The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1875-06-02
INDEPENDENT ORDER OF B'NAI
BIRTH;

II S~A S""sSAtSA eAS A<S
Orleans Picayune, when Distrie
Grand Lodge No. 7 held its sessio
at the Crescent City in January las
that we were actually glad to NEE
an old friend of OURS, MIR. S. Marx
who had come up ON the Bart. ABB
to install Rebecca Lodge No. 24l
the members composing this bod
having asked it as a favor from th
Executive Officers of the Gran.
Lodge, to deputize their able and &c
NAL friend to perform this labor o
love, and we feel obliged for the in
formation received and are happy t.
learn that this Order has '.Light" in
scribed upon its banner, with th,
motto of 'Benevolence, Brotherl,
Love and Harmony
The Meeting took plash at tn,
Synagogue, and after undergoing til,
usual routine Of business as prescri
bed in the Constitution of the Order
some thirty members were initiated
into the secrets thereof, which LASTED
from 4 o'clock P. NJ. till at a very
late hour Monday night, and con
tinued on Tuesday afternoon till
o'clock the same evening, extra in.
structions having been impaired tc
the Officers elected during the nor.
ming:
The Officers, Of which we give a
list below, were installed, and an ad.
dress delivered by Brother Marx,
giving beautiful description of the
ancient City of Alexandria, after
which this place is named, and which
was situated at the canopic mouth of
the river Nile, between the Mediter-
ranean Sea and the lake Mareotis.
founded by Alexander the Great af-
ter the destruction of Tyre, 332 years
before the christian era, one of the
greatest cities Of antiquity, either in
size, magnifcence or population, the
great seat of learning and the great
centre to which the trade of Europe
and the Mediterranean, with Persia
and the far East, opened up by the
Macedonian conquest, converged;
having a population of 100000 free
men, the females and Juvenile. mem
bers Of families and the vast number
of slaves not included.
The fecondite knowledge of the
Egyptian philosopher, among whom
physics and the mysteries Of nature
had, from unknown ages, been the
object of research, was qualified by
the brilliant wit and lovely imagina-
ton of the Greek, while the theo-
cratic Jew, the disciple of Soroaster,
The worshippers of the Budha and
Drama, brought their crceds and
their philosophy to the intellectual
arena.
The library of the city consisted,
is it is said, of nearly 100000 vol
INES, besides an immense humber of
manuscripts, and by order of the
'azaren Caliph, Omar, A: D. e42,
Who said that: "1f these books agree
With the Koran, they are useless, if
lot, they should be destroyed -the
Whole library was parcelled out to
1000 baths Of the city, destroyed by
ire, the process Of burning occupying
more than six months.
The old Egyptian city, now mass
f ruins in which the traveller walks
trough rubbish, broken. columns
nd capitals, loose bricks and stones,
the material for the cree
ion Of another city, bearing The
anne name, along whose walks the
'fty palm tree rises in oriental gran
eur, sending out its graceful feath-
~ leaf, beneath which the ripe date
ends in rich luxuriance, whose
reefs are nevertheless narrow, mud
= and rough, giving it an exceed
lgly unpreposessing appearance,
lille its population numbers nearly
1000 of all nations. The under
'ound cisterns for the preservation
Tue nile water, are the only per- !,
ct relics of the past, the great mon !,
18th, known as Pompey's pillar, and .
eopatra's needle, are conspicuous :
emorials, one Of these solid shaft
feet high, weighing 279 tons, fac
g the Mediterranean sea, showing
ear, distinct hieroglyphics.
The prospect from its site is a
ost charming one, the sea with its :
ried hues, the shore with its pecu- :,
II shades, present scene Of extra :
cturesque beauty, the ripping of .
e waves are music to the ear, and v
cOlOrs most charnoinr IN +Lo ,,