The Sanctuary Of Memphis, Or Hermes:

renown has run through and pervaded the world , ancient and modern , and all the initiations were her offspring . The sacred books of the Hebrews render homage to the Egyptian initiation when recording that Moses was instructed in the " sciences of the

Egyptians , " or , in other terms , that he was initiated . From Egypt the mysteries passed into Samothrace , and thence were disseminated throughout Greece and Italy . In Persia they had previousl y been known . Their civilizing influence was such that Cicero did not hesitate to say that " these mysteries have given us life and nourishment ; they have inculcated manners and laws to society , ancl taught men how to live like men . " Christianity cameancl expanded the circle of initiation . It extended to all

, men the benefits of the moral element of the mysteries . As to the scientific part , its ( Christianity ' s ) Great Founder neglected it as less essential to His mission . He bequeathed that as a noble pasture to the indefatigable studies of the inquisitive and the wise . Still Christianity was far from absorbing within its bosom all -the sacred sciences . Philosophy preserved its independencealthough it became Christian . OrigenJustinClement of Alexandria

, , , , Hermias , and many other Fathers of the earl y Christian ages are proofs of this . There have even been philosophers who imposed upon themselves the task of reconciling and bringing into concord the Christian , dogmata , and the philosophic teachings of Paganism . The Gnostics and the Manicheans , anathematised by the Church , essayed a similar work , and their efforts were not devoid of a certain greatness .

Manes , from Avhom the Seconds have derived their name , was born in the year 257 of the Vulgate era . There was at that epoch in . Egypt a man named Scythion , an Arab by birth , fully instructed in the secrets of the Magi ; he had the knowledge of hieroglyphy , of astronomic mythology , and practised the most healthy morality . He composed four works , under the titles of " Gospels , Chapters , Mysteries , and Treasures . " Ferbulio , his pupil and disciple , inherited his fortune ancl his works , went to Palestine , ancl endeavoured

to propagate the sect of the Magi . Persecuted there he took refuge in Persia , where he changed his name , ancl called himself Buddas . Still the priests of Mythra ( of Egypt ) persecuted him , and he took refuge in the house of a widow , where he died . This widow , having purchased a slave , adopted him , and gave him the name of Curbicus . This young man gained great knowledge from the books of Ferbulio , and , after his example , changed his name for that of "Manes" which signified "conversation" or " assemblage" He

, . founded the sect which bears his name—the Manicheans—to be found in Church history . Pursued by the hatred of the Bishop of Kassan , by name Archelaus , and of the priest Marcellus , be took refuge , in order to escape , in a small castle called " Arabion , " on the river Strenga ; but he was denounced by another priest , named Triphon , to the King of Persia , who sent seventy-two guards to apprehend him . He was arrested on the brid ge of the river at the

moment he was betaking himself into a neighbouring town , called Diodovide . The king condemned him to be flayed alive ( le roi le condamna a , ctre eeyrehc vif ) . After his death the number of his disci ples increased considerabl y . His doctrines gained followers amongst men of the most elevated intellects ; ancl it is well known that St . Augustin had been a Manichean . The affiliation of the Manicheans with the sages of antiquity is proved by a fact ivhich

has not hitherto been observed . The Catholic Church reproached them with believing in two principles , and , consequently , in two Deities . The reproach was unjust , for by their teaching they only inculcated the observance of the three gradations prescribed in Egypt for education—first , Dualism , or belief in two principles ; second , Zabaothism , admiration of the forces of Nature ; third , Jobaism , or the worship of an only God , a Sovereign independent of the material world . They therefore did not preach Dualism as the true doctrine , but as a way to pass in order to arrive at the manifestation of Truth N 2