The Domestic Architecture Of The Middle Ages.

longer the only apartment . Storey was piled on storey , and from the flat roof the retainers , sheltered by the battlements , could discharge their arrows at an attacking force . Some very fine examples of domestic castellated architecture belong to this period . The habits of the upper classes

had become more refined , and their dwellings were accordingly constructed to satisfy the requirements of the age . The manor house of this century frequently had its keep or principal tower , as well as embattled walls , and a moat or ditch was not an uncommon defensive feature . The

windows , which were usually small , were sometimes glazed either wholly or in part . The chimney was now a common feature , and the fire place was usually characterised by great boldness and artistic truth . The walls of a common manor house were usually four or five feet thick , and the masonry

was admirably put together . The mason aimed to make the buildings he erected as substantial as possible , and we could point to examples which , after existing for four centuries , areas sound and as strong as they were when the

scaffolding was removed from the walls . It requires no prophetic insight to enable us to say that four centuries hence very few of the more ambitious structures of our time will be standing as monuments of the skill and honesty of the builders of this age .

Charity.

CHARITY .

THE virtue we most pride ourselves upon is Charity , and not without reason . Our charitable institutions are a credit to the Order . To assist over two hundred aged or distressed brethren or their widows , to maintain a Girls ' School of about one hundred and fifty pupils , and a Boys ' School which numbers within one or two of one hundred

and eighty , is evidence that Masons are not unmindful of their obligation to assist the necessitous brother and his family . Tor the maintenance of these institutions considerably over £ 20 , 000 are subscribed annually , and , in addition , a vast amount of hel p is afforded to deserving

brethren whose circumstances are for the . time being distressed . Thus , as regards this branch of charity , we may reasonably , and with honest pride , justify ourselves before all the world . But Charity has a far wider significance than that of mere almsgiving . Men bestow alms

from various motives , and some without thought or motive . We hardly like condemning those who give of their superfluous means without hesitation or stint , but clearly those who give thoughtlessly or ostentatiously are not exactly charitable in the usual acceptation of : the word . Again , a man

may give freely and even liberally ; there may be a method in the bestowal of his alms , which does credit to his judgment , and ho may studiousl y avoid all display or semblance of display in giving . Yet for all this his charity , he may be the very reverse of a charitable man . We have no

intention of inflicting a sermon on our readers , but a few remarks on tho least showy , but by no means the least important elements in this virtue may not be deemed . inappropriate . The scriptural exposition of charity is familiar enough to our readers , so that we need not reproduce it now , but it

strikes us that one or two of the points on which the writer lays the chiefest stress do not receive their full amount of consideration . Without charity , we are told , the bestowal of all our worldl y goods upon the poor is nothing worth . Charity , in fact , is a combination of admirable

qualities . To use a very homely illustration , it is like one of those delicious beverages which are so much sought after at this season of the year . Each of the constituent parts is excellent in itself , but they must be blended togither , carefully and scientifically , so that no one constituent

shall be perceptible to the detriment of the others . So in the virtue of which we are speaking , and which we claim , with a certain sense of justice , to possess , we must be careful that all the properties which belong to it are duly represented . "Charity suffereth long , " and is kind . Take

for instance the case of some one who is popularly considered to possess some weakness or even vice . Strong in his knowledge that the charge is unjust , he pursues the even tenour of his way through life , always acting up to

the principles he has laid down for his guidance , evincing no enmity towards those who think him not all he , seems to be never claiming any special merit for strictly abiding by this standard of duty , and always handy and willing to assist even those who malign him . He suffereth long ,

Charity.

it may be not wholly without feeling , but certainly uncomplainingly , and in the end he is rewarded . The merit he possesses comes at length to be universally admitted , and his detractors are silenced . In this , as in all else , that he does , he is animated by one uniform sense of kindness ,

which recognises no distinction between friends and foes There is no violence of language or demeanour towards those who differ with him . He is as considerate towards human frailty as towards human piety and devotion to duty , Again , the charitable man is not envious . Another is

raised above him to some post of honour , but there is no soreness of feeling , no latent envy , at this preference over himself . He had sought the honour perhaps , aud was worthy of it , but , some one else has been thought still worthier , and he yields contentedly to the choice . Then again charity ,

" thinketh no evil . " Thus , experience tells us as plaiu men of the world that the ostensible is not always the real motive of a person ' s conduct , but the charitable man accepts it as such . It would never occur to him to attribute a good action to some unworthy motive . Nor does he feel aught

but sorrow when misfortune overtakes a brother , even though the man ' s own folly may have induced it . There is no petty spite about him . He would far rather condole with the unfortunate and help him to repair his misfortune

or folly . It is extreme meanness to chuckle over a man when he fails in his object or is alone in the world . The triumphant , "I told you so , " "I foresaw the issue , " may be an evidence of superior wisdom , but we pass over the wisdom , and think only of the spite that is shown .

There is human weakness among Masons as among other men . We can no more expect perfection in them than in others . But we have a right to expect that Masons shall approach more nearly to perfection , and for this reason ; Masonry lays down certain special rules of

life for the guidance of its members . These rules are very simple , and no more than every man , be he Mason or not , is bound to follow . But the one who enters our Order binds himself doubly , and in the most solemn manner , to their observance . It is a purely voluntary act on his part , this

entrance into our Fraternity . No doubt the religion he professes enjoins upon him the practice of every virtue , the avoidance of every vice . But the duty of fulfilling these injunctions , of which charity in its widest sense is the most conspicuous , is certainly more imperative in the Mason , for as

we have said before he voluntarily , and a second time , commits himself to their fulfilment . But , perhaps , we cannot close these few remarks better than by quoting a few lines from an eminent Masonic writer . Says Hutchinson , of Charity : " In order to exercise this virtue , both in the

character of Masons and in common life , with propriety , and agreeable to good principles , we must forget every obligation but affection ; for otherwise t were to confound charity with duty . The feelings of the heart ought to direct the hands of Charity . To this purpose we should

be divested of every idea of superiority , aud estimate ourselves as being of equality , tho same rank and race of men ; in this disposition of mind we may be susceptible of those sentiments which charity delighteth in , to feel the woes and miseries of others with a genuine and true sympathy of

soul : Compassion is of heavenly birth ; it is one of the first characteristics of humanity . Peculiar to our race , it distinguishes us from the rest of the creation . " And again , of Brotherly Love , the same writer remarks : " The most material part of that brotherly love which should subsist

among Masons , is that of speaking well of each other to the world ; more especially it is expected of every member of his Fraternity , that he should not traduce his brother . Calumny and slander are detestable crimes against society .

Nothing can be viler than to traduce a man behind his back ; it is like the villany of an assassin , who has not virtue enough to give his adversary the means of selfdefence , but , lurking in darkness , stabs him whilst he is unarmed , and has no suspicion of an enemy . "

An Ultramontane Squib.

AN ULTRAMONTANE SQUIB .

OUR readers on both sides of St . George ' s Channel will estimate at its true worth the extract which we print below . It is culled from the columns of the Freeman ' s

Journal , a paper whose recent attack upon Freemasonry we ventured to notice in our last impression . The Freeman ' s Journal has not improved in fairness and candour , and it is still indisposed to produce evidence in proof of its