Initiation Of A Magi.

in heart in the following prayer which he delivered in a loud voice : — " 0 great goddess Isis , enlighten with thy knowledgo this mortal , who has overcome many perils , and accomp lished much work ; make him again triumphant in the trials

of the mind , so that he may be made worthy to be initiated into thy mysteries . " When all the priests had repeated this prayer , they struck their breasts , in token of fidelity . The chief priest then took him by the hand to assist his rising , and

conducted him to a door which opened at the farther end of the first temple . Arrived before this door , he invited the aspirant to knock " three times , " in response to which a stern voice from the interior demanded of the profane " What he wanted ?"

• " Following the advice of the priests he answered , " That he was a penitent descended alive into the bowels of the earth , there to confess his sins , for them to make atonement , and to obtain the light . " Then the aspirant heard

a terrible rattling of chains , and the door slowly opened on its hinges . Entering he found himself in a place dimly lighted , in the presence of a tribunal composed of three priests , whose white robes of initiation were covered with a large tunic of bright red .

To these priests the aspirant would have to declare not only the guilty actions which he had committed , but the circumstances which had led him to commit them , finally ending by an exact account of his good or bad inclinations . When he had finished his confession , the priests

conducted him into a waiting room , and examined if his confession coincided with the knowledge gained in advance , and confirmed by the phrenological configuration of his skull , the look of his face , and the play of his countenance . When the judges—whose power of perception enabled them

to dive into the innermost recesses of his conscience—had found him sincere , they admitted him to the benefits of their initiation , but before he underwent these new and formidable trials , they presented him with a cup containing the beverage of " oblivion . " After he had drank from the

first cup , they offered him a second , containing the beverage of the " memory , " emblematical that he ought to forget the " errors " of the world , and only to remember the " Eternal Truths , " which he would learn at his initiation .

The sides of the cup of oblivion were covered with honey , but the wine which it contained was as bitter as gall ; whilst the sides of the cup of memory were coated with gall , but it contained the most exquisite nectar ; a profound symbol of the " Eternal Truth . " T . B . KOSSETEB , W . M . 972 .

Masonic Blunderers Once More.

MASONIC BLUNDERERS ONCE MORE .

BY BRO . JACOB NORTON .

' PHE 125 th anniversary of a Eoyal Arch Chapter in Pennsylvania . - *¦ was recently celebrated in Philadelphia . The Chapter ' s reoord ' a not quite as old , but as the Philadelphia Lodge charter , derived from the so-called " Ancients , " arrived about 1764 , it is not impossible for the disciples of Dermott to have begun to work both Craft and Chapter Masonry six years or so before they received a charter . Two orations were delivered upon that important occasion . I shall

however confine my remarks to the historical oration by my friend Brother Charles B . Meyers , who , after giving a few rhetorical flourishes about Solomon's Temple , the Obelisks , Pyramids , Ancient Temples , & o . proceeded thus : — ' Listen to the story of the past . The operative Masons who annuall y assembled at York , prior to the forming of private Lodges ,

increased to such an extent that the attention of the learned men pf the day was attracted to their mysterious meetings . Such influence was brought to bear upon the operative Masons that they Were induced in time to admit such as had not worked with the implements of labour , but who had delved in nature ' s mysteries , and had made themselves Masters of science and art . "

th k ^ res P to the Philadelphia orator , I must inform him oat the above paragraph is a mere tissue of blunders . Who knows lne history of the operative Masons at York ? When did Masons ™ eet without having private Lodges ? When , where , and who , ™ ere the learned men , "the Masters of science and art , " whom the basons' mysteries attracted to York ? In tho 17 th century , and l

u-naps earlier , non-operatives used to join the operative guilds . ^ have alread y called attention , in my previous paper , that in 1607 antes I . of England was a Cordvvainer , and his son Prince Henry th n ° conrtier ' joined the Tailors' guild . I have no doubt ^ 8 Goldsmiths' guild , the Fishmongers' guild , & c , also had gentleen as _ honorary members , and the Masons , though they cannot boast da ln ° rece'ved into membershi p Kings and Princes in those vS i undoubtedl y now and then received into their ranks a private

Masonic Blunderers Once More.

gentleman or may be a nobleman ; hut which of the said nonoperative Masons were " masters of science and art ? " Again says Brother Meyer : — " Masonry prior to 1717 consisted of one degree , that of the Apprentice , which differed sroatly f ,. om otll . | > r 0 aenfc degree of that nnme , innsmnch as it contained the elements of all of the degrees of

Masonry . " Now , what did the orator mean by the word " all , " which he so carefully italicised ? Bro . Meyers is probably Master of from ft hundred and fifty to two hnndred degrees , or even more ; but these are not all tho Masonic degrees Masons believe in . Brother Meyers has received three degrees in the Blue Lodge ; four in tho Eoyal Arch ;

three in the Templar ; three , or so , in the Cryptic Rite ; thirty in the Scotch Eite ( omitting the Craft degree ) ; ho may have received ninety-three degrees in the Eite of Memphis , and ninety in tho Eito of Mizraim . Our brother is a Eosicrncian , a Eed Cross Knight of Constantine , nnd a something in tho Eoyal Order of Scotland . Dr . Oliver ennmerates the following degrees : — " Tho Ark , Mark , Link .

Wrestle , Babylonish Pass , Intendent , Noachites , Sublime Scotoh Masonry , Excellent , Prussian Blue , the various elected Architectural , Priestly , and Crucible degrees , Eed , White , and Black ; the Knightly Orders and Mediterranean Pass , tho Kadosh , Provost and Judge , Black Mark , Order of Death , Perfection , and innumerable others . " In all , says Dr . Oliver , somowhere , there were about two

thousand degrees afloat during the last century . Bro . Woodford , in " Kenning ' s Cyolopaxlia , " ennmerates a hundred and fifty or more Knighthoods , and nearly all were Masonic . I would , therefore , like to learn where * Bro . Meyers had seen a pro-1717 Eitnal which contained the elements of " all" the Masonic degrees . Supposing , however , by " all , " our brother meant only the three

Craft degrees ; if even so I am sorry to say he still blundered . I presume that I have read as many pre-1717 rituals as Bro . Meyers has ; thus , tho oldest Masonic ritual is contained in tho Halliwell Poom , and in that ritual neither King Solomon nor his Temple is referred to . That poem was writton after the year 1407 , probably near 1430 . Matthew Cook ' s MS . was written about a century later ,

and the MSS . published by Bro . Hughan and others , about thirty or more in all , of the 17 th century , are mere abridgments of the Cooke MS . Now all tho said rituals mention King Solomon and King Hiram , but ignore the architect . Se we see that the principal personage of the third degree was not mentioned in tho pre-1717 rituals . In short , the said rituals were minus the elements of the third degree

at least . Now for the next;—" Secession and expulsion ( says Bro . M . ) marked the period from 1738 to 1750 , when another Grand Lodge was formed composed of tho seceding brethren , who , acting nnder the example set them by tho old Grand Lodge , in dividing tho first degree , and forming the second and third ; in turn divided the third degree , and from the

latter part of that degree formed a fourth degree , styled the Holy Eoyal Arch j it is supposed this was done about 1740 to 1744 . " The above implies that the Masters' degree of 1738 or so contained the elements of tho Eoyal Arch degree , which elements or element was then separated from the parent trunk , and planted by itself under tho name of " Eoyal Arch Masonry . " Now , I happen to

possess a Master Mason's ritual older than 1738 , and the latter part thereof does not differ from the present ritual . Indeed , the Masters ' ritual never contained the slightest allusion to the second Temple , nor the personages who fiorured at its building . I cannot very well furnish proof in the FKEEMASON ' S CHKONICLE , but I could convince even Bro . Meyers , in ten minutes , that neither the Ancients nor Moderns over

clipped off anything from tho third degree to form the Eoyal Arch . Brother Meyers quotes from Bro . Hughan ' s "Masonic Memorials , " viz ., 1 st , " It will thns be seen that the special object of the seceders from 1740 or earliei " , was the promotion of Royal Arch Masonry . " And 2 nd , " The chief feature of the new ritual consisted in a division of the third degree into two sections . " Now , the

"Masonic Memorials " was published in 1874 . Bro . Hughan ' s opinion of then and now may differ . But whatever may be Bro . Hughan ' s opinion , it cannot outweigh facts ; if he has not already changed his opinion , he will have to change it upon due reflection . I shall not attempt to follow Bro . Meyers' earlier history of Masonry in Pennsylvania ; the question about Daniel Coxe's connection with .

the Pennsylvania Masonry of 1782 has been discussed again and again in English and American papers ; the Philadelphians hare since then brought forward no new demonstrations , and have most singularly dropped the " Henry Bell" letter of 1754 from their proofs and demonstrations . The said letter was never alluded to by their orators at their celebration in 1882 , nor did the orators of the Chapter celebration mention it . But the mere assertion and reassertion of

the Philadelphia Masonic creed by Bro . Meyer 3—and a dozen other orators—even Bro . Hughan ' s opinion in the bargain—cannot change my belief that the theory of Daniel Coxe's connection with the Philadelphia Masonry of 1732 is a mere assumption and blunder . Again : — "The Old Grand Lodge ( says Bro . M . ) changed the mode of recognition in order to detect the members of the seceding Lodges . For thns violating the landmarks they were styled by their adversaries as ' Modoroa ; ' they ( the seceders ) claiming for themselves the title of 'Ancients '"

This notion , that the Grand Lodge of England changed something in the mode of recognition , in order to keep out the seceders from its Lodges , originated with Preston in 1772 . Previous to that time no one mentioned it ; even Dormott's editions of the Ahiman Eezon of 1756 and 1764 make no mention of it . Preston ' s account of the origin

ot the Ancients is obsenre and unmethodical . The first informs us , that during the Grand Mastership of the Earl of Crawford ( that is between 30 th March 1734 and the 24 th February 1735 ) " A few resolutions also passed respecting illegal conventions of Masons , at which it was reported man y persona had been iuitiated into Masonry on small and unworthy considerations . " * As we have no evidence of the appear-