Our Scholars In After Life.

although if would doubtless servo in some instances as the nucleus of a subscription that Avould realise sufficient for the object aimed at . This , liOAvevor , is not a subject that

should bo left to the chance of some Lodge or brother taking upon themselves to sec satisfactorily carried out , it is rather one that should be done systematically , and Avhen done properly will supply ample Avork for a committee .

Rule XXXVIII . of tho Royal Masonic Institution foi Boys , which defines the duties of tho Honso Committee , makes it a part of that Committee ' s business to " register tho names and addresses of tho parents or friends to whom the pupils are delivered , —to ascertain as far as

practicable their future position , —and record the same on the minutes . " TVc presume these items havo not escaped the attention of the House Committee , Avho should , therefore , he able to render assistance to the founders of tho fund by making known the particulars they have recorded

on the minutes in consequence of this rule . In answer to Bro . Radclyfto ' s question as to whethet we -will support him or not ? AVC may say that AVC shall not only support him , but shall bo pleased to assist in bringing tho proposed Fund as prominently before the Craft as the publicity of our columns Avill allow .

A Lecture,

A LECTURE ,

Delivered before Ike . Drelhren of the Lodge of Instruction , No . 072 , St . Augustine ' s , Canterbury .

BY BRO . T . B . ROSSETKR .

. uflKTiiiiKK , —My business tlii 3 evening is to introduce to your notico somo ifaw facts that may be gleaned from research into the usages and customs of others than what wo term , ourselves— "Christian Freemasons . " Tho term Christian Freemason is often used , bnfc I fearlessly assert theto should bo no such term as " Christian Freemason . " Such a term , or definition of faith is , or ought to bo , loft

behind ou passing the portals of tho Lodge . Wc believe in a Supremo Being ;—that is our Faith . I . must first direct your attention to tho opening statement of tho introduction to tho First Lecture of tho first or Entered Apprentice degree ,: " The usages and customs among Freemasons havo ever corresponded with , and borne a near affinity to tho ancient Egyptians , "

Arc . ; and secondly , tho question , " What is Freemasonry ? " I will answer the last question first;—It is a peculiar system of morality , veiled in allegory , and illustrated by symbols . These aro tho landmarks of my argument , bnt I must first give you the meaning of tho terms " Free and Accepted , and Operative Mason . " Free and Accepted is based on tho Operative , whereby a useful

lesson of morality is derived irom implements used in tho noble art ; iu other words theoretical Masonry . Operative Masonry is tho useful rules of architecture , wlioreby an cdilice receives figure , strength and beauty in equal proportions and due preponderance in all its parts . Now , if wo , as Freemasons , take up these implements of the art

and work with thorn in our own peculiar fashion , it cannot bo denied that wo aro fitting representatives of those " Great Builders " in whatever age tliey may bavc flourished . Tho Christian parallel ia drawn from tho building of King Solomon ' s Temple to St . John the Baptist ; from thence to St . John tho Evangelist ; and from thence handed down to our own time . What I propose to show is , that

there aro other parallels iu Freemasonry than tho one I havo alluded to . Wo ourselves admit that we Lave an affinity with the Ancieut Egyptians ; let ns see , as Operative Masons , how we are connected ; or rather , how tho parallel is drawn . It is admitted that our " rites and ceremonios are founded on the mysteries of the Goddess ' Isis . ' " This Isis was the mother or wife of " Osiris . " Osiris was celebrated

for his success in the perfecting of tho art of fortifications and buildings ; now it is generally admitted that Osiris is " Nimrod , " or tho "Ala Mahozim " of tho Babylonians , or tho "God of Fortifications j" tho " God of tho walled city . He it was , who in the primeval triad of Egypt was known as "Khous , " tho " God of hidden counsel . " * And here steps in the Egyptian parallel . Now this \ ery

name Khous brought into contact with Human mythology serves us with an explanation . That which I refer to is tho Latin God Census who , although idenwith Neptune and Saturn , was also regarded as the God of "Hidden Counsel , " or the " Concealer of Secrets ; " in the same Avay wo use tho word conscience , to know . The father of Kohns was Khonso , that

is , Auioun or Amuii ; the spirit of the intellect in conjunction with Kuephtho " Spirit of God , " which , as Plutarch tells iis , means the "Hidden God ; " aud Father and Son were known iu the E gyptian triad as one . The Mother of Ibis Khous was Matit . Go , tho earth goddess , had a child , called in tho Phoenician lungiwe "llnth . "

Maut and Muth have the same meaning , —Death . Then I his Maut of the Egyptians , or Muth of tho Phoenicians , must bo Eve , tho mother of the human race . This Muth was identified as Ilhca by tho Chaldeans . Tho name of Jihea signifies tho " gazer . " It was as the gnv . ev that the mother of mankind conceived by Satan , and biought forth Maut or Heath into I ho world . It was through her

A Lecture,

eyes that tho fatal connection was formed—for what says the Saoral Law ? "And when tho woman saw that tho tree was good for food and pleasant to tho eyes . " Tho sacred symbol of Rhea was an eyo encircled by vulture ' s wings . * Tho eye is a sacred symbol to us Masons , "nis ail-seeing eyo beholds ns . " We , as theoretical Masons , hero close with the Egyptians , and hence the Chaldeo mythology for

"Geo" boing their earth goddess is figuratively roprosentod in out Lodgos by "Clay . " There is nothing so zealous as clay , onr mother earth , who is ever labouring for our support , and who will again rccoivo ns when all our friends forsake ns ; " and hero tho Egyptian , tho Parsee , and tho Brahmin hold out tho hand of "brotherly Jovo" and claim the Level . TlieChineso know horns "Shins-Moo "

tho Holy Mother ; " Ma Tsoopo , tho Gazing Mother ; they point to you their certificates handed down by their ancestors rough and unsightly as tho early period is , yet leaving their mark as Masons on tho face of tho earth ; they point to yon each succeeding ago advancing in stylo and art , each showing tho free , thought of the Master Mason ' s mind , telling you in language plain aud intelligible , that ho too was

conversant with the square , level , and plmmb-rnlo ; whether his conduct was square , his steps level , or tho integrity of his measures as upright as his plumb-rule , must bo left to tho decision of tho G . A . O . T . tT ., from whence all goodness emanates , and to whom wo must give an undisguised account of our lives and actions . Julian , who was initiated into tho Eleu-ian mvsteries A . D . 331 in tho twentieth

year of his age , quoting Ariostosays— "For all men being equal have tho samo habitual rights" —alluding to those who had been initiated . Again , in his directions to a Priest of tho Mysteries ho says— " Consider tbat tradition of tho gods which has been transmitted to ns by tho most ancient ministers on things sacred , namely , that when Jupiter formed the world somo drops of sacred blood wero spilled on tho

earth , from which sprang mankind . Thus we are all relations , all sprung from tho samo stock , as the gods declare , and wo must believe on the testimony of tho facts themselves as wo all derivo our origin from tho gods . " The invention of tho plumb-rule and levol is claimed by Theodosins , who died 700 years before the Christian " era . Herodotus tells us that Polycrates , who lived 550 years B . C .,

possessed an emerald signet ring , mounted in gold , tho work of this Theodosins . Of what the ongraving consisted , nerodotns and Strabo are silent , but both confess it had wonderful powers . Anaoagoras ¦ 150 B . C ., tried to square the circle . I merely quote this to provo to yon that thoy wero theoretical as well as operative Masons . Bnt what shall we say of onr ancieut brethren , the Egyptians , when wo

find them nsiug the eqnilatcral triangle as a symbol for their triform Divinity— "tho Sun , Moon , and Osiris" —tho " Father , Mother and Son . " It is but fair to conjecture , aud that is scarcely a term for it , for their very edifices proclaim to us the fact that they wore theoretical as well as operative Masons . Our P . M . 's wear on their clothing the " Triple Tan . " It is my purpose to explain to yon from whenco this is derived and its relativo meaning .

Now I havo shown to you that this Osiris of tho Egyptians is Nimrod the Great Builder ; in other words , Kohns . Eusebins , Josephus and Eppiphanius all tell ns that " Cush was an Ethiopian , and that Nimrod was his son . " But then in tho triad father and son were one . Now , if Cush bo Nimrod , Cush must bo Kohns . This Cush , or Kohns is represented iu tho hicrogliphics

as bearing a stem with five branches , indicative of tho five points of the pentangle , or onr "five points of fellowship , " whilst the head is encircled with a band decorated with " Tans , " and tho Egyptian monuments abound with thorn , and bear witness of their more ancient origin . Now , tho Assyrians know this Cush , or Kohns by tho namo of "Tammuz , or the Lamented One , " as Ave are told iu the Yolome of

the Sacred Law . f Now , this mystic ~ T was the initial of tho name of Tammuz , and Tertullian tells us that this mystic' Tau was marked on those Avho wore initiated into the mysteries , and was used as a most " sacred symbol . " Layard found it used as a sacred symbol in Nineveh . Wilkinson proves to demonsttation that it was worn on tho

robes of the "Kot-u-no , " or "Masters of tho Mysteries , 1500 B . C ., as the sepulchres in tho great oases testify . And to identify Tammtir with the sun it was either joined to the circle of tho sun or inserted in the circle . Wo aro told by Julian , " that tho Gods in council sat together in a circle . " But this " Tan " had to the initiated a deeper meaning . This mystic " Tau , "

as the symbol of tho Great Divinity , was tho " sign of " Life . " It AVUS borne as a token of dignity or divinely conferred authority , signifying one who had reached the summit of the mysteries , or , as we call it , the " Craft . " Pythagoras , the Samian , who flourished 400 B . C . made it his boast , and so did his pupils , that those who had been educated in the mysteries of his school ,

whether " strangers or barbarians" conld distinguish each other by " signs and symbols , " though at a distance . There is nothing very strange in this when wo come to consider tho source from whence ho derived his knowledge . In his 20 th year ho visited Egypt and Chaldca , and gained from the priests a knowledge of their mysteries aud symbolical writings ; this he could not havo dono unless

ho "had been found worthy , " and initiated into thoir mysteries ; consequently he brought their mystic signs and symbols back to Samoa with him . Now Pythagoras must have hoard of Theodosins , the artist , as it is said the world is indebted to him for the demonstration of the 47 th proposition of tho 1 st book of Euclid , about the

square of the hypothennse . "it is not to Pythagoras , he was but a meic imitator , but to the Egyptians and Chaldeans , that we must look to solve this problem . Firmicus tells us that the initiated underwent what their Gods had nndergone . First , after being duly prepared by magic rites and ceremonies they wero ushered , in a state of absolute nudity or " nakedness , " into the