the sacrifices to fire, and all other solemn
purifications, shall pass away; but that which shall never pass away is
the word AUM, for it is the symbol of the Lord of all things."

B

BABEL. The biblical account of the dispersion of mankind in consequence of
the confusion of tongues at Babel, has been incorporated into the history
of Masonry. The text has shown the probability that the pure and abstract
principles of the Primitive Freemasonry had been preserved by Noah and his
immediate descendants; and also that, as a consequence of the dispersion,
these principles had been lost or greatly corrupted by the Gentiles, who
were removed from the influence and teachings of the great patriarch.

Now there was in the old rituals a formula in the third degree, preserved
in some places to the present day, which teaches that the candidate has
come _from the tower of Babel, where language was confounded and Masonry
lost_, and that he is travelling _to the threshing-floor of Ornan the
Jebusite, where language was restored and Masonry found_. An attentive
perusal of the nineteen propositions set forth in the preliminary chapter
of this work will furnish the reader with a key for the interpretation of
this formula. The principles of the Primitive Freemasonry of the early
priesthood were corrupted or lost at Babel by the defection of a portion
of mankind from Noah, the conservator of those principles. Long after, the
descendants of this people united with those of Noah at the temple of
Solomon, whose site was the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, from
whom it had been bought by David; and here the lost principles were
restored by this union of the Spurious Freemasons of Tyre with the
Primitive Freemasons of Jerusalem. And this explains the latter clause of
the formula.

BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. When the city and temple of Jerusalem were destroyed
by the army of Nebuchadnezzar, and the inhabitants conveyed as captives to
Babylon, we have a right to suppose,--that is to say, if there be any
truth in masonic history, the deduction is legitimate,--that among these
captives were many of the descendants of the workmen at the temple. If so,
then they carried with them into captivity the principles of Masonry which
they had acquired at home, and the city of Babylon became the great seat
of Speculative Masonry for many years. It was during the captivity that
the philosopher Pythagoras, who was travelling as a seeker after
knowledge