Reviews

the King , or in settling tho terms of their precedence . Thus in one passage , partly quoted and partly analysed , wo read of a privy council being hastily summoned " to inquire why the French ambassador had a * defluxion of rheum in his teeth , besides a fit of ague , ' although he hoped ' to be present at the same festival next year , ' or boing invited to a masque declared ' his stomach would not agree

with cold meats ; ' 'thereby pointing' ( shrewdly observes Sir John , ) ' at the invitation and presence of the Spanish Ambassador , or who , at the masque the Christmas before , had appeared in the first place . '" On another occasion , when tho Muscovite Ambassador would not yield precedence to the Fronch nor Spanish , Sir John very adroitly managed to place him " in an obscure situation , in which tho

Euss imagined he was highly honoured , as thero bo enjoyed a full view of tho King's face , though he could see nothing of tho entertainment itself , " and the other ambassadors were considerate enough " not to take exception . " On another occasion , the same Muscovite complained that at his recoption at Whitehall " only one lord was in waiting at the stairs-head , while no one had met him in the

courtyard . Sir John , however , waa equal to the occasion , aud gravely assured the Muscovite " it was considered a greater honour to be received by ono lord than two ! " Very quaint aro the difficulties which the worthy Master of Ceremonies encountered in his endeavours to humour the caprices of tho different ambassadors . Now it is the French Ambassador , now the Spanish , now the

Venetian , who stands onpunctilio . Tho last of the threo named must havo been a most terrible fellow , but tho Englishman was usually a match for them , though now and again he found himself in a difficulty . However , ho was wily enough not to compromise his lord and master or himself . On one occasion—that of the marriage of Frederick the Count Palatine with James's daughter , the Princess Elizabeth—we read as follows : —

Sir John having ushered among the countesses the lady of the French ambassador , he left her to the ranging of tho Lord Chamberlain , who ordered she should be placed at the table next beneath the Countesses , and above the baronesses . But , lo ! ' the Viscountess Effingham , standing to her tuoman's rights , and possessed already of her proper place ( as she called it ) , would not remove lower , so held

the hand of the ambassatrice , till after dinner , when the French ambassador , informed of the difference and opposition , called out for his wife's coach . With great trouble the French lady was persuaded to stay , the Countess of Kildare , and the Viscountess of Haddington , making no scruple of yielding their places . " We learn further that all this time the Viscountess Effingham

forbore " both her supper and her company , " and , as Mr . D'Israeli remarks , " Mortified to be seated at the side of tho Frenchwoman that day , frowning and frowned on , and going supperiess to bed , passed the wedding-day of the Palatine and Princess Elizabeth , like a cross girl on a form . " We learn also from' this account that it was usual in those dajs for the foreign ambassadors to bo lodged and

entertained at the cost of the English Monarch , and receive presents " of considerable value j . from 1 , 000 to 5 , 000 ounces of gilt plate ; and in more cases than ono , the meanest complaints were made by the ambassadors about short allowances . " They in turn made presents to the Masters of the Ceremonies , " and some so grudgingly , that Sir John Finetfc often vents his indignation , and commemorates the

indignity . " Part III . of tho work gives the different modes of salutation in force among different nations , and Part IV . an accouut of " Titles of Dignity and Courtesy " with such explanations as to their meaning and origin as will serve the purpose of the general reader . Part V . is devoted to " Illustrative Eeceptions and Interviews of Great

Persons , " derived from various sources , among them being particulars of the visit of our Queen to France during the days of the Second Empire , and the reception of the Shah of Persia by the Princo of Wales , of the Princess Alexandra , now Princess of Wales , in 1863 , on her way to Windsor to be married , and of the Duchess of

Edinburgh after her marriage at St . Petersburgh . Perhaps the least ceremonious among the modes of reception is the one quoted from the late Charles Dickens ' s American Notes , in which he describes a visit he paid to the President of the United States , and the kind of people he saw waiting in one of the ante-rooms to interview that official . We quote the following portion of it : —

' There were some fifteen or twenty persons in the room . Ono a tall , wiry , muscular , old man from the west , sun burnt and swarthy , with a brown-white hat on his knees aud a giant umbrella resting between his legs , who sat bolt upright on his chair , frowning steadily at the carpet , and twitching the hard lines about his mouth , as if he had made up his mind ' to fix' the President on what he had to say , and

wouldn't bate a drain . Another , a Kentucky farmer , six feet six in height , with his hat on and his hands under his coat tails , who leaned against the wall and kicked the floor with his heel , as though ho had Time ' s head under his shoe , and were literally ' killing' him . A third , an oval-faced , bilious-looking man , with sleek black hair cropped close , and whiskers and beard shaved down to blue dots , who sucked the head of a thick stick , and from time to time took it out of

his mouth to see how it was getting on . A fourth did nothing but whistle . A fifth did nothing but spit . " We have , however , sufficiently described the character of the book . We may add that there is a Table of Contents , which comes at tho end in the form of an Index , that tho book is nicely printed and bound , and that wo do not doubt that those of our readers who may incline towards this kind of literature will derive both instruction and pleasure from a study or even a perusal of its pages .

HOLLOWAT ' S PILIS . —No more Nervousness . —Tho moment impurity enters tho blood health is diminished , and our nerves -warn us of the disagreeable fact . " Cast tho impurities out ! " says common sense , and long experience testifies that Holloway ' s Pills accomplish this with the utmost certainty and completeness . To the dyspeptic and apathetic , they give new life and fresh energy , by the wholesome intluence they exercise over tho stomach , liver , and other internal organs . The most wretched , indigestion fades before their corrective power , and therewith gloom of mind and indisposition for exertion disappear . Holloway ' B Pills . purify and regulate the circulation by steadying the heart's action ,

Mathematical Science And Operative Masonry.

MATHEMATICAL SCIENCE AND OPERATIVE MASONRY .

LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES UNDER THE OTTOS .

THE closing year of the tenth century in Germany vindicates the claims sometimes made to at least satisfactory progress ia artistic and scientific culture . It may be stated , as within the limits of careful attestation , that tho whole of the liberal arts and scieuces at this period were exclusively under the fostering care of monastic institutions . The Abbeys of St . Gall , Reichenan , Fulda , Hersefeld , and Corvey wero especially distinguished for tho assiduity with which they cultivated ancient languages , and collected manuscripts of tho moro celebrated historians and other writers of Romo .

Although at this age the religious spirit of the monks largely induced the importation of sainted relics from Italy , for the purposo of adoration and popular worship , in one single instance an Italian by tho name of Gunzo , at the instigation of Otto I ., brought into Germany over one hundred splendid copies of the most illustrious of ancient classics . So eagerly , indeed , were such manuscripts sought

for , that the bones of a miracle-working saint were readily exchanged for a complete copy of Cicero ' s Orations . The Venetians from a very early period seem to have obtained absolute control of the trade in rolics , and oft-times made piratical incursions upon certain portious of the Grecian coast and in Alexandria , for the sole object of robbing a Christian church or chapel of the venerated skeletons

of celebrated martyrs or saints . In the time of Charlemagne and his predecessors , tho enterprising merchants of Venice regulaily attended the Lombardy fairs , for the purpose of disposing of their holy plunder . Gerbert , afterwards elevated to the pontifical throne , under the name of Sylvester II ., was in the glittering galaxy of Ottoman

scholars and scientists especially renowned . Ho has not hesitated to assert that the development of his genius was owing to the gracious influences and favouring encouragement received from these munifi . cent patrons . Acting upon the especial invitation of Otto III ., yet a youth , although enthusiastic in his ardour for learning , Gerbert , then Archbishop of Rheims , came into Saxony and to the imperial

court at the Palatinate of Madgeburgh . Upon the mandate of the German Emperor , which was cheerfully obeyed , all the most illus . trious scholars of the ago aggregated there from the spring until tho fall of the year 997 . By the personal request of the imperial student the treatises and investigations of this celebrated assemblage wore directed to Greek dialects , and , what is more important , in its

relation to tho operative Craft of builders , to the science of numbers and mathematics under tho supervision of Gerbert himself , who , thirty years previous , had become profoundly versed in mathomatioal and arithmetical sciences among the Arabs in Spain . This learning was up to this time entirely unknown to the Christians on this side of the Pyrenees . This fact is , indeed , one of great importance in its

relation to tho historical progression of architectural art , which , in the next century , made such rapid advances , and so quickly culminated iu tho elegant structures which stood without a rival in artistic finish and wonderful mathematical proportions . Without examining into the cumbersome methods of geometric and arithmetical calculations of tho ago before us , it can be stated as a demonstrated truth

that the science of mathematics , with its attendant problems and the entirely novel solution of its theorems , combined with the results readily obtained by the Arabic system of calculations , after the practical demonstrations of Gerbert , placed the Craft of builders in possession of a geometric key , which unlocked the total secrets of architecture . It is equally clear that through such illustrious

architects and scientists as Willigis of Mayence , and Bernward of Hildsheim , and other scholars , monks and abbots , this new system of mathematical science was introduced to the operative Masons or stonecutters , who were as yet not only under the absolute domination of the Church , but actually lodged or domiciled in the monas . teries and convents , under ecclesiastical discipline . —Sunday Sun .

Bro . Turquand will -work the installation ceremony m the Yarborough Lodge of Instruction , No . 554 , on Tuesday evening , the 31 st insfc ., at the "Green Dragon , " Stepney , at 8 o ' clock .

We have much pleasure in stating that Bro . L . Pago P . G . S ., P . M . 23 , and Treas . 1381 , who has been suffering from a severe attack of conjesfcion of the lungs , is gradually recovering .

A meeting of the Festival Stewards of tho Mark Benevolent Fund was held at Red Lion-square , on Tuesday , 24 th inst . Bro . Major Barlow was elected the Honorary President of the Board of Stewards , and took the chair . The usual routine business was transacted , and the Stewards

Fee fixed at 42 s . A vote of thanks to the Chairman concluded the proceedings . Among those present , were Bros . Cooper Smith , Rosenthal , C . P . Matier , J . H . Spencer , and P . Binckes , Hon . Secretaiy . "We may remind our readers the Festival will be held at the Alexandra Palace , on 1 st August , under the presidency of Bro . the Earl of

Donoughmore G . S . W ., who , we hope , will Tbe well supported by the Order ,