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FREEMASONRYIN ALL ITS B R A N C H E S .

(SUPPLEM ENTAL TO "THE FREEMASON.")

V O L . I I I .

U N D E R T H E P A T R O N A G E OF

HIS EOYAL HIGHNESS THE PEINCE OF WALES, X.G.The M. W. Grand Master.

ENGLAND.

SIE MICHAEL EGBERT SHAW-STEWART, BART.,The M. W. Grand Master.

THE EIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF ROSSLYN,The M. W. Past Grand Master.

SCOTLAND.

COLONEL FRANCIS BURDETT,Representative for Grand Lodge.

IRELAND.

AND THE GEAND MASTERS OF MANY FOREIGN GRAND LODGES.

LONDON :GEORGE BANNING, 198, FLEET STREET,

1875-6.

TO OUR READERS.

Another twelve months have passed away, and the MASOXIC MAGAZINE

thanks to our worthy Publisher, still holds its OAVU . We have to thank,with the close of another period of editorial labour and anxiety/- thosewho have aided to make " duty light and responsibility a pleasure."We offer our best acknowledgments to all, who by literary efforts orpersonal sympathy have enabled us to fill our pages with what is alikeinteresting and amusing , instructive and improving.

Though Ave do not care very much for profession , and greatly preferpractice ; though we look upon reality as far superior on all occasionsto the most high-flown outpourings of an effervescing and evanescent

sentimentality,—we trust that in what we are going to say we shall beable alike to redeem our promises and make good our declarations.

.Favente Georgio Kenning, Ave shall sedulously seek in the current year,to improve still more the staple of the literary character of the

MAGAZINE. Looking back on our past volumes, and re-perusing them,Ave note gladly how much of intellectual power and Masonic excellence,and literary ability and valuable information, Ave have been able tooffer to our little reading public.

We have no reason to believe that the " supply " will fall off in the nexttwelve months, though we could wish, indeed—on the grounds especiallyof Masonic political economy—that-the "demand" equalled the " supply. '

Unfortunately Freemasons have a long-cherished idea that Masonicliterature can support itself, and needs neither their sympathetic

countenance nor their active support.

A great delusion ! but one which has exercised and still exercises amost benumbing and paralysing influence both on the tastes of theOrder, and the efforts of Masonic writers.

Like all other delusions, it can only he dispelled by the advance ofEducation, or by the effusion of Light—and so our zealous Publisher, in atrue Masonic spirit, confidently awaits that " good time coming " whichis to re- coup all his sacrifices and reward his manly efforts.

To all our readers and contributors, Publisher and Editor beg totender once again their sincere thanks, and to offer their " hearty goodwishes."

"We have pleasure in publishing the following seasonable Psean ofMasonic attachment and congratulation here for the edification of ourmany readers :—

T H E S A F E R E T U R N

TO HIS ROYAL TIIGHNKSS ALBERT EDWARD PRINCE OF AVALES, K.G., H.W.G.M.,&o. &c.

FROM India's clime, Avhere pomp and riches sway,Our Prince, our Pride, his presence brings this way.No nobler guest Great Vishnu 's Land e'er saw,An English Prince, Avhose crest's without a flaw.A kindly victor with a maiden sAvord,A knight, with peace to quell the Avorld's discord ;The Future King, above whose earthly crownOur loyal love shall rise to his renown ;And universal will the homage be,From pole to pofc—on either land or sea.A king of peace, a Ruler Avithout Avar,Beloved at Home, and reverenced afar ;Delighting all Avhere peaceful arts excel,And social virtues crown those lov 'd so well.

And this is he, ivho now triumphant comesTo gladden ns Avho dwell in English homes,With hearts as Avarm as India's burning sun ,Proud of our Prince, and glad his journey's done.

The loyal people of a distant land ,With Chief's and Rajahs and a princely band,Have Avarmly welcomed their most Royal Guest,Unto that haflow 'd shrine, Avithin each breast,And , that their feal ty, all the Avorld may kno-v,E'en Avords of prayer from Parsee lips do H OAV ;And kindest greetings to the Queen— "Mama"From sweet Ceylon to lofty Himalaya,Are sent by Indian hearts, that ever feelEnthusiastic for their countrv 's Aveaf .The honour paid our Queen's first Son abroad,At home, Avith sympathy, Ave much applaud.And every subject in this happy land ,Doth Avelcome back the traveller to the strand ,Where tender hearts , and pleasan t presence nigh,With anxious hope, and gentle love beat high.

In future ages let historians tellThe deeds our Prince hath done, and done them well ;The joy ful conqueror of so many heartsAt home, abroad—in earth's remotest parts.Let Legislature always choose such AvaysAs lead to peace, prosperity, aud praise ;A nation , free from the fell yokes of yore,Will bless and love its Rulers evermore.Hygeia, then, Avith smiles shall walk tho land ,The cheering cup of health held in her hand ;And people taught to live a moral lifeWill shun the Avays that work the worst of strife.So be it, thus, in this Victoria's reign ,And future dynasties the rule maintain .Old England then may boast and never cease,If Ave can call our Prince a Prince of Peace ;And his late journey to far HindustanBe but the harbinger of peace to man.With fervent voice our prayers and songs ascend,To the bright realms of bliss above, and blendlo supplicate our Heavenly Father—l'riend.To bless the Prince, now at his jo urney's end.And those that prayed lie safely might sojourn ,NOAV shout for joy at his ' safe return .And happy people o'er the hills and dalesSing from their hearts " God bless the Prince of Wales. '

JOHN SAFFERY, Sheerness-on-Sea.

A Close Hard Man - - - - 80Address of the V. H . and E. Sir Knight Col.

"VV. J. 13. Mo Leod Moore - 206, 290A Funeral Lodge - - - - 371A Mason 's Grave 20Au Historical Account of Blaster and

Freemason - - - 399, 477An Intei-esting Event - - - 370An Italian Count . . . . 502An Oration by Bra. Breekenbridge - - 28An Oration, by Bro. Piuchinat - - 217An Original Dissertation on Public Speaking 9. 69A Song for the Craft - - - 16Assyrian Discoveries - - - 14, i?Assyrian History - - - - 102A Word to the Wise - - - 278

Boggs Mr. - - - - - 232Bro. D. Coxe, the Father of Freemasonry iu

America . .. . 428Bro. Ellis's Sketch of Paradise K. A. Chapter 487Bye-Laws of the York Lodge, No. 236 229. 257

Chronograms and Ghrouophons - - 11Contemporary Letters on the French

Revolution 151, 183, 228, 279, 326, 374,416, 456, 523

Conversation 37Curiosities of the Post Office - - 42*1Dassigny's, Dr., Enquiry - - 9, 62, 111Derivation of the Word " Mason '' - - 472Does the Earth receive Heat from the Sun ? 351Dragoni's Daughter - - - 48, 87Du Role de la Franqmaconnerie daus l'Avenir 512

Early Meetings of the Grand Lodge ofEngland - - - - 261

Extracts from the Minute Book of the R.A.Chapter of Paradise, No. 139 - 447

Fairy Tales utilisied for the NeAV Generation466, 514

Freemasonry and the Early English Guilds 320Freemasonry in Peru - - - 369Freemasonry, its ' Origin, its History and its

¦Design • . . - - 9 8

General Grand Chapter, U. S. A., 1874 - 141Godfrey Higgins on Freemasonry 304, 357, 435

474Growls from Grumblers . - • 303

Henokaby Budgiuton 's Little Dinner - 32Holiday Masons - 465Homeric Troy 44Hotel Incident in the Riviera - - 24HOAV Raihvay Materials are Tested - 510Human Nature 91

Installation of Prince Leopold - - 345

Jerusalem—her Ruins - - 158Judge Masons by their Acts - - 114

Lights and ShadoAvs of Scotch Freemasonry . 173,202, 255, 403, 469

Literary Curiosity - - - 160Live Masonry as well as Teach it - 39

Masonic Odds and Ends 85Masonry 25 Years ago - - - 119May Chepv-OY'th - - - - 317Meal Times 233Miklat , the City of Refuge - - 410Monthly Masonic Summary—1, 41, 81, 121,

161, 201, 249, 297, 345, 393, 441, 489Mozart as a Freemason , - - - 54Muggin's Love Story 65Muriel Halsie - - - - 2Notes on Literature, Science and Art—76, 136,

194, 243, 286, 333, 384, 438, 486, 533Notes on the Old Minute Books of the British

Union Lodge - - 225, 272, 434, 505

Odds and Ends of Wit and Humour 411, 516Ode to Grand Master - - • 175Old Undated Masonic MSS. - - - 131Oration by Bro. Rentoul - - - 418Our Archaeological Corner - ' 156, 187, 339Oysters - - - - - 93

Past, Present, and Future ¦ • - 366Pat Murphy's Dilemma - - - 160POETBT—

A Doubt - - - - 115Aimde . . . . 403An Indian Masonic Welcome - - 254An Original Toast - - 277A Thought on a Summer Sea - - 242A Withered Flower - •• 216Benefit Mankind - • • - 424Catherine of Arragon - - 485

I N D E X

POETRT — continued ,Curfew must not Ring to Niglit - 263Deatfi - - - - 20SGold 536Good Night - - - - 148Half-way Doiu 's - - - 434Heliotrope 2Hope 231Hubert and Ida 60I am Willing to be Tried Again - 4-17Imagining - - - 34Leaving School - - - - 72Let's Welcome the Hour - - 19Light 156Lines on the Marriage of Miss Marwood 406Lines Written in the Album of a Young

Poetess - 224Masonic Progress - - - 157Masonic Song - 139Narrative of an Unrecorded Arctic Ex-

pedition - 186On Her Majesty 's Birthday, May, 187G - 483Only a Christmas Rose - - - 459On the Mountain Top - ¦ 311Saint Hilda's Bells - - - 90Sea-Side Dreamings - - 508Sleeping Beauty - - - 337Sonnets—199, 248, 277, 290, 378, 333, 391,

393, 471, 499The Armagh Bells - - - 357

„ Holy Thorn - - 496„ Last Wish - - 272„ Mason's Daughter - - - 4 7„ Mystic Temple - - 192„ New Year - 283„ Old Friends - - - 536„ Origin of the Corinthian Pillar - 204„ Past - - - - 109„ Young Widow - - - 23

T Spellin' Bee . . . 5_ _To a Snowdrop - 409Together - - - 317To Lois - - - - - 166To My Old Apron - - - 365True Philosophy - - - - 127

Random Recollections of Foreign Travels 162REA'IEWS—Consequences aud Ameliorations of

Blindness - - - 50Guido and Lita - - . - 295The Masque of Pandora and other Poems 340The Way we Live in Now - - 193Worksop, " The DuKery " and Sherwood

Forest - - - - 20

Shadows - . . - 181, 240Shall Masonry be ? - - - - 362Social Problems and their Peaceful Solution 499

The Albert Chapel at Windsor - - 361„ Anti-Masonic Vicar - - - 407„ Art of Proposing - - - 214„ Attack of the Church of Rome on

freemasons - - - 188,, Autobiography of an Old Church WidoAv 95,, Badge of Innocence - - 169„ Comparative Age of om- Masonic MSS. 442„ Duvenger Curse - 106, 128, 166„ " Edinburg h Review " and Freemasonry 42,, Early History and Antiquities of Free-

masonry - - - - 211„ Etruscan Language - - 197„ Family Ghost - - - 199, 246 -„ Freemasons aud Architecture in England 116,

143, 265„ Hon. Mrs. Aldworth - - - 250„ Legend of the Holy Thorn of Glastonbury 490„ Masonic Sign - - - 253„ Meaning and Derivation of Symbol - 391„ Minute Book of the Lodge of Industry 72,

82, 125, 348„ Mistletoe - - - - 205,, Mystic Order 35„ Number of Stars we can see - - 338„ Old Folk's Party - - 420, 4G0,, Origin and References of the Herrne-

sian Spurious Freemasonry—122 , 177,208, 251, 298, 384, 431, 484, 525

„ Palace of the Queen of Sheha - 17, 52„ Site of Solomon's Temple Discovered—292,

313, 379, 436„ Sprig of Acacia - - - 312„ Three It's - - - - 221„ Widow's Stratagem - - - 283„ Women of our Time 324, 367, 426, 453, 503

Treed by a Tiger - - - 349

Under Currents - - - - 270

Waiting - - - - 80Was it a Warning ? - 148What Freemasonry has done - - 110What Happened at a Christmas Gathering - 330,

354Wilson's MSS. - - - - 394Woman's Choice - - - 265, 308

puntljb Ulasouu SniixmsriT.

OUR Royal Grand Master has made liisappearance in Grand Chapter, and hasevinced bis deep interest in our Order, andhis full appreciation of the headship of theEnglish Craft, in Avhat it means and inAvhat it requires. We augur most favour-ably and most Masonically alike for hisconstitutional rule and for the future pro-gress of English Freemasonry. So uni-versal has been the outburst of loyalenthusiasm evoked by the Installation ofthe Prince of Wales, alike in England,Scotland, and Ireland , that Ave were alikepained and startled to read some veryunmasomc remarks on the subje ct recentlyin the " Scottish Freemason's Magazine."We felt much for the Order .in Scot-land , as Ave Avere persuaded that such dis-loyal utterances Avere entirely alien fromthe real sentiments of the Scottish Free-masons. Our contemporary having, to usea common expression , not elegant, butvery significative , "gone a mucker," in-stead of attempting to apologize, proceededto explain and even to defend. He -was aAvise man who said, "never explain ; if youonce begin to explain all's up Avith you."And never Avas adage made more true, ormore perfectly illustrated. The " ScottishFreemason's Magazine " Avent from bad toAvorse, made confusion Averse confounded ,laughed at grammar, despised commonsense, repeated the original offence againstgood taste and fraternal feeling, and "loyaltyand charity," and added to the regret ofevery sound Scottish and English Freemason.We are noAv told that the " Scottish Free-mason's Magazine" —is not. So, thou ghlike Archdeacon Grantly, Ave think thesaying humbug, Ave will repeat here to-day,once for all, and close this most unmasonicchapter in the history of Scottish literaryadventure , "de mortuis nil nisi bonum."Peace to its manes ! Beyond this, theredoes not seem much to say about Free-masonry in general, or in particular.

Freemasonry is like the fag whom, inold days, a cricket ball struck, and Avhom8- kindly prsefect instantly consoled by

saying " a cricket ball never did hurt any-body." True or untrue, the Avickets ofFreemasonry are standing up very straight ,and are not to be bowled either liy a left-hand twister from Cardinal Manning, or aright-hand SIOAV from Monseigneur Ketteler,by a shooter from the Bishop of Orleans,or by a lob from Cardinal Cullen. EvenFio Nono's best delivery does not takeeffect , and there is little fear of any bowlerloAvering them now. Seriously, allocu-tion and brief, polite expletive andangry exordium, and Ultramontan eBillingsgate, come in quick succession ,and the old flag of Ereemasony isbloAvmg out clear and straight, and he willbe a very bold person who ventures ' toendeavour, and a very Avonderful personAvho succeeds in his attempt to haul itdown. Loyalty and charity are emblazonedon our " bit of blue " in lett ers of gold,and like our great poet, and probabl ybrother , William Shakespeare , Ave feelinclined to say, being very combative justIIOAV,"Let all the Avorld 'gainst Masonry come

in arms,They all shall rue,

If Masonry to itself do prove but true."Bro. Captain Boyton has crossed suc-

cessfully from France to England , and hasreceived, as be deserved, Avell earned K-uoos.A writer in the "Times " tells us, (as thereis nothing new under the sun), that hewas anticipated by Dardanus Avho, at thetime of the deluge of Deucalion , havinghis body Avrapt up in a dress of skin in-flated as a leathern bottle, swam Avith theaid of one paddle (fiov-qp ajs), from Saus tothe coast of Troy, Avhere he built thetown of Dardania. He caps this anecdotefrom prehistoric times, Avith a quotationfrom Lycophron.

f f * * _: * " ) ' '* * * * os ._<,_ 6V p a7rT(j ) VKVTZI," OTTOW ITO/DKOS 'IcrTp ievs rerp ao-KeX-js," 'Ao-Kffl povr /p -qs djj .rjj eXvrpwo -a '; Se/^as," 'Pet QvixyiaTins Ke7r</.>os, (is, ev̂ aro."

V. 73-76.A Mr. Heckethorn has published a His-

tory of Secret Societies, Avhich, hoAveverA

pretentious, is more superficial thanauthoritative. We do not gather from thetwo volumes anything that we did notknow before, and Ave miss many names ofsecret societies of which little authentichas as yet transpired , and about which Aveshould be very glad to be enlightened.One of the modern ideas of bookmakiugis—a very mistaken one, by the way—collect as many cuttings as you can , threadthem together with a running text ofcommentary, and you produce a book oforiginal research. Sad mistake for thewriter, and intense suffering for the stu-dent. Instead of the calm, reality of ori-ginal research, and carefully collatedauthorities, you have to put up with thohurried compilation of the daily leader,or of the sensational writer of a review, com-posed for a special journal , not writtenexactly in the interests of judicial truth ,but spiced or coloured for clique or coterie.One signal feature in Mr. fleckethorn'sAvork is—whether intentional or unin-tentional Ave knoAv not—th e entire accor-dance of bis vieAVs Avith the Jesuit andUltramontane scribes of the hour in theiroften fierce and ahvays foolish invectivesagainst Freemasonry. There is nothing tooabsurd for some Avriters to put forth justnOAV. Witn ess that German or Italian AbbeAvho contends gravely that Ave are the suc-cessors of Manichcean heretics . Is theAvish father to the thought? And doesthe good man believe that Ave are ready forthe burning ? Surely Ave may Avish him—well, better information and a little morecharity. ED.

HELIOTROPE.

HOAV strong they are, those subtle spellsThat lurk in leaves and floAver-bells,

Rising from faint perfumes ;Or mingling Avith some olden strain .Strike th rough the music shaits of pain,

And people empty rooms.

They come upon us nnaAvare,In crowded halls and open air,

And in our chambers still :A song, an odour , or a bird,Evokes the spell , and strikes the chord,

And all our pulses thrill ,

I loitered but an hour ago,With lagg ing footsteps tired and SIOAV,

Along the garden Avalk :The summer twilight wrapped me roundThrough open AvindoAvs came the sound ,

Of song and pleasant talk.

The odour-stealing deAvs lay AvetAnd heavy on the mignonette

That crept about my feet :Upon the folded mossy vestThat clothed the ruby-roses' breast,

It fell in droppings SAveet.

It fell on beds of purple bloom ,From Avhence arose the rare perfume

Of dainty heliotrope ;Which smote my heart Avi th sudden

power,My favourite scent, my favourite flower,

In olden days of hope !

Ah, me ! the years have come and gone,Each Avith its melody or moan,

Since that sunshiny hour,When, for the sake of hands that brought,And for the lesson SAveet it tau ght,

I chose it for my flower .

Faint-scented blossoms I long agoYour purple clusters came to shoAv

My life had wider scope ;They spoke of love that day—to nightI stand apart from love's delight ,

And Avear no heliotrope.

Between to-night and that far day,Lie life's bri ght noon and twilight grey,

But I have lived through both :And if before my paling faceThe midnight shadoAvs fall apace,

I see them, nothing loth.

Only to-night that faint perfumeReminds me of the lonely gloom

Of life outlivin g hope :I wish I had been far to-night,What time the deAV fell, silver-Avhite

Upon the heliotrope !All the Year Round.

MURIEL HALSIE.

(Continued from page 367.)WEAK and worn Avith illness, Muriel satin an easy chair by the open AvindoAV of ¦

Miss Morton's sitting-room at Newcombe ;th ough her eyes Avere closed, she Avas notsleeping, for tears were trembling on herdark lashes, and dropping sloAvly doAvnher pale, thin cheeks. Miss Morton hadgone over to the Rectory to report herreturn from Rocksend, leaving Murielalone, to rest. Her friend had only lefther a short time when the servant an-nounced a visitor, from whom Muriel Avouldgladly have fled had she possessed thestrength , but Aveakness held her fast, andthere Avas no escape. The greeting of theneAV comer, too—for it was Erie Forbes—Avas not one to still the nervous tremblingof her heart.

" Muriel , my darling, are you better ?and his eyes searched her face Avith a ten-der yearning of love and pity that said farmore than words.

" Yes," so low as to be scarcely audible,was her only answer.

" Muriel, do you know Avhy I am here?"he asked, seating himself by her side, andtaking her hand in his ; then , withoutAvaiting for a reply, he Avent on—" I amcome to tisk you if you love me—if youwill be my Avife ? I have known for a longtime that I love you, but now—ever sincethe day I so nearly lost you for eA7er—Ifeel that life will be a blank Avithout yourlove—that you make up the sum of myhappiness. Muriel, dearest, Avhat is youransAver 1"

" It cannot be," she murmured. " For-get what you have said, and—me."

" Why 1 " he asked, in pained surprise." Think of your sister's social prejudices

—th e difference in our positions—you,who might marry the richest heiress in thecountry, if you liked."

"But I don't like," he said, smilingagain. " For riches, I Avant my wife tobring me but the pure love of a true heart :such Avill be enough for me—-it will be myhappiness to supply all secondary needs.It never was intended that a Avife shouldbe independent of her husband. As tosocial prejudices, I marry to please mysel fnot the Avorld ; and as for position , believeme, Muriel , I have too much family prideof my ov*n to disgrace myself. Rememberthat you are the daughter of an officer. "

" And your nieces' governess," she added,quickly.

" What of that 1 Is it any disgrace 1"and Eric drew himself up proudly.

She did not ansAver." Muriel , if you kneAV how I love you,

you Avould not say me nay."" Forget me—forget me!" she said ,

faintly." [ cannot ! Farewell , Muriel , you have

sent me away with a sorrowful heart—witha wound you alone can heal I"

He rose to leave the room ; she sprangforward.

" Do not go ; one moment!'Eric turned quickly, his face radiant." Mr. Forbes, I have never, I so want

to thank you for saving my life ! let menow, if I can ;" and she held our her hand.

His face clouded again." No," he said ; " don't offer me Avords

that mean nothing."" When I would rather thank him than

anyone else in the Avorld," she murmured .If he had heard, he took no heed, and,

striding from the room, closed the doorfiercely after him ; Avhile Muriel for a mo-ment stood still in dismay, and then sankinto her chair Avith a strange feeling ofpain creeping round her heart.

The brightest sunshine earth can givehad come to her that day, but she had al-lowed false pride and mistaken duty to barthe Avay and shut it out of her life.

When Miss Morton returned home totea, she found her patient unaccountabl yAverse, and insisted on her immediatelygoing to bed . Only too glad to avoid thequestionings of her friend , Muriel willinglycomplied. Nor Avas the visi t of EricEorbes mentioned betAveen them for somedays. Muriel could only surmise that itAvas knoAvn.

" Muriel, I want to have a little talkAvith you."

The tAvo ladies Avere .sitting together atthe open window, twilight Avas deepeningfast, a young moon, newly risen above thetrees, made bars of light across the carpet ,a pleasant scent of mignonette was waftedinto the room, and in the ash tree on thelaAvn a blackbird was singing his good-night song. They had been silent so longthat the sudden exclamation startledMuriel . "A little talk," she thought , halfin fri ght.

" Of course you know that Eric ForbesI has set sail V said Miss Morton.I Anoth er start "JSTo."

A 2

" I am sure you are cold, Muriel ; let meget you a shawl. That is the second timeI have seen you shiver."'' Indeed I am not cold. Please sit still."Miss Morton leant back in her chair

again ." Yes, Eric has sailed ; gone to America,

for nobody ICIIOAVS IIOAV long, and left hispoor old father nearly brok en-heartedabout him.

"What has it to do Avith me?" saidMuriel, angrily.

"Everything," answered her friend ;" and you knoAv it, Muriel I" she added ,with some indignation.

Muriel made no answer, and Miss Mor-ton spoke again, earnestly.

"Why did you not accept his offer ?"" You knoAv quite well, Avithout asking

me," Muriel replied, impatiently." Ah, true j so I do I You prefer to be

dependent on your sister's husband ratherthan on a husband of your OAVU. Muriel;for so sensible a girl, your decision is mostfoolish !"

Miss Morton Avas sarcastic, but she putthe matter in a IIOAV and certainly not verypleasant light. Muriel had not thought ofCaptain Ferroll at all in the matter, onlyof her sister. After a brief silence—

" I can still be a governess," she said ;"then I shall be independent of every-body."

"That Avill not be pleasant for Mrs.Ferroll, of Welhvood, even if she agrees toit—which I doubt," rejoined Miss Morton.

" Why should I be forced to marry ?"asked Muriel, pettishly.

But her friend did not think that re-mark worth ansAvering.

" I suppose I ought to marry him," saidMuriel , presently,- " but it Avould not addto my happiness or to his either, to hearsuch remarks as ' Oh, she Avas only a go-verness !' ' He married very much beneathhim !' and so on. Still, he saved my lif e,so I suppose I ought to devote it to him,and leave after consequences lo take careof themselves."

" If you look at him in that light, thefisherman 's son is the person you shouldmarry ; he discovered and0took you off theledge."

" It was Mr. Forbes Avho insisted on thesearch ; so it must be to him my life isdue."

"As you like," said Miss Morton , smil-

ing at the absurdity of the conversation."If he asks me again, I Avill say 'Yes;'but then he can't if he is in America."

" He can return , I suppose."" Oh, of course ; but ah, Christie Avill

be home before that, and I shall be withher at Welhvood. There nobody willknoAv that I was a governess."

"Nobody and everybody are the bug-bears of your existence, Muriel. Do youknoAv that I am not inclined to think veryhighly of your love for your father orChristie,"

" Dear Miss Morton, Avhy not ?"" If I Avere Colonel Halsie's daughter, or

Christie's sister, I should think myself theequal of any man that might ask me tomarry him."

Another ray of light for Muriel ! Fora long time she sat gazing thoughtfully outof the AvindoAV ; then she turned to MissMorton—

" You have opened my eyes at last," shesaid, Avith a bright flush. " I begin to seethe difference between false pride and true.What a foolish girl you must thinkme!"

"You are not foolish, but the line otconduct you have chosen to folloAv is a falseone. And now , Muriel , I want to ask youone question before Ave close our chat—Do you love Eric Eorbes?"

" If I did not, I should not have actedas I have," she ansAvered, Avith a rosy flush." My pride was as much on his account asmy OAvn—perhaps more."

" Then, if he asked you again, you wouldgive him a different ansAver ? "

" He Avill not, dear Miss Morton. Youforget that men have more pride thanAvomen."

" There is not a gram of false pride abouthim. He is true as steel."

" Do you think that he can forgive me?"asked Muriel, shyly, the crimson of hope,which the darkness hid, mounting to cheekand brow.

" He Avill neA*er acknoAvledge your needof forgiveness," answered her friend, closingthe Avindow as she spoke. "NOAV, child,we will ring for lights and have supper. "

It was summer-time again. CaptainFerroll and his Avife had been six monthsin England, and Avere comfortably estab-lished at Welhvood, Avhere Muriel, too,found a happy home. From Miss Morton

she heard frequently; and sometimes herkind old friend Avould forward certainAmerican letters which made her eyesbright, her voice merry for days,

In a dainty room—half nursery, halfboudoir—overlooking the park, sat thesisters one sunny June day—Christie, blue-eyed and golden-haired, with a tiny, white-robed creature on her knees ; Muriel seatedon the floor, amusing Avith some toys achild of two years old. It Avas a prettypicture ; and so thought Captain Ferroll,as he stood for a moment unobserved inthe doorway.

" Another letter from Newcombe, Mu-riel, he said, coming forward and droppingthe missive into her lap . "I found it atthe post-office just now."

She opened it quickly—tAvo letters inone day AY ere unusual.

" Dear Muriel,—I have lust heard thatEric sets sail for home in the ' Europa ' onSaturday next .—Your affectionate , A.M."

They Avere but feAV Avords, yet theybrought a light to the girl's dark eyes anda smile to her lip.

The days IIOAV seemed longer than usualto Muriel.

" I am very silly," she thought ; " Ihave no right to think that he will seekme again—at least, not on purpose. Cir-cumstances may throw me in his Avay ;perhaps then—"

But at that point she ahA-ays stoppedabruptly; even to herself she felt shy toOAVU her hope. It may be that she thoughtherself scarcely worthy of so much goodfortune, or that she had too lightly throAvnaAvay her happiness to so easily regain it.

" A bonne bouche for your breakfast—the' Europa ' is in at last!" exclaimed CaptainFerroll one morning, looking over his paperat Muriel , and laughing merrily. "Christie,Ave shall have company to-morroAV."

" Very likely," said Christie, coolly, tak-ing pity on her sister's confusion. "Ithink you told me you had asked theArchers to dinner."

" Yes," he ansAvered, rising with anotherlittle laugh ; " and UOAV I shall ride overto Newcombe and invite Miss Morton."

_ Muriel escaped. With her hands pressedtightly over her beating heart, she stoodat her windoAv, joy and fear struggling forthe mastery . '•' Was he really coming ?Was he coming back to her 1" And then ,when she could not answer herself— al.

though in her heart something spoke affirm-atively—she laid her head doAvn upon thesunny windoAV-sill and sobbed herself intocalmness.

" A man in love does not let trifles standin his Avay." So confessed Capt. Ferroll ;but he Avondered hov* Erie Forbes managedto reach Welhvood Avithin twelve hoursafter landing; yet so it Avas, and all Muriel'sdoubts and fears Avere speedily put to fli ghtin the certainty of Eric's love.

It Avas midsummer, and the sea at EndyBay looked, under the bright full moon,j ust as it had looked one summer nighttAvo years before ; nothing Avas changed—even the same fishermen were there puttingout to sea in their boats. And yet howdifferent it all looked to Muriel—howmuch brighter.

"Eric," she said, placing her hand onher husband's arm, " Eric, I think this isthe prettiest place in the world."

He laughed, looking incredulous. "Waittill you have seen prettier.

" But I neA'er shall. Oh, Eric, my love,my love, if you had not forgiven me."

" Little Avife, don't you think I studiedmy own happiness better than that?"added Eric ; adding presently, with a smile," I suppose you knoAv that you have neverthanked me yet for taking you off thoserocks yonder ?"

" I will thank you all my life, dear," sheansAvered, in a half whisper.

In a moment his arms were round her,her head was on his breast.

" My darling, this is thanks enough ," hesaid, and kissed her .

A.S.D., in Voice of Masonry, U.S.

DR. DASSIGNY'S ENQUIRY,

(Continued from page B7'2.)" That accordingly prince Edwin sum-

" moned all the Masons in the realm to" meet him in a congregation at York,*" Avho came and composed a General Lodge," of which he was Grand Master, and." having brought Avith them all the Avrit-" ings and records extant, Avhich Avere in

* I am informed in that city is held an assemblyof Master Masons under the title of Royal ArchMasons, Avho as their qualifications and excellenciesare superior to others they receive a larger paythan Avorking Masons ; but of this more hereafter,

(: Greek, Latin, French , and other langu-" ages, from the contents thereof they!: framed the constitutions and charges of" a Lodge, made a laAV to preserve and" observe the same in all time coming, and" ordained good pay for Avorking Masons,¦' &c. Hal.

'' That in process of time Avhen Lodges" became numerous, the right Avorshipful" the Master and Fello\A*s, with consent of" the Lords of the realm, (for most great" men Avere then Masons) ordained , that" for the future at the making or admission" of a Brother, the constitution should be" read , and the charges hereunto annexed" by the Master or Warden, aud that such" as Avere to be admitted Master Masons" or Masters of the Avork should be ex-" amined Avhether they be able of cunning" to serve their respective Lords, as ivell'' the lowest as the highest, to the honour" and Avorship of the aforesaid art, and to" the profit of their Lords ; for they be" their Lords AVIIO pay them for their ser-" vice and travel .

" And besides many other things the" said record adds, that those charges and" LIAVS of Free Masons have been seen and" perused by our late sovereign king Henry" VI. and by the lords of his honourable" council , Avho baA*e alloAved them, and said" that they be good right and seasonable" to be holden as they have been drawn" out and collected fro m the records of" antient times."*

* In another manuscri pt more antient we read,that when the Master and Wardens meet in aLodge, if need be, the sheriff of the county, mayorof the city or an alderman of the town, in whichthe congregation is held should be made fellowand sociate to the Blaster, in help of him againstrebells and for upbearing the rights of the realm.

That entered apprentices at their making werecharged not to be thieves, or thieves maintainors ,that they should travel honestly for their pay, andlove their fellows as themselves, and be true tothe King of England , to the realm and to the Lodge.

That at such congregations it shall be enquired ,whether any Master or FelloAV hath broke any ofthe articles agreed to; and if the offender, beingduly cited to appear , prove rebel and will notattend , then the Lodge shall determine ag insthim that he shah forswear or renounce his Ma-sonry, and shall no more use this Craft, the whichif he presume for to do, the sheriff of the countyshall imprison him and take all his goods into theICings hands till his grace be granted him audissued : for this cause principally have these con-gregations been ordained , that as Avell the lowestas the highest should be well and truly served inthe art aforesaid throughout the kingdom. A menso mote it be.

NOAV although in the reign of KingHenry VI. Avhile an infant a certain act ofparliament passed affecting only the Avork-ing Masons, who had contrary to thestatutes for labourers combined togethernot to Avork, but at their own prices, yetas it Avas supposed that such confederaciesAvere formed in the general Lodges, theythought it expedient to level the said actagainst Masons holding themselves inchapters and congregations *. But Avhenthe said king arrived to man's estate, andthe records and charges were laid beforehim and some of his lords (AVIIO then musthaA*e incorporated themselves with thatantient fraternity) they AA*ere solemnlyapproved of as good and fit to be holden.

But as there Avas not a single instance ofthe acts being put into execution in thator any other reign, the brethren con tinuedto hold their Lodges, and thought it notworth their Avhile to employ their nobleand eminent Brethren to have it repealed ;because Avorking Masons, AVIIO are free of aLodge, scorn to be guilty of any combina-tion, and others accepted Masons have noconcern in the trespasses against statutesfor labourers.}

The kings of Scotland very muchencouraged the Royal Art, from the earliesttime doAA-n to the union of the crowns,Avhere Lodges were kept up Avithout inter-ruption, Avhose records testify the greatregard those King:- paid to the honorablefraternity, who always give undeniableeA'idences of their loA'e and loyalty, fromAvhence sprung the old toast amongst ScotsMasons, via. GOD bless the King and theCraft. This royal example Avas followed

* Tertio Heurici vi. Cap. I. An Dom. 1425 Co.inst. 3. p. 99.

f It is to be remarked that this act was formedwhen solid learning was a crime, and Geometrycondemned for conjuration ; whei-efore the ignor-ance of these times are so apparent , that traditioninforms us that parliament men Avere influenced bythe illiterate clergy, who understood neither thesecrets of the Craft, nor true Architecture ; butapprehending that they had an indefeasible rightto the secrets of the people by auricular confession ,Avere strongly disgusted that the Masons shouldpreserve their grand benefits and valuable privi-leges from them ; whereupon they representedthem as dangerous to the state, and artfully per-swaded the members of both houses to make anact which might reflect dishonour even upon thewhole Fraternity. But the opinion of the greatjud ge Coke % clears all our doubts in regard to thestatutes against Masons.

1 Tide Co. inst part 3. fol 99.

by the nobility, gentry, and clergy, ofScotland, who with the utmost assiduityj oined in the promotion of the Craft andBrotherhood , and so great a deference waspaid to that noble order, that the GrandMaster and Warden received an annualstipend from the crown as also an acknoAV-Iedgment from every HOAV Brother in thekingdom at entrance, AVIIO had power notonly to regulate Avhatever might happenamiss in the neighbourhood , but also tohear and finally determine all controversiesbetAveen Mason and Lord, to punish theMason if he deserved it, and to oblige bothto equitable terms ; and this privilegeremained until the unfortunate civil Avars,yet the great care the Scots took to pre-serve true Masonry proved afterwards veryadvantageous to Eng land.

The learned and magnanimous QueenElizabeth beginning her reign in trouble-some times, Avas diffident of her subjectsholding private assemblies, she thereforeattempted to dissolve the annual commu-nication of Free-Masonry as dangerous toher government and being a woman couldnot be introduced into the fraternity ; butshe thought it necessary to commissionsome noble persons to pay a visit to theLodge at York, where being admitted, theythrew aside their arms aud returned theQueen a most honourable account of theantient fraternity, whereby her politicalfears and doubts Avere removed, and she letthem alone as a people much respected bythe noble and Avise of all political nations.

U pon her demise king James the VI. ofScotland succeeded to the crown of Eng-land, (ivho Avas mason King) revived theEnglish Lodges, and as he Avas the firstking of Great Britain, he was also the first-prince in the world that recoA*ered RomanArchitecture from the ruins of Gothic ignor-ance. For after many illiterate ages, Avhenlearning again its drooping head uplifted,and the science of Geometry recovered itsground , the polite nations then began todiscover the confusion and impropriety ofthe Gothick Buildings, and in the 15 and16 centuries the Augustan stile Avas raisedfrom its rubbish in Italy, by many brightArchitects, but more particularly by theGreat Palladia , who tho' not imitatedthere, Avas justly rival'd in England by ourGreat Master Mason Inigo Jones.

And notwithstanding all true Masonspay due honour to the memories of those

Italian Architects, yet the Augustan stileAvas not revived by any crowned headbefore king James the first of England,Avho employed the said glorious Inigo Jonesto build his royal palace of White hall ; andupon the king s demise his son Charles theI, being also a Mason king, intended tocarry on his royal father's design accordingto Mr. Jones's stile, but Avas unhappilydiverted by the civil Avars, and it is allowedby all skillful Architects, that MasterJones 's designs and erections are originals,and at first view discover his mighty geniusin Architecture, for which he was as muchhonoured by the nobility and gentry ofScotland as of England.

Masonry could not help feeling the dis-mal effects of the wars in those times, butAvhen the royal family Avas restored and ageneral peace proclaimed throughout thenation, it then began to flourish again, asappears by the productions of Sr. ¦Chris-topher Wren and Sr. William Bruce, AvhofolloAved the inimitable designs of MasterInigo Jones.

In tne reign of king James the II. theLodges of Free Masonry in London,dwindled into ignorance, for Avant of beingduly frequented and properly cultivated ;but after the revolution anno 1688, theglorious King William, tho' a Avarlikeprince, had an excellent taste of Architec-ture, Avhich is evidently proved by hiscarrying on the buildin g of the tAvo famoushospitals, Greenwich and Chelsea, togetherwith the palace of Hampton Court, Loo inHolland , &c, and the bright example ofthat prince influenced the learned of GreatBritain to affect the Augustan style, asappears by the stately edifices erected sincethroughout the kingdom of England andIreland , not only in the reign of QueenAnne, but likeAvise in that of King Georgethe I. and his Eoyal successor, the presentmajesty of these Realms, whom GOD longpreserve.

To descr.be the mighty influence of theCraft of Free-Masonry in every age, andin every nation since the beginning of theAvorld, Avould require many volumes ; butAvere it expedien t, it could easily be provedthat the knights of Malta and many otherreligious orders and societies, did borrowtheir solemn usages from our ancient fra-ternity, who can with the utmost truthassert that no set of men can be betterinstituted, more decently installed, or

Avhose laAvs and charges in general havebeen more sacredly observed ; and tho' wehave maintained and propagated our con-cernments in a method peculiar to our-selves, which hath hitherto resisted theviolent attempts of the most learned andcunning in all ages, who have by severalmeans strove to steal our secrets from us,Avhile neither the loss of speech or the wantof knoAvledge in different languages couldprevent us from knowing and Wing oneanother.

Having now described the antiquity ofthe Royal Art, and the honours paid tothe Craftsmen by the learned and noble ofall ages (for the most part of which parti-culars I confess myself indebted to theseveral tracts of Historical Masonryprinted both in London and Dublin) Ishall proceed to enquire into the cause ormotive of its institution, Avhich will appearmore plain hereafter Avhen we take a viewof the principles of the Craft , and thebenefits arising from a strict observancethe reof; but in the meantime shall informyou that without Masonry the world wouldhave afforded a rude and irregular prospect,and its inhabitants liable to the seA'erity ofinclement seasons, to the raging dogstar 'sheat and piercing cold, to the greedy sav-age, Avhose voice in sounds, ungrateful tohuman ears, thro' all the forest rings, andto the daring insults and bold attempts ofaspiring Avarnours, Avhile liy masons artmajestic piles arise to defend mankind , andnature unpolished owns its harmonious andfriendly influence. By Masons art reli-gious domes appear, where the AlmightyArchitect is worshipped in spirit and intruth .

By Masons art the avaritious miser openshis iron bounded breast, and feels compas-sion's tender warmth .

By Masons art the injurious and unrulytongue -falls doAvn before the thron e ofaAvful silence ; and readily submits to hercommands.

By Masons art the wings of loose desireare clipped, and the lascivious mindrefrained from all immodest and unlawfulbents.

By Masons art the puny fop (mankindsdisgrace) rejects a vain and gaudy outsideand gladly accepts of more valuable andpermanent furniture Avithin.

By masons art ensigns of state andprincel y ornaments (the nursery of pride.

where ambition keeps her lofty seat) asuseless toys by free born sons meet withdisdain, since they can boast of a morelasting glory who are

Ennobled by the name they bear,*Distinguished by the badge they wear.By Masons art impartial justice her

equal balance holds, and fraud oppressiveoAvns her gentle SAvay.

Since then by this noble art so manyextraordinary advantages accrue, I presumeit Avill of consequence be granted, that theAvelfare and good of mankind Avas thecause or motive of so grand an institution(no art yet ever being so extensively use-ful) which not only tends to protect themfrom external injuries, but to polish therusty dispositions of iniquitous minds andto detain them Avithin the limited andpleasant bounds of true religion, moralityand virtue .

In the next place I shall beg leave totreat of the principles of the Craft , whichI hope Avill meet Avith a just admirationbecause they Avere founded upon religion,morality, Brotherly-love, and good fellow-ship.

A Mason is obliged by his tenure tobelieve firmly in the true Worship of theEternal GOD, as Avell as in all those sacredrecords Avhich the dignitaries, fathers, andapostles of the church have compiled andpublished for the use of christians ; forthat no one who rightly understands theart can possibly tread in the irreligiouspaths of the unhappy libertine, or be in-duced to folloAv the arrogant professors ofatheism . or deism ; neither is he to bestained Avith the gross errors of blindsuperstition, but may have the liberty ofembracing Avhat faith he shall think pro-per, provided at all times he pays a duereference to his Creator, and by the worlddeals with honour and honesty, eA'er makingthat golden precept the standard rule ofhis actions, Avhich engages to do unto allmen as he would they should do unto him.For the Craft , instead of entering into idleand unnecessary disputes, concerning thedifferent opinions and persuasions of men,admits into the fraternity all that are goodand true, Avhereby it hath become the cen-ter of union, and hath brought about themeans of reconcilliation amongst persons,AVIIO Avithout that assistance, Avould haveremained at a perpetual variance.* Vide fellow Crafts song by Bro . G. Delasay, Esq.

AN ORIGINAL DISSERTATION ONPUBLIC SPEAKING.

BY BRO. EJtRA HOLMES.

(Continued from Zi7.)Delivered in the TOAVU Hall, Colchester ,

before the Members of the Y.M.C.A.See Hamlets celebrated address to the

players (act 3, scene 2).The Greeks Avere so nice in points of

eloquence, and so offended with a viciouspronunciation that they would not sufferthe public crier to proclaim their lawsunless he was accompanied by a musician,who, in case of aA*icious tone, might be readyto give him the proper pitch and expression.It Avould seem that the toAvn criers ofclassic story could boast of a degree oforatorical propriety, from which theirmodern successors must have sadly de-generated. What would have became ofthe Colchester TOAVU Bellman in thosedays ?

Attention to the rising and falling in-flections, proper accentuation, distinctutterance, and such animation as usesappropriate action and gesture—these arethe great things to study in a speaker.

Bro. Ernra Holmes, alluding to the ludi-crous effects of a Avrong accent , instanceda case in point, Avhere he heard a clergymanonce iu church reading the story of the oldprophet say—" And he said, saddle me theass. And they saddled him."

As to action and declamation, Barron,the French Garrick, speaking of acting,said :—

" Rules may teach us not to raise thearms above the head, but if passion carriesthem, it will be Avell done. Passion knoAvsmore than art."

Massillon, the great French preacher, sofar affected Barron Avith one of his magni-ficent sermons, as to force the confessionfrom him to one of his companions :—

"My friend ,"said he, "this is an orator,Ave are only actors ! " I suppose, thelecturer continued , to be really readyspeakers Ave should adopt Fox's plan (orwas it Pitt 's?) to get up wh enever op-portunity offered , aud speak upon thesubject then introduced, Avhether Ave knewmuch or little about it.

The excellent impromptu speech planof the Ipswich Mutual Impro vementSociety, introduced on stated occasions, is

well worthy of imitation in similar institu-tions elsewhere, as tending to make readyspeakers.

I had the pleasure once of attending oneof these gatherings. Questions were pro-pounded by any one amongst the audience,and five or six of the members volunteeredto speak on the subject given to them.

The questions, Avhich Avere Avritten downon slips of paper, Avere put into a hat withthe names of the impromptu speakers onsimilar slips.

They Avere draAvn out at random, as isthe fashion at lotteries , and Avhicheverquery fell to the lot of each member, hehad at once to get up, and Avithout thesmallest ]:>reparatior., speak upon thequestion then introduced.

If I remember rightly, the questions andsubjects suggested aud proposed were thefolloAving :—

1st. Are class distinctions a necessity inhighly civilised society ?

2. Satire !3. What does Ireland want ?

(Rather a Avide question , and one thatis found to be rather difficult to answer),

4. Is it right to kill for sport ?5. Beards and moustaches IThese questions and subjects have no

lack of variety at all events, and they Averefor the most part very fairly treated.

As the speeches Avere perforce extemporein the most ample sense, and by juniormembers, they no doubt were sketchy andsomeAvhat wanting in finish , but theyafforded considerable amusement, andserved the purpose for Avhich they Avere in-tended, viz., to create ready speakers.

After all, there is more in the methodof delivery, than in the thing itself. Greatorators' speeches are often poor Avhen re-duced to writing. Josh Billings says, "thepower of oratory lays more in the mannerthan in the matter ; you can t reduceit to Avriting any more than you can p laya streak of lightning on a hand organ /"The great art of speaking well is to be enrapport , as the mesmerists say, with youraudience; to know what it likes ; when it ispleased, and when it is tired ; and thegreatest art of all is, perhaps , to know whento stop.

The usefulness of attending to what alate M.P. of my acquaintance calls suckingpeoples' brains as bogs suck eggs, is anotherthing worth remembering by a would-be

speaker. Some brilliant orators get mostof their information as it Avere at secon dhand in this Avay, Avhich is the reason theyare always brilliant and never profound.Speaking of the great art , and a great artit is, of knowing Avhen to stop (perhapssome of the readers of the "MasonicMagazine " are already thinking that thelecturer himself might take a lesson), Iwould not have men , like a sheep's-head,all jaw, nor should they be brought up totalk a horse's hind leg off , to use a com-mon expression.

By no means. But surely it must beadmitted that that man is a more usefulmember of society Avho can address a familygathering at a Aveddin g breakfast withoutmaking himself the laughing stock of thecompany ; Avho can preside worthily overan assemblage of his felloAV townsmenwithout reminding us forcibly of thatilliterate personation of fatuous grand-iloquence, Shakespeare's chief constablein Much Ado about Nothing—MasterDogberry ; AVIIO can enliven other thanpot-shop audiences Avith the fertility of hisAvit, the richness of his humour, and thepoAvers of his pathos, in exciting joy andsorro w, laughter and tears ; I say it mustbe admitted that he is a more useful mem-ber of society AVIIO can speak readily, calmly,temperately and Avith effect Avhen suddenlycalled upon so to do, either before amultitude, or only in converse Avith a fewfriends, than he who bungles andflounders OA'er a vote of thanks to theperformers at a concert, Avho utters thefeeblest inanities, the poorest platitudes ,Avhen asked to respond to the toast of, letus say, the Army and Navy, or Church andState, at a public dinner, or AVIIO stammersand stumbles over the presentation tothe superintendent of the SundaySchool.

Wherever there is not a debating societyahead}* in existence, the young men shouldform one and learn by practice the art ofspieaking well.

Readiness of repartee, which is of itselfa great gift, is almost necessary in an ex-temporaneous speaker.

The following anecdote may not be outof place as illustrative of its effects :

In the debate on the Occasional Con-formity and Schism Bills in the House ofLords, in December, 1718, they were verywarmly opposed by Atterbury, Bishop of

Rochester , who said he had prophesied lastwinter this bill would be attempted in thepresent session, and he was sorry to findlie had proved a true prophet. LordConnigsby, AVIIO always spoke in a rage,rose immediately after the Bishop, andremarked that one of the Right Reverendshad set himself forth as a prophet, but forhis part he did not know what prophet toliken him to, unless to that famous prophetBalaam, who loas reproved by his own ass.The Bishop, in reply, Avith great wit andcalmness exposed his rude attack , conclud-ing in these words : " Since the noble Lordhath discovered in our manner such simili-tude , I am Avell content to be comparedto the prophet Balaam ; but, my Lords, Iam at a loss how to make put the otherpart of the paral lel. I am sure I havebeen reproved by nobody but his Lordship "From that day forth, Lord Connigsby Avascalled Atterbury's ass.

This reminds me of another, an in-stance of Curran and the Judge—I believeit was Lord Norbury or Lord Clare.Whilst Curran Avas speaking, a donkeybrayed outside the court. The Judge, whonever missed an opportunity of galling thegreat advocate, whom he hated , looked upand said, " One at a time, if you please I "Curran took no notice, but during a pauseAvhen the Judge Avas summing up, thedonkey brayed again, and Curran , lookingup Avith feigned astonishment, said : " Didyour Lordship speak ?"

Speaking of Curran reminds me ofanother ancedote, shoAving the keenness ofhis satire told of his passages of arms - withLord Clare, who never lost a chance ofsi) ubbing an d insultingthe eminent barrister.One day Avhen it Avas known that Curranwas to make an elaborate argument inChancery, the Chancellor brought in agreat Newfoundland dog Avith him, placedhim on the bench, and during the progressof the argument lent his ear much moreto the dog than to the barrister.

At last the Chancellor seemed to loseall regard for appearances, for propriety,and decorum ; he turned himself quiteaside in the most material part of the caseand began in full court to fondle theanimal.

Curran stopped short." Go on , go on, Mr. Curran ," said Lord

Clare. "Oh ," replied Curran , "I bega thousand pardons, my Lord. I really

took it for granted that your lordsh ip Avasemployed in consultation. "

A debating society in a smal l, or, forthe matter of that , a large toAvn is a greatnursery for young politicians and embryoorators ; in fact, debating societies are themaking of our public speakers, and shouldbe supported by mechanics' institutes ,working men's colleges, and societies similarto your OAVU, eA'eryAvhere.

Many of our parliamentary orators tracetheir power as speakers to the trainingthey received in the debating clubs of ourUniversities, and one or tAvo I believe tosuch mutual improvement societies as thatat Ipswich, to which I have already alluded.

Hie late Lord Brougham Avas a Avarmadvocate of such institutions, and so isJohn Bright, than Avhom there is nogreater orator in England.

Yes, John Bright has, I belieA'e, spokenwarmly in favour of mutual improvementand discussion classes as a means ofcultivating the art of public speaking. Toall young men then who haA*e a. spark ofambition in them to iniproA'e their powersof speech, I say, join the firs t discussionclass or debating club, or kindred institu-tion you come aceross. Join some debat-ing society—unless it meets in a tap-room.

Young men, join your local debating-society if there is one, and if not , organiseone at once, and if you do not find your-selves improved in the noble art of speech—say twelve months hence, the fault w*i 11not be in the society, but in the debaters.

And then, AVIIO knows, perhaps some onefrom this assembly may one day rise inhis place to address Parliament , the greatdebating society of Avhich Ave are so justlyproud. It Avas Sidney Smith AVIIO said," the free parliament of a free people is thenative soil of eloquence , and in thatsoil will it eA*er flourish and abound."

When Ave think of the grand names oforators Avho have awakened the echoes inthat great place ; of Burke, of Fox, WilliamPitt, aud his great father the Earl ofChatham , of Sheridan , and of a multitudeof others Avhom I could name, AVIIO haveelectrified their hearers Avith the torrentsof impassioned oratory which have flowedfrom their eloquent lips ; when Ave mentionthe names of such great speakers anddebaters as Lord Derby, Disraeli , Glad-stone, Lord Salisbury, the late Bishop ofWinchester, John Bright, the late Lord

Lytton, and the silver-tongued Coleridge,Ave catch a gloAv of the enthusiasm Avhichprompts the actions of their folloAvers, Avefeel a laudable ambition, perhaps, to beamongst the mighty orators Avho sway thedestinies of this mighty Empire Avhereonthe sun never sets.

The House of Lords contains noAV, per-haps, more great speakers than the Houseof Commons ; but let it be remembered theHouse of Commons is not composed oforators. Far from it . I fear Ave are much inthe same position IIOAV that they were AvhenSydney Smith, speaking of the longdebates in Parliament in his daj*, said :" Why do not people remember the flood ?If they had lived before it with thepatriarchs they might have talked anystuff they pleased , but do let them re-member IIOAV little time they have underthe new order of things."

His remedy for putting a stop to theinterminable speeches in the House ofCommons is worth remembering? : "Don 'ttalk to me of not being able to cough aspeaker down , try the whooping cough ! "

I noticed some time since that a gentle-man in the House of Commons had been'complaining that there is a list kept of theHonourable Members who are to be alloAvedto speak on great occasions in the House,and that none but those on the list areto be permitted to ha\*e their my. Mr.Gladstone denied all knowled ge of the list(he Avas then Leader of the House), but itis thought there is something in it , and atfirst sight it would appear to be a schemefor checking freedom of speech.

But, my dear friends, ye Avho read thedebates, ought Ave not be very thankfulthat there is a check upon the verboseutterances of some of our worth y but long-winded representatives ?

I tell you Avhat I would do, as I havesaid before, Avhen some of our membersinsist upon speaking AVIIO can't speak. IAvould threaten to report them verbatim—which if once don e they would be like deadmen, they would never speak again.

(To be continued.)

CH RONOGRAMS AND CHRONO-PHONS.

BY ALBERT MACKEY.THESE tAvo words, identical or nearl y

identical in meaning, relate to a matter

which at one time occupied a good deal ofpuzzle-making ingenuity, and may per-chance again do so, if an imitative freakshould seize upon us. When men madeno steam-engines, and did not spin cottonat the rate of a thousand miles or so perhour ; when they neither travelled by rail-way over the land ; nor by screw andpaddle over the sea ; when there Avere nopenny posts, electric telegraphs, pennypapers, or gas lights ; Avhen men did notgive three thousand guineas for a pictureabout " Roast Pig," or three hundred foran old fiddle , then it was that verbalcrochets were in fashion to an extent thatAve can hardly understand HOAV. InFrance, especially, during the dissipatedreigns of Louis XIV. and Louis XV., the"gilded youth" of the gay capital, andaristocrats old enough to have knoAvnbetter, whiled aAvay their hours in suchfashion to an . almost incredible degree,incited partly thereto by the epigrammaticqualities of the French language.

The chronogram, or "description bymeans of numbers," is rather antiquarianand ecclesiastical than gay in its orio-in.Perhaps it may be more correctly definedas " date-writing"—th e incorporating adate as part of a written Avord or sentence.It depends on the main characteristics ofthe Roman numerals. We are all told atschool that our usual numerals, such as 1,2, 3, 4, are of Arabic origin ; but that theRomans employed some of the capitalletters of their alphabet as numbers. Thereare seven in familiar use, namely I, V, X,L, C, D, M, standing respective ly for 1, 5,10, 50, 100, 500, 1000 ; but there areothers, found in old documents, Avhich arenow seldom used, especially a capital Cturned upside down, (Q,) and a sort of afigure 8 laid on its side, (os .) One extra-ordinary combination , to denote a million ,stands thus : CCCCIQOOO i and another,only a little less complex, for a hundredthousand—CCCIQOQ. In order to denotefour, the Romans occasionally used I fourtimes repeated—IIII ; but a briefer formwas IV, Avhich stands for " one less thanfive :" in like manner XL .and CD iveredevised instead of XXXX and CCCC, forforty and four hundred . Fourteen yearshence, iu 1888, the A.D., when expressed inRoman numerals of the usual kind, will bemore lengthy than it has ever before been ,or than it will again be for a long time to

come, namely, MDCCCLXXXVIII—thirteen symbols instead of the convenientfour Avhich suffice Avhen Arabic numeralsare used.

In some languages a sentence will expressa date or number, Avhether the writer in-tends it or not. Thus, learned men tellus that , in Persian, the letters forming theAvords " Hooshung Shah is no more" alsodenote the number 837 ; and a chronogramwas at once thus constructed , seeing thatShah Hooshung died in the 837th year ofthe Hegira. In like manner, many of thecontroversies and speculations concerningthe mysterious 66 and 666 of the Book ofRevelation have arisen out of the HebreAvalphabetical characters being alike lettersand numerals.

The Romans are believed to have begunthe style of chronogram Avhich has more orless been in favour ever since. It was anamusement, a {-lay upon words somethinglike our rebus. We all remember sucheffusions as XL, Avhich will serve eitherfor 40 or for " excel" in a puzzle ; and MIX,which will do alike for 1009 and for "mix"—and doubtless Ave deemed ourselves veryclever in composing them.

Chronograms are rather numerous inand about churches and other religiousstructures, comprising pious sentences, oftenpassages from the Bible. Tourists havedetected many of them in the Rhenishprovinces, in some instances placed in oddcorners aud nooks not very visible, andoften partly obliterated by time andweather. Some are incised or cut in thestone-Avork, others painted or gilt on wood.Instances have been met Avith on a beamin a chapel on the south side of the choirof College Cathedral ; on the base of acrucifix outside the minster at Bonn , andanother Avithin the minster ; in Poppels-dorf church , near the same city ; on thebaptistry at Aix-la-Chapelle ; on the frontof the west gallery at St. Michael's Church ,in the same city ; round the arch of theAvest door of St. Castor's, Coblenz ; on thebase of a crucifix , and over the principaldoor of a church, at Konigswinter ; andin many other places. There is one on thefloor of the church of Santa Maria degliAngeli at Rome, comprising a date relatingto the English Jacobite princes in 1721 ;and on a fountain near the church of SanPaola, at Parma, is one to the honour ofone of the vice-regents of that State, Our

oAvn country is not wanting in instances ofthe same kind. Thus, in WinchesterCathedral , on the roof Avhich conceals thelantern toAver from the choir , is a chrono-gram recording the date and circumstancesof the construction , in 1635. On anoaken wall plate iu the porch of BrockthorpChurch, Gloucestershire, is one to denotethe year of the decapitation of Charles I.,and even the day and the period of theday, " On the thirtieth of January's settingsun." In Albury Church is an epitaph onGeorge Duncombe , AVIIO died in 1646, adate denoted by the capital letters mixedup Avith others in the following Avords :"Res Vrgent eX Isto p VLVere qVI IblsepVLtl DorMIVnt." Let us analyze thisa little, and see IIOAV it is built up. Thefirst R is the initial capital at the begin-ning of the sentence, and does not count ;all the other capitals denote numerals ;Avhile V, as a numeral , (5,) has to do dutyboth for u and for v, if either or both ofthose letters happen to take part in thesentence. Printed in ordinary type, theepitaph makes its appearance in a Latinform familiar to those who are conversantAvith this class of inscriptions : " Resurgen tex isto pul vere qui ibi sepulti dormiunt. "The thick capitals, taken in the order inwhich they stand, are VXIVLVV1IIVLIDMIV ; but rearranged in the order oftheir dignity or relative importance , theyare MDLLXVVVVVVI1IIII—rather alengthened way of say ing 164-6.

Coins, medals, and other articles are oftento be met Avith bearing a chronogramstamped or engraved on them. After theopening of a gold mine in Sicily, in 1734,coins were struck to celebrate the event ;and the Latin motto, "Ex visceribus meishtec funditur," borne on each coin, by con-verting u into v, and using thick lettersfor XVICIVMICVDI V, managed to de-note the above mentioned date. On theupper border of a sun-dial, existing someyears ago on the Avest end of NantwichChurch, Cheshire, was a chronogram cele-brating the coronation of Charles II. in1621 : "Honor Domino pro pace populosuo parte ;" the significant letters here caneasily be discriminated. Over the door ofSherboume School, Dorsetshire, is (or was)a chronogram with the significant lettersrubricated, or painted in red. The wholeof it relates to the foundation of theschool ; while the rubricated letters givethe date 1670,

The same conceit used sometimes to befolloAved by, or for, Avell-to-do families, inmottos for articles of domestic use. Thus,a damask table napkin has been described,Avhich contains a motto Avoven into thelinen fabric : •'• SIgnVM paCIs DatVrLoiT Cre," to celebrate the conclusion ofpeace between England and France in1763, after seven years' hostilities. In apaper by Addison in the Spectator, relatingto the verbal puzzles Avhich Avere in fashionin the seventeenth century, he gave an in-stance of a chronogram, showed how itAvas constructed , and pretty plainly hintedhis smal l estimation of such produc tions :"This kind of wit avrpears very often onmany modern medals, especia'ly those ofGermany, Avhen they represen t in theinscription the year in Avhich they werecoined. Thus, ive see on a medal of Gus-tavus Adolphus the folloAvmg Avords :1 ChristVs DuX ergo tiTVMphVs.' Ifyou take the pains to pick the figures outof the several Avords, and range them intheir proper order , you will find theyamount to MDOXVVVII, or 1627, theyear in Avhich the medal was stamped ; for,as some of the letters distinguish them-selves fro m the rest, and overtop theirfelloAvs, they are to be considered in adouble capacity, both as letters aud asfigures. Your laborious German wits willturn over a Avhole dictionary for one ofthese ingenious devices. A man Avouldthink they are searching after an aptclassical term ; but instead of that, theyare looking out a Avord that has an L, anM, or a D in it. When, therefore, Ave meetwith any of these inscriptions, Ave are notso much to look in them for the thoughtas for the year of the Lord.

Addison might have found abundantillustrations of his meaning in books asAvell as in medals. The title pages, pre-faces, dedications, and endings of bookshave often been made to shoAv a date inthe form of a chronogram , relating eitherto a person honoured in the book, or to theyear in Avhich the book Avas printed.Whether it occurred in any book, as oneamong the many adulatory compliments toQueen Elizabeth , Ave do not knoAv ; but achronogram purports to say, " My Day isClosed In Immortality," denoting the yearof Elizabeth' s decease, 1603. Shakspeare,in Elizabeth's time, unquestionably kneAVsomething about chronograms, (what did

he not know something about?) for, inLove's Labour Lost, Act iv„ Scene 2, Holo-fernes made one of his quips and odditiesavailable in this way in his droll colloquywith Sir Nathaniel the Dull. He takespraise for this and other je ux d'esprit,Avhich his companions deem surpassinglygood. " This is a gift that I have, simple,simple ; a foolish extravagant spirit, full offorms, figures, shapes, objects, ideas, appre-hensions, motions, revolutions." His modeof making letters serve for numerals comesout thus :It sore be sore, then L to sore makes ^fty

sores ; 0 sore L!Of one sore I an hundred make, by adding

but one more L.The seventeenth century was very busy

in the production of these effusions. One,running thus, "GeorglVs DVX BVCk-InghaMI-e," records the year in which theduke v*as tflwrdeved by Felton, 1628. TheRev. G. Gipps, rector of Elston, in Lin-colnshire, preached a Fast Sermon beforethe House of Commons in 1644 ; he pub-lished it in the folloAvin g year, with a pre-face containing a chronogram , in Avhich awell-knoAvn passage from the Bible isslightly altered , and made to denote theyear 1644—namely, " GoD Is oVr refVge,oVr strength , a heLpe In troVbLes VerleaboVuDant VVe flnDe." The peculiarityhere is that W is represented in the oldform VV, which enables the computer tocount ten for it. About the close of thereign of Charles I, many royalists insistedthat the end of the world was nearly athand. One of them fixed on the year1645 m the follo\A*ing fashion : ¦' AdventusDomini," by capitalizing certain of theletters, denotes 2012 ; " dies abbreviuntur "gave him 517; Avhile "propter elect-as "gave 150. Then he argued that 517 takenfrom 2012 leaves 1495, to which , if 150 beadded , the sum gives 1645. We can onl ysay that if the reader is satisfied with this,his satisfaction is easily brought about.The flattery of the hapless monarch was afavourite subject Avith chronogram-makers.The "iniquitous condemnation of a piousking and good shepherd "—

ReX pIVs et greX VerVsConDeMnantVr InlqVe—

was made to denote the year of his execu-tion. In Fuller's Worthies, we find a recordof the death of Bishop Prideau.yso printedas to give the date JCoO.

ASSYRIAN DISCOVERIES.

(Continued from page 378.)YET aside from these cruelties, Avhichpassed such an impressive judgment throughthe mouth of the divine seers of Israel,Ave Avonder at these Avorks of art , Avhichfar surpass those of Egypt in genuinebeauty and faithfulness to nature. More-over, looking on their weapons and tools,on those fragments of ivory baskets, ofbronze thrones and terra-cotta figures, onthe ornaments in architecture or in dressand jeAvellery, as sheAvn on their pictures,Ave feel bound to recognize the Assj riansas the ancient masters of fine arts. By 'their products, or rather by copies made ofthem by Persian and Lydian imitators, thethen slumbering genius of the Hellens Avasaroused, Avhich afterwards inspired aPhidias and Praxiteles with their chisel,and even a Homer, Hesiod, and PindarAvith their songs, to create everlastingmodels of beauty. Indeed, if history hasforgotten to record the indebtedness of theGreeks to Assyria, Greek mythology hasnot, as Cheiron the centaur, AA'ho taughtAchilles, Perseus, and many other Greekheroes, every art and science, is surely aa slight reminiscence of the Assyrian genii ,Avho Avore the shape of winged bulls Avithhuman heads.

LikeAvise Ave look to Assyria for modelsfurnished by the hands of Phcenicians forthe Temple built by Solomon, and evenfor the equipment of the Avhole sanctuary,even to the Cherubim. Jt Avas in behold-ing those imposing figures of Avinged lions,Avith human and eagles' heads, called cherubs,on the gates of the Babylonian and Assyrianpalaces, that the Prophet Ezekiel felt in-spired in his visions of the heavenly throne,moved by the same Avheels, endowed witliheads and Avings like those seen on Assyrianpictures. On Assyrian monuments youcan discern these same instruments playedupon by David and other psalmists to ac-company their undying songs of holyinspiration.

Yet all these works of art would haveremained dumb, and Assyria's past Avouldstill be shrouded in darkness, had notDivine Providence pointed man 's eye,searching after knowled ge, to a number ofclay tablets, inscribed on both sides Avithcuneiform letters, which proved to benothing less than the royal library of

Sardanapalus, containing historical andchronolog ical, astronomical, and privaterecords, prayers and songs, poems andformulas, letters and contracts, yea, gram-mars and dictionaries. Henceforth , onestartling revelation folloAved the other,until after two years ago George Smith , inLondon, detected the legend of the flood ,presenting a much older form than that ofthe Bible.

With assistance offered by the LondonDaily Telegraph , excavations were resumedby George Smith , AVIIO succeeded in makingnew discoveries. He added move than3,000 fragments of clay tablets to the oldones, and found, besides, many interestingarticles, as, for instance, a fragment ofa magnificent crystal throne, and a greatlyAvrought fork , an article unknown tocivilization until the eleA'enth century ofour era. And, having scarcely taken thene-v Avork of George Smith , describing hisjourney and his discoveries at han d, Avereceived through the last number of theLondon Athenceum the Avelcome, yet notunexpected , news of his having found thelegend of the building of the Tower ofBabel on these tablets too.

Having thus far shortly revieAved theAvay these explorations Avere made, I willpass on, pointing out to you in a fewbroad outlines the revelations broughtabout by this most modern and mostpromising science through the labours of afew English and French scholars. Twentyyears ago all the source of informationabout Assyrian and Babylonian historyAvas confined to a few names mentioned inHoly Writ, and a few stories told fromhearsay by Greek authors. From "themighty hunter," and the first rulers ofNinevah, Ninus and Semiramis, bothkingdoms for a long time Avere lost , sightof. Of a sudden Assyria appears at thenorthern horizon of the kingdom of Samaria,pouncing on her people like a bird of prey,and eating up piece after piece, then en-tangled Jndea in her network, but thistime to meet the vengeance of God , Avhosmites Assyria's army, while standing atthe gates of Jerusalem, by an angel ofpestilence. Finally we hear the prophet'striumph over her downfall at the attack ofthe Babylonians, Avhose rise betokens ruinto Judea, and Avhose fall brings her resurrec-tion. Aside from these facts, only namesof these successive King are given, in a

confusion apt to perlex any one trying tobring them into an harmonious order.Nor does the Greek literature furnish usAvith more than fables.

Thanks, then , to recovered records of theAssyrian conquerors themselves, wo gaina new insight into the political struggles ofthose petty kingdoms and nationalitiessettled along the shore of the MediterraneanSea. We see them pressed together, as ifby grinding mill-stones, by the tAvo largeempires of Egypt iu the South, and ofAssyria in the North, Avho vie and struggleAvith each other for the dominion of theAvorld. Out of a large number of littlekingdoms, presenting as many ruins of ascattered old empire, the kingdom ofAssyria rises above Babylonia, its rival, inthe fourteenth century, before our era,groAving like an avalanche, Avhile it pushesits conquests onward to force all thosenations standing in its Avay doAvn underits irresistible poAver, taking advantage ofEgypt's temporary exhaustion. Thus amongthe number of Kings defeated and com-pelled to pay large tribute to Assyria, Avefind Ahab of Israel , suffering severepenalties for his defensive alliance withHazael, King of Aram, and afterwardsJehu, the son of Nimshi, regarded by theAssyrians as belonging to the house ofOmri. We discern the great power in theNorth interfering Avith the politics ofSamaria, soon imposing a King upon her,soon deposing him, until Shalmaneser com-pletes her doom by besieging her capital,and Sargon, scarcely mentioned in theBible, leads Hosea, her King, Avith 30,000inhabitants, aAvay as captives. Then comesJudea's turn. Azariah and Ahaz, thelatter bearing on Assyrian inscriptions thefuller name of Jehoahaz, are recorded astributaries to Tiglath Pileser, and Ave maypresume the idolatry of Ahaz to havestood in near relation to his sympathy AvithAssyria, Avhich caused his escape for thetime. . But Sargon's folloAving campaigns,advancing along thy sea-shore as far downas Philistia, inspired Egypt Avith fear,Avhile they entrapped Judea into dangeroustemptations of leaning towards the one andthe other power, against Avhich Isaiah swarning voice is lifted. Indeed, the keen-sighted prophet proved a Avise statesman,Avhen Sargon trampled Ashdod , the neigh-bour and ally of Judah , under his feet. Yetprophet and King of Judah hoped, And

A SONG FOR THE CRAFT.—COKCUJDED .

THE PALACE OF THE QUEEN OFSHEBA.

CARL MAUCH'S JOURNEYS IU SOUTH-EASTAFRICA.

( Continued from pa ,ge 390.)WE all know the disappointment experi-enced by those AVIIO flocked to our shoresexpecting to find ready to their hand theriches Avhich the mineralogist had seen,Avith rather his mental than his bodilyeyes. But Ave also believe that had Mauchconfined himself to a less glo bing 'state-ment of Avhat he had actually seen, hiswords Avould haA*e failed to startle Eurooefrom her propriety, aud attract hither theexpeditions which, under all the vicissi-tudes of failure or success, have been sincethen working out the problem, and someof which are now realising the truth ofMauch's prophetic words. Hopeless, how-ever, at the time of overcoming unaidedthe opposition of the natives and otherdifficul ties in the way of further explora-tion, Mauch returned to Natal, and, withsuch an equipment as his slender financescould supp ly, returned to the TransA*aal,Avhere, travelling eastward fro m Pretoria,he reached the sources of the Umkomati ,or King George's River ; then , turningnorth, he visited Lydenburg, and in July,noted a " probabl e goldfield on the northof Olipant's River ;" then, crossing theLimpopo, in latitude about 22° 10', andlongitude about 32° 15', he turned north-west, and, after along and weary pedestri anjourney, Avorn out with fatigue, Avithhunger, and Avith thirst , he (accompanied,we believe, by a fellow-countryman namedJebe,) reached the Kraal of Mutigaau, aprincipal induna of the Matabili , who,knowing that his Sovereign had grantedno liberty of ingress to his dominions fromthe Transvaal Republic, detained him untilthe pleasure of the autocrat shoul d beknown, sending out mean while to shoot arhinoceros, that his prisoner might notperish from hunger. After some delay,permission Avas granted for Mauch's ad-vance to the mission station of Inyati ,Avhence he had to return to the Transvaal ,and make a second visit to the diamondhelds. In February, 1870, he again setout on a journey through Hew Scotlandtoward Delagoa Bay, where he suffered

from attacks of fever, and made his Avayback to the Republic. Later in the sameyear he undertook a daring and adventur-ous voyage down the Vaal River from nearPotchefstroom to the diamond fields in aflat-bottomed boat , Avhich occupied twenty-one days, passing thirty-three rapids andcataracts, one of which was about twenty-six feet high, during the voyage. The lastand greatest of his journeys, hoAvever, inAvhich he may claim to have struck out anentirely neAV, and in some parts an entirelyuntrodden trackAvay, commenced iu theyear 1871, Avith the express object of dis-covering ruins marked on the old Portu-guese maps as Zimbayo, knoAvn to thesurrounding tribes as Mazimbaowa , de-scribed in the old legends as rivalling thoseof ancient Rome, and supposed , though oninsufficient ground, to be the Queen ofSbeba s palace.

The Journey to the Ruins of Zimbabye,1870-72.—-About the end of January, '71,Mauch prepared for his fourth great jour-ney, intending to explore a district of theTransvaal that was as yet unknown to him,and then to seek for the ruins to whichtradition had long pointed between theLimpopo and the Zambesi. Clad inleathern garments, and provided with fire-arms, ammunition, astronomical instru-ments, sextant, artificial horizon , quick-silver, prismatic and pocket compasses, asti'ong Avatch, lan tern for night observation,aneroid barometer and thermometer, bo-tanical papers and geological hammer, andmaterials for Avriting and sketching, hispersonal equi pment of instruments andweapons weighed 50 lb. or 6b lb. Hislibrary AA'as limited to the nautical almanac,logarithmic tables, and a work or tAvo onbotany and geology ; his " diky bag " con-tained needles, thread , awls, Avhetstone ,and the most needful articles of the toilet ,and beads, brass wire, neck rings, ankletsand armlets, and other goods for barter ,packed in leather bags or Avaterproof matsof grass or palm-leaves bound with bark,and divided into convenient loads for thenative porters provided by St. Albasini, thePortuguese Consul .

About the end of July and beginning ofAugust, he passed through the fertile dis-trict of Spelonken, or " The Caves," wateredby the Limvuba, and other rivers comingfrom the Zoutpansbergen, and dotted overby huts and villages built under the shelter

of the overhanging cliffs. Here he stayedawhile to cultivate, with the assistance ofhis interpreter, Rolle, the friendshi p of thechief Loinondo, a man of unprepossessingappearance , and not unsuspected of canni-balism. His difficulties were increased bythe temp tations held out to his people todesert him, and by the frivolous pretextsfor delay invented by themselves ; but heat length reached Sewaas, a poAverful chiefof the Baramapulana , AVIIO had his nestunder the eastern face of the same sand-stone range, Avell AA'atched and guarded byhis people, armed with bows and arrows,as the little caravan approached. The in-terpreter went forward. An audience Avasgranted, and the traveller advanced at thehead of his party, saluting the chief as heentered. Dili-ills' the absence of the inter-preter , Mauch sat in enforced silence gazingat the grotesque costume of this ruler of20,000 people. His breadth and heightseamed to rival each other. His naturalshort locks were lengthened by being boundup in tufts Avith bark, and smeared Avithfat, which , melting in the sun , glistenedover his face and beard. His flat nosesought refreshment from the snuff-box:Avhich hung by an iron chain from hisneck, and the aroma of majesty Avas suchthat the traveller Avas fain to light his OAVUpipe and protect himself by thick cloudsof tobacco smoke. He Avas Avaited on bydark-browed Hebes, Avho served him kneel-ing, and was addressed as the " Elephan t,"the "Lion," the " Steer," the "GreatBaboon," &c. It may be Avell imaginedthat Avhen the audience was over ManchAvas glad to retire to the little cylindro-conical hut that had been set apart forhim, but Avhich Avas soon rendered unen-durable by the croAvd of visitors AVIIO forcedthemselves upon him. He Avas Avell sup-plied Avith maize meal, sour milk, and beer ;but observation or Avork of any kind wasimpossible when so many curious handsAvere busy overhauling his guns, his instru-ments, or any other object of interest thathappened to be exposed. A beast waskilled for him, but so many begged a shareof the fl esh that hardly more than a sing lemeal fell to his own lot, while such constan tdemands Avere made upon him for presents,that he began to dread complete exhaus-tion of his stores, and sought the earliestopportunity of taking his lea\ e.. On the 7th of August the party travelled

along the south-east side of the hills, overa fruitful country, the baobab and euphor-bia becoming more common as they des-cended into the Limpop o valley, followedby a band of parasites fro m Sewaas, Avatch-ing an opportunity of acquiring some lastpresent from the departing caravan. Pass-ing Sukene's, they came upon a barren andstony flat Avith patches of grass and mopaniforest, with the thermometer 93° Eareuheitiu the shade, aud not the slightest breeze toallay the intense heat. They reached thebanks of the Limpopo a little before noon,iu latitude 22° 18' 49", at an altitude bythe aneroid barometer of 1,780 feet abovethe sea—the river being 250 yards broad.About four hours beloAv this drift a water-fal l is reported , and the breadth of theriver is increased to 1,200 yards. The ToloAzine Falls, discovered by Captain Elton,are about 25 miles above the drift. Northof the Limpopo they crossed the riversBubye and Manetse, Avhere for 70 Englishmiles game was so scarce, and the villagesso far from the path , that the Avhole trainof about forty persons had to satisfy theirhunger Avith beans, Indian corn, and suchroots as they could di_j up.

On the 18th of August they reachedDumha's Kraal, Avhere Mauch restored totheir parents several children that had beenstolen in former times. The applause ofthe Avoinen was unbounded ; but he had tosleep supperless, and it Avas not until nextmorning that Dumbo supplied him Avithbeer, and brought an elephant's tusk,Aveighmg lo lb., for which he asked poAvderand lead. Hitherto he had been accom-panied by Albasini's men and his interpreterKolle, but they left him here ; and noAV hehired some of Dumbo's men, who deserted,taking with them a quantity of calico.Other thefts Avere committed, but some ofthe plunder Avas recovered and broughtback ; and with great difficult y he per-suaded some of the people to go on Avithhim tAvo and a half days to the Kraal ofSumba, among gran ite hills 800 or 1000feet higher than the plain , watered byrivulets, and bedecked with Avaterboomand other trees. Here Dumba's people,quar relsome ana impertinent to him andthe chief's son , deserted him , although theyhad agreed to bring him on to Maapansule,three and a half hours further. Harassed,annoyed , and plundered on every hand,and uncertain whether at any moment a

poisoned arrow Avould not end his life,Mauch began almost to despair. FlightAvas impossible, the country being so thicklypeopled, and where should he fly ? Avest-Avard to the Matabili ? They would notlet him enter. EastAvard to the Zulus ?They would strip him to the skin, even ifthey spared his life. He knew not Avhatto do. In this forlorn condition he re-mained till the chief came with more ofhis people to talk with him ; but his slightknoAvledge of the Zulu or Matabele lan-guage helped him but little in his presentstrait. At last he made the chief compre-hend that he required carriers for his goodsto Massamsule's. He laid out the paymentfor each man, with a present also for thechief. He took it, but asked more for thebearers ; and as Mauch complied with eachsuccessive demand , he asked more andmore till the traveller's Avhole stock wouldnot have sufficed to pay for its carriage.A second night of terror and anxiety fol-loAved the first, and Mauch fel t almosttempted to release himself by his OAVU handfrom the more terrible fate that seemed tothreaten him. On the third day, hoAvever,seven stout fellows arrived and saluted him.He remained not long in doubt. In ashort time he had concluded an agreementwith them for the carr iage of his goods toMassamsule's, which they faithfully per-formed. When they encamped for thenight they brought him flesh , beer, andgrass for his bed, and the next morningthey reached Massamsule's. But here againhe Avas in danger. A band of people be-longing to SeAvass were already there, andhe Avas again threatened with robbery, de-tention and captivity. But here, even inthe extremity of his distress, help Avas athand. He learned that a Avhite man livedwith another chief about three hours dis-tant ; but report led him to be anythingbut hopeful of assistance from this adven-turer. He Avrote and dispatched a note,however, and late at night a messenger, orspy, who spoke Dutch, arrived , folloAvedsomewhat later by the Avhite man , whoenergetically and successfully protestedagainst the intended detention. Mauchaccompanied his deliverer (Adam Render),and took up his residence in the village(Peka's Kraal).

To be continued.

LET'S WELCOME THE HOUR.

Let's welcome the hour when thus happyAve meet,

May the light of our Order long glori-ously shine,

While in kindliest feeling and harmonysweet,

All true brother Freemasons for evercombine :

Some sage once declared , that a portion ofgold

In mankind lay conceal d, but he ne ercould impart

The secret recess, till our Masters of oldProv 'd the ore was Ereemabonry ; lodged

in the heart.Then let's welcome the hour, &c.

This gold of kind nature shown then butin feAv,

Nor had Masonry's virtue as , yet its fullscope,

Till illumin'd by Faith, it arose to ourV16AV,

And the heart Avas adorn'd by the sun-shine of Hope :

The ore even then was uny ielding andcold,

Nor as yet had the ensign of light beenunfurl'd,

Till melting with Chari ty's gloAv, the_-. -*--, *¦"¦—• o v *•*

heart's gold,In a stream of warm fellowship, flow 'd

thro' the world.Then let's Avelcome the hour, he.

The Craft thence diffus'd the rich puregolden tide

Of Masonic benevolence, right from theheart,

Over all human nature , extensive andAvide,

Shedding lustre the Order alone canimpart :

And now for a toast, fill your glasses, besure,

And let each with each heart AOAV inunion Avith me,

A bumper, my friends, here's " the healthto all poor

And distress'd brother M ason's where erthey be 1"

Then let's welcome the hour, &c.Masonic Herald.

B 2

A MASON'S GRAVE

ON turning the corner of a walk, just as Ihad emerged from the foliage of a magnifi-cent Aveep ing AVUIOAV, Avhose branches,droop ing downwards, swept the grasssilentl y in the gentle breeze of evening, Icame upon a grave, before Avhich I stoodfor some moments in Avondering admira-tion , it was so different from anything elseI had seen, or indeed expected to see, iuthe cemetery, that I Avas thoroughly sur-prised. A space someAvhat larger thanusual was inclosed by a neat but substantialiron palisade, Avithin which in front rosetwo pillars of beautiful proportions andmasterly Avorkmanship. That on the leftAvas of the Doric order, its base beingornamented by a level in relief, its capitalsurmounted by a frieze adorned with tng-lyphs and metops, and supporting an en-tablature oiiAvhicliAvas placed the terrestrialglobe. The right hand pillar Avas of theIonic order, finished Avith the same attentionto detail, its base ornamented Avith thesquare and compass ; on its summit restedthe celestial globe. The floor of the en-closure was a beautifull y tesselated pave-ment in colours, in the centre, and in frontof the headstone was a perfect ashlar, Avitha leAvis. The chastely canopied headstonestood on an elevation of three steps. Onthe first Avere the words, " And God said,let there be light , and there Avas light.''On the second, " Behold, I Avill set a plumbline," On the third , " We have found."On the plinth of the stone, an anchor inrelief. Above it the words, " Be ye alsoready." The edges of the stone ivereworked in the form of a cable. In thecentre, under the canopy and over theinscription, an open book, in which AvasAvritten, " I am the resurrection and thelife ; he that believeth in Me, though heAvere dead, yet shall he live." On thebook rested a ladder with three rounds,behind Avhich, as a background , Avas a sprigof the acacia tree, and immediately abovethe ladder Avas an irradiated eye. Theinscription ran, " Sacred to the memory ofHenry Tucker, AVIIO departed this life," &c.The pavement was dotted over Avith potsot lovely floAvers, Avhose fragrance seemedto spread silently and Wingly around.As I. stood taking in the details of thepicture, I thought, " One of the good oldcraft lies here, Surely the history of all

this tender care and loving memory mustbe an interesting one." I determined tomake enquiry on the first opportunity of-fering. I here briefly sketch the result :

Captain Stafford and Captain TuckerAvere " sworn friends and brothers " throughmany years of adventure. The formerwas owner aud the latter Avas master of aA*essel trading from this port ( Wellington ,N.Z.), principall y to Newcastle, N.S.W.At length death severed the connection .All that Masonic affectio n could promptAvas done by Captain Stafford in payingthe last sad offices of respect. The cabinof the vessel which they had both so oftenoccupied Avas draped in mourning ; the'deceased laid out , coffined , and canopied,Avith his Masonic clothing and insignia onits lid. On arrival in port , the Masonicfriends of both Captains laid the deceasedin his last resting-place, and the tomb Ihad seen Avas erected b y Captain Staffordto the memory of his frien d and brother.The materials (like portions of a buildingdear to Masons' memory,) ivere broughtover sea from NeAvcastle, N.S.W., the stonebeing a beautiful dark freestone. Eachpart Avas marked and numbered , and themasons Avho worked the stones came Aviththem, and fitted them in their places at acost of about £1,500. Captain Stafford ,in pay ing this beautiful tribute to the me-morv of a brother , has shoAvn to the Avorldhow Masons love each other.—Gleaningsby ~ * 49 * *. [As the figures are partlyobliterated by the action of the salt water,AA-O simply give the fi gures 49.]

|leimfo.

Worksop, " The Dukery," and SherwoodForest. London : Simpkin, Marshalland Co. Worksop : Robert White,

MR. Robert White, of Worksop, hasbeen long and honourably knoAvn as aprovincia l publisher, the books issued fromwhose press Avould be creditable to anyLondon office, and the subject matter ofAvhich Avould not disgrace tho best ofmetropolitan booksellers. Indeed , he ishimself possessed of considerable literaryability—as every printer ought to be,Avhether j ourneyman or master—and is atpresent engaged in collecting " The Pro-vincial Words of Nottinghamshire" for

publication in a volume of his own editing.Such a man is of great value in any partof the Avorld in which he may be located ;and he has done good service to historicalliterature in bringing out, at the veryreasonable price of th ree halfcroAvns, theneatly printed and well-illustrated book onWorksop, "The Dukery," and SherwoodForest, now before me, Avhich I have readwith much interest. It is Avell-Avritten. andevery page teems Avith useful information.

"By frequent visits to the BritishMuseum," says he, '* and by reference toother acknoAvledged sources of information ,I have sought to verify every historical factgiven, and I believe no statement of im-portance has been made Avithout some com-petent authority having been consulted,"

This is as it should be ; for it is astonish-ing AAhat imaginary rubbish is often foistedupon the reading public, by Avriters AVIIOought to know better, as matter of fact ,which ought not eA*en to be given asmatter of fancy. Shakspere's " unhappymarriage " may be taken as a sample,although there never Avas the least groundfor the suspicion, but the misunderstand-ing of his -will , in Avhich he onl y leaveshis Avife their "second-best bed Avith thefurniture ,"—she being entitled to dower.Poor Kit MarloAve is still trounced byangry critics for the play of Lust'sDominion, which has long since been shownnot to be his. All history is full of blundersand misrepresentations.

And—thoug h as I Avrite, the heir to theBritish CroAvn is being installed as themost worshipful ruler of the Craft inEnglan d, supported by two others of ourbeloved Queen's sons—Bro . Woodford hasfound it necessary to publish a book ofarguments to prove th at Freemasons donot real ly form one of the devil's regimentsof the line, leagued for upsetting all goodgovernment on earth , and bringing aboutsocial anarchy and ruin. Only those AvritersAA'ho have laboured hard to avoid errors intheir writings, and after all have oftenfound themselves misled by authors Avhomthey had regarded as trustworth y, knowAvhat even attempting to veri fy one's state-ments means.

And Mr. White has been fortunate infriends of kindred sympathies. JohnHolland, of Sheffield, whose History ofWorksop, published about half a century ago,

would be found useful in compiling the

present Avork ; Charles Rees Pemberton,AVIIO " used to return from his rambles inthe woods around Worksop, decorated fromhead to foot Avith ferns and evergreens,"Avhich soon drooped and died there, butlh*e as green as his memory in his writings ;honest Christopher Thompson, artist,naturalist, and author, Avhom I thought itan honour to sit on the same sofa AvithAvhen I met him in Leeds many years ago :these gifted men have all three long sincepaid the debt of nature, and Mr. Whitehas reason to be proud of having had thehigh honour to call and feel them friends.Nor have living worthies given him thecold shoulder in his useful labours. TheRev. J. Stacye, M. A., has contributed anadmirable paper on " The Ancient Historyof Sherwood Forest ;" the VenerableArchdeacon Trollope has alloAved " the freeuse of his valuable paper on the monasticremains," as Avell as rendered other help ;0. Tylden Wright , Esq , has written forthe book a careful chapter on the geologyof the district, apparently in the sameloving spirit as that in which the late be-loved Professor Phillips did the same formy own Peop le's History of Cleveland ;Captain A. E. Lawsou-Lowe , has giventhe pedigree of the early Lords of Work-sop ; Earl Manners has alloAved the use ofhis Tlioresby Manuscript; William HoAvitthas allowed the use of his chapter onSherwood Forest, from The Rural life inEngland ; W. J. Sterland , Esq., has con-tributed the Zoology of the forest ; R. E.Brameld , Esq., the Lepidoptera ; H. R.Gilson , Esq., has arranged, the papers oftheir old friend John Bolder, on the Floraof the Forest ; my friend , January Searle'sLeaves from Sherwood Forest —of whichI remember reading the proofs withpleasure as it passed through the press—isquoted amongst others ; and Dr. SpencerT. Hall, " the Shenvood Forester," who,Goldsmith like, adorns whatever he touches,is here found "recounting the glories ofhis native real m, ' The Land of RobinHood.'" With such subjects aud suchhelps, a man of inferior talents to Mr.White mi ght have made a readable book :but he has done more, for he has producedwhat must now be considered the standardbook on Worksop, " The D ukery," andSherwood Forest ; and it is to be hopedthat the public will patronise the work asit deserves.

Speaking of the changes that have comeover the country since William the Con-quer caused the Doomsday Sun*ey to bemade, Mr. White graphically obseiwes :—

" We rarely hear this book mentioned,but our thoughts immediatel y revert toAvhat must have been the aspect andcondition of the countryand its inhabitantsat the remote period at Avhich it Avas com-piled. In regard to Worksop, how muchthe appearance of the country has beenchanged, Avhen, instead of the presenthighly cultivated fields and meadoAvs, ableak and barren extent of sand presenteditself, clothed with heath, gorse, fern, andstunted brushwood, Avith here and therea range of noble forest trees, growing inall the Avild luxuriance of nature, un-defined by the hand of man , andtenanted by countless herds of deer andother noble Avild game, rarely disturbed ,because protected by penal statutes andharsh laAvs, which elevated above, and gavemore protection to, the Avild animal th anthe peasant. So severe and unjust Averethese laws, that the unauthorised slayer ofa deer , a boar, or a hare, Avas punishedAvith the loss of his eyes, Avhile the killingof a man could be atoned for by the pay-ment of a moderate composition.

" A feiv acres of land in the 1'alleys, or onthe river banks, gaA*e the only token of cul-tivation and of the presence of man. A feAVmiserable huts would be scattered here, andthere, with their little less miserable in-habitants, who derived a scanty subsistencefrom their hard labour , and that too oftenmulcted by the rapacity and extortion oftheir superiors, Avhom no laws restrained ,and Avith whom Might formed the onlycode of right and wrong, and by Avhomthey were considered iu the light of merebeasts of burden , and formed for their soleuse and pleasure. His black bread, withAvhich he might allay, but could scarcel ysatisfy his hunger, was seldom accompaniedby anything more dainty ; and many tilingsAvhich have HOAV become necessaries of life,Avere to him either utterly unknoA vn, or ifknown , unattainable. Still more insecurewas he from the grievous forays of theneighbouring barons and freebooters , towhom plunder Avas a speedier means of en-richment than the honest pursuits of in-dustry. The law to him Avas a sealed book,and totally ignored his presence, except asmere property. Ignorant and degraded

almost to the level of the beasts, aspirationsor hopes of better days could seldom comeacross his mind ; tied to the soil, he livedand died, having rarely indeed left hisnative valley-—all beyond being to himanother world.

" After a time, a change conies over thescene ; the axe and the hammer are heardsounding in the valley ; a noble monasteryl ears its head, and seeds of civilizationand cultivation are spread around. Analteration and improvement of the poorman's temporal condition ensues ; thoughfor some ages this AA'as so small that it canscarcely be appreciated.

" Time passes on—the land is noAv morefolly brought into cultivation—the hamletslowly increases and becomes the village,and the village the toAvn. The peasantdelivered, at least in part, from thothraldom of the lords, passes through arough aud stormy period , improving hiscondition by dint of hard and long-con-tinued exertion , at times losing all be hasgained ; yet, nothing daunted, he fightsthe battle over again, and at last his per-secutors acknoAvledge him as Avorthy ofequal laAvs and privileges Avith themselves."

I have often longed to know the exactinfluence Avhich our ancient Craft hasexercised in helping to bring the rudematter of savage tribes into due form forthe partial security of life and property,and the gradual development of civil andreligious liberty ; and the part it is yetdestined to play in aiding human societyto become an institution perfect in all itsparts, and honourable to the Grand Geome-trician of the Universe, because useful inthe highest degree to all his creatures.Neither a believer in the literal truth ofour glorious legendary lore, nor that theAvhole was a mere crafty invention at the"Revival " of Mas.nry, in 1717—Avhenthe speculative seems to have pushed outthe operative Avith as little remorse as thecuckoo does the young of the sparroAv thathas hatched it—a divorce that has beencarried too far ; I, for one, believe that theinfluence of Freemasonry on such changesas Ave have just been reading about , hasnever yet been properly appreciated. Evenas an operative guild , banded togetheragainst cowans or knobsticks, cultivatingthe rudiments of science, and somethingmoreasregarded the glorious fabricsivhich itAvastheir'sto rear ; with their Avooden lodges

tyled against eave-droppers ; and carryingout, more than others, the brotherhoodcherished in all the guilds, because they weremore subject to be cast adrift on the worldand separated Avhen they had completedtheir undertakings ; Avho can say how ourspeculative Masonry gradually grew upamongst them ? not altogether Avithoutsome rudiments of ritual, and Avith anwholesome terror of the penalties of theirOb. And even during the last centuryand a-half—hoAvever much it may, atcertain times and places, have been pollutedby the prevailing vices of drunkennessand guzzling, Avhich were no part of it, anymore than they were a part of our aristo-cracy, our commerce, or our national church,and "the trail of the serpent was overthem all ;"—yet, even Avhen its beautifulritual has been most parodied by ignorantworkers—its lodges profaned by thepresence of Avorthless men, AVIIO had neverbeen prepared in their hearts for its sublimemysteries—when the funds, which ought tohave been kept sacred for the relief of somepoor brother struggling for the mean s ofexistence, Avere most improperly squanderedover tawdry pageantry and in revelling ;—even in its darkest hours, Freemasonry hasheld aloft the bright lamp of truth , highover all petty party and sectarian differencesof opinion ; inviting good men of everycreed and clime, of all political opinionsand of all stations in society, to band them-selves together in the great cause ofbrotherly love, relief and truth ; remindingthem constantly of the natural equality ofman, but aiming ahvays to leA'el up, andnever to level down ; inculcatin g all themoral virtues ; recommending the liberalarts and sciences to the study of all herchildren • teaching them, by the mostimpressive lessons, that life should be use-fully and benevolently spent , that deathhas no terrors to the good man equal tothe stain of falsehood and dishonour, andcheerfull y lending him a helping handthrough the dark shadow of the Valley ofDeath to that Grand Lodge above,Avhere the world's Great Architect livesand reigns for ever. Happy the Masonwho can see in the Craft a constanttendency to this grand regeneration of ourglorious but sadly-soiled humanity, andAA-hose life is in harmony thereAvith. Hecan look calmly on such changes as Mr.White has well described ; can hope in the

darkest clays of his country's history ; andequally loves the sublime princi ples ofMasonry, Avhether, as now in England ,publicly patronised by the heir to the crownand his brothers, or denounced by despoticmonarchs and popes, A\*1IO would fain crushbeneath their heels all that rises aboA'e theirOAvn narrowness in science, in morality, andm religion.

In another number of the Magazine Iwill invite the reader to accompany me ina sort of Masonic pic-nic to ShenvoodForest and its vicinage ; Avhen, with Mr.White's excellent volume for our guidance,I haA'e no doubt that Ave shall be able tospend a little time together both pleasantlyand profitabl y. In the mean time, I canhonestly recommend the book as wellworth double the price charged for it.

GEORGE MARKIIAJI IWEDDELLRose Cottar/ 6, Stokesley.

THE YOUNG WIDOW.

She is modest, but not bashful ,Free and easy, but not bold,

Like an apple, ripe and mellow,Not too young, and not too old ;

Half inviting, half repulsi ve,NOAV advancing, and IIOAV shy,

There is mischief in her dimple,There is danger in her eye.

She has studied human nature ,And is skilled in all her arts ;

She has taken her di ploma,As the mistress of all hearts ;

She can tell the very momentWhen to sigh and Avlien to smile ;

Oh, a maid is sometimes charming,But the Avidow all the while.

Are you sad ? IIOAV very seriousWill her handsome face become ;

Are you angry 1 she is wretched,Lonely, friendless, fearful, dumb ;

Are you mirthful ; how her laughter,Silver sounding, Avill ring out;

She can lure and catch and play you,As the angler does the trout.

Yc old bach elors of forty,Who hav e grown so bald and wine ,

You young heroes all of twenty,With the love looks in your eyes—

You may practice all the lessonsTaught by Cup id since the fill,

But I knoAv a little widowWho could win and beat you all.

Keystone, A meric.iii.

HOTEL INCIDENT IN THERIVIERA.

No one who has sojourned for a whilein the Riviera, is surprised at the crowdsof foreigners that are collected from allparts of Europe into its various nooks andretreats. The English go there to escapemist and fog ; the Russians, to avoid ex-treme cold ; the invalid Germans, to puta barrier betAveen themselves and thewithering east Avind. Some, again , visit itfor other than sanitary reasons. Monacowith its gambling attractions entices anddetains some, and the mere enjoyment of aclimate luxurious even in winter invitesmany more.

We—that is, ray wife and myself—wereenjoy ing a few AA*eeks at one of the largehotels that are so numerously dotted alongthis coast.

We bad been staying at the Hotel duBon Vivau t about a week, when thereappeared at the table-d'hote a very strik-ing personage. As soon as dinner wasover, my Avife found herself (by accident)near the visitors book, and discoveredthat the UBAV arrival had entered himselfas the Baron Monteggiana-Tavernelle. Wewere chiefl y English at the hotel , there Avasno Italian there, and our acquaintanceAvith the national Burke was limited ; soAve easily accepted the theory that thi slengthy appellation A\*as one of the mostancient titles in the land. We weresubsequentl y informed by the baron thatit was Sicilian , Avhich made our ignorancethe more excusable.

I don't think it Avas his title, or, atleast, it AA*as not only that , Avhich made usall so charmed with him. It must havebeen "his noble bearing, his perfectmanners, his evident desire to please, hismodest evasion of all topics bearing on hisown career, and his handsome face. Heappeared to be about thirty years of age.his black hai r Avas as glossy as a raven'splumage, and his black, flashing eyes be-trayed a passionate soul , Avhile his thickmoustache framed , rather than concealed,a smile that irradiated his intellectualcountenance Avith sweetness and light."

Such, at least, Avas the description givenof him in one of my Avife's letters to mymother-in-laAv ; and I am glad I happenedto look into that letter , as it has saved me

some little trouble in attempting to describehim in words of my OAVU.

The baron mixed very little Avith hisown countrymen, and, as I A'entured tosuggest to my Avife, seemed rather shy ofthem. He never Avent to the publicamusements, and declined to subscribe tothe Circolo. She explained to me in reply,that he was tire only nobleman in theplace, and Avas, perhaps, a little haughtytowards his compatriots of a loAver rank.He had also informed her himself, that hehad selected our hotel for the express pur-pose of mixing Avith the English, as he Avasexpecting shortly to receive a governmentappointment , and for the better dischargeof his prospective duties, a little knowledgeof English Avas desirable.

I should have mentioned before, that Ionly speak my OAA'H language ; but mywife can converse in Italian Avith ease andfluency, and the baron very natural lytalked with her a good deal, and occasion-ally condescended to speak to me by herinterpretation.

Shortly after the arrival of the BaronMonteggiana-Tavernelle, we Avere furtherenlivened by another . This time it Avas aRussian lady, attended by her maid. ThereAvere no other Russians at the Hotel duBon Vivant, and she appeared to havecome there rather from necessity than bychoice, as there were no rooms A*acant inthe inn usually frequented by those of hernation. She declined to enter her namem the visitors book, and for the first tAvoor three days dined in her OAVU room , andheld aloof from the rest of us. This, addedto the effect produced by a stateliness, notto say grandeur, of deportment , and richsobriety of dress, prepared us all for thediscovery which in a feAV days oozed out,that she Avas a Russian princess, a widow,AVIIO Avished to remain incognita , and tolive quietl y in the enjoyment of an uncon-ventional freedom from the obligations ofnobility—an enjoyment beyond her com-mand at home.

We never tally understood how thisoozed out. Her female attendant couldunderstan d nothing, aud therefore coulddivul ge nothing. The maitre d'hotel as-sured his guests that he knew no morethan the rest of the world ; and, by hismysterious shruggings, his self-contradic-tions, and , above all, by his manner, im-pressed us all Avith the firm belief that

there was a secret in his possession. This,of course, confirmed the truth of the report ,aud it became an established fact that thelady Avas a Russian princess.

After a few days of seclusion, she vouch-safed to make her appearance at the table-d'hote, and retired with the rest of theladies to the Salles des Dames aftenvards.Then it Avas that the baron exhibited hisinborn as Avell as inherited nobility. Heattended to her little wants, j>laced her anarm-chair by the fragrant Avood-fire, and ,on receiving her thanks in his mothertongue,—his parents' pride had no doubtprevented him from learnin g anv other ,—he entered into a respectful and courtlyconversation Avith her. There Avere plentyof other men in the room who could havedone it; but the baron Avas naturall y thefittest person to begin; and I will givehim credit for boundless self-possession—not to call it impudence.

The acquaintance thus begun grew Avitha tropical rapidity. The cold northerntemperamen t softly but quickly thaAvedbeneath the warm rays of Italian SAveetnessand light. Fragments of their talk occa-sionally reached the ears of my Avife andothers AVIIO could understand them, fromwhich it appeared that their main topicAvas the opera.

" Ah, madame,"—he was intrepreted tome as say ing,—" If I could but be honouredAvith your presence in my box at Florence!The music would be angelic then."

"The signer does me a great favour inexpressing the Avish ."

Yes ; it A**as clear that he was hard hit ,and that she knew it , and had no desire todismiss him. And yet she Avas in no singlepoint guilty of indiscretion , forwardness,or coquetry, in my opinion.

"lhat Avoman," said my Avife, "isabominable ! Look how she" hunts th atpoor man down, I suppose she fanciesSicily is a nicer country than Siberia, orAvherever it is she comes from."

"Well, my dear," I replied , "it seemsto me that the hunting is mutual. Real ly,I don 't see -vhy he shouldn't marry her, ifthey both like it."

" She may be a mere tuft-hunting ad-venturess, for all we knoAv," said she. " Idon't believe in her."

" Well, but perhaps he knoAvs more thanAve do."

"I don't believe in her a bit. She's

hunting him doAvn for his wealth and title,and is as much a princess as I am I "

The season was now at its height, andeA'ery room was occupied ; the very lastattic in the Hotel du Bon Vivant beingsecured by a German count , the CountSigismnnd von Borokopek . He put doAvnhis name in the visitors' book like a man ,and his Avhole demeanour Avas frank, open ,and robust. He Avas extraordinaril y fluentin English , as well as in French andItalian ; German, of course, was his mothertongue, a few dialectical peculiaritiesnoticeable in his pronunciation arising, heexplained , from the circumstance of hisbeing partly of Austrian, partly of Hun-garian origin ; the Borokopek estates beingin the vicinity of Tokay.

We noAV numbered about eighty guests,aud began to knoAv one another prettyAvell ; but somehoAV the count kneAv us allbetter than Ave knew one another, beforehe had been a Aveek among us. lie was abig, burly, fair man, so thoroughly Britishin appearance, and in his general character-istics, as to render it difficul t, but for hisproficiency in other languages, to believethat he Avas not a Briton born. He hadknocked about the world a good deal, hesaid. Of the fortv years he had passed init, twenty had been spent in travelling, halfof Avhich time had been passed in Englan d,and a good deal of the rest in America.Russia, too, he Avas acquainted with ; andon the strength of that he introduced him-self to the princess, and was evidentl y asmuch disposed to admire her as the baronhimself.

Indeed , before very long, the attentionspaid by Count Sigismund von Borokopekto that lady began seriously to disturb theserenity of the Baron Monteggiana-Tav-ernelle ; and in proportion as their rivalryprogressed, so did the interest andamusement of the company progress Avith it.

" My dear Charles," said my Avife, " isn'tshe abominable noio ? She's a vulgar flirt ;and at her age, too !—forty, if she's a day.And after entangling the baron, to go andegg on the count, and all m public too !It's bad enough to make love in publicat all, but to do it to tAvo men, one afterthe other— I say she's simply abomin-able I "

" Well, but, my dear , I expostulated ," they are both making love to her at thesame time. You see the coun t's castles

are much nearer to Russia than Sicily is,so perhaps she prefers to become Mrs.Count, etc., to the other thing. "

Those of us who Avere not in love withthe princess began to Avish the absurd affairat an end. The lady Avas most unfairlyfair to each ; for she gave each of themenough encouragement to make themsavagely jealous of one another, Avithoutgoing far enough with either to give theother any grounds of complaint. But forher beautiful eyes, I Avould compare her toa tableau vivant of Justice holding thescales. I can, hoAvever, safely liken her toHelen ; for she AA'as sotting by the earsnot only the tAvo most interested indi-viduals, but also the Avhole Avorld about her ;and it Avanted but a spark to commence aconflagration , certainly an explosion, be-tween those two.

We had an American at the Hotel duBon Vivant, a quiet, thoughtful man , toomuch of an invalid to talk much , and veryreserved in his manners. We little thoughtthat the dreaded spark Avould be droppedby him ; but it was.

The baron Avas describing to a knot ofus, including the count, as we were loung-ing in the entrance-hall after luncheon ,his Syracusan villa, with its exquisite gar-dens. The American Avas listening withhis usual air of abstraction , and quietly in-terposed a question. " Did I understandyou to say that the villa d'Aosta in theStrada cli Palermo belongs to you ? "

" Si, signer, the Villa d'Aosta you speakof is the one. It is mine. It has been inmy family for several generations,''

" You've got a tenant there now who'sa friend of mine"—

" No, siguor , no : I do not let my villa ,nor other of my residences."

"Well, that's queer, I consider ," saidthe American. " 1 came direct from Sicilylast month , and a friend of mine Avastenant of that villa for the winter , and Istayed a day or two Avith him in that veryhouse . Guess there's some bunkum some-Avheres I "

Part of these remarks were made inItalian ; some ejaculated in English.

" Bagatelle ! " replied the Baron ; " youare mistaken , signer ! It must have beensome other Villa d'Aosta."

"No, it wasn 't," replied the American ;"and for my par t, I think you are nomore a baron than I'm Julius Ca_ sav."

He certainly looked offended , thoughhappily the last sentence Avas in English ;in fact, he had been so unaccustomed to becontradicted, that it positively confusedhim. And I could not help noticing thatthe count looked excessively tickled, asAvell as triumphant.

That evening, Avhen the baron advancedto attend the princess to the salon, shedeclined his offer to place the shaAvl onher shoulders, as he had ahvays done ; andin the most perfect manner, Avithout snub-bing or putting him doAvn, allov-ed him todiscover for himself that she Avas utterlyindifferent to him. It Avas just as if themoon Avere to take the place of the sun, ina quiet and undemonstrative way, with noexplanation given.

But , of course, an explanation Avas tobe demanded ; and as soon as the dinnerAvas over, the baron sought , and obtained ,a tete-a-tete in the corner of the Salle desDames. We all had the decency to readGalignani, or play bezique, or otherwise tothrow a veil over our curiosity, as Aveanxiously watched the development ofthe plot , and tried to hedge our bets be-fore it was too late.

Suddenly the baron started to his feet ,and uttered a loud execrative exclamation ,Avhich I decline to translate. His soulnoAv most clearly betrayed its passionate-ness, but there AA*as rather more lightthan SAvcetness in his eyes as he glaredround the room in search of the haplessAmerican .

We all sprang to our feet too ; theladies near the door rapidly retreated, andthe men looked at one another, half-amused,half-angrily.

"If I kneAv AVIIO had poisoned the mindof madame, I Avould ' dilaniate ' him—tear him to pieces," shrieked the baron." That Viper of an American ! "

" It Avas not the American," answeredthe count , corning quietly out of the recess ;" / tol d madame Avhat he had dis-covered."

The baro n so far forgot the perfectnessof his manners, aud evident desire toplease, as with his open palm to slap thecount on the face. But in another secondhe found himself m that ph ysical check-mate known as chancery—an d there, be-fore the princess, in the Salle des Dames,Avas being displayed a scene from theBritish ring ; chairs and tables going

everywhere, as the quadrupedal monsterperformed his erratic revolutions, amid thescreams of women, the shouts of men, thegroans of the maitre, and the indescribablecries of astonishment uttered by the Avholestaff of the hotel, which had been gatheredtogether at the door by the first exclama-tions of the baron.

The Anglo-Saxon nationality having, inspite of the principle of non-intervention ,separated the Latin and the Teuton , thedefeated combatant Avas assisted to hisroom, and looked to by an English doctorwho happened to be at the hotel, and AVIIOreported that, Avith the exception of acouple of broken teeth, nothing of conse-quence was to be apprehended beyond afurther requisition of his services at arencontre of a different character, Avhich,however, would not be possible for somelittle time, owing to a diffi culty his patienthad in seeing. And the next morning Avefound that the maitre had giveu the baronnotice to quit the Bon Vivant fortlnvith ;and so Ave saw no more of the BaronMonteggiana-Tavernelle.

In ten days or so, the count received aletter from him, dated at Florence. In itthe baron demanded satisfaction, andrequired that the count should meet himat Florence, or, if more convenient, atRome. In reply, the latter expressed hisreadiness for an interview, but positivelydeclined to fatigue himself Avith an un-necessary journey. The affai r could verywell be settled in the place AA'here it began.The letter Avas carefully aud full ydirected , registered , and posted by thecount himself.

In the ordinary course of events, anansAver Avas clue in four or five days at thefarthest ; but a fortnight passed Avithoutany, and at length he received the follow-ing, dated from Rome :—¦

'' SIR,—I beg to acknowled ge thehonour Avhich yon have done me byaddressing a letter to me at my house inFlorence ; and must apologize for myinability to understand it. Your nameis stran ge to me; I AA*as never in theplace from which you Avrite ; I have notbeen m Florence for several months ; and1 must conclude that there is some mistake.It is possible that my name has beenassumed by a rascally valet who robbedme last year of several private papers and

a considerable sum of money, but whom Icould not conveniently prosecute."

Then folloAved a description Avhich tal-lied exactly with the appearance of ourbaron. It seems that the letter , beingregistered , had been sent on to the realbaron at his residence in Rome, instead ofbeing delivered to the false one at theaddress giveu by him at Florence.

The princess Avas no doubt overwhelmedwith shame at finding that she had beenencouraging a valet instead of his master ;for site at once admitted the count to theprivilege of paying her more attentionsthan ever. I think, too, she really likedhim. Anyhow, he had proved himselfsubstantially able to protect her ; and thescuffle Avith his rival had in no degreelessened him in her esteem.

Of course Ave Averenot behind the scenes;and could only judge of the probablecourse of events by such little evidences aschance might throw in our Avay ; but itAvas rumoured that the marriage Avas totake place from our hotel before Lent.

" The sooner the better, said my wife ;" if another man comes forward Avith betterprospects, she'll throAv oA'er the count, justas she did the baron."

"But vou see he Avasn't a baron , mydear, I remonstrated ; "not a real oae, Imean, as the children saj ."

" Well ; and perhaps this is not a realcount."

" Dear me I Avhat a joke it would be ifhe turned out to be somebody s butler I IAvish some Yankee would come and askhim a little about his place. We Avant alittle life here just UOAV ."

That day Ave had another fresh face atthe table-d'hote ; this time an English-man's. He Avas very taciturn, but likedto look at the company and to listen tothe conversation, and Avas much struckwith the count. It occurred to me, too,that the count noticed him a great deal,so much so as to refuse some of the choic-est dishes. But no one coiiA'ersed withthe stranger, and alter dinner he retiredto his room—the baron 's old room—andAA'e saAV no more of him till the next dayat dinner. There Avas the same curiosityon the part of the count, Avho, by the Avay,spoke German exclusively now ; but thestranger Avas absorbed in his dinner. After-Avards he strolled into the billiard-room tosmoke a cigar.

By and by the count and I went in tohave a quiet game, and there Ave foundthe new arrival comfortably lolling in anample rocking-chair by the fire.

The count played badl y, missing theeasiest strokes. "You're off your playto-night, count," I said ; " what's thematter ?"

" Don t mmd me, gentlemen," said thestranger ; "I hope my being here don'tmake the count nervous,"—he put a veryremarkable emphasis on the title,— " 1don't play the continental Avay myself,though I do see a good many queer gamesat odd times. N OAV, Avas you ever inScarboro', sir 1 " addressing the count." No ! Leeds ? No! Hull, where thesteamers start for Bremen 1 No! Man-chester, perhaps , ? No ! Then,"—he hadbeen sidling gradually nearer and nearerto the door as he talked , and was IIOAV be-tween it and the count — " then supposeyou and f go back, Mister AlexanderJenkinson , on this Avarrant I've gotagainst you , for forgery of a check onGleeson's Bank at Manchester for threethousand five, hundred pounds ! Oh yes ;it 's all right, and it's no good making aroAV. My names Inspector Rawlings ofthe detective police, and me and my manhere have had a pretty hunt after you ;he and the gens d'armes are Availing foryou outside the door."

Poor princess , Avith two strings to herboAv, and both of them rotten ! Still myAvife wouldn't pity her yet.

" But , my dear," I expostulated , • ' thepoor thing will have to marry some Rus-sian IIOAV, perhaps a Laplander , or one ofthose fellows that drink train-oil withtheir dinner. And she such a monstrousfine woman too, to say nothing of her rank. "

HoAvever, AVO had but little further callon our sympath y, for the next day she leftthe hotel.

" So the princess is off," I said to themaitre the. same day, Avhile paying myAveekl y bill.

" Monsieur said"—" I said the princess is off—gone, allee

sortie , pa rtie, you know."" Oui , oui ; but then , the princesse ;

who does monsieur Avish to say, prin-cesse 1 "

"Why, of course the Princess of—well ,the Russian princess that didn 't marry thebaron or the—"

" Ah, bah I Who Avould call her aprincesse ?"

" Why, you made us believe she Avas," Iindignantly rejoined, " by making believeshe ivasii 't."

" But Monsieu r remembers Avithoutdoubt that I said she Avas not a prin-cesse ? "

" So you did ; but there's a Avay of say-ing no and looking yes."

" Pardon , monsieur ! Tho lad y desiredrepose and to be in particular ; and I, Iassisted that she should so be."

" Well— IIOAV she's gone, in fact , what issher

" Monsieur , she is teacher of the danceat Marseilles.",—Philadel p hia Keystone.

UsT ORATION FIFTY YEARS AGO.

IN an old copy of the "Masonic Casket,' pub-lished in 1823, Ave find an oration by Bro.J. R. Breckenridge before the craft atVersailles, Kentucky, on December 27th ,1S21. It is beautiful and eloquent , andthough some of its doctrines may IIOAV bequestioned in the li ght of advancing intel-li gence, yet it is eminentl y worth readingby the craft of to-day, after it has sleptmore than half a century.—Editor Ma-sonic Review. [Quite concurring, AVChave published it for our English readers.—EDITOR .]

Brethren and FelloAV Citizens,—Thereexists in the human mind a sentimen t ofelevated and instinctive admiration for themore stern and lofty virtues of our nature.Thus when Ave contemp late the ardentpatriotism of Epaminondas, breathing, asit Avere, along the line of his embattledcountrymen ; or the brave Leonidas, erect-ing his stately form iu defiance of the stormof Avar ; or the venerated Regulus, thedestinies of contending emp ires resting onhis nod , returning amid the agonized en-treaties of his countrymen lo Carthage, todeath , our minds are filled with high emo-tion , and we catch Avith enthusiastic .aA'iditythe inspiration of their virtues.

1 I here is something in the splendour ofvast achievements that dazzles and be-Avitchcs ; there is something in the pompof successful ambition , Avhich pours a tideof delusive joy over the human heart. YetAvhen Ave calmly investi gate the deeds whichattach such apparent dignity to the hero 's

death , or shed such a lustre around thepatriot 's career, shall Ave not often find themcruel, bloody, and unchristian ? Alas !what is the hero's fame but the wreck ofhuman existence? Or, on what so fre-quently as the ruins of other nations, doesthe patriot erect the proud fabric of hisown? Ear different are the achievementswhich we are this day met to celebrate.The path of virtue is that of obscurity, andquietness, and peace. The light Avhichshines along its rugged steep, unlike themeteor glories of the Avorld, Avhich dazzl eto mislead us, and shine the brightest onthe eve of their extinction , is steady andeternal. It enters the soul, and expandsand elevates it to a region Avhere the voiceof human vanity is mute, and human splen-dours are but darkness.

This is the natal day of St. John theEvangelist. We are met to commemoratethe birth and usefulness of one of thegreatest benefactors of our species ; one ofthe chosen messengers of heaven ; thetenderest friend of the Saviour ; the favour-ite disciple of our Lord. What more shallAve say of him 1 FOIIOAV him through allthe vicissitudes of his fortune ; mark thedepth of his self-devotion ; the simplicityand dignity of his character ; the sublimityof his conceptions ; follow him through thesplendours of his apocalyptic vision ; thenvieAv him reposing on the bosom of hisMaster, and recehdng at the cross thetenderest legacy the heart has to bequeath,and at every incident of his long life doesnot the heart leap Avith a prouder throbAvhen Ave hail him as a brother and patronof our Order ?

What has been said of this great contem-porary may, with equal truth , be said ofSt. John . His powerful and diversifiedcharacter seems to have combined the se-parate excellencies of all other sacredAvriters ; the loftiness of Isaiah ; the devo-tion of David ; the pathos of Jeremiah ;the vehemence of Ezekiel ; the didactivegravity of Moses ; the elevated moralityand practical sense of St. James ; the nobleenergies and burning zeal of St. Peter,added to the strong argnmentive poAvers,depth of thought, and intensity of feeling,which so peculiarly distinguished the greatApostle of the Gentiles. Never was there< man more eminentl y fitted to combat thedifficulties with which he was surrounded ,and to fill up the glorious destin y Avhichwaited him.

He who delineates the character of ourexisting and splendid institution is placedin the same situation with him who writesthe biography of a living individual . Dis-tinctive qualities cannot ,indeed, be invented,nor the current of actions diverted fromits channel ; but every virtue may be madeto shine Avith a lustre not its OAVU ; everyexcellence may be magnified ; every im-perfection veiled, and the unpretendingrill, Avhich wandered in silence through themead , may become, if Ave accept the en-thusiastic testimony of the admirer AVIIOtraced its course, a majestic river, on whosebroad bosom the Avealth of nations floats.If, on the contrary, Ave vieAv the picture asdraAvn by an. enemy, Ave scarce recognizein the gloomy colouring and distortedcountenance the least resemblance to thosefeatures which affection has engraven onour hearts. Prejudice has discontinued , orpassion extinguished, the spring-blossom oftheir beauty ; and though a faint likenessmay be perceived , all the loveliness Avhichendeared them to us is gone. It is one ofthe merciful effects of decay, that itscatters a benevolence of recollection .around the objects which are subjected toits remorseless influence. It not onlymelts clown prejudices, and extinguishesanimosities, but it gives to affection itself adeeper tone of tenderness. It sheds amoon-light glory over its dominions, paleand pure, more serene and lovely than theflood of splendour poured from the meri-dian sun of life. That Avhich is illuminatedappears softer than Avhen viewed in astronger ray, -while whatever Avas obscureor unsightly, sinks into masses of shadow,which the eye cannot penetrate, andAvhich, while they conceal the deformity,give a character, a deeper solemnity to theAvhole scenery, and afford a pleasing con-trast to the mild light, Avhich sleeps uponit. Such are the more obvious difficultiesAvhich presen t themselves in the investiga-tion before us. We profess not to beentirely free from their influence.

The science of Masonry consists of threedepartments, each in its nature distinctfrom the rest, yet all most intimately andbeautifull y connected. These departmentsare its symbols, its mysteries, and itsprinciples. This is a distinction Avhich,though not ahvays made by Masons them-selves, is not only intelligible, but abso-lutely necessary to the correct understand-

ing of the scope and design of the insti tution. Before the invention of letters, theknowledge of important events Avas pre-served from generation by oral tradition.But the manifest danger that facts mightbe distorted , and concomitant circum-stances embellished, by the fancy or preju-dices of those through Avhom they Averetransmitted, pointed out the necessity ofsome more precise and restricted methodfor their communication.

Hence the use among all rude nations ofsymbolical figures. In the first daAvningsof civilization, those representations Avereusually taken from the simplest and mostcommon objects Avith Avhich savages areconversant. As nations advanced in im-provement, v*e find move obvious principlesof science, and the implements for theirpractical use made subservient to the de-sign of perpetuating the knoAvledge theypossessed. Thus astronomy, agriculture,and architecture, have afforded materialsfor the most copious symbolic languages.From this latter are mostly draAvn thehieroglyphics of Masonry, Avhich constitutethe most perfect system of the kind, ofAvhich any knoAvledge has been preserved.Their design is two-fiold ; through themhas been transmitted to us the importantoccurrences in the history of our Order ;and they afford besides the most beautifulillustrations of the precepts it inculcates,and the duties it enforces.

Whence may be seen their intimateconnection in one of their uses Avith themysteries, and the other Avith the princi-ples of the institution. The former canbe knoAvn to Masons only; the latter isably explained in most of the numerouspublications, Avhich have treated of thesubject. Of the mysteries of Masonry it isnecessary to say but little. Their designmust be known to all. They are the cordwhich binds us indissolubly to each other.It is by them that every Mason mustvindicate to himself the rights andprivileges of the order , and the peculiarimmunities of each particular degree,Avhich he may claim to possess. It is bytheir agency that we have been preserved,as Ave believe, from the foundation of theAvorld, but as can be clearly proven , fromthe days of Solomon, a distinct and pecu-liar class. They constitute a science themost varied and beautiful, each degreecomplete in itself, yet the un ion of all

forming a symmetrical whole. Theyresemble the union of every colour in aray of light.

When Ave reflect on their importance tothe Craft ; on the millions of humanbeings of every generation, who have beenmembers of the Order, and on the strongcommunicative propensity of the species,Ave may be surprised that greater interestand anxiety are not evinced by the Craftgenerally, Avhen the strong probability oftheir revelation is urged. This apparentapathy arises from the conviction that suchsuggestions are vain and false. The dis-closure of the minutest mysteries of theOrder Avould exhibit a degree of desperateand short-sighted villany but rarely to befound in the history of mankind. Thereis also another consideration Avhich tendsto produce the same effect. Mysteriouslyas our secrets have been presenred, andimportant as it certainly is that the IUIOAV-ledge of them should be confined to themembers of the institution , its gradationsof distinction and skill Avould render thedisclosure of them much less ruinous thanis generally imagined. He who ispossessed of the mysteries of one, or evenof several degrees of Masonry, is no morea Mason than an acquaintance Avith a feAVof the simplest mathematical axioms con-fers a knoAvledge of the stupendous opera-tions of that boundless science, or than thesmattering of a few sentences of unintelli-gible jargon can give a just percep tion ofthe rich and exhaustless beauties Avhichthe stores of classical literature unfold.

There are few inquiries more interestingin their nature than those institutions,which have occupied much of the consider-ation of mankin d, or Avhich could exertmuch influence over their happiness. Norcan Ave in any way more readily effect theobject of our research, than by an examin-ation of the principles by which theiractions have been directed . For thoughthe consequences of our actions may befrequentl y unknown to us, and are gener-ally beyond our control, a scrutiny of thecauses Avhich have operated to producethem, and of the rules by Avhich they havebeen directed, will supply us Avith someidea of the general result. Fortunately,in the present instance, the object of ourattention is not of difficult attainment.The principles of Masonry are as widelydiffused as the extent of creation. They

are drawn from the operations of nature,and the injunctions of nature's God.Formed at first by that reason, which sopeculiarly distinguish es man above allother creatures, and perfected by thesuccessive revelations Avhich the Almightyhas been pleased to make us of His will,they constitute a system of the purest andmost perfect morality. The h allowedvolume of inspiration is the depository ofour faith, our principles, aud our hopes.By its light Ave hope to be directed throughthe gloomiest dispensations of life ; to becheered by its influence in "the darkvalley of the shadoAV of death," andcovered with it, as Avith a mantle at thej udgment bar of God I

The effects of such an institution uponsociety at large, and upon the individualhappiness of men, cannot avoid being per-manent and useful. That Avhich existsonly by system and order, cannotencourage confusion and insubordination,unless by the vilest species of moral suicide.That which seizes hold on the strongestand tenderest sympathies of the humanheart, and Avields them through a succes-sion of years and of honours by the mostpoAverful impulses Avhich are knoAvn to ournature, must, by the plainest laAv of ourintellectual constitution, strengthen ourvirtuous affections , and vastly increase thedesire and faculties of knowledge. If thisbe to dupe and degrade mankind, thenwere our revilers right to spurn and despiseus. But if Ave direct you to all the lessonsof the past, and show you that governmentitself has derived its firmest support fromthose virtues Avhich we most especiallyinculcate ; if Ave point you to the smiles ofthe helpless, the benedictions of the AVICIOAV,and the rich tribute of the orphan's tearscheering us on our Avay, then may Avecontemn the ignorance Avhich derides us,and look forward Avith confidence to thetrack of glory Avhich will illuminate ourcourse, Avhen the childish virulence ofRobinson, and the learned malice of Barnelshall be buried amid the rubbish of abarbarous antiquity.

Masonry, the depository of vir tue, ofarts, philosophy, and freedom , enlightenedout- continent in the days of its barbarity,and noAv sheds its benign influence aroundthe risin g glory of another. Every part ofcreated nature is the subject of its con-templation and its influence. From the

minutest ingredient of an atom, up throughall the gradations of beauty and of being,to the spangled myriad of glories Avhichsurround and light us, it traces and revealsthe Avisdom and benevolence of the Crea-tor. Its principles, commensurate as Avemay say, Avith the existence of man , havesurvived the shock of time, and the decayof empires. Nations have arisen, and havetriumphed, aud have passed aAvay, leavingscarce a fragment on which the eye ofphilanthropy might repose, or Avhencehistory could trace the story of their fame.The land of Maro, and Tacitus, and Tully,exists only in the decayless empire of themind. Their descendants, standing amidthe monuments of their coun try's freedom,and the decaying tombs of those at whosefroAvn the nations trembled, in unblushingcorruption hug their gilded chains, andsmile over their infamy !

The canvas gloAved beneath the pencilof Apollos, and the marble breathed underthe chisel of Phidias ; Athens Avas muteat the eloquence of Demosthenes, and theAvaves of his rocky Chios Avere still at thesound of Homer's harp. Yet the land ofAristotle is now the abode of ignorance ,and the descendants of ttiose Avho fell atMarathon and Salamis live—and areslaves ! The shade of Hercules no longerdwells on the top of Mount CEta. Theheights of Olympus, the banks of thePeneus, and the vale of Tempe no longerresound to the Muses' song, or Apollo slyre. The glory of Achilles has departedfrom Larissa ; Thebes has forgotten themartial summons of Cadmus. Mycenj e nolonger chvells on the fame of Agamemnon,and Philippi could not learn from Brutusto be free ! The altars of Ida, and Delos,and Parnassus, are crumbled into dust ;Platcea has forgotten the triumphs ofPausomus, and the sea of Marmora thatthe Avreck of an invader once rotted on itsAvaves I Thus has it been not only Avithman, but with all those subjects AvhichAvould seem from their nature less liableto change or decay. Learning, arts, andaccomplishments, have changed Avithsuccessive generations, or perished beneaththe weight of remorseless barbarism.

Not so Avith Masonry. Race hasfollowed race, as Avave chases Avave uponthe bosom of the deep until it dashesagainst the shore, and is seen no more.Thus our Order has withstood the concus-

sions of a thousand generations. Thebillows of every sea have lashed its sides,and the storms of every age have pouredtheir fury round its head. Perfect at itscreation, sublime amid all the changeswhich have convulsed the ivorld, its adam-antine column Avill stand unshakenthroughout all the revolutions of the agesAvhich are to come ; or, if it should fallcrushed beneath the Aveight of its OAVUincumbent magnificence , it will carry withit in its ruin half the happiness and halfthe Avisdom of mankind. When theEternal shall gather in his grasp thesplendid retinue of worlds which constitutehis train, and call into judgment all thesouls which have peopled them, then willthe principles Ave profess survive thegeneral desolation, and be consummated inthe glories of measureless eternity.

Such is the brief outline of our institu-tion, which, from its remote antiquity—itsunknown origin—its mysterious preserva-tion, and its vast extent, forms the mostremarkable phenomenon in the history ofmankind. As far back as the humanvision can penetrate, we behold her moA-ingin quiet majesty along the stream of time,apparently unconcerned in the events whichwere transpiring, but really exerting an in-fluence over the concerns of men—mute ,indeed, but extensive as the countriesover Avhich her votaries Avere dispersed.

The sketch Avhich Ave have gh*en is buta distant external view of the temple ofour Order. A superficial view of thecartoons of Raphael will not bring theobserver acquainted with the style of thatmaster. Much time must be devoted toeach to feel its individual force and grand-eur of outline and expression ; for althoughthey are all the productions of the samematchless pencil, and have all therefore acorrespondent style, they cannot be jud gedof, one by the other, but must bediligently studied apart. Thus it is Aviththis stupendous fabric. Every attitude inwhich it can be viewed is striking andmagnificent ; but every change of situationproduces a correspondent change of appear-ance. To those AVIIO are not Masons wewould say—study well its graceful pro-portions, its imposing aspect, its rich andgorgeous decorations. Every vieAv Avillafford a lesson for future practice. Herethe natural and dignified simplicity ; theexquisite symmetry of Doric architecture ,

solicits your admiration ; there you behold] the richer Ionic drawn, as we are told,

from the matchless proportions of Diana,and made immortal by being used in herEphesian temple. Moving on, you maycontemplate the plain and solid strengthof the Tuscan ; the rude magnificence ofthe Gothic, and the light and graceful pro-portions, the delicate and rich decorationsof the beautiful Corinthian .

Brethren and Companions :—To you AveAvould say, enter the expanded portals ofour consecrated dome. Contemplate AvithaAve and admiration the splendours Avhichsurround you. Remember that you standupon holy ground, and amid the labours ofthe best and Avisest of mankind. The ac-cumulated trophies of countless generationslie open before you. All that is lovely innature ; all that genius could create, orskill embody, solicits your admiration, andurges you to advance. Pause not withheathen indifference at the vestibule, butprosecute your search through the glitter-ing apartments, until you shall arrive atthe Holy of Holies, and gaze un dazzledupon its flood of glory. Each step youadvance will afford you a richer theme foxadmiration ; a stronger inducement tovirtue, an undiscovered source of usefulnessand knowledge!

May your lh'es " become beautiful asthe Temple, peaceful as the ark, and sacredas its most holy place. May your obla-tions of piety and praise be grateful as theincense ; your love warm as its flame, andyour charity diffusive as its fragrance.May your hearts be pure as the altar, andyour conduct acceptable as the offering.May the exercise of your charity be asconstant as the returning Avants of thedistressed AVICIOAV and helpless orphan. Maythe approbation of Heaven be your encour-agement, and the testimony of a goodconscience your support. May you beendoAved Avith every good and perfect gutwhile tiwelling the rugged path of life,and finally admitted within the veil ofHeaven to the full enjoyment of lifeeternal!" So mote it be. Amen.—

HENCKABY BUDGINTON'S LITTLEDINNER.

HENCKABY BUDGIKTO -J, or as his friendsmostly term him, plain Henckaby, is a

member of a most distinguished family,Avhich came in Avith William the Con-queror. Drogo de Budginton is mentionedas presiding over the cooks at the battle ofHustings ; and it is generally believedamong the Budgintons, male and female,that this taste for " la cuisine" has beentransmitted through succeeding genera-tions to Henckaby himself, for he isfamous for tAvo things, his admiration ofthe fair sex, and his love of a good dinner.Though a married man now of someyears, he often talks of the hour when, ashe says, " militavi none sine gloria," andthough since that time he adds " parniabene relicta, he has not changed. As hisfriend, Captain O'Leary, says, "Bedad sir,it's the natch ur of the baste." Hence ourfriend ,Henckaby,for Ihopeheisyom-friend,kindly reader, as Avell as mine, is ahvaysdoing many gallant little things, and say-ing numberless pretty little words, Avhichprocure him much favour in the eyes ofthose angelic beings Avho constitute somuch of the happiness, and so much ofthe " botheration" of us lords of the crea-tion. Nothing so delights him as to takehis fair friends to the theatre, or the opera;no one so well arranges a little luncheon forthe dear and hungry creatures at Verey'sor the Criterion ; no one is so friendl y toBlackwall or Greenwich ; no one is so readyfor an excursion to Richmond or the" Palais du Crystal," in the words of theenthusiastic Frenchman, as our Henckaby,always active, and ever full of " bonhom-mie." And then it is that you see himreally in his element. "Doing the civil"is evidently, as Mr. Bushe would say, his"forte." His attentions to those gentlebeings, those gushing angels, Avho consti-tute the grace and delight of his friendlycircle, are most touching and unceasing.Nothing escapes his observation , nothingeludes his consideration, nothing is over-looked by his solicitous foresight. Henck-aby is, therefore, in high favour, and pceansto his name are continually arising, and tohis good "intentions." You hear soft voicessaying so pleasantly—how agreeable awoman's praise always is—" Henckaby isso pleasant;" "Henckaby is so thoughtful;"_" Henckaby is so very nice ;'' " Henckabyis so good-natured ;" " Henckaby is sucha vivacious companion." If, like the chame-leon who lives on flies, Henckaby couldlive on praise from liquid voices and bright

XgOrVjXeyes — praise, asT^oitr John Jones says," praise, sir, from good lungs and betterdigestions," Henckaby, I repeat, is, orought to be, the happiest of mortals. OldJohn Jones, Avhom 1 have just quoted, aretired major of much service and moreAvounds , is evidently, as most of our " vieuxmilitaires" are—though why I kiio w not—ofa cynical disposition. If we seek the re-condite causes of things, it may be diffi-cult to say why it should be so. Perhapssome unlucky brevet, some slipshod dis-patch, some cruel beauty Avho ought tohave been Mrs. Jones, and is Mrs. Hodg-kin, may be at the bottom of our good oldfriend's " brusquerie." Be this as it may,John Jones vigorousl y shakes his head atHenckaby's goings on; and says in his loudvoice, and " ore rotundo," " A marriedman, sir, in my opinion, ought to attendto No. 1. He is tied up, sir, manacled , sir,fettered for life, sir, to one and only onedear deluding seraph, and he has no busi-ness, sir, no business to constitute himselfa general admirer, a * Clumber spaniel,'sir, of the sex. My experience of females,sir, is not good ; my opinion of them, sir,is not high. But I knoAv it's no usetalking. Henckabies will ever aboundAvhere women 'most do congregate,' andthey Avill be ahvays dubbed by thatimpressionable body of beings, ' so goodnatured ; and so very useful. '" I for onedo not agree with John Jones in his long-tirade. As a rule, Avomen have both the" savoir faire and good sense, in a higherratio than men. That they like attentionis not blameable in itself, but none aremore clear-sighted than they are as to theactual merits and sterling Avorth of men.If Henckaby finds any favour in theireyes, you may depend upon it there issome good in Henckaby, though, like themodest violet, as his friend. Dr. Bayfey,says," he is born to blush unseen, and hidehis sweetness m the dusty air. The doctoradds, he believes that this quotation isfrom Shakespeare, either Coriolanus orTroilus and Cressida.

All this is Avhat the Germans call an: Emleitung. Henckaby took it into hisAvise head the other day, as his spouse Avasgoing to the Derby in a break Avith somecheerful friends, to give a little dinner toa very charming person, "a great friend ,'' ashe remarked, " of my dear, dear wife." Ac-cording ly, Henckab y arranged the follow-

ing little "Menu,'' which I have thoughtwell to transcribe, for sentimental oldgentlemen and hungry youths. " Prin-tanier au Riz." Saumon, sauce Tartare.Pet-its Bifsteeks, aud HBAV potatoes. Ten-drons de Veau, Sauce Sucree. Quartierd'Agneau roti, Haricots verts. Cannetonsrotis, petits pois. Asperges. Gelee auMaraschin. Meringues Glaces. Mayon-naise a l'Homard . Champagne, Chateaud Iquem, La Rose, Fromage de Neufchatel,&c, he., &c. Now this "Menu "does Henckaby great credit , and iftwo people or four people cannot enjoythemselves on it, all I can say is,they deserve to have Government skillyfor dinner for the rest of their naturallives. Well, the dinner came, andthe dinner Avas eating. The entrees AvereAvell cooked ; the Champagne Avas " bienfrappe ;" and Henckaby Avas saying indulcet tones, " another little slice," (I pre-sume of the "Cannetons,") Avhen rap rap,tap tap, went the door, and in bouncedMrs. Henckaby. Whether it was thatthat excellent female had not had a goodluncheon at Epsom, or Avhether she had ,as some ladies are said to have done,backed " Camballo," and not put any-thing on " Galopin," I don't pretend toknow or say, but she evidently Avas a littlestartled, and not altogether pleased, as hervoice Avas elevated, and her remarks abrupt.It seems that the astute Henckaby hadunderstood that the Derby party, as theyhad lunched together, Avould dine togetheron their return, aud so he had not exactlycalculated on his angel returning so soonto her domestic shrine ; and though herhusband was only dining with her dearestfriend—it is not all wives who encouragewhat Mrs. Partington calls " flatoniclesions." However, there she Avas. " Yes,sir," says John Jones, " she Avas there, byJove, and no mistake." HOAV the rest ofthe dinner passed over, I cannot tell you,as it is a subject Avhich, for some reason in-explicable to me, Henckaby does not evenlike ever to allude to. It seems a greatpity if so good a dinner should have beenspoiled by any little domestic contretemps ;or if so very agreeable a tete-a-tete shouldhave been broken up by uncongenial ele-ments, for some people do say, "two iscompany, and three is none." But such islife ! The only moral I can dream of forthe benefit of any of my readers from this

veracious little chronicle is," do not give abachelor's party on the Derby clay, andunless you are quite sure that your ' petitsolus' will not be thrown away.-" A moraldid I say? Old John Jones declares thathe thinks Henckaby was rightly served."A married man, sir," he says, speakingloudly and emphatically, "ought ahvays tothink of his wife, sir. I don't approve ofa chap like Henckaby forgetting that he isreally a married man, sir. Dr. Bayleyadds, "I should have managed better, Ithink, ' sub regno bonce Cinarce.'" ButAvhat do my readers—Avhat do the ladiessay ? Verdict. Female foreman of thejury : " We find Henckaby Budgintonguilty ; but ivith extenuating circum-stances." So let us all say. But I fancythat Henckaby will never give a dinner onthe Derby day again, even to his dearAvife's dearest friend , but will reserve his'•' agremens " for that domestic circle, wherehe shines so much, and ahvays makes him-self so agreeable.

T. T.

IMAGININGS ,

0 happy day-dreams of the heart ,Mid hazy clouds of care,

All hail I ye fair imaginings,Bright castles in the air,

Which still can soften and can soothe,Can comfort and beguile

Us all, as on life's way Ave AvendFor many a vreary mile <

The pulse beats high, fair Aveathor ours,Brave sunshine gilds the scene,

The earth is full of verdure,The sky is all serene;

No hearts are sad, no tear-drops fallIn this our pleasant day,

But golden dreams aud gracious fanciesStreAV flowerets on our Avay.

Bless'd hour for suffering mortals,Glad gift to toiling man,

Which lightened Avith exulting faith,And with hope's rainbow span,

Bids troubles and despondent sighsIn the far distance stay,

Which summons from their soft retreatThe perfumed hours of May.

And then there come to all of us,High hopes aud pensive joys,

The gayer pageants of the brain,Like children's painted toys ;

The calm resolves, the earnest will,And loyal love and true ;

Fond aspiration's gay mirage,The heart which trusts, the lips Avhich sue.

And o'er our being comes a spellOf fancy's bright regime,

Imaginings of radiant power, ,Give to the things Avhich seem

The earnest of a higher sphere,Dear phantasies and fears,

Which throw the glamour of their greatnessO'er the march of toiling years.

Though common things and common caresAre here the lot of all ;

Though ever in this wildernessThe same events befall

Us all in various measure still,Whether humble, Avhether high,

There are for all imaginings,Memories Avhich never die.

Yes, mid the heartlessness of years,By the dead sea of our joys,

Mid the tumults and the echoesOf this earth's empty noise,

That heart alone can aye be calm,That mind contentedly abide,

Which finds itsoAvn long-treasured thoughtsIts pleasure and its pride.

Dream on , dream on, 0 laughing youth,Dream on, maturer life,

Drown your discordant sonnetsGrey hairs and aged strife,

In all those loftier longings,Imagination's bliss,

Which tell you now mid mortal tears,Of a truer home than this.

There shall one day dawn upon the worldA brighter, fairer scene,

The present has faded from our gaze,With the follies that have been ;

And then, biuve heart and tender trust,Fond hopes which never cease,

Shall find that their imaginings,Have chang'dto knowledge and to peace.

A. F. A. W.

THE MYSTIC ORDER

THE approaching dedication of the GrandMasonic Temple at New York, which is totake place next June, is our apology, ifany be needed, for presenting a brief sketchof the rise, progress, and present conditionof this Avorld-renowned fraternity. Al-though the popular idea of Freemasonryis, or used to be, that of a secret conclave,having intrenched itself Avith mysteriousand terrible rites and ceremonies, andbound together by fearful oaths and fieryordeals ; yet a better acquaintance withthe genius of the institution, is said to re-veal so much to commend, as to leavecomparatively little against which excep-tion might be taken . True, it is environedwith profound mystery, and this is by someurged—justly or unjustly—as an objectionagainst it ; yet , as there is otherwise somuch of interest connected with the Order,we will not disenchant the inquisitivereader by divulging any of its occultsecrets, but glance at some of its worksand results, that have become historic.Like almost every other influential institu-tion, Masonry has been the object alike ofextravagant encomium by its friends, andunmerited obloquy by its opponents. With-out attempting to reconcile these dividingopinions, Ave shall steer betAveen them, andthus, doubtless , arrive at a more just esti-mate. Viewed merely as an eleemosynaryassociation, its generous benefactions areAvorthy of all honour; but its aims and pur-poses are said to be more than these : itnot only ministers to the necessities ofsuffering humanity, but its system of sym-bolism-—a science that has ever been closelyallied with poetry and religion—is repletewith significance, teaching such lessons ofmorality and ethics as must win approval.

Freemasonry, in its theory, regards man-kind as a common brotherhood, irrespectiveof colour, clime, condition, creed. It doesnot , therefore, reject from its felloAvshipany but the atheist, or those who are foundto be deficient m personal morality, Avhileall of an opposite character, whether JeAv,Mohammedan, or Christian, are regardedas equally admissible to its privileges. Al-though it professes to derive its creed andcode from the Bible—Avhich is said to beever found upon its altars—yet, since itthus liberally groups together men of such

diversity of creeds, all cannot, of course,strictly be called Christians, although manyChristians are among its supporters. Free-masonry is to be regarded as an institutionof human devising—whose principal designis to conserve the bodily Avell-being of men;while Christianity—of divine origin—hasto do Avith their spiritual welfare. Theycan never, of course, become identical ; allthat needs be desired, perhaps, is that theycome not into antagonistic conflict . Claim-ing, as it does, to be established upon theimmutable principles of virtue, truth, andcharity, it need not surprise us that underthe gis of these good genii, its historicannals should be replete with gloriousmemories, and Avhile these guardian angelskeep watch and Avard over its Avorksand ways, the world can scarcely affordto dispense vrith its philanthropicservice.

Man being essentially a gregarious audsocial being, there have ever existed in allcivilized communities, associations of men,for the purpose of mutual profit and pro-tection. Each department of human in-dustry has, consequently, had its appro-priate representatives among the varioussocieties and guilds of science, literature,and in the arts of life. Hence, among otherbenevolent institutions, that of Ereenia-sonry took its rise; and Avider in the rangeand sphere of its benefactions than mostothers, it has lived through centuries, tobless mankind. Where the foot of theadventurous traveller may stray—from thethrilling regions of thick ribbed ice to thesavannas of the sunny south , in the far-ofieast or remotest Avest—there the friendlygreeting and aid of a Mason may, by amystic sign, be secured by any brother inneed .

Franklin thus speaks of Freemasonry :*' It has secrets peculiar to itself, but ofwhat do these principally consist 1 Theyconsist of signs and tokens which seiTe astestimonials of character and qualification ,Avhich are conferred after due instructionand examination. These are of no smallvalue ; they speak a universal language,and are a passport to the support and at-tention of the world. They cannot be lostso long as memory retains her power. Letthe possessors of them be expatriated , ship-wrecked or imp risoned ; let them bestrippedof everything they have in the Avorld, still

their credentials remain, and are availablefor use, as circumstances may require. Thegood effects which they have produced areestablished by the incontestable facts ofhistory. They have stayed the upliftedhand of the destroyer, they have subduedthe rancour of malevolence, and brokendoAvn the barriers of political animosity andsectarian alienation."

Many traditions are held as to the originof the institution, but they are generallyregarded as merely mythical and legendary.According to some writers, it took its risefrom a band of Craftsmen in Tyre, whowent to Jerusalem to assist in the erectionof Solomon's Temple; hence the greatprominence given in the ritual and sym-bols of the Order to that memorable edifice.By others it has been traced to the ancientEgypt, and again to the times of theCrusades, and the Masons of Strasburg, in1275. Some bard has thus put the legendin verse :

" They're traced on lines in the Par-thenon,

Inscribed by the subtile Greek,And Roman legions have carved them on

Walls, roads , and arches antique.Long ere the Goth, with a vandal hand,

Gave scope to his envy dark,The honoured Craft in many a land,

Had graven its Mason-mark.

" The obelisks old, and the pyramids,Around which mystery clings—

The hieroglyphs on the coffin-lidsOf Aveird Egyptian kings.

Carthage, Syria, Pompeii-Buried and streAvn and stark,

HaA-e marble records that will not die—Their primitive Mason-mark.

" Those Craftsmen old had a genial whim,That nothing could ere destroy ;

With a love of their art that naught coulddim.

They toiled with a chronic joy,From Tiber to Danube, from Rhine to

Seine,They need no ' Letters of marqu e ;

Their art was their passport in France andSpain,

And in Britain, their Mason-mark."

Baldwin's Monthly.

CONVE RSATION.

THERE has been a great deal in the neAvs-papers lately on the subject of conversation ,suogested by the advertisement of a Pro-fessor of that art.

If we Avere professors of the art of Con-versation , Ave should begin with the teeth.If, according to the philosopher, a lie is tooo-ood a thing to Avaste, so is the effect Avhichmay be produced iu conversation by thejudicious display of the teeth. Teeth isonly, after all , another word for smile—inthe nomenclature ef the art of conversa-tion.

How often, then, in every rank (exceptthe lowest , and, in this matter, the wisest),by the clergyman, the laAvyer, the editor,the dry-goods merchant, the artist , theAvoraau of society especially, do Ave see thebeautiful device of the smile utterly Avastedand frittered aAvay. There is nothingAvhich can be more inane and ineffective :there is nothing capable of grea ter utilityand force. The trouble is, that most people-AVIIO appreciate the poAver of this device,smile perpetually, from the beginning tothe end of a conversation. The back-ground of facial expression should herather of a neutral, or perhap even sombretone—against Avhich the high lightof a sudden smile may be glowinglyrelieved.

At the beginning of the session with theperson before Avhom your art is to beexercised, the smile, of course, is in order.The features should then take their naturalposition in repose ; or should, if the cir-cumstances seem to require it, assume agraver expression ; it might, indeed, bewell to show the lines of the broAV some-Avhat draAvn together, Avith a suggestion oftrouble, or at least of concentrated atten-tion. Above all things, remember thatAvhen your vis-a vis begins Avhat promisesto be a prolonged humourous narration ,your face must instantly relapse into quiet.The smile may begin early in the story—but should be very light and inconspicuousat first, gradually diffusing itself over theentire countenance and coining to a climaxAvith the point of the story—either in anactual laugh, or, still better, in a radiantsmile of appreciation , tip-toe on the vergeof laughter, and a hundred times moreeffective for its reticence. No one who

has made use of this method will everreturn to the old and inelegant system—tiring to yourself and unsatisfactory toyour interlocutor.—of beginning the facialaudience, if Ave may so call it, at thehighest pitch at the outset of his narration,and vainly endeavouring to keep up thestrain upon the features to the end. Theconsequence of such a course is, that eitherthe smile becomes hard and mechanical, orthat precisely lvhen most needed it alto-gether disappears, and you are forced tosome clumsy substitute.

You may say that the rule just given istoo simple to be regarded. But beholdthe disastrous results that have followedthe ignoring of a method so simple—soentirely within the reach of all. Historytells us of a man who rose to the highestpolitical positions on the mere strength ofa smile. A discerning and witty peopleassociated the exercise of this gift with hisvery name. He kneAv how to smile ; buthe did not knoAv hoAv not to smile. Theconstant use of this method of conversationgave his features as decided a set as thatAvhich Avas more artificially produced in thecase of Victor Hugo's "homme qui rit ."His art Avas only half learned, and the oldadage Avas again proved true, that a littleknoAvledge is a dangerous thing.

We might cite another case in Avhichthe art of a Avhole social life-time Avas be-trayed—Ave will not say nullified—i n ripeold age. There Avas a man Avho smiledsubtly and successfully th rough fift y sea-sons. He then contracted the not unusualhabit of falling asleep in company . ThereAvould not have been anything serious inthis, had he taken the precaution carefullyto re-adjust his features before letting him-self drop into SAveet oblivion. But no ;instead of this, he Avould permit the nicely-arranged expression Avith Avhich he hadlistened to the last pleasing commonplacestill to linger meaningless and ghastlyuponhis countenance, Avhile his head droppedagainst the wall or upon his shoulder.

We had nearly forgotten one importan tpoint. The most exquisitely proportionedsmile will utterly fail of its effect, if thefeatures too quickly resume their ordinarytone. The hand, or rather face, of themaster is shoivn in nothing more con-spicuously than in the delicate shading offof expression. This is the croAvning art, bywhich the art is hidden.

We have no intention of entering atpresent upon the general subject of facialexpression, and only suggest that there isno reason Avhy the Delsarte system shouldbe confined to the public stage. A Pro-fessor of Conversation should include inhis curriculum a modification of thismethod, especially adapted to the shorterdistances of the reception-room and parlour,and Avith reference to the direct and re-flected lights, and the different tones ofthe street and the house, both by day andnight. It is evident that the expressionof the same temper and mental attitude—surprise, flattery, devotion, interest, pique,or Avhat not—must require a differentarrangement of the features according tothe dress, surroundings, and especially thequantity and quality of the light.

That the utilization of the countenancem conversation is largely a matter of edu-cation there can be no doubt. We arewell aware that there are persons Avho areconscious of a strange immobility of fea-tures ; who feel tha t their faces are, invery truth, veils and disguises ; who, atcertain moments of th eir lives, feel thatthey Avould give all they possess if theycould tear aAvay the mask and expose theirtrue feature, alight with appreciation.But it is a question Avhether early andpersistent education might not have donesomething for unfortunates like these. Onthe other han d, you may have seen menwho had carried this education to such arj itch that they could execute a AdsualStorm-symphony with nothing but theface for orchestra.

As an example of Avhat may be accom-plished by concentrated effort in this di-rection, Ave should be glad if Ave couldpresent here a photograph of the face ofthe fish vendor Ave met this morning onFourth Avenue. He Avas carrying twopails containing fish , balanced one on eachside from a shoulder-piece such as you seemore frequently in foreign countries, andhis whole countenance was given up to theshrill, concentrated , imperative statementof: "Wee-hi-ah ,—striped bass !'' Therewas no feature, no line or Avrinkle of hiscrooked countenance that Avas not aban-doned to this one end. A scientific studyof a face—and of faces—like that, v*e aresure would be of incalculable benefit to aProfessor of the Art of Conversation. Hewould be enabled, finally, by analysis and

classification, to read even in the silentcountenance the inveterate phrase ; andhe could easily deduce his rules and sug-gestions. The knowledge so acquiredwould be of use in other ways. Everyman has a favourite pun, or story, orsentence of some kind, Avhich at lastmakes itself apparent in Jthe set of hisfeatures.

«* * * There liesA conversation in his eyes."

This should be a Avarning in your owncase as to the manner of phrase permittedto dominate your outward presentment ;and in the case of a stranger you mightlearn , by looking at him, the very pun orharangue that is sure to come—and in thisway make good your retreat.

There are persons who, in conversation,have the faculty of putting you in theAvrong on your OAVU ground. You are, forinstance, devoted to the Venus of Milo,so called. You have ahvays consideredthat your "favourite statue.'' You havein your house the very best reproductionof it extant—cast from the original, andprocured by you at great expense and nolittle trouble ; and day by clay you gainneAV pleasure in it, and new admiration forit. You meet Mr. A. B. 0. in friendlydiscourse, and suddenly find yourself forcedby his exclusive, appropriating culte of theVenus, into what, even to yourself, seems,for the time being, not merely a conditionof ignorance and lack of appreciation , butinto almost a virulent personal animositytoward the statue. It is as if, in somedream of horror, you had flown at youridol, and clashed it into a thousandpieces.

Against conversationalists of this kindyou cannot be too assiduously on guard.One method of self-protection is this.Every intelligent man has, say fiftyopinions about each topic of conversationthat may be suggested. In his OAvn mind,each opinion holds its proper relation, andalthough the two extremes might, detached,appear incongruous , yet, in his own con-sciousness, they all have sense and se-quence. In - conversing with the ordinarymortal, it is not necessary to marshal theseopinions in solid continuous columns.Conversation should not Toe a battle, buta spring-day excursion into the country,with agreeable companions, in search oftrailing arbutus. Yet there are times

when you must advance with your heaviestbattalions. If you do not, you will findall y°ur resources drawn upon for thedefence at a disadvantage of some point initself insignificant. In other words, stateonly your leading thought, the one thatrepresents your reigning mood. ' This isthe course to pursue, unless you areAvickedly given to feints and alarms, andall sorts of tantalizing manoeuvres.

BeAvare, also, of another kind of con-versationalist—the man of negation, thecynic, the anti-enthusiast. Ten chancesto one he is not the terrible felloAV heseems. Nmety-nme chances in an hun-dred he is hiding his own conscious inca-pacities and ignorance under this shoulder-shrugging acquiescence, this Avell-breddoubt—Avell-bred it is, only superficially,for at heart it hides the very essence ofill-breeding, the desire to hold always theposition of advantage at Avhatever cost toothers—in a word, selfishness. Moreover,you are likely to find this very man de-precatingly given to certain select en-thusiasms of his own . It is here that youcan bring him to the test, and find himhuman.

There is still another sort of converseragainst whom warning is of no aA*ail.There is no conversation possible Avith aperson AVIIO talks in paragraphs, the sepa-rate sentences nicely balanced, and end-ing with monosyllables only when theyare most effective ; the thought em-bodied in these paragraphs-—opinions ofmen and systems, no matter hoAvcomplex—as finished as the stereotypedparagraphs themselves ; and no modifica-tions allowed except in foot-notes , alsostereotpyed I

We are inclined to believe it would bebetter to teach people how not to converse.Conversation, or Avhat goes by that namenoAv-a-days, is a hot-house growth. Goodconversationalists seem to have lost theirperfume in the over-development of certainshowy parts. When a man begins to be agood conversationalist, he begins to loseground as a man.

It is not at all silly, hoAvever, this Pro-fessor's advertisement. The fact that con-versation can be taught, shows what anartificial thing it is. You can teach almostany one to make wax flowers. We knowof but one man in America who can give

you the soul of a Avater-lily on canvas, andnobody taught him the trick.

Scribner s American Monthly.

LIVE MASONRY AS WELL ASTEACH IT.

BY J. R. BOYCE, M AV., MONTANA.

IN my address to them I have tried tourge upon the lodges the necessity of prac-tical Masonry, especially calling then-attention to the standing resolution ofthe Grand Lodge, passed in 1870, de-nouncing as high treason against the mostvital tenets of Masonry, the crimes ofgambling, drunkenness, licentiousness, andprofanity, realizing that the time has nowcome in our history when we must assum eour true posi tion and place ourselves rightbefore society, relative to these sinners.They are too flagrant a violation of ourteachings, and too commonly practised tobe lightly passed over ; the mantle ofcharity will no longer cover them, andthe hour for action has come ; Ave mayno longer shun the responsibility of re-specting the opinions of society ; the GrandLodge has placed her seal of condemna-tion on these practices, and our sisterGrand Lodges have approved, yet theseAvholesome regulations have remained onour statutes a dead letter, unpractised andunenforced. Brethren, otherAvise good andtrue, have Avell nigh ruined themselves :our lodges have been mute ; a maAvkishcharity has held them back from enforcingour laAvs, and our beloved Order has lost,in a great measure, her prestige as the har-binger of morality . Good Masons standappalled at the fearful violation of the Ma-sonic laAv, and society condemns the flagrantviolation of Avhat all knoAv to be Masonicduty. These departures from duty mustcease, or Ave lose our heritage . Brethren, Avehave good material ; men as true as steel ;men Avho would ornament any societyon earth, if we Avill only break off therough corners, and fit them for the builder'suse. But Ave have rested in the glory ofour beautiful ritual , admired its grandeur ,and the drapery in Avhich it is clothed , andforgotten that Avithout exemplification inevery-day life it is only a relic of themvstic past. Masonry is either something

to be practised, or its teachings are value-less. It teaches sublime truths ; it arraysitself in gorgeous drapery ; it pointsgrandly to the beautiful , the good, aud thetrue ; it elevates the evergreen of immor-tality ; it tells of high duty and glorioushopes ; it lift s the veil of the future andpoints to immortality and a glorious resur-rection and eternal life ; yet how far beloAvthese grand visions and duties do Ave prac-tice ? Brethren, can Ave hope longer tomaintain our heritage, and enjoj* our birth-right, unless we live Masonry as Avell asteach it? It is important that the mindsof the Craft be constantly called to thevital importance of a more thorough inves-tigation into the character and qualifica-tions of candidates. You cannot take acandidate without he be Avorthy and Avellqualified , and make him a Mason by con-ferring degrees. He must be a nvm, God-like, his vision uudimmed by vice, histhoughts elevated, his reason bearing fullsway, stamped Avith the divine impress, ordegrees will never make him a M ason. Youmay manipulate him, and restrain him fora time, but " Truth is mighty and willprevail ;" his true character will developeitself, and when too late you -will find thatyou have either a pestiferous meddler or auseless drone. Where Avere you taughtto look first for the embodied principles ofMasonry ? At the heart. Will degreesmake a Mason, aud create what does notexist in a man ] Never ! never ! Prin-ciples, eternal principles deeply planted bythe great I AM, can only make Masons.Degrees make members ; Deity malesMasons. Take one Avho only knows Ma-sonry as the parrot is taught language, andAvhen all is lovely he may seem to be Avhathe professes, but let the hour of trial come,and you will find him ready to rebelagainst the principles and teachings of ourOrder, and exhibit the properties of thethistle instead of the olive. But, mybrethren, are we not in a measure guil ty inthis, that Ave do not practise what Ave teachinitiates ? We present to the initiate oursublime ritual, explain its moral, and he isdeeply impressed Avith all he sees andhears ; he goes forth from the lodge Avithhigh resolves and glorious purposes ; hemeets his teacher and other membfii-s towhom he looks up for exemplification, andhe sees and hears those for whom, he hassuch reverence violating all the precepts of

the moral laAV, and he feels IIOAV are themighty fallen, and concludes there is no-thing in Masonry, only its high-soundingprofessions, and his Masonry is chvarfed bythe influence of those to whom he looks upfor example, and is either encouraged toviolate our regulations or disgusted withour hypocrisy. Brethren coming up fromthe various camps, valleys and mountainsof our lovely territory, entrusted with thewatch-care of Masonry, it is your duty to -make its laws, expound its principles, audreflect its high prerogatives, and to esta-blish it permanently as the grand oldmountains by Avhich we are surrounded ,laying broad and deep its foundation offundamental principles, and crowning itAvith the evergreen of beautiful exempli-fication , draAving to it the good and true,and repelling all that is vicious and bad.See ye to it that true Masonry is reflected ,its high and holy mission truly exemplified.Mankind , as Avell as the brotherhood ofMasons, have claims upon you Masonryis designed to benefit mankind, or it is theverist humbug that ever disgraced theAvorld. Go forth from the sacred templeof Masonry imbued with its spirit, teachits principles, and practise its precepts ;thus will you bring glory and honour toour noble Order. You will be judged byan impartial world by your acts, and hethat practises our beautiful moral lessonsAvill receive honour rather than he Avhoprates of virtue and practices vice.— TheCraftsman, Canada.

MESSRS. FBLTOE AND SONS' " Specialite "Sherry appears to be gaining great popu-larity, and, speakin g from practical experi-ence, Ave can honestly recommend it tothe notice of our readers. A thoroughlygood and pure Avine, at a moderate price,has long been a great desideratum , andMessrs. Feltoe and Sons embrace in theirAvine all the above advantages, and far out-distance any competitor in the field. Alarge body of the. medical profession speakin the highest terms oi its purity, pleasantflavour, and special features in its composi-tion, rendering it a very essential article inan invalid's diet,