An Allegory.

I turned to the Right Hon . Imaginatus . " Tell me , " said I , " have you no reality , but do you exist only in delusion ? " " I have no delusion , " said he , " my ideas flow from light ancl fancy , ancl so quickly do they fly I cannot follow them in their flight ; I have rendered national histories familiar by reproducing their characters ; I have shown up individualities clothed in shams ancl vanitiesI have depicted wrongs and abuses and brought about redresses ; I

; have shown this life ancl that life diverted from each other by wide social gulfs ; I have refined and cultivated by depicting characters with graces to grace a duke , and I have depicted nature's kindly feelings in labourers of the soil ; I have imagined melodious melodies and grand inspiring sounds ; I have imagined scenes , forms , ancl faces , and made them into pictures ; I have built castles in the air , and reproduced them on the earth . All these things , " said he , " I have imagined ; there is one I believe . "

I moved in the direction in wbich the Right Hon . Lnaginatus had turned , and looking straight , before me , I saw the emblem of Faith , by its side the Holy Bible . Rising by it , grandly , solemnly , reverent , and beautiful in its'structure , stood forth an old Abbey ( the church ) : above it gleamed in shining letters of gold , " Restored since the Reformation . " I bowed my head silently in acknowledgment of Faith , ancl lo and behold , " I opened my eyes , ancl I came down from the heights of fancy into the world ' s reality , and I thought maybe imagination might be akin to truth . "

The Proposed Restoration Of The West Front Of The Cathedral Church Of St. Alban's,

THE PROPOSED RESTORATION OF THE WEST FRONT OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST . ALBAN'S ,

BY THE FREEMASONS OF , ENGLAND . . Under the patronage of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , G . M . of the Grand Lodge of England , and many most other influential Brethren . \/ E have great leasure in printing this circularaud as it has been decided to

T p , '' form a Central Committee for the purpose ol : enabling the Freemasons of England to restore the whole , or portion , of the west face of the Abbey , we beg 1 to add that subscriptions are received by 0 . E . Heyser , Esq ., 47 , Wilton Crescent , London , S . W ., and that the maximum is £ 5 . Any lower sum , however , will be accepted . We shall recur to the subject in the next number of this Magazine .

' ¦ 'At the last annual meeting of tlie Provincial Grand Lodge ol Hertfordshire , held at Watford , on July 2 Cth , 1878 , a proposal was brought forward to the effect that the Freemasons of England bo invited to subscribe towards the restoration of some special portion of the Cathedra ! Church of St . Alban ' s , in memory of St . Alban , the first reputed Freemason in England , ancl s Committee , ¦ with power to add to their number , was thereupon appointed to consider the subject , and to take such steps as they might think desirable for collecting subscriptions and otherwise promoting the object as brought forward in the original proposal , subject finally to the approval of the Provincial

Grand Lodge of Hertfordshire . " Two meetings of the Committee have already been held . At those meetings it has been unanimously resolved to endeavour to carry out the ori ginal scheme , and after a pci-sonalvisit to tho Cathedral , it is proposed to undertake , should the necessary funds be forthcoming , tho restoration of the whole of the west front or of one , or more , of tho throe magnificent , but sadly dilapidated , porches at the west end of tho building . •' " These porches may justly bo considered not only to exhibit the most beautiful architectural details in this grand Cathedralbut from the extreme delicacy and beauty of their desi they

, gn , cannot be excelled by any other examples of this or any other date throughout the kingdom . They were built by Abbot John de Cella , at the commencement of the thirteenth century , and formed part of a magnificent design for the reconstruction of the nave of the Abbey Church , which from want of the necessary funds was only partially carried out . The style of architecture is that commonly hnown as' Early English' or ' First Pointed , ' and may well compare with similar examples to be