The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-02-05
4 MASONIC SENSATION.
Embieins cS thot!'raSt Found Iseneath an
Obeiisl In Egypt.

Emblcins cS thet!'raSt Found Jseneath an
Obeiisk In Egypt.
/ Great interest has been excited in Ma.
sonic circles by reports from Egypt that
Masonic emblems have been found under
the pedestal of Cleopatra's 8 Needle, which
Is TO be brought to this country, a dis
patch from Lieutenant Commanddr Cor.
nnge OF the United States Navy says:
immediately Under the pedestal OF
the obelfak. and in the east angle formed
by the steps, l found q block Of hewn
syenite granite, forty inches in the cube,
Under this and Immediately below /
found white marble slab, representinY
the apron, extending across the foundGl
tion OF polished eyenite granite, one hun.
dred and two inches long and iifty.one
inches broad and twenty-five and q half
inches thick, tho upper half heyn into
perfect square. AT the came level and
touching the short section of the square
and in the west angle Of the foundation
found another block of syenite granite
markedly regular in form, the surface Of
which represented rough ashlar steps
and the foundation OF which was COM
posed of white granite. Beside these
four pieces found other less noticeable
and important but equally Significant
Many Masons accept this as proving
the great age of the Masonic society.
Ex.Speaker Hustled, OF New York. q
Mason of high rank, is somewhat skepti-
cal, saying:
II am free to say that / do not believe
the emblems have any direct connection
with operative Masonry as it is practiced.
ct the present day. That the discoveries
are wonderful and valuable is certain.
They will start up ell the. archeologiats
and give new impetus to fraternity
writers. Anything that concetns. crypt
oi"Sy is interesting to me, bis have ;;o:.
| yet been able to discover any connection
between Egyptian csyptology and the
modern craft. ! became O Mason at the
age of twenty-one, have reached the
thirty, third degree and have been Grand
Master of the State. / have made Ma
sonic history o study, but have never
been able to trace Masonry more than
four hundred years back-not q s.sn be.
\ yond the Crusades. AS nesr as j can
4 Judge i'll had its origin on the Continent
OF Europe, with the builders of the great
E0fopean cathedrnls, and 5-as organized
for the protection of the Norkmen. from
the bosses and the feudal leaders. It
was. purely operative Masonry then, and
1t naturally adopted the tools of the craft
as emblematic of their trade.union, and
\ grips and passwords. which were also in
tended to guard from intrusion. Every
thing in that day partook of the religious
element, aud consequently religion en-
tered largely into the organization of the
| guild. (. The belief in God was insisted
upon---one God--which was broad
enough to admit the Jew as we'll as the
Christian. But fail to find anything OF
the, religious. element which necessarily
betokens great antiquity. King Solomon
Is recognized because the temple at Jeru-
salem was the oldest building of which
we have any certain account. This is
natural. The Bible gives many interest
ing details of the temple, and those who
telt an interest in the order incorporated
shese details with the working history of
the Order" (. rs, .,. n
! Masonic Emblems in Egyptian Ruins.
! [Waahington Special to ". Y.He7ald.] ,t1
| Major Benjamin Perley Pccre, Who is
Q Scottish Rite Mason OF the thirty-thira
degree, said that he was not surprised by
the announcement from Lieutenant COM
mander Gorringe that he had found en-
shrined beneath the Alexandria obelisk
Masonic emblems. The major stated
that some thirty-five years ago. when 4
young man, he visited Egypt twice, and
that ne found on the ruins of the temples
and the tombs on the banks IF the Nile
abundant evidences of the existence Of q
society-eyidently secret society-which
used amblems similar to many of those
now used by the brethren of the mystic
tie." This society superintendent the
erection OF the pyramids and other stu
pendous piles OF masonry, some of which
were built step by step az the head Of the
Order progressed in his acquisition Of the
mysteries of the Order, and after his
death it became bis burial place. Major
Poore narrated his visit tc a eubterranean
place of interment in EgyPt. which was
plled up to the ceiling with aarcophagi,
on each one OF which was porIrayed Its
embalmed inmates name, with the ;ri,.
plemeDts Of his trade or the symbols Of
his profession. At last he came to one
on which was painted o male figure about
ten inches in height, standing in the po-
sition and making the sign now portion
: 1T the ceremonial of one of the degrees oil
the Scottish Rite and wearing his Jewel.
Around are grouped many of the symbols
now used In speculative Masonry. incin-
ding the all-seeing, eye, the square, the
guage divided into the parts, the gayel,
the rough and perfect ashlars and the
plumb. These might have dehotst, 1
practical Mason, but they are inter.
mingled with small pictures of figures
represented as giving signs recognizable
by the craft, aud the jewel, which wa
found on the breast of the embalmed oc:
cupant OF the sarcophagus, was q small
bronze figure Of Silence, with q finger on
its lips. It was at that time against an
. 9siiiiost of the Pachn 10 remove any antiqui.
tiea from Egypt Without having first OBJ.
tanned o firman, which could only be
: gotten by an expenditure of time and
t money. 49," said Mai. Poore, "I had
to content myself with cutting off thai
portion of the sarcophagus on which
3 thesn svmbols and the figure had beeu
painted. That with the jewel and the
/, right hand of the embalmed mummy
: brought home, aud tney are now at my
+ residence in Massachusetts,. These, with
other symbols from Egypt, have been OK.
amined by hundreds of American Fres
8 Masons, who have recognized them as
. identical with the fused by the fraterni
: ty here at the present day"
MYSTERIES HANDED DOWN ALONG THr
!, AGES.
E When asked whether no regarded tht
. Freemasonry of to-day as lineally de
0 scended from the Egyptian Order, Maioi
j Poore replied: ~ am not prepared L