©ffirictl Ifoitriral of tjr* Jotient attfr Jute of IJflasonvo. Published under the Authority of the Sovereign Sanctuary for Great Britain and Ireland, Edited by the GRAND SECRETARY-GENERAL. Vol. II., No. 23.] NOVEMBER, 1882. . (Subscription^* free, IS. 6d. per [MONTHLY, ESTABLISHED 1851. EDWARD STILLWELL & SOU, SStjoIrsMc pamtfacturcrs of Masonic Furniture , Fittings, Clothing, Jewels, Swords , Charms , Rings And every requirement for all Degrees, including the “ A. & P. RITE,” GOLD LACEMEN & EMBROIDERERS, Army & Navy Accoutrement Manufacturers. Price List on application . A ll Orders promptly executed. 1 4 Liberal terms to Shippers.” Establishments at 25 & 26 , BARBICAN, E.C., LONDON, 6, LITTLE BRITAIN, E.C. „ 29, SAVILE ROW, W. 62, ARGYLE STREET, GLASGOW. 3, TRINITY STREET, DUBLIN. EMBROIDERED COLLARS for 30° 31° 32° & 33° „ COLLARETTES for 31° 32° & 33° WAIST SASHES for 31° 32° & 33° SCARF or BALDRICK for 30° 31 32° & 33° EMBROIDERED COLLAR for 11° SWORD for 11° „ BELT & FROG for 11° JEWEL for 11° EAGLES for 81° 32° & 3S° And all other requisites for these degrees. Price according to quality. JEWELS for 20° & 30° MINIATURE JEWELS for... 11° 20° 30° M. Gilt 7/6 S. Gilt 10/6- ... 31° 32° & 33° S. Gilt 11/6 „ M. Gilt 8/6 B IRKBECK BANK. — Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane.— Current Accounts opened according to the usual practice of other Banters, and Interest allowed on the minimum monthly balances when not drawn below £25. No commission charged for keeping Accounts. — The Bank also.receives Money on Deposit at Three per Cent. Interest, repayable on demand.— The Bank undertakes for its Customers, free of charge/ the Custody of Deeds, Writings, and other Securities and Valuables; the Collection of Bills of Exchange, Dividends, aud Coupons; and the Purchase and Sale of Stocks and Shares. — Letters of Credit and Circular Notes issued. — A Pamphlet, with full particulars on application. FRANCIS RAVENSCROFT, Manager. 31st March, 1880. The Birkbcch Building Society's Annual Receipts Exceed Four Millions. H OW TO PURCHASE A HOUSE FOR TWO GUINEAS PER MONTH, with Immediate Possession and no Rent to pay. — Apply at the Office of the BIRKBECK BUILDING SOCIETY. H OW TO PURCHASE A PLOT OF LAND FOR FIVE SHILLINGS PER MONTH, with Immediate Possession, either for Building or Gardening Purposes. — Apply at the Office of the BIRKBECK FREEHOLD LAND SOCIETY. — A Pamphlet, with full particulars, on application. FRANCIS RAVENSCROFT, Manager. Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane. MASONIC MARCH & SONG. “ ]t ffofoer of Jfneni>s|ip.” Dedicated to W. Bro. J. H. Southwood, 33° (P.M. & P.Z. 1260, England, and P.M. 120, Dublin), as a token of sincere regard and esteem , by the A uthors. Words by Bro. J. A. WADE, F.S.A. (No. 2 Scotland). Music by Bro. LOUIS HONIG, 32 ° ( Lodge of A saph , 1319). WATERFORD LODGE, QUEEN’S ROAD, RICHMOND. Price Two Shillings, nett. LONDON ; PUBLISHED BY THE COMPOSER, At his Academy of Music, 7 25, COMMERCIAL ROAD, E, And to be obtained of Messrs. STILLWELL & SON, 6, Little Britain, E.C. THE KNEPH. To the Glory or the Suhijme Architect of the Usitef.se. ANTIENT & PRIMITIVE RITE OF MASONRY, IN AND FOlt THE United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, anjl> its Dependencies. SOVEREIGN SANCTUARY, 33°. To all Illustrious atu.1 Fnliahtvunl Masons throughout the World, Union , Prosperit y, Friendship, Fraternity. The Antient and Primitive Kite of Masonry, Disciples of Memphis, was founded as a Grand Lodge at Montauban, France, in the year 181-1, by the Illustrious Brothers Gabriel Mathieu Marconis de Negre : Samuel Honis, of Cairo ; Baron Dumas. Hypolite Labrunie : Marquis de Laroque : J. Pettitt, and others, and is an incorporation of the various Primitive Rites worked in the preceding century, aiulnotably the Primitive Rite of Philadelphes of Nnrbonne, to which the Antient and Primitive Rite refers for the origin of its principles and form of government. The seven classes into which its degrees are divided are really schools for the study of Masonic knowledge, physics and philosophy, and possessed origiually ninety-five rituals, the production of more than a quarter of a century of assiduous labour and research, concerning all known Masonic Rites. The Grand Lodge of the Disciples of Memphis, after an interval of sleep, recommenced work at Brussels, in 1838, and at Paris in 1639, when it published its statutes ; but, in 1841, the Grand Master, Hierophant, the Illustrious and Enlightened Brother Jacques Etienne Marconis, 33-97°, was forced by an illiberal government to put all the Lodges in Frauce asleep — first, however, establishing a Council, or Regency, of seven members, for the preservation of the Archives, and the revival of the Rite under a more liberal regime. In 1S48 our Order revived its work at the Ovient of Paris, and continued to prosper, establishing itself in America, Egypt, Roumania, and various other countries. America received it joyfully in 1856, and in 1860 the New York Council of the Rite included the number of 100 Past Masters, under the rule of the Illustrious Brother David MacClellan ; Egypt accepted it in 1860. In 1862 the Illustrious G: and Master, Hierophant, united our Antient and Primitive Rite with the Grand Orient of France, and the High Grades continued to be conferred by the recog- nized Grand Council of Rites of the G rand Orient, and a formal Concordat was promulgated by the said Grand Orient, and the Illustrious Grand Master, J. E. Marconis, 33-97°. which arranged the relative values of the degrees of our Rite with those of Mizraim, the Antient and Accepted, and other Rites, recognized by the said Grand Council of Rites. Upon this, in the same year, 1S62, the Illustrious Grand Master, J. E. Marconis, 33-97°, acting in conjunction with Marshal Magnan, 33°, the Grand Master of the Grand Orient, formerly constituted the Sovereign Sanctuary of America, 33-95°. Shortly after the degrees of the Rite were reduced from 95°, to 33°, by simply eliminating those which were con- ferred only by name, hut retaining all ceremonial grades. The Grand Orient of France continued to exchange Representatives with the Sovereign Sanctuary of America, and lists thereof will be found in the French Official Calendar, until 1869, when in consequence of the invasion of American territory by the recog- nition of a spurious Council of the Antient and Accepted Scottish Rite, the Americans withdrew from Representation. In the year 1872 several Illustrious Bretluen who had previously received the 33-95°, obtained a Charter for the establishment of aSovereign Sanctuary, in and for Great Britain and Ireland, with Illustrious Brother John Yarker as Grand Master General, 33-96°, and in the same year received many Brethren, members of the Royal Grand Council of Antient Rites, time immemorial, meeting since last century, and more recently under H.K.H. the Duke of Sussex, Grand Master; and in 1874 the Jerusalem Chapter of Antiquity, H.R.M. — K.D.S.H., was formally amalgamated with the Palatine Chapter, No. 2, and Senate No. 2, of the Antient and Primitive Rite of Masoniy, thus giving the Rite the prestige of a time immemorial association in England. One of the earliest resolutions passed by the new Sovereign Sanctuary was for the establishment of an Order of Merit, of three classes, 1st, for Saving Life ; 2nd, Presence of Mind ; 3rd, Literary and General Merit. The decoration is a bronze star, the three classes being distinguished by ribbons of different colours. Besides this, the Rite possesses five Decorations, 1st, the Grand Star of Sirius, or Hope : 2nd, the Cross of Alidee, or ! Truth; 3rd, the Cross of the Third Series ; 4th, the Lybic Chain ; i 5tli, the Golden Branch of Eleusis, or Charity. These decora- tions are exclusively the reward of Merit, and are conferred in a Grand Chancery, one in consecutive order ever}' year. A full history of the Rite, with the narrative of its early struggles, on its introduction to England, may be obtained | from the Grand Secretary General, and as a contribu- ! tion to Masonic history is well worth perusal. Few, indeed, could rise from the study of its straightforward ! narrative of events, easily proved by the references given, with- out the conviction that our Rite has not only a legitimate Masonic standing, second to none iu the world, but that it has also the far higher claim to universal Masooic recognition. It is almost the only Rite which has had the courage to face, for previous years, the privations and trials inseparable from the : poverty attendant upon spending every penny of its limited funds in the completion of its Rituals, and the world wide ex- tension of the Truth, restiug content with the conviction that, sooner or later, its value must he recognised by every thoughtful ! Mason, as a means whereby Masonry may be restored to its ; pristine purity, and man to his intellectual birthright. To those j who linger fondly over the attractions of a sumptuous banquet ; and grudge the time spent in labour as a theft i rom the precious j hours given to indulgence of the senses, we offer nothing that ; will be prized, but to the intellectual Mason, the earnest searcher I after truth, we offer a banquet that never satiates, a feast from j which comes no repletion, a feast of reason, leaving an unfailing appetite, and no sad remembrances for the morrow. In conclusion, a few words as to the practical principles of the Antient and Primitive Rite of Masonry : — It is universal, and open to every Master Mason who is in good standing under some constitutional Grand Lodge, and believes in tbe Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man. The only other qualification which it requires from its Neo- phyte is probity and honour, and it esteems Masonic worth, ability, and learning, above social and personal distinctions, seeking by means of its comprehensive ceremonials to extend | Masonic Knowledge, Morality, and Justice, and enforce all ! those great principles which distinguish true Masons of all time. Its Rituals are thirty in number, and are based upon those of | the craft universal ; they explain its symbols, develope its mystic • philosophy, exemplify its morality, examine its legends, tracing ; them to theh primitive source, and dealing fairly and truthfully i with the historical features of symbolical Masonry. They con - j tain nothing in their teaching but what MaliommedaD , Christian, S Jew, Buddhist, Brahmin, or Parsee may alike acknowledge. The government of the Rite is elective in its character, and i it extends the hand of brotherhood to all legitimate Rites. It is in cordial union with a number of grand bodies of its own or similar Rites, with whom it has representatives established, and its influence is silently extendingover the face of the whole globe. The ceremonials of the Rite are divided into three serie-q and the Masters of each section receive the 31 and 32°, and consti- tute the Judicial Tribunal, 31°, and the Mystic Temple, 32°, of which the Presiding Officer, or Grand Master of Light, receives the 33°, to enable him to represent his Province in the Sovereign Sancturv, 33-95°. It is ordered by the Sovereign Sanctuary : — 1. That Dispensations may be given to any individual Mem- ber of the Rite in any town, where no subordinate body exists, to receive a sufficient number of Brethren to form a Chapter, Senate, or Council. 2. That Chapters of the Rose Croix (11—1 8°) ; Senates of Hermetic Philosophers (20-33°) ; Councils of Sublime Masters of the Great Work (30-90°) ; and Mystic Temples (32-94°) ; may be Chartered throughout our jurisdiction, in accordance with the General Statutes. 3. That Grand Mystic Temples — Councils General, may be constituted in any of the Colonies and possessions of the United Kingdom, subject to the General Statutes of the Order, with privileges similar to the Grand Mystic Temples— Councils General, of England, Ireland, and Scotland. 4 . Applications to he made to the Grand Secretary General (or to the Grand Chancellor Generator Grand Master General), who will furnish all information as to fees or the mode of proceeding. rint, the Publisher will be gl id to exchange with members having surplus copies of later i*te, and will also feel extremely obliged to them. BOSE OF SHARON SENATE, No. G. Notice is hereby fiiveir, that the Meeting for Installation of S.G.C. falling on Lord Mayor’s Day. and this being found to be inconvenient to the members, the Meeting will be postponed until last Thursday, oUth November. By order of G.M.L., JAS. HILL, 33°, Recorder. GRAND LODGE OF IRELAND AND THE HIGHER DEGREES IN FREE- MASONRY. We learn from our Dublin correspondence that at the meeting of the Board of General Pur- poses little or nothing was done to put this burn- ing question on a satisfactory footing. It is possible that the B.G.P. see so many difficulties in entering on the path on which the ill-judged zeal of a few of its members seeks to lead it, that it may well hesitate before embarking on such a perilous journey. Opposed as it is to all Masonic precedent, we must confess ourselves utterly astonished at the audacity of the. proposi- tion, and we are not surprised to learn that the allied powers of this Rite in other kingdoms are watching with much interest the progress of what may turn out to be a momentous struggle for the rights and liberties of Craft Masons. We have no desire to fan the flame of discord, which unhappily appears ready to burst out ; on the contrary, we would appeal to the good sense and kindly feelings of the members of the Irish Grand Lodge not to suffer so great a scandal as this high-handed and intolerant action to be per- petrated in its name. We have examples of this ill-judged interference in other countries, and the result has always been adverse to the true interests of the Craft ? What must be the effect on the outside world to see a body which above all others preaches the fullest liberty and the widest tolerance thus to stultify all its teachings, and seeking to create an oligarchical despotism in place of the constitutional republic which has ever governed the Craft ? May wiser counsels prevail, and a calamity such as this be averted. For ourselves we can only say that if a struggle is imminent we shall not shrink from it, much as we may deplore the necessity forced upon us — to use the words of Brutus,* “ Not that we love C^sar less, but THAT WE LOVE ROME MORE.” When the time comes that we have to choose between despotism and liberty, we think we may venture to predict which way the choice will lie. And we feel certain that the Sov. Sane, of Great Britain and Ireland, backed by the allied powers of the Rite, will know how to protect its members, AND WILL NOT NEGLECT THEIR DUTY. THE ROYAL (OR SACRED) ARCH. The origin and history of this most interesting degree, notwithstanding the many attempts to trace it, has so far eluded the efforts of our most learned Masonic Archeologists, who are obliged to confess that its antiquity is of the most remote times. Dr. Oliver thought it was brought to England by Ramsay, and subsequently sold by him to the “ Ancients,” and thus it obtained a place in the York system ; and that its Ritual and Ceremonies were re-constructed wholly or in part by Dermotfc out of the M.M. degree, and that the first Chapter of R.A. was introduced by Dunckerly not earlier than 1776. Dermott, however, expressly states that he himself received the Royal Arch in Dublin in 1745, and Dr. Dassigny, writing in 1744, complains that some years before, some one had palmed off upon many worthy Brethren a fallacious system of Masonry as that of the “ Royal Arch,” asserting that he had brought the same from the city of York. Affter carrying on the deception for some months, it is said that the fraud was detected by a Brother who had received the R.A. degree properly in London. Now where did this Brother get it ? Not from any Chapter of R.A. then working, that is certain ; since the first Chapter of R.A. upon record dates from January, 1764. Shall we then be wrong if we venture to assume that it was from a Chapter of Heredom that he received it ? for if it had been obtained from* one of the Masonic pedlars of the day, he would hardly have been in a position to expose the pretended vendor of Arch Secrets in Dublin. In 1743, and again in 1778, there is undoubted evidence of the existence of a Chapter of Heredom, which included amongst its degrees Compagnon dT Arche Royale ; now it is generally admitted that the Royal Arch TEE KNEPH. Ritual and Ceremony of to-day, as worked under the Supreme Grand Chapter of England, is totally unlike any known version of the Royal Arch degree either now or formerly in existence, and the inference is fair that Dermott, who was the ruling spirit of the Ancients, first manipulated it, then Dunckerly, and finally, about 1830, it was further despoiled and curtailed, and has since remained as we have it. Bro. Jacob Norton, writing on this subject, is apparently as anxious to divest the R.A. of any claims to a respectable antiquity as he is to turn to ridicule the holders of chivalric degrees under the generic term of High liters, and wishes us to infer from the connection of Dermott with the Ancients, that he was also the father of the Royal Arch among them. Bro. Norton also asserts that the R.A. of to-day is the same as it was 150 years ago. We know that it is not so. That the R.A. was an adaptation of an older system we may take for granted, and there is little difficulty in tracing its source to the Royal, or as it was formerly called Sacred Arch, we have before mentioned as forming, with other grades, the series of degrees worked by the Chapter of Heredom, in London, under Lambert de Lintot. Ramsay may have founded this Chapter in 1728, when he is said to have been in London, but we think he had no more to do with the manufacture of the R.A. or Templar degrees, than to arrange them — using existing materials, or in other words, collating some of the degrees worked in independent Chapters in France ; and it is possible that Ramsay’s connection with the College of Jesuits of Clermont, may have given him access to Templar records, of which that College was said to be the depository. We think, then, that we may with almost absolute certainty trace the Royal Arch to the Templars, and that these brought it with them from the Holy Land, whence they derived the greater part of then Secret; system of Hermetic Philosophy ; which in turn is indebted to a very large extent to the Egyptian mysteries so constantly drawn upon by Moses. We have no doubt whatever that the Sacred Arch of Enoch is the foundation upon which the later named Royal Arch was erected, and in confirmation of this belief, we extract from Bro. Broadley’s “ History of Freemasonry in Malta ” the following remarkable quotation from Bro. Waller Rodwefl Wright, for many years Prov. G.M. of the Ionian Islands, and British Consul-General — and sub- sequently holding a high judicial position at Malta. Judge Wright was at one time G.M. of the Templars, from 1809, until he was succeeded by H.R.H. the Duke of Sussex. “I would draw a marked distinction between what is usually termed the Craft or symbolical part of the science, and the system of H.R.D.M. — K.D.S.H., or as it is now more commonly styled the R.A. of J. — to which I shall first advert as being the most antient branch of our institution, and comprising what may not improperly be termed the mystcria major a. “The foundation of this most antient Masonry I apprehend to have been coeval with the creation of 181 man, consisting in that system of knowledge, moral, physical, and philosophical, which the Almighty Creator gave to the first being whom he animated with a spirit resembling his own divine nature, which system was preserved in the traditions of the antient Patriarchs to the time of Enoch. “About the time when that eminent character appeared, these traditions, beginning to be ob- cared by the lapse of seven centuries, had fallen inio much neglect even among those who professed to adhere to the creed of their forefathers, and were treated as idle superstitions by those of a different character. “ In order, therefore, to preserve them from being further effaced or totally forgotten, that Patriarch deposited mitten memorials of those scientific and divine communications in the bosom oi a holy mountain well known to the Fraternity, and the better to provide further security by confining such knowledge to those who might prcve 'themselves worthy of it, instituted certain probationary and religious observances of a secret nature, which circumstance, I apprehend, is alluded to when it is said that Enoch first taught men to call upon the name of the Lord. “ Such is my idea of Masonry in its original and simple state. Thus preserved amongst the sons of the Patriarchs to the time of the captivity of Israel in Egypt, the system became in some degree corrupted by the intercourse of their descendants with the people of the country, who for the most part adored with extravagant and fantastic rites and monstrous superstition the symbols under which the priests of Misraim concealed the theistical doctrines derived from their progenitor, the son of Noah. “ On the enfranchisement of the Israelites from their Egyptian captivity, the public worship of Jehovah was re-established among the people, in general under the injunction of solemnities and formal observances at once suited to captivate their imaginations and keep alive their zeal and attention by ordinances interwoven with all these civil and social relations, and tending to connect the past history of the human race with those future destina- tions of which they were the architype. “ The instruction which they there received, so far as regarded the antient ritual, was that compen- dious system since adopted by the G. and R.C. of J., which comprised under five divisions or principal degrees, the several ordinances respectively estab- lished by M. and by S., explaining under the last or 5th degree the nature and distinctive characteristics of the several intervening stages of the Mosaic Institution, the ceremonial of which it was no longer deemed necessary or expedient to retain. “Among the Crusaders the Knights of the Temple appear to have given the most; sedulous and particu- lar attention to the details of the antient Masonic system on the principles of which their own fraternal union was founded, requiring secresy of initiation and observing the practice of mysterious ceremonies unknown to other orders of chivalry. “No one who is acquainted with the history of the Templars can doubt that these means were 182 ErannnBii rwiiiiaiainiifii iiihb ■■mi i i THE KNEPH. adopted by them for the purpose of concealing from general observation those ambitious views of domi- nation from which .their apologists (however suc- cessful in refuting all other charges against this illustrious body), have never been able to exculpate them. “ On the dissolution of the Order, and in conse- quence of the persecution to which its members were exposed under the authority of the Pope and Philip the Fair of France, many of its principal officers took refuge in Scotland. Zealously attached to the principles of their association, they availed themselves of its ancient relation to Masonry to establish a close connection with the Lodges existing in that country, and found means to engraft on the simple plan hitherto promulgated by the brethren of the Crusades the peculiar observances which they had exlusively retained, so modified, however, as to bear a proximate allusion to then* own circumstances, and tending to keep alive the ambitious designs of the Order. “ The similarity of our allegorical structure with the Temples of the Zabeans, and the resemblance which exists between the mysteries of Masonry, and those of Osiris , Mithras , and the Eleusinioi . in various points of preparation, reception, and instruction, as well as its connection with the Pythagorean and Platonic Schools of Philosophy, have been so ably treated by Sir W. Drummond that I cannot presume to offer any comment in addition to what he has observed on that part of the subject, further than by remarking that the universal pre- valence of similar institutions amongst the civilized nations of antiquity in Asia, Africa, and Europe (though confessedly imperfect and obscure in their nature and tendency, and widely differing from each other in many particulars), afford a strong testimony in favour of the existence of some original and pure system of mysterious and traditional instruction existing from the earliest ages of the world. “ To enter upon the discussion of the relations which our institution bears to the complicated system of Hindu mythology (always beautiful and often sublime, even in its wildest extravagance of fiction) would require far more leisure and erudition than I am possessed of or can pretend to. I cannot, how- ever, refrain from observing the extraordinary manner in which that system is itself connected with the hieroglyphics of Egypt, the belief of the antient Phoenicians (probably the founders of the Druidical religion), and the tenets of the Pythagorean and Platonic schools as far as they relate to the mysterious doctrines of the Metempsychosis and the . . . . so often descanted upon, and so little understood by contemporary and succeeding writers.”. Our limited space will only allow us to glance at the identity of the R.A. symbolism with that of the : Indian and Egyptian theosophy. First the double i triangle within a double circle is an emblem of vast ! significance ; and may be traced amongst all religions in the known world. The colours used in R.A. Masonry are four White, Blue, Scarlet (or Crimson), and Purple. The Egyptians also used them to represent the elements, viz., White, for the Air; Blue, for the Water ; Purple, for the Earth ; and Scarlet or Crimson, for Fire ; typifying the ordeal through which the initiates in the mysteries passed. Lastly we may mention the peculiar sign of this degree — the Sacred Tau. This emblem is invariably found in the hands of the Egyptian deities, represent- ing life eternal. By the union of the triple Tau they expressed the utmost veneration for what they considered as a type of the great principle of animated existence. They gave it the name of God, and affirmed that it represented the animal, vegetable and mineral creation. We need not enlarge upon the significance of this emblem with us, nor need we pursue the history and origin of the Royal Arch further; from what w r e have mitten we think may be fairly deduced, that as a degree or system of degrees it is as old at any rate as the days of Mizraim. That it has been at various epochs altered and manipulated to suit the wants of the time is undoubtedly true. First probably by Moses, secondly by Solomon, thirdly by the Essenes, and fourthly by the Templars, each finding in its sublime allegories the most perfect expression of their ideas as to the existence, nature and attributes of the Creator, and of those spiritual essences which are derived from Him — the origin of Evil, the existence of Man, the existence of Matter — as taught or regarded by the followers of the Epicurean, Platonic, or Brahminic Philosophy — the end pro- posed in the creation of the system to which we belong. To those who see no more in our Institution than a secret association for the practice of benevolence and social converse, who carry their views no further than the Ritual, it may appear the dream of an enthusiast to connect these subjects with Masonry ; but such nevertheless is its undoubted origin, aim and end. The Antient and Primitive Rite alone in these days recognizes the importance of its mission, and seeks to make its neophytes acquainted with the grand truths latent under the symbols of Masonry. It has garnered under its mantle all that is valuable of the past, and is ever ready to accept that of the present, which may best conduce to the happiness and comfort of all who enlist under its banners. Fanatics may denounce us ; the ignorant may vilify and abuse us ; our members may become careless and neglect us ; but the Truth will live and will flourish, and those who come after us will acknowledge that The End Crowns the Work. THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. ON.— HELIOPOLIS. Zakazig and Matarieh.— On, the City of the Sun — Beth Shemesh, the Temple of Amun-Ra. To the intelligent reader who is acquainted even superficially with the traditions and records of Upper Egypt, it is not a little curious to note how the historic sites of ancient Egypt are, so to speak, again to the fore in connection with the expedition against Arabi Pasha, and how they become invested with an additional interest as the scenes of some of the most ..... THE KNEPH. noteworthy incidents of the campaign. We have already referred to the coincidence which renders Tel-el-Kebir and Tel-el-Mashuta — the ancient Pithom and Raamses of the Hebrews — of paramount importance to strategists in both camps. And about as curious a turn of the wheel of fate as any yet referred to, is that which made the final struggle for the possession of Cairo, and therefore for the conquest of Egypt* to take place within sight of the ruins of On, the sometime renewed Heliopolis. The objective point of the English Commander was Zakazig. Matarieh — the townlet or village behind which the Egyptians were encamped, covering Cairo in the rear— was the theatre of the decisive conflict. And Matarieh stands on the ground once covered by the City of Obelisks, as Heliopolis was termed by the Pharaonic sovereigns. It is, however, something more than an ordinary coincidence that marks out this spot as the scene of carnage. For on the self same plateau around Matarieh, flanked by the dull and stony hills of the Mokattam range and within sight of the ruins of On itself, was fought, some three hundred years ago, the battle which resulted in the downfall of the Mamlouk rulers of Egypt, and the conquest of the entire country by the Mahommedans, under the cruel Selim Sultan. The site of Heliopolis, in fact, is intimately con- nected with the vicissitudes of the last of the Mamlouk or native dynasties. Khansumi el-Ghuri, the ruler of Cairo, had failed in 1515 to take advantage of the favorable opportunities then offering to attack and discomfit the Turkish invaders. And fortune having once knocked in vain, never again stayed her steps at his door. His successor — sometime his slave — Tuman Bey, the great hero of modern Egyptian history, ascended the throne late in the year 1516. But early in the following year the Turks were already at the gates of Cairo. The Mtlk-el- ’scharaf — Honored King— took the field at Matarieh. But the Turk out-manoeuvred him. One division attacked his camp, and another wound, unobserved, round the Mokattam hills and took him in flank. Tuman Bey, with a couple of Emirs, had penetrated to the very tent of the Sultan Selim, hewing down his guards and attendants, when the news that his army had fled in confusion was brought to him. Tuman Bey escaped, to fight again at Djizeh, but only to be delivered up to the conqueror by the treacherous Bedouins. After seven- teen days of imprisonment and cruelty he was hanged by order of Selim at the entry to Cairo. And at the extremity of the gate Es-Zuwele, the traveller may even now see the iron hook upon which the heroic Tuman Bey —the last of the native rulers of Egypt — was hanged alive by the Moslem conquerors. Truly time avenges all wrongs. And the very spot which saw the triumph of the Mussulman three centuries and a half ago will, in ail probability, have witnessed the discomfiture which heralds the ultimate overthrow of Turkish domination in the fair “ Land of the Pharaohs.” Matarieh has, however, other and possibly greater attrac- tions for the antiquarian and Egyptologist. The ruins round about it, the ruins of ancient Heliopolis — the Egyptian “ An,” the Hebrew “ On,” the “ Beth Shemesh ” of the Bible— mark the site of the most famous city of antiquity. Its god was the great Amun-Ra ; the God of all Gods. Its temple was as old as the primeval worship of the stars, a worship indigenous to the Nile valley. Its shrine was the great Beunu-House, the home of the fabled Phoenix, which typified to Egyptians the mystery of death and the resurrection. Its obelisks dated from pre-historic times ; its fanes from an unknown antiquity. The seat of Egyptian justice— for the great tribunal of Egypt sat here — and the home and birthplace of Egyptian wisdom, its academies were famed from extremity to extremity of the then known world. Plato and Eudoxus, Thales and Solon and Pythagorus, spent years in On, studying the philosophic notions of the Egyptian priests. Here Joseph courted— if the staid Egyptians unbended so far as to sanction anything so undignified as courting — his bride Os’nath, and made friends, possibly with an eye to his future father-in-law Pta’ Phra, of the Egyptian priesthood. But, the fact that comes home nearest to the Jew who stands amid the ruins of Heliopolis, is that here, Moses, the Lawgiver, was reared by the daughter of Pharaoh, who adopted him as a gift of the River-God. Hero he was trained and educated. There is something indescrib- ably pathetic from its very quaintness, in the reflection that, 183 here, in On, Moses went to school amid scores of Egyptian school boys. Here he first lisped the language of the Pharaohs, and learned to read the mystic hieroglyphics of the priesthood. Here, as a youth, he attended the academies with the heir apparent of his sovereign, the Prince Menc-phta, and subsequently, as a man, was initiated into the mysteries of the great Sun-God, the all-powerful Ra. Nor did the memory of the great Hebrew leader vanish wholly from the records of the Heliopolitans. For centurieB and centuries after his death traditions, vague and mythic, of the Jewish Law- giver, lingered among the priests and people of On. And, in the venerated Osar sup— Osar-syph as the Greeks wrote it — who was subsequently deified as worthy of worship, we are enabled to recognise the Egyptian designation of Moses. This con- nection of the inspired legislator with the records of On, is among the most suggestive recollections evoked in the mind of the Jew who stands amid the ruins of the Houses of Amen Ra. Approaching the site of Heliopolis along the Cairo road, the traveller passes a number of places hallowed by local tra- dition. At Matarieh itself, is the venerable sycamore tree, still standing, under which, according to a legend of the Coptic Christians, Mary and the infant of Nazareth took shelter when they went down into Egypt ; and the devout used in former times to point out the cleft in the trunk concealing a hollow in w hich the fugitives hid from their pursuers while a friendly spider spun its web over the hole, thus effectually covering their retreat. Somewhat nearer the present capital is the traditional site of the well of Miriam— Moses’ sister ; a marvellous spring of water, since, according to a Medrashic Agada, it accompanied the children of Israel during their wanderings in the wilderness as long as Miriamdived ; so that during the whole of her life the errant Israelites never lacked fresh water. Further on, is the Birket-el-Hadj — the Pilgrim’s Lake. Here, annually, in the month of Shaw’wal, the great caravan of pilgrims starts with the sacred Kisweh, or covering for the ka’abe— the holy stone of the Mohammedan Sanctury at Mecca. And here, on its return, the caravan is met by the grandees and notables of Cairo, followed by the Moslem tag-rag and bob-tail in order to celebrate the festival known as Mammal. At “Ain Shems ” — generally rendered the “well of the sun,” but really meaning the “eye of the sun” — we come across a genuine Egyptian site. Here, in former times, stood a statue — which Moses himself may have looked upon— of the sun-god Ra. A curse had been laid upon it by one of the ancient kings : and no ruler of Egypt ever dared look it in the face ; since by virtue of the malediction uttered, whosoever gazed upon it was doomed. For centuries Egyptian rulers passed it with averted looks, as though it were a living thing with a veritable “ evil eye,” the dread of all Easterns. Tradition has it that the Mohammedan Sultan Achmedibn Tulun, laughing to scorn the old superstition, rode boldly up to the statue, and, looking it full in the eyes dared the god to do his. worst. Instantly he felt his blood run cold, chroniclers relate ; and, after a ten months’ lingering illness died miserably on the plains of Syria. Although no trace of the statue remains now, the Arab who passes the spot, with the true Oriental dread of the Ai'en har’aa, passes it with averted head and looks bent upon the ground. On — Anu, as Egyptians wrote it, and generally adding the words “in the land of the north,” to distinguish it from another On in Upper Egypt— signifies literally the city of 1 ‘pointed columns” or obelisks. And strangely enough, the only perfect monument left among the ruins of ancient Heliopolis, is one of these essentially Egyptian pillars, an obelisk. It is the first thing the eye takes in as one ap- proaches the city. And what an obelisk! The oldest the world can show. No mushroom erection dating from the Hellenised Ptolemies, but a monument four thousand years old. Inscribed on all four sides — as these obelisks invariably are — two are illegible, bees having made their nests in the deep-out hieroglyphics. But on the remaining sides we can decipher the bold, simple, character of the ancient Dynasties that preceded even the Hykshos. The inscription tells that “ Usertasen Ra-khefer-kha, King of Upper and lower Egypt, Lord of the Dradems, and Son of the Sun, whom the divine spirits of On love, erected this obelisk on the 1st day of the festival of Set, at the close of a thirty year cycle.” (To be continued . 184 THE KNEPH. LIBRARY. I have received from Mr. William Oxley, of Manchester, for the Library of the Antient and Primitive Rite of Masonry, “Angelic Revelations,” in three volumes, generously pre- sented by a Spiritualistic Society. •Toitn Yarker. ^ebtetos. Modem Thought . — The October number of this excellent magazine selects for the subject of the October paper on Leaders of Modern Thought, Robert Browning, poet-philo- sopher, and affords an exhaustive study of the life and works of this great thinker. Chaldean Mythology aud Folk-lore is continued, and treats principally of the Chaldean epic poem of Gisdhubar, giving an epitome of each of its twelve hooks, cor- responding with the twelve signs of the zodiac, and each litted with its appropriate story, aud most interesting as illustrating the Chaldean pastoral, religious and military phases of life. (We shall return to this in our next number.) The clever paper on Kleptomania will interest those who take delight in tracing the vagaries of a disordered intellect. A paper on the pedigree of English heroic verse follows, succeeded by one on middle class education by Dr. Harris. Dr. Westley Gibson contributes a beautiful poem under the title of Meditations in Early Autumn, from which wo venture to borrow a stanza : “But Autumn’s days, by night and morn, Of light and pensive beauty shorn. Their destined race shall run, Earth quickening to her wintry pace, Shall Daphne-like her sad sweet face Turn from the purple sun. The hunter’s moon her horn of light Shall nightly waste, and large and bright The planets roll on high ; Whilst nature, with electric fire, Lights up the old year’s pheenix-pyre, Across the polar sky.” Mr. Matlock’s Social Philosophy is next reviewed, and Dr. Francis Hoggan gives a paper on the Advantages of a Vegetable Diet in Workhouses and Prisons. Modern Physical Concepts is discoursed on by Dr. Carter Blake. A thoughtful articte entitled The Larger Hope considers the question of the elements of punishment. Science and Secularism is a review of Dr. Edward Aveling’s pamphlet under the same title. A humorous poem called Homoepathy Tested is, as may be supposed, a sly dig at the globule theory. In Notes and Queries may be found some very curious researches in the etymology of obsolete words. Pastime has a rich collection of enigmas, puzzles, aud arithmetical problems. A marvellous shillings worth truly. Notes , Queries , and Answers. — Gould, Manchester, U.S.A. The first and third numbers of this useful little serial are now to baud, and we are enabled to form a bettor idea of its scope and plan. That it is sufficiently comprehensive may be gathered from the invitation for papers and questions on a vast variety of subjects interesting iu our every-day life. Social problems in fact, in addition to a mass of information on history, science, philosophy, Liograpby, and the like. It promises well, is ably edited, aud moreover cheap, the sub- scription being but 1 dol. per annum. THE CHEMICAL WEDDING. An Hermetic al Romance, by Christian Rosenceeutz. ( Speculative Freemasonry , by John Yarker, 33-96°.) ( Continued from page 176.) Second Day. He arrives at three Wtiys, marked by three trees ; uncertain which to take, be rests and partakes of his bread , upon which a snow white dove joins him, but is pounced upon by a black raven*, which chasing he was led into one of the roads, and left his bag aud bread at the tree. He now comes in sight of an exceeding royal and beautiful portal, whereon was carved a * Tho dove anil the raven represent the Zorcastrian principles of good and evil. multitude of most noble figures and devices, “ eveiy one of which (as I afterwards learned) had its peculiar signification. Above wa3 fixed a pretty large tablet, with these words, ‘ Frocul hinc,procal este profane,' and other things more that I was earnestly forbidden to relate.” Straight steps forth one in a sky-blue habit, to whom he imparts the information that he was a brother of the Red-rosie Cross, who addresses him, “ My brother, have you nothing about you wherewith to pur- chase a token ?” He gives his bottle of water and receives a token marked S.C.,* and a diploma for the second porter ; this gate was also adorned with images and mystic siguinca- tions. Here was a grim lion chained and the porter lay upon a marble stone. With his salt a token was purchased marked S.M.f He ran for the gate along with a torch-bearing virgin in skv-blue, aud barely obtaining admission before ihe close of the gates (with the loss ol his coat), beheld two pillars, on one of them stood a pleasant figure inscribed Congratulor ; the other with a sad-veiled countenance condoles. He now received the true guest token S.P.N.J Two pages conduct to a room and leave him in darkness, when a barber enters and, after divesting his crown of hair, the two pages re-enter and conduct the relator into a spacious hah, where are Emperors, Kings, Priests, and Lords, noble and ignoble, rich and poor, with some of whom he finds himself to he well acquainted. A banquet follows, where are many fools amongst sensible and virtuous people. The virgin now appears, dressed in white and cautioning hence the imde and profane ; all are conducted by tapers, invisibly carried, to their chambers, except nine who were bound with cords and left in darkness ; when the relator has a vision teaching humility. [To bo continued .) Price 2s. 6d. Cloth, LECTURES OP A Chapter, Senate $ Council : ACCORDING TO THE FORMS OF THE ANTIENT AND PRIMITIVE RITE, BUT EMBRACING ALL SYSTEMS OF JHIGH GRADE JVI A S O N R Y EMBODYING THE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS REQUIRED FOR ADVANCEMENT; THE SYMBOLICAL EXPLANATIONS OP THE VARIOUS DEGREES, PROM THE 1° TO THE 30°; TOGETHER WITH THE GRAND BOOK OF MAXIMS. (traitsULb from fljc Itj) JOHN YARKER, 33—96°, .1 utlior of “ Speculative Freemasonry Ac. ; Past-Master of C/'aft, Marl:, Ai'ch, Templar , Rose Croix , K-d-s-h , and Antient and Primitive Masonry ; Grand Master General of the Antient and Primitive Rite, and the Sicedenborgian Rite, in and for Great Britain and Ireland.. ' IJonfron ; Bro. JOHN HOGG, 13, Paternoster Row, E.C. 1882. * Marginal — Sanctitate Cons tan ti sponsus. t Marginal — Studio Merentis sol humor Sponso Mittandus, Sal Mineralis, Sal Menstrualis. t Marginal — Sains Per Naturam Sponsi Presentundns Nuptije. Printed for tho Sov. Sane A. and P. Rite, by The Cbown Printing- Company, Limited, Crown Court, Milton Street, E.C., in the Parish of .St. Luke’s, Middlesex, and Published by Bro. JAs. Hill, at C, Little Britain, London, E.C.— November, 1882. THE KNEPH. ANTIENT & PRIMITIVE RITE OF MASONRY. (INCLUSIVE OF MEMPHIS AND MIZRAIM.) The degrees of this Rite are open to all Master Masons in good standing. It teaches the Fatherhood of God, the Brother- hood of Man, and the Immortality of the human Soul. Strictly tmsectarian, it offers an intellectual treat of the highest order to the Masonic enquirer, whether he be a literal student of Masonic history, or a philosophical seeker of abstruse truth. It forms a Pyramid whose base is that Universal Craft Masonry, which has covered the Globe, its time-worn ascents are the Masonic virtues, its apex the seat of eternal truth. OFFICERS of the SOVEREIGN SANCTUARY, 33-95°. M. 111. Gd. Master-Gen., John Yarker, 33-96°. 90°. P.M. of all Orders , Pt. Sen. G.W. of Greece ; P. Gd. Constable of the Temple, &c., &c. ; Hon. 33-96° in America, Egypt, Italy, and Roumania ; Withington, Manchester. T. 111. Gd. Adm.-Gen., Samuel P. Leather, 33-95°. 90°. P.M., P.M.Mk., P.Z., P.E.C., &c. ; Pt. Prov. G. Chancellor of the Temple ; Burnley, Lancashire. T. HI. Gd. Keeper of Golden Bk., Jabez N. Hillman, F.S.Sc., 33-95°. 90°. P.M., P.Z., &c. ; Bedhampton, Havant. R. 111. Gd. Expert-Gen., Maurice L. Davies, Ph.D., D.D.S., F.S.Sc., 33-95°. 90°. P.M., P.Z., P.E.C., P.M.W., &c., Hon. 33° Roumania; 10, Lower Sackville Street, Dublin, Ireland. R. 111. G.M. of Cer., Henry Meyer, 33-95°. 90°. P.M.W. ; The Limes, Upper Clapton, London. R. 111. Gd. Insp.-Gen., Charles Monck Wilson, J.P., F.S.A., > 99 Hy. Meyer, 33° „ Treasurer » ii 99 J. N. Hillman, 33° „ Examiner V. „ >9 Bernard Meyer, 32° ,, Annalist »» i« K. R. H. Mackenzie, LL.D., 32° „ Keeper of Rites... Bt. „ 19 James Hill, 33° „ Expert v. „ 99 Thomas Francis, 32° „ Conductor n tt 99 Edward Harrison, 32° „ Mr. of Cer. tt it 99 Jno. Harrison, 32° „ Guard it tt Harry Trigg, 32° „ Organist it tt *9 Louis Honig, 32 c Dep. Representative at Paris A. 0. Munro, 32° „ for South of England Cor. G. Adames, 32° METROPOLITAN GRAND TRIBUNAL 31-93° (With its Grand Liturgical Council, 31-92°) Gd. Judge ... V. III. Bro. R. Palmer Thomas, 32° Gd. Defender ... „ „ „ J. E. Greenhill, 31° „ Overseer ... „ „ „ Thos. Sims, 31° MEETING ON SUMMONS FROM GRAND ANNALIST. ANNUAL MEETING— JULY. IBefunctus. M. 111. Bro. General Guiseppe Garibaldi, 33-97°, Premier Mason of Italy ; and M. HI. Imp. G. M. G., and Gd. Hierophant of the Confederation of the Antient and Primitive Rite. Representatives : — To America. — R. HI. Bro. Wm. Youngblood, 33-95°, G.-Ex., 424, Broadway, New York. J. H. Southwood, 33-95°, G. Tr., 98, Houndsditch, London. Hicolo S. Cassanello, M.D., 33°, G. M., Tunis. . John Yarker, 33-96°, Gd. Master, Withington. Chev. Com. Giam. Pessina, 33-96°, G.M., via Zuroli, 43, Naples. John Yarker, 33-96°, Gd. Master, Withington. Professor F. F. Oddi, 33-96°, G.M., Cairo. James Hill, 33-95°, Gd. Sec.-Gen., London. Captain Constantine Moroiu, 33°, G.M.; Strada Morfu, 27, Bucharest. Maurice L. Davies, M.D., 33-95°, Gd. Expert, Dublin. From America. To Tunis, Africa. From Tunis. To Italy. From Italy. To Egypt. From Egypt. To Roumania. Irion Roumania Mlfcu »'y. — As the formation of a library for the Antient and " Rite is in progress, donations of books will he thank- n ed. Brethren are requested to address their com- | r V; . \ to Bro. John Yarker, Withington, Manchester. Jftjjstic Sample (<£ri), Jutaiul. Meeting at DUBLIN or elsewhere in IRELAND. Rt. III. Bro. C. Monck Wilson, J.P., 33° V. „ „ Joseph Wonfor, 32° „ ,, „ Rich. John Lee, 32° ,, ,, „ Aug. Mouillct, 32° ,, ,, „ Wm. Steele Studdart, 32° ,, „ „ W. F. Lawler, 32°. R. III. Maurice L. Davies, M.D., 33° Eri — Gd. Tribunal, 31-93°. With its Gd. Liturgical Council, 31-92°. (Officers not yet Appointed.) MEETING ON SUMMONS OF GRAND ANNALIST. Gd. Master of Light „ Orator „ Treasurer ,, Examiner „ Annalist „ Keeper of Rites „ Representative SCOTLAND. In charge of R. HI. Bro. T. M. Campbell, 33°, Gd. Rep. Gd. Annalist, V. HI. Bro. Colin McKenzie, 32° This Grand Body is in course of formation . PROVINCE OF LANCASHIRE. R. III. Bro. J. Hawkins, 33°, G.M.L. V. „ „ Richd. Higham, 32°, Grand Annalist. STANDARD FYFE-MAIN ELECTRIC LIGHT. BOTH ON ARC & INCANDESCENT SYSTEMS. This Light is unequalled for Brilliancy, Illuminating Power and Steadiness, and is the most Simple and Inexpensive, costing Less than Gas. Full particulars on application at the Offices of the STANDARD FYFE-MAIN ELECTRIC LIGHTING AND CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, 26, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C. AEGIS TEA El). TABLETTERIE DE LUXE. CH ARNAULT, is, : r/Ctie dussoubs, Ancne rue des Deux-Portes, St Sauveur, PARIS. IVORY. SHELL. PEARL. SILVER AND FANCY GOODS CIGAR & CIGARETTE CASES. MATCH BOXES. PORTE-M ONNAIE. PORTE-OR. CARD AND NOTE CASES. CARNETS DE BAL. PRAYER-BOOKS IN ALL LANGUAGES. PAPER KNIVES. NECESSAIRES FOR LADIES IN FORM OF FISHES, EGGS AND NUTS. BONBONNIERES. FANCY TUMBLERS & GOBLETS. FINE POTS FOR TOBACCO, CIGARS & CIGARETTES OBJECTS OF ART. HAMMERED GOODS. VASES, EPERGNES, Sec., EMBOSSED IN RELIEF IN VARIETIES OF GOLD. Orders taken for Goods required. Aux LECTEURS DE NOTRE JOURNAL RESIDENT A PARIS. Notre 111. Fr. le Prof. A. 0 . MUNRO a riioimeur d’informer les fibres lecteurs du “ Kneph” et aux frercs affilies au R. An. et Pr. qui lie sont pas familiarizes avec la Langue Anglaise, qu’il ouvrira un Cours special pour l’instruction de cette langue. Le Cours aura tien trois fois jiar semaine ; le mardi, le jeudi et le samedi soir a 30 heures, au prix de 10 francs par mois (livres compris). Pour les renseignements necessaires, le 9 ons particulieres, etc., s’addresser personnellcment (de 1 a 3 heures) ou par lettre au frere A. 0. MUNRO, 77, Rue de Rivoli. I» A IS I SI. HOTEL AND CAFE RESTAURANT I>r PUY-DE-DOME. KEPT BY BRO. CLATJER, 14, RUE TIQUETONNE, . Between the Rue St. Denis and Rue Montmartre. ROOMS FROM TWO FRANCS PER DAY. Beer of Franc forty Wholesale and Retail* Several Languages spoken. / !M :iao I'll. I., ut Printed for the Sov. Sane. A. and P. Rite, by the Crown Printing Company Middlesex, and Published by Bro. J as. Hill, at 6, Nti SatasLrii.rl *. ■*■■■■: : '- ; - ...