I cannot destroy I will at least corrupt, and thus render subservient to my purpose"-a book as fit to appear in a lodge as a lunatic is fit to appear in a chemical laboratory;* not the Freemasonry which has transformed prayer and praise from the Almighty to the ashes of a man who is stated to have existed and to have died upward of 1800 years ago—not that Freemasonry; but the Freemasonry of reason, intelligence, truth, humanity, virtue, and pure religion—the Freemasonry of antiquity, which initiated into its mysteries none but men of intelligence, rectitude, and honor.

In our great work we have shown that it was forbidden to "round the corners of the head" (i. e. to shave off the hair), or to "mar the corners of the beard" (Lev. xix. 27), because the priests among the idolaters were accustomed thus to poll and shave themselves.

The same reason also exists for the precept prohibiting the wearing "garments mingled of linen and woolen," since, as we find by their books, the priests of the idolaters clothed themselves with robes of linen and woolen mixed together, besides wearing on the finger a ring made of a certain metal.

On similar grounds it is enjoined, that "the woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on woman's garment." (Deut. xxii. 5.) For in the books of the idolaters it is commanded that when a man presents himself before the (image of) the star of Venus, he shall wear the colored dress of a woman; and when a woman adores the star of Mars, she shall appear in armor. Another reason may also be given for this prohibition, from the tendency of such actions to excite to licentiousness and inchastity.

* On this subject I intend to write a separate supplementary article.

It is also unlawful to use, or make a gain of idols (i. e. by buying or selling), and the reason is evident, lest any one, receiving an idol to break in pieces, should retain it whole, and at length fall into the snare himself; or by deriving profit from it, if broken in pieces and melting it or selling it, should consider it as the cause of prosperity. For the vulgur are apt to take accidental things for true and substantial reasons, as we often hear men say, From the time they dwelt in such a house; or bought that horse, or this or that thing, they have been rich, their prosperity increased, and the blessing of God has been upon them :-so that what was accidental was regarded as the true cause; and thus, by parity of reason, it might happen that from the time of selling an idol, the business of some one might prosper, his substance increase, and the sale of the image or idol thus be accounted the cause of his prosperity, and what is directly contrary to the words of the divine law might be believed. It is also to avoid the same error, that no gain is allowed to be made of the coverings of idols, or the oblations and instruments of idolatry: for in those times such was the confidence of men in the stars, that they believed life and death, and every kind of good and evil to be under their influence, on which account the law combats the opinion by every means, and, in order to eradicate it, directs against it the words of the covenant-the testimonies-the oaths and the heaviest curses, and particularly forbids us to receive or make use of any part of the price of an idol, and declares that if any one intermix it with his other property, both that and the rest of his goods shall be taken away from him, according to what is said (Deut. vii. 26), "Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it; but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing;" so far is it from being supposed that any good can be derived from it. Thus shall we find, on examination, that the reason for all the laws against idolatry is to eradicate whatever is erroneous, and banish it from the earth.

In enumerating the things against which we are thus warned, it is important to remark that the advocates of those opinions which are destitute of foundation or utility, in order to confirm their superstitions, and to induce belief in them, artfully intimate, that those who do not perform the actions by which their superstitions are confirmed, are always punished by some misfortune or other; and therefore, when any evil accidentally happens, they extol such actions or rather superstitions as they wish him to practice, hoping thereby to induce him to

embrace their opinions. Thus, since it is well known, from the very nature of man, that there is nothing of which men are more afraid than of the loss of their property and children, therefore the worshipers of fire declared and circulated the opinion that, if they did not cause their sons or daughters to pass through the fire, all their children would die; there can be no doubt therefore, but that every one would hasten diligently to perform it, both from their great love to their children and fear of losing them, and because of the facility of the art, nothing more being required than to lead the child through the fire, the performance of which was rendered still more probable by the children being most generally committed to the care of the women, of whose intellectual weakness and consequent credence in such things no one is ignorant. Hence the Scripture vehemently opposes the action, and uses such arguments against it as against no other kind of idolatry whatever, "He hath given of his seed unto Moloch, to defile my sanctuary and to profane my holy name." (Levit. xx. 3.) Moses therefore declares, in the name of God, that, by that very act by which they expected to preserve the life of their children, by that act they shall destroy it; because God will exterminate both him who commits the crime, and also his family: "I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off." (Lev. xx. 5.) Nevertheless traces of this species of superstition are still existing; for we see midwives take new-born children wrapped in swaddlingclothes, and wave them to and fro in the smoke of herbs of an unpleasant odor thrown into the fire,-a relict, no doubt, of this passing through the fire, and one which ought not to be suffered. From this we may discover the perverse cunning of those men who propagated and established their error with such persuasive energy, that although it has been combated by the law for more than two thousand years, yet vestiges of it are still remaining.

The idolaters acted in a similar way also respecting riches and property, for they instituted the practice of worshiping a certain tree called Asherah, and ordered that one part of the fruit of it should be offered, and another part eaten in the idol-temple. They likewise enjoined that the same should be observed with regard to the firstfruits of every tree bearing edible fruit, adding that every tree would dry up and perish, its fruit fade or be diminished, or some other injury happen to it, if the first-fruits were not thus used, in the same manner, as we have before said, that they affirmed that all children would die who were not made to pass through the fire. For fear

therefore of suffering the loss of their goods, persons readily engaged to practice these things. Yet the law rose against this superstitious custom when God commanded that the fruit produced during the first three years should be burned: "When ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised; three years shall it be uncircumcised unto you it shall not be eaten of." (Lev. xix. 23.) For some trees bear fruit in one year, some in two, and others in three years after they are planted, according to the three methods made use of in planting, by setting, by layers or cuttings, and by grafting; no attention being paid to the sowing of fruit-stones, or kernels with the husks, concerning which the law enjoins nothing, referring only to the modes of planting most generally in use, and to the time of the first bearing of fruit by trees in the land of Israel, which generally was within the three years.

It is, however, promised that the loss of these first-fruits should be compensated by an increase of fruit afterward, at it is said, "That it may yield unto you the increase thereof." (Lev. xix. 25.) Nevertheless the fruits of the fourth year were commanded to be eaten before the Lord in his (holy) place, because the idolaters were accustomed to eat their first-fruits in the temples of their idols.

The ancient idolaters have also stated in their books, that it was a practice among them to suffer certain things, which they name, to putrefy or rot, and afterward when the sun was in a certain position, to sprinkle them, accompanied with particular magical rites, about the fruit-tree which had been planted, imagining that if this were done by the man who planted it, it would cause it to flower and bear fruit earlier than others usually do. This strange custom they consider as being similar in its nature to the operations of the speaking images which they had, and to the other magical rites which were practiced by them for the purpose of producing fruit early; but how strictly the divine law prohibits all magical operations has already been shown. It is also because of this practice that God prohibits all the fruit which trees bear for the first three years; for by this prohibition it was rendered unnecessary to endeavor to produce fruit earlier than usual; and since the trees in the land of Israel generally bore fruit in the natural way in the third year, there was no necessity for a magical rite, at that time so celebrated.

Again, among the remarkable opinions of the Zabii, are those which relate to the incision or grafting of one tree into another, affirming,

that if it be done when the moon is in such or such a position; if it be fumigated in a certain way; and if, at the moment of incision or grafting, certain words be spoken, then that which is produced by that tree will be exceedingly useful and salutary. But the most absurd things of this nature which they have said is at the commencement of the book, Of Grafting Olives into Citrons; and, in my opinion, the medical work that in time past was hidden by Hezekiah, was of this kind. On this subject they say that, when one kind is grafted into another, the scion is to be held and inserted by a beautiful damsel during the performance of the most filthy and detestable actions: and of the frequency of this practice, in those times, there can be no doubt, lustful gratifications being superadded to the benefits supposed to be derivable from such acts. The law, therefore, prohibited

(Caleim), i. e. the grafting of one tree into another (Levit. xix. 19); that we might be free from this heresy of the idolaters, and detest their unnatural lusts. On account also of this mode of practicing incision or grafting of trees, it was unlawful to mingle seeds of dif ferent kinds, or to sow them together; and if the reader will examine the exposition given in the Talmud, of this precept respecting the grafting of trees, he will find that the punishment of scourging is everywhere ordered to be inflicted for the transgression of it, because it is the foundation of the prohibition or the principal thing to which it refers; but the mingling of seeds is forbidden only in the land of Israel.

In the before-mentioned book, it is also stated, that they were accustomed to sow barley and dried grapes together, imagining that without this union there would not be a good vintage. The Law, therefore, forbade the sowing of the vineyard with divers seeds (Deut. xxii. 9); and enjoined that all such mixtures should be burnt. For all those rites of the Gentiles, which they believed to possess particular power and influence, were forbidden by the law, but especially those which savored of idolatry.

Farther, if we consider their rites and ceremonies, respecting agriculture, we shall find them paying attention to the planets, especially the two great luminaries, and even regulating the time of sowing by the rising of the heavenly bodies. Smoke is also to be raised, and certain circles to be made according to the number of the planets, by him who plants or sows. For they teach that all these things have a most beneficial influence upon agriculture, thereby alluring and drawing men to the worship of the stars. But on these ordinances of