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DISSERTATION
ORIGIN, ANTIQUITY, AND DESCENT
THE learned Brother Oliver, in his History of Initiation, says,
" Nought earthly could have saved Masonry from utter extinction
if, at the critical moment 'when its departing light made
a last expiring effort for renewed existence,
it had not been
invigorated by the ESSENES, a well-intentioned sect of people
among the Jews, who took charge of the forsaken institution,
and cherished it in their bosom until its rays of light once more
began to illuminate the surrounding darkness." What proofs
and what authorities are there for this ? And why, we would ask,
was Masonry preserved among this sect more than among the
other Jewish sects,
the Pharisees, the Karaites, the Sadducees,
or the Therapulae ? the latter of which came by far the nearest
of any of the Hebrew schools, in the simple manner of their
religious ceremonies, to the primitive Christians. Indeed their
sermons or discourses, and the hymns which they sang in their
chapels, or meetings for public worship, have led many to maintain
that they were a sect of Alexandrine Jews converted to
Christianity, who devoted themselves to a monastic life. But
this is clearly confuted ; for Philo, previous to the appearance
of Christianity in Egypt, speaks of this sect as having been long
established. We would now inquire, who and what these
Essenes were, said by Brother Oliver to have been the sole
preservers of Free-Masonry.