manifestation of God. That was not the only object of reverence. Itwas limited {47} not to any manifestation, but to the _name_ of Deity. Andthat teaching has received the express recognition of our Saviour, by hismaking it a part of the selections from the Jewish euchologies which formhis prayers. We profess to worship Deity in spirit and in truth. Do wehallow his _name_? Mere abstinence from profanation is a negative duty. Howmust it be hallowed? That is a positive duty. Christianity, rejecting theHebrew form, regards this as a mere Hebraism, substituting the name for thebeing himself. The Israelites do not: and one secret society stillexisting, whose origin we shall trace in this essay, still preserves theHebraistic sanctification of the original holy name as their form ofrecognition of each other, under solemnities which hallow it. 

We know that Moses[48] "was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, andwas mighty in words and deeds. " At his day pagan hieratic and hieroglyphicsymbols only were written on papyrus, or carved and engraved on stone. 

Take, then, the fact, that the Hebrew patriarchs and their tribes of histime were suffering under the persecution of hard task-masters in Egypt. How could their patriarchs teach to their classes the lessons of virtue andmorality? We can readily suppose at the conclusion of a toilsome day, whenall is dark, and tired nature would otherwise be at rest, he that hadpatriarchal authority, at dead of night, when {48} their pagan rulers couldnot hear, and while due guard was kept, whether on high hills, or in lowvales, would summon together those who were worthy TO RECEIVE instructionin moral science, virtue, and their patriarchal traditions, andthere--taking as emblems their instruments of daily toil--preserve thelessons which thus alone could be imparted. This we believe to be theorigin of the CABBALISTS, or _Kabbalistæ_, a secret society among theHebrews, whose origin is lost in antiquity, yet whose knowledge may, underGod's blessing, have been an instrument in accomplishing his great results. Their very name is derived from the Hebrew word [Hebrew: QBL] (Cabbala, "toreceive"). This society of Cabbalistæ, had various methods of secretwriting. Their first was the scriptura coelestis; the second, that ofangels, or kingly or dominant power; the third, that of the passage of theflood (_Scriptura transitus fluvii_). Breithaupt[49] says: "It is to berecollected, that the more ancient of the Kabbalistæ, studied out even asecret method of writing, consisting of four lines intersecting each otherat right angles, forming a square in the middle, {49} after the followingmethod. The figure of the four lines is thus:--

 | | shin lamed gimel | resh kaph beth | qoph yod aleph | | -------------------------------------------------- | | mem* samekh vav | kaph* nun he | tav mem daleth | | -------------------------------------------------- | | tsade* tsade tet | pe* pe chet | nun* ayin zayin |

In each section three letters they place from right to left. When, therefore, they intend the first of the three, they write the figure ofthat section in which it is found, with one point ([Symbol: L with onedot]). If another (or the next), the same figure with two points ([Symbol:L with two dots]); if the third, the same again with three points ([Symbol:L with three dots]), and so on. But the Cabbalistæ had also a simplerwriting: "The sublime philosophy of those who are called the Kabbala, embraces within itself different kinds to which the following appertain. Intheir most famous magic pamphlet _Rasiel_, which the Kabbalistæ hold ingreat respect, in the first place three secret alphabets are read, which, in many things, are wanting in the common form and syntax of usual Hebrew. The first is called _Scriptura coelestis_ (the writing of heaven); thenext, [Hebrew: ML'KYM] or [Hebrew: MLKYM], that is, of angels or kings(_angelorum sive regum_); and the third the writing of the crossing of theflood. "[50] There {50} are extant also, drawings of these letters preservedby Hern. Corn. Agrippa, in his work "_De Occult. Phil. _ lib. Iii. C. 30, "the copying of which would be merely matter of curiosity to no end. 

But Breithaupt goes much further, and refers to a book, "In OenigmatibusJudæorum Religiosissimis. Helmst. 1708, editio, p. 49, " wherein hesays, [51] that Herm. Vonder Hardt, the most celebrated philologist of ourage, remembers two singular alphabets used by the Jews in preparing theiramulets. The first is {51} when the next succeeding is substituted for thepreceding letter in every instance, as to wit: [Hebrew: B] for [Hebrew: '], [Hebrew: G] for [Hebrew: B], and so forth. They are said to have concealedin this manner their recognition of the one true God, which they recitedaily, early and toward evening, and as to which they persuade themselvesthat it is the most efficacious safeguard against idolatry, fortifiedwherewith they can not lapse from true to false religion. The other secretalphabet consisted in this, that in inversed order they change the lastletter [Hebrew: T] with the first [Hebrew: '], and this and another inturn, and so on through the rest, which inversion it is the custom to call[Hebrew: 'TBSH]. From this they produce, by such letters, in their moreelaborate amulets, the noted symbol [Hebrew: MTSPTS], which is nothing elsethan the name of God, [Hebrew: YHWH]. St. Jerome, [52] a celebrated fatherof the early church, contends that the prophet Jeremiah used this kind ofwriting, and not to irritate the king of Babylon against the Hebrews, forking, [Hebrew: BBL], said [Hebrew: SHSHK]. But some, also, among the Jews, declare that these words in Daniel, [Hebrew: MN' MN' TQL WPRSYN, ]

which, at the supper of the King Belzhazzar miraculously appeared upon thewall, to the astonishment of all, were written in this mode; and hencethink this artificial transposition of letters originated with God. Butthese things are to be passed by as {52} uncertain. If this last be true, the handwriting on the wall would have appeared thus:

 [Hebrew: YT`T YT`T 'RB PWGCHMT`][53]

But according to the first system referred to, the following would havebeen the appearance. [54]

 [Illustration]

(See Conf. Jan. Hercvles de Svnde in Steganologia, lib. V. , num. 4. , p. 148. Seqq. )

If the society of Kabbalistæ originated among the Israelites as early asthe time of Moses, their secret writings must having been only known to himand few besides, with their successors. Solomon, to whom Almighty Goddeclared "wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee, "[55] must have learnedthem; or, if it originated with him, Daniel and Ezra, who lived in asucceeding age; after the great temple had been destroyed, during thecaptivity, and at the rebuilding of the second temple, both inspiredservants of God, equally knew them; and when the inscriptions on the wall, or on the ark, or in the sacred rolls, were lost and unknown to the people, they were easily deciphered by means of the knowledge of the Kabbalisticcharacter, no matter what its form. Thus when Daniel saw the handwriting on{53} the wall he read it at once, possessed as he may have been of theknowledge how to read that cipher, while it can readily be seen why theMagi of Chaldea, and of Media and Persia, were at fault. It was a secretwriting of the Hebrews, known only to the select few. Ezra, in the reign ofArtaxerxes, king of Persia, "was chief-priest. This Ezra went up fromBabylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord Godof Israel had given. "[56] This was, then, no new matter to him. The book ofthe law had been lost during the captivity. Yet, at the rebuilding of thetemple, Ezra was a ready scribe in that lost writing. As such he went upfrom Babylon to Jerusalem. 

The wisdom of God granted to Solomon, must have provided against theforeseen loss of the sacred rolls, and determined a way for theirdiscovery, and the manner of reading them. The lost rolls were broughtforth by Ezra, and were read, notwithstanding the ignorance of theirancient language. In what way, so consistent with reason, as by hisunderstanding the secret writing known only to the learned of thatrace--the hidden scripture and instruction of a mysterious society, whoseonly teaching was pure, in accordance with the divine commands of thetheocracy, and with the oriental manner of instruction in matters ofscience and morality? Did this not furnish him a key to the original text?The words of {54} the one must have been recognised by their original usein application to the reading of the other; and though the language mayhave changed, the old cipher must have interpreted all. We learn that, "after the second veil, the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all, which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid roundabout with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rodthat budded, and the tables of the covenant, " were entered. [57]

The book (or rolls) of the law was commanded to be put within the ark. [58]The end of laying it there was, that it, as the original, might be reservedthere as the authentic copy, by which all others were to be corrected andset right. [59] Prideaux contends that, the ark deposited in the secondtemple was only a representative of a former ark on the great day ofexpiation, and to be a repository of the Holy Scriptures, that is, of theoriginal copy of that collection which was made of them after thecaptivity, by Ezra and the men of the great synagogue; for when this copywas perfected, it was then laid up in it. And in imitation hereof, theJews, in all their synagogues, have a like ark or coffer, [60] of the samesize or form, in which they keep the Scriptures belonging to the {55}Synagogue; and whence they take it out with great solemnity, whenever theyuse it, and return it with the like when they have done with it. Whatbecame of the old ark, on the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar, is a dispute among the Rabbins. The Jews--and herein they are supported bythe traditions of the most ancient secret society on earth--contend that itwas hid and preserved, by Jeremiah, say some, out of the second book ofMaccabees. [61] But most of them will have it, that King Josiah, beingforetold by Huldah, the prophetess, that the temple would speedily, afterhis death, be destroyed, caused the ark to be put in a vault under ground, which Solomon, foreseeing this destruction, had caused of purpose to bebuilt for the preserving of it. And, for the proof hereof, they produce thetext where Josiah commands the Levites[62] to put the holy ark in thehouse, "which Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, did build. "[63]Whether within or without the ark, or within a secret vault or not, EZRA, the scribe, brought forth the lost book or rolls of the law, andestablished the rules for its future perpetuity, whether by writing, or inoral explanation. And here, again, we note the use of secrecy in matters ofpower. From him is derived the present method of reading Hebrew, by what isusually known as the {56} vowel points in the Masoretic text. The Masoriteswere a set of men whose profession it was to write out copies of the HebrewScriptures. And the present vowel points were used by them, as derived fromthe secret writings of the Cabbalists. The Jews believe that, when God gaveto Moses the law in Mount Sinai, he taught him first the true readings ofit; and, secondly, the true interpretation of it; and that both these werehanded down, from generation to generation, by oral tradition only, till atlength the readings were written by the accents and vowels, in like manneras the interpretations were, by the Mishna and Gemara. The former they callMasorah, which signifieth "tradition. " The other is called Cabbala, whichsignifieth "reception;" but both of them denote the same thing, that is, aknowledge down from generation to generation, in the doing of which, therebeing tradition on the one hand, and reception on the other, that whichrelates to the readings of the Hebrew Scriptures hath its name from theformer, and that which relates to the interpretations of them from thelatter. As those who studied and taught the Cabbala were called theCabbalists, so those who studied and taught the Masorah were called theMasorites. As the whole business of the Cabbalists and Masorites was thestudy of the true reading of the Hebrew Scriptures, to preserve and teachthe proper text, they certainly are justly held the most likely to haveinvented, or at least {57} received and preserved these vowel points, because the whole use of these points is to serve to this purpose. [64]

About this time, in the reign of Darius, otherwise Artaxerxes, who sentEzra and Nehemiah to Jerusalem to restore the state of the Jews, firstappeared in Persia the famous prophet of the Magi, whom the Persians callZerdusht, or Zaratush, and the Greeks Zoroastres: born of mean and obscureparentage, with all the craft and enterprising boldness of Mohammed, butmuch more knowledge. He was excellently skilled in all the learning of theEast that was in his time; whereas the other could neither read nor write. He was thoroughly versed in the Jewish religion, and in all the sacredwritings of the Old Testament that were then extant, which makes it mostlikely that he was, in his origin, a Jew. It is generally said of him, thathe had been a servant to one of the prophets of Israel, and that it was bythis means that he came to be so well skilled in the Holy Scriptures, andall other Jewish knowledge. From the collation of authorities made by Dr. Prideaux, [65] it would seem that it was Daniel under whom he served;besides whom there was not any other master in those times, under whom hecould acquire all that knowledge, both in things sacred and profane, whichhe was so well furnished with. He founded no new {58} religion, but onlyreformed the old one. He found that the eminent of the Magi usurped thesovereignty after the death of Cambyses. But they were destroyed, and bythe slaughter which was then made of all the chief men among them, it sunkso low, that it became almost extinct, and Sabianism everywhere prevailedagainst it, Darius and most of his followers on that occasion going over toit. But the affection which the people had for the religion of theirforefathers, and which they had all been brought up in, not being easily tobe rooted out, Zoroastres saw that the revival of this was the best game ofimposture that he could then play; and having so good an old stock toengraft upon, he with greater ease made his new scions grow. He first madehis appearance in Media, now called Aderbijan, in the city of Xix, saysome; in that of Ecbatana, now Tauris, say others. The chief reformationwhich he made in the Magian religion was in the first principles of it: forwhereas before they had held the being of TWO FIRST CAUSES, the firstlight, or the good God, who was the author of all good; and the otherdarkness, or the evil god, who was the author of all evil; and that of themixture of these two, as they were in a continual struggle with each other, all things were made; he introduced a principle superior to them both, ONESUPREME GOD, who created both light and darkness, and out of these two, according to the alone pleasure of his own will, made all things else thatare, according to what is {59} said:[66] "I am the Lord, and there is noneelse, there is no God besides me: I girded thee, though thou hast not knownme: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, thatthere is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form thelight, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord doall these things. " These words, directed to Cyrus, king of Persia, must beunderstood as spoken in reference to the Persian sect of the Magians, whothen held light and darkness, or good and evil, to be the supreme beings, without acknowledging the great God who is superior to both. To avoidmaking God the author of evil, Zoroaster's doctrine was, that Godoriginally and directly created only light or good, and that darkness, orevil, followed it by consequence, as the shadow doth the person; that lightor good had only a real production from God, and the other afterwardresulted from it as the defect thereof. In sum, his doctrine as to thisparticular was, that there was one Supreme Being, independent andself-existent from all eternity. That under him were two angels, one theangel of light, who is the author and director of all good; and the otherthe angel of darkness, who is the author and director of all evil; and thatthese two, out of the mixture of light and darkness, made all things thatare; that they are in a perpetual struggle with each other; and that whenthe angel of light prevails, then the most {60} is good, and when the angelof darkness prevails, then the most is evil; that this struggle shallcontinue to the end of the world; that then there shall be a generalresurrection, and a day of judgment, wherein just retribution shall berendered to all according to their works, &c. And all this the remainder ofthat sect, which is _now_ in Persia and India do, without any variation, after so many ages still hold, even to this day. Another reformation whichhe made in the Magian religion was, that he caused fire temples to be builtwherever he came: this being to prevent their sacred fires, on the tops ofhills, from being put out by storms, and that the public offices of theirreligion might be the better performed before the people. Zoroasterpretended he was taken up into heaven, there to be instructed in thosedoctrines which he was to deliver unto men. Mohammed pretended to have seenGod. Zoroaster was too well informed for such imposture. He only claimed tohave heard him speaking to him out of the midst of a great and most brightflame of fire; and he, therefore, taught his followers that fire was thetruest _shechinah_ of the divine presence. His followers thereafterworshipped the sun as the most perfect fire of God. But this was anoriginal usage of the Magi (referred to in Ezekiel viii. 16), where it isrelated, that the prophet being carried in a vision to Jerusalem, had thereshown him "about five-and-twenty men standing between the porch and thealtar, with {61} their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their facestoward the east; and they worshipped the sun. " The meaning of which is, that they had turned their backs upon the true worship of God, and had goneover to that of the Magians. [67] The _Kebla_, or point of the heavenstoward which they directed their worship being toward the rising sun, thatof the Jews in Jerusalem to the Holy of Holies on the west end of thetemple; of those elsewhere toward Jerusalem; of the Mohammedans towardMecca, and the Sabians toward the meridian. 

Come whence it may, what is the meaning of the use of fire in any divineworship?

1. Burnt-offerings of old required it. 

2. It descended on the altars of Elijah, and of Solomon, from God himself. 

3. The Magi, from the time of Zoroaster, have deemed it the symbol ofpurity. 

4. The pagan mysteries in Egypt, Greece, and Rome, all preserved the"sacred fire. " Most religions seem to have adopted its use. Why?

5. The Catholic church has ever preserved its use in burning tapers, lamps, and smoking incense. 

In his reformation of the customs and rites of the Magi, Zoroaster, as hasbeen hereinbefore said, preserved their three grades of APPRENTICES, MASTERS, and PERFECT MASTERS. [68] The first were the inferior clergy, whoserved in all the common offices of their {62} divine worship; next abovethem were the superintendents, who in their several districts governed theinferior clergy, as bishops do with us; and above all was theperfect-master, the archimagus, who was the head of the whole religion. Accordingly their places of worship were of three sorts. The lowest sortwere parochial oratories served by the inferior clergy, where they read thedaily offices out of their liturgy, and on solemn occasions read part oftheir sacred writings to the people. In these churches there were no firealtars; but the small scintilla of sacred fire preserved in them, was keptonly in a lamp. Next above these were their fire temples, in which fire wascontinually burning on a sacred altar. The highest church of all was "_thefire-temple_, " the residence of the archimagus, first established byZoroaster at Balch, but removed in the seventh century to Kerman, aprovince in Persia on the southern ocean. To gain the better reputation tohis pretensions, Zoroaster first retired to a cave, and there lived a longtime as a recluse, pretending to be abstracted from all earthlyconsiderations, and to be given wholly to prayer and divine meditations;and the more to amuse the people who there resorted to him, he dressed uphis cave with several mystical figures, representing Mithra, and othermysteries of their religion. In this cave he wrote his book, calledZendavesta, or Zend, meaning "fire-kindler, " or "tinder-box. " This bookcontains much borrowed {63} from the Old Testament. He even called it thebook of Abraham, and his religion the religion of Abraham; for he pretendedthat the reformation which he introduced was no more than to bring back thereligion of the Persians to that original purity in which Abraham practisedit, by purging it of all those defects, abuses, and innovations, which thecorruptions of after-times had introduced into it. [69]

Is it not singular that all the nations of the earth still trace theirteaching in pure religion to Abraham, whether under the name of Brahma, orotherwise?

These ancient Magi were great mathematicians, philosophers, and divines ofthe ages in which they lived, and had no other knowledge but what by theirown study, and the instructions of the ancients of their sect they hadimproved themselves in. All of the Magi were not thus learned, only thoseof the higher order. The priesthood, like the Jewish, was communicated onlyfrom father to son, except to the royal family, [70] whom they were bound toinstruct, the better to fit them for government. Whether it were that theseMagians thought it would bring the greater credit to them, or the kings, that it would add a greater sacredness to their persons, or from both thesecauses, the royal family of Persia, so long as the Magi prevailed amongthem, was always reckoned {64} of the sacerdotal tribe. [71] The kings ofPersia were looked on to be of that sacerdotal order, and were alwaysinitiated into the sacred rites of the Magians, before they took on themthe crown, or were inaugurated into the kingdom. [72]

PYTHAGORAS next assumed, in the west, the most prominent place forlearning. He was the scholar of Zoroaster at Babylon, and learned of himmost of that knowledge which afterward rendered him so famous. So saithApulcius (Floridorum secundo), and so say Jamblichus (in vita Pythag. C. 4), Porphyry (Ibid. P. 185. Edit. Cant. ), and Clemens Alexandrinus(Stromata i. P. 223) for the Zabratus or Zaratus of Porphyry, and theNa-Zaratus of Clemens, were none other than this Zoroaster; and they relatethe matter thus: that when Cambyses conquered Egypt he found Pythagorasthere on his travels, for the improvement of himself in the learning ofthat country; that, having taken him prisoner, he sent him, with othercaptives, to Babylon, where Zoroaster (or Zabratus, as Porphyry calls him)then lived; and that he there became his disciple, and learned many thingsof him in the eastern learning. There may be error as to date, but thatPythagoras was at Babylon, and learned there a great part of that knowledgewhich he was afterward so famous for, is agreed by {65} all. His staythere, Jamblichus tells us, was twelve years; and that, in his conversewith the Magians, he learned from them arithmetic, music, the knowledge ofdivine things, and the sacred mysteries pertaining thereto. But the mostimportant doctrine which he brought home thence, was that of theimmortality of the soul; for it was generally agreed among the ancients(Porphysius in vita Pythagoræ p. 188, edit. , Cant. Jamblichus in vita Pyth. C. 30), that he was the first of all the Greeks that taught it. Prideauxsays he takes this for certain, that Pythagoras had this from Zoroaster, for it was his doctrine, and he is the earliest heathen on record whotaught it. [73] But Pythagoras seems to have combined the notions he thenreceived with those of the Egyptian Magi; for he taught immortality toconsist in constant transmigration from one body to another. The EgyptianMagi claimed to be judges of the dead, [74] and taught this doctrine. Zoroaster taught a resurrection from the dead, and an immortal state as weunderstand it. And it is probable Pythagoras adopted this notion after hefled from Samos to Egypt to escape from the government of Polycrates. 

Be this as it may, he was a master-spirit in a secret society with itslodges spread through Magna Græcia, originating in one he established atCrotona in Lower Italy. Like that of the Cabbalists, this society had noconnection whatever with the dominant religion. {66} The Kabbalistæ taughtvirtue and science, and thus were, perhaps, an auxiliary, but certainly noopponent to the sacred teachings of the holy law. The Pythagorean leaguetaught philosophy alone; full instruction was given in the liberal arts andsciences in accordance with the learning of that age. But, after it wasthought destroyed (and it was suppressed by Cylon and his faction, aboutthe year 500 B. C. ), it still exercised a great influence over all Greece, in such manner as that Heeren speaks of it as a phenomenon which is in manyrespects without a parallel. The grand object of the moral reform ofPythagoras was SELF-GOVERNMENT. By his dignity, moral purity, dress, andeloquence, he excited not only attention but enthusiasm. In that day anaristocracy prevailed in Magna Græcia, based chiefly on the corruptingtendencies of wealth and luxury. Against this class a popular movementcommenced, by the influence whereof Sybaris was destroyed, and thereuponfive hundred nobles fled for safety to Crotona, and prayed for protectionfrom that city, which they obtained principally by the advice ofPythagoras. (Diod. Sic. Xii. P. 77. Wechel. ) Aristocratic evils heabrogated. A friend of the people, he recognised their equal rights: and itwould seem that, while he adopted grades in knowledge and moral worth, heconsidered mankind on "a level" so far as all political power wasconcerned. To accomplish this end, he prescribed in his own society, andtheir affiliated {67} lodges, or meetings, a certain manner of life, distinguished by a most cleanly but not luxurious clothing, a regular diet, a methodical division of time, part of which was to be appropriated toone's self, and part to the state. Heeren remarks, that when a secretsociety pursues political ends, it naturally follows that an opposing partyincreases in the same degree in which the preponderating influence of sucha society becomes more felt. In this case, the opposition existed alreadyin the popular party. It therefore only needed a daring leader, like Cylon, to scatter the society by violence; the assembly was surprised, and most ofthem cut down, while a few only, with their master, escaped. They are said, so far as their political views were concerned, to have regarded anarchy asthe greatest evil, because man can not exist without social order. Theyheld that everything depended on the relation between the governing and thegoverned; that the former should be not only prudent but mild; and that thelatter should not only obey, but love their magistrates; that it wasnecessary to grow accustomed, even in boyhood, to regard order and harmonyas beautiful and useful, disorder and confusion as hateful and injurious. They were not blindly attached to a single form of government, but insistedthat there should be no unlawful tyranny. Where a regal government existed, kings should be subject to the laws, and act only as the chief magistrates. They regarded a {68} mixed constitution as the best, and where theadministration rested principally in the hands of the upper class, theyreserved a share of it for the people. The writings of the Pythagoreanscommanded high prices, but gained political importance only so far as theycontributed to the education of distinguished men, of whom Epaminondas wasone. [75]

Another scion of these methods of secret instruction, wherein, however, religion was the engine of political power, came from the ancient Assyrianstock with Phoenician emigration to Great Britain. The DRUIDS controlledthe learning of that country in religion as in science; and by theirmysteries exerted an overwhelming influence upon the rulers and the masses. 

Dr. Parsons[76] says, what were the filids, and bards, and the Druids, butprofessors of the sciences among the Gomerians, and Magogians or Scythians, and it is plain that, from Phenius downward, there were always, in everyestablished kingdom among the Scythians, philosophers and wise men, who, atcertain times, visited the Greek sages, after they had found their schools?It is no easy matter to point out the first rise and ages of the Druids. They taught the same opinions of the renovated state of the earth, and ofsouls, with the Magi. According to Cæsar, in his time these Druidsinstructed their youth in the {69} nature and motion of the stars, in thetheory of the earth, its magnitude, and of the world, and in the power ofthe immortal gods. On the continent of Europe, he says, the Druids grewinto such power and ascendency over the minds of the people, that even thekings themselves paid an implicit slavish obedience to their dictates;insomuch, that their armies were brave in battle, or abject enough todecline even the most advantageous prospects of success, according to thearbitrary prognostics of this set of religious tyrants; and their decisionsbecame at last peremptory in civil, as well as in the affairs of religion. One of the kings of Ireland, the learned _Carmac o' Quin_, great in law andphilosophy, who was not afraid to inveigh openly against the corruptionsand superstition of the Druids, and maintained, in his disputations againstthem, that the original theology consisted in the worship of oneomnipotent, eternal Being, that created all things; that this was the truereligion of their ancestors; and that the numerous gods of the Druids wereonly absurdity and superstition--proved fatal to him. For, as this societysaw an impending danger of their dissolution, they formed a deep conspiracyagainst him, and he was murdered. The Druids on the continent nevercommitted their mysteries to writing, but taught their pupils _memoriter_. The Irish and Scotch Druids wrote theirs, but in secret character. Thesewere well understood by the learned men who were in great numbers, and had{70} not only genius but an ardent inclination to make researches intoscience. St. Patrick, then, with the general consent and applause of thelearned of that day, committed to the flames almost two hundred tracts oftheir pagan mysteries. [77] And with his day ended the last of druidicalsuperstition. The Druids preserved the mistletoe evergreen as an emblem ofnature's fructifying energy, and of immortality. 

The Thugs, Assassins, Phanzigars, or by what other name they may be known, were no society for the development of philosophy or religion; and, although they began about this time, are unworthy of farther mention. Theirmysteries, if any, were only those of the highway robber, murderer, orother violater of God's law. Their only secrecy was the concealment oftheir crime. 

 * * * * *

{71}

CHAPTER IV. 

 The Discipline of the Secret in the Origin of the Christian Church. --The Inquisition. --The Mystics. --The rise of Monachism. --The Mendicant Orders. --The Order of Knighthood. --The Jesuits, their Organization, and History. --The Rosicrucians, &c. 

But next appeared upon the stage of human life, our Lord and Saviour, JESUSCHRIST; "The sun of Righteousness, rising with healing on his wings:" thatLIGHT of this world, which was to draw all men unto him, at the mention ofwhose name "every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things inearth, and things under the earth. "[78]

His lessons to man were all oral. The church he established received nonebut traditional instruction. The gospels of his life were written more thanhalf a century after the crucifixion. The apostles, commissioned to goforth and preach the Gospel, held their meetings in upper chambers, and insecrecy, and part of their manner of teaching, if not all, was founded uponthe still-prevailing systems of the Kabbalistæ and philosophers. There weregrades observed in the orders of ministry. The diaconate, the {72}presbyter, priest or elder, and the [Greek: episkopos] or bishop. So therewere three grades of the laity--catechumens, (not yet baptized, ) baptizedpersons, and "the faithful. " The policy of the apostles (who, when theywere taught to be harmless, were to be wise) adapted itself to the thenexisting state of affairs. It was not only for fear of the Jews, as atfirst, that they adopted the method of instruction in secret, and which isto this day recognised by the catholic church as the then _disciplinaarcani_, or "discipline of the secret;" but they kept it up even during thetimes of persecution, down to the time of St. Augustin. When our Saviourwas insulted by the scribes and Pharisees, saying, "why do thy disciplestransgress the tradition of the elders?" &c. He said to them, "why do yealso transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?"[79] Still moredid he rebuke them, when they asked him, "why walk not thy disciplesaccording to the traditions of the elders, but eat bread with unwashenhands?" In his answer, he replied, "laying aside the commandment of God, yehold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups, &c. , &c. And hesaid unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye maykeep your own tradition. "[80] St. Paul afterward, well knowing the thensystems of philosophy, and their then traditional instruction, wrote tothem at Philippi, [81] "Beware lest any man spoil you through {73}philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments(or elements) of this world, and not after Christ. " Then St. Paul, guardingthe early Christians so carefully, writes to the faithful in Thessaly, "Nowwe command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that yewithdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and notafter the tradition which ye have received _of us_, "[82] &c. When St. Paulpreached on the first day of the week when the disciples came together tobreak bread, it was in an upper chamber where they were gatheredtogether. [83] At an earlier date, the first day of the week after thecrucifixion, in the evening, "when the doors were shut where the discipleswere assembled, for fear of the Jews, came Jesus, and stood in the midst, "&c. [84] When Pliny was proconsul in Judea, such charges were made againstthe Christians on account of their secrecy, as caused severe persecution, not for matters of religion, but for supposed cannibalism. He writes toTrajan, that he took all pains to inform himself as to the character of theChristian sect. To do this he questioned such as had for many years beenseparated from the Christian community, but though apostates rarely speakwell of the society to which they formerly belonged, he could find outnothing. He then applied torture to two female-slaves, deaconesses, toextort from them the truth. After all, he could learn only that the {74}Christians were in the habit of meeting together on a certain day; thatthey then united in a hymn of praise to their God, Christ; and that theybound one another--not to commit crimes, but to refrain from theft, fromadultery, to be faithful in performing their promises, to withhold fromnone the property intrusted to their keeping; and then separated andafterward assembled at a simple and innocent meal. [85]

Evidently, the Christian mysteries were preserved secret from the Romans asfrom the Jews, or such crime could never have been imputed to them. Alluding to the secret traditional instruction prevalent in Judea andadopted by the early church, St. Augustin writes, "You have heard the greatmystery. Ask a man, 'Are you a Christian?' He answers you, 'I am not. ''Perhaps you are a pagan, or a Jew?' But if he has answered 'I am not;'then put this question to him, 'Are you a catechumen, or one of the faith?'If he shall answer you, 'I am a catechumen;' he is anointed but not yetbaptized. But, whence anointed? ask him. And he replies. Ask of him in whomhe believes. From the fact that he is a catechumen, he says, in Christ. "

This is the third lecture of St. Augustin on the ninth chapter of St. John's gospel, where our Saviour is portrayed as healing the blind man, bymixing earth with spittle and anointing his eyes therewith. And St. Augustin adds, "Why have I spoken of {75} spittle and of mud? Because theword is made flesh; this the catechumens hear; but it is not sufficient forthem as to what they were anointed; let them hasten to the font, if theydesire light. "[86]

But still further to mark the distinction between these grades of Christiansecret instruction, St. Augustin, in the eleventh tract on the Gospel ofSt. John, treating of the conversation between Nicodemus and our Saviour, as to regeneration, says, "If, therefore, Nicodemus was of the multitudewho believed in his name, now in that Nicodemus we comprehend why Jesus didnot trust them. Jesus answered and said to him, 'Verily, verily I say untoyou, unless any one shall have been born again, he can not see the kingdomof God. ' Jesus placed faith, therefore, in those who were born again. Lo!they believed in him, and Jesus did not trust in them. Such are allcatechumens: they now believe in the name of Christ, but Jesus does notconfide in them. Let your love comprehend and understand this. If we say toa catechumen, 'Do you believe in Christ?' He answers, {76} 'I do, ' andsigns himself with Christ's cross: he bears it on his forehead, and blushesnot at his Lord's cross. Lo! he believes in his name. Let us ask him, 'Doyou eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood?' He knows notwhat we say, because Jesus has not trusted him. "[87]

Now we are told in Holy Writ in reference to this matter. St. Paul, alluding to this secret traditional instruction in the several degrees ofChristian learning, says to those advanced to a higher or more perfectdegree: "and I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, butas unto carnal, even as to babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, andnot with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet noware ye able. "[88] Even their first lessons in the great mystery wereimperfect. Other and further instruction was to complete it. So also St. Peter saith in his general letter, "Wherefore laying aside all malice andall guile and hypocrisies and envies {77} and all evil speakings, asnew-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may _grow_thereby. "[89] And again, St. Paul saith, [90] "For when for the time yeought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be thefirst principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need ofmilk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful inthe word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth tothem that are of full age, even those who by reason of use" (_habit, orperfection_) "have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Therefore leaving the principles" (the word of the beginning of Christ) "ofthe doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection, "[91] &c. We need nothere refer to the wonderful spread of Christianity. We learn a plain andsimple lesson taught by Jesus, as to the administration of his church. "These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into theway of the Gentiles, " &c. "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise thedead, cast out devils: freely have ye received, freely give. Provideneither gold, nor silver, nor brass, in your purses: nor scrip for yourjourney, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet a staff; for the workmanis worthy of his meat. "[92] When questioned before Pilate, he declared, "Mykingdom is not of this world. "[93] Whether the successors of the {78}apostles have or not, since that day, established a kingdom of this world, is not for us here to discuss. Whether those that claim such successionobey the precept quoted, or not, we do not interfere with. 

To insure unity in the church throughout the world, prudence would suggestthat there should be some place, free from the control of worldly politics, whence its teachings should issue, and its counsels be heard. In itsinfancy the Christian church suffered bitterly from persecution. Thefaithful everywhere received a crown of martyrdom. When earthly terrorsinterposed, the blood of the martyrs proved the seed of the church. 

It is for us, however, to trace in history the secret teachings of thosewho have claimed its highest authority in any denomination, and if we donot reach their private counsels, their acts proclaim them. 

Has, or not, each Christian church been tempted by worldly power, wealth, and honor, like all other systems of religion?

Have there existed within their jurisdiction, confraternities, with secularpower, directly or indirectly under their control, seeking by secretmeasures to manage the government of the nations of this earth?

That great Creator, whose word is truth which can not change, declared aslaw to govern all his creatures, "THOU SHALT NOT KILL. " What saith historyof those who claim to have acted in his name? Why, and in what manner didthey act? {79}

The south of France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries became a sceneof blood, the immediate cause of which was the erections of the "tribunalsof faith, " better known to us as a secret society called "THE INQUISITION. "Innocent III. , who ascended the papal chair in 1198, conceived the projectthereof, to extirpate the rebellious members of the church--theAlbigenses--and to extend the papal power at the expense of the bishops:and his successors carried out his plan. This tribunal, "_the holy office_"or "inquisition" (sanctum officium), was under the immediate direction ofthe papal chair: it was to seek out heretics and adherents of falsedoctrines, and to pronounce its dreadful sentence against their fortune, their honor, and _their lives_, without appeal. The process of thistribunal differed entirely from that of the civil courts. The informer wasnot only concealed, but rewarded by the inquisition. The accused wasobliged to be his own accuser. Suspected persons were secretly seized andthrown into prison. No better instruments could be found for inquisitorsthan the mendicant orders of monks, particularly the Franciscans andDominicans, whom the pope employed to destroy the heretics, and inquireinto the conduct of bishops. Pope Gregory IX. , in 1233, completed thedesign of his predecessors, and, as they had succeeded in giving theseinquisitorial monks, who were wholly dependent on the pope, an unlimitedpower, and in rendering the interference {80} of the temporal magistratesonly nominal, the inquisition was successively introduced into severalparts of Italy, and into some provinces of France; its power in the lattercountry being more limited than in the former. The tribunals of faith wereadmitted into Spain in the middle of the thirteenth century, but a firmopposition was made to them, particularly in Castile and Leon, and thebishops there maintained their exclusive jurisdiction in spiritual matters. For a time this power waned, when, afterward in the fifteenth century, itassumed an aspect truly alarming. Three religions then prevailed in Spain:Christians, Jews, and Mahommedans. The power of the nobles was a bar, atthe same time, to the absolute power of Ferdinand and Isabella. But thisengine of religious tyranny accomplished their ends, and became the mostpowerful instrument of their policy. Owing to the fanatical preaching ofFernando Nuñez, who taught the persecution of the Jews to be a good work, popular tumults prevailed, in which this people was plundered, robbed, andmurdered. Cardinal Mendoza, at Seville, in 1477, condemned and punishedmany who persevered in opposition to the doctrines of his faith. 

Mendoza recommended the establishment of the inquisition to Ferdinand andIsabella. Dependent entirely upon the court, what better engine could theyuse to render their power absolute, by confiscation of estates to filltheir treasury, and to limit the {81} power of the nobles and superiorclergy? In the assembly of the estates, therefore, held at Toledo, 1480, inspite of all opposition, it was determined to establish a tribunal, underthe name of the general inquisition (_general inquisicion suprema_). Thiswas opened in Seville, 1481. Thomas de Torquenada, prior of the Dominicanconvent at Segovia, father-confessor to Mendoza, had been appointed firstgrand inquisitor by the king and queen, in 1478. The peaceful teachings ofthe meek and lowly Jesus do not seem to have had much influence on thispolitical Boanerges. He had two hundred familiars, and a guard of fiftyhorsemen, but he lived in continual fear of poison. The Dominican monasteryat Seville soon became insufficient to contain the numerous prisoners, andthe king removed the court to the castle in the suburb of Triana. At thefirst _auto da fè_ (act of faith), seven apostate Christians were burnt, and the number of penitents was much greater. Spanish writers relate thatabove seventeen thousand were given up to the inquisition. More than twothousand were condemned to the flames the first year, and great numbersfled to neighboring countries. The then pope, Sixtus IV. , opposed theestablishment of this court, as being the conversion of an ecclesiasticalinto a secular tribunal: but he was compelled to submit to circumstances, and actually promulgated a bull subjecting Aragon, Valencia, and Sicily, the hereditary dominions of Ferdinand, to the {82} inquisitor-general ofCastile. The introduction of the new tribunal was attended with risings andoppositions in many places, excited by the cruelty of the inquisitors, andencouraged, perhaps, by the jealousy of the bishops. Saragossa and otherplaces refused admission to the inquisitors, many of whom lost their lives;but the people were obliged to yield in the contest; and _the kings notonly became the absolute judges in matters of faith, but the honor, property, and life of every subject were in their hands_. The politicalimportance of this institution may be estimated by the following statement. In every community, the grand inquisitor must fix a period, from thirty toforty days, within which time heretics, and those who have lapsed from thefaith, shall deliver themselves up to the inquisition. Penitent hereticsand apostates, although pardoned, could hold no public office, nor becomelessees, lawyers, physicians, apothecaries, or grocers; nor wear gold, silver, or precious stones; nor ride; nor carry arms; during their wholelife, under a penalty of being declared guilty of a relapse into heresy:and they were obliged to give up a part of their property for the supportof the war against the Moors. Those who did not surrender themselves withinthe time fixed were deprived of their property irrevocably. The absent, also, and those who had been long dead, could be condemned, provided therewas sufficient evidence against them. The bones of those who were condemnedafter death were dug up, {83} and the property which they had leftescheated to the king. 

At first the jurisdiction of the inquisition was not accurately defined;but it was regularly organized by the ordinance of 1484, establishingbranches in the different provinces of Spain, under the direction of theinquisitor-general. The inquisitor-general presided, with aid of six orseven counsellers nominated by the king; and his officers were a fiscal (orquasi prosecuting attorney), two secretaries, a receiver, two relators, asecuestrador (or escheator), and officials. In an ordinance of 1732, it wasmade the duty of all believers, to inform the inquisition, if they knew anyone, living or dead, present or absent, who had wandered from the faith, who did observe, or had observed the laws of Moses, or even spokenfavorably of them: if they knew any one who followed, or had followed thedoctrines of Luther; any one who had concluded an alliance with the devil, either expressly or virtually; any one who possessed any heretical book, orthe Koran, or the Bible in the Spanish tongue; or, in fine, if they knewany one who had harbored, received, or favored heretics. If the accused didnot appear at the third summons he was excommunicated. From the moment thatthe prisoner was in the power of the court he was cut off from the world. Then followed tortures, solitary confinement, and death in flames, withevery attendant of abject humiliation, while his name, with that {84} ofhis children and grand-children, was officially declared infamous. Napoleoncrushed this monstrous iniquity December 4, 1808. According to the estimateof Llorente, the number of victims of the Spanish inquisition, from 1481 to1808, amounted to 341, 021 persons. 

In Portugal the inquisition was established in 1557. Whence they alsocarried a branch of it to Goa, in the East Indies; in like manner as theSpaniards established one in America. [94]

From the earlier days, however, of the Christian religion we find a selectfew known as the MYSTICS, steadily pursuing a peaceful course in theinvestigation of truth. Of them it is said, that they exercised a powerfulinfluence both upon life and literature: and, although the inculcation ofmeekness and self-humiliation paralyzed active exertion, and a life devotedto emotions and sentiments occasionally produced fanaticism, yet thisinfluence, especially in the middle ages was highly beneficial. JohnTauler, of Strasbourg, Henry Suss, of Constance, and Thomas à Kempis, wereactive mystics, and eminent among their fraternity which was called "thebrethren of the common life. " Theirs was a religion of feeling, poetry, andimagination, in contrast with philosophical rules and forms of reasoning, as taught by the school-men. They excused their fanaticism, by appealing tothe words of St. Paul: {85} "The spirit prays in us by sighs and groansthat are unutterable. " Now, if the spirit, say they, prays in us, we mustresign ourselves to its motions, and be swayed and guided by its impulse, by remaining in mere inaction. Hence, passive contemplation they consideredthe highest state of perfection. The number of the mystics increased in thefourth century under the influence of the Grecian fanatic, who gave himselfout as Dionysius, the Areopagite, a disciple of St. Paul, and probablylived about this period; and by pretending to higher degrees of perfectionthan other Christians, and practising greater austerities, their causegained ground, especially in the eastern provinces in the fifth century. Acopy of the pretended works of Dionysius, was sent by Balbus to Louis theMeek, in the year 824, which kindled the flame of mysticism in the westernprovinces, and filled the Latins with the most enthusiastic admiration ofthis new religion. In the twelfth century these mystics took the lead intheir method of expounding Scripture; and by searching for mysteries andhidden meanings in the plainest expressions, forced the word of God into aconformity with their visionary doctrines, their enthusiastic feelings, andthe system of discipline which they had drawn from the excursion of theirirregular fancies. In the thirteenth century they were the most formidableantagonists of the schoolmen, and toward the close of the fourteenth manyof them resided and propagated their tenets in {86} almost every part ofEurope. In the fifteenth century they had many persons of distinguishedmerit in their number; and in the sixteenth, previously to the Reformation, it is said that the only true sparks of real piety were to be found amongthem. [95]

Let us, then, examine the rise of confraternities attached to, and of, theChristian church, yet not necessarily more than its other laity entitled toauthority which they afterward usurped. 

Monachism took its rise in the East, where a solitary and contemplativelife, devoted to the consideration of divine subjects, had always beenconsidered more meritorious than active exertion. This calling wasgradually adopted by so many, that at the end of the third century, theEgyptian Antonius, who had cast away his vast possessions, and chosen thedesert for his residence, collected together the hitherto dispersedanchorites (monachi) into fenced places (monasteria, cænobia, claustra, cloisters), that they might live together in fellowship; and his disciple, Pachomius, soon gave the brotherhood a rule. Monachism soon extended to thewest. In the sixth century, Benedict, of Nursia, established the firstmonastery on Mount Casius, in Lower Italy, and became, by this means, thefounder of the widely-spread order of Benedictines, which rapidly extendeditself among all nations, and built many convents. These monasteries, erected, for the most part, in {87} beautiful and remote situations, andthe inhabitants of which were obliged to take the three vows of chastity(celibacy), personal poverty, and obedience, proved in those days oflawlessness and barbarism, a blessing to mankind. They converted heaths andforests into flourishing farms. They afforded a place of refuge (asylum) tothe persecuted and oppressed. They ennobled the rude minds of men by thepreaching of the Gospel. They planted the seeds of morality andcivilization in the bosoms of the young by their schools for education. Andthey preserved the remains of ancient literature and philosophy from utterdestruction. Many of the Benedictine monasteries were the nurseries ofeducation, the arts, and the sciences, as St. Gallen, Fulda, Reichenau, andCorvey (in Westphalia), and many others. When the Benedictine order becamerelaxed, the monastery in Clugny, in Burgundy, separated itself from themin the tenth century, and introduced a more rigid discipline. In thetwelfth century the monks of Clugny numbered upward of two thousandcloisters. But this order, also, soon proved insufficient to satisfy thestrong demands of the middle age, against the allurements of sin, and theseductions of the flesh; so that, at the end of the eleventh century, theCistercians, and, a few decades later, the Premonstrants sprang up: theformer in Burgundy (Citeaux), the latter in a woody country near Laon(Premontré). The order of Carthusians, founded about the year {88} 1084, which commenced with a cloister of anchorites (Carthusia, Chartreuse) in arugged valley near Grenoble, was the most austere in its practice. A lifeof solitude and silence in a cell, a spare and meagre diet, a penitentialgarment of hair, flagellations, and the rigid practices of devotionalexercises, were duties imposed upon every member of this fraternity. 

They deserve, at our hands, the full benefit of an honest and severeChristian effort to find out and nurture truth; so long as government andpolitical power did not control them. History next tells us of theso-called "MENDICANT ORDERS. " They originated in the thirteenth century, and this establishment was productive of remarkable results. Francis ofAssisi (A. D. 1226), the son of a rich merchant, renounced all hispossessions, clothed himself in rags, and wandered through the world, begging, and preaching repentance. His fiery zeal procured him disciples, who, like himself, renounced their worldly possessions, fasted, prayed, tore their backs with scourges, and supplied their slender wants fromvoluntary alms and donations. The order of Franciscans then spread rapidlythrough all countries. About the same time arose the order of Dominicans, or preaching monks, founded by an illustrious and learned Spaniard, Dominicus. Their chief objects were the maintenance of the predominantfaith in its considered purity, and the extinction of heretical opinions. In {89} carrying these out, they became endowed with the greatest worldlyand temporal privileges, received the powerful patronage of the pope, gradually obtained the chairs in the universities, and took the lead in themurder of their fellow creatures through the inquisition. What a temptationto brawling mendicants, too lazy to earn a living, authorized to beg, andthe supple tools of political leaders; and all this by a mysterioussociety, under the guise and pretence of the Christian religion! Laic toolsfor such clerical workmen!

While, from the mystics of that date, valuable works have been preserved, what has been left us from these mendicant orders? Anything save the cry ofblood from the earth? Aught else than servile obedience in accomplishingthe mandates of those in power?

In the eleventh century, the crusades had given rise to a singular class ofmen, half-military, half-monk. They had their secret means of recognition, a peculiar garb, and a professed object. Religion was the motive cause, while science and philosophy seem to have been secondary with them. Theywere knights, of three orders, viz. : the Knights of St. John, orHospitallers; the Templars; and the Teutonic Knights. The Knights of St. John are known equally by the name of the Knights of Malta, because, in1530, Charles V. Granted them the islands of Malta, Gozzo, and Comino, oncondition of perpetual war {90} against the infidels and pirates, and therestoration of these islands to Naples, if the order should succeed inrecovering Rhodes. The chief of this order had immense possessions in mostparts of Europe. Their chief was called _Grand Master of the Holy Hospitalof St. John of Jerusalem_, and _Guardian of the Army of Jesus Christ_. Hewas chosen by vote, and lived at La Villette in Malta. Foreign powersaddressed him as _Altezza eminentissima_. His income equalled a million ofguilders annually. This order still exists. Originally the affairs of theorder were exercised by "THE CHAPTER, " which consisted of eight balliages(_ballivi conventuali_), of the different languages of which the knights ofthe order consisted, that is, Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Aragon, Germany, Castile, and England. The lands of these ballivi conventuali oflanguages were divided into three classes, priories, balliages, andcommanderies. Of the priories the German had the preference, and was calledthe Grand Priory. 

This confraternity were free-masons. And their organization was framedaccordingly. Such was their kindness and benevolence to a wandering andunprotected pilgrim, that when afterward accosted on his journey with thecustomary inquiry, "Whence came you?" one and multitudes would answer, "From a lodge of the Holy St. John of Jerusalem, " having experienced theirhospitality and kindness in their pilgrimage. Their duty was to nurse, accommodate, {91} and protect pilgrims to the Holy Land: and everywhere ontheir travels, in whatever country, these lodges (or _hutten_) were foundfor their comfort. 

In the beginning of the twelfth century a secret order was formed, "for thedefence of the Holy Sepulchre, and the protection of Christian Pilgrims. "They were first called "The poor of the Holy City, " and afterward assumedthe appellation of "Templars, " because their house was near the Temple. Theorder was founded by Baldwin II. , then king of Jerusalem, with theconcurrence of the pope. 

Many of the noblest knights connected themselves therewith, and they becameknown, then, as the KNIGHTS TEMPLARS. 

But the order degenerated, became faithless to their vows, and used thewealth and power they had attained in such manner as to occasion theirpublic condemnation. 

In the beginning of the fourteenth century a sect of soi-disantphilosophers appeared, known as the ROSICRUCIANS. They bound themselvestogether by a solemn secret, which they all swore inviolably to preserve;and obliged themselves, at their admission into the order, to a strictobservance of certain established rules. They pretended chiefly to devotethemselves to medicine, but above all that, to be masters of importantsecrets, and among others, that of the philosopher's stone; all which theyaffirmed to have received by tradition from the ancient Egyptians, {92}Chaldeans, the Magi, and the Gymnosophists. By their pretences that theycould restore youth, they received the name of _Immortelles_. Theirpretension to all knowledge, acquired for them the title of _Illuminati_. For years they were lost sight of. Consequently, when in later years theyonce more appeared under their original organization, they have beenrecognised as "_The invisible brothers_. " Their name is not, as generallysupposed, derived from _rosa_ and _crux_: but it is from _ros_ (dew), thethen supposed solvent of gold, and _crux_ (the cross). To see, perhaps, abadge of this order, mark the arms of Luther! a cross placed upon a rose. True, a mistake as to the definition, yet does it not indicate the reasonof its use politically and otherwise?

Passing by, then, the middle ages, we commence a new era with the rise andprogress of a religious secret order, without a parallel in the history ofthe world; one which has risen in influence and power far above all theother orders of the church, prohibiting its members to accept office in thechurch, yet which, in the art of ruling, has excelled the governments ofthe world hitherto, no less than any of its ecclesiastical rivals of anyage or country. 

The Society of Jesus--known as THE JESUITS--early raised itself to a degreeof historical importance unparalleled in its kind. This order was founded(1539) by Ignatius Loyola, who called it the Society of Jesus, inconsequence of a vision, and bound the {93} members, in addition to theusual vows of poverty, chastity, and implicit obedience to their superiors, to a fourth, viz: to go, unhesitatingly, and without recompense, whithersoever they should be sent, as missionaries for the conversion ofinfidels and heretics, or for the service of the church in any other way, and to devote all their powers and means to the accomplishment of the work. The intention of Ignatius Loyola was originally directed rather to mysticand ascetic contemplations; but the order, from the nature of its fourthvow, soon took a shape adapted to the wants of the church. 

The origin of this society seems to have been a vision to the over-wroughtmind of Loyola: may we call it a temporary inflammation of the brain? Hewas a Spaniard of very warm imagination, and a man of great sensibility. Hedeclared he saw Mary, the mother of Jesus, in a vision: that she gave himthe power of chastity: that Jesus and Satan appeared to him in the form ofmilitary officers enlisting men for service; whereupon he followed Christ. The society designated their object by Loyola's motto--_Omnia ad majoremDei gloriam_. The intimate union of this society has been insured by severetrials, constant inspection, and unconditional obedience. Thoroughlyorganized by past experience, it now quietly pursues a policy deep, powerful, and difficult to be met on account of its mysticism. AfterLoyola's death the society was farther developed by Lainez, {94} and afterhim, by Aquaviva, men of deep knowledge of mankind, and steadfast purpose, who became the real authors of the present society. The seat of the societywas, in so far, in Rome, as the general of the order resided there, withthe committee of the society, and the monitor, who, totally independent ofhim, controlled the general as if he were his conscience. The order wasdivided into provinces, each of which was superintended by a provincial. Under the care of these officers were the professed-houses, with each apræpositus at its head, and the colleges, with each a rector. In the latterthere were also novices. The mutual dependence of all parts of the systemresemble the structure of a well-built fabric. The relations ofsubordination are so well ordered that the society is _simplex duntaxatunum_, without interrupting the free will of the individual, as is said, who only had to obey in permitted things. 

The popes Paul III. And Julius III. , seeing what a support they would havein the Jesuits against what is usually called "the Reformation, " which wasrapidly gaining ground, granted to them privileges such as no body of men, in church, or state, had ever before obtained. They were permitted not onlyto enjoy all the rights of the mendicant and secular orders, and to be_exempt from all episcopal and civil jurisdiction_ and taxes, so that theyacknowledged no authority but that of the pope and the superiors of theirorder, and were permitted to exercise every {95} priestly function, parochial rights notwithstanding, among all classes of men, even during aninterdict; but, also (what is not even permitted to archbishopsunconditionally), they could absolve from all sins and ecclesiasticalpenalties, change the objects of the vows of the laity, acquire churchesand estates without further papal sanction, erect houses for the order, andmight, according to circumstances, dispense themselves from the canonicalobservance of hours of fasts and prohibition of meats, and even from theuse of the breviary. Besides this, their general was invested withunlimited power over the members; could send them on missions of everykind, even among excommunicated heretics; could appoint them professors oftheology at his discretion, wherever he chose, and confer academicaldignities, which were to be reckoned equal to those given by universities. These privileges, which secured to the Jesuits a spiritual power almostequal to that of the pope himself, together with a greater impunity, inpoint of religious observance, than the laity possessed, were granted themto aid their missionary labors, so that they might accommodate themselvesto any profession or mode of life, among heretics, and infidels, and beable, wherever they found admission, to organize Catholic churches withouta further authority. A general dispersion, then, of the members throughoutsociety with the most entire union and subordination, formed the basis oftheir constitution. {96}

In the education of youth, there has been a very unjust charge againstthem, that is, that they mutilated the classics. Would to God that everypure Christian would follow such an example; and that we might therebypresent such an expurgated edition, as would create all the good they maycontain, devoid of evil. Any who have read Virgil, Ovid, Terence, or otherclassic works, must acknowledge this necessity. Even Shakespeare's playscan not be read, as printed, in a modest company. There is not, either, anyprudery in this. And, accordingly, a family expurgated edition has beenpublished by Dr. Bowdler, demanding a far greater circulation than it mayhave as yet received. Praise, then, be awarded to all instructors of youthwho will promote such expurgation from the classics as will blot out theirimmorality!

The latitude in which this society has understood its rights and immunitieshas given occasion to fear an unlimited extension and exercise of them, dangerous to all existing authority, civil and ecclesiastical, as theconstitution of the order, and its erection into an independent monarchy inthe bosom of other governments, have assumed a more fixed character. 

This society seems to have been divided into different ranks or classes. The _novices_, chosen from the most talented and well-educated youths, andmen without regard to birth or external circumstances; and who were triedfor two years, in separate {97} novitiate houses, in all imaginableexercises of self-denial and obedience, to determine whether they would beuseful to the purposes of the order, were not ranked among the actualmembers, the lowest of whom are the _secular coadjutors_, who take nomonastic vows, and may, therefore, be dismissed. They serve the orderpartly as subalterns, partly as confederates, and may be regarded as thepeople of the Jesuit state. Distinguished laymen, public officers, andother influential personages (e. G. , Louis XIV. , in his old age), werehonored with admission into this class, to promote the interests of theorder. Higher in rank, stand the _scholars_ and _spiritual coadjutors_, whoare instructed in the higher branches of learning, take upon themselvessolemn monastic vows, and are bound to devote themselves particularly tothe education of youth. These, as it were, the artists of the Jesuitcommunity, are employed as professors in academies, as preachers in cities, and at courts; as rectors, and professors in colleges, as tutors andspiritual guides in families which they wish to gain or to watch, and asassistants in the missions. Finally, the nobility, or highest class, ismade up of _the professed_, among whom are admitted only themost-experienced members, whose address, energy, and fidelity to the order, have been eminently tried and proved. According to one statement, they makeprofession, that is, take the vows of their order, by binding themselves inaddition to the common {98} monastic vows by the fourth vow, to theundertaking of missions, among whom they consider heathen and heretics, asgovernors in colonies in remote parts of the world, as father-confessors ofprinces, and as residents of the order in places where it has no college. They are entirely exempt, on the other hand, from the care of the educationof youth. None but the professed have a voice in the election of a general, who must himself be of their number, and who has the right of choosing fromthem the assistants, provincials, superiors, and rectors. The general holdshis office for life, and has his residence in Rome, where he is attended bya monitor, and five assistants or counsellors, who also represent the fivechief nations: the Italians, Germans, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Heis the centre of the government of the whole order, and receives monthlyreports from the provincials, and one every quarter from the superiors ofthe professed-houses, from the rectors of the colleges, and from themasters of the novices. These reports detail all remarkable occurrences, political events, and the characters, capacities, and services ofindividual members, and thereupon the general directs what is to be done, and how to make use of tried and approved members. All are bound to obeyhim implicitly, and even contrary to their own convictions. There is noappeal from his orders. 

Loyola died July 31, 1556, leaving to the order a sketch of thisconstitution, and a mystical treatise {99} called "Exercitia Spiritualia, "which work occupies the first four weeks of every novice. The rapidincrease of the order, and the previous purity of Loyola's life, obtainedcanonization for him in 1662. Their first great missionary was St. FrancisXavier, whose labors (1541) in the Portuguese East Indies, where he diedten years afterward, have obtained for him the name of "the apostle ofIndia", and the honor of canonization. We are told that, at Goa, Travancore, Cochin, Malacca, Ceylon, and Japan, some hundred thousand wereby him converted to the Christian religion. If so, at present the light ofit has become very dim. _Stat nominis umbra. _ The inquisition at Goa, perhaps, may have shown the people the difference between theory andpractice. Claudius Aquaviva, of the family of the dukes of Atri, general ofthe Jesuits from 1581 to 1615, is the author of their system of education. The want of deep, critical learning, with the mutilation of the classics(for which last they deserve praise, not blame), exposed their teachers, for a time, to the censure of philologists. Viewed with suspicion by theFrench, they only were admitted into that nation in 1562, under the name of"the Fathers of the College of Clermont, " with a humiliating renunciationof their most important privileges, but they soon united in the factions ofthat country, and, notwithstanding a strong suspicion of their having had ashare in the murder of Henry III. , under the {100} protection of theGuises, they contrived to establish themselves, regain their privileges, and deprive the French Protestants of their rights. One of their pupils, John Chatel, attempted Henry's life (1594), and this caused theirbanishment until 1603, when, at the intercession of the pope, they wereagain restored by Henry IV. That they participated in the crime ofRavaillac could never be proved. They became the confidential advisers inGermany, of Ferdinand II. And III. They discovered remarkable politicaltalent in the thirty years' war; the league of the Catholics could donothing without them. Father Lamormain, a Jesuit, and confessor to theemperor, effected the downfall of Wallenstein, and by means of his agents, kept the jealous Bavarians in their alliance with Austria. Then burst uponthem in France and the Netherlands, the hurricane of the Jansenistcontroversy, when Pascal's Provincial Letters scathed them, and hissentiments were even quoted (1679) by Innocent IX. , against sixty-five oftheir offensive propositions. Complaints were made against some of them bythe Iroquois, who had been converted by them, as would appear by the treatyof peace (1682). In 1759, by an edict, they were declared guilty ofhigh-treason, and expelled from Portugal. Owing to difficulties atMartinique under their deputy, Father La Vallette, and the declaration oftheir general, Lorenzo Ricci, refusing to make any change in theirconstitution (_sint aut non sint_), "let them be as they {101} are, or notbe, " the king of France (1764) issued a decree for abolishing the order inall the French states, as being a mere political society, dangerous toreligion, whose object was self-aggrandizement. In 1767 they were drivenout of Spain, and soon after from Naples, Parma, and Malta. And the voiceof public opinion at length compelled Pope Clement XIV. To publish hisfamous bull, _Dominus ac Redemptor noster_, of July 21, 1773, by which thesociety of Jesus was totally abolished in all the states of Christendom. The society, however, did not become extinct. In 1780 they were thought tohave possessed themselves of the secrets of the Rosicrucians, and to havetaken a part in the schemes of the Illuminati. In 1787, an unsuccessfulattempt was made to revive the order under the name of the _Vicentines_. Pius VII. Restored the order, in 1814, upon the issuance of the bull, August 7, _Solicitudo omnium_. In 1815 they were restored in Spain. Russia, by an imperial ukase, March 25, 1820, banished them thence. Since then theyhave been driven from Mexico, again restored by Santa Anna, and now, thoughresident, they are politically powerless under the administration ofPresident Comonfort. They now seem to rely on the United States of Americaas their chief asylum, and upon the valley of the Mississippi river and itstributaries, as their basis of operations. Full and perfect freedom ofthought and speech, of religious toleration, and of mode of life, monasticor {102} otherwise, insures to them a safe home in this country. Theypossess a flourishing college at Georgetown, which may almost be consideredas part of the city of Washington, the capital of the United States. Alsoone at Cincinnati, and one at St. Louis, well endowed, and possessed ofgreat wealth. They exercise a powerful yet unseen influence over the mindsof the members of the Catholic faith where they reside, each naturalizedcitizen of which has an equal voice in selecting all officers of state andgeneral government. An eminent writer has remarked, that everything inhistory has its time, and the order of Jesuits can never rise to any greateminence in an age in which knowledge is so rapidly spreading. We thinkdifferently. A society so capable of adaptation to any circumstances, whether political, religious, or social, plastic in nature to meet everydesired impression, talented, highly learned, wealthy, and among others, embracing in its order some men of such pure and admirable life as to becited as examples of virtue and Christian character, with the protectionthe American flag throws around all under its folds, is to be carefullyobserved. Human nature is always the same. The past history, then, of thissociety merits the study of every philanthropist and patriot. Once, inParaguay, it became a blessing to mankind. Within due limits, it may be soanywhere. But its interference in any political affairs, under pretence ofserving him, whose "kingdom is not of this {103} world, " is not to betolerated, as it may prove a most dangerous engine in the struggle of thecause of popular self-government. An unconditional surrender of one's ownconvictions to the will of another man is at variance with _every_principle of republicanism. 

 * * * * *

{104}

CHAPTER V. 

 The Struggle between an alleged _Jus Divinum Regum_, and Popular Sovereignty. --And the Efforts now attempted to destroy our Grand Experiment of Self-Government. --Practical Results. 

With the differences of religious bodies as to dogmas of faith, this essayhas nothing to do; but so far as churches connected with any religion, interfere with temporal governments, by mystic confraternities, that is atopic directly within our scope. Any union of church and state must, fromthese authorities, appear in opposition to the unprejudiced action of thecitizen in the government of his country. 

The great struggle for political power, the contest as to the sourcethereof--whether a fancied divine right (_jus divinum_) in any family, orin an individual by anointment of a priest; or the free voice of a freepeople governing themselves by framing a constitution, limiting power inthe hands of rulers, who are only their agents--is now undergoing a severetest. Of this, however, more hereafter. 

The history of England, from the days of James II. --yes, even from HenryVIII. , whose crimes form a strange contrast to his assumption of a title tobeing {105} head of a church--presents a singular contest for politicalpower, by means of religious domination. 

From the days of William of Orange, the parties in Ireland (which seems tohave formed the battleground of these contestants) have been not onlywell-defined, but they have been organized in the most perfect mysticism, into Orange men and Ribbon men. Let the days of Curran, Grattan, and of thepersecuting government tell that story. The blood of an Emmett has crowneda noble effort with martyrdom. His last speech will be read as long asschool-books can perpetuate one of the finest efforts of oratory. 

Meantime, a secret society still existed which softened down asperity, andextended the blessings of fraternity even among those arrayed against eachother--not only there, but over the world. By its teachings and itsobligations, universal charity was inculcated. Is there an intelligentFREE-MASON who has perused our previous pages, but what has recognised thehistory of his own society from the origin of the Kabbalistæ? Spreadeverywhere, under whatever name, emanating from a common origin, recognisedby common principles and instruction, enforcing the study of the liberalarts and sciences, teaching philosophy throughout the world, and the hopeof a future immortality, it has, as a mystic order, taken deep root inevery nation, but more so in republics, not having fear of an interdict, orother religious {106} fulmination. It has not and does not interfere inpolitics, nor seek political power in any shape. Like its brothers of oldunder Pythagoras in Magna Græcia, it teaches philosophy, and is wellcalculated to promote such education as must form true statesmen. Socatholic is its every teaching, and such are its fraternal tendencies, thatone church has placed it under ban. Throughout the world, whether among thedescendants of the ancient Magi, the Hebrew Cabbalist, the Rosicrucian, orTemplar, in the deserts of Africa, the forests of America, or on thewide-spread ocean, the symbols of recognition are known and received. Suchhave been its tendencies that spurious imitations for mere politicalpurposes have been frequent. The Illuminati, the Carbonari, and othersecret political societies have been supposed to be Masonic lodges. But itis a great mistake. The Kabbalists never interfered with, or acted inopposition to the Hebrew Theocracy. Their brothers of a later date havenever interfered with politics, even to the present day; nor have they, inany wise, inculcated a single maxim at variance with their duty to God, their neighbor, or themselves. They have simply preserved and obeyed theoriginal traditional instruction handed down to them. 

Another benevolent secret society has sprung up, chiefly in the UnitedStates, calling themselves the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. This is acharitable confraternity, intended, mainly, to promote {107} benevolence, aid the sick and distressed, and cultivate the warmer sympathies of ournature. It is of modern origin, and in most things seems to be an imitationof Free-Masonry. It has been productive of great good in the accomplishmentof its benevolent purposes. Having no leaning whatever toward politics, itquietly pursues its mission of love. 

Thus, then, we have arrived at a point where we must pause. 

The summary of the past seems to be as follows:--

I. From the earliest history of the world there seems to have been aneffort on the part of those who pretended to control the consciences andreligious views of others to preserve in their own hands, the predominant_political_ power. 

1. The first government recorded is that of Nimrod. He discardedpatriarchal instruction; united tribes in cities; and formed theircombination into an empire. The Magi controlled him, and, at his death, under the pretence of his deification, preserved his power in thepriesthood. 

2. In the extension of the Magi, every great leader, or king, was one ofthem; and obedient to the rules and instructions of their general, theHierophant. 

3. When, in the assertion of popular right, Pythagoras was driven away byCylon, the then imperfect effort of self-government fell through. Butlittle understood, its then dim light faded. 

4. The society of the _Kabbalistæ_, part of whom {108} were afterward knownas the _Pythagorean league_, as the _Collegio fabrorum_ of Numa Pompilius, as the _Liberi Architectonici_ of the middle ages, and as the _Free-Masons_of the present day; this society, I repeat, never interfered in politics. 

5. The Christian church was tempted to forget, that Christ's kingdom wasnot of this world. And its two great branches, that of Rome and England, were seduced into the error of seeking to obtain power through publicpolicy. 

Rome exerted her influences through her prætorian cohorts, theconfraternities of mendicants and of Jesus--the Jesuits. Unknown, and insilence, they were domiciliated in courts and in families, throughout allnations; and some roamed as itinerants. The will of their general, on theirunconditional subserviency to his behest, seemed to create an almostomnipresent power to be controlled by Rome alone. Has not the exercise ofit been exemplified in the inquisition? Was it not felt in the massacre ofSt. Bartholomew? I will not stop to ask the power and control of a MadameMaintenon, or Du Barry: nor whose influences controlled them. Does not allhistory portray their one effort?

But has not the Church of England endeavored to obtain temporal power, also, by interference in the affairs of this world, politically?

Shame! shame!! If the priesthood are honest in giving an undividedallegiance to HIM, whom they {109} have taken an oath _only_ to serve; andyet, whose "kingdom is not of this world;" how dare they violate thatobligation? "_Ne sutor ultra crepidam, _" &c. 

But we in the United States are not better than our neighbors. Man is thesame everywhere, but for education. 

And this brings us to the great, practical lesson, to which end all thathas thus far been detailed has been directed. 

Americans! no matter of what nation you came, consider this lesson. 

We have ignored and thrown aside the priestly fable of an anointment by aman conferring an hereditary right to rule his brother man, by any family. This _jus divinum regum_ is an absurdity, practically discarded by thosewho assert it. What divine right has been granted either to Napoleon theGreat, or to Napoleon the little? Whence came it? By whose hands? How is itpreserved? Is not the same religious power ready to crown a Bourbon oneday, and, in spite of the hereditary _jus divinum_ already granted, crown aCorsican (who has waded through blood to his throne) the next day; over thevery rights of the Bourbon, who relies on that _jus divinum_ as his title?

A divine right (if any) is here granted to both--to the Bourbon, and to theCorsican. Can truth contradict itself? If there be a contradiction mustthere not be error somewhere? {110}

This _jus divinum_ that began with the deification of Nimrod, is stillperpetuated though in other hands. 

But we must look into this a little further. 

II. Although the Theocracy in the days of Moses was of temporary duration, and human power afterward asserted a kingly right, was that divine rightever preserved? If divine, it is immutable. Does history show this? WhenTitus conquered Jerusalem, does not Jewish history tell us the voice washeard saying, "LET US GO HENCE?"

III. History shows, among men, two classes who have governed others:--

1. Kings, emperors, and rulers. 

2. Priests and clergy, controlling the superstitious feelings of mankind;yes, even these kings, emperors, and rulers, by mysticism. 

IV. There have been throughout history two classes of secret societies. 

One always endeavoring to govern and control the masses politically, byreligious mysteries, &c. The other endeavoring to persuade to the study ofscience and philosophy, and trying to wean men from the mere struggle ofthis world's power, to a preparation for another world, into which we mustbe born spiritually, by human death, and as to which this earth is only theschool-house. And this class has not interfered in any manner with politicsin any country. {111}

This bring us to the present condition of our own beloved country at thistime. 

A secret society, also political, was formed here, known as THEKNOW-NOTHINGS. And its secrecy was about to destroy it, when that secrecy, under the power of the press, vanished into mist. 

But what was the origin thereof? And when, after gentlemen and statesmencontrolled it, and expelled its rubbish, it assumed a powerful influence, and a new form, as an "American Party, " what were the deep moving causeswhich led to its prominent position?

From the days of Nimrod to the present day, all history shows an effort onthe part of a few to control temporal power, at the expense of the many. They have always acted on the superstitions of man to accomplish this end. 

But the American theory (_esto perpetua_) is, that all men are free andequal in their political rights, when their intellect is that of control, not of servitude; and that the people are the source and fountain ofpolitical power. It cometh not from a priest. It is the voice of freemenspeaking and acting through their agents, whom they select. 

This antagonism is now to be severely tested in coming history. 

What is the source of temporal power?

Rome, England, France, and other countries, say it is from "the church, "meaning their own particular {112} designation of a religion. That it is adivine right communicated by priestly anointment, attended by publicceremonies, imposing in appearance, and "_ad captandum, _" for the publiceye. 

The American theory, going far beyond the bare and imperfect teaching ofPythagoras, boldly asserts what is believed to be the true and only originof temporal power, the free will of a people exercised through agents ofits own selection. 

For about eighty years past this first great experiment has beensuccessful. But that success has induced the most insidious attacks ofthose who advocate the opposite policy. We must be watchful, or ourliberties will be gone. The game they now play is new in history; but, itis one easily comprehended. It has been well said that the price of libertyis eternal vigilance. 

But two centuries since this land was the home of the savage. The Caucasianintellect, however, has assumed its supremacy here; and the Indian, incapable of mental culture, is gradually, but surely passing, like otherforms of animal existence, from the world. 

One of the highest efforts of the human mind, is the Constitution of theUnited States of America. The great principles of freemen governingthemselves, as there enunciated, must and will necessarily be attacked bythe asserters of divine right in temporal government. If our experimentsucceeds the powers of Europe must fall, or undergo an entire change. {113}England's nobility must acknowledge, sooner or later, the equality of thecommonalty and gentry with themselves. Distinctions in France have alreadygone, except as to the assertion of the power of an emperor by virtue of apriestly coronation. 

The popular masses of Europe have only displayed their first, but, as yet, imperfect efforts to assert their political rights. It is the reflex actionof the great principle we have successfully, thus far, practised. And willnot the powers who have conquered the masses then thus far, use everyeffort to destroy this experiment of ours and perpetuate thereby their ownexistence? If we continue to succeed, our lesson to the world is thedeath-knell of monarchy and imperial power. Foreign powers and priestlypowers are making this effort. And if we are doomed to fail, it will be bythe DISUNION their emissaries here endeavor to produce. With us, again, isreligious influence exerted. Servitude is recognised and practised in thesouth. But the clergy of the north have commenced a fanatical crusadeagainst it. We should guard well against these influences, foreign anddomestic, now operating against us. 

As a part of the history of the times, it may be proper to give the riseand progress of the so-called order of "Know-Nothings. " The plan of theorganization was conceived by a gentleman of the city of New York, who, in1849, prepared and embodied into a system, a plan for uniting the American{114} sentiment of the American people throughout the United States. It wasmeant as a combined resistance, on the part of the native Americanpopulation, to foreign and papal influence in this country. The progress ofthe plan was so slow in its development, that at the end of two years, thenumber of members uniting in the organization did not exceed thirty. In1852 the plan was examined by a few gentlemen connected with the Order ofUnited Americans, another secret and American organization, but notdirectly political or partisan in its aims and objects. A society wasformed, and forty-three members signed their names to it, and from thatsmall beginning was formed a body of native Americans which, in a year ortwo after, exceeded, in the state of New York alone, two hundred thousandmembers. This state organization soon extended its ramifications all overthe country, and is now known as the American party. It has held threenational conventions, one in Philadelphia, one at New York, and one inLouisville, and is now no more of a secret party than either of the twogreat parties opposed to it: the national conventions having abolished allsecret meetings, and the state conventions or councils having generallyconcurred in this abolition of all oaths and all forms of obligation butthose of personal honor and mutual good faith. 

The ban of secrecy had made it, doubtless, an object of suspicion. Itsadversaries hurl at it these {115} unfortunate antecedents. But now allsecrecy has been abolished, and the party claims to assert only, the greatprinciple of an INTELLIGENT SELF-GOVERNMENT. They recognise the secret andinsidious influences of the Jesuit, and deprecate it. They call attentionto it, and to its increasing importance in this valley; but still, in thespirit of liberty, leave the Jesuit free to act as he pleases. Theyperceive that it is irreconcilable with freedom of thought and conscienceto surrender, unconditionally, one's own views and thoughts to the will ofany one man, whether he be at Rome or elsewhere. Still he is not interferedwith. Let him act with all freedom. You can vote for him for office or not, as you please; and, here, we have reason to fear the secret influencecontrolled alone at Rome. But, with all this freedom, it is called"persecution" to say "I will not vote for such a man. "

Let Europe send over all her emissaries, and our country tells them youshall have the protection of our flag. You shall think, and speak what youwill, if it be not to the injury of your neighbor. But is there not aspirit of self-preservation which demands that eternal vigilance which isthe price of freedom? Is it "proscription" in saying to another man, "Iwill not vote for you?" If you can not exercise your own will, where isyour freedom? If a whig refuses to vote for a democrat is that"proscription?"

Then, if I believe another man has surrendered his {116} own will to theunconditional control of another, in a foreign country, can I trusthim--regarding the antecedents hereinbefore referred to?

It has been said, perhaps unjustly (at least I hope so), that the teachingof this important society, the Jesuit, so deeply-rooted here, is, that "theend justifies the means. " If this be so, and if they can exercise over theimmigrant population from Europe the power imputed to them--all this alsocontrolled at Rome by the general of the order and his monitor--where canfreedom be preserved to us, if they can control a majority of votes here?In such case our liberties are gone. In such case, they have simply adoptedand ingeniously carried out the ancient powers of the priestly Magi. 

Has not an Englishman, a member of parliament, come to this country, andlectured in New England on the abolition of slavery, expressly to aid increating disunion of our states?

Has not the leaven of Puritanism been excited to new action to accomplishthe same result?

Have not three thousand clergymen been induced to interfere in our temporaland political affairs; just as in past history we find the Magi and thepriests did?

Has not the word of God been set at naught? Where the command is, "Thoushalt not kill, " are not Sharpe's rifles purchased by their command?

A clever book of fiction, written by a fanatical old {117} woman, althoughuntrue even as a picture of southern society, has obtained for her thecordial entrée of British aristocracy. 

Then, again, regard the immense immigration from Europe. No sooner is itpossible, but we find politicians busy to influence them, and obtain theirvotes. And they chiefly are opposed to slavery. 

As patriots, Americans should say, you may vote. We throw around you norestraint. Your home is our home. You are in every sense a brother, and youshall be deprived of no privilege. But while in no manner the privileges ofa freeman should be denied to any, we must not shut our eyes to theinfluences that surround us. 

The Magi controlled the then known world. 

The Roman church has done the same. In England a church has assumed secularpower. 

In each instance it was the fabulous _jus divinum_ by which it wasaccomplished. 

Shall they be allowed by such influences to control and so break down ourgreat experiment of self-government?

Rather let those peaceful and benevolent influences prevail, which wereinculcated by societies who taught equality of rights, and peace andcharity among men. 

This bring us then to the great motive power which alone can save ourcountry. 

It is _the education of the people, and the freedom of the press, directedthrough a unity of language_. {118} Through these, if properly conducted, unless they be controlled by the hostile influences hereinbefore spoken of, we shall be a happy and united nation. 

There is no need, hereafter, of any secret teaching. Secret societies maypromote social good, but they are no longer necessary to teach eithertraditional philosophy, or promote public welfare, except by benevolence. 

Our duty is to encourage thought, foster public schools, create a unity offeeling and ideas, by means of a unity of language, and a freedom of thepress. 

But, in doing so, from the history of the past, can we be too careful inguarding against the insidious influences of societies, whose antecedentsin history have proved so dangerous?

Societies having for their object a religious influence, and, therebyintending to control political power, are dangerous. The past has shown it. 

Societies of benevolence, like the Free-Masons and Odd-Fellows, have donemuch good; but each member therein votes, in political matters, as hepleases, and without control. These societies do good to all, without viewto any particular faith. 

Each person that binds himself, by an obligation, to serve only HIM, whose"kingdom is not of this world, " should be debarred thereby from interferingin the politics of this world, which he has thus forsworn. 

But what are the facts? Do not even the clergy {119} of New England try tocontrol our government? Are they not even endeavoring to create DISUNION?Is this not with the desire and _empressement_ of foreign power?

How far may not the prætorian bands of Rome aid therein to carry out theresult?

Can we be too guarded as to our great experiment?

The first practical result, then, indicated by past history, is, thatpolitical power, in monarchies, empires, &c. , has been under the control ofmere priestly mysteries. 

The next is, that human nature is always the same, and will endeavor toaccomplish the same result. 

Take the history of the past, what are we to anticipate for the future? Canwe judge but from the past? Have they not endeavored to govern Europe?

We can only allow the will of freemen to govern us. The will that has, onoath, submitted itself to the control of a foreign power, is not that of a_free man_, and our duty is to watch it. 

Let, then, every secret become a mystery; or, a revealed secret. If it begood to one, let it be good to all. Secure equality of rights. Collision ofmind strikes out the sparks of truth. Secure universal education by freeschools, ensuring unity of language, but leaving thought free; and theresult will be, that secrecy will have become a mystery, or revealedknowledge to all. 

Education, and the freedom of the press, are the {120} true safeguards of arepublic. Interfere with the exercise of no religion; but let no one systemof faith control your government. Frown down every effort of priests orclergy to meddle with politics. Then shall we avoid the errors of the past, preserve our present union, and hope for the spread of the true principlesof liberty. With education will be united true piety, each assisting theother, no matter what the peculiar system of faith. Do away with secrecyaltogether, and let every blessing that knowledge can confer, be devoted topublic information, and the good of all. So, shall the abuses of secrecy bedone away with for ever--and it shine forth only in the holy sphere towhich it should be confined, to modesty and domestic virtue, religiousmeditation and prayer, and prudence in the transactions of life. 

THE END. 

 * * * * *

Notes

[1] St. Matt. Xi. 28. 

[2] Montgomery. Hymn 134. Book of Common Prayer. 

[3] St. John, Gospel, iv. 44. 

[4] Mal. I. 2. 

[5] 1 Corinthians ii. 7-10, 12, 13, 16. Ibid. Iv. 1, 5. 

[6] 2 Corinthians iv. 7. 

[7] 1 Corinthians xv. 22. 

[8] St. Matthew xxv. 14 to 29, inclusive. 

[9] St. Paul (Rom. Xvi. 25, 26) defines "mystery" as above given: "Now tohim that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and thepreaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery, whichwas kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by thescriptures of the prophets, " &c. 

[10] Exodus vi. 2, 3. "And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I amthe Lord [or JEHOVAH], and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and untoJacob, by _the name of_ God Almighty; but by my name JEHOVAH was I notknown to them. "

[11] Genesis vii. 2, 3. 

[12] Ibid vii. 9. 

[13] Ibid xii. 

[14] Ibid xx. 

[15] Ibid xxvi. 

[16] Exodus iv. 27, 28. "And the Lord said unto Aaron, Go into thewilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, andkissed him. "

[17] Weber. Outlines of Universal History. Am. Ed. , p. 4. 

[18] Exodus vii. 11. "Then Pharaoh also called the wise men, and thesorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner withtheir enchantments. "

[19] Weber. Outlines Univ. Hist. § 12, p. 12. 

[20] Christ. Breithaupt. Prof. &c. _De arte decifratoria. _ Helmstadtii, apud Ch. Fried. Weygand. MDccxxxvii. P. 13. "Apud veteres Ægyptios, vt abhis dicendi initium faciamus, præter vulgares litteras, tria adhuc aliacharacterum genera celebrantur, quibus _ad mysteria sua_ condenda fueruntusi. Diserte hoc celebris ille stromatum conditor, Clem. Alexandrinus (lib. V. Stromatum, pag. 563, edit. Paris, de an. 1612), docet, ita scribens. S:'Qui docentur ab Ægyptiis primum quidem discunt Ægyptiarum litterarum viamac rationem, quæ vocatur [Greek: epizolographikê], i. E. , apta ad scribendasepistolas: secundam autem, sacerdotalem, qua vtuntur [Greek:hierogrammateis], i. E. , qui de rebus sacris scribunt: vltimam autem [Greek:hierogluphikên], i. E. , sacram, quæ insculpitur, scripturam, cuius vnaquidem est per prima elementa [Greek: kuriologikê], i. E. , propria loquens, altera vero symbolica, i. E. , per signa significans. ' Cum Clementiconferendus est Arabs Abenephi, cuius verba ita se habent: (Scriptum hocArabicum asseruatur in bibliotheca Vaticana, et typis nondum expressum est;ab Ath. Kirchero autem in Obelisco Pamphilio sæpius citatur: vnde etiam ea, quæ hic ex illo adduximus, depromta sunt. ) 'Erant autem Ægyptus quatuorlitterarum genera: primum erat in vsu apud populum et idiotas; secundumapud philosophos et sapientes: tertium erat mixtum ex litteris et symbolissive imaginibus: quartum vsupabatur a sacerdotalibus, erant que litteræavium, quibus sacramenta indicabant divinitatis. ' Ex quo posterioritestamento hoc discimus, quod erudite inter Ægyptios peculiari et acommunibus litteris diuerso scripturæ genere vsi sint ad doctrinas suaspropagandas. Vti exempla ostendunt, constitit hoec scriptura partim excertis sententiis et argutis symbolis, partim ex historicis fictionibus, secretiori docendi methodo accommodatis. " ... "Omnes, qui de rebus diuinistractarunt, tam Barbari quam Græci rerum quidem principia occultaverint:veritatem autem ænigmatibus, signisque & symbolis, & allegoriis rursus, &metaphoris, & quibusdam tropis modisque tradiderunt. "

[21] Exodus vii. 11, 12. 

[22] Ibid vii. 22. 

[23] Ibid viii. 7. 

[24] Rheinisches Conversations-Lexicon. Köln und Bonn. 1827. Vol. 7, page432. "Magier, Magie, ein ursprünglich medischer Volksstamm, dem, der Sittedes Orients zufolge, die Erhaltung der wissenschaftlichen Kenntnisse unddie Ausübung der heiligen Gebräuche der Religion überlassen war; nachher imspeziellen Sinne die Priesterkaste der Perser und Meder. Der Name kommt ausdem Pehlei; Mag oder Mog heißt in dieser Sprache überhaupt ein Priester. Als eigner Stamm der Meder werden sie ausdrücklich von Herodot erwähnt. Zoroaster war nicht der Stifter, sondern nur der Reformator der Magier odervielmehr ihrer Lehrsätze. Daher widersetzten sich die zu seiner Zeitvorhandenen Magier anfangs seinen Neuerungen und werden von ihm verstucht. Nachdem sie seine Verbesserungen angenommen hatten, organisirte er auchihre inneren Einrichtungen und theilte sie in Lehrlinge, Meister undvollendete Meister. Ihr Studium und ihre Wissenschaft bestand in derBeobachtung der heiligen Gebräuche, in der Kenntniß der heiligenGebetformeln oder Liturgien, mit denen Ormuzd verehrt wurde; und der beiGebeten und Opfern gebräuchlichen Zeremonien. Nur durch sie konnte manGebete und Opfer der Gottheit darbringen; nur sie waren die Mittelpersonenzwischen der Gottheit und den Menschen; nur ihnen offenbarte jene ihrenWillen; nur sie blickten in die Zukunft, und enthüllten sie dem, der beiihnen darnach forsichte. Später hat man Magier überhaupt, Zauberer, Wundershäter, Goldmacher und dergl. Genannt. "

[25] Heeren's Politics of Ancient Greece, ch. Iii. , p. 65. Bancroft, Amed. , 1824. 

[26] Delafield's Antiquities of America, pp. 69-71, et notæ. 

[27] Sir William Jones, vol. I. , p. 92. 

[28] Heeren's Politics of Ancient Greece: Am. Ed. , 1824, p. 64. AlsoBryant's Ancient Mythology, ii. , 390. 

[29] Encyclopædia Americana, vol. Ix. (1835), p. 118. 

[30] Gen. X. 8-12. This is adopting the marginal for the text reading ofthe passage, and the reason for it is this: The above is a clear historicalaccount of those who journeyed to the plains of Shinar, which were only thedescendants of Cush the father of Nimrod; though Asshur is said to havegone and builded the city of Nineveh, with the others mentioned in thetext--which Asshur was one of the sons of Shem, who perhaps was blended bymarriage, or other connections, with his relations the sons of Ham, unlessit can be shown that there was one of that name in Ham's descendants aswell as Shem's son. It was something particular (if correct) that Mosesshould bring in Asshur into his account of Ham's issue, because he was verystrict in giving such relations of Japheth and Shem in their own places. Would Noah, who was so much disgusted at his son Ham as to curse him, permit the children of his other sons, whom he blessed, to have anycommunication with his children? Bishop Cumberland, in the last century, took some pains to unravel this, and concluded that the marginaltranslation in our bibles is the right one--that in the text being, "Out ofthat land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh", &c. ; that in the margin, "And he [Nimrod] went out of that land into Assyria"--for Asshur generallyin scripture signifies _the Assyrian_, excepting only in the genealogies:and in support of this he brings forward many authentic testimonies. (SeeParsons's Remains of Japheth, p. 15: London, 1767. )

[31] Encyclopædia Americana, title "Mysteries, " vol. Ix. , p. 118. 

[32] Deut. Xviii. 10. 

[33] Livy, iv. , c. 22. 

[34] 1 Sam. Xxviii. 19. 

[35] Eccles. Xlvi. 

[36] Lib. V. , c. 92. 

[37] Isaiah xxix. 4; also viii. 19. 

[38] Alcestis, 1127. 

[39] Oedipus, Act iii. , 530. 

[40] See Rufinius, i. , 155. 

[41] Phars. , vi. , 670. This writer proposes hereafter to publish an essayon the intercourse between the living and the dead, as connected withnatural magic, even to the present day. 

[42] Lib. I. , El. Ii. , 45. 

[43] Heeren. Politics Anc. Greece; Am. Ed. , p. 68. See also page following. 

[44] Rees' Cyclop. Vol. Vii. Voc. "Chaldean Philosophy. "

[45] Daniel ii. 

[46] The true God, JAH, was God over the false deities, Baalim. 

[47] Daniel v. 6, 7. 

[48] Acts vii. 23. 

[49] Disq. Hist. De variis modis occvlte scribendi, Helmstadt. MDccxxxvii. Pp. 23-26. "Illud memorandum, quod Kabbalistarum antiquiores etiam exfigura quatuor linearum, quæ inuicem sese intersecant, & in medio quadratumefficiunt, occultum scripturæ genus excogitarint sequentem in modum. Insingulis sectionibus tres collocant litteras a dextra ad sinistram. Quandoigitur primam extribus intelligunt, figuram sectionis istuis, in quareperitur, cum vno puncto scribunt; si alteram, eandam figuram cum duobuspunctis; si tertiam, rursus eandem cum tribus punctis. "

[50] "Illorum philosophia sublimis, quam _Kabbalam_ vocant, diuersas sub secomplectitur species, quarum quædam huc pertinent. In famossissimo illolibello magico Rasiel, quem Kabbalistæ in magna veneratione habent, triaimprimis secreta alphabeta leguntur, quæ a communi Ebraicarum litterarumforma & ductu in multis abeunt. Primum vocatur scriptura coelestis; alterumscriptura angelorum sive regum; & tertium scriptura transitusfluvii. --_Disq. Hist. _ &c. , _ibidem. _

[51] Herm. Von der Hardt, celeberrimus ætatis nostræ philologus, duorumetiam singularium alphabetorum meminit, quibus Judæi in amuletis suisconficiendis utuntur. Primum est, si proxima semper pro proecedentesubstituitur littera, nimirum [Hebrew: B] pro [Hebrew: '], [Hebrew: G] pro[Hebrew: B] & sic porro. Hoctegere dicuntur confessionem suam de vno veroDeo, quam quotidie mane & circa vesperam recitant, & de qua sibipersuadent, quod effica cissimum contra idololatriam proesidium sit, quoquasi proemuniantur, ne a veritate ad falsam religionem desciscant. Alterumalphabetum occultum in eo consistit, quod ordine elementorum in uersovltimam litteram [Hebrew: T] cum prima [Hebrew: '], & hanc cum illavicissim permutent, & sic etiam reliquas: quam inversionem [Hebrew: 'TBSH]dicere moris est. Ex hoc maiusculis litteris in nobilioribus amuletisconspicuum symbolum [Hebrew: MTSPTS] conficiunt, quod nihil iterum aliud, quam nomen Dei [Hebrew: YHWH]. HIERONYMUS, non incelebris primæ ecclesiæpater contendit (hereinafter quoted) prophetam _Jeremiam_ hoc scribendigenere vsum fuisse, &, ne regem Babyloniæ adversus Ebræos irritaret, prorege [Hebrew: BBL] dixisse [Hebrew: SHSHK]. Quin etiam sunt inter Judæos, qui verba illa apud Danielem [Hebrew: MN' MN' TQL WPRSYN], quæ super cænamregis Belsazaris e pariete per miraculum ad stuporem omnium prodibant, eodem modo scripta fuisse, atque iccirco hanc artificiosam litterarumtranspositionem a Deo ipso primam originem suam trahere existimant. Sedincerta hoec & transeunda. 

[52] Tom. Iv. Oper. Comment. In Jerem. Cxxv. , 26, p. 286, edit. Coloniens. De an. 1616. 

[53] See Conf. Lud. Henr. Hillerus, in præfat. Mysterii artis stenographicænouissimi Vlmæ an. 1682 editi. 

[54] Breithaupt, Disq. Hist. , p. 25, notis. 

[55] 2 Chron. I. 12. 

[56] Ezra vii. 1-6. 

[57] Heb. Ix. 4: and hereto agree Abarbanel on 1 Kings viii. 9, and R. LeviBen Gersom. --Prideaux Conn. I. 297. 

[58] Deut. Xxxi. 26: Or, as others interpret it, "by the side of the ark. "_Mittzad_. 1 Sam. Vi. 8. 2 Kings xxii. 8. Prideaux i. 297. 

[59] Prideaux i. 297. 

[60] Vide Buxtorfii Synagogam. C. 14. 

[61] 2 Maccabees ii. 

[62] 2 Chron. Xxxv. 3. 

[63] Prideaux i. 303-'4. It were well to call to the reader's attentionhere, the remarkable subterranean discoveries made this year (1856), andstill going on in Jerusalem, under the Austrian authorities there. 

[64] Prideaux i. 285. 

[65] Vol. I. , Connex. Pp. 383, 384. 

[66] Isaiah xlv. 5-7. 

[67] Prideaux, Con. I. 389. 

[68] Page 25. 

[69] Prideaux i. 338-'9. 

[70] Plato in Alcibiade i. Stobases, p. 496. Clem. Alex. In Pædagogo i. P. 81. 

[71] Prideaux Con. I. 395. 

[72] Cicero de Divinatione, l. I. Philo Judæus de spec. Leg. Plutarch inArtaxerxe. 

[73] Prideaux i. 404-'5. 

[74] See page 21, antea. 

[75] Heeren, Politics Anc. Greece, p. 292. 

[76] Remains of Japheth, 136. 

[77] A bad way to extirpate error. Education, reason, and piety will meeterror openly. 

[78] 2 Phil. Ii. 9, 10. 

[79] Matthew xv. 2, 3. 

[80] Mark vii. 5-9. 

[81] Coloss. Ii. 8. 

[82] 2 Thess. Iii. 6, 7. 

[83] Acts xx. 7, 8. 

[84] John xx. 19. 

[85] Neander, Gen. Hist. Of Christ. Rel. &c. , p. 98. 

[86] Brev. Rom. , p. 251. Lectio iij. Infra Hebd. Quartam Quadragesimæ. "Audistis grande mysterium. Interroga hominem: Christianus es? Respondettibi: non sum. Si paganus es, aut Judæus? Si autem dixerit, non sum: adhucquæris ab eo, Catechumenus, an fidelis? Si responderet tibi, Catechumenus:inunctus est, nondum lotus. Sed unde inunctus? Quære, et respondet. Quæreab illo, in quem credat? Eo ipso quo Catechumenus est, dicit, In Christum. Ecce modo loquor et fidelibus et catechumenis. Quid dixi de sputo et luto?Quia verbum caro factum est; hoc catechumeni audiunt: sed non eis sufficitad quod inuncti sunt: festinent ad lavacrum, si lumen inquirunt. "

[87] Brev. Rom. P. 652. Festa Maji. Lectio viii. "Si ergo Nicodemus deillis multis erat qui crediderunt in nomine ejus, jam in isto Nicodemoattendamus, quare Jesus non se credebat eis. Respondit Jesus, et dixit ei:Amen, Amen dico tibi, nisi quis renatus fuerit denuo, non potest videreregnum Dei. Ipsis ergo se credit Jesus, qui nati fuerint denuo. Ecce illicrediderant in eum, et Jesus non se credebat eis. Tales sunt, omnesCatechumeni: ipsi jam credunt in nomine Christi, sed Jesus non se crediteis. Intendat et intelligat charitas vestra. Si dixerimus catechumeno:credis in Christum? Respondet, credo, et signat se cruce Christi: portat infronte, et non erubescit de cruce Domini sui. Ecce credit in nomine ejus. Interrogemus cum: Manducas carnem filii hominis, et bibis sanguinem filiihominis? Nescit quid dicimus, quia Jesus non se credidit ei. "

[88] 1 Corinth. Iii. 1, 2. 

[89] 1 Peter ii. 2. 

[90] Hebrews v. 12-14. 

[91] Hebrews vi. 1. 

[92] Matt. X. 5, &c. 

[93] John xviii. 36. 

[94] Llorente, Hist. Span. Inq. London. 1827. 

[95] Enc. Brit. Xv. 674. 

 * * * * *

Corrections made to printed original. 

p. 17. "Pharaoh, king of Egypt": 'Pharoah' in original. Also in Note 18. 

p. 44. "more easily be employed": 'he' (for 'be') in original. 

ibid. "the human mind is an emanation": 'humid' (for 'human') in original. 

p. 49, diagram. Actual Hebrew letters in original. Mem and tet aretransposed, kaph and vav look just like resh. * = final forms. 

p. 52, note "54". Footnote marker missing, inserted in what seems to me themost likely place. 

p. 67. "kings should be subject to the laws": 'king' (ungrammatically) inoriginal. 

p. 72. "[Greek: episkopos] or bishop. [Greek: episkokos] in original. 

p. 98. "All are bound to obey him implicitly": 'implicity' in original. 

Note 20. "Christ. Breithaupt": 'Breithaurpt' in original. "MDccxxxvii": MDin apostrophus form in text. So also in note 49, where an apostrophus isput wrongly for the cc. 

Notes 68, 74. The page numbers omitted in the original.