Francis Bacon and his secret society - Grand Lodge of Colorado

AND HIS SECUET SOCIETY. 287
Solomon, and of the dedication of that edifice, follows. " We
can," says the author, " afford little assistance to the industrious
Mason iu this section, as it can only be acquired by oral communication.
" A remark which again plainly shows us that the temple
to be built is not a mere structure of brick or stone. Two
pages more bring us to an explanation of " the seven liberal
arts, " of which five at least seem to have nothing to do with
architecture — grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry,
music, and astronomy — and as these, together with " the doctrine
of the spheres, " are all to be included in one lecture, we
may rest satisfied that this lecture is not so profound as its title
might lead us to suppose.
Here we should be inclined to break off this review of
Masonry, because, having extracted as much as we can of the
pith and meaning and aim of these Masonic mysteries, it seems
undesirable to spend time and space upon particulars which
apparently have for their object to puzzle and confuse the uninitiated
reader ; though to the initiated they may, perhaps, convey
some information or reminder. We continue, nevertheless,
chiefly for the sake of illustrating a theory set forward in
another place, with regard to feigned or disguised histories,
records and biographies, and changed names.
In Book III. a short paper is printed which professes to contain
" Certayne questions, ivith answers to the same, concerning
the mystery o/Maconrye, writtenc by the liande of Kynge Henrye,
thesixtheofthename, and faWifullyecopyedby me JohauhBY'LAt^D,
antiquarius, by the commande of his Highnesse. " Whether or
not this document is what it pretends to be, is not to the present
purpose; our object is to draw attention to the strange footnotes
which accompany the questions, and which occupy much
more letter-press than the document itself. None of these notes
appear to be both genuine and necessary; some contain the
elaborate quibbles or puns which were said to be so
irresistible
to Bacon, but which, also, we think, formed a part of the secret
and ambiguous language of his society ; others speak of the
invention of arts which Bacon suggested or commenced ; all
include touches of his style; one mentions his name. For