Lodge Histories.

we do not propose to refer to them at any length here , as the student has equal opportunities with us of securing a copy of the volume we have quoted from . Bro . Norman deserves the thanks of the Craft for the way in which his

part of the work has been performed , and for the many interesting items ho has collected relating to tho doings of the brethren of the Royal Union Lodge and the surrounding district .

Historical Relation Of Freemasonry To Ancient Egypt.

HISTORICAL RELATION OF FREEMASONRY TO ANCIENT EGYPT .

A Lecture delivered by Bro . Alexander II . Morgan , before Montgomery Lodge , No . 19 , F . and A . M ., at a special meeting , held in the Egyptian Hall , Masonic Temple , Philadelphia , 25 th February 1 SS 9 . REPRINTED FROM THE KEYSTONE .

( Continued from page 357 ) . Tho life and character of the candidate was subjected to the closest scrutiny , and only on positive proof of his fitness to mingle in the ranks of the enlightened could he obtain an entrance . It was considered one

of the greatest privileges to become a member of the Fraternity , and it was asserted that "those who have been initiated in the mysteries entertain better hopes , both as to the end of life and the whole of futurity . "

The penalties inflicted for divulging any part of the mysteries were of the most extreme character . " To divulge them was considered a sacrilegious crime , the prescribed punishment was immediate death . " We may

also find in the History of the Children of Israel , which in itself is a part of Egyptian history , a close relationship between the esoteric observances of the Egyptians and the secret ceremonies of the Hebrew priests , so far as has been brought to light in the Masonic ritual .

The Jews derived much of their knowledge of supernatural matters , excepting that revealed to Moses by the Almighty , from the Egyptian priesthood ; and one of the reasons why the priests and soothsayers of Egypt so violently opposed the liberation of the Hebrews was

because Moses had been initiated into the Egyptian Mysteries . Most of the Masonic degrees are based upon certain events in the early history of the Hebrew nation , and it

happens that the descendants of Abraham were the only people ( if antiquity admitted into Egypt , or with whom the Egyptians were on terms of close intimacy . The direct descent from the Hebrew Patriarchs was known

and acknowledged , and tho laws , civil and religious , were largely identical with those of the Hebrews , so much as to warrant the assumption of a common origin . Moses was said to be " learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians , "

and his great legacy to the Israelites , the " Book of the law , " contained many ordinances derived from tho " wisdom " of the country in which he was born and educated . True it

was to him and his people a "land of bondage , " but the laws and mystic rites of their taskmasters were engrafted upon tho Hebrew stock by four hundred years of close cultivation , and appear in most of the customs of the

ancient Hebrews . If "Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the

Egyptians " he must have been initiated into their Mystic ceremonies , versed in the signs , grips and passwords of that organisation . It was this knowledge which enabled him to stand up with so much confidence before the

Egyptian King , and demand the release of his people , and so far from being intimidated by the Pharoah , we find the Hebrew Prophet threatening both him and the people of

Egypt with the vengeance of the God of Israel . We will say a word or two more relating to the Egyptian Mysteries and then pass on to the third and concluding part of the lecture .

It is true that we have but little actual knowledge of what are called the Egyptian Mysteries . The hieroglyphical translations have made us acquainted with Egyptian history , her kings and priests , her tombs and

monuments , her pyramids and obelisks , her sphinxes and temples ; but of the actual working signs , symbols and passwords of those well guarded and carefully protected mysteries , we can only draw deductions from analogy and

Historical Relation Of Freemasonry To Ancient Egypt.

comparison , and still are compelled to acknowledge our uncertainty . But in addition to the comparison and analogies to which I have directed your attention , there is a certain sign or figure which to the Freemason is a plain , palpable representation of a doctrine taught now , and exemplified with the Masonic Temple , as , we believe , it

was in those ancient Egyptian Temples dedicated to the illustration of their solemn rites and doctrines . Tho names of the Egyptian kings and tho record of the great deeds they had performed , are found iu those elliptical ovals you see above you . Those figures or ovals

were given by Champollion the rather curious appellation of " Cartouche . " " To each king was devoted two ' cartouches ; ' the first of which is called the prenomen , and is generally symbolic , containing titles ; while it is always the

desiguatory oval by which the individual Pharoah is known—the second is called his nomen , and is generally altogether phonetic , containing his proper name , like our surnames and Christian names" Or , in other words , the

hieroglyphics contained within the ovals , give the names and record , civil and military , of the Pharoah . Hieroglyphic is defined as Emblematic ; expressive of some meaning by characters , pictures , or figures . Literally , a

sacred character , applied to a species of writing first practised by the ancient Egyptian priests , often called picture writing , which expressed a series of ideas by representations of visible objects . This system of writing ,

to those who understood it , was an easy mode of hoodwinking the ignorant and uninitiated , and it was a practical exemplification of the quoted saying that languago was given to us to conceal our thoughts , and the priests most

probably nsed it for that purpose . It certainly was a most comprehensive system of expressing ideas and at tho same time of defending or keeping sacred a mystery , just as the initiated of our days meet in the presence of the

profane and by well guarded signs recognise one another . The number of figures used in the ancient hieroglyphical writing was almost unlimited , every kind of being , all the

geometrical figures , beasts , birds , reptiles and insects , were brought into requisition , and if you will turn your gaze upon the decorations of this room , you will see almost every known thing on the earth , or above the earth ,

depicted in this ancient Egyptian language . While hieroglyphical figures were also used by other nations of antiquity , none ever reached the extent and perfection in pictorial writing found in Egypt , and this curious art must have been a very important part of the study and education of the Egyptian priesthood . It was abolished at

the advent of the Christian era , as naturally were most of the Pagan customs , and complicated and ingenious as it was , its study has been made comparatively easy to the modern hierologists , through the discoveries of Champollion and

others . Returning to the direct line of our discourse , from which we wandered in our hieroglyphical dissertation , which was the discussion of the Ovals descriptive of the lives of the Pharoahs , and which abound on all the tombs

and monuments of the Egyptian kings , we find one peculiar to itself , without a mark or sign , or symbol , simply a plain , blank cartouche ; but it was the most

impressive and significant of them all , because it meant something higher , better , grander , more sublime than all those known or unknown Pharoahs , whose names were carved on temple tomb and obelisk , and to the initiated it was the symbol of the " ineffable , unpronounceable name of

God . " But it must be borne in mind that it was only a symbol , not a written name . A compound word indicative of the name was known to the priests , and was transmitted

in a certain time and manner , and it was used as a password in tho Egyptian mysteries , " by which the candidate was admitted to the chamber of initiation . " The

Hebrews learned from the Egyptians the figurative mode of symbolising the name , and though they adopted another figure , yet the signification was the same , and all the heathen nations of antiquity when they had exhausted

their vocabulary for names of gods and goddesses , found a geometrical figure symbolical of the name of him , whose face they never saw , whose image they dare not make , and whose name , unknown , they could not pronounce .

( To be continued . )

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