The Egyptian Priests.

Such was the system of the association of the Priests of ancient Egypt . It was composed , particularly , of certain wise men , known in old times by the profundity of their knowledge , and by them it was directed towards the attainment of that one purpose which its founders had proposed

to themselves . Initiation was the rock against which either indiscretion or mediocrity dashed itself . Proofs , combined together with skill and a discernment far from ordinary , kept away all those who were unfit to take part in the general working of the confederation , and often men who

had no other recommendation than that of their rank , of fortune , or of qualities wholly superficial , received at their initiation nothing more than the knowledge of vague and indeterminate ideas . This adoption , which was simply honorary , was often nothing more than a link which , by

attaching such men to the confederation , held captive all evil purposes , repressed vice , and converted into a useless member one whose enmity might possibly be dangerous .

It is to this wise policy , this scrupulous care , that the Egyptian priests owed the progress of their Order , as well as the respect which accompanied it and determined its high destinies .

The Order comprised three classes , in each of which the members had their several duties well defined , and always in accordance with their natural tastes and the means at

their disposal . The first class comprised the prophets or judges , the astronomers and the geometricians . The Hycrogramists or Sacred Scribes formed the second class . They determined , by means of their hieroglyphic characters , all ideas moral , religious , and political , and preserved the central storehouse of historical facts . In the third class were

comprised the Comastaa , who presided at thesacred banquets , the Zacori , the Neocori , and the Pastifori , who had charge of the temples and the decoration of the altars . The singers , the sealers or stampers , the medicine men , the embalmers and interpreters also belonged to this class .

Each class was presided over and directed by a number of ancients or elites , who were joined together and formed a supreme council . This assembled secretly . Its existence was unknown to the other members , and it issued decisions or oracles , the execution of which was as

scrupulously observed as though they had emanated from God . It is to these extraordinary means that Ave must attribute that unity which impelled the three classes of the Order t move ever in one uniform direction . Above all , it is to the secret and invisible operations of the supreme council

of ancients or elites that we must attribute the uniformity of movement and tendency on the parts of this body , tho composition of which extended to all parts of the universe . Whenever it had cognizance of some man , whose wisdom , talents , or merits had acquired claims on the respect or

esteem of nations , the order of the Egyptian priesthood sought every possible means for initiating him into their ranks . By this wise policy it was that it attracted to itself all men of talent , of virtue ; in a word , of every quality that excites the interest of mankind . Thus it was it

influenced all these , and moulded their services , so as to be governed b y its system , its views and disposition . It is owing , then , to this concentration of all the sciences and of all means , that the order of Egyptian Priests is indebted for

the distinguished honour in which it was held , and antiquity , and for all these wonders , the memory of which , though weakened by the prejudices of our customs , still excites our curiosity , and provokes the admiration of savants .

The Egyptian priests were looked upon by all the nations of the East as extraordinary , raised infinitely above all others . They were so in fact , for they held rank next after kings . If wealth , immunities , and the hi ghest privileges were accorded them , it was because , being the sole

depositories of the mysteries of religion , and of every science , respect and esteem followed them everywhere . It was because the prince himself , obliged to be initiated before ascending the throne , of which they had constituted themselves the promoters and supportobtained onl

, y among tbein the knowledge requisite to govern his kingdom , remained attached to them for the sake of his own interests , an < l often delegated to them a part of his authority , in certain cases , when such delegation amounted to an absolute

dut y . But all these honours and distinctions , far from weakening the ties which bound the prince to his people , served onl y to strengthen them b y that influence , which the priests were called upon to exercise , on the one aand , over the power of the sovereign , and on the other , over the obedience of his people , -it was no easy matter to be initiated into the mysteries

The Egyptian Priests.

of the priesthood proper . It was necessary to possess eminent qualities ; in a word , to offer as a guarantee of fidelity , and of the fulfilment of those duties which the Order expected from every candidate , actual abilities , the certainty of which was scrupulously inquired into , and

approved by every refinement of skill and policy , before initiation . Thus , among the Egyptians , the character of an initiate into the mysteries of the holy priesthood acquired

so great a reputation , that princes , heroes , and philosophers , considered they had only reached the extreme limit of their glory when they had obtained the honour of this rare distinction .

The knowledge of the Egyptian Priests was immense . We know them to have been the fathers of astronomy and geometry . The study of nature was familiar to them in a climate in which everything invited them to curious and learned researches , and in a country where nature hid

nothing but what as secrets could be investigated in a manner equally facile and curious . This is why Egypt was , at one time , the resort of all men of eminence . Four colleges , established herein , and governed by the priests or initiates , offered to all strangers the means of acquiring

knowledge or satisfying their curiosity . It was in that of Thebes that Pythagoras acquired his science of numbers . Thales and Democritus went to study at that of Memphis , and Orpheus is said to have found there all the material requisite for his mythology . Plato and Eudoxus tarried

for some time in that of Hehopolis , and perfected themselves , the one in morality , the other in the science of mathematics . Lastly , Lycurgus and Solon , who found in that of Sais all the secrets of legislation , afterwards astounded the whole world by their profound political wisdom .

The Egyptian priests must not be confounded with those sacred despots who , making a wicked use of their pretended intimacy with the gods sought , by imposture and cruelty , to lay the foundations of a sacrilegious authority . Priests and philosophers at one and the same

time , the wise men of ancient Egypt governed nations , not by violence and oppression , but by means of a gentle persuasion , the secrets of which they had obtained in a profound study of men ' s nature , and by a policy at once luminous and complete . It was with all these advantages

on their side that they combined , for the maintenance of law and the supreme authority , with two other powers , those of the princes and castes . This form of government , so foreign to our customs and habits , cannot be appreciated by people little accustomed to the genius of antiquity . Ifc can only be fathomed by those who , in studying history ,

pay less regard to the sequence of events than to the moral and political causes which have induced their occurrence . ( To le continued . )

Report To Grand Chapter Of Prince Masons, Ireland.

REPORT TO GRAND CHAPTER OF PRINCE MASONS , IRELAND .

BY HON . JUDGE TOWNSHEND , SOVEREIGN OF THE ORDER , 2 ND APRIL 1875 . THE salient features of this Report cannot fail to excite the interest of our readers , and especially of our Brethren in Ireland . Naturally enough the first point to which the President of Grand Chapter refers is the death of his immediate predecessor , the late Duke of Leinster , whose

presidency over the Chapter had endured so long , and been attended with results so beneficial . Nor is the memoiy of one other prominent officer passed over in silence . The late General Dunne , who had long held the office of Grand

Standard Bearer , and conjoined with it that of Grand Deacon , is spoken of in fitting terms of eulogy , as having earned the respect of every class in the community by the faithful discharge of his military and civil duties , and

especially of the Craft for whom he had ever laboured so cheerfully and so assiduously . Passing thence to the main objects of his address , and having regard to the reports which he had delivered in his previous capacity of

Vice-President , Judge Townshend notes with satisfaction that in point of numbers the Order has doubled itself in the course of the last twenty years , the average rate of increase

having been ten per annum . In 1854 there were 144 subscribing members , and now there are 290 . Of these 197 members belong to the Dublin Chapters , and the remaining 93 to Provincial Chapters , the greatness of the difference being accounted for by the fact that of the thirteen Rose