Peter and Paul, and every holy place within and without the city of Rome, and to honor and venerate them in person. And this I have done, because I had learned from my teachers, that the apostle St. Peter received from the Lord the great power of binding and loosing, with the keys of the kingdom of heaven. On this account I thought it highly useful to solicit his patronage with God."

He concludes his letter as follows: "Lastly, I entreat all my bishops, and all the sheriffs, by the fidelity which they owe to me and to God, that the church dues, according to the ancient laws, may be paid before my return, namely: the plow-alms, the tithes of cattle of the present year, the Peter-pence, the tithes of fruit in the middle of August, and the kirk-shot at the feast of St. Martin, to the parish church. Should this be omitted, at my return, I will punish the offender by exacting the whole fine appointed by law. Fare ye well."

Furthermore, it may be remarked, that the customs of the times in which I am endeavoring to show that masonry was established, sanctioned the most horrible oaths.

"The multiplicity of oaths in the judicial proceeding of the middle ages,* (says Dr. Henry, in his History of Great Britain, v. iii, p. 425,) had the same effect that it will always have, of diminishing men's veneration for them, and giving occasion for frequent perjury. The legislators of those times employed several devices to prevent this, by awakening the consciences, and keeping alive the religious fears of mankind. With this view, their oaths were couched in the most awful forms of words that could be invented; and these forms were frequently changed, that they might not lose their effect by becoming too familiar."

Many who have written with great asperity against masonry, under false impressions of its general tendency, have doubtless

The middle or dark ages are described as comprehending the thousand years from the taking of Rome by the Goths, in the middle of the fifth century, to the taking of Constantinople, by the Turks, in the middle of the fifteenth century.-Edit.

been actuated by the purest motives, whilst others, such as the Abbe Barruel and Professor Robison, have been instigated by the most malignant political prejudices. I shall take some notice of these two writers in the sequel.

AN

EXPOSITION

OF THE

MYSTERIES, & C.

CHAPTER I..

DOGMAS AND CUSTOMS OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.

It will be attempted, in this work, to show that the mysteries and ceremonies of the celebrated order of Freemasons are derived from the religious dogmas and customs of ancient nations, particularly those of Egypt, where the foundation of the whole machinery of religious mysteries, as far as is known, was first laid.

In order, therefore, to attain a comprehensive view of this subject, it becomes necessary to be well informed of the rites, customs, and ceremonies, of the ancient inhabitants of that famous country. And as the Abbe Pluche, in his History of the Heavens, has treated more minutely of these topics, and explained them more satisfactorily, than any other author that has fallen under my observation, I shall commence this volume with extracts from his work.

Critical histories of the fabulous gods of Paganism, under the semblance of truth, have been transmitted from age to age, and been generally received as narratives of real facts. Pluche has unveiled many of these poetical fictions, and pointed out the source from which they were derived.

My limits will not permit me to give the whole of his expositions; but, on account of the great merit of the work, with which, it is pre

sumed, but few American readers are acquainted, I have not confined the selections merely to such parts as have a particular bearing upon the subject in hand.

As the author is little known in America, I will give an abstract of a sketch of his life and writings, contained in La Biographie Universelle, Paris, 1830.

Anthony Pluche, a celebrated writer, was born at Reims, in 1688; and obtained the appointment of Professor of Languages, in the University of that city. Two years afterwards, he passed to the chair of Rhetoric, and was raised to holy orders. The bishop of Laon, (Clermont,) becoming acquainted with his talents, gave him the presidency of the College of his diocese. By his assiduity and science, the institution was much improved; when particular circumstances occurred that troubled his tranquility, and obliged him to relinquish his employ. The Intendant of Rouen confided to him the education of his son, at the request of the celebrated Rollin. The Abbe Pluche having fulfilled this trust with success, left Rouen for Paris, where he gave, at first, lessons on Geography and History. Through the notice of distinguished authors, his name soon became celebrated, and he sustained that celebrity by his works.

He gave successively, to the public,-first, the Spectacle de la Nature, (Nature Displayed,) in 9 volumes, 12mo. This work, equally instructive as agreeable, is written with much clearness and elegance. Second, The Histoire du Ciel, (History of the Heavens,) in 2 vols., 12mo. In this work is to be found two parts, almost independent of each other. The first contains learned researches upon the origin of the poetical heavens. This is nearly a complete mythology, founded upon new and ingenious ideas. The second is the history of the opinions of philosophers on the formation of the world. The author here shows the uncertainty of systems the most accredited. Besides a diction noble and well turned, one here finds an erudition that does not fatigue. As to the ground of the system exposed in the first part, Voltaire calls it, probably with reason, the Fable of Heaven. Third, La Mécanique des Langues, Paris, 1735, in 12mo. He here proposes a means more short for learning languages. Fourth, Concorde de la Geographie des differens ages; Paris, 1764, in 12mo.

Plan of the Work.

I FIND myself under the necessity of oversetting, or unravelling, fables, in order to establish truth. The men most celebrated, who have

treated of the formation of the heavens and of the earth, or of their mutual relations, were pagans, philosophers of different nations, and sacred writers. Those systems which have been given by the Egyptians, Phenicians, the Greeks, and Romans, are obscured by fabulous recitals, and by metamorphoses full of absurdity. Although they were the most ingenious and polished of all people, they formed ideas so strange on the government of the heavens, and on the powers which sustain the human species, that there is no need to combat them with argument; they carry their own refutation with them. But, from the depth of this frightful darkness, it is possible to elicit light. Through these fictions, I find a fact, the explication of which shows us what has given birth to fables; it is the development of them. The first fixed point, is the signification of the names and figures which have served, from the highest antiquity, to characterize the sun, the moon, and the stars, according to their different situations. The usages of the ancients, and the inspection of nature, will aid us in discovering the sense, the knowledge of which will lead us immediately to perceive the enormous abuse that has been made of the institutions of the first men, and place in sufficient light the origin of the idolatry of our fathers.

Another effect of this research, is to teach us, that the same mistake which has peopled the heavens with chimerical divinities, has given birth to a multitude of false pretensions on the influences of the heavenly bodies, and the errors which still tyrannise over most minds. If our history of the heavens produces no other benefit than the discovery of the mistakes which have precipitated the human race into errors that disgrace it, the consequences of which still disturb the repose of soci ety, this will undoubtedly be an advantage sufficiently satisfactory.

My remarks may be useful to youth, by unveiling to them those fabulous personages which they hear so often mentioned. I have still greater hopes, perhaps with too much presumption, that this small essay might be of some use to teachers themselves. I should think myself happy to have assisted their work, by some views which they might afterwards improve and proportion to the wants of their disciples. Teachers, however well qualified, generally want leisure to undertake researches of any considerable length; and the more judicious they are, the more disagreeable is it to them, to be for a long series of years handling fables almost always absurd or scandalous, without being recompensed for the tiresomeness of these ridiculous stories, by the satisfaction of being able at least to find out the origin of them. I here