King Solomon's Temple and the Story of the ... - RoseCroix.org.au

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there is nothing to indicate the end of HIRAM ABIF. It has been urgedby some that there were two architects, father and son, and that thefather was killed as stated in our ritual, and succeeded by the son.This theory is based on what I think is a wrong translation of the word"Abif," and occurs in the message from the KING OF TYRE toSOLOMON : "And now I have sent a cunning man, endued withunderstanding of Hiram, my father's."Abif is a compound name : "Ab,"meaning "father,"is a token of respect, and "I," or "If," the definitearticle, and is not intended merely in the parental sense, as Abraham,the father of the faithful, but Abif is more properly the father or masterbuilder. I think we are bound to conclude there was only one greatarchitect for the Temple, and this prototype of our Order disappearsvery modestly from view in the simple words recorded in the Book ofChronicles, "And HURAM finished the work he had to make for KINGSOLOMON for the House of God."And now we will change the scene from this vision of Easternsplendour, to the more sombre atmosphere of London, at thebeginning of the eighteenth century, when four Lodges, meeting atsuch quaint houses as "The Goose and Gridiron," "The Rummer andGrapes," the "Apple Tree Tavern," and the "Crown Ale-house," decidedto form themselves into a GRAND LODGE in order to reform andreorganise Freemasonry in accordance with the spirit of the age, ofwhich Lodge ANTHONY SAYER was elected Grand Master in 1717.Of the men who took part in this reorganisation, the three mosteminent were Dr. Theoph. Desaguliers, the Rev. James Anderson, andGeorge Payne. Payne was the second Grand Master in 1718. Andersonwas afterwards asked to write the Book of Constitutions. Desagulierswas third Grand Master, and of this triumvirate, probably the mostimportant. He was the son of a French Protestant Minister, and wasborn at Rochelle in 1683. After the edict of Nantes, he with his fathercame to London in 1685. His education was finished at Oxford, and inthe course of time he attained considerable notoriety as amathematician and natural philosopher. In 1705 he gave a course ofpublic lectures on experimental philosophy, which were attended bypersons of all classes of society. In 1723 he was commissioned byParliament to devise a plan for heating and ventilating the House ofCommons, which he effected in a very ingenious manner. There aresome occurrences in the life of Desaguliers which merit particularattention, as having exercised a peculiar influence on the Masonry ofhis day. His love of mechanics, and the prominent part which thatscience plays in operative Masonry, no doubt induced him to become amember of the Fraternity. He soon, however, found the Brethren could
teach him nothing. On the other hand, the spirit of toleration which hefound prevailing among the members of the Fraternity, peculiarlygrateful to one who had suffered from religious intolerance, inspiredhim with the idea of reconstructing the Society on a basis which shouldunite together in harmony, those who were divided by religious andpolitical schisms. In carrying out his plan, he was materially aided bythe high position he held in society, and by the widespreadacquaintance he enjoyed. As a French refugee he was, of course, azealous Protestant, and this fact must have influenced him in makingalterations in the ritual of Masonry, in which several changes weremade subsequent to 1717, for the purpose of divesting it of some ofthe lingering remnants of Romanism.Of these changes, the most important was the fundamental one whichis at the root of our present system that of belief. You will rememberthe old Charges all began with an invocation to the Trinity; later thisseems to have been changed to God and the Holy Church; the latterwas now dropped, and a simple belief in the Deity only imposed oninitiates. One cannot help thinking that the leaders of the movementbelonged to the Latitudinarian School of Theology, as this school wasdistinguished from both Puritans and High Churchmen by theiropposition to dogma, and by their preference of reason to tradition, anexample of which we have in that beautiful portion of the ritual, wherewe are forcibly impressed to "listen to the dictates of reason."A PHILOSOPHICAL ESSAY ON DEATH.The Story of the Third Degree is a philosophical essay on Death, inwhich is recited the supposed death of Hiram Abif, at or about thecompletion of King Solomon's Temple, and just as it is the sum of thesmall which makes the large, and a simple word may plant the seedwhich, in its time, blossoms into fragrant action, and alters the coursesof lives, rounding life itself into its fullest beauty, so this tragedy of theTyrian architect has blossomed into an Order, whose branches areextended over the whole surface of the habitable globe, and of whichwe are justly proud.We have seen, however, that there is no historical foundation for thisstory, and I have it on the authority of Bro. HUGHAN, thatritualistically HIRAM ABIF is unknown before the THIRD DEGREE, andthis has not been traced before 1723-7. Many eminent Masons havesought for the story in the Miracle Plays of the Middle Ages, butwithout success. The question then arises, Was the story entirelyoriginated by the compilers of the new ritual, or was there some
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