Royal Arch Masonry.

course , and first gave names to many things . He discovered numbers , and measures , and reduced arithmetic to a system . The Egyptians said that he taught them Geometry , which was absolutely necessary for them ; likewise astronomy , and astrology : they added that , being the first who observed the nature and

harmony of sounds , he invented the lyre . Clemens , of Alexandria , speaks of the code of laws entrusted to the care of the priests ; and Alliau points it out under the denomination of the body of law of Mercury ( Thoth ) . The creation of theology , the establishment of divino worship , and the order of sacrifices , were

also attributed to hi in . 'llns doctrine was contained in the books of Mercury , deposited in the temples , and the priests there found everything concerning religion . In short , Diodorus Siculus tells us the Egyptians asserted that all the . sciences , institutions , and arts , were invented by Thoth or' Mercury . When we

reflect on the nature of the human mind , which advances only step by step from one truth to another —when , viewing the annals of history , we perceive but a small number of creative geniuses widely dispersed , and at great intervals from each other on the earth , making . a few important discoveries ; when

Plato , an enlightened judge , considering Thoth simply as the author ot letters and of writing , calls him god , or a divine mortal—one is compelled to believe that this personage , whom they endow with universal science , never has existed , but that the learned men of a nation , verging on the origin of the human race ,

published under that title the various knowledge they had acquired , lor many thousand years . This sentiment , dictated by reason , is confirmed by the authority of several great men . Jamblichus makes Abamon ( or Anebo ) , a priest of Egypt , speak thus : " Mercury , the God of Eloquence , is with reason regarded as the

common divinity of priestqj ; for it is the same spirit which presides over the genuine science of reli gion . This is the reason why our ancestors , on dedicating to him their works , the produce of their wisdom , graced them with the name of Mercury . " Here , then , we have the books of the Egyptians published

under the name of ihoth . Galen , trained up to the sciences in the Academy of Alexandria , informs us of the manner in which this was practised : " All the discoveries made in Egypt , " says he , " must be stamped with tho approbation of the learned , when they were engraved on the columns without the names

of the authors , and deposited in the Sanctuary . Hence the prodigious number of books ascribed to Mercury . The disci p les of Pythagoras imitated this example by putting the name of Pythagoras at the head of their works . " These passages evidently prove that Thoth was not a man , hut that they

engraved the works approved by the colleges of priests on columns called Thoth , as we shall hereafter see , and that they went under this general denomination . The spirit by which the learned said they were inspired , and to which they ascribed their knowledge , was I'litha , tlie artist of nature , the source of all in formation .

" 1 lie Egyptians , says Diogenes I . aertius , " affirmed thatVulcan had taught tlieni theprinciplesof philosophy , atidthatthel'ontiffs and the prophets assumed to themselves the honour of being his priests . " Accordingly , in the chronicle ol'Scaliger , Vulcan is called the Legislator of Egypt . It is of importance to examine these

oqlupins on which are engraven discoveries worthy of being transmitted to posterity . " . Mercury ( Thoth ) , " sftysManetlion , •'invented the mysterious columns , and ordiuned that the laws b y which the stars are governed in their motions should be written on them . " Achilles Talius corroborates this : " The Egyptians are the

first who have measured tiie heaven and the earth , and transmitted this knowledge to their desccndents by ungraiing then on columns" Proclus adds that remarkable , actions , as well as interesting inventions , were also written on them . These stones , which wero remarkably hard , composed an immortal book , a

sprt of encyclopedia , containing all the sciences , all thc arts invented or improved for ages . It is for this reason the priests undertook nothing without previousl y consulting them . Pythagoras and Plato , who read thorn , drew thence the foundation of their philosophy . Sanchoniathon , the most ancient historian after

Moses , boasts of having derived his knowlege from the monuments of the Temples of Tauout , and from the mysterious books of the Ammonians . The practice of imprinting on marble , in indelible characters , the discoveries of science , is almost as ancient as the world . We mav conclude that stone was tho first

book of man . The historian Josephus speaks thus of it : "The I ' atiiarch Seth , knowing that . Adam had foretold that everything on earth would perish either by fire , or by a general deluge , and fuming lest philosophy and astronomy should be elliiced from from the memory of man , and be buried in oblivion , engraved his knowledge on two columns , the one of brick , and

the other of stone , that if the waters should destroy tho former , the latter might subsist , and instruct the human race in astronomical discoveries . This column is still to be seen in tho Siridiac land . It is proved then , that Thoth—that so much boasted personagenever had any real existence , but that the Egyptian priests published their works under this general title , after they had been honoured by the unanimous

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approbation of the colleges . The interpretation of this word leaves no doubt upon the subject . Jablonski has proved that Thoth signifies column . The Greeks by translating it by the word 2 EHAH have retained this meaning . As tho learned of Egypt were accustomed to write their books without putting their

names to them , it was natural that they should bear that of the monuments by which they were to be transmitted to posterity . It appears even that this honour was granted only to such as made important discoveries , since the approbation of all the academicians of the country was necessary to enjoy it .

feanehoniathon , Manothon , Galen , and the Other writers who penetrated into the mysteries of Egypt , and drew their information from the genuine sources , relate that they carved on " culumns or steles , " the remarkable events , and prodigies of art . Thus when , according to iEIian , the priests asserted that Sesostris

was taught' the sciences by Thoth or Mercury , it signified that on initiating him into the mysteries , tliey had taught him to read the history of human knowledge impressed in hieroglyphic characters on the columns . They bore at first that simple denomination . The custom of consulting them , the sacred places where

they were kept , the deposits they preserved , all rendered them respectable . They became consecrated by relig ion , and were placed under the immediate protection of Phtlia , or the creative spirit . These princi p les established , we are enabled to give a probable explanation of the three Thoth or Mercuries

recognised by tho Egyptians . They placed the first before the deluge , and the others subsequent to that event . The most ancient marked the infancy of human knowledge , whether it be that some monuments have escaped the destruction of the human race , or whether those they raised shortly after , ascended beyond that

terrible epocha . The second Thoth denotes the efforts of the Egyptians to discover physical and astronomical truths , the translation of the hieroglyphics into sacerdotal characters , and the fixed establishment of divine worship and the laws . The third pointed out the flourishing state of the sciences , the progress of

the arts , and the perfection to which they were , carried , as testified by the pyramids , temples , and obelisks—the immensity and magnificence of which have never been equalled by any people . ThcEgyptian prieslsexprcssed these eras in a sensible manner b y the epithet of Ti'ismegistus , three times great , which they bestow on their allegorical Thoth . ( To be Continued . )

Secrecy And Silence.

SECRECY AND SILENCE .

Aristotle , when asked the most difficult thing to execute , replied , "To bo secret , and silent . " This alliterative answer every Mason should fix in his memory , but not be deterred by difficulty from endeavouring to practice the Masonic virtues of secrecy and silence . There is a teaching power in i . liem as

well as in bold expression , like a dial in which the shadow as well as the light informs us , " It is the glory of God to conceal a thing , " and that which he holds in impenetrable secrecy may be of the highest utility to us . So it is ( he glory of a Mason to conceal until thc proper time and occasion arrives for him to reveal ; and what he withholds is as useful to mankind as that which he discloses .

"God , " says the patriarch , "discovereth deep things out of darkness , " and the pious poet beautifully exclaims : — " Darkness shows us worlds of light We ncrcr saw by day . " Every Mason knows that the blind arc led by a way

they know not , and how some of the most beautiful lessons of the Order have been revealed out of darkness . Let the world without the Order walk thc Masonic path , and be brought from darkness to light in the appointed and ancient way . Masonio secrecy and silence never fail to impress tlie uninitiated , for

" There is a language that is mute , There is a silence that speaks . There is great sublimity in the reticence of Divinity , Hence over many questions with which prying curiositi employs itself is dropped an impenetrable veil •' Veril y thou art a God that hidest thyself , O God ol

Israel , tho Saviour . " And where the Divine is pleased to dwell in sccresy and silence there he stations the cherubim with flaming sword . Masons will render their Order more august in thc estimation of men by refraining from garrulousness . Whatever transpires in the lodge room is sacredly

secret , and never ought lo be profaned by outside intention . Is not the Tyler with drawn sword guarding the portals of our mystic temple , a perpetual symbol of the sacredness and secrecy of our retreat V Around our council chamber a wall is built which no wanton eye can pierce . The entrance to our mysteries is sealed ,

except to those choice spirits who are ever willing to come humble , and faithfully promise to be secret and silent . There have been instances in which the secrets of great discoveries have been so rigidly guarded that , for a season , thc most curious eye was defeated in its eflorts to pry into the shops or laboratories where the process of manufacture was executed . More secret

Secrecy And Silence.

the work of Masonry than all this , and moro sacred the obligation of its craftsmen than the oaths of artisans engaged in such manufacture as we have intimated . As our doors are tyled , so let our lips be guarded . The sli ghtest incidents of tlie lodge-room are secret . The brother who does not regard them as such has not yet fully learned Masonry . We positively can allow no license in this direction . —Masonic Monthly , Boston , U . S . A . •"

The London Literary Union.

THE LONDON LITERARY UNION .

The annual meeting of this body ( which is almost entirely composed of members of tbe Craft interested in the cause of literature or the press ) was held at the Freemasons'Tavern , on Saturday , the . 12 th inst . After the transaction of some formal business , the President , Brother Robert "Wentworth Little , read the following paper on

"LITERATURE IN RELATION TO FAME . " "A good book is a great gift to mankind . It is an everlasting treasury of divine thoughts and wisdom , purified not only by wrestling with the stormful passions of life , but by solitary communion with Nature . It contains the mystic revelations of

Genius—into whose depths we gaze , penetrated with a sense of rarest beauty and power . ' A good book , ' says Milton , 'is the precious life-blood of a masterspirit—the breath of reason itself . ' When the earth arose out of the blood and chaos of the Middle Ages , the poesy , the tenderness , the harmony of the

human mind began to be recognized , and the sound of harps and odes was heard in every land . Instead of being cloistered and shut up where the eager but hopeless fingers of youth might never reach them , books , of every kind—sacred , philosophical , ethical , and lyrical — were scattered broad-east over the

nations . It was in vain that the foolish teachers and rulers , clinging to their old impracticable theories , attempted to drive men back into the wilderness from whence they had emerged—where Thought had no being , and Science was but a name . The martyrdoms , the victims , the dungeon , and the stake could

not repress the freedom of literature , aud its immortal offspring , Truth . Knowledge grew , and reassembled its golden legion of thoughts , until the souls of men rejoiced in the new-born strength of wisdom . But amidst this great resurrection of learning , a cloud of false ideas , full of the dust of

superstition aud error , floated through the world . Wild and eccentric reasoneis gathered up the fallen ashes , the broken remains , of Paganism , and moulded them again into au imperfect and unlovely form . Visionary . systems , founded on unreal hope * , were propounded by these enthusiasts , and Europe looked

forward to a consummation of bliss—a Millennium of unbounded liberty — under the guidance of principles which produced in the bitter end the anarchy of atheism and tl e carnival of * blood . Yet even during the growth of this erroneous and unstable jihilosophy , the universe of poesy and science

continued to shine bri ghter and brighter . Eagleeyed astronomy held the heavens iu its hand , and measured the starry distances . Inventions and discoveries crowned the lustrous brows of Europe ' s worthiest sons . The uiiasccnded regions of song were no longer silent ; a Shakspeare had touched

the skies , and majestic verse , like a shower of sunbeams , fell on the spirits of men . Milton sounded his solemn hallelujahs , wandering amidst the everlasting plains of Eden , with the loveliness and freshness of a young world around him . And other lofty voices sustained the divine chorus until the coming

of the Sophists , with their selfish codes of morality , their Utopian dreams of government—with their impurity of thought and wickedness of action . A vast unchristian camp—stern , relentless , aiiti-moiiaroliical , anti-religious—spread through the countries of Europe . Then , indeed , a siiadow , like the coldness

of the tomb , impeded literary efforts ; for the same hand that smote the kingly head on the scaffold , obliterated the hymn of tlie bard and destroyed the Madonna of the artist . But evil is not always unqualified evil ; it has a brighter side , even as the g loom of night is mitigated by a host of stars . We

cannot discern the stars when clouds and storms obscure the sky , but we know that they are still in the heavens—splendid as ever , though unseen . So it . has been with the strife and warfare of the ages ; something good , and grand , and beautiful has come forth for suffering humanity , and a ' calm—a holy

calm—succeeds the tempest and the terror . While the French Bevolution shook the emperors of the earth on their thrones , a wild hut swift current of free opinion carried to oblivion the sanctity of dynastic sway , and rulers were taught the sublime lesson that to rule well and wisely is the safest maxim , of government ; that the spear 011 which to lean is

a nation ' s love ; that the true mantle of royalty is the robe of justice , and its most puissant rampart the trust and confidence of ; i fi- ^ a and united people . But at the same time , let us not applaud the teachings of those revolutionary theorists . They never beheld in its purity the life of things ; the inspiration that falls ou the soul like thc dew