The Rite Of Misraim.

through her leading agents and secondary poivers , it may be said that the Grand Commanders knoAV no more of those abstract sciences than their 3 'oungest apprentices , unless they have studied them elseivhere . A single fact Avill shoiv the extent of confidence to be repiosed in those men , Avhich . is , that in their haste to build the ninetieth story of their edifice , they forgot the first three , and Avere obliged to invent and adapt them to render the s 3 stem lete .

comp " We may seek in A ain IIOAV it is that this rite , discovered in Egypt , has come doAvn to us . Its sovereign princes Avill find as much difficulty in giAdng us tho explanation as they Avill in elucidating the primary and secondary poivers of nature But toleration has its limits as it has its duties ; and the Grand Orient Avould be an accomplice in the disorders of the administrators of Misraim should AVC longer remain silent .

Men announcing themselves as invested Avith the most important functions of an Order Avhich they proclaimed superior to all other masonic rites , forgetting their dignity , and travelling about the country armed with their ninety degrees , iviiich they ofter at any price , not only to masons , but to the profane , eA en in public places , and by their proceedings compromising the state , the safety , the honour eA en , of peaceful citizens ,

awaken the attention of the authorities , provoke suspicion , and get themselves imprisoned from city to city . Such excesses cannot , of course , be prevented by masonic authority , but they can be exposed , and masons be shielded from being their dupes , & c , & c . " Tho first lodge of this Order ivas established in Paris , in 1815 , under the name of The Jiainbow ; but as they had no ritual of tho symbolic degrees , recourse Avas had to a brother , Meallet , AAdio composed one mainly based on the initiations in use in the ancient Mysteries ; the second , third ,

and some others , Avere Avritten toivards 1820 , but Avere much less meritorious than Meallet ' s composition . A second lodge , ivith the title of Disciples of Zoroaster , under the direction of several discontents from the Jiainbow , had a brilliant success , and dreiv to its meetings Avhat may be termed full houses from all other rites . Troubles arose betAA r cen the two lodges , a rival supreme authority Avas establishedand the Grand Orient issued an edict forbidding its

, members to visit the lodges of Misraim , or the place Avhere they Avere held . These difficulties led to a suspension of labour , till 1820 , Avhen frve IIOAV lodges were established at Paris , and a number of others in the principal cities of the provinces . In 1 S 21 , however , the Grand Orient again called attention to them . The police closed their rooms , seized their papers , and then - principal members Avere cited before the tribunals for infraction of the

penal code . Misraim , thereafter , held its peace till 1830 , Avhen a foAV of the former lodges again lighted the lamp of their faith ; but there appearing to he a Avalit of the oil of joy , they soon Avent out , and the great Avork , commenced at tho foundation of the Avorld , and successfully carried forward through flood and field , inglorioiisly died out , or at least gave such feeble rays as only served to make darkness visible . Marc Bcdarrido , in the work in questionpublished in 18-15 speaks largely of lodges in Paris

, , and other places ; hut it is presumable that they Avere only constructive ones , from the fact that , about that time , Misraim ivas supplanted by another branch of Egyptian knoAvk-dge under tho denomination of the Eite of Memphis , of Avhich ive shall give a sketch in a future number . —From JVie American Qjiartcrl y Jlcv-iew of Freemasonry ami its loindred- Subjects . Vol . ii .. No . 3 . ' Edited by Albert G . Mackey , M . D ., 33 ° , -