Filial Duty, Or Parents' Claims And Children's Liabilities.

Ms pit y for a weeping mother , but unable to point to her ( for they had nailed both of his hands ) directed b y an ineffable look of tenderness the eye of his beloved disci ple towards her saying " Behold th y mother , " and then that sameineffable look on John to draw that mothers eye towards

him said , ' Behold thy son . " 0 pathetic tenderness and pity most touching , he Avould not weep for himself , though they had croAvned his brow with thorns , and pierced his hands and feet with nails , and gave him vinegar and gall to drink when suffering his death thirsthe had not a tear to

, shed till the si ght of other ' s sorrows opened the founts of sympathy , and then tears of pity , mingling with his blood of suffering , fioAved freely forth . In this solemn , this painful incident , and other passages in the sacred volume , a parents' claims are recognised by the blessed Son of God . And

in that recognition Ave discover a liberal and a literal interpretation of the divine command which enjoins us to honour our father and mother . Children behold in your Redeemer an unerring and faultless model for your imitation and guidance . By these and other notable illustrations our dut y

to our parents is obvious , and Avhilst our conduct comports with such duty , the performance of which is well pleasing to God , let us not neglect to also discharge our other duties to our Heavenl y Father faithfully , prayerfullv , and zealously .

" As I live , " saith the Lord , " I have no pleasure in him that dieth . Look unto me and be ye saved all ye ends of the earth , Turn ye , turn ye , Avhy will ye die ? All day long have I stretched out my hands to a disobedient gainsaying people . " Surely this is pathos , Jehovah pleading , striving ,

entreating Avith sinners , the voice of the Almi ghty tremulous with emotion , the great heart of the infinite heaving with the earnestness of his compassions ; the hands that created the universe stretched out as a suppliant to draw the wanderers back to their injured Father ' s love .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

X . A . ' s LETTER , HINDOOISM AND FREEMASONRY , See page 419 . My Oriental Tests and Translations , with all works explanatory and illustrative of llicni , Avere sold in 1853 and JS 57 as part of Ihe "Bibliolheca Ccoperiana'' the boohs possessed by me as a Life Member of

, the Eoyal Asiatic Society and a subscriber to the Oriental Translation Fund excepted . These last bocks I was peiniitted to present to the Library of the Honouiiihlc Soeity ot Lincoln ' s-lnn about the time of my quitting England , 1859 . This circumstancetogether with my very advanced

, age , and many infirmities ( one a serious failure of Sight ) , effectively prevents my acceptance of what I would consider " L . A . ' s'' courteous invitation to engage in a learned and interesting discussion .

I will only add that when " L . A . " has looked into Freemasonry and into Modern Hindooism as much as he has evidently looked into Ancient Oriental Religious Philosophy , he will possibly think it would not be easy for the most instructed reader of our periodical to derive from the proposed discussion any advantage of a Masonic kind . —CHAEDES PDETON COOPEE .

ORIGIN OF OUR ORDER . " The oldest of the arts is that of the builders , the Masons , and the origin of our Order in this the operative branch , dates back even to those days , when the first secrets of architecture were learned by studying the form of nature ' s pillars , and the grace and

beauty of nature ' s friezes , and capitals of leaves and vines . Study the [ progress of any nation in civilization , the splendour of its palaces , the ornamentation of its temples , the beautifying of its homes , and you can trace the growth of Operative Masonry , thefirst school of our glorious Brotherhood . " From a bundle of Masonic Excerpts . —CHAELES PUETON COOPEE .

A CERTAIN CONTRIBUTOR , NO . 4 . The following lines are part of No . 4 of the paperscoming from Oxford . His METHOD . —The method of a certain Contributor is the substitution of assertion for examination and demonstration . "When heassails a theory , turn to the pages of our

periodical and there will be found great abundance of inappropriate assertion with superfluous phraseology intermixed ; but there will not be found examination of proofs upon which the theory has rested undisturbed for a period , the commmencement of which probably can be fixed onl y iu some year anterior to the Revival ; and of course there will not be found demonstration of the insufficiency of the proofs . —A PAST PROVINCIAL GEAITD MASTEE .

AGE OF LODGES . Some dispute having arisen about the age of someof the Grand Lodges on this continent , the following extract from the front page of the bye-laws of a . Lodge in Nova Scotia may be of interest : "Virgin Lodge , No , 558 , R . E ., was originally established at

Halifax on the 18 th day of February , A . D ., 1782 , under a dispensation granted by the R . W . John George Pyke , G . M . of Nova Scotia , and worked under such dispensation until October , . D . 1784 , when a warrant was granted to the body by tbeR / W . John George PykeG . Mof Nova Scotia , under the

, , title of Artillery Lodge , No . 5 , on the Registry oi Nova Scotia , uucler which warrant the lodge continued working until the 22 nd of September , A . D . 1800 , when the body , by the permission of the Grand Lodge or Nova Scotia , resumed its original name of Virgin Lodge . In 1 S 28 the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia

became subject to the authority of the Grand Lodge of England , and the old warrant having been given up , in October , ] 829 , a new warrant was granted to the Lodge by the Grand Lodge of England , under the title of Virgin Lodge , No . 829 , on the Registry of England , and iu October , 1830 , the number of the lodge was changed by the Grand Lodge of England to that which it at present bears , viz . : No . 558 , R . E . "