nd the ancient Mysteries, which were
largely imbued with the mythical character of the ancient religions, led,
undoubtedly, to the introduction of the same mythical character into the
masonic system.

So general, indeed, was the diffusion of the myth or legend among the
philosophical, historical, and religious systems of antiquity, that Heyne
remarks, on this subject, that all the history and philosophy of the
ancients proceeded from myths.[141]

The word _myth_, from the Greek [Greek: my~thos], _a story_, in its
original acceptation, signified simply a statement or narrative of an
event, without any necessary implication of truth or falsehood; but, as
the word is now used, it conveys the idea of a personal narrative of
remote date, which, although not necessarily untrue, is certified only by
the internal evidence of the tradition itself.[142]

Creuzer, in his "Symbolik," says that myths and symbols were derived, on
the one hand, from the helpless condition and the poor and scanty
beginnings of religious knowledge among the ancient peoples, and on the
other, from the benevolent designs of the priests educated in the East, or
of Eastern origin, to form them to a purer and higher knowledge.

But the observations of that profoundly philosophical historian, Mr.
Grote, give so correct a view of the probable origin of this universality
of the mythical element in all the ancient religions, and are, withal, so
appropriate to the subject of masonic legends which I am now about to
discuss, that I cannot justly refrain from a liberal quotation of his
remarks.

"The allegorical interpretation of the myths," he says, "has been, by
several learned investigators, especially by Creuzer, connected with the
hypothesis of an ancient and highly-instructed body of priests, having
their origin either in Egypt or the East, and communicating to the rude
and barbarous Greeks religious, physical, and historical knowledge, under
the veil of symbols. At a time (we are told) when language was yet in its
infancy, visible symbols were the most vivid means of acting upon the
minds of ignorant hearers. The next step was to pass to symbolical
language and expressions; for a plain and literal exposition, even if
understood at all, would at least have been listened to with indifference,
as not corresponding with any mental demand. In such allegorizing way,
then, the early priests set forth their doctrines respecting God, nature,
and humanity,--a refi