OF FREEMASONRY; OR, AN EXPOSITION OF THE RELIGIOUS DOGMAS THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS; SHOWING, FROM THE ORIGIN, NATURE, AND OBJECT OF THE RITES AND THEIR IDENTITY WITH THE ORDER OF MODERN MASONRY, WITH SOME REMARKS ON THE METAMORPHOSIS OF APULEIUS. With Numerous Illustrative Woodcuts. BY JOHN FELLOWS, A.M. L'Unity de Dieu etait le Grand Dogma de tous les Mysteries. LONDON: REEVES AND TURNER, 238, STRAND. 1860. 223.4. 6. THE original object of the secret rites of fremasonry has been a subject of inquiry for upwards of six hundred years, and the enigma seems not to have been satisfactorily solved. The initiated, as well as those without the pale of the order, are equally ignorant of their derivation and import. What mote it be? is a question as difficult of solution now as when first propounded by king Henry VI. of England. The intention of this work is to endeavor to unravel the intricate web in which the mystery is involved, by tracing the order back to its source, and, by showing its intimate connection and similitude to institutions more ancient, put it beyond a doubt, that it sprang from, and is a continuation of the rites and ceremonies observed in those establishments. Had a work, taken notice of by the Abbé Barruel, fallen into the hands of the editor, he would probably have been saved much trouble in the prosecution of this research. "We recommend," says he, "to our reader to peruse the treatise of a most learned and zealous mason, dedicated Demen die es Verstehen, or To those who can understand. He leaves no stone unturned throughout antiquity to prove the identity of the ancient mysteries of Eleusis, of the Jews, of the Druids, and of the Egyptians, with those of freemasonry. In pursuance of this course, it becomes necessary to take a transient view of the dogmas and customs of Egypt in the remotest periods of its history; for it appears evident, that this country was the salient point from which the religious observances of the ancient world commenced. What are emphatically called the mysteries, is but another name for religion; and an exposition of what they consisted, is of course embraced in the subject as forming a parallel with the rites of masonry. Independent of the main design of the work, these topics in themselves possess great interest as matters of curiosity; which is enhanced by observing the close affinity which they bear to the practices of the masonic order at the present day. "Among all the ancient nations which have been distinguished in history, there is none more worthy of our notice than the kingdom of Egypt. If not the birth-place, it was the early protector of the sciences; and cherished every species of knowledge, which was known or cultivated in remote times. It was the principal source from which the Grecians derived their information; and, after all its windings and enlargements, we may still trace the stream of our knowledge to the banks of the Nile." (New Edinb. Ency.) Whatever may be thought of the doctrines of the mysteries, they enforced the principles of morality by the most terrific scenical repre |