The Origin And References Of The Hermesian Spurious Freemasonry.

an exemplary piety , Avill not fail to produce the desired result . * In the hieroglyphic under our consideration , Ave have a pictorial description of the process which was adopted by Hermes Tristmegistus in the prosecution of his system of reform in Egypt . The principal

figure was probably intended for Hermes himself in the act of delivering his laws to the people ; of Avhich the Tablet between its fore claAvs , is not only a symbol , but actually contains some of the more prominent doctrines .

There is much confusion in the history of this divine personage ; yet it appears hig hly probable that the first Hermes was the same as Thoth the son of Mizraini or

Osiris . Faber thinks , hoAvever , that he is erroneously described by Sanchoniatho as the son of Mizraim , and ought to be identified with the patriarch Noah . " Hermes , he says , seems to be a corruption of Hermon , or Ar-Mon , the deity of the Lunari-arkell mountains . " !

He is called b y Plutarch , Orus ; and by Eusebius , Saturn ; and some writers are inclined to think that he Avas the same as the Hebrew Patriarch Joseph ; for which these reasons are assigned . Joseph Avas the cause of great wealth and plenty to the

Egyptians , and was accordingly esteemed a great benefactor . They likeAvise looked upon him as a revealer of hidden mysteries , and a discloser of the will of the gods ; Ayhence he was styled Hermes , Avhich signifies an adept in mysterious knoAvledge ,

and an interpreter of oracles . He is said to have deciphered the hieroglyphics Avhich had been inscribed on the pillars of Enoch ; and that he communicated every useful art to the Egyptians . He was accounted a great prophet , and esteemed h y some to be equal Avith the gods . Others contend that he Avas Enoch , and existed before the flood ; and consequently

the builder of those mysterious pillars . He was Avell versed in a knoAvledge of astronomy and architecture ; and delivered to the people a code of excellent laws , applicable both to their civil and religious polity . In a Avord he was tlie most celebrated philosopher that Egypt ever

produced . Plutarch , in his Isis and Osiris , says , that not only men , but toAvns and cities , as well as nations , had each its presiding divinity . And hence Hermes was considered the tutelary deity of the city of

Hermapolis Magna , which Avas called after his name , and also of Pselcis now called Dakkeh ; and to his honour " a considerable number of Greek ex-votos have been

inscribed on the propylon and other parts of the temple in this place , by officers stationed about Elephantine and Philce , and others AVIIO visited Pselcis , but principally in the time of the Csesars . He is here styled the very great Hermes Pautouphisor Tautnouphis , a name that

, may be traced in the hieroglyphics over this deity ; Taut-n-pnubs , the Thoth of Punbso , the Egyptian name of Pselcis . " * Dr . Pococke has described a , gigantic figure found in the caverns of Thebes , Avhich has been taken for a statue of

Hermes . It has a sceptre in its hand and wings to its feet , covering the Avhole body . This has been pronounced to be a statue of Hermes ; but he was more generally Avorshipped under the form of a stone pillar , which from hence were called by his

name . Strabo , in his travels through Upper Egypt , describes several stone heaps , consisting of three cylindrical stones placed one upon the other , in the form of a pyramid ; Avhichhe calls Hermosa , thinking them nearest in resemblance to those

pillars which were erected in honour of Mercury , t This worship extended into Britain ; where Avere found square or cubical stones , dedicated to the same deity . Borlase says , " the number three had respect unto the three primary idols . One of the idols ,

or symbols of the god Mercury , consisted of three stones ; two large stones were pitched on end , over which , another stone was laid , which covered the rest , bearing