Britain's remote ancestors through many centuries erected an advanced civilisati on, built walled cities, with towns,

villages, and ports, and sailed ocean-going ships, being a maritime people of great fame. They erected also chains of power ful fortresses some of which have survived the vicissitudes caused by man and th e elements for well over three thousand years, laid long, straight roads, and co nstructed canals which transported goods from one end of Britain to the other. H er sons faced hazardous voyages, long before deep-sea soundings were undertaken, to the most distant parts bf the earth, and established trading centres and com merce while their main search was ever for gold. They manufactured jewels employ ing gold, silver and bronze, besides precious stones. At an early date they mast ered the science of how to manufacture bronze, designed weapons of warfare, and discovered the secret art of how to make and use fire-arms, otherwise "black mag ic." Solomon built up his wealth and made the Israelites in his age the dominating pe ople by his knowledge of "magic'', an art described by Josephus in these words, "God also enabled him to learn that skill which expels demons, which is a skill useful and sanative to man." Incidentally, Solomon was a Grand Master of prehist oric Freemasonry - a very ancient fraternity earlier known as the Cabiri gods its origin often attributed to him, and some of the mystic ceremonies used in th e Masonic cult are probably derived from his epoch, yet how many present-day Mas ons can understand the inner meaning of the two hollow pillars Jachin and Boaz, which they are so fond of symbolising? In the great migration, induced largely by pre-knowledge of what was about to ha ppen owing to celestial phenomena, judging from certain passages of Jeremiah, th e Israelites in thgir Exodus were led through dark, arctic wastes, "where no man walks" - the Siberian lands. Many emigrants found their way to the shores of t he Mediterranean, others went by the rivers Volga, Vistula, Dneiper and Dneister to the Crimea, onwards into Asia Minor and thence to the Middle East, where we find in Irak what appear to be prehistoric Gothic inscriptions and occult design s as to which much might be said. In a totally different direction, across the N orth Atlantic, others made hazardous voyages and endured terrible privations in search of the sun, and settled finally in America, mostly in Mexico, ages before Columbus discovered that continent. Comyns Beaumont Reproduced by kind permission of The Estate of Comyns Beaumont. Copyright 2012