Freemasonry And Its Institutes.—Vi.

protection ; but above all , that they should never lose sight of tho allegiance which is due to the sovereign of their native land . ^ Does any code of laws , whether ancient or modern , contain rules better adapted for the peaceful ancl proper regulation of the people than these ? And that such has been the conduct of true Masons , history piwes . And again , in the ' Antient

Charge II , "A Mason is a peaceable subject to the civil powers , wherever ho resides , or works , ancl never is to be concerned in plots or conspiracies against the peace ancl welfare of the nation , nor to behave himself undutifull y to inferior magistrates ; for as Masonry has always been injured by warbloodshed and confusionso antient kings ancl

, , painces have been muci disposed to encourage fche craftsmen , because of their peaceableness and loyalty , whereby they practically answered the cavils of their adversaries and promoted the honour of their fraternit y who ever flourished in times of peace . "

It has been said by some enemies of our noble institution thafc Masonry is only a new form of , ancl has its foundation in " myths ancl fables . " What a pity it is that these would-be critics clo not learn the true meaning of the words tliev employ before uttering them . What is " a myth ? " According to the literal meaning of / xvdoe , it is " anything delivered by word of mouth

, a speech , counsel , promise , a tradition ; " so also tho word falula , from for , to speak , means " a narration , anything told or narrated . " Thus they truly say it is a form of myths and fables , though not according to their interpretation of the words ; for Freemasonry is an embodied tradition—all its wordssignssymbols ancl customshave from its first oriin

, , , g been handed clown orall y from one generation to the other to the present time . Nor is there anything very strange in this ; consult history , whether sacred or profane ; even among the patriarchs the divine commands were handed clown from father to son . Adam lived till he was nine hundred and thirty-one years olcl , and through the endowments of

memory taught his family what he hacl learned in Eden , ancl the knowled ge he had gained of nature aud her God , while his prolonged life enabled him to testify the works of the Almi ghty to ei ght generations of his children ; these lessons Methuselah , who lived two hundred ancl forty-five years with Adam , and died shortl y before fche flood , delivered fco Noah . The possibility of a tradition being handed down orally for such a length of time , is proved by the fact that Moses did not write his books till more than one thousand

years after the flood ; and ifc is not probable thafc the whole Jewish nation would implicitly have received these books hacl they not been able , from their traditionary knowledge oi the facts related in them , to acknowledge the truth of thencontents .

The usages and customs of Freemasons have ever corresponded with those of the ancient Egyptians ; uiiAvilling to expose their mysteries to vulgar eyes , they concealed their particular tenets and princi ples of polity under hieroglyphical figures , and expressed their notions of government by signs and symbols communicated to the initiated alone . Hieroglyphics emblems

are or signs of divine , sacred , or supernatural things , by ivhich they are distinguished from common symbols , which are si gns of sensible or natural things . Symbols have been and will be used throughout all ages , for words are nothing more than , signs or symbols . Aldrich , in his Artis Logica Iluclimenta , thus defines a word : — " Vox est signum rei vel

conceptus ex institute vicarium , " a word is the sign or conception of a thing put in the place of that thing by conventional agreement . . Hermes Trismegistus is commonly esteemed the inventor of hieroglyphics ; he first introduced them into the heathen theology , from Avhence thhave been transplanted into the

ey Jewish ancl Christian . P ythagoras seems to have established his system on a similar plan , and many societies or orders of a more recent date-have copied the example . Masonry , however , is not only the most ancient , but the most moral institution , that ever existed , as every character , figure and

Freemasonry And Its Institutes.—Vi.

emblem depicted in the Lodge has a moral meaning and tends to inculcate the practice of virtue on those who behold it . The usages ancl customs of the ancients in their secret societies were called mysteries . If by mysteries ive merely understand a secret religion , then in the civilized part of the world there can be no mysteries , for Gocl may be openly

worshipped everywhere ; but if by mysteries we understand secret ceremonies and doctrines , then we may say there are still mysteries among Freemasons . " But , " continues Gadicke , " we clo not call our secrets mysteries , and we thereby prove that with us there can be no secret religion . No one among us is a mystagogueand our outward appearance has nothing

, mysterious about it . " On the subject of the connection between Freemasonry and the ancient mysteries there are tAvo principal theories . The one is that proposed b y Dr . Oliver—that the mysteries are but deviations from that common source—both of them

and of Freemasonry—the patriarchal system of worship established by Gocl himself . With this pure system of truth he supposes Freemasonry to have been coeval and identified . But the truths thus divinely revealed through the imperfection of human nature , came at length to be doubted and rejected ; ancl though the visible symbols were retained in the

pagan mysteries , through their ministers corrupting them for selfish ancl Avorldly purposes , their true interpretation was greatly obscured ancl almost lost . The second theory , leaving the origin of the mysteries to be sought in the patriarchal religion , finds the connection between them and Freemasonry commencing at the building of King Solomon ' s temple , of

which Hiram of Tyre was the chief architect . The Dionysian artificers hacl introduced the mysteries of Bacchus into Tyre , Avhere Hiram most probably ivas initiated . Freemasonry , whose tenets hacl ahvays existed in purity among the immediate descendants of the patriarchs , noiv added to its doctrines the guard of secrecy , which , says Dr . Oliver ( Hist .

Init . ) was necessary to preserve them from perversion or pollution . However much the mysteries of different nations may vary in ceremonies , still , amongst most of them will be found certain truths and landmarks which cannot but be regarded as certain proofs that they must have been derived from some one true ancl primitive system . R . B . W . { To be continued . )

Masterpieces Of The Architecture Of Different Nations.

MASTERPIECES OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF DIFFERENT NATIONS .

BY J . G . LEGUAKD . THE ARCHITECTURE OP THE CHINESE ( CONTINUED ) . CHAMBERS , who has published in England , a work on the edifices ancl the furniture of the Chinese , in disabusing our minds as to the whims ancl phantasies falsely ascribed to thafc people , remarks that all their productions have at least the merit of originality ; but he is equally struck at tho

resemblance of their architecture to that of the ancients . He informs us that the most considerable of the pagodas at Quumg Ton occupies a great extent of ground ; that it encloses , besides particular temples , idols , apartments for two hundred bonzes , hospitals for several animals , a spacious refectory and a cemetery . He acids that priests and animals are

promiscuously buried-there , and honoured alike with monuments and epitaphs , ivhich is a still more close resemblance to the custom of the Egyptians , of worshipping animals and dedicating to them monuments . Whatever analogy , hoivever , there may be betAveen the architecture of the Chinese ancl that of the Egyptians , and also of the Greeks , AVIIO preserved

the Egyptian impress in several parts of that art which their genius seems to have created in common with all that they practised , one cannot avoid perceiving in the forms of those curved ancl pointed roofs , in the lightness of their supports , and in the section and uniformity of their masses , that the tents of the Tartars v ivere the first models which the industry ancl patience of the Chinese transmitted to