Negro Lodges.

impossible to say ; nor is it a matter about which Ave need concern ourselves . There are safeguards enough for their protection ; and if our brethren , in jurisdictions beyond the "United States , fail to avail themselves of them , they alone are

responsible for the consequences . We trust , therefore , in vieAV of the whole matter , that our Grand Lodges , both North and South , will alloAv the subject to subside . No good can result from the further agitation of it , at least not until it shall assume a more serious aspect than it at present wears . —Boston Freemasons' Monthly Magazine .

History Of The Secret Principle.

HISTORY OF THE SECRET PRINCIPLE .

BY REV . A . B . CHAPIN , M . A . Among the nations of antiquity Egypt stood first and foremost . That kingdom was planted in the lifetime of Peleg , and was at the meridian of its poAver and glory Avithin a hundred years after

the death of Abraham . At that early period it had reached an eminence in many of the arts and sciences which no nation or people has ever surpassed . Among this people , at that time , Avere found institutions , based on similar principles , and

having several objects in view , with the one whose organisation Ave noAV celebrate . HOAV far the correspondence would hold it is impossible for us to say . We only know that there Avere secrets Avhich were revealed only to the initiated—that the

mode of initiation Avas solemn and impressive , and well calculated to make a deep and abiding impression on the recipients . Advantages , too , were connected Avith the knowledge of these secrets ; but what the benefits were it is not UOAV possible for us to determine .

Besides the Egyptian mysteries , Ave find scattered throughout all Europe , and over a larger portion of Asia , secret associations—founded on similar principles—characterised by similar ceremonies , and having similar objects in view .

Concerning these our means of knowledge are scanty and imperfect ; but enough is known to SIIOAV the identity and sameness of their origin and object . These are all sometimes spoken of as the mysteries of the Cabiri ; a name Avhich is of itself a mystery ,

and which no learning or research has yet been able to explain . We shall consider as briefly as possible what is known of the mysteries of the ancients , in order to show the identity of their origin and the sameness of their principles , fet The Eleusinian mysteries , so called from the

city of Eleusis , where they were celebrated , belonged to the mysteries of the Cabiri , and were carried from Egypt to Greece , probably by King Erectheus , Avho first initiated the Athenians into that ancient association , and Avho instructed them

in the manner of celebrating the same , several hundred years before the Christian era . We have a much more full and satisfactory account of the . mysteries of Eleusis than those of Egypt , from which they were copied ; and more full , indeed ,

than those of any other of the ancient mysteries . Consequently Ave . shall go more into detail here than upon any other part of the antiquity of our subject . But it must be constantly borne in mind that as the mode of initiation , and the signs by Avhich the initiated made themselves known to

each other , were not allowed to be revealed , Ave can only make out these things by a careful comparison of the several incidental allusions made by those who had been initiated to the circumstances attending their initiation . Bearing this in mind ,

we shall proceed to give the best account we have been able to gather from the ancients concerning the matter .

The Eleusinian mysteries were divided into the lesser and the greater ; the lesser being a state of preparation for the greater . Every native Greek , unless he had been convicted of some crime , might become a partaker in these mysteries after

undergoing the proper purifications . This was done by abstinence of the body , by sacrifices , and by certain ceremonial Avashings . When the candidate had been thus prepared , he might be initiated into the greater and more sublime of the

mysteries . At the opening of these a herald proclaimed , " Hence , far hence , be the impious , the profane , and those whose souls are polluted with guilt ; " after which , death was the punishment inflicted upon him Avho , not having been initiated ,

should have the presumption to remain in the assembly . The mode of initiation seems to have been nearly as follows : The candidates being croAvned with myrtle—the emblem and token of their

purification in the lesser mysteries—were introduced by night into a place called the mystical temple , Avhich upon their approach Avas instantly involved in darkness . At their entrance they were reminded of the great benefits conferred

upon men by a participation in those rites , and of the purity of heart necessary for a proper reception of them . They were then washed in water , in