Carpenters' Hall.

pictures which included representations of Our Saviour or of the Virgin Mary . They were accidentally discovered in 1845 by a workman who , finding the wall not firm enough to hold a nail which he wished to drive into it , tore away some of the canvas and brought the old pictures to liht .

g They occupy the whole breadth of the Hall , twenty-three feet , and are about three feet in height . The subjects , which are taken from Scripture , ancl have special reference to carpentry , are divided into four compartments , by ornamental columns

painted in distemper . The paintings themselves are executed upon a layer of lime about one-sixth of an inch thick , Avhich rests on a thick layer of earth ancl clay , held together with straw ancl supported by laths . The first subject

represents the Almighty giving instruction to Noah concerning the building of the Ark , upon whicli Shem , Ham , and Japheth are busily at ivork . The second represents King Josiah ( If . Kings 22 ) , ordering the repair of the Temple , the third an incident in the early life of Our Lord , who is gathering up the chips scattered by Joseph , AVIIO is at work upon a beam of wood .

lhe Virgin is seated on one side spinning , aud in the original is a figure which is not reproduced in our engraving—viz ., a grave personage in sixteenth century costume , who appears to be giving orders respecting Joseph ' s work . The fourth compartment shows the child Jesus teaching in

the synagogue , but a great portion of the picture is destroyed . Above each compartment is an appropriate quotation from Scripture , painted in black letter , but the only inscription which remains perfect is that descriptive of the third subject . The

paintings are executed in a vigorous black outline , the tints of the dresses are flat , Avithout any attempt at shading , and there are some traces of gilding . The costume is curious , being a mixture of antiquated dress and the ordinary attire of the artist ' s

own period . The attendants and officers of King Josiah are in costume of the latter part of the reign of Henry VIII , while the men in the synagogue are in a heterogeneous sort of dress which was much used by Scriptural designers of that time . The paintings , which are placed about nine feet from the ground , are surmounted by an embattled oak beam , over

Carpenters' Hall.

which , in the spandril of the arch , is painted the arms of the Company , supported by nude figures of boys . There is also au inscription , whicli , howeA'er , is nearly obliterated . "The new Hall of the Carpenter s'Company is in course of erection in London

Wall , the entrance being in the new street called Throgmorton Avenue , The style is Italian , from the designs of William Willmer Pocock , Esq ., F . R . I . B . A . The foundation-stone was laid on the 1 st August 1876 b Stanton AVilliam

, , y Preston , lisq ., then the Master of the Company , and the building is to be completed by the end of the present year . It is intended to introduce into the new building the old oak carving and other decorations now in the present Hall . "

The Lady Muriel.

THE LADY MURIEL .

( From Bro . Emm Holmes' " Tales , Poems , and Masonic Papers , " about to bepuhlishcd , )

CHAPTER IV . LADY MURIEL . '' WHAT became of the lady 1 " I asked . Falconbridge was in a profound reverieand took no notice . At last with a

, sort of half start , he seemed to recover himself , and said" Pardon me , my thoughts Avere far away . Did you speak ? " I repeated the question . " Ohahyes ; I will tell you . It was

, , only six months after hor marriage that , by the sudden death of Mancleville ' s cousin , whose only son had predeceased him by a few months only , he came into the earldom of Kilpatrick , aud my friend became an Irish Countess . He did not enjoy the

dignity long , however , for , four months afterwards , I saw his death in the papers , which occurred through a fall from his horse in the hunting field , and at twentyfour Muriel Avas a Avidowetl Countess , and would shortly become a mother . In the