Royal Arch Masonry.

up in righteousness , and I will direct all his ways : he shall build my city , and he shall let go my captives , not for price nor reward , saith the Lord of Hosts . " It is recorded in ancient history that when Cyrus , after turning the

the course of the Euphrates , entered the bed of the river and came to the city gates , he found them wide open , the Babylonians having neglected to close them during the riotous proceedings of their great festival .

We must now refer to Josephus , the Jewish historian , for a continuation of this history ( see " Antiquities , " book ii . chapter 1 ) . " In the first year of the reign of Cyrus , which was the seventieth from the day that our people were

removed out of their own laud into Babylon , God commiserated the captivity and calamity of these poor people , according as He had foretold to them by Jeremiah the prophet , before the destruction of the city , that after they had served

Nebuchadnezzar and his posterity , and after they had undergone that servitude seventy years , He would restore them again to tho land of their fathers , and they should build their temple , and

enjoy their ancient prosperity . And these things God did afford them , for He stirred up the mind of Cyrus , and made him write thus throughout all Asia . " ( To he continued . )

Notes By A Novice.

NOTES BY A NOVICE .

THE EPHEMERAL AND THE ETERNAL . The silence was broken by the monotonous sound of hammering nails , as if they were working away at a coffin , and the effect was most lugubrious . Presently a voice exclaimed ,

" Let the Amalekito hear the fate of Sisera , Captain ofthe Host of Jabin , King of Canaan . " AVhereupou one of the Nails began to read the fourth chapter of Judges , in which Sisera ' s tragical end is recorded . When the reading was over , the voice ( which was

that ofthe Grand Master , Bro . Benjamin Cranford , a worthy shoemaker ) again smote my ear with the lively words , "Amalekito , prepare for death—the fate of Sisera , who died by a nail must be thine , for presuming to speak in our presence without permission . "

I was then jerked off the bench and ordered to kneel , when one of the brethren said to the Grand Master , " Great Grand Master , spare his life , and he will not ollend again . " "On one condition , " rejoined the G . M ., "let him

swear never to divulge the mysteries ofthe Holy Order of Nails , ami consent to bear our mark on his forehead as a warning of his doom should he violate the laws of the Order . " Of course I willingly consented to this , and swore never to reveal tho secrets of the Order under the

penalty of being served out like Sisera , the Captain of the Host , & c . The G . M . then said , " Let Iiiin be marked on the forehead ; " when one of the brethren placed a nail to my temples , while thc G . M . called out , " Bring me a hammer 1 "

I expected to be severely hurt at least , but to my surprise he gave the nail a very gentle tap , just sufficient to knock me back , whieh , as I was kneeling , it was not difficult to do , while the brethren shouted , " He has hit the nail on tho head . " I was then raised from the floor and rapidly

conducted into the ante-room , where my conductor removed the mask and asked me " How I liked the Holy Order of Nails ?" I was afterwards admitted into the lodge-room , and informed that the secret words were , " He has hit thc

nail on the head , " and the sign was to bung the hand down in front as if about to strike with a hammer ; and this is all I remember about the famous Order of Nails , of which you may rest assured I had seen and heard quite enough . ( To be continued . )

A series of afternoon costume recitals from Shakspeare ' s plays have lately been given at St . George ' s Hall , Langhani-placc . The various characters were very ably sustained by Miss Bouverie , late of the Theatre Royal Haymarket ; Misses Lavineand Blanch AVilton , Mr . Ryder , the celebrated

tragedian ofthe Theatre Royal Drury Lane ; Messrs . Gaston , Murray , and AVeaver . At the conclusion of each selection they received well-merited rounds of applause from crowded aud fashionable audiences . Bro . A . Nimmo has the entire management of these •xcelleut performances .

Papers On Masonry.

PAPERS ON MASONRY .

BY A LEWIS . VIL—MASONRY & THE NUMBER SEVEN . " And I turned to see the voice that spake with me . And being turned , I saw seven golden candlesticks ; and in the midst of thc seven candlesticks one like unto the son of man , clothed with a garment down to the foot , and girt about the paps with a golden girdle . "—Apocalypse i . 12 , 13 . The greatest materialists as well as the most profound theologians of all ages have joined in glorifying

mathematics , founded as it is upon number and form , as thc most exalted of all pursuits , either as science , art , or doctrine , into which the human mind can venture to inquire ; while to us of later times it has proved alike a social advantage and an intellectual charm . In numbers and their corelations we can , if we choose to do so , lose ourselves as mystics ; by numbers , as statesmen , we can regulate political economy and the

wellbeing of mankind ; and through numbers—which , m their essence , may be defined as proportionate relations—we can arrive at some faint idea ofthe solemnity existing , by permission of T . G . A . O . T . U ., throughout nature in a perfect harmony—a spheral music intelligible to those who choose to incline their ear . All numbers , with their series and multiples , have an interest to thoughtful men , but none rings with more charming melody and inspiring hope than the

number seven . It is , to uso technical language , " of the third parity , the crown ; " it bows to one other series of numbers only , of which indeed , it is part . I allude to thc number ten , with which all operations can be performed from tho inherent nature and practical capacity of the signs .

As , however , I am not at the number ten , and desire to be practically useful in these papers rather than oracularly wise , I will proceed to the consideration of this perfect , because indivisible , number in another light . Nor do 1 intend to encumber the pages of THE FREEMASON with elaborate catalogues of the applications hitherto made of this number , only

mentioning thc most important . It wonld need many diagrams to carry out the universality of thc number , and it must be reserved for another time and place . It is enough to say that all Masons—by which I purpose to include men instructed in universal symbolism—bow , with unfeigned respect to the number seven . There is a Master Mason ( 1 ) to control , a

Senior and Junior Warden ( 2 , . ' )) to provide for labor and refreshment , a Senior and Junior Deacon ( 1 , 5 ) to reply and conduct , and an Inner Guard and Tyler ( C , 7 ) to introduce and warn . These offices are plain and indisputable . Other offices in a lodge , such as Secretary , Treasurer , Organist , and Orator ( or

Chaplain ) , are adventitious aids not contemplated in the original p lan . Of course modern society , not recognising anything without a partition of duties , perceives the necessity of this hierarchy of government ; but it has always been within the power and discretion ofthe Master for the time bein _ to ordain who shall bear

these select and honourable burthens . I doubt whether , in one sense , the oflice of Treasurer should not be within his function , bnt that is a matter of convenience , and also marks the late origin of Masonry as it now stands . I only argue that the first seven are inherent in the nature of things , and arc irremovable landmarks . Thev date from "Operative" Masonry ,

while the other offices are produced by the efleet ol social changes , and date from a comparatively immediate period . Practically , the first seven are all thc officers requisite , and they wonderfully and aptly illustrate , the continuity of Freemasonry . There are , however , ( without recurving to thc consideration of the High Degrees , a subject on which I

nmdcsirousofadvancing some opinions ) , many interesting results to be derived from a contemplation of the number seven . In the motto of this paper I have endeavoured to make my readers turn to a very solemn question indeed , and 1 will endeavour , with all my strength , to convince others of the vitality existing in this said number seven , with its central point .

It will readily be conceded that Masonry , with its wonderful spirit of charity , would be a nonentity , and , forsooth , an impossibility , if it did not busy itself with the social , intellectual and moral advancement of man . It was instilled , we may say , so to speak , into all mankind at the beginning of his intellectual enlightenment , and has suffered onlv at the hands of the " men

of Belial . " Apollyon stands always in thc path , and if wc do not smite him , he will assuredly smite us . But the placid planets continue to revolve and remind us of our path of duty ; they , immutable as that Being who placed them in their orbs , tell us that we are . as everlasting as they . They inspire us with hope , and the galaxy of stars rejoice in the perception

of universal love and care II wc are frail , so wo arc bid to fight for our own redemption , by having confidence in T . G . A . O . T . U . If we err we have those evershining witnesses of His glory to inspire us with ideas far transcending those of poets . "Well , then , arc we to cast aside as worthless these

meditations of the Immortals who have preceded us ? For one , I say never ! Should wc not rather try , with all our mi ght , to understand as much as wc can of thc mysteries of numbers . Therefore , I may safely look at the scale of the number seven , and seek to deduce from it for thc common benefit a common lesson .

Papers On Masonry.

_ It will not be doubted , after the eloquent vindication of his fame by Mr . Morley , that Henry Cornelius Agrippa Von Nettesheim was one of the foremost spirits of his time . A life of singular misfortune , enlivened only by eonstant and close application to study , was his portion on this earth ; but if tho duty of a reflective man be to mirror the inner spirit of his

era , then Agrippa fearlessly and truly did his duty . He also accumulated much of the symbolic lore which had preceded him , and which , misunderstood and vilified by the mass of mankind , has come down to our times under the name of magic . In his celebrated "Three Books of Occult Philosophy , " Agrippa furnishes the world with tables and illustrations of the

meaning of numoers from unity onwards , and though some of the analogies are fanciful , and perhaps a little too recondite , to the symbolical student they afford much valuable information . I have therefore ventured to copy the following for the benefit of my readers , as the work is very scarce : —

a a •i = o — ' — m . _ a 3 go ' ' .-. _ Q ) ^ © £ ¦? 5 < £ STe — ' _ S . B Wl ( U ¦ a -s ^ < H o o -r ; <« ob >_ ° ' . „ » •a . SSI' s . f § _ , ?•• I 5-S . g . = S d 3 . Sf'Eo ° = « 5 « H 52 - ** __ PH p ;; =, - <* = *_ - S 3 •§•- " * — ¦ _ So B B S S S B B S ^* O . S - " " 3 > > > > " U £ > ¦>• £ - X *"' ________ , <_ _ ' j . , a _ J EH OT to co co to to to toco S " ' *

a *» o 9 o . . '*? rr , ^ _ " > ^_ ii -2 & . a 1 •§J 0 _ . O _ 3 S « JJ . 3 *^ £ ; _ : o o o ^ ^ a a -, jj > 6-1 S HB 6 S H g *" " _ C j ~ ^ ~~ 5 i — ts . jigo BjS B - ^ § = I ^ J ^? , _ 3 * S » r — P ; -- {•» fio is - * - . H 3 | to »*» < * 3 - ** . . 2 3 B y < F- r * . r % S . ° l 2 22 ( S t £ _____ l ___ L ___ E ___

03 v Z 2 fi '* - > * + * " _ . ,--. ' 5 , ^ s « ° ™ * iJ w L . ^ tJSS - ^ S t * _ J tt tJ * s = * _ . T £ * £ ;_ : 3 B ** r ! W ^ rt a G r * . O ~;_ j ?¦ t — ° « S V . ~ ^ o . oO , c - 2 ^ ^ ¦ z . JSJS-S - ' UO F "' 2 < r-Hr ^ pr ^^^ v __ ^ « - l § = 1- 5 - " ° . 2 H -E . L eg * 33 a ! # £ •§ . _ , SS P JJ 2 „ _ oc ; g _ O I HHH _ H ^ " " ° M £ B = 5 ' f ( -1 ^ ; j , _ O _ « 0 ^ 3 d g ' § ^? i i ! ll w 5 £ •" - « ¦ - . i ; 2 . _ ° - < ° O u o o - > » - -r i > *~ r , -: _ = J _ : J 20- ^ 3 O d HHr- H g S H

<*¦ •CG - e _ « - 3 r * " 3 * ¦¦ . 2 ~ .- ~ s " ' fir . - *> 13 _ Tc- i c E 5 <_ -2 * 3 JT % = * * _ a _ * S-i a 5 •= •= ! teg ff . PiS . 5 H H ^__ ^ -tJ 3 o t ¦ n . ? o a rt -3 •= -jj ,. -2 " . n •_ C -: . ^ _ r = K _> - _ a Z •£ = * C- - - - •rt >¦ T * TV , " a £ S- * = * =- ~ , J- . 1 " .- " •% < t 5 w i ' - > * ' ¦ " - ** *" I - 2 a 2 - *"

i 3 : - : __ % ~ t o i _ _* . 2 t- 12 ^ 35 ft ! * * rt > . D . 5 a ¦"" H . 2 S V , a S „ g " > ° -Si _ ¦/ - J 3 * _ ti CJ — . Ci UH „ O " o w J > - fl _ c ) o o a < a •3 -3 * S •£ ¦ £ 3

I can only beg my readers to ponder well the profound symbolism contained in theahove table . Compare it with the mythology of fhe ancient world , and much will become clear which is at present a riddle . The hieroglyphics of Kgypt and Assyria contain images founded upon tables snch as these , and although there

may not be , as perhaps ini ^ ht he argued by some , any immediate rclcrcncc to modern . Masonry , there is unquestionably a * i occult relation to the ancient mysteries of the world of itiitiquitv in the scries . The motto taken from the Apoealvse at the head of this paper is , I iimdisposed to think , connected with this antique symbolical scries , and refers tothe common centre point—God in the eternal and immutable world , man in his

finite and fleeting state of existence , lhus , even from the dreams of occult philosophy wc may obtain analog ies well worth thinking carefully upon , even at this lato period of human history , lie that is able to receive it , let him receive it . The macrocosm and microcosm are indissohibly bound together , and the one is but the faint adumbration of the other and Eternal Essence . CUYPTONYMUS .