Notes On Literature, Science And Art.

stations connected with them , in their ' Iters , ' Avhich Avere Avritten by them at different times , and assumed to be semiofficial descriptions or tables of the Roman military poAver in Britain ; but between the lines of these great roads lay extensive tracts of country , whichfrom the

, frequent finding therein of Roman remains , were doubtless thickly peopled , although probably by a mixed population , occupied more in agricultural than in mechanical pursuits , and dwelling in villages nestling round Roman villas or

camps , and readily accessible by regularly constructed roads , stretching outwards from the great thoroughfares ivhich intersected Romanized Britain from one end to the other . " This rational vieAv of the subject , I readily endorse . The fact is ,

the Roman occupation of Britain , ancl its effect on the subsequent civilization of the island , are even yet very imperfectly understood : nay , by the mass of the people , not understood at all . Rose Cottage , Stokcsley .

Faith, Hope, And Charity.

FAITH , HOPE , AND CHARITY .

BRO . J . II . JEAVELL , P . M . NO . 1223 . IN faith , the Architect designs The temple that he fain would raise , Help'd by the . Mason ' s mystic rites . Though Cowans stand aloof and gaze , Admiring brethren all approve ,

As one by one the columns rise , 'Till the grand structure stands complete High towering upAvard to the skies . In Hope , the craftsman takes in hand The work requiring ornate skill ; He decks the Temple Avith high art

, Adorning all Avith right good will , A nd ever as the Avork proceeds , Dictated by the Master mind , The Bible , Compasses , aud Square , In love and truth are all combined . In Charity the Brethren join ,

Ancl lend a willing helping hand To every upright perfect Avork , The Avorthy Master doth command . Thus by united strength and skill , In true proportions raised on high , We see the temple wherein dwells Bright faith , fond Hope , and Charity ,

The Origin And References Of The Hermesian Spurious Freemasonry.

THE ORIGIN AND REFERENCES OF THE HERMESIAN SPURIOUS FREEMASONRY .

BY REV . GEO . OLtl'ER , D . V . CHAPTER XIII . THE REFERENCE TO THE DELIVERANCE OF NOAH FROM THE ARK .

( Continued from page 509 . ) IT Avas the chief intention of Almighty wisdom and justice to purge the world of its moral corruptions by the destruction of the main agent which produced them .

And hence arose the doctrine so much insisted on in the heathen mysteries , of purification by water , ft was received as orthodox by ei'ery people under heai'en , and " sacra non tractauda illotis manibus " was a maxim that could not be violated Avith impunity . The multitude of usages Avhich sprung out of this doctrine are almost as ancient as the Deluge itself .

Various legal purifications by water were enjoined on the Jews by divine authority , ancl repeated ablutions amongst the heathen ivere equally necessary before initiation could be conferred . Thus Menippus , in Lncian , when he was initiated into the mysteries of Zoroastei-says" Ad

, , Tigridem me fluvium duceits , purgavit simul atcpie abstersit faceque Lustravit KO . L crKiWtj , " meaning that he was purged with ivater and the juice of a sea onion ; and a festival was holden in Sicily called 2 / aA / A . OH' Ytoprq .

The Egyptians , says Herodotus , were in like manner enjoined after their initiation to purify themselves with water twico every day and night for a prescribed period of time , in reference to the Deluge , and hence this element was esteemed to

contain some portion of divinity , and was regarded ivith the most extravagant adoration , ancl not only the Nile and the Ganges but in other countries—Britain , for instance—all running streams , particularly those Avhich took a direction from Avest to east , were accounted sacred . And they taught in the Spurious Freemasonry that these ablutions Avere enjoined to commemorate the awful destruction of the