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Article THE EGYPTIAN PRIESTS. ← Page 2 of 2 Article THE EGYPTIAN PRIESTS. Page 2 of 2 Article VALUE OF MASONIC BOOKS. Page 1 of 1
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The Egyptian Priests.
distance from their walls , obelisks , and pyramids , the long and costly labour in building which would only have produced a vain and stupid display . Ostentation does not g ive rise to such grand undertakings , it raises not mankind to that point of greatness which arrests our admiration and commands our respect .
Some writers , among others MM . Rollin and Mellot , have made it a subject of reproach to the Egyptian priests that they used their superiority and the confidence of the people to keep the latter in a state of ignorance and superstition , but is this reproach based on justice or policy ?
Such a question would , m the eighteenth century , have been determined against the priests , and it would seem as though MM . Rollin and Mellot , in condemning on this isolated ground , have not examined the question impartially , but have yielded to the ruling prejudice of their country
rather than to a sound and equitable judgment . To-day , when an experience fatal to our generation , but useful to our species , has determined the solution of this problem , it is permitted us to appeal from this erroneous judgment , the motives of which have since received more than one
false application , owing to the institutions and customs which , for the peace and happiness of mankind , it was necessary to respect . It is permitted to revise a charge raised by disquiet , and sustained with desperation by a false philosophy , the enemy of wisdom , and yet destroyed before the supreme tribunal of experience .
Without doubt , knowledge is useful to man , it enlightens his reason and directs his halting steps along the difficult paths of a life both stormy and strewn with rocks . But just as that element , which is the first principle of life and of nature , embraces and consumes everything when it is
scattered without discrimination and care , so the knowledge of philosophy , that is to say , human knowledge , disorders tbe progress of mankind , disorganises societies , and hurries them back into all the confusion of chaos , when it is spread
abroad too abundantly , and presented in all its native brilliancy to the eyes of a multitude but little disposed to profit by its lessons , because it directs not its progress or its true application .
It is not enough to enlighten the mind only , we must instruct man ' s reason , and how shall we attain this end , which demands such preparation and arrangement , as regards a multitude so violently agitated by passions and tormented by the needs of life , so ill-fitted to receive the lessons of
wisdom , so incapable of contemplation and thought , without the aid of those whose reason is always in a state of infancy . The Egyptians , naturally a coarse people , were attached to any prejudice . In order to direct them , it was necessary rather to excite their senses than to appeal to their reason .
Morality and religion , if in accord with policy supported by physical wonders , and concealed behind an ingenious veil of emblems , were better appreciated , were taken more directly to heart , more surely curbed their passions and vices , and encouraged more their virtues than if they
had been taught without the veil of mystery . A people who could only be addressed figuratively were hardly fit to receive ideas moral , religious and political by the ordinary channels . It was necessary to have recourse to the disguise of fiction in order to lead captive their attention , and to
inculcate in their minds those views which were necessary to their peace and happiness . Would it have done to have unrolled before their eyes the mystic table of those principles and truths which constitute the moral and political world ? Would it have done to have followed the graduated and
regular march of those axioms which form the science of governments ? Would they not have been betrayed into error amidst this labyrinth ? Would it have done to have guided them to the heights of metaphysics in order to enable them to penetrate into the sanctuary of the Godhead ? Would
not their reason have rebelled against the incertitude of probabilities ? It was necessary for them to borrow the honesty of their idioms , in order to make them understand ; it was necessary to descend to their level , so as not to frighten them , and to respect even their errors , in order to guide them towards the truth .
So likewise the Egyptian polity would have presented to us its clief d ' oeuvres of government had its character been well understood , if its progress , and its springs of action had not been hidden from our gaze . The disorders caused
by civil wars , by invasions and persecution have made to disappear from this country even the ruins of its ancient spendour , and have left to our astonished eyes only scientific and reli gious monuments which have been recklessly looked upon as the relics of the pride and pomp of its
The Egyptian Priests.
rulers . Let ns regard attentively the inimitable perfection of these monuments , the justice of their proportions and their symmetry , the vividness of their colour , which haa triumphed over time . Let us think over the singular
character which distinguished them in a manner strange , and then we shall form a just idea of the grandeur of the Egyptians , and of the transcendant genius which governed that remarkable people
Value Of Masonic Books.
VALUE OF MASONIC BOOKS .
AT the Sale held by Messrs . Sotheby , on Tuesday and Wednesday , 27 th and 28 th July last , we noted the following prices : — Lot £ a d 1 . Masonry Dissected , 1730 , with its sequel , 1738 . . 10 0
2 . The Mystery of Freemasons , 1 page , 4 to . . . 15 0 5 . BeginningandFirstFonndationofMasonry ( Mrs . Dodd ) 13 0 30 . A volume of tracts ( early revelations , & o . ) . . 1 11 0 96 . Johnson's History of Freemasons . . . . 0 19 0 239 . A parcel of Finch ' s pamphlets 1 13 0 240 . The unique copy of the Constitutions , 1722 . . 8 10 0 241 . Constitutions , 1723 3 18 0 243 . Same ( Cole's ) , 1729 1 13 0
245 . Same , 1738 18 0 246 . Same , 1746 1 10 0 338 . Speeches and Charges , 1744-1761 . . . . 0 19 0 339 . Same , 1769-1777 10 0 340 . Same . 110 341 . Same 100 344 . Same 0 19 0 386 . Procedings G . L . of England . . . . . 660 408 . Works on the Parisian revival of the Order of the
Temple 1 11 6 417 . Bnrnes' Knights Templar 1 15 0 420 . Chemical Wedding of Andrcea , and 3 others . . 18 0 503 . Pine ' s Lodge Lists for 1736 , 1737 and 1738 . . 3 10 0 504 . Cole's ditto ditto 1764 , 1766 , 1767 , 1770 and 1778 3 13 6 506 . Calendar G . L . of England from 1776 , 9 vols . . . 2 12 6 507 . Same from 1800 , 14 vols 3 5 0 556 . 2 Albums of early Summonses , & c 1 10 0 557 . and 558 . Masonic Scrapbooks . . £ 1 14 s and 17 0 560 . MS . Lodge Lectures , & c 1 15 0 562 . MS . of Dr . Oliver , Discrepancies of Freemasonrv
Examined 8 0 0 565 . Lecture on the Rituals , by the same . . , . 330 567 . Dunckerley ' s Lectures 2 15 0 568 . The Third Degree as conferred by the Ancients . . 3 10 0 569 . YariousMSS ., includinglstand 2 nddegreeofthesame 5 10 0 596 . Mock Masonry or the Grand Procession , 1741 . . 1 15 0 597 . Yiew of the Procession of Scald Miserable Masons
( described on p . 68 of Vol . I . of THE FKEEJUSON ' CHRONICLE ) , 1742 6 0 0 Ordinary books are usually estimated for sale by auction at under one-fourth of their value , and a sale of class
literature in a lump is considered successful if it realise even so much . The lots above quoted have evidentl y acquired renown , and been subjected to competition amongst learned and spirited lovers of our literature .
A new club is about to be formed in the Cit y of London , for Masonic purposes , and also to supply accommodation to the brethren . The club is to be conducted on strictly Masonic principles . The names of the R . W . Lord Skelmersdale D . G . M . and the Rt . Hon . the Lord Mayor are at the head of the list .
The Provincial Grand Lodge of Sussex will hold its annual meeting on Thursday , 30 th September . Bro . Alderman W . H . Hallett is to be the G . S . W . The Wor shipful Mayor of Brighton , Bro . Alderman J . L . Brigden J . P ., is to be G . J . W .
The members of the Burdett Coutts Lodge , No . 1278 , who were graciously invited by the Baroness Burdett Contts to attend her garden party , with their lady friends , visited Holly Lodge on Monday last , and spent a very pleasant evening .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Egyptian Priests.
distance from their walls , obelisks , and pyramids , the long and costly labour in building which would only have produced a vain and stupid display . Ostentation does not g ive rise to such grand undertakings , it raises not mankind to that point of greatness which arrests our admiration and commands our respect .
Some writers , among others MM . Rollin and Mellot , have made it a subject of reproach to the Egyptian priests that they used their superiority and the confidence of the people to keep the latter in a state of ignorance and superstition , but is this reproach based on justice or policy ?
Such a question would , m the eighteenth century , have been determined against the priests , and it would seem as though MM . Rollin and Mellot , in condemning on this isolated ground , have not examined the question impartially , but have yielded to the ruling prejudice of their country
rather than to a sound and equitable judgment . To-day , when an experience fatal to our generation , but useful to our species , has determined the solution of this problem , it is permitted us to appeal from this erroneous judgment , the motives of which have since received more than one
false application , owing to the institutions and customs which , for the peace and happiness of mankind , it was necessary to respect . It is permitted to revise a charge raised by disquiet , and sustained with desperation by a false philosophy , the enemy of wisdom , and yet destroyed before the supreme tribunal of experience .
Without doubt , knowledge is useful to man , it enlightens his reason and directs his halting steps along the difficult paths of a life both stormy and strewn with rocks . But just as that element , which is the first principle of life and of nature , embraces and consumes everything when it is
scattered without discrimination and care , so the knowledge of philosophy , that is to say , human knowledge , disorders tbe progress of mankind , disorganises societies , and hurries them back into all the confusion of chaos , when it is spread
abroad too abundantly , and presented in all its native brilliancy to the eyes of a multitude but little disposed to profit by its lessons , because it directs not its progress or its true application .
It is not enough to enlighten the mind only , we must instruct man ' s reason , and how shall we attain this end , which demands such preparation and arrangement , as regards a multitude so violently agitated by passions and tormented by the needs of life , so ill-fitted to receive the lessons of
wisdom , so incapable of contemplation and thought , without the aid of those whose reason is always in a state of infancy . The Egyptians , naturally a coarse people , were attached to any prejudice . In order to direct them , it was necessary rather to excite their senses than to appeal to their reason .
Morality and religion , if in accord with policy supported by physical wonders , and concealed behind an ingenious veil of emblems , were better appreciated , were taken more directly to heart , more surely curbed their passions and vices , and encouraged more their virtues than if they
had been taught without the veil of mystery . A people who could only be addressed figuratively were hardly fit to receive ideas moral , religious and political by the ordinary channels . It was necessary to have recourse to the disguise of fiction in order to lead captive their attention , and to
inculcate in their minds those views which were necessary to their peace and happiness . Would it have done to have unrolled before their eyes the mystic table of those principles and truths which constitute the moral and political world ? Would it have done to have followed the graduated and
regular march of those axioms which form the science of governments ? Would they not have been betrayed into error amidst this labyrinth ? Would it have done to have guided them to the heights of metaphysics in order to enable them to penetrate into the sanctuary of the Godhead ? Would
not their reason have rebelled against the incertitude of probabilities ? It was necessary for them to borrow the honesty of their idioms , in order to make them understand ; it was necessary to descend to their level , so as not to frighten them , and to respect even their errors , in order to guide them towards the truth .
So likewise the Egyptian polity would have presented to us its clief d ' oeuvres of government had its character been well understood , if its progress , and its springs of action had not been hidden from our gaze . The disorders caused
by civil wars , by invasions and persecution have made to disappear from this country even the ruins of its ancient spendour , and have left to our astonished eyes only scientific and reli gious monuments which have been recklessly looked upon as the relics of the pride and pomp of its
The Egyptian Priests.
rulers . Let ns regard attentively the inimitable perfection of these monuments , the justice of their proportions and their symmetry , the vividness of their colour , which haa triumphed over time . Let us think over the singular
character which distinguished them in a manner strange , and then we shall form a just idea of the grandeur of the Egyptians , and of the transcendant genius which governed that remarkable people
Value Of Masonic Books.
VALUE OF MASONIC BOOKS .
AT the Sale held by Messrs . Sotheby , on Tuesday and Wednesday , 27 th and 28 th July last , we noted the following prices : — Lot £ a d 1 . Masonry Dissected , 1730 , with its sequel , 1738 . . 10 0
2 . The Mystery of Freemasons , 1 page , 4 to . . . 15 0 5 . BeginningandFirstFonndationofMasonry ( Mrs . Dodd ) 13 0 30 . A volume of tracts ( early revelations , & o . ) . . 1 11 0 96 . Johnson's History of Freemasons . . . . 0 19 0 239 . A parcel of Finch ' s pamphlets 1 13 0 240 . The unique copy of the Constitutions , 1722 . . 8 10 0 241 . Constitutions , 1723 3 18 0 243 . Same ( Cole's ) , 1729 1 13 0
245 . Same , 1738 18 0 246 . Same , 1746 1 10 0 338 . Speeches and Charges , 1744-1761 . . . . 0 19 0 339 . Same , 1769-1777 10 0 340 . Same . 110 341 . Same 100 344 . Same 0 19 0 386 . Procedings G . L . of England . . . . . 660 408 . Works on the Parisian revival of the Order of the
Temple 1 11 6 417 . Bnrnes' Knights Templar 1 15 0 420 . Chemical Wedding of Andrcea , and 3 others . . 18 0 503 . Pine ' s Lodge Lists for 1736 , 1737 and 1738 . . 3 10 0 504 . Cole's ditto ditto 1764 , 1766 , 1767 , 1770 and 1778 3 13 6 506 . Calendar G . L . of England from 1776 , 9 vols . . . 2 12 6 507 . Same from 1800 , 14 vols 3 5 0 556 . 2 Albums of early Summonses , & c 1 10 0 557 . and 558 . Masonic Scrapbooks . . £ 1 14 s and 17 0 560 . MS . Lodge Lectures , & c 1 15 0 562 . MS . of Dr . Oliver , Discrepancies of Freemasonrv
Examined 8 0 0 565 . Lecture on the Rituals , by the same . . , . 330 567 . Dunckerley ' s Lectures 2 15 0 568 . The Third Degree as conferred by the Ancients . . 3 10 0 569 . YariousMSS ., includinglstand 2 nddegreeofthesame 5 10 0 596 . Mock Masonry or the Grand Procession , 1741 . . 1 15 0 597 . Yiew of the Procession of Scald Miserable Masons
( described on p . 68 of Vol . I . of THE FKEEJUSON ' CHRONICLE ) , 1742 6 0 0 Ordinary books are usually estimated for sale by auction at under one-fourth of their value , and a sale of class
literature in a lump is considered successful if it realise even so much . The lots above quoted have evidentl y acquired renown , and been subjected to competition amongst learned and spirited lovers of our literature .
A new club is about to be formed in the Cit y of London , for Masonic purposes , and also to supply accommodation to the brethren . The club is to be conducted on strictly Masonic principles . The names of the R . W . Lord Skelmersdale D . G . M . and the Rt . Hon . the Lord Mayor are at the head of the list .
The Provincial Grand Lodge of Sussex will hold its annual meeting on Thursday , 30 th September . Bro . Alderman W . H . Hallett is to be the G . S . W . The Wor shipful Mayor of Brighton , Bro . Alderman J . L . Brigden J . P ., is to be G . J . W .
The members of the Burdett Coutts Lodge , No . 1278 , who were graciously invited by the Baroness Burdett Contts to attend her garden party , with their lady friends , visited Holly Lodge on Monday last , and spent a very pleasant evening .