Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-06-05

known among the Egyptians. old anC
young. as the Ten Commandments anC
the Lords Prayer are among us.
These old-world folks had a profound
belief in tho judgment to come; in its IN
! evitableness, its perfect justice, its aw'
fulncss. its universally, and its never
! ending issues. They seem never to have
doubted that at is appointed unto mer
once 10 die, but after this the Judgment
Their doctrine OF the last things taught
that the dead had to undergo forty-four
separate judgments. First OF all, his
mummy was laid at tho door OF the tomb
till the priest had decided whether he de-
served q religious burial. To deny such
a burial was believed to imperil his eter-
! nal salvation. If proved to have died in
| debt, for instance or to have done some
! wrong, his family or friends must pay all
his debts and redress the wrong before
he was allowed decent burial. Any one,
| even a convict, could bring a charge
| against the dead. Even Pharoah was not
! exempted from this law Among the
| modern Mohammedans there fingers a
! curious survival of this custom. Before
| the body is placed in the tomb the Imam
| says: "Giye your testimony concerning
| him" Not till the people have replied,
| HE was OF the virtuous," is the funeral
| procession allowed TO proceed to the
grave.
NEGATIVE JUDGMENT.
| In the under world the deceased had
| to confront what was called "the mega
| tive judgment" 1t embraced forty-two
| distinct judgments by forty-two judges.
| 1 must here adopt the old Egyptian
method of employing the eye as the
| handmade of the soul. For much of
| Egyptian lore is extremely fugacious,
| and so eccentric that it refuses to lodge
| in, and mingle with the modern mind.
shall there explain in due course a few
| OF the more than thirty-nine articles
| in their plcture-creed. The spacious hall
is called the Grand Hall of the Double
Truth, or Of two truths. For double
truth, let US put double justice--justice
is Just truth in action-and then tho
| name explains ITSELF it means tine truth
or justice that both Furnishes the bad
and rewards the good: Its name sug-
| gests that this awful hall is devoted to
truth, TO nothing but truth, and to
the whole truth. The Egyptians were
great lovers Of symbols; and their SYM
bols, once understood, are most attract
i've and suggestive. They lure the learner
into the hall Of knowledge, through the
gate called Beautiful.
In the hall the ostrich feather, in its
conventional form, appears forty-seven
times. 1t is the hierophyph for truth.
il IS thus symbolically declared forty
seven times that truth reigns without
a rival in this mystic hall. This symbol
might have been chosen because the
ostrich is the prince of birds. This may
be the reason why ostrich feathers were
chosen for the royal fans of Egypt.
One expert maintains that an ostrich
feather. is, so far as is known, the only
created two-sided thing on earth, the
two sides Of which are perfectly equal,
and that this perfect equality is found
also in all the side plumes. Other ex-
perts, however. tell us that no birds
feather is perfectly balanced, but that
some Of the feathers of the ostrich make
a nearer approach to this perfection than
do the feathers Of any other bird. In
any case, their choice of the ostrich fea-
Their proves that these ancients added
to their fine fancy very nice powers Of
observation, for il seems that no other
two-sided object in the world approaches
more closely to an absolutely perfect
balance. This feather therefore, re-
minded them that truth and even
handed Justice require an exact corre-
spondence between thoughts and things,
between representation and reality, and
between desert and final award. The
presiding judge is Osiris, the good be-
ing, the lord of life, the great god and
ruler, the king everlasting" the enemy
OF Set or Typhon, the god OF darkness
and evil lie had been slain by the
wicked Typhon, and had risen from the
dead 20 become the judge Of all. His
white diadem is flanked by ostrich
feathers; truth and justice are the proper
jewels Of his crown. He wears horns
as the symbol Of power, and also the
artificial beard which the Egyptians gave
to their gods Around his neck is the
royal gold collar. 1t was exactly such
a gold chain" that Pharaoh put about
the neck Of Joseph. He holds the crook |
and fall with the one he guides the
good like a flock, with the other he 4
Furnishes the froward. In front of him /
is an upright rod entwlped with /
panther's skin, The robe Of the priest as /
il is still the robe of the Egyptian der |
wish. A shrewd stroke of priestcraft !
this, reminding all men that they need f,
prestly mediators.
In front of Osiris is a table laden with /
offerings. The lotus is on the top. The |
Egyptians were passionately fond of this /
flower; its seed was r healthful food;
they we're charmed with its gracefulness,
its white and pale-blue blossoms and |
its delicious perfume; they wore it in
garlands; IL supplied the models for their
pillars; it is found everywhere on their
monuments and mummies; it had a place
Of honor in their offerings to their gods.
lie was also the coat-of-arms for South
ern Egypt, which they called "The Land
OF the Lotus" One OF their Oldest names
for United Egypt was 1.-THE Land Of the
Lotus and the Papyrus."
The door OF the hall is at the front in
the centre. over it sits Amemet, the
original Of the Greek Cerberus. 1t Is a
composite monster. and is styled the
Davourer OF the Wicked" Behind It on
the sacred crook, sits the infant god,
Harpocrates, the emblem Of the new
birth and immortal youth. He had 10 do
with the first sproutings of the corn
and the lentils. Think OF such a mystic
figure at the door OF the other world!
lt declares that only by new birth can
man enter the abode OF the blessed,
and that there he enjoys an immortal
youth and the elixir of life that. like
the seed OF tho corn and the lentils he
hnds death 10 be the gate OF a nobler
life; that dissolution is the preface to re-
and that in the land OF the
men grow towards youth as
here they grow towards old age.
This hall Is moulded upon the law
courts OF ancient Egypt. The presiding