Harry Watson;

forces work from the centre outward . ' JsTone livefch unto himself and none dieth unto himself . ' I feel that I should unite with niy fellows in effort to ennoble manhood and to mitigate human suffering , and , as for secrets , I understand the

Masons have none except the drama of the Order and passwords , grips and signs , by Avhich its members may knoAV each other , and thus be protected from imposture . " Mrs . Watson did not reply , but kissing her husband good-bye , turned with a heavy heart to the cradle of her babe and spent a full hour humming the lullaby :

" Hush , my babe , lie still and slumber , Holy angels guard thy bed ; Heavenly blessings without number Gently fall upon thy head . " There was a rap at the door , and the servant announced the Eev . John Peeksnifher pastor . She trembled like a reed

, shaken in the wind , for she had a presentment that the venerable clergyman had been made acquainted Avith the fact of her husband ' s intention to unite with the Masons , and had come to read the church riot act to the family . He bad a

very grave visage when his feelings were the brightest , but on this occasion he wore his most funeral expression . His salutation Avas in a deep , sepulchral tone , suggesting by its coarse , gutteral accent :

"Hark ! from the tombs , a doleful sound . " His step was measured , befitting the solemn tread that accompanied the dead march in his soul . His very breath seemed reeking Avith sulphurous fume . NOAV , Avhile Protestants theoretically ridicule the

Roman Catholic confessional , and affect contempt for the papal anathemas , there is a large class of timid people Avho are as much under the domination of their own preachers as Avere ever the most priestridden people of Southern Europe . Many

there are Avho dare not think or act , without first inquiring what the minister will say . Mrs . Watson had been brought up a Presb yterian of the strictest sect . Her memory run not back to the time Avhen she could not answer every question in the shorter catechism . Parson Peeksnif had baptized her , buried her mother , married her to her husband , and baptized

her child . No wonder that she held the venerable gospeller in the profoundest esteem , ancl dreaded to offend him , or to have her husband provoke his ire . He began to inquire for Mr . Watson , and she , with faltering accent and quailing heart ,

blundered out , in broken syllables and hysterical sentences , the awful fact that at that A'ery moment he was in the dreadful toils and secret den of the sacriligious Masons . The groan that escaped the thin lips of the clergyman seemed as if it might

have beeu an echo of the sigh which nature gave when at first she yielded the sign that all Avas lost . The parson announced his regret and the startling penalty that Harry Watson AVOUM have to renounce Masonry or be expelled the communion of the

church . To Mrs . Watson this was equivalent to social degradation and eternal woe , and , so burying her face in her hands , she burst into a flood of grief , in the midst of which her husband returned from the

Lodge . Imagine the tableau—a sleeping babe , a weeping woman , a stern old clergyman , and an Entered Apprentice Mason —looking none the worse for his first goat ride .

The first impulse of Harry Watson was to sternly rebuke the old divine who had intruded his unwelcome presence upon his wife at this unusual hour , and added to her disquietude of mind by informing her of the dire penalty to be visited on him for having joined the Masons , but an

imploring look from his wife who seemed intuitively to read his heart , enabled him to restrain his purpose and choke back the words that had nearly reached and became vocal on his lips . After Mr . Peeksnif had expressed his disapprobation and his

purpose to inflict a severe ecclesiastical punishment , Harry told him that at an early stage of the initiation he had been assured , by men of the strictest probity of character , whose truthfulness and honour were well knoAvn to Mm , that nothing

would be imposed upon him as a matter of either faith or practice that would in anywise conflict with his relations or duties to God , his country , his neighbours or his family , and that , should he find anything which his conscience protested , be could at any stage withdraw . Thus assured , he had completed the first step in Masonry . He had not seen or heard anything but