The Freemasons.

any class of society , and which are looked after and ruled by honorary committees with a watchful energy which it is impossible to praise too highly . At Woodgreen is the Freemasons' Boys' School , an establishment . which is well worth a journey to see ; for while in every detail by which the health and

comfort of lads is secured it may challenge comparison with the best public schools in the country , its system of tuition is so carefully adapted to the individual characteristics and talents that the annual examinations yield the most flattering results . One of the prizes given here every year is

unique in character , and is bestowed by the boys themselves . The lad who is most popular among his school-fellows receives a handsome medal , such medal being voted by the boys , and awarded irrespective of scholastic proficiency or the good word ofthe masters . The Freemasons' Girls' School , on

Wandsworth Common , is another establishment by which the Craft may be content to be judged ; while the Asylum for Aged Freemasons and their Widows is what its name indicates , and confers great benefits upon the indigent and old . This is nearly all that the most persevering inquirer can learn

respecting Freemasonry as it flourishes in England . Some importantalterations have been made recently in the rules of the two first institutions , by means of which they will be more closely identified with the Order than before ; but it is a little remarkable that the fruits of Freemasonry resolve themselves , so far

as the outer world is concerned , into two excellent schools and a set of almshouses . If the student turns to the Masonic publications , of which there are two , THE FREEMASON and The Freemasons ' Magazine , both well conducted , he will find elaborate controversies upon abstruse subjects . " Our

Ancient Brethren , " their sayings and doings , are constantly referred to , and notes and queries of an antiquarian and archazological character abound . A week rarely passes without familiar reference to King Solomon's Temple ; while Knigkts of Malta , Knights Templar , Supreme Grand Councils , Mark

Masters , Rites of Misraim , and a host of other fantastic titles give rise to correspondence , controversy , and leading articles . For Freemasonry has branches and degrees which are not " recognised , " but which yet include many of its leading authorities in their ranks . If there could be a form of dissent which

the Established Church , as such , ignored , but in which many of the bench of Bishops held offices of honour concurrently with their episcopal rank , it would furnish an exact parallel to some of the anomalies in English Freemasonry . The Prince of Wales , for example , is a Past Grancl Master and a

Masonic Knight Templar , yet the degree of Knight Templar is not" recognised ; " the Earl of Carnarvon is Deputy Grand Master and Past Grand Master of the Mark Degree , yet the Mark Degree is not " recognised ; " though no man can be a member of either Order who is not firsta Freemason

proper . What is called Mark Masonry furnishes , perhaps , the most curious anomaly of all , for while in Scotland and Ireland it is held to be an essential portion of Freemasonry , in England it has a separate jurisdiction and a separate Grand Lodge . One

result is separate forms of charity , and . the Annual Festival of the Mark Benevolent Fund , which is to be held in a private room of the Crystal Palace on the 28 th of thismonth , is an illustration of thevaried forms in which the Institution appeals to thc kindly impulses of the initiated .

Ancient Ruins.

ANCIENT RUINS .

Ancient Egypt , Palestine , and the East . BY M . W . ALFRED , A . M ., M . D . CHAPTER HI . King Solomon was thc only Hebrew sovereign , whose empire compared with that of Rameses , thc Scriptural Pharaoh , in extent and magnificence . It

was more than five hundred years after thc reign of this Pharaoh that the Hebrew kingdom attained to this greatness . The throne of Solomon " was made of ivory , and overlaid with pure gold . Ancl there were six steps to thc throne with twelve lions standing thereon , six on each sideancl two lions standing

, beside thc royal scat . 'And King Solomon surpassed all thc kings of the earth in riches and wisdom . And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon , ancl brought him presents , " and " he reigned over all the kings from the river unto the land ofthe Philistines , and to the borders of

Egypt" ( 2 Chron ., 9-26 ) . Like Rameses , " he built trea sure cities , all that he desired" ( 1 Kings , ix ., 15 ) , throughout his vast dominions . Five ccTnturics before this , the captive Hebrews built for Plmroah treasure cities , " Pithon and Rameses ( Exod . L - ) The

gorgcousness of his ivory , gold-laid throne did not far exceed that of Rameses . When the Ji days of mourning had passed , on account of the death of Seti , the father of Rameses , he presented himself at the palace for public coronation . Under the main portico stood a magnificent dais , or chair

Ancient Ruins.

of state , upon supports of ebony , carved in symbolical caryatides . It contained a throne of ivory the base of which represented in gilded relief the spirit , the emblem oi wisdom united with strength ,

and the lion , the symbol of courage . Of this throne , the coloured statues of Tmei , the goddess of justice , and of Hor-Meni , the sun god of truth , with outstretched arms and expanded wings , formed the background and sustained the dais .

The exhumed Papyri explain many things otherwise quite obscure , and their statements entirely correspond with the writings of the historians of ancient Egypt , namely , Heredotus , Diodorus , and thc later Champollion . We are apt to speak of the Temple of Solomon

as his greatest work , when , in fact , it was but an inconsiderable part of his labour , and was a very small structure when compared with other national temples . Solomon built the walls of Jerusalem , Milo , the house ofthe Forest of Lebanon , his own house ,

which consumed almost twice as much time as the temple , the house of Pharoah ' s daughter , ancl the cities of Hazor , Megiddo , Gezer , Beth-Horon , Baalath , Tadmor , and all the treasure cities he desired ( 1 Kings , ix ., 15 ) . The house of the Forest of Lebanon was a larger

building than the temple . It was 175 feet long , 87 feet wide , and 52 f ethigh . The temple was 107 feet long and 40 feet wide . The " most holy house , " as it is called , in the rear of the temple , was 49 feet square , and the Peristyle , or porch , was 20 by 40 . and 220 feet high ; in front of which stood the tivo

famous brazen pillars . If we add to the length of the temple the porch and the " most holy house , " its length will be 1 S 3 feet , the porch being 37 feet higher than the whole length of the temple . The temple , then , was much in the shape of the letter L . It was a costly edifice in gold and

precious stones . The ceilings were covered with beaten gold , and the " most holy" portion was literally covered with plates of beaten gold , of vast thickness and purity . This , together with the golden furniture , was a great temptation to avaricious rival kingdoms to destroy and plunder this

consecrated house . This was the well-known custom of those times , as the numerous ruins in Egypt , Syria , and thc East abundantly testify . The temple at Baalbcc , of which six columns are now standing , was a vastly larger edifice than that at Jerusalem .

This temple stood on a raised elevation 25 feet above the soil , its length being 1 , 000 feet . The portico was 1 So feet by 37 ( as large as King Solomon ' s temple ) and its first court was 250 by 200 feet . The apartment in front ofthe temple proper , was 440 by 370 feet . Fronting this was the

perystyle , 290 by 160 , supported by 54 Corinthian columns , 7 feet at base and 5 at top ; 62 feet in length , supporting an entablature of 14 feet , making in all a height of 76 feet . The western wall contains stones 64 feet long and 13 feet 5 inches square . In the quarries , one-fourth of a nvle from thc

temple , there is a stone dressed 84 feet 4 inches long , 17 feet 2 inches broad , and 14 feet 7 inches deep . Some have dated the building of the temple of Baalbcc prior to all historical record ; but King Solomon built Tadmor , the ruins of which appear

as antiquated as those of Baalbcc , and Tadmor was much thc same style of architecture . Moreover , we have thc scripture record , that Solomon built Baal nth . Now , is it not quite probable that both these names specify the same building and place ? Some

of thc stones are bevelled in the same manner as those at Jerusalem . These are found in the substructions at Baalbcc , and are sufficient to direct the attention of the antiquarian to King Solomon as thc builder of this mammoth temple . It is true that we have no knowledge of the city of Heliopolis

where this temple was built , prior to thc second century , and then only from medals , unless it is mentioned in the Scriptures as " Baalath" ( 1 Kings , xi ., 15 ) . The medals date no further back than the days of the Emperor Ncrva , who succeeded Domitian A . D . 96 .

John Malala , in the seventh century , ascribes the building of this temple to Antoninus Pius , who was converted to Christianity while Emperor of Rome , in thc year 140 of the Christian era . This late date as thc period of its erection is probably quite chimerical .

The temple at Jerusalem , as before stated , was immensely costly in gold ancl diamonds , and exceeded , perhaps , in its expensiveness many of the larger temples . But its arrangement into court , porch , and sanctuary was similar to those built in Egypt centuries before . " In al ! tin ; great cities of

the valley of the Nile , the sacred edifices enclosed within their limits , between the Pronaos and the sanctuary of the gods , a spacious hall which , owing to the numerous columns supporting its massive ceiling or carved and tinted granite , received thc title of Hypostyle from thc Greeks . Thc one that Seti ( the father of Rameses ) caused to be built in

Ancient Ruins.

the temple of Karnac is celebrated among them all for its dimensions—one hundred yards by fifty , and its hundred and thirty-four columns , a dozen of which sustained the central part ofthe ceiling at the height of seventy-two feet from the soil upon capitals of twenty yards in circumference . " The

richness and grandeur of the columns , reliefs , and mural paintings of these hypostylic halls of the ancient temples in Egypt , as restored by the French Commission , exceed all other attempts at display in Palestine or on the face of our globe .

If Solomon built Baalbec , or even improved it , as was the custom of conquerors in order to immortalise their names , he improved in the magnitude and arrangement of this work very much upon the first temple building he erected at Jerusalem . — Michigan Freemason , June , 1 S 71 .

The Plain Of Philistia.

THE PLAIN OF PHILISTIA .

BY CAPTAIN WARREN , R . E . It is no idle dream to suppose that Palestine might , in a few years , become a land flowing with milk and honey ; even with the present inhabitants , under an upright Government , the land would in a short time change its

appearance , and , as it is , the country has changed in parts to a small extent , due to the alteration in the Government , brought about by the influence of public opinion of the West asserting itself even in Syria . Look how those villages have begun to thrive which have been mortgaged to the Greek

converts ; and watch the cloud resting over the Christian village of Beitt Jala in the autumn sun , with its groves of olives , while all around is the brazen sky . At present , however , Palestine—Philistia in particular—has not a tithe of the population that it

would support ; its fruit trees are left to take care of themselves , it waters allowed to run underground instead of on the surface . Philistia consists of an undulating plain from 50 to 300 ft . above the level of the sea , reaching thirtytivo miles from Ekron to Gaza , with abreadth of from

nine to sixteen miles . To the east of this the hills commence , not the hill country , but a series of low spurs and undulating ground , culminating in hogs ' backs running nearly north and south , and rising in places to 1 , 200 ft . above the ocean ; to the east of these there is a steep descent of 500 ft . or so to

valleys which break through thc barriers much in the same manner as we find the rivers forming passes through thc chalk hills between Aldershot and Chatham . To the east of these again the hill country commences , ancl in two or three miles wc rise to altitudes of 1 , 700 to 2 , 000 ft .- the back bone

of thc country being at an elevation of 2 , 000 to 3 , 000 ft . In the hill country the spurs , not more than one mile or so apart , arc often separated by narrow ravines 1 , 500 to 2 , 000 ft . deep , at the bottom of which in the rainy season rapid torrents roll .

Follow them into the plain and see what becomes of them ; but first look at the existing maps . In one they appear to traverse thc plains in a different direction to what they do in the next . The fact is , the bulk of thc water reaches the ocean underground ; on coming into thc plain it forms marshes

ancl pools , and quietly sinks away , while the bed of the stream itself in the plain is merely a narrow ditch some 6 ft . wide and 4 ft . deep . You may leave the water at thc commencement of the wddy mouth , ride over thc plain without seeing anything of it , ancl meet it again welling out of the ground close

to the sea shore , forming wide lagoons there . Now if proper precautions were taken , were thc people industrious , and the country cultivated and clothed again witli trees , thc waters flowing in thc ravines might be conducted over the plains in the early summer months and induce the rich soil to yield a

second crop . The encroachment of sand is one of the most serious evils now to be dreaded on the coast of Palestine . Already Gaza and Ashdod arc threatened , and nothing is done to arrest the enemy , though there is little doubt but that the danger might be averted by obliging thc landed proprietors

to take common action against their silent foe . On the coast n- *; ar the mouth of Wrtdy Semsim , which at this point flows north-west , thc sand encroachment , proceeding N . E . by E ., is evidently arrested by thc waters of this stream , for on its left side are high sand banks dropping abruptly into the water , while to its right is low cultivated land .

The method of progression of thc enemy here is plainly visible , for the whole country consists of sand-banks sloping clown at io ° towards the prevailing wind , and at 30 to 35 on the lee side . Thus thc sand is gently rolled up the slope of io ° by the

wind , and then falls down thc other side by its own weight , so that it actually docs quietly advance towards thc object it intends to overwhelm in banks 30 to 50 ft . in height . It is curious in traversing these sand hills to come