Reprint Of Scarce, Or Curicus, Books On Freemasonry.

I most own , however , that upon a view of my Avhole translation I began to fear the inconveniency of interruptions , either too frequent or too prolix , in a life built upon fable , the contexture of whose parts ought to render it more engaging than common lives . Of all the particulars on this head in tho original I have , therefore , only preserved such as were necessary to give an adequate idea of the education of a hero , who stood in need of great lights to undertake a very long not before attemptedand

voyage ; then to give proper laws to the different nations which were civilized by him , The academies of Memphis , which he frequents in his most tender youth , and the observatory of Thebes , which he visits before he embarks for his voyage , were preparations essential to tho carrying on of this design . And so the reader will find a plan of the former , in tho first book , and a sketch of the otherin the fifth . But even in these hints I have considerabl

, y abridged our author ' s historical comparison between the sciences of tho Eg 3 q > tians and those of Greece . Nevertheless , the general impression which will arise from the body of the work is sufficient to give even a pretty extensive idea of the Egyptians , Phoenicians , and some other nations ; and even the fiction will bo no hinderanco to a search into the grounds of their understanding and

manners . Many people have no other notion of the Greeks and Eomans but what they have taken from tragedy ; and a certain principle , not very easy to define , teaches them to distinguish that which may reasonably be supposed to bo true from what is , probably , the product of invention only . This advantage has been improved even in romances , and the ninth part of Cleopatra gives us as faithful a picture of the recesses of Augustus ' s court as we could expect from the Abbot of St . Seal . But here the reader Avill find plainer indications than are to he found either in tragedies or

romances . Wo may at first view rely upon the particular circumstances , as well of Egypt as of other nations , which the author confirms by quoting any known writers . He seems , himself , to have separated the real from the fictitious , by alleging his anccdotical authors for those facts which are wholl y the children of his own invention , or for such customs as arc founded upon truth , but arc refined and amplified in the relation . Fiction has a riht of sacrificing

g the accuracy of facts , not only to moral virtues , but even to the embellishment of the narration ; supposing , besides , that the end of such embellishment is to render the instruction more agreeable . An example of this conduct in our author is the important article of initiation , which alone fills two whole hooks . But even this article is very conformable to the essential part of this renowned institutionas far as it could break through that riid silence

, g which covered it , and as we find any traces of it in those authors , either Pagan or Christian , who have mentioned it . The whole Avork is full of manners and customs , part of which I myself have confirmed by notes added to tho text . As to some other less considerable passages , for the proof of which I have designedly avoided overcharging this ivork with quotations ; I dare venture to affirm , that the more my readers may have examined , the more

they will find our author agree with those testimonies which are either collected , or dispersed , in the different writings , we have left , of antiquity . For though my intent was to clear this work from all tedious erudition , I never designed to deprive it of the advantage and support of curious inquiries , but had always my author ' s chief aim in view , who , adding his love of learning to that of virtue , looks upon literature in a nation , taken in general , as the source and support of every humane and civil virtue . To conclude , our author seems to have drawn all the probability , that can he expected from a fictitious writer , concerning the knowledge he could be supposed to have of tlie actions and sentiments of his hero , from the