Leaves From My Library.

The building , it was said , had formerly been erected by a troop of gipsies who had established themselves there . From this point of meeting , the wandering tribe , consisting of vagabonds of every age and of both sexes , spread themselves all over the province . They called themselves Bohemians ; and carrying on a traffic with their songs , their

prophecies , their elixirs , and their false miracles , they levied an annual tax upon thc public credulity . By degrees this wild colony had become too numerous , and had dispersed ; one family only remained in the morass , and at length but one person , who was called Ariparia . This gipsy , who was of a most hideous appearance , had so terrified

the neighbourhood by her witchcrafts , that the valley of St . Chrisogone was regarded as a sort of infernal abode , which the peasantry dreaded to approach . A part of thc neighbouring village had even been abandoned , when Ariparia suddenly disappeared . Some persons believed that the evil one had seized his prey ; others said she still

resided at St . Chrisogone , but was become invisible : one inhabitant of the canton only insisted that during a great storm she had fallen into one of the pools ofthe marsh and was drowned . About ten years after this event a strange female came to establish herself in thc dwelling of the gipsies—it was Ipsiboe . The former panic was then renewed in the villages . It was in vain that

the stranger employed herself in benevolent offices ; her extraordinary physiognomy , her mysterious way of living , her extravagant dress , her declamatory style of speaking , her religious extacies , her chemical skill , everything connected with her seemed suspicious . Notwithstanding all this she was humane and feeling , pious even to fanaticism , and abhorred

sorcery . She succeeded after some time in making herself respected by thc common people ; but although her goodness was known , she continued to be in some degree feared . Alamdde was now very near to the enchanted dwelling , when a confused sound of voices fell

upon his car . He had believed himself to be in a wild solitude , where no foot but Ipsibod ' s would dare to tread thc unhealthy sod . Judge then his surprise at thc scene which was presented to his view . The grate of the magic edifice opened its iron leaves , ancl a number of men armed with swords , clothed in dark brown habits and all

masked , ranged themselves along thc outer walls . They bore in their hands long torches , the blue flame of which obscured by thc smoke and fog made them now appear gigantic , and now entirely concealed their forms . Sometimes thc black outline of their forms was relieved by thc red wall of thc building , and thc mysterious guard looked then

like dark spirits wandering beneath thc fires of the gloomy Tenaros . Ipsiboe approached the entrance gate , and thc men without bowed respectfully before her . A remarkable personage accompanied her , bearing thc costume of a Grand Master of thc Knights Templars , ( b ) A while cloak embroidered with thc

cross of the Order wns thrown over his steel hauberk ; the visor of his casque was raised . His features were regular , but without that expression of calmness which belongs properly lo rank ; his stern glance was uneasy and inquisitive ; his slow and measured step had in it somewhat of uncertainty

and agitation . He excited at once respect and distrust , veneration and fear . Although he was of an advanced age , he appeared still in possession of Iiis vigour . His haughty and imposing deportment denoted high birth , and his general appearance showed that he was accustomed to command .

Alamdde cast but a hasty glance upon this stranger ; and then all his attention was fixed upon tlie Lady of St . Chrisogone . She held thc Templar by one hand , and her eyes were raised to Heaven with an expression of mournful enthusiasm . His figure was nol . de and majestic ; but , too entirely absorbed with her exalted projects to descend to consider the modes and habits of thc times , she

scorned all frivolous cares , and her dress appeared strange even to extravagance . Her lofty imagination kept her ever aloof from thc usual customs of life ; and by her eloquent language and her singular manners , her admirable conceptions and her wild independence , she presented by turns , and sometimes even at thc same moment , an uncommon mixture of thc sublime ancl thc ridiculous .

The Lady of St . Chrisogone was dressed in a robe of yellow with buttons of metal ; it was open , ( lowing , and trimmed with black fur , and resembled in its shape thc large cassocks worn in thc East . A band of black woollen , destined for a girdle , hung loosely over two ample pockets fastened to her side - . A corset of goat's skin covered her bosom ; a part of her tresses hung down upon her forehead .

Leaves From My Library.

The rest of her jet black locks were bound up in a piece of white serge , which fell between her eyes , and there suspended a golden acorn . A long narrow veil was thrown over her shoulders in the form of a shawl , and gathered up without art or care , varied its forms at every moment as wildly as Ipsibod

changed her discourse . Her features , irregular and almost repulsive , reminded the spectator , at the first sight , of those fatal sisters whom the descendants of Odin , in the rcalmsof Scandinavia , called the Valkyri ; and yet'her noble physiognomy had an indescribable attraction ,

a secret power which subdued the sense and fascinated the gaze . There was a solemn and religious mystery in her voice which captivated , astonished , and seduced ; its magic was such that the stranger who heard her thought he was listening to wondrous revealments , while she was only uttering incoherent

phrases . Whether she spoke or was silent , she was thought an oracle ; whether in action or in repose , she seemed to be a superior person . Of the plainest matter she made an enigma , and of the most confused representation the clearest picture . Owing to

her inexplicable nature , whatever she thought , related , expected , or proposed , though the most simple thing imaginable , became a world of mystery . Her eloquent and figurative language had a prophetic and august air ; but by an unhappy contrast , her gestures were so multiplied and so strange that

they appeared to be convulsive , like the movements of a worm which had been cut in halves . Why had she chosen this lone dwelling ? It could not be because she was pursued by powerful foes that she had fled to this inaccessible retreat ; for she inhabited it but little , she received numerous

visitors , and took so few precautions that she seemed to fear nothing . It was as little of a solitude as of a hiding-place . Her plans and herself were equally mysterious . It should seem , from her relations with the highest persons in the kingdom , that she was charged with

thc destinies of Provence . She appeared to possess thc clue of all the combinations , the projects , and thc attempts , which abounded at this period of trouble and division ; of dark plotsand openinsurrections ; of political systems and religious

establishments . By a sort of ill-fortune , however , her view's were so extensive , her connections so universal , her speech so unintelligible , her conduct so contradictory , that she often bewildered herself in the labyrinth of her ideas and her intentions . ( To be eon tinned . )

Brother T. A. Adams' Ball.

BROTHER T . A . ADAMS' BALL .

The annual Masonic subscription ball of this estimable brother was held at the Freemasons ' Tavern , Great Queen-street , on Wednesday , the 23 rd inst ., and was numerously attended , about 300 ladies and gentlemen being present , amongst whom we noticed Bros . Adams , Boyd , Gilbert ,

Wentworth Little , Codncr , Loewenstark , Roebuck , West Smith , Nash , Banks , Norris , Coulton , Webb , G . Webb , Scott , with their ladies and friends . Dancing commenced at half-past nine o ' clock precisely , and was kept up with great spirit till

half-past twelve o ' clock , when the company adjourned to the supper-room . Bio . Gilbert , P . M ., Polish National Lodge , No . 534 , vho had been nominated as Chairman , and to whose exertions much of thc success of the ball is due , being unfortunately hoarse from a severe cold ,

Bro . R . Wentworth Little was requested to propose thc usual toasts , which were given briefly but effectively ; Bro . Waters of the Tavern acting ably as the toast-master . The first toast was " The Queen , coupled with the Craft , " the second " The Ladies , conjoined with the name of Bro . Codncr , " who responded in a very

pleasing and humorous manner , and the third was ' The health of Bro . Adams , " for which that worthy brother returned thanks in appropriate terms . The company then returned to the ball-room , and paid their homage lo Terpsichore until the small hours ofthe morning , when all separated delighted with the music , the dancing , and the entire proceedings of the evening .

Thc New Vade Mecum ( invented and manufactured by Charles II . Vincent , optician , of 23 , Windsorstrcct , Liverpool ) consists of a telescope well adapted fur tourists , & c , to which is added an excellent microscope of

great power and first-class definition , <| iiite equal to others sold at len limes the price . Wonderful as it may seem , the price of this ingenious combination is only 3 s . Od ., and Mr . Vincent sends it ( carriage free ) anywhere , with printed directions , upon receipt of post-oflicc order or stamps to he amount of 3 s . iod . —[ Advt . ]

Ancient And Modern Mysteries.

ANCIENT AND MODERN MYSTERIES .

BY BRO . ROBERT WENTWORTH LITTLE , Provincial Grand Secretary , Middlesex ; President of the London-Literary Union ; Editor of " The Rosicrucian , " &* c . ( Continued from page 85 . ) The popular work which I now propose to examine , namely " Secret Societies of the Middle

Ages , " in reality embraces the history of only three associations , although many others of minor importance existed during the same period . The various facts which have been collected by the author respecting the origin and progress of these societies , are extremely interesting to the

general student , and especially instructive to members of the Masonic fraternity . I do not of course for a moment pretend to assert that there is any similarity between the secret doctrines or customs of the Assassins , and the beneficent morals of Freemasonry , but at the

same time I hold that the ephemeral ancl bloodstained career of such mysterious sects is the greatest foil to the beauties developed in the rites of our pure and peaceful Order . It is of course well-known that Freemasonry does not profess to accomplish political ends , and we can therefore only wonder at the oft-quoted instance

of the German philosopher who , when informed by the Master , at his initiation , that Freemasonry was not a conspiracy against religion or the state , exclaimed dolefully , " I wish it were , then there would be a real secret in it . " Poor Lessing ! blind to the spiritual tendencies of the institution , he viewed it as a vulgar machine for effecting tangible results .

A portion of the preface of the book now before me will bear perusal and consideration , and will prepare the reader for a few extracts from pages which however peculiar are sufficiently instructive to repay a more critical perusal : — The ancient world presents one secret society of

a professedly political character—that of thc Pythagoreans . Of religious ones it might be expected to yield a rich harvest to the enquirer , when wc call to mind all that has been written in ancient and modern times concerning the celebrated mysteries . But the original Grecian mysteries , such as those of

Eleusis , appear to have been nothing more than public services of the gods , with some peculiar ceremonies performed at the charge of thc state , and presided over by thc magistrates , in which there were no secrets communicated to thc initiated , no revelation of knowledge beyond that which was

generally attainable . Thc private mysteries , namely , the Orphic , Isiac , and Mithraic , which were introduced from the East , were merely modes employed by cunning and profligate impostors , for taking advantage of thc weakness and credulity of tlie sinful and tlie superstitious , by persuading them that by secret and peculiar rites , and the invocation

of strange deities , the apprehended punishment of sin might be averted . Thc nocturnal assemblies for the celebration of these mysteries were but too often scenes of vice and debauchery , ancl they were discountenanced by all good governments . It is to these last , and not to thc Elcusinian mysteries , that the severe strictures of thc fathers of thc church apply .

Thc history of Pythagoras and his doctrines is extremely obscure . The accounts of this sage which have come down to us were not written till many centuries after his death , ancl but little reliance is to be placed on their details . Pythagoras was a Samian by birth ; he flourished in thc sixth

century before Christ , at thc time when Egypt exercised so much influence over Greece , and its sages sought the banks of the Nile in search of wisdom . There is therefore no improbability in the tradition of Pythagoras also having visited that land of mystery , and perhaps other parts of thc

East , and marked thc tranquil order of things where those who were esteemed thc wise ruled over thc ignorant people . He may therefore have conceived the idea of uniting this sacerdotal system with the rigid morals and aristocratic constitution of thc Dorian states of Greece . His native isle , which was

then under the tyranny of Polycrates , not appearing to him suited for his new system of government , he turned his eyes to the towns of Magna Gnecia , or Southern Italy , which were at that time in a highly flourishing condition , whose inhabitants were eager in the pursuit of knowledge , and some of which

already possessed written codes of law . lie fixed his view on Crolon , one of thc wealthiest and most distinguished of those towns . Aristocracy was thc soul of the Dorian political constitutions , and the towns of Magna Grxcia were all Dorian colonics ; but in consequence of their extensive commerce the tendency of the people was