The Sanctuary Of Memphis, Or Hermes:

that of the Philadelphoi ( Friendly Brothers ) of Narbonne , established in that city 19 th April , 1780 , and united to the Grand Orient of France in 1786 . The programme of the members who composed it was printed in 1790 , under the title of the " First Lodge of the Primitive Rite in France . " In perusing it we find a curious fragment upon the character and object of the rite , which appears to us to have a great resemblance to that ef Memphisor the Oriental .

, According to this document the process is performed b y three classes of Masons , who receive ten degrees of instruction . These degrees or classes are not the designations of such or such grades , but of denominations , or selections , or combinations , which it only requires us to unravel in order to elicit an almost infinite number of grades . The special object of the programme seemed to be the rehabilitation or reintegration of intellectual man in his station and his

primitive rights . In our days this opinion , however eccentric it may be , has been adopted by profound thinkers like Fabre d'Oliver , Ballanche , etc . The Rite of Misraim was founded in Paris in 1813 by the brothers Bedarride . We have also the Persian or Philosophic , the H . D . M . Kilwinning ( Scottish origin ); Scotch Philosophic , of Yorck ( English origin ) ; Des Escossais fideles ou de la Viellebru ( the Faithful Scotch , or of the Old

Daughterin-law—a reference in the latter designation to which ive have no key , except that the French dispensation came from Scotland ) ; of Zinnendort ; Egyptian , or of Cagliostro ; Martinist , or the chosen Coens ; the Eons ( Easterns ) , of Zoroaster ; Brothers of the Red Cross , of the Royal Ark , of Palestine , of the Scandinavian Knights , of the Knights of the Desert , of the Knights of the Holy CityOrder of ChristEclectic RiteRite of Adoption for Womenthe

, , , , same according to Cagliostro ; Masonic Order of Cucchiora ( Trowel ) Order of Liberty , attributed to Moses ; Templars ; Tribunal of Heaven . With these varied rites on hand , no marvel Bro . E . J . Marconis de Negro should yearn for unity .

NOTE ON THE ORDER OF THE TEMPLE . The Templars were an Order of Christian Knights , instituted in 1118 by nine notables , amongst whom are named Hugues ( Hugh ) de Payans and Geoffroi de St . Omer , for the purpose of reconquering and defending Palestine against the assaults and insults of the Mahometans or Saracens . Baldwin , King of Jerusalem , granted them an establishment near the site ivheron had stood the Temple of Solomon ; thence derived the name of " Templars . " Ten

years after their institution the Council of Troyes approved of this nascent Order , and St . Bernard drew up its statutes . The Order of the Temple made rapid progress , and counted ivithin its circle members of the most illustrious families of Europe . Its riches proportionatel y increased so as to excite the avidity of many sovereigns . Philip the Fair was the first who executed , the project of laying hands upon the immense wealth of the Temple

by inciting Pope Clement V ., his creature , to pronounce the abolition of the Order . " The proceeding was atrocious , " writes Michelet . " The ecclesiastical judges wrenched , by torture , avowals from its members , and burned , as relapsed ' malignants , ' those who afterwards dared to retract those torturewrung ' confessions . ' The Grand Master , Jaques Molay , burnt at Paris with more than sixt y Knightsprotested his innocence to the lastancl summoned

, , the King and the Pope to appear before God before a year should pass away . The prediction was accomplished ( 1314 ) . " Some wrecks of the Order , escaping from the axe and the butchers , continued the Order of the Temple after the martyrdom of Jacques de Molay and his companions , and by an uninterrupted tradition the Order of the Temple has been perpetuated up to the present clayhas preserved the depository of the

, traditions entrusted to the ori ginal Templars ; and for the exploits of a chivalrous gallantry which so gloriously signalised its public career it has substituted the noble works which honour , in our days , its philosophic and esoteric life .