Godfrey Higgins On Freemasonry.

this very act , or for being known to possess this knowledge . Now , when this is coupled with . the fact of the masonic emblems found on the cyclopean ruins of Agra and Mundore , I think , without fear of contradictionI may venture to assume ,

, that the oriental origin of Freemasonry cannot be disputed—and that I may reason upon it accordingly . " It is not likely that many who read this will be inclined—no matter how great their zeal as Masons—to venture on the

same errand as this Mr . Ellis , courting the death he suffered , and failing that , how are such statements to be tested ? It falls in with the popular notion of the universal character and powers of masonic signs , but certainly does not agree with our facts , which have been laboriously accumulated

and examined time after time without their testimony being shaken . The peculiar character of the work , and it having apparently been written without any idea of methodic arrangement , makes the task of a reviewer especially difficultunless

, indeed , he is contended to follow the author just when and where he leads ( as we have done , ) and even then , at the best , we can but glance at the various subjects treated of , ft » to do them justice , a much more pretentious and extended notice than

the present , would be necessary . The Prince of Masonic Biblographers ( Bro . EJJOCH T . CARSON , of Cincinnati , Ohio , ) thus speaks of the author under No . 5429 ( page 114 ) of his most valuable "Masonic Biblogmphy " now in course of publication :

" The Celtic Druids is the most philosophical digest of the existing information upon the orig in Of the Drnidical worship . The author traces that and all other ancient

systems of religion , back to their primal source ; demonstrating that the extraordinary races of Upper India who formed Buddhism , where also the founders of the Chaldean , Phoenician , Etruscan , Guebre , Cabiri , Drnidical , and Brahminical

mythologies . " Of the " Anacalypsis , " after mentioning the high price it fetches , Bro . CAESON ays : "To the student of the mysteries , it and the preceding work are of the greatest

value , notwithstanding the crude manner in which the erratic , but learned author , has thrown his vast accumulation of facts together . " ( To le continued . )

The Albert Chapel At Windsor.*

THE ALBERT CHAPEL AT WINDSOR . *

PILOBIMS to the oldest and most beautiful of our Royal residences take too often but little thought , as they survey the glorious pile of Windsor Castle and its surroundings , of the fragmentary way in which it has been built .

Edward the Confessor , it is supposed , possessed , near here , a Castle , probably of wood , as stone was difficult to be obtained , but wood abundant . AVilliam the Conqueror , probably , built the first stone structure , regularly fortifying the place ,

but the absence of water was a serious drawback , and his fortifications were not destined to last many generations . The existing fabric dates from Henry III ., and by him was commenced the chapel which has seen so many changes and undergone so many vicissitudes until to-day it is known as the Memorial of Albert " the

Good . " This mortuary chapel , then , was commenced by Henry III ., and completed by Edward III . Henry VII . rebuilt it , and in the next reign , having been presented by his son the eighth Henry to the

favourite Cardinal Wolsey , it was added to by him and destined to be his own burial place . AVolsey , however , fell into disgrace , and the Chapel reverted to the Crown , after which we hear nothing more of itexcept

, that it was used by James II . as a place in which , contrary to the temper of his subjects , the Romish Mass was said . Since then it has remained unused until

her present Majesty the Queen determined to set it apart as a monument to her deservedly beloved Consort . A certain amount of restoration was needed by the fabric ' , after which the mural enrichments were committed to the charge of Baron Triqueti who had rendered

himself famous by his improvement of the old process revived by him and known as " Tarsia " work . When on examination of such works as AVyatt Papworth's " Gwilt ' s Encyclopoedia of Architecture , " we cannot find even mention of " Tarsia" -wovk at all ; and when ,