Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

PAGE . BOYAL ARCH MASONRY- 13 OBITUARY—Bro . Alexander Watt Baxter 14 AMERICAN ANECDOTE 14 PAPERS ON MASONRYNo . XIV . —Masonry aud Display 14 Is KILWINNING THE BIRTHPLACE OP SCOTTISH

MASONRY ? 14 NEW MASONIC HALL AT SUNDERLAND 15 REVIEWSAccount of St . John'sGate , Clerkenwell ... ... 15 TEMPKRANCI' CHAPTER . NO . 190 15 THE CRAFT—Provincial and Ireland 16 Tn « KOYAL ARCH—Provincial 16

SUPREME COINCIL , NEW YORK 16 KCHOES PROM PORTUGAL ... 17 A SKETCH OP THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS 17 POETRY—Love aud Faith 17 MASONIC MISCELLANEA ... 17 LIST OF AGENTS ... 18 BIRTHS , MARRIAGES AND DEATHS 18 THE COFFEE UOOM AND LIBRARY AT FREEMASONS '

HALL 18 MDLTUM IN PARVO , on MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES 18 CONSECRATION OF NEW MASONIC HALL , GLASGOW ... 19 ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS 19 CORRESPONDENCEMasonic Mysteries ... ... 20

Solomon's Temple , & c ... 2 ( Thistle Lodge , Glasgow .. 20 THE ORDER OV ST . MICHAEL AND ST . GEORGE ... 21 THE BRITISH DRUIDS AND PERSIAN MAOI 21 SINGULAR COINCIDENCE 22 MASONIO MEETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK ... . ... 22 ADVERTISEMENTS 22 , 23 & 24

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NOW READY , Cases to hold 4 copies of "The Freemason , " 1 / G . Cases to hold 52 copies of '' The Freemason , " 2 / 6 . With THE FREEMASON emblematically depicted , and other Masonic emblems in gold . To be bad at the Offices , 3 & 4 , Little Britain .

Royal Arch Masonry.

ROYAL ARCH MASONRY .

By THE SON OP SALATHIEL . ( Continued . ) [ The rights of translation and reproduction reserve _ . " ] From Howell ' s Mythological Dictionary wo

learn that the figure of the Tau was used by the ancient E gyptians for other purposes than those already indicated , as tho following quotation will demonstrate : —

" VV e havo seen how the cross , as well entire as abridged , was tho mark of the increase ofthe Nile , because it was the measure of it . When confined in the hand of Osiris , in the claws ol

the hawk , or the hand of Horns , it very plainly signified the overflowing of the Nile regulated by tho sun , strengthened by the wind , and subject to fixed rules . This cross , in their vulgar writing , as likewise in the ancient Hebraic

Royal Arch Masonry.

characters , in the Greek , and the Latin alphabet , was the letter Tau . " That the cross or the T , suspended by a ring , was taken by the Egyptians for the deliverance from evil , we may assure ourselves by

consulting their practices , which are the surest interpretation of the opinion that governed them . " They hung it round the neck of their children , and of their sick people ; they applied it

to tho string or fillets with which they wrapped up their mummies , where we still find it . What can in their ideas signify a T placed near those to whom they wished health and life , if not the deliverance from the disease and death , which

they hoped to obtain by these superstitious practices 1 " Hence , we see how strangely they misapplied those figures , which in their first institution related to the Nile , to husbandry , and to

things totally foreign to the applications of succeeding times . This very probably is an introductive key wherewith one might strive to explain part of the meaning which tho Egyptians of the later times have given to their

sacred writing . " This custom of the Egyptians appeared so beneficial and so important , that it was adopted by other nations . The children and the sick most commonly wore a ticket wherein was a T ,

which they looked upon as a powerful preservative . In process of time other characters were substituted in tho room of the letter T , which was at first engraved on this ticket , but of which the other nations understood neither

the meaning nor the intention . They often put a serpent in it , an Harpocrates , or the object of the devotions in vogue ; nay , sometimes ridiculous figures , or even some that were of the

utmost indecency . ]? ut the name of Amulet ( A'Hiolimentum ma-lorum ) that was given to this ticket , which signifies the removal of the evil , most naturall y represents the intentions of the Egyptians , from whom this practice came .

" The above-mentioned practice , we have seen , arose from the instrument used for measuring the height of the inundation of the Nile , being

an abridgement of it , and which was considered tho salvation of Egypt . A like veneration is bestowed upon this figure , that is the cross , by Roman Catholics ; which , like other customs of

Royal Arch Masonry.

the ancients , has probably been adopted by them without understanding its origin , and which they attribute to a different source . A

spell , which they no doubt consider more potent , however , is now generally used instead of the cross . This is called gospels , and consists of short passages extracted from the gospels by a priest , which is enclosed in a piece of silk , and

tied round the necks of children going to bed . " The same superstition prevails among the Mahometans . " Dr . Hume , in Walpole ' s Memoirs , speaking of modern Egypt , says , ' The general remedy in

cases of fever and other kinds of illness , is a saphie from a priest , which consists of some sentence from the Koran , written on a small piece of paper , and tied round the patient's neck . This , if the sick man recovers , he carefully

preserves by keeping it constantly between his scull-caps , of which he generally wears two or three . Saphics are very commonly used by the Mohammedans , being considered to possess much efficacy for the body as well as the soul , and

occupy the samo place in the estimation of tho superstitious as did the frontlets of the Jews , and the phylacteries of the earl y Christians . ' Quoted in Russell ' s View of Egypt , p . 32 _ , New York edition .

" In regard to the sacred writing of the ' Egyptians , it is not improbable that its characters were originally formed from the figure of the Nilometer , consisting of right angles , and thence considered sacred . "

As the Nilometer was used to ascertain the height of the inundation of the river Nile , on which the subsistence of the inhabitants of Egypt depended , the Tau , which represented it , was considered a symbol of life , health , and

prosperity , and was supposed to possess the power of averting evil , hence its use as an amulet or charm . Bailey states that the letter T ( Tau ) was used by captains and heralds , and

signed after the names of those who remained alive after a battle ; as tlie letter Tlieta ( 0 ) was used as a murk of death , so was T reverenced aa a sign of life .

Tho veneration which is felt by English Royal Arch Masons for this celebrated hieroglyphic is , therefore , justified by its history and importance . ( To be continued . )