Peculiarities Of The Architecture Of The Egyptians.

thoug h rjosterity still discerns in them principles of wisdom and of science and motives of religion . The nature of the climate , the hardness of the materials , and the necessity of keeping idle hands occupied , exercised much influence over the character of Egyptian architecture . The heat being excessive , and rain very rare in Egypt , the

periodical inundations and tlie impetuous winds which prevailed there , compelled the people to guard themselves from these annoyances . Hence they availed themselves of the advantages of their climate in the construction of their public edifices . Accordingly they built with stones of immense size ; and they made their constructions square at the base ,

with a firm foundation , and used stone of a very hard granulation , in order that their buildings might resist the lengthened stay of inundating waters , the shock of winds and the whirl of sand dashed against their sides . The thickness of thc walls and the few openings protected the inhabitants from the heat of the sun , and gave at the same time much

more solidit y aud durability to their edifices . They covered them with a terrace ; first , because a roof would hire been too much exposed to the winds , and because it Avas also unnecessary in a climate where it rained less seldom than in others ; secondly , those terraces afforded , additional means for collecting and keeping the little rainwater that fell ;

thirdly , they became , in the calmness and coolness of ni ght , the preferred place of habitation ; there people breathed a fresh air , and there they contemplated at leisure the sublime spectacle of a serene , unclouded sky ; fourthly , they there studied the course of thc stars , and thence they watched the movements of their own people or the approach of enemies .

•Ihe decorations of their public edifices were drawn from the productions of nature and the religious ideas attached to them . Thus tlie trunk and tufted leaves of thc date 2 > alin , the plant of the lotus , and the calyx and flower of the papyrus , formed or enriched thc columns of their temples , their capitals , their entablatures and their other architectural

adornments . The indication of astronomical phenomena ornamented their ceilings . The gods , the elements , the seasons and the celestial influences were represented by allegories at times most ingenious , at times exceedingly simple . Tlie mysteries of religion , the secrets of medicine , the axioms of morals and the achievements of history were

inscribed 011 their walls in learned hieroglyphics , that lent to them a venerable , character , aud while attracting the curiosity " of the vulgar , permitted only the initiated to profit by their useful teachings . Sculpture , which mostly fomed colossal st-atiies , and all the hieroglyphical emblems , was the result of a geometrical combination and of a simple imitation of . nature . In proportions and external contours it became a convention faithfully

observed b y the artists , ivith respect to whom , thc priests , AVIIO were the sole depositaries of the sciences and the regulators of the arts , guided tho chisel and prescribed thc allegories . Principles ,, secret and constant , always kept thorn in the same path , or if they diverged from ifc , is was but to indicate ivhat they should iblloiV . , After these general observationswe may glance for a

, moment at one or tivo of thc most remarkable productions of Egyptian architecture . The vestibule of thc great temple situated at Tcntyris , in Upper Egypt , before arriving at Thebes , is one of thc most imposing and most perfect edifices in . Egypt ; the Arabians have builfc a village on tho space ifc occupied . In one of the

halls were sculptured on the ceiling thc beautiful zodiac and celestial planisphere so fully described by the traveller Denon . This vestibule has six columns in front and four at the side ; its dimensions are one hundred and fifty-three feet by fiftylour ; aud its columns ei ght feet in diameter . Its numerous hieroglyphics are very carefully executed . Another vestibule , that of a structure commonly called thc Mcmiioiiium , or palace of Meinnon , near Gournou , a village built on the I'uins of ancient Abydos , at a short distance from Thebes , is

Peculiarities Of The Architecture Of The Egyptians.

remarkable for its colossal proportions . The pilasters of the facade are about eig ht feet in diameter and forty feet in hei g ht . About two thousand paces in front of it are the two famous statues said to be of Memnon . On the legs of one of them people read witli astonishment and interest the names of travellers of all ages and of all countries , who have

wandered thither to hear the sounds ivhich the statue sends forth when ifc is struck by the first beams of the sun : among these names is that of the Empress Sabina , the wife of Hadrian . These figures are very mutilated ; they are sitting and aro each formed of a single block , yet they are from fiftyfive to sixty feet high ! They can be seen a great distance off

—fifteen miles . Close to it are other statues equally colossal , said by Norden also to be Memnon ' s . A grand portico or triumphal arch p laced before a temple at Dekker , in Nubia , called El Guraen , is about one hundred and sixty feet high . The obelisk , commonly called Cleopatra ' s Needle , at Alexandria , is the only specimen wc have of how these kinds of monuments ivere raised by the ancient Egyptians , and nothing can be conceived more simple , and at the same time more solid .

The Pseudo "Grand Prior" Of Ireland.

THE PSEUDO " GRAND PRIOR" OF IRELAND .

OUR readers may have noticed paragraphs from tune to time in the journals of the last four months , announcing the affiliation of first one personage and then another to the ancient and famous order ofthe Knights of St . John ; which , as far as w ' e can understand , is said to have been revived by the Pope for the regeneration and defence of the Catholic

Church . Among recently announced installations was that of Mr . BoiA'yer , M . P ., Avhose zeal has led him to take upon him thc knightly vow ; but the most astounding appointment we have yet heard of is that of Field Marshal Prince Nugentj an Austrian subject , to tho rank of " Grand Prior of the Knights of Sfc . John in Ireland . " Who conferred this honour

we do not know ; but as the only Knights of St . John at present existing in . Ireland are those connected with the Order of Masonic Knights Templar , ifc is evident that fche right of appointing their dignitaries belongs solely to their Grand Master , the Duke of Leinster . A Carlow journal has some sensible remarks upon the subject , Avhich point to the Emperor of Austria as thc author of this farce ; whether that bo so or not wo cannot say . AVe give our contemporary ' s

remarks in full : — "The Weekly Register informs us , that Field Marshal Prince Nugent , an Irish nobleman iu the Austrian service , has just been admitted into the order of St . John ( of Jerusalem ) , and raised to thc titular dignity of Grancl Prior of Ireland . This will prove au empty title indeed , as , so far back as three centuries , both the orders of Templars and Hospitallers were suddenly arrested b

y order of the then pope—stripped of their broad lands , their castles ( from which they recruited for Knights of thc Hospital aucl Temple ) dismantled , and their revenues seized for the benefit of the English crown . There is no longer- cither encampment or consist tory , if ive except those of the " religious and military" orders preserved by their peaceable descendants in Freemasonry—thirs ^ the assumed riht to confer tbe Priorsliiof Ireland by the

g p Emperor of Austria , has no more validity than a piece of waste paper , or a forged note on the Bank of A icnna . The last " Grand Prior" but one in this country , a member of thc ICavariagli family , ivas Art ' M'JMorough , born in their ancient castle of Polmoiity , in the barony of St . Mullins . He was accompanied to the crusades by a number of noble knights . It is recorded in ancient annals , where the ancient

that he returned home and died at Ballyinoon , castle of the Hospitallers stood , not a vestige of which now remains . Among the records of Ivilnrainlnim there is an imperfect list of those ancient Priors , and there arc few traditions now extaut to throw much light on the history of those renowned military " orders" in Ireland . That learned scholar , the librarian of the Vaticanthc late Cardinal Mezzafauticollected

interest-, , many ing papers on thc subject , but they are not likely to be ever published , as thc destruction of the Templars , without accusation or trial is one of the blackest spots on that ignorant aud intolerant age . " It ivas a moving spectacle , " says Abbe Vertot , their most popular historian , " to see those brave knights ( the Hospitallers )