and of which they could not be deprived.  Among them there were great distinctions of rank, but the high-priests held the most honorable station; they were devoted to the service of the presiding deities of the cities in which they lived,—­such as the worship of Ammon at Thebes, of Phtha at Memphis, and of Ra at On, or Heliopolis.  One of the principal grades of the priesthood was that of prophets, who were particularly versed in all matters pertaining to religion.  They presided over the temple and the sacred rites, and directed the management of the priestly revenues; they bore a distinguished part in solemn processions, carrying the holy vase.

The priests not only regulated all spiritual matters and superintended the worship of the gods, but they were esteemed for their superior knowledge.  They acquired an ascendency over the people by their supposed understanding of the sacred mysteries, only those priests being initiated in the higher secrets of religion who had proved themselves virtuous and discerning.  “The honor of ascending from the less to the greater mysteries was as highly esteemed as it was difficult to obtain.  The aspirant was required to go through the most severe ordeal, and show the greatest moral resignation.”  Those who aspired to know the profoundest secrets, imposed upon themselves duties more severe than those required by any other class.  It was seldom that the priests were objects of scandal; they were reserved and discreet, practising the strictest purification of body and mind.  Their life was so full of minute details that they rarely appeared in public.  They thus obtained the sincere respect of the people, and ruled by the power of learning and sanctity as well as by privilege.  They are most censured for concealing and withholding knowledge from the people.

How deep and profound was the knowledge of the Egyptian priests it is difficult to settle, since it was so carefully guarded.  Pythagoras made great efforts and sacrifices to be initiated in their higher mysteries; but these, it is thought, were withheld, since he was a foreigner.  What he did learn, however, formed a foundation of what is most valuable in Grecian philosophy.  Herodotus declares that he knew the mysteries, but should not divulge them.  Moses was skilled in all the knowledge of the sacred schools of Egypt, and perhaps incorporated in his jurisprudence some of its most valued truths.  Possibly Plato obtained from the Egyptian priests his idea of the immortality of the soul, since this was one of their doctrines.  It is even thought by Wilkinson that they believed in the unity, the eternal existence, and invisible power of God, but there is no definite knowledge on that point.  Ammon, the concealed god, seems to have corresponded with the Zeus of the Greeks, as Sovereign Lord of Heaven.  The priests certainly taught a state of future rewards and punishments, for the great doctrine of metempsychosis is based upon it,—­the transmission of the soul after