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was once called “ the son of the wise, the 'son of the kings of antiquity.” 
Were it possible to arrive at the primal source of the knowledge pos- 
sessed by the Egyptians of the Supreme Deity, as a spiritual creator 
and governor, something perhaps might be done in the way of solving 
another difficult problem — the separation of what is genuine from what is 
spurious in Egyptian mythology. It might thus be possible to distinguish, 
more clearly than has yet been done, the truth — of which the symbol is the 
expression — from the fable by which, in the lapse of ages, that truth has been 
overgrown and well-nigh lost to view. By working assiduously in the same 
direction it might be possible to lessen in some degree the confusion of truth 
and myth which at present exists in the older Greek and Roman mythology. 
For here also have been preserved some remnants of a true symbolism. To 
discover, then, the source of that spiritual idea of the Deity which once 
prevailed among this ancient and peculiar people, would, it seems to me, 
impart a new and living interest to researches such as those on which the 
instructive paper of this evening is based, and place students of Egyptology 
in a much more advantageous position for estimating the true value of 
results arrived at in this branch of learning. The acute remark of a well- 
informed writer on the subject well deserves to be borne in mind in the 
present connection : — “ The Egyptians are not the only people who have con- 
verted type into substance, or adopted in a literal sense the metaphorical 
symbols of faith.” 
Mr. Cooper. — The book that contains the answer to that question is very 
abstruse and difficult to understand, because it is written in purely ideographic 
symbolism. It is the book of the Manifestations, or Liturgy of the Sun, and 
has been published by M. Chabas. We cannot obtain much from it otherwise 
than that the abstract sense of Deity is represented by the first of all sym- 
bols— fire ; by light, and air, and by everything beautiful. There is a 
passage that implies that the Deity is holiness also. 
Rev. C. Graham. — With regard to the mythology of Greece and Rome, 
you will find that it illustrates many of the great facts in the Book of 
Genesis. Of course it does so in a corrupted form ; but nevertheless those 
facts are illustrated, and I would venture to say that they are derived from 
Egyptian mythology. In Genesis we are told most distinctly that a serpent 
induced Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit. Now in the Greek and 
Roman mythology we have the Garden of the Hesperides, supposed to be 
jnst on the borders of Ethiopia. We have a serpent coiled round the tree 
defending the golden apples, and Atlas surrounding the gardens with 
mountains in order to prevent the fulfilment of an ancient prophecy that 
the son of a god would at length destroy the serpent and take off the apples. 
Another fact recorded in Genesis is, that the seed of the woman was to bruise 
the head of the . serpent. Now in mythology we have that great truth 
also transmitted. We have, for instance, Hercules destroying the serpent 
with his club, according to Apollonius ; and according to Ovid and others, we 
have Apollo destroying the Python with his arrows. These facts, which lie at 
