Reviews.

Reviews .

" The Mysteries of the Bible Dates solved by the Great Pyramid ; " by William Rowbcttom , W . H . Guest , 24 , Paternoster Row . We have opened the above work with much interest , and perused it with carefulness , but we have laid it down , we confess , in a considerable haze of mental understanding , so to say .

Admitting that much , very much , yvhich the writer advances , may have a great deal to commend it to the mind of the ethnological or archaeological student , we cannot so far , grasp the data on yvhich Bro . Rowbottom , as yve believe yve may term him , arrives at his facts , much less his conclusions . We search in vain for any evidence by which he is enabled to assign to the Great Pyramid a

pre-Tower-of-Babel erection , and yve feel bound to say that so far as the Great Pyramid itself may be considered a " factor" in the solution of Bible dates , any such theory if ingenious and lively is at any , rate so far "in nubibus , " and altogether " not proven . " We wish we could assent to many of thc suggestions of Bro . Rowbottom . But we fear that they can neither be historically accepted , nor

logically proved . We hoi I , too , that there is a great deal of loose , unscientific , inaccurate , sentimental , mystical , " exegesis " afloat just now , as regards especially the monumental , or mystical history of thc Bible , and that Bro . Rowbottom , with good intentions , has dipped into the wake of that unsatisfactory school of interpretation and explanation , yvhich after all , docs not advance the cause of

truth , or uphold the reality of the Bible Story . Neither the one nor the other can be helped in our opinion , by sentimental theories , however elaborate and ingenious , or unscientific treatment of the stern facts of history , of antiquity , maternal life , and above all , monumental evidence . We , for example , like Mr . Gladstone , utterly rej ; ct the " Hebrew absorption" theory ,

in the Anglo Saxon race , as most opposed to every reliable shred of indubitable evidence , the actual facts of history and ethnology . We do not deny that many of Bro . Rowbottom ' s speculations are very striking and attractive , but yve doubt their correctness , even their utility , and we always look yvith jealousy on this trifling with numbers , this heaping up of imaginary coincidences , this post hoc

propter hoc accommodation of supposed facts , to the salient points of history and chronology . These remarks of ours , we beg to observe , do not proeeed from any spirit of complaint against Bro . Rowboltom ' s peculiar theory , but simply are the " outcome " of much careful thought , and study of the very intricate and yet absorbing subjects to yvhich he calls attention . We

also think that a revieyv of any yvork should be truthful and bona fide , not merely made up of sugary phrases or accommodating compliments . When the Great Pyramid was actually built , may be still a matter of grave doubt , but we cannot accept the suggestions for many reasons , that it was either previous to or contemporaneous with the erection of the

Tower of Babel . It may have had an astronomical import , and probably had , but we are much more inclined to see in it a witness of the old Egyptian mysteries . But when yve have said all this , we do not for one moment deny Bro . Rowbottom ' s abstract and concrete right to propound his own views , as he docs ably , and very clearly , and as opinions alyvays widely differ in this

yvorld , and there are two sides to every question , much may be said pro and con thc very interesting subject he has broached in his recent work . We beg to call the attention of all Masonic students to it , as it will repay studious thought and careful perusal . Bro . Rowbottom may fairly say , I have but followed thc opinion of others in making Abraham coexistent with the

great pyramid , as some you know have attributed it to Isaac , yvhom they term Chemis , and therefore thc subject is still an open one , the more so as Professor Greaves , long ago ( 1646 ) , admitted that it was difficult to affix thc date , adding that some ascribed it to Nimrod , some to Israel , some to a king contemporaneous with Moses , some to a much earlier dynasty , and some even

went back to mythic and pre-historic times . Good old Greaves even quotes Livy as saying " Quis rem tarn veterem pro ccrto affirmet ? " Who shall affirm so old a matter for certain ? Though not then convinced ourselves , and having thought it better to express our opinion , honestly we yet feel that a good deal may be advanced by Bro . Rowbottom for his own vieyv of the case , and that his work deserves notice and to be read .

" Lectures delivered in the Grand Lodge of Instruction in Ireland , by Bro . J . H . ToyVNSEsn , LL . D ., " Wm . Underyvood , Dublin . These lectures , which have been published j" under thc sanction , and by the authority of the R . W . the Grand Lodge of Ireland , " will well repay both study and perusal . They are ably written and clearly expressed , and

mark the productions of a Mason and a scholar . We agree yvith them both in substance and in scope , and they appear very seasonably just now , when so much false teaching is abroad and afloat . Whether as regards the exact principles of Freemasonry , its dogmatic declarations , such as they are , its moral teaching , and its practical efforts , we have felt for some . time that the struggle has to be fought out by us , anel that Anglo-Saxon

Freemasonry must come lo the fore , and declare openly and fraternally its solemn determination , to uphold the unchanging and unaltered landmarks of Freemasonry . These , inter alia , we hold strongly to be these , the fatherhood of God , and the brotherhood of man ; thc morality of the Bible , the ceaseless avowal of toleration , justice , humanity , and brotherly love . To suppose , as some seem to do , that Freemasonry is mere humanitananism is a sad mistake . To seek to set our moral

Reviews.

teaching , as Dr . Townsend ably and conclusively shews on mere natural morality , ( if such a thing exists ) , must be productive of most serious consequences . Freemasonry rests its teaching alone on the Divine Law , and yvithout that sacred basis , all our beautiful language yvould be but as " sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal . " Wc are glad therefore , at a time when foreign Freemasonry is over-run

by the platitudes of the Positivistes or disgraced by the " Anomia " of the " Morale Independante , " by the specious errors of rationalists or even the absurdities of materialistic infidels , to find such true and sound and wholesome teaching clearly avowed and manfully laid down by our distinguished brother , under the sanction of the Grand Lodge of Ireland , and we recommend this little work to the notice of all our readers .

" The Dietetic Reformer . " The " Dietetic Reformer " for November is immensly amusing , reaching an extreme of absurdity tbat yve should hardly have thought possible . The inferences drawn from thc Daryvinian theory of evolution are so ludicrous , as to make us wonder whether it is not a " skit" intended to take a rise out of the credulous . We understand that the work will be fully reviewed in the January number of the " Masonic Magazine . "

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SKETCHES OF MASONIC CHARACTER No . XIII . BRO . PLUMMER AT HOME .

We conclude these random sketches of ours to-day , and trust that they have been and will be received by our kindly Craft with gentle criticism and fraternal feeling . They were hastily thrown off , to fill up a vacant column of the Freemason , and are nothing more than they profess to be , slight " crayon " sketches of some good brethren of

ours , yvhom we have known in the flesh , many of yvhom we have liked greatly , many of whom we have mourned sincerely . Time as it leaves all here always recalls to the thoughtful mind old scenes and old friends . We re-people the busy or lonely lot to-day with the forms and fancies , the voices and vanities , of other days ; and go yvhere we will , be what we may , he must be a very cold , ungenial ,

unsympathetic individual , to whom ancient if vanisheel mates have no friendly voices , for yvhom faded if distant hours have no " souvenirs . " We may add this—that these rough and hasty sketches , however unpretending or valueless in themselves , have just this one merit and advantage . They are not only strictly true as sketches of a few contemporary Masons , but they

have been coloured , hoyvever feebly , in the truest spirit of fraternal good-will and regard . Ours has been no pen " dipped in gall , " wc have imparted no secrets , and betrayed no confidences , we have not even intruded into the arena of public or descended the area of private life , we have not " rung the " hairey bell , " nor made the name of our friends open

and clear as " thc blush of day . " Whether others recognised our feeble portraits or not , yve think we do ourselves , which is , we venture to believe , quite enough for us , and let us hope for our readers . Plummer is a very active officer of the good Lodge " Leviathan . " He is its " Senior Deacon , " and is said confidentially , as Bro . Wigginson tells us , to " keep the

lodge together , " " to do all the work , " and to be the needful , if not the " coming man" in that old and famous lodge . How many lodges are there yvhich boast of a Bro . Plummer , and how often in life is it true , as in this society or that , yvithout the indispensable mortal nothing could or would go right . Does our own recollection supply us with

no data even now , to prove how true is that mundane condition of affairs , and how men and things , as yvell as lodges and institutions , depend on the man of the circumstance or the exigencies of the hour . We sometimes think that we live , as some one has said , in an age of " aggregation . " We too often forget that the history of the world , and of men , yes , and of Masonry , is after all

only the record of individualism . It is the individual man who has done the most and the greatest work in this old world of ours , just as it is thc individual Mason who keeps his lodge in activity and advances the light of Masonry . But as this is a hobby of our oyvn , and it runs counter somewhat to one of thc most popular fallacies of the day , belief in numbers , we think better lo

hold our hand for fear of coming to grief . Bro . Plummer has a wife , who , though a most excellent woman and an admirable consort , does not altogether approve of Bro . Plummer ' s lodge evenings . 1 le sometimes is a little too late for that good lady , who , in consequence , speaks her mind pretty freely to our worthy brother . Plummer came home late from a glorious meeting of the

" Leviathan " the other evening in a very genial frame of mind . Hehadthoroughlycnjoycdhimself . Hadhcnothcard Bros . Fusbos and Lockitt , and Harkaway , and Uppevton , and McWhaler , and O'Dowd , all dilate eloquently on the ineffable value of Freemasonry , the reality of its principles , and thc sincerity of the brethren . He threw away his cigar , as he drew near No . 99 , " in our square , " drew forth his

latch-key , meaning to let himself in and go upstairs quietly , and astonish Mrs . Plummer . Vain often are the hopes of mortals . Mrs . Plummer had fastened thc door chain , and poor Plummer had to ring quietly and timidly , for he foresaw a coming hurricane . The door is opened slowly . Mrs . Plummer , like a Roman matron , " en

peignoir , " welcomes thc erratic if gay-hearted Plummer with these emphatic , though disjointed remarks , in a somewhat rapid utterance : " A nice time to come home , Bro . Plummer ; a quarter-past twelve ; have you been at your lodge all this time ? Don't make a noise , or you'll disturb the children ; permit me to take your Masonic clothing ; you had better come and sit in the

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morning room before you go upstairs ; I have been sitting up alone for three long hours . " What can a poor man or brother say or do under such pathetic circumstances ? " How Bro . Plummer got over the incidents of that eventful night yve knoyv not , but this we do know , that M rs . Plummer had a . most becoming gown and striking bonnet on next Sunday at church which no one had ever

seen before , and which were the admiration as well as the envy of all her dearest female friends . If any of our readers , male or feminine , fraternal or unfraternal , can discern any explanation under the circumstances , from the facts here recorded for their edification , we hope that they yvill do so , and that it will give them the same satisfaction it un doubtedly gave Sister Plummer , and has assuredly given us .

Notes On Art, &C.

NOTES ON ART , & c .

ART IN HOSPITALS . A correspondent writes as follows * . — " You may like to know how the pictures you sent me some months ago ( in answer to my request for a parcel for hospitals and orphanages in India ) were distributed , and how they were received . They yvere divided among eleven hospitals in the three Presidencies ,

three orphanages , St . John's College , Agra , a good school , and a few mission houses . The portraits of the Queen were mostly coloured before being sent out , and they have given satisfaction . Dr . Coates , of the Medical College Hospital , Calcutta , writes : ' Our bare walls have often been a source of regret to me ; these pictures have much relieved them , and I hope will gladden some of the sick for many years . '

Dr . Elliot , of the Presidency General Hospital , Calcutta , says : ' I beg to thank you very much in the name of the General Hospital for the pictures kindly sent for beautifying the yvalls of the institution ; they are most acceptable , and I hope you yvill express the warmest thanks of all connected with the Presidency General Hospital . ' I might multiply extracts from the fifteen acknowledgments I have

already bad , but 1 trust these will show how gratefully your gifts were received . " Perhaps some of our readers who possess prints and illustrations might feel encouraged by these statements to forward them to the numerous hospitals and charitable institutions yvith yvhich ourcountry and its colonies abound . MARY , QUEEN or SCOTS . —Mr . Raphael Tuck ,

of 177 , City Road , has lately published an admirable oleograph from Sichel ' s painting of the last moments of this unfortunate lady . The yvork is well worthy of examination , as showing the high degree of petfection now attained in this particular branch of art , which , though often maligned , affords for those who are fond of colour , and who cannot pay for costly oil-paintings , a very

effective substitute . A CENTENARIAN PAUPER . —At the last meeting of the Board of Guardians at Lampeter an old woman applied for relief whose age was 99 years 11 months and one yveek . The old woman looked hale and hearty , and was evidently in the full possession of all her faculties . Her ground of application for relief was that she did not

now " feel able to support herself . " THE LATE M . GUST AVE BRION . —This talented painter , who was executing the illustrations in the Graphic to " Thc History of a Crime , " died suddenly at Paris on Sunday in a fit of apoplexy . We will reserve any detailed biography of M . Brion , as we hope to publish his portrait , but ne may mention that he yvas only fifty-three years of

age , and was yvell-known in England by his pictures of " A Wedding in Alsace , " " Wood-cutters of the Black Forest , " " Bretons at a Church Door , " " A Funeral in the Vosges , " and many other works . The illustrations of "The Arrested Representatives Marching Through the Streets , " was probably thc last work which emanated from his pencil . —Graphic . PARIS EXHIBITION , 1878 . —Messrs . Thomas

Cook and Son inform us that in consideration of the services which they rendered to the British Executive throughout the Vienna Exhibition of 1873 tne / ** ' jeen appointed exhibitors' passenger agents for the British section of the Paris Exhibition . Mr . Cunliffe Owen , in communicating

the appointment , says : — " The principal object which his Royal Highness , as President of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition , has in view is the reduction of the passenger rates in favour specially of the exhibitors , their assistants and workmen , who may be visiting Paris throughout the course of the next year . "

Woodcocks have appeared in England this autumn much earlier than usual , and several couples have already been shot in the woodbanks near Godstone . The Chrysanthemums in the Temple Gardens are now in full bloom , and owing to the mild weather make a very good shoyv this year . There are the usual

three varieties—the Japanese , the anemone , and the quilled chrysanthemums , besides thepompones , and the white and yelloyv blooms predominate , some of the white quilled being especially beautiful . Several Japanese of a pinkish-lilac tint are also very fine . A new Room in the Paris Louvre has been opened , containing ancient American curiosities .

" Helen ' s Babies" has been dramatised for the American stage .

Constitutions of the Ancient Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons , containing the Charges , Regulations , E . A . Songy & c . A copy should be in the possession of every brother . It may be obtained for 2 S . at the office of the Freemason , or will be sent post free to any part of the United Kingdom on receipt of twenty-five penny stamps . Address , Publisher , 19 8 , Fleet-street London . —ADVT .