Half-Way Doin's.

I thanks you for de 'tention you has gib dis afternoon—Sister Williams will oblige us by a-raisin ' ob a tune—I see dat Brudder Johnson ' s 'bout to pass around de hat , And don ' t let ' s hab no half-way doin ' s Avhen it comes to dat ! Scribner ' s Monthly .

Godfrey Higgins On Freemasonry.

GODFREY HIGGINS ON FREEMASONRY .

BY WILLIAM JAMES HUGHAN . ( Continued from piage 360 . ) SUCH works as these have undoubtedly a special value to masonic studentsfor

, they furnish the originals of several of our Traditions and Customs , though not to the extent some suppose , and certainly the evidence so accumulated and made known in the exhaustive works of Brother Higg ins must be carefully examined aud

considered before his opinions are accepted as correct , and while we cannot fail to admire the diligence of the author , Ave must also admit that his inferences are frequently not justified by the evidence he submits . However , the Avorks are most

valuable , and especially so to the thoughtful Mason . We now come to a most interesting portion of the work under review , and to Avhich Ave desire to invite the

attention of the thinking portion of the Fraternity . Bro . Higgins tells us that . " The Temple of Eleusis had a very large dome , which was of great antiquity , long before the time usually allotted to the invention of the arch , Avith radiated stones . . . . . I request my brother Masons

of the Royal Arch , to place themselves in the middle of the New Room at Freemasons' Tavern , when lighted up , and then to reflect upon all their ceremonies , on Avhich of course I cannot enlarge , and I suspect they will find themselves both at

Eleusis and at Bit-Chem , and in India . We know very Avell that there were no arches in the temple of Jerusalem , that is , radiated arches ; but we also knoAV that there were vaults in Avhich there were great treasures . . . . These arches , I apprehend , were of the nature of that of the treasury of Atreus at

Messina , and of the Cupola of Komilar , described by Col . Tod . If a person wanted to open such an arch , he Avould use a rope putting it round the cap , and pulling it inside ; if he Avanted to open a key-stoned arch he would not use a rope , but a

hammer . " ( p . 719 , vol 1 . ) " The persons called Royal Arch Masons Avere the Archi-tect-onici , before the invention of key-stoned or radiated arches the Cyclopsean builders of the only stone edifices , at that time , in the Avorld , Avhich

were temples . . . . The Archi-tectonici , the Chaldsei , the Gnostici , the Mathematici , the Dionisiaci , constituted a MYSTERY , and erected Gothic buildings , the ruins of Avhich now remain in India , thousands of years before they existed in

Europe . ... I beg to repeat to such of my readers as are Royal Arch Masons , that Solomon Avas a Ras or wise man , and that a Mason in Rajapoutana is called a Raz , which also means mystery ; and now I take the libertof observing to my

y brethren , that they are called Royal-Arch Masons , not because they have anything to do Avith Kings , but because they are Raia-pout-an Masons . " ( p . 770 . )

Well , for our part , Ave have never been able to trace the Royal Arch of Freemasonry long before 1740 , and our experience agrees , we believe , with others , particularly Brother DR . MACKEY , who has made the Ritual and History of that degree his special studyand who is not

, surpassed by any brother in both hemisp heres in his knoAvledge of the subject . We have , ourselves , devoted some years to the question , and have had more than one friendly discussion with our esteemed and learned brotherthe Rev . A . F . A .

WOOD-, FORD , M . A ., who rather leans to a much older origin than we can ascribe to Royal Arch Masonry . It is not for us in a printed publication , to lay much stress on the peculiar objects of Royal Arch Masonry , nor to dwell upon

its distinctive features , though even if we did , our attempt Avould not be the first of the kind as the revered and Reverend Dr . George Oliver , is the author of the bestAvork on the subject extant . ( " Origin of the English Royal Arch . " )

We are pretty sure , however , that nothing as yet been published to prove the existence of such a degree prior to A . D . 1738 , and we know that Rituals about the