ERITREA.
This country is on the western shores of the Red Sea, and on the northeastern coast of Africa, between Egypt and Abyssinia. The Grand Orient off Italy instituted one Lodge in this country at Asmara.
ERLKING.
A name found in one of the sacred sagas of the Scandinavian mythology, entitled Sir Olaf and the Erlking's Daughter, and applied to the mischievous goblin haunting the black forest of Thuringia.
ERNEST AND FALK
More fully in German, Ernst und Falk, Gesprache .fur Frei1naurer, meaning "Ernest and Falk. Conversations for Freemasons," is the title of a work written by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, and first published in 1778. Ernest is an inquirer, and Falk a Freemason, who gives to his interlocutor a very philosophical idea of the character, aims, and objects of the Institution. The work has been faithfullv translated by Brother Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie, F.S.A., in the London Freemasons Quarterly Magazine, in 1854, and continued and finished, so far as the author had completed it, in the London Freemasun in 1872. Findel says ( History of Freemasonry, page 373) of this work, that it "is one of the best things that has ever been written upon Freemasonry." A translation of it also appeared in the Builder (1915, volume i, pages 20 and 59), by Brother Louis Block, P. G. M. of Iowa.
ERWIN VON STEINBACH.
A distinguished German, who was born, as his name imports, at Steinbach, near Buhl, about the middle of the thirteenth century. He was the master of the works at the Cathedral of Strasburg, the tower of which he com:nenced in 1275. He finished the tower and doorway before his death, which was in 1318. He was at the head of the German Fraternity of Stonemasons, who were the precursors of the modern Freemasons (see Strasburg).
ESOTERIC MASONRY.
That secret portion of Freemasonry which is known only to the initiates as distinguished from Esoteric Freemasonry, or monitorial, which is accessible to all who choose to read the manuals and published works of the Order.
The words are from the Greek, bxreptzAs, internal, and rKeptK85, external, and were first used by Pythagoras, whose philosophy was divided into the
exoteric, or that taught to all, and the esoteric, or that taught to a select few; and thus his disciples were divided into two classes, according to the Degree of initiation to which they had attained, as being either fully admitted into the society, and invested with all the knowledge that the Master could communicate, or as merely postulants, enjoying only the public instructions of the school, and awaiting the gradual reception of further knowledge. This double mode of instruction was borrowed by Pythagoras from the Egyptian priests, whose theology was of two kinds—the one exoteric, and addressed to the people in general; the other esoteric, and confined to a select number of the priests and to those who possessed, or were to possess, the regal power.
And the mystical nature of this concealed doctrine was expressed in their symbolic language by the images of sphinxes placed at the entrance of their temples. Two centuries later, Aristotle adopted the system of Pythagoras, and, in the Lyceum at Athens, delivered in the morning to his select disciples his subtle and concealed doctrines concerning God, Nature, and Life, and in the evening lectures on more elementary subjects to a promiscuous audience. These different lectures he called his Morning and his Evening Walk.
ESPERANCE.
Under the name of Cheualiers et Dames de l'Esperance, a French expression meaning Knights and Lazifes of Hope, was founded first in France, and subsequently and androgynous, both sexes, order in Germany. It is said to have been instituted by Louis XV, at the request of the Marquis de Chatelet, and was active about 1750. The Lodge Irene, at Hamburg, was founded in 1757.
ESSENES.
Lawrie, in his History of Freemasonry, in replying to the objection, that if the Fraternity of Freemasons had flourished during the reign of Solomon, it would have existed in Judea in after ages, attempts to meet the argument by showing that there did exist, after the building of the Temple, an association of men resembling Freemasons in the nature, ceremonies, and object of their institution (see his page 33). The association to which he here alludes is that of the Essenes, whom he subsequently describes as an ancient Fraternity originating from an association of architects who were connected with the building of Solomon's Temple.
Lawrie evidently seeks to connect historically the Essenes with the Freemasons, and to impress his readers with the identity of the two Institutions. Brother Mackey was not prepared to go so far; but there is such a similarity between the two, and such remarkable coincidences in many of their usages, as to render this Jewish sect an interesting study to every Freemason, to whom therefore some account of the usages and doctrines of this holy brotherhood will not, perhaps, be unacceptable.
At the time of the advent of Jesus Christ, there were three religious sects in Judea—the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes; and to one of these seets every Jew was compelled to unite himself. The Savior has been supposed by many writers to have been an Essene, because, while repeatedly denouncing the errors of the tvo other sects, he has nowhere uttered a word of censure against the Essenes; and because, also, many of the precepts of the New Testament are to be found among the laws of this sect.
In ancient authors, such as Josephus, Philo, Porphyry, Eusebius, and Pliny, who have had occasion to refer to the subject, the notices of this singular sect have been so brief and unsatisfactory, that modern writers have found great difficulty in properly understanding the true character of Essenism. And yet our antiquaries, never weary of the task of investigation, have at length, succeeded in eliciting, from the collation of all that has been previously written on the subject, very correct details of the doctrines and practises of the Essenes. Of these writers none have been more successful than the laborious German crities Frankel and Rappaport. Their investigations have been ably and thoroughly condensed by Dr. Christian D. Ginsburg, whose essay on The Essenes, their History and Doctrines, published at London in 1864, has supplied the most material facts contained in the present article.
It is impossible to ascertain the precise date of the development of Essenism as a distinct organization. The old writers are so exaggerated in their statements, that they are worth nothing as historical authorities. Philo says, for instance, that Moses himself instituted the order, and Josephus that it existed ever since the ancient time of the Fathers; while Pliny asserts, with mythical liberality, that it has continued for thousands of ages. Doctor Ginsburg thinks that Essenism was a gradual development of the prevalent religious notions out of Judaism, a theory which Doctor Döllinger repudiates.
But Rappaport, who was a learned Jew, thoroughly conversant with the Talmud and other Hebrew writings, and who is hence called by Ginsburg the Corypheus (meaning Leader or Chief, from the Latin and Greek) of Jewish critics, asserts that the Essenes were not a distinct sect, in the strict sense of the word, but simply an order of Judaism, and that there never was a rupture between them and the rest of the Jewish community. This theory is sustained by Frankel, a scholarly German, who maintains that the Essenes were simply san intensification of the Pharisaic sect, and that they were the same as the Chasidim, whom Lawrie calls the Rasstdeans, and of whom he speaks as the guardians of King Solomon's Temple.
If this view be the correct one, and there is no good reason to doubt it, then there will be another feature of resemblance and coincidence between the Freemasons and the Essenes; for, as the latter was not a religious sect, but merely a development of Judaism, an order of Jews entertaining no heterodox opinions, but simply carrying out the religious dogmas of their faith with an unusual strictness of observance, so are the Freemasons not a religious sect, but simply a development of the religious idea of the age.
The difference, however, in Brother Mackey's opinion, between Freemasonry and Essenism lies in the spirit of universal tolerance prominent in the one and absent in the other. Freemasonry is Christian as to its membership in general, but recognizing and tolerating in its bosom all other religions: Essenism, on the contrary, was exclusively and intensely Jewish in its membership, its usages, and its doctrines.
The Essenes are first mentioned by Josephus as existing in the davs of Jonathan the Maccabean, one hundred and sixty-six years before Christ. The Jewish historian repeatedly speaks of them at subsequent periods; and there is no doubt that they constituted one of the three sects which divided the Jewish religious world at the advent of our Savior, and of this sect he is supposed, as has been already said, to have been a member.
On this subject, Ginsburg says: "Jesus, who in all things conformed to the Jewish law, and who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, would, therefore, naturally associate himself with that order of Judaism which was most congenial to his holy nature. Moreover, the fact that Christ, with the exception of once, was not heard of in public till his thirtieth year, implying that he lived in seclusion with this Fraternity, and that, though he frequently rebuked the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, he never denounced the Essenes, strongly confirms this decision." But he admits that Christ neither adopted nor preached their extreme doctrines of asceticism. After the establishment of Christianity, the Essenes fade out of notice, and it has been supposed that they were among the earliest converts to the new faith. Indeed, De Quincey rather paradoxically asserts that they were a disguised portion of the early Christians.
The etymology of the word has not been settled. E et, among the contending opinions, the preferable one seems to be that it is derived from the Hebrew Chasid meaning holy out which connects the Essenes with the Chasidim, a sect which preceded them, and of whom Lawrie says, quoting from Scaliger, that they were "an order of the Enights of the Temple of Jerusalem, who bound themselves to adorn the porches of that magnificent structure, and to preserve it from injury and decay" (see LanTie's History of Freemasonry, page 38).
The Essenes were so strict in the observance of the Mosaic laws of purity, that they were compelled for the purpose of avoiding contamination, to withdraw altogether from the rest of the Jewish nation and to form a separate community, which thus became a brotherhood. The same scruples which led them to withdraw from their less strict Jewish Brethren induced most of them to abstain from marriage, and hence the unavoidable depletion of their membership by death could only be repaired by the initiation of converts.
They had a common treasury, in which was deposited whatever anyone of them possessed, and from this the wants of the whole community were supplied by stewards appointed by the brotherhood, so that they had everything in common. Hence there was no distinction among them of rich and poor, or masters and servants; but the only gradation of rank which they recognized was derived from the Degrees or orders into which the members were divided, and which depended on holiness alone. They lived peaceably with all men, reprobated slavery and war, and would not even manufacture any warlike instruments. They were governed by a president, who was elected by the whole community; and members who had violated their rules were, after due trial, excommunicated or expelled.
As they held no communication outside of their own fraternity, they had to raise their own supplies, and sqme were engaged in tilling, some in tending flocks, others in making clothing, and others in preparing food They got up before sunrise, and, after singing a hymn of praise for the return of light, which they did with their faces turned to the East, each one repaired to his appropriate task. At the fifth hour, or eleven in the forenoon, the morning labor terminated. The Brethren then again assembled, and after a lustration in cold water, they put on white garments and proceeded to the refectory, where they partook of the common meal, which was always of the most frugal character. A mysterious silence was observed during this meal, which, to Some extent, had the character of a sacrament. The feast being ended, and the priest having returned thanks, the Brethren withdrew and put off their white garments, resumed their working-clothes and their several employments until evening, when they again assembled as before, to partake of a common meal.
They observed the Sabbath with more than Judaic strictness, regarding even the removal of a vessel as a desecration of the holy day. On that day, each took his seat in the synagogue in becoming attire; and, as they had no ordained ministers, any one that liked read out of the Scriptures, and another, experienced in spiritual matters, expounded the passages that had been read. The distinctive ordinances of the brotherhood and the mysteries connected witb the Tetragrammaton and the angelic worlds were the prominent topics of Sabbatical instruction. In particular, did they pay attention to the mysteries connected with the Tetragrammaton, or the Shem hamphorash, the Expository Name, and the other names of God which plays so important a part in the mystical theosophy of the Jewish Cabalists, a great deal of which has descended to the Freemasonry of our own age.
Josephus describes them as being distinguished for their brotherly love, and for their charity in helping the needy, and showing mercy. He says that they are just dispensers of their anger, curbers of their passions, representatives of fidelity, ministers of peace, and every word with them is of more force than an oath.
They avoid taking an oath, and regard it as worse than perjury; for they say that he who is not believed without calling on God to witness, is already condemned of perjury. Josephus also states that they studied with great assiduity the writings of the ancients on distempers and their remedies, alluding, as it is supposed, to the magical works imputed by the Talmudists to Solomon.
It has already been observed that, in consequence of the celibacy of the Essenes, it was found necessary to recruit their ranks by the introduction of converts, who were admitted by a solemn of initiation. The candidate, or aspirant, was required to pass through a novitiate of two stages, which extended over three years, before he was admitted to a full participation in the privileges of the Order. Upon entering the first stage, which lasted for twelve months, the novice cast all his possessions into the common treasury. He then received a copy of the regulations of the brotherhood, and was presented with a spade, and apron, and a white robe. The spade was employed to bury excrement, the apron was used at the daily illustrations, and the white robe was worn as a symbol of purity.
During all this period the aspirant was considered as being outside the Order, and, although required to observe some of the ascetic rules of the society, he was not admitted to the common meal. At the end of the probationary year, the aspirant, if approved, was advanced to the second stage, which lasted two years, and was then called an Approacher. During this period he was permitted to unite with the Brethren in their illustrations, but was not admitted to the common meal, nor to hold any office. Should this second stage of probation be passed with approval, the approacher became an Associate, and was admitted into full membership, and at length allowed to partake of the common meal.
There was a third rank or Degree called the Disciple or Companion, in which there was a still closer union. Upon admission to this highest grade, the candidate was bound by a solemn oath to love God, to be just to all men, to practice charity, maintain truth, and to conceal the secrets of the society and the mysteries connected with the Tetragrammaton and the other names of God.
These three sections of Degrees, of Aspirant, Associate and Companion, were subdivided into four orders or ranks, distinguished from each other by different Degrees of holiness; and so marked were these distinctions, that if one belonging to a higher Degree of purity touched one of a lower order, he immediately became impure, and could only regain his purity by a series of illustrations.
The earnestness and determination of these Essenes says Ginsburg, to advance to the highest state of holiness, were seen in their self-denying and godly life; and it may fairly be questioned whether any religious system has ever produced such a community of saints. Their absolute confidence in God and resignation to the dealings of Providence; their uniformly holy and unselfish life; their unbounded love of virtue and utter contempt for worldly fame, riches, and pleasures; their industry, temperance, modesty, and simplicity of life; their contentment of mind and cheerfulness of temper; their love of order, and abhorrence of even the semblance of falsehood; their benevolence and philanthropy; their love for the Brethren, and their following peace with all men; their hatred of slavery and war; their tender regard for children, and reverence and anxious care for the aged; their attendance on the sick, and readiness to relieve the distressed; their humility and magnanirnity; their firmness of character and power to subdue their passions; their heroic endurance under the most agonizing sufferings for righteousness' sake; and their cheerfully looking forward to death, as releasing their immortal souls from the bonds of the body, to be forever in a state of bliss with their Creator,—have hardly found a parallel in the history of mankind.
Lawrie, in his History of Freemasony, gives (see pages 34 and 35) on the authority of Pictet, of Basnage, and of Philo, the following condensed recapitulation of what has been said in the preceding pages of the usages of the Essenes:
When a candidate waws proposed for admission the strictest scrutiny nas made into his eharaeter. If his life had hitherto been exemplary and if he appeared capable of curbing his passions, arid regulating his eonduet. according to the virtuous, though austere maxims of their Order, he was presented at the expiration of his novitiate, with a white garment as an emblem of the regularity of his conduct and the purity of his heart.
A solemn oath was then administered to him, that he would never divulge the mysteries of the Order: that he would make no innovations on the doctrines of the society and that he would continue in that honorable course of piety and virtue which he had begun to pursue. Like Frees masons they instructed the young member in the knowledge which they derived from their ancestors They admitted no women into their order. They had particular signs for recognizing each other, which have a strong resemblance to those of Freemasons. They had colleges or places of retirement, where they resorted to praetise their rites and settle the affairs of the society and, after the performance of these duties, they assembled in a large hall, where an entertainment was provided for them by the president, or master of the college who allotted a certain quantity of provisions to every individual. They abolished all distinctions of rank and if preference was ever given, it was given to piety, liberality, and virtue. Treasurers were appointed in every town, to supply the wants of indigent strangers.
Dr. W. Wynn Westcott (page 72, volume xxviu, 1915, Transactions, Quatuor Coronati Lodge) takes exception to Brother Lawrie's claim that the Essenes "had particular signs for recognizing each other, which have a strong resemblance to those of Freemasons." Brother Westcott could find no such statement made either by Philo, Josephus, or Pliny.
Lawrie thinks that this remarkable coincidence between the chief features of the Masonic and Essenian fraternities can be accounted for only by referring them to the same origin; and, to sustain this view, he attempts to trace them to the Rasideans, or Assideans, more properly the Chassidim, "an association of architects who were connected with the building of Solomon's Temple " But, aside from the consideration that there is no evidence that the Chassidirn were a Body of architects for they were really a sect of Jewish puritans, who held the Temple in especial honor—we cannot conclude, from a mere coincidence of doctrines and usages, that the origin of the Essenes and the Freemasons is identical. Such a course of reasoning would place the Pythagoreans in the same category: a theory that has been rejected by the best modern critics.`
The truth appears to be that the Essenes, the School of Pythagoras, and the Freemasons, derive their similarity from the spirit of brotherhood which has prevailed in all ages of the civilized world, the inherent principles of which, as the results of any fraternity all the members of which are engaged in the same pursuit and assenting to the same religious creed are brotherly love, charity, and that secrecy which gives them their exclusiveness. And hence, between all fraternities, ancient and modern, these remarkable coincidences will be found.
The intricate and most interesting aspect of the Essenes as a monastic sort of order within the pale of Judaism is examined in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible. Brother Dudley Wright considers this difficult angle of the subject in his book Was Jesus an Esserze?
ES SELAMU ALEIKUM.
See SeZamu Aleikum, Es: also Salaam.
ESTHER.
The Third Degree of the American Adoptive Rite of the Eastern Star. It is also called the Wife's Degree, and in its ceremonies comprises the history of Esther the wife and queen of Ahasuerus,
fling of Persia, as related in the Book of Esther.
ETERNAL LIFE.
The doctrine of eternal life is taught in the Master's Degree, as it was in the Ancient Mysteries of all nations (see Immortality of the Soul).
ETERNITY.
The ancient symbol of eternity was a serpent in the form of a circle, the tail being placed in the mouth. The simple circle, the figure which has neither beginning nor end, but returns continually
into itself, was also a symbol of eternity.
ETHANIM OR TISHRI.
The seventh sacred month, or the first month of the Hebrew civil year, commencing with the new moon in September.
ETHICS OF FREEMASONRY.
Suplement
There is a Greek word, Sos, ethos, which signifies custom, from which Aristotle derives another word Pros, ethos, which means ethics; because, as he says, from the custom of doing good acts arises the habit of moral virtue. Ethics, then, is the science of morals teaching the theory and practise of all that is good in relation to God and to man, to the state and the individual; it is, in short, to use the emphatic expression of a German writer, "the science of the good." Ethics being
thus engaged in the inculcation of moral duties, there must be a standard of these duties, an authoritative ground-principle on which they depend, a doctrine that requires their performance, making certain acts just those that ought to be done, and which, therefore, are duties, and that forbid the performance of others which are therefore, offenses.
Ethics, therefore, as a science, is divisible into several species, varying in name and character, according to the foundation on which it is built.
Thus we have the Ethics of Thcology, which is founded on that science which teaches the nature and attributes of God; and, as this forms a part of all religious systems, everv religion! whether it be Christianity or Judaism, Brahmanism or Buddhism, or any other form of recognized worship, has within its bosom a science of theological ethics which teaches, according to the lights of that religion, the duties which are incumbent on man from his relations to a Supreme Being. And then we have the Ethics of Christianity, which being founded on the Scriptures, recognized by Christians as the revealed will of God, is nothing other than theological ethics applied to and limited by Christianity.
Then, again, we have the Ethics of Philosophy, which is altogether speculative, and derived from and founded on man's speculations concerning God and himself. There might be a sect of philosophers who denied the existence of a Superintending Providence; but it would still have a science of ethics referring to the relations of man to man, although that system would be without strength, because it would have no Divine sanction for its enforcement.
Lastly, we have the Ethics of Freemasonry, whose character combines those of the three others. The first and second systems in the series above enumerated are founded on religious dogmas; the third on philosophical speculations. Now, as Freemasonry claims to be a religion, in so far as it is founded on a recognition of the relations of man and God, and a philosophy in so far as it is engaged in speculations on the nature of man, as an immortal, social, and responsible being, the ethics of Freemasonry will be both religious and philosophical.
The symbolism of Freemasonry, which is its peculiar mode of instruction, inculcates all the duties which we owe to God as being his children, and to men as being their Brethren. "There is," says Doctor Oliver, "scarcely a point of duty or morality which man has been presumed to owe to God, his neighbor, or himself, under the Patriarchal, the Mosaic, or the Christian dispensation, which, in the construction of our symbolical system, has been left untouched." Hence, he says, that these symbols all unite to form "a code of moral and theological philosophy"; the term of which expression would have been better if he had called it a "code of philosophical and theological ethics."
At a very early period of his initiation, the Freemason is instructed that he owes a threefold duty to God, his neighbor, and himself—and the inculcation of these duties constitutes the ethics of Freemasonry.
Now, the Tetragrammaton, the letter G. and many other symbols of a like character, impressively inculcate the lesson that there is a God in whom "we live, and move, and have our being," and of whom the apostle, quoting from the Greek poet, tells us that "we are His offspring." To Him, then, as the Universal Father, does the ethics of Freemasonry teach us that we owe the duty of loving and obedient children.
And, then, the vast extent of the Lodge, making the whole world the common home of all Freemasons, and the temple, in which we all labor for the building up of our bodies as a spiritual house, are significant symbols, which teach us that we are not only the children of the Father, but fellow-workers, laboring together in the same task and owing a common servitude to God as the Grand Architect of the universe —the Algabil or Master Builder of the world and all that is therein; and thus these symbols of a joint labor, for a joint purpose, tell us that there is a brotherhood of man: to that brotherhood does the ethics of Freemasonry teach us that we owe the duty of fraternal kindness in all its manifold phases.
And so we find that the ethics of Freemasonry is really founded on the two great ideas of the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man.
ETHIOPIA.
A tract of country to the south of Egypt, and watered by the upper Nile. The reference to Ethiopia, familiar to Freemasons, as a place of attempted escape for certain criminals, is not to be found in the English or French accounts, and Brother Mackey was inclined to think that this addition to the Hiramic legend is an American interpolation. The selection of Ethiopia, by the old authorities, as a place of refuge, seems to be rather inappropriate when we consider what must have been the character of that country in the age of Solomon.
ETYMOLOGY.
For the etymology of the word Masons see MaOcon, Derivation of the Word.
EUCLID.
In the Year of the World, 3650, Anno Mundi, which was 646 years after the building of King Solomon's Temple, Euclid, the celebrated geometrician, was born. His name has been alwavs associated with the history of Freemasonry, and in the reign of Ptolemy Soter, the Order is said to have greatly flourished in Egypt, under his auspices. The well-known forty-seventh problem of his first book, although not discovered by him, but long credited to Pythagoras, has been adopted as a symbol in Masonic instruction.
EUCLID, LEGEND OF.
All the old manuscript Constitutions contain the well known legend of Euclid, whose name is presented to us as the Worthy Clerk Euclid in every conceivable variety of corrupted form. The legend as given in the Dowland Manuscnpt is in the following words:
Moreover, when Abraham and Sara his wife went into Egypt, there he taught the Seaven Scyenees to the Egiptians and he had a worthy Scoller that height Ewelyde, and he learned right well, and was a master of all the vij Sciences liberall. And in his dayes it befell that the lord and the estates of the realme had soe many sonns that they had gotten. some by their wifes and some by other ladyes of the realm, for that land is a hott land and a plentious of generacion. And they had not competent livelode to find with their children; wherefore they made much care. And then the King of the land made a great Counseil and a parllament. to witt, how they might find their children honestly as gentlemen; And they could find no manner of good way And then they did crye through all the realme. if their were any man that eould informe them, that he should come to them, and he should be soe awarded for his travail that he hold hold him pleased.
After that this cry was made, then came this worthy clarke Ewclyde and said to the King and to all his great lords: If yee will, take me your children to governe, and to teach them one of the Seaven Scyences wherwith they may live honestly as gentlemen should, under a condicion, that yee will grant me and them a commission that I may have power to rule them after the manner that the science ought to be ruled.' And that the King and all his counsell granted to him anone, and sealed their commimion. And then this worthy Doctor tooke to hem these lords' sonns, and taught them the seyence of Geometrie in practice, for to work in stones all manner of worthy worke that belongeth to buildinge churches temples, castells, towres, and mannors. and all other manner of buildings; and he gave them a charge on this manner.
Here follow the usual "charges" of a Freemason as given in all the old Constitutions; and then the legend concludes with these words: "And thus was the science grounded there; and that worthy Mr. Ewelyde gave it the name of Geo7netrie. And now it is called through all this land Masonrye" (see Brother Hughan's Old Charges, edition of 1872, page 26).
This legend, considered historically, is certainly absurd, and the anachronism which makes Euclid the contemporary of Abraham adds, if possible, to the absurdity. But interpreted as all Masonic legends should be interpreted, as merely intended to convey a Masonic truth in symbolic language, it loses its absurdity, and becomes invested with an importance that we should not otherwise attach to it.
Euclid is here very appropriately used as a type of geometry, that science of which he was so eminent a teacher; and the myth or legend then symbolizes the fact that there was in Egypt a close connection between that science and the great moral and religious system which was among the Egyptians, as well as other ancient nations, what Freemasonry is at the present day—a secret institution, established for the inculcation of the same principles, and inculcating them in the same symbolic manner. So interpreted this legend corresponds to all the developments of Egyptian history, which teach us how close a connection existed in that country between the religious and scientific systems. Thus Kenrick (AncientEgypt i, 383) tells us that "when we read of foreigners in Egypt being obliged to submit to painful and tedious ceremonies of initiation, it was not that they might learn the secret meaning of the rites of Osiris or Isis but that they might partake of the knowledge of astronomy, physic, geometry, and theology." The legend of Euclid belongs to that class of narrations which, in another work, Doctor Mackey calls The Mythical Symbols of Freemasonry.
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