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Article ON THE STUDY OF MASONIC ANTIQUITIES. ← Page 3 of 15 →
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On The Study Of Masonic Antiquities.
bv the clear intellect of Champollion , have succeeded in penetrating the circumambient gloom , and throwing a ray of lig ht upon the history of ancient Egypt , her manners and customs , conquests and dominions , arts religion , and laws , and in decip hering those long-hidden records of Pharaonic glory , svhich svere to the Romans " a stumbling block , and unto the Greeks , foolishness . " is earnestlrecommended to make himsett
ac-The Masonic student y quainted with the results of these splendid discoveries , a knowledge of them svill constitute a stepping stone to the study of Masonic antiquities . Mysteries heretofore deemed incomprehensible are solved , and sve are enabled to trace those fountains of light , philosophy , and knosvledge , which more than one thousand years afterwards diffused their influence and Romeand before Athens was foundedor the
over Greece ; ages , city of Romulus had a name , sve are enabled to discover every art and science of civilized life in active operation in the valley of the Nile . Indeed , as a learned writer on ancient Egypt observes- " The pure resilitions of Egyptian philosophical doctrines start , in spite of their Grecian chrysalis , from all the pages sve possess of Orpheus , Pythagoras , Plato and Aristotle ; and evince that in philosophy , as in everything else , howeveramenable
tbe Greeks borrowed from tbe Egyptians , svho are not , , for errors that orig inate in the vanity , volatility , and misapprehension of the Hellenes , and svhich invest the profound and practical wisdom of the teachers svith the puerilities of the pupils . The touchstone of hieroglyphical analysis nosv enables us to cull the Nilotic pearls from the mound and return them svith honour to their proprietors , leaving the remainder to the Greeks as their exclusive copyright . ' The importrecommended cannot tail to be
ance therefore , of the investigation manifestly obvious . Many histories , notices of Nilotic paleography , biblical commentaries , ponderous disquisitions , and evanescent papers have and continue to be issued from the press upon the subject ot Egyptian history , but without a full knosvledge of all that lias been accomplished by the Champollion school , such works are utterly valueless far the history of ancient Egypt is concerned .
as as But this knosvledge is not only indispensable in conducting our present investigation , it is interesting to all , and the writer I have before quoted asks— " Are not , hosvever , Egyptian studies , and the mythology , philosophy , and doctrines of that misrepresented race , interesting to the divine svho attests the unity of the Godhead and the Holy Trinity ? Can the theologian derive no light from the pure primeval faith , that glimmers from Eo-vntian hieroalvphics , to illustrate the immortality of the soul
and a final resurrection ? Will not the historian deign to notice the prior origin of every art and science in Egypt , a thousand years before the Pelasgians studded the isles and capes of the Archipelago with thenforts and temples ? and long before Etruscan civilization had smiled under Italian skies ? " In fact , philologists , astronomers , chemists , painters , architects , and physicians , must return to Egypt , to learn the orig in of svnting-a know-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Study Of Masonic Antiquities.
bv the clear intellect of Champollion , have succeeded in penetrating the circumambient gloom , and throwing a ray of lig ht upon the history of ancient Egypt , her manners and customs , conquests and dominions , arts religion , and laws , and in decip hering those long-hidden records of Pharaonic glory , svhich svere to the Romans " a stumbling block , and unto the Greeks , foolishness . " is earnestlrecommended to make himsett
ac-The Masonic student y quainted with the results of these splendid discoveries , a knowledge of them svill constitute a stepping stone to the study of Masonic antiquities . Mysteries heretofore deemed incomprehensible are solved , and sve are enabled to trace those fountains of light , philosophy , and knosvledge , which more than one thousand years afterwards diffused their influence and Romeand before Athens was foundedor the
over Greece ; ages , city of Romulus had a name , sve are enabled to discover every art and science of civilized life in active operation in the valley of the Nile . Indeed , as a learned writer on ancient Egypt observes- " The pure resilitions of Egyptian philosophical doctrines start , in spite of their Grecian chrysalis , from all the pages sve possess of Orpheus , Pythagoras , Plato and Aristotle ; and evince that in philosophy , as in everything else , howeveramenable
tbe Greeks borrowed from tbe Egyptians , svho are not , , for errors that orig inate in the vanity , volatility , and misapprehension of the Hellenes , and svhich invest the profound and practical wisdom of the teachers svith the puerilities of the pupils . The touchstone of hieroglyphical analysis nosv enables us to cull the Nilotic pearls from the mound and return them svith honour to their proprietors , leaving the remainder to the Greeks as their exclusive copyright . ' The importrecommended cannot tail to be
ance therefore , of the investigation manifestly obvious . Many histories , notices of Nilotic paleography , biblical commentaries , ponderous disquisitions , and evanescent papers have and continue to be issued from the press upon the subject ot Egyptian history , but without a full knosvledge of all that lias been accomplished by the Champollion school , such works are utterly valueless far the history of ancient Egypt is concerned .
as as But this knosvledge is not only indispensable in conducting our present investigation , it is interesting to all , and the writer I have before quoted asks— " Are not , hosvever , Egyptian studies , and the mythology , philosophy , and doctrines of that misrepresented race , interesting to the divine svho attests the unity of the Godhead and the Holy Trinity ? Can the theologian derive no light from the pure primeval faith , that glimmers from Eo-vntian hieroalvphics , to illustrate the immortality of the soul
and a final resurrection ? Will not the historian deign to notice the prior origin of every art and science in Egypt , a thousand years before the Pelasgians studded the isles and capes of the Archipelago with thenforts and temples ? and long before Etruscan civilization had smiled under Italian skies ? " In fact , philologists , astronomers , chemists , painters , architects , and physicians , must return to Egypt , to learn the orig in of svnting-a know-